The movie was now over, and the credits moved down the screen. Syd turned to Cas to get a peek at his face. She had fallen asleep half-way through the movie, but Cas had waited for her to wake up before continuing the movie. It was a little embarrassing. Syd turned away as she could feel her face getting hot. She hadn't expected to fall asleep at all and especially not actually on him.

"I liked that movie," Cas said, and Syd turned back to look at him. "Good choice, Syd." Cas gave her a small smile.

Syd felt a little nervous but smiled back.

"It's one of my favorites for a reason, Cas."

Cas looked at Syd for a few moments before his face grew somber. "I know that you probably don't want to talk about whatever Lucifer did, but could you tell me? I want to help. You seem pretty 'shaken up'."

Syd almost laughed at Cas' use of slang but sobered at the idea of discussing Lucifer. She'd been thinking it over but couldn't really find a way to tell them. Syd fidgeted with her sleeves while she tried to think of a way to tell Cas.

"Well, um… Lucifer said that he wants to work together," Syd blurted out.

"Work together?" Cas asked for clarification.

"He said that he wanted his grace back, and he doesn't want Sam and Dean to get ahold of it. He promised to stay out of my dreams if I agreed. I told him that I'd talk it over with Sam and Dean first."

"There's something else, isn't there?" Cas asked kindly, studying her face. "That wouldn't be enough to perturb you to this degree."

"Yeah," Syd agreed and laughed a little. "I know it's some kind of trick or plan, but… it's really weird to think about." Syd stopped and looked uncertainly into Cas' eyes. "He also said… that he likes me."

Even Cas seemed floored by that revelation. His eyes opened wider, and he seemed to give it some thought.

"Well, he might just be trying to disturb you," Cas admitted, and Syd nodded, feeling a little more at ease. "Or he might be telling the truth."

Syd tensed back up and stared at Cas in confusion.

"I truthfully don't know. Lucifer's… well… his intentions are often hard to read, but he tends to follow the same pattern of… seduction. He's been much more forceful with you than he was with Sam, and Sam was supposed to be his true vessel. At first I assumed that it might be to unsettle you and make it easier for him to manipulate you, but now… just keep your defenses up."

Syd nodded and bit her lip. The thought that the actual devil had a weird thing for her was enough to make her head spin. Cas must have noticed her trepidation because he put a hand on her shoulder.

"I know I'm supposed to say that everything will be fine, but right now I don't know what will happen," Cas said awkwardly.

Syd laughed a little and replied, "Thanks for the effort, Cas." Trust him to be painfully honest.

"But I'm here. We're here for you Syd, and we'll do whatever we can to help," Cas assured her.

"Because letting Lucifer get ahold of me would be bad news for everyone involved."

"Yes, and because you're our friend Syd," Cas replied with a small, bashful smile. "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

A single tear had drifted down Syd's face, and Syd gave Cas a hug.

"No, you said something right. Exactly right. Thanks, Cas," Syd replied as Cas slowly put his arms around her. All of it was still a giant mess, but at the moment Syd thought that it all sucked just a little bit less. A knock on the open door startled them, and the embrace broke apart. Sean was standing at the doorway.

"So Sam and Dean are finally back, and they're currently fighting in the garage with some guy in cuffs," Sean said casually, but his eyes flashed at Cas with anger. "I think that they might need your help."

Castiel gave Sean a confused look but thanked him. As Cas left the room, Sean's body language became a little more relaxed, and the anger faded from his eyes. He sighed, brushed his hair back, and looked away from Syd. Did fairies not like angels? Sam had said that the leprechaun had seemed dismissive of angels. Maybe they just didn't like the magical competition.

"You could come with me… to Avalon," Sean said quietly from the doorway. "Our king believes that Lucifer would have a much harder time harassing you there. You'd be a honored guest, and you could leave anytime you wanted."

Syd was struck dumb for a few seconds. Sean appeared to be genuine, and his eyes seemed to be pleading with her. Going to the land of the fairies did seem to be interesting, although Syd thought that Dean would certainly disagree.

"Thank you for your offer, but no," Syd said with a small smile. She could hear the guys struggling up the hallway and down to the staircase; this guy was giving even an angel a hard time. Syd got up from the couch and walked to the doorway where Sean stood with his eyes looking downcast. She put her hand on his shoulder and continued, "It's not because I don't trust you or anything like that. I can tell that you've really been trying to help me. But if I'm going to fight, I'd rather do it with my friends, even if that fight is harder than the one I'd fight alone."

Syd gave him another smile and removed her hand. She walked down the hallway to her room. Before going into her room, she turned back to glance at Sean. Her words hadn't seemed to have the effect that she wanted; he still looked pretty despondent. Syd wondered if there was any better way that she could have turned him down before going into her room.