Candy was absolutely thrilled when Sam and Dean called the next day to ask her for help on a case. Apparently, their target was a vampire who frequented bars to look for drunk women to sneak away with and bite. Although she was going to be used at bait, it was better than spending another day watching lame movies in that hotel room. Also, she would get to hunt with the brothers again, not be left behind while they did the job themselves.

While Candy packed her bags into the car with Adam, Castiel took it upon himself to knock on Meg's door and tell her that the four of them were leaving together. When she answered the door, she immediately looked around at the car with a smirk,

"Where'd you get the clunker, Clarence?"

"It's a rental," he answered quickly. "Sam and Dean need Candy's help on their case. We're heading there now. It's about an eight hour drive. You have to come with us."

"Good," she rushed out of the room, "a change of scene would be nice."

In the car, Castiel and Meg sat in the back together while Candy took the passenger seat and Adam took the wheel. They only stopped twice to eat and use the restroom on the way there. Once they arrived, Sam and Dean them outside their motel room, handing Adam the key to his, then tossing one to Meg, too. She thanked them under her breath and disappeared into her room. Castiel watched irritably as Candy skipped inside with Dean and Sam, a happy smile plastered on her face, while he was left outside. Not wanting to disturb them, he headed to Meg's room.

She was surprised to see him, but let him in anyways. She asked him to order some Chinese takeout while she took a quick shower. Castiel fumbled around the nightstand drawers until he found a list of restaurants nearby. He dialed one of them and asked for and order of takeout. He quickly realized that she hadn't told him what she wanted specifically, so he walked into the bathroom, not thinking ahead, only to see her standing there in her bra and panties, in the process of undoing the back of the bra.

"What the hell, Cas?!" She snapped, yanking her shirt of the floor to cover herself. Castiel's face went red immediately,

"I'm so sorry. You didn't tell me what you wanted to eat."

"How about sesame chicken and rice," she scoffed. "Now get out of here."

"Right," he cleared his throat. "My apologies." When he closed the door again, he felt so embarrassed that he wished he could just disappear and never see Meg again. At the same time, he felt something flutter in his chest. Meg suddenly seemed more beautiful. The leather jacket she always wore had hidden her natural curves from the world, and somehow, Castiel thought the pink in her cheeks was cute. Castiel, for once, saw Meg as a woman and not a demon. It was weird, and he swore to himself then that he would keep his distance.

In the other room, Candy put on her best bar outfit, complete with a lowcut black top that stopped above her bellybutton and a short black skirt to match. She hated to admit it, but she realized that she owned quite a few slutty articles of clothing, that, when combined, made her seem like the worst kind of person to find in a bar. However, she knew it would get the job done for Sam and Dean. After all, she was playing bait to a vampire, and what better way to tempt one than to show off a little bit of skin.

Candy immediately drew the attention of everyone in the bar when she came in alone. It was unusual, but it had to be that way. She climbed onto one of the bar stools and ordered herself a beer. Trying her best to seem available, she glanced around the room like she was inviting someone to approach her.

"Hello, darling," a familiar voice startled her. She turn back to her left to see Crowley sitting on the stool beside her with a glass half full of something light brown. Whiskey, she guessed, just by the smell of Crowley's breath. "I didn't expect you to be here."

"Ditto," she raised an eyebrow at him. "What're you doing here, Crowley? You sent them on this mission, so why would you still come yourself."

"I came to watch the show."

"What show?" She asked in frustration. Crowley took a small sip of his whiskey, then turned around on his stool, grinning at something behind Candy. She spun around, being greeted instantly by twelve pairs of solid black eyes staring her down. Everyone in the bar had the same soulless orbs in their sockets, all focused on Candy.

"You bastard," Candy gritted her teeth. "This was a trap, wasn't it? You never planned on helping us. You were going to kill Sam and Dean, and let me guess, collect that bounty." She glared at him hatefully. "What are they offering for Sam and Dean?"

"Well, the bounty isn't that simple. If I bring the boys' pretty little heads to them and bring you alive, then they'll give me something very valuable. Something I could use to take care of my own errands." Crowley handed Candy the remainder of the whiskey. "Go ahead and call the angel here, too. He's bonus points."

"Fuck you, Crowley," she spat, downing the glass of whiskey in one gulp. Crowley clicked his tongue at her,

"If you're offering, I just might have to accept."

"Eat dicks, you lying son of a bitch."

"Showtime, boys!" Crowley called out to the demons. "Give me a call when its all over." He vanished just as quickly as he arrived. Candy glanced back at the bartender, who was also a demon, and asked for another shot of whiskey. He scowled at her, but poured the shot anyways. After filling it down, Candy pulled her angel blade out of her purse and slid off of the stool.

"Cas, I need you," she said under her breath. "Come on, they're going to kill me here. Get Sam and Dean, they're outside. I need your help." She stood as unafraid as she could in front of the small army. Her hand was squeezing the blade so tightly her knuckles turned white. The first one lunged for her, and she moved to the side so that it hit the counter instead. Before it had time to stand back up, she held its head down with her left arm and brought the blade down on the back of its head with her right hand. It broke through the skull, and Candy felt immediately guilty for also killing the human inside. At least she did it as quickly as she could.

The next one grabbed her by the hair, pulling her head back and spinning her around so it could force her cheek down against the counter. Candy tried to push herself up, but another pair of hands grabbed hold of her wrists and pulled them behind her back, holding them together so she couldn't move.

"We can't kill you," one of the demons chuckled, "but everything else is on the table."

"I can think of a few things we could do with her on a table," another chimed in. Candy kicked backwards, luckily striking the knee of the demon holding her down hard enough to snap it. The demon stumbled back and fell to the ground, crying out in pain. She managed to squirm away from the other one, leaping over the counter to make a run for the back door. Just as she got outside, she was tackled to the ground. The Impala was parked just around the corner. If she could get to her feet again, she could make it.

"Come on, sweetheart, don't fight," the demon laughed, rolling her over onto her back. She let her arms flail as she tried desperately to fight off the much stronger demon. Eventually, it got her wrists pinned to the ground. "We have to take you in alive, not in one piece." It leaned down, pressed its nose against her neck, and inhaled deeply. "You smell so good."

"Get off of me!" She screamed as loud as she could. "Help! Help me! Dean! Sam!" It struck her then, but that didn't stop her from screaming. After hitting her again with the back of its hand, the demon cupped its hand over her mouth to silence her. Before it could do anything else, Dean and Sam came barrelling around the corner, and Dean was weilding Rubys knife.

"Let her go," Dean said is his huskiest, most threatening voice. The demon took its hand off of Candy's mouth and rose to its feet, only to be joined by the rest as they filtered out of the back door to the bar. Candy turned on her side, pressing her palms into the gravel to lift herself from the ground. One of the demons yanked her up to her feet by her hair, then stepped in front of the group. It shoved her forwards, sending her back to the gravel.

Why does this always happen? Candy asked herself as she sat up on her hands again. Her head fell in shame, and her hair covered her eyes so no one could see the tears. Why am I so weak? They pick on me because I'm an easy target. No wonder Dean doesn't want me hunting anymore. I'm useless to them. I'm always getting into trouble and getting hurt because I can't defend myself.

Bullshit. Dean's voice surprised her in her own head. She perked up a little to see if he spoke to her, but his focus was on the demons. His voice was in her thoughts, telling her exactly what Dean would if he had heard what she was saying to herself. You've worked a hundred cases, and you fought hard. It doesn't matter if you're too weak to save yourself, but you damn well better go down fighting. That's what being strong is. It's getting back up.

Candy slowly climbed to her feet, oblivious to whatever conversation took place while he battled her inner doubt. Once she stood, she turned back to the demons. With fire in her eyes, she began reciting the exorcism incantation. As the demons began rushing her, Cas appeared in front of her, along with Meg. They glanced back at Candy, then nodded to tell her that they were there to help. Instead of killing them, Meg, Dean, Cas, and Sam held the demons back, held them down. A few of them fled, exiting their bodies in the form of black smoke, but the others fell lifeless to the ground as Candy finished the exorcism spell. No matter how they left, every single one was cast out from their bodies. The fight was over before it even began.

"I'm glad I had you memorize that," Dean smiled at Candy. "As much as you bitched about how hard it was to learn, you used it well." She wanted to be happy and feel triumphant for saving all of those lives, but something was still aching in her chest. There was still a weight on her shoulders that she couldn't shake off. "You okay, Candy?"

"Bravo, boys," a voice caught their attention. They all turned, and immediately Sam and Dean were thrown backwards. Crowley emerged from the darkness and stepped into the light coming from the streetlight on the other side of the building. "Or should I say girl. You really handled yourself better than I anticipated, Candice."

"You liar!" Castiel accused, lunging forwards with his angel blade in hand. Crowley waved his hand and sent him flying backwards like Sam and Dean. Once Cas was out of the way, Crowley took Candy by the collar of her shirt and backed her into the brick wall of the bar.

"You're now a liability," Crowley told Candy, "and you must be dealt with accordingly." His hand slipped from her collar and wrapped around her throat. Her body slid up the wall, back and legs scraping against the brick painfully, until her feet left the ground entirely. "Such a pity letting a pretty face like that go to waste. If you didn't have that nasty tattoo there," Crowley peeled back the collar of her top to reveal the antiposession tattoo on the top of her left breast, "I'd put this body to good use." Candy started to kick as she became more desperate for air.

Suddenly, Meg attacked Crowley with the knife she'd taken from Dean's unconscious body. He dropped Candy immediately and whipped around to catch Meg's wrist.

"What do you think you're doing?" He hissed at her.

"The job you gave me," she grinned as he bent her arm forwards forcefully. Meg watches nervously as the blade began approaching her stomach.

"You're taking their side?" Crowley scoffed at her. "What would they want with a disgusting creature like you? You're not human anymore, Meg, and you never will be again. What does betraying me and helping them accomplish?"

"Maybe I just don't like you're snarky attitude," Meg smirked. Crowley wrapped his arm around her back to bring the knife even closer to her. It was taking all of Meg's strength in both arms to hold it back. Just as it started to pierce the skin with the very tip, Castiel tackled Crowley to the ground. When he scrambled up to his feet, Crowley was suddenly gone. "Why'd you save me?" Meg asked as she brushed Castiel's back off.

"Because you saved Candy. You stood up to Crowley, which puts you on his hitlist. But you did it anyways. You deserved to be saved, too." He looked at her empathetically. "I won't let him kill you. If you're willing to die for us, well do the same for you." Meg couldn't help but blush again, something she'd been doing frequently with Castiel around. Even though he couldn't see the color in her cheeks, her silence told him that she was left speechless.

"Thank you," Candy told Meg after she Rose to her feet using the wall as support.

"Eh, I don't like him anyways."

"How's Sam and Dean?" Candy questioned Cas. He frowned when he saw the red marks around her throat in the shape of fingers, and he approached her when she started to double over.

"They're unconscious but alright," he caught her. "Are you?"

"I feel great," she smiled half-heartedly up at him. "Just peachy." Meg rolled her eyes,

"Come on, Red. Let's get you and the boys back to the motel."

Candy drove the Impala back to the motel, while Castiel healed the boys in the back of the car. Both were still out cold, but at least Dean no longer had a concussion. Once they arrived, Meg and Cas helped carry the Winchesters to their beds. Cas offered to stay with Candy, but she promised she was alright. Instead, he went back to Meg's room with her to watch a movie before he dropped by heaven to check in.

"You don't have to keep me company, Clarence," she told him once they were inside. Castiel looked at her for a moment, then muted the television.

"Are you trying to redeem yourself?"

"What?" Meg blinked at him. "Where did that come from?"

"Why else would you choose our side over your own?" Castiel cocked his head to the side. "I think you're looking for redemption or salvation or something."

"In case you didn't notice, I'm sort of a demon. I can't be redeemed."

"Of course you can."

"No, Cas."

"Why not?"

"Cas," she sighed, clearly frustrated with him questions, "you can see me, can't you? The real me, I mean. The thing underneath this meat suit."

"Yes."

"Then you know why I can't. No matter what I do, I'll always be a monster, hideous and disfigured. How could someone like me earn salvation?" She stood in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest. "It's dumb anyways, who needs it."

"I think you do," Cas stood, dangerously close to her. "Meg, I am the first to be disgusted by demons, but when I look at you... I'm not. I don't see anything hideous or monstrous. There's something painful there, something empty, but that pain makes you less of a monster and more like something beautiful thats just broken. But you can be put back together again." He clasped one of her small hands tightly between both of his and held it up between them. "Everyone deserves a chance a redemption. This is yours. Take it. Fix yourself." He stepped back and patted her on the head gently. "I have faith in you."

"Shut up," she said just before he vanished. Meg sat on the end of her bed and thought about what he said. Something was revived in her then, something that had been dead and cold for a long time. It pissed her off that Castiel was doing such a number on her insides, but at the same time, he seemed so sincere that she almost could believe him.

A/N: Wow, so everyone who has been reviewing, you're amazing! All of this support is making me all giddy inside every time I read the reviews XD then I immediately want to go wrote another chapter for you guys because you've been so good to me. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, too, and let me know what you think! :) thanks again for all the reviews and support and I hope I can keep entertaining. I'll do my best! You guys deserve the best.