Chapter 11- Heaven and Hell

"Have I ever told you guys that I hate Angels?" Elizabeth said as she climbed out of the back seat of the impala. "Like they could absolutely disappear from this world and I would not care one freaking bit!" She continued.

Dean glanced over the top of the impala at Sam, they exchanged a look and Dean nudged his head at Elizabeth, a signal that Sam knew all to well. Dean wanted to talk to Elizabeth, alone, and Sam didn't know exactly how well that would go seeing as last time they actually talked they were ripping each other's heads off.

"Look Ruby and I are going to take Anna to the panic room." Sam piped up as he cleared his throat.

Elizabeth turned around to look at him. His eyes were slightly narrowed but they darted between her and Dean, silently saying that it was time for a one on one with her eldest brother.

Great.

Ruby gave Elizabeth a half smile and began walking into Bobby's house with Anna by her side. Sam gave the pair one last look before he turned on his heel and followed Ruby.

"So you want to tell me what's going on with you?" Dean instantly questioned as he walked around the impala and leaned against the hood so that he was at height level with Elizabeth.

"Nothing is going on with me Dean, I'm fine." Elizabeth answered quickly.

"Right- and I'm Britney Spears. Look. Lizzy. I know that, since we found out about you…that you and I haven't seen eye to eye on everything but we are still family, you're still my pain in the ass little sister, even if technically you are my cousin." Dean responded.

Elizabeth heaved out a sigh and folded her arms across her chest.

How could she tell Dean that she was angry all the time?

How could she tell him that she wanted to feel the extent of her powers while also wanting to hide from them?

She couldn't tell him that she was interested in Castiel and that every time she thought he might be equally as interested, he did a complete 360 and left her extremely confused. Last time he had threatened to blow up an innocent town, this time he was attempting to kill Anna, who may or may not be innocent but was still a human!

So what if she drew some sigil on the wall that banished the Angels to wonderland.

So what if she heard Angels talking.

She was human, and Castiel was trying to kill her, and that bothered Elizabeth to no ends because they didn't kill humans. They killed the supernatural. That was it.

Through all this thinking Dean gazed at her with a fixed, unblinking stare. She knew he was waiting for an answer, but she couldn't form the correct words into a coherent sentence. She was just so frustrated with everything that had happened recently and there was no off switch.

"Sometimes when you look at me…. I feel like you're looking at the Antichrist part of me. I can see the hurt and betrayal in your eyes, I can see the worry etched into your face Dean. You don't know how to act around me anymore, and that sucks because I want my big brother back. I want the person who taught me how to shoot a gun, and steal food back. I want the person who taught me how to drive and then proceeded to threaten me every chance you got because you didn't want the impala getting messed up back. I just want you and me to get back to normal Dean. The us that blasts ACDC in your car just to annoy Sam when he's trying to sleep. The us that drinks beer and eats cheeseburgers and fights over the last slice of pie…." Elizabeth said with a fast paced voice.

Dean was silent for a second and then he pushed himself up off the hood of the impala. He took a couple steps towards Elizabeth and then looked down at her, reminding her eerily of John.

"Elizabeth, I'm only going to tell you this once, so listen up. I'm handling all this the best way I know how, and if that means I look at you a little differently every now and then well then I'm sorry. You and Sam are all I have, and both of you have these demon powers that scare the crap out of me! I'm supposed to protect the both of you and I don't know how to do that when demons and angels are running around trying to kill us…. We are still us Lizzy. Just because we had a couple fights doesn't mean that you're not my family anymore. It just means that things are changing, and we are trying our damn best to hang on." Dean replied.

Elizabeth chewed on the inside of her lip as she absorbed what Dean was saying. She knew that he didn't think she was a monster. She knew that he was trying his absolute best to protect them. She knew all that, but way in the back of her mind, existed a tiny voice that told her all this was a lie. It was a constant battle trying to keep that voice from overtaking her completely sometimes.

"And look- I don't know what's going on with you and Castiel but…. You have got to see that running around with him is only making you become more…. I don't know, you. Strong and full of power and all that." Dean continued.

"I know Dean.." Elizabeth responded quietly.

"So… We good?" Dean questioned.

Elizabeth let out a sigh, and looked up at Dean. A small amount of pressure felt like it had been lifted off of her shoulders now that she actually talked to Dean. A small smile spread across her lips and she reached out to hug Dean around the waist.

"Yeah, we're good." She said into his chest.

Dean hugged her back and then took a couple of steps backwards.

"Alright, chick moment over. Now let's go figure out this Anna business. She's certainly got some tricks up her sleeve." Dean said as he began walking towards Bobby's house.

Elizabeth followed suit and fell into an easy conversation with Dean about what was going on with Anna.

Once inside, Dean and Elizabeth found Sam, Ruby and Anna talking about what was going on with Anna. Anna looked scared, worried and confused all at the same time.

"It's hard, not knowing what I am, or who I am. I don't know how that sigil popped into my head, I don't know how I sent those Angels away at the cabin. I don't know why demons would kill my parents. I just know that I'm me, and apparently I have all these unheard of powers, and all these people want me dead." Anna said with a strained voice.

Elizabeth stood rooted in the spot that she had been in since she and Dean entered the house. She understood exactly what Anna meant, and how hard it was to go your whole life thinking you were one thing and then finding out you were something completely different. Her thoughts made her long for some normalcy, and she desperately wanted to just sit and talk with Bobby. He always made her feel like everything was going to be okay, even when all Hell had broken loose. Unfortunately though, she couldn't do that because he was off on some case, leaving them all in his house alone.

"I know we don't have all the answers but maybe, just maybe, we know someone that does." Sam said.

Elizabeth's eyebrow rose in response to his statement.

"And that would be…?" Dean questioned

"Pamela." Sam replied.

"Oh how I have missed you boys, and you Elizabeth!" Pamela said as she let go of Sam and brought Elizabeth into a warm and friendly hug.

"I see you have lifted the veil that was on you." Pam whispered in Elizabeth's ear. The statement made her eyes widen slightly, however she did not respond to Pamela, she just softly nodded and then let her arms fall to her sides as Pamela let her go.

"Well, now that we have covered all our bases, why don't we start, shall we Anna?" Pamela questioned.

Anna nodded and glanced around the room, looking for any reassuring looks, which she got from Dean and Elizabeth.

It only took Pam ten or so minutes to get Anna to lie down and to put her in a psychic trance. Elizabeth had forgotten how good Pam was at the whole psychic thing, as she had also forgotten that Castiel was the one who Pamela hated for burning her eyes out. A small twinge stabbed at Elizabeth's heart as she remembered the screams that had escaped Pamela's mouth along with the smell of burning flesh. Once again, she was reminded that Castiel did not have an innocent background, and that for all she knew, she could be falling for some psycho who enjoyed burning people's eyes out.

"Okay Anna, know tell me, how do you hear the angels? How did you work that spell?" Pamela said in a soft voice that made Elizabeth pop back into reality.

"I don't know… I just did." Anna responded from her immobile state.

This answer did not seem to satisfy Pamela, for she pursed her lips and looked down while adjusting her sunglasses.

"Your father, what's his name?" Pamela questioned

"Rich Milton." Anna responded. This still was not the answer that Pamela was looking for, she wanted to dig deeper to uncover what really happened to Anna, and why everyone seemed to be after her.

"Alright, but I want you to look further back, when you were a couple years old." Pamela asked.

"I don't wanna." Anna replied in a slightly panicked voice.

"It's alright Anna, just one look is all we need." Pamela said softly.

"No!" Anna screamed suddenly.

"What's your fathers name Anna!" Pamela asked, ignoring the thrashing and screaming that was currently happening with Anna.

"NOO! HE'S GUNNA KILL ME!" Anna screamed out. Elizabeth took a couple steps forward as she briefly worried for the safety of not only Anna, but Pamela too. Anna's thrashing and screaming was violent, and Elizabeth could only imagine what she was envisioning in her head.

"Anna, you are safe." Pamela continued.

"NO! HE'S GUNNA KILL ME!" Anna continued to scream.

"Anna- no Dean don't! Wake in one, two, three, four , five." Pamela said as Dean was thrown backwards by Anna in his attempt to comfort her.

"Anna, Anna, are you alright?" Elizabeth asked quickly before Pamela had the chance too.

Anna rose up from the cot and looked directly down at Pamela, her demeanor was different as she opened her mouth and spoke, "Thank you Pamela, that helped a lot. I remember now."

"Remember what?" Sam quickly questioned

"Who I am." Anna replied softly.

"I'll bite, who are you?" Dean asked as he rubbed his elbow in order to try and stop the stinging sensation that was flowing through it.

"I'm an angel." Anna said with the most stern face that Elizabeth had ever seen.

At her proclamation, Pamela quickly rose off her chair and took a couple steps back. Elizabeth could tell that she was nervous and reached out to pull Pamela back a few more steps. Pam gripped onto her forearm and breathed out a small breath of air.

"An angel?" Elizabeth quickly said. She could feel her heartbeat begin to pick up because Anna was an angel and Anna knew that Elizabeth knew that she was the Antichrist. That meant, that Anna would have to report her, or worse, try and kill her.

"Don't be afraid Elizabeth, I'm not like the others." Anna responded.

"Right, well we don't find that very reassuring." Ruby said from behind Elizabeth.

"As in we- she means me too." Pamela piped in, now letting go of Elizabeth's forearm and making her way over to stand in between Sam and Dean.

"Right… Well.. Castiel and Uriel. They were the ones that came for me?" Anna asked as her eyes locked onto Elizabeth's. There was something in them that made Elizabeth wonder if there was something more that Anna wanted to ask her.

"Yeah… You know them?" Sam asked when Elizabeth didn't respond.

"We were kinda in the same fox hole." Anna responded. Her eyes lingered on Elizabeth's face for a moment longer, as if analyzing her and then they moved to look at Dean.

"So what, they are like your bosses or something?" Dean questioned now that he had Anna's attention.

A small smile spread across Anna's face as she hesitated for a moment before answering Dean. "Try the other way around." She said.

"Well- look at you." Dean replied with an impressed tone.

"And now they want to kill you?" Pamela asked

"Well- orders are orders, I'm sure I have a rather huge death sentence on my head." Anna responded quickly.

Orders are orders. Elizabeth let out a small sigh, she had heard that one before and knew that no good came out of that sentence.

"Why?" Pamela asked as she continued to dig.

"Well…" Anna began as she looked over at Elizabeth again with the same underlying expression that Elizabeth couldn't quite pinpoint.

"I disobeyed. Which is the highest sin that an angel can commit. I fell." Anna continued.

There is was. The word disobeyed. Elizabeth finally locked in on the expression Anna was giving her and her mouth practically fell open as realization washed over her.

Anna knew.

She knew about Castiel, their connection, she had too, that was the only explanation for the look.

Of course, she could be reading too far into this.

No- Anna knew. Elizabeth hadn't thought of the the fact that Anna probably heard her and Cas arguing while standing right outside the room that Sam had looked her in. If she had heard them, that would account for the glancing looks, and the questionable expression that her face held.

"Meaning?" Dean asked

"She fell to earth, became human." Pamela retorted simply.

Elizabeth glanced over at Pamela and then back at Anna. She bit on her bottom lip in an attempt to stifle the question that was burning a hole in her tongue. She knotted her eyebrows together, and then let out a sigh, finally giving up on holding back her question.

"So Angels can just become human?" She blurted out.

Anna looked back at her now with an intrigued expression that also held a hint of pain and regret.

"It hurts, the whole process hurts. Try cutting your kidney out with a butter knife… That's what it felt like to cut out my grace." Anna responded.

"Your what..?" Elizabeth questioned

"Grace. Energy. I hacked it out and fell…" Anna said.

"So.. Wait, let me get this straight. You just some how forgot that you were God's little power ranger?" Dean asked.

"The older I got, yeah." Anna replied.

From across the room, Ruby pushed herself up off the wall that she had been leaning on and looked over at Elizabeth. Their eyes locked for a fraction of a second, which is all the time it took for Elizabeth to understand that they were all royally screwed.

"Guys, I don't think you are appreciating the fact that we are all majorly screwed. Heaven wants her so that they can kill her and Hell wants her, just to have her. An angel, that can be tortured, that can bleed, that pain can be caused to." Ruby said aloud making everyone else in the room turn their attention to her.

"Ruby is right… But I have a plan. I'm going to get my grace back. That way, the demons won't dare try and come after me, and the Angels well… They can't really be angry with me because I'll have my grace again. I'll be a real angel again." Anna responded.

"Great- so where is this mystery energy bar?" Dean questioned

"That, I have no idea, I lost track of it while I was falling to Earth at the rate of 10,000 miles per hour." Anna responded.

"Wait… Do you mean falling falling, like out of the sky, like a comet that a human eye could see?" Sam asked

"Yeah… Why?" Anna replied.

It took approximately five minuets for the wheels in Sam's head to start turning. Elizabeth could practically see the smoke pouring out of his ears as his mind began formulating thoughts that took him over to his laptop.

It then took another five minutes for him to begin looking up research on possible meteor showers that happened around the time of Anna's fall.

"Hey- I'm going to take Pamela home. Hold down the fort okay?" Dean whispered to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth responded to his statement by nodding slightly and glancing over at him. He gave her a small smile and then turned on his heel, flashed one last look at Sam and Ruby and then walked out the door.

Elizabeth let out a sigh as she heard the impala drive off. The day had been so long, and her head was beginning to hurt, along with the rest of her body. Her throat felt as if it was constricting and in a feeble attempt to feel remotely better, she followed in Dean's footsteps and went outside.

The air was cool and washed over her like a gentle rain. Instantly the fog that had been oozing into her head, lifted and she felt like she could breath again. Out of habit, she found herself walking over to the first, stable, rusty car she could find. Her boots crunched on the gravel, but the noise was drowned out by her loud, hectic thoughts, all of which had to do with Castiel.

Quickly, she heaved herself up onto the hood and leaned back against the windshield so that she was looking up into the night sky, which was painted with millions of stars.

"I'm sorry." That was all head could say for himself. He cornered her against a door and Elizabeth knew that if Anna hadn't sent him away with that spell, he would have used physical force to move her and get to Anna.

He had been so dead set on killing Anna, he had looked almost robotic. He even sounded robotic, with his monotone voice that made it seem like he was reading off a script.

Why would he do this to her? Last week she thought that maybe, after their kiss, that they could be something.. What? She had no freakin idea. It wasn't like they could have a stable, functioning relationship. He was an Angel, and she was- well the complete opposite, the Antichrist.

Elizabeth didn't even understand why she was so upset with him. Honestly, what had she expected? Flowers? Chocolate? Castiel to get down on one knee and profess his deep rooted feelings for her? This wasn't some fictional love story that ended in church bells and happiness. This was real life, this was pain, and hurt, and confusion and hell.. The Apocalypse. She knew going into this thing that her and Castiel wouldn't work, they never would, she knew that, frequently told herself that, yet, she allowed herself to open up to Castiel every time she saw him, and then repeatedly crushed herself over and over again when he went off the reservation and attempted to follow Heaven's orders.

"Elizabeth?" A soft voice said from behind her, bringing her out of her headache inducing thoughts.

"Oh Anna, hey." She responded as the red-headed angel came into focus.

"Mind if I sit?" Anna asked.

"Oh, no not at all, here." Elizabeth replied as she sat up and scooted over to make room on the hood for Anna.

"It's beautiful out here..really quiet. The guy who owns this place must be really relaxed all the time." Anna whispered as she looked up at the stars. Elizabeth smiled slightly at the thought of Bobby being relaxed, he was never relaxed, in fact he was always far from it.

"So, I figured there were a few things we needed to talk about. Firstly being the fact that I'm an Angel, who knows that you know about your powers. Which you are not supposed to know about." Anna said, diving straight into the conversation without hesitation.

Elizabeth was a little thrown back, but realization sinked in that this was probably why Anna had been staring at her so intently earlier.

"Right.. Well. Are you planning on telling Heaven? Or killing me?" She questioned

"Oh- defiantly not. I told you before, I'm not like other Angels. You don't deserve to be murdered just because you possess very strong powers. It is not your fault that a demon possessed your father." Anna said bluntly.

"Yeah- right. Right… So uh.. Once we find your grace what are we going to do about Uriel… And Cas- Castiel." Elizabeth asked as she stumbled on using Castiel's nickname.

"I don't know. I'm hoping we find my grace before they find us. That way at least I can match them power wise." Anna responded.

Power wise. Elizabeth had matched Castiel power wise at the cabin. She had felt herself resist his ability that knocked people out. Shock had registered on his face when he realized what she was doing, honestly, shock had registered through her body as well because she had no idea how she did it, she had just focused in on him, and imagined putting up a wall between them so that he couldn't harm her.

Not that she thought he would… Did she?

"Elizabeth, there is something I need to talk to you about, concerning Castiel." Anna said abruptly which instantly caused Elizabeth to furrow her eyebrows and divert her full attention to the Angel.

"Alright- shoot." She said.

"The thing about Angels is, they don't have the capability to care about anything other than Heaven's orders. Heaven is all that matters to them and anything or anyone who tries to disrupt that, usually ends up dead. Castiel may seem interested or intrigued, but trust me when I say that it's just a tactic in order to get close to you and your family and gather intel for Heaven." Anna said.

Elizabeth sat quietly next to Anna, she did not respond right away however, just absorbed the information that Anna was giving her. She already knew all of this, but it hurt more coming out of the mouth of someone else. Saying the actual words aloud stung her more than hearing the thoughts in her head.

"And you're telling me this because?" Elizabeth said as she tried to play everything off.

"Please, don't try and downplay this. I heard you two in the cabin when he was trying to get to me. Someone's tone of voice doesn't just sound the way yours did with Castiel if there isn't any deeper feelings hiding there. I know Elizabeth, I know that there is something going on with you two and I'm trying to warn you not to let it develop anymore because all of it is a lie. Everything. He is just using you and I know this because I know Angels. Especially Angels with the name Castiel." Anna responded.

The last sentence through Elizabeth off for a second, who was Anna to tell her who she could and couldn't develop feelings for?

Who was she to tell her that Castiel was lying to her? Using her. Lying to her?

He wasn't.

Right?

Oh get a grip, for all she knew Castiel could in fact be using her in order to get information for his superiors. Hell, the Angels wanted to know everything about her family, why not put into play a spy so to speak. Maybe Anna was right, maybe Cas was just a distraction, but who was she to act as if they hadn't shared many intense moments with each other.

She knew there had to be something between the two of them. The lingering stares that Cas gave her, the way his eyes screamed things but his face gave away nothing. The way his lips parted ever so slightly when he was gazing at her. The way his eyes would flick from her eyes to her lips and then back to her eyes. The way he kissed her didn't feel like a distraction, it felt raw, and real and very much full of pure, animalistic, need.

"Elizabeth, do you understand me?" Anna said, pulling Elizabeth from her thoughts.

"Yeah Anna I got it." Elizabeth responded harshly.

Anna pursed her lips slightly and let out a small breath as she looked up at the stars again. For a brief moment, Elizabeth thought she was done with her lecture, but it turned out that she was in fact, not.

"I just don't want you to get hurt. You all seem like such great people and I know the damage that someone like Castiel can do to someone like you." Anna whispered

"Someone like me?" Elizabeth questioned

"Nice, innocent, free. Castiel is a machine Elizabeth, he follows orders blindly and he doesn't care who he hurts in the process. Eventually you will be caught in the cross fire." Anna said.

Elizabeth scoffed. Her innocent? Hardly. Obviously Anna didn't know that at the age of 16 she lost her virginity, to some boy she barely knew, in the back on John's impala. Anna also didn't know that she had watched as her boyfriend of two years was chewed to pieces by werewolves. She mustn't have known that Elizabeth enjoyed drinking way to much sometimes, stole money, food, credit cards, and practically used men for her own selfish needs.

Innocent? Yeah. Right.

"I'm hardly any of those things Anna, really..and in case you have forgotten I am the poster girl for sin. Aka I'm the Antichrist, something that Angels are supposed to not only hate, but kill on scene. You may have known the old Castiel, but this one, he's different, he's stuck his neck out for me, for us. That's not something someone who is a machine does." She retorted.

"Maybe- I understand that he told you what you are, and then helped you unlock some of your powers, but Elizabeth that doesn't make him your friend. There could be many reasons as to why he told you and why he helped you dip into your strength. I'm only saying, as your friend. Castiel is not to be trusted, under any circumstances." Anna repeated.

Elizabeth sighed and mentally made a note to give up on the argument. Anna wasn't going to quit until she said that she would leave Castiel alone. A small lump began to form in the back of her throat as she began to let Anna's words sink in. Everything made complete sense. She hardly knew Cas, and every time she thought she did know him, he did something completely off putting that made her cringe with doubt.

Her heart was literally torn in half. One side screamed at her to follow her gut and trust Castiel. The other side yelled at her and pleaded with her to listen to Anna, to not be stupid enough to fall for someone that wasn't even human. It was like torture on her physical being. Not only did her heart ache from being pulled in two different directions, but her head began to pound and the familiar stinging feeling began to tug at the corner of her eyes.

No- she would not cry over someone she barely knew.

"I'm going to go lie down.." Elizabeth said as she quickly jumped off the hood of the old car and wiped away the stray tear that fell down her cheek.

"Please, consider what I told you." Anna pleaded.

"Yeah- yeah I will." Elizabeth replied.

As she turned on her heel and briskly walked into Bobby's house, she heard the familiar roar of the impala pulling back into the driveway, signaling that Dean was back. She didn't take any time to welcome him back as she pushed her way into the living room and glanced over at Sam and Ruby who were elbows deep in research. They didn't seem to notice her, and if they did, they didn't care because she walked right in front of them and headed into the old guest room that Bobby had always let her use while growing up.

Once inside, she ripped off her green jacket and threw it on the floor, while simultaneously kicking off her boots. Her body hurt, and she was completely exhausted. Once she hit the bed, she was out like a light.

Elizabeth sat on top of a picnic table in a vaguely familiar empty park. The wind blew slightly, ruffling both the falling leaves in the trees and her long brown hair. The weather was cool and damp, the air smelled like fresh rain and the atmosphere seemed very calm.

The whole scene was very relaxing.

Until- the familiar sound of fluttering wings hit her ears. It took her half a second to turn her head slightly and see the wind blown brown hair of the blue eyed Angel that she had just been talking to Anna about.

"The point of a dream is for it to be private." Elizabeth piped up harshly.

"My apologies. I just needed to speak with you. Privately." Castiel replied in his natural deep, husky voice.

"Oh, this should be good. Please do tell." Elizabeth responded as she turned her body to know face Castiel. His blue eyes were much clearer than they had been in the cabin. His once stoic face, was now full of cracked emotion and it instantly intrigued Elizabeth.

"My actions at the cabin were less than… Honorable." Castiel began.

"Honorable? Really?" Elizabeth interrupted, causing Cas to sigh slightly and look down at his intertwined hands.

"Elizabeth I had no right to… Try and overpower you. It is obvious that you had enough of that for one day." Castiel continued as he motioned his eyes towards Elizabeth's numerous bruises and scratches.

"No you didn't have the right Castiel. In fact, you don't even have the right to be here right now." Elizabeth replied.

She was angry with him for many things, and Anna's words were still fresh on her mind, making it hard to decide whether or not she actually trusted Castiel.

"I'll go if you want." Castiel said.

Elizabeth bit on her lower lip for a second and then looked up into Castiel's eyes. They were shattered into a million pieces that cut into her body with ease. She wanted him to go, she needed time to sort through everything that she felt for him.

"Go Cas." She answered.

Slowly, Castiel nodded and stood up off the table. He turned to look at Elizabeth one last time, and his breath hitched in the back of his throat as the sun broke through the clouds above and casted its' rays on Elizabeth's face beautifully. Her green eyes illuminated in the light and danced off her skin like the leaves that were blowing aimlessly around in the wind around them. In that pure and raw moment, Castiel forgot everything he was about to say and allowed himself to feel. What he felt, he had no idea, but it tugged at his heart and made his stomach feel as if it was doing a hundred summersaults.

"I'm… I'm truly sorry Elizabeth. I hope the next time we see each other, you will be able to forgive me." Cas finally managed to choke out.

Elizabeth nodded slightly, and with that, he removed himself from her dream.

Elizabeth was no morning person by any means. It usually took two cups of coffee and a decent amount of food before she was ready to go anywhere. Therefore, the hour or so of sleep she managed to snag before Sam and Dean awoke her and threw her into the impala to go in search of Anna's grace was Elizabeth's only savior at the moment.

The thing that made her even more moody was that fact that they drove for hours, located the place where Anna's grace had touched down, but oh- wait, someone stole her grace, leaving nothing behind but the sensation that it had been there.

Now- they stood in a worn down, abandoned barn, using hex bags to hide from the Angels that were currently looking for Anna. Each and every one of them were exhausted, hungry, and slightly irritable.

"We are screwed, beyond screwed, Anna can't angel up therefore, we aren't protected. It's not like we can fight both Heaven and Hell!" Ruby panicked.

Elizabeth wasn't really paying to the ongoing disagreement between Dean and Ruby. She was lost in her head, trying desperately to figure out if she was going to picture Castiel as the Angel who hated all mankind and was manipulative, like Anna had said, or if he was the Angel that visited her in her dream a couple hours ago, nice, apologetic, trustworthy almost. It was not an easy decision to make, she had seen Castiel act both ways, numerous times and it wasn't like he was a human or anything, he was a celestial being. A celestial being who, in a way, was forever bound to her family because he pulled Dean out of Hell and locked away her powers years ago, only to unlock them years later.

If he was this monster that Anna spoke of, why would he do that? Why would he kiss her? Help her? Put his life on the line for her? Visit her in her dreams?

Everything was all so very confusing and Elizabeth wished her thoughts would just shut up.

"The Angels are talking again." Anna said from her sitting position.

Elizabeth pulled herself from her thoughts and perked up to listen.

"What are they saying?" Sam asked

"It's like a recording, playing on loop. Dean Winchester must give us the girl…. Or, we throw him back into damnation." Anna said

Quickly Elizabeth jumped off the piece of wood that she had been sitting on and walked over to Anna.

"To hell they are." She said as her defensive side instantly kicked in as she glanced over at Dean. His eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging slightly open as he tried to digest what Anna had just said. He looked scared, and that was something that Elizabeth rarely saw, and when she did see it, it usually meant very bad things because Dean was hardly scared, and when he was, he didn't openly show it like he was doing now.

"Anna, do you know of any weapon that we can use on an angel?" Sam asked

"To do what?" Anna questioned

"Kill them?" Elizabeth responded with a quizzical tone.

"There is nothing that I know of, and even if there was, we could never get there in time." Anna replied.

"Whoa whoa, everyone, look. I think we should just call Bobby, bring him back from wherever the hell he is." Dean finally said

"And he will tell us what Dean? We know everything that is going on right now and he can't tell us anything that we don't already know." Elizabeth responded.

"Well dammit, we have got to figure out something!" Dean replied as he threw his hands up in exasperation.

Everyone fell quiet as Dean sighed and turned on his heel, treading heavily outside to his impala.

Elizabeth glanced up at Sam, she couldn't think of anything to do but give into the Angels request. They had no way to fight the Angels, they had no way to hide from the Angels, and there was no way she would let them throw Dean back into Hell.

"Sammy…" She began

"I know, we will find something." Sam said cutting her off and giving her a reassuring look that did anything but reassured her.

The night had been long, too long. Dean and Anna had spent most of it together, while Ruby had ran off somewhere, leaving Sam and Elizabeth to research things alone and eventually fall asleep on the books they were reading.

After they awoke, it took all of five minutes before Dean stared drinking. Elizabeth glanced over at him, taking her eyes away from the book that she was reading. Over the years she had become accustomed to Dean's drinking. The only time it bothered her and tipped her off that something was wrong, was when he started early. Like today.

Something was wrong with him, it was etched all over his face and Elizabeth could practically feel the worry oozing out of him. He looked almost guilty and before Elizabeth could open her mouth and ask what was wrong with him. Anna did it for her.

"Nothing. I'm fine." He replied in a light hearted voice that did not match his exterior.

"Liar." Elizabeth whispered as Sam began to pace around the barn.

Dean glanced over at her and narrowed his eyes, silently telling her to shut up.

"Man- something doesn't feel right… Where is Ruby?" Sam said

"I don't know, but will you stop pacing, you're making me nervous." Elizabeth replied.

Sam let out a sigh and turned to look at her.

"I just don't thin-" He began but was instantly cut off by the barn doors flying open and allowing two Angels to enter.

It was almost like instinct for Elizabeth, Sam and Dean to rise quickly and assemble themselves in front of Anna.

"Hello Anna, it's good to see you." Castiel said first.

Usually Uriel spoke first, he always seemed to have something to say about the Winchesters and never kept quiet about it.

"How the hell did you find us?" Sam questioned.

No one said a word, but Elizabeth managed to grab ahold of Castiel's gaze and followed it as he stared at Dean and then flicked his eyes over to Anna. Sam seemed to have caught on too, because before they knew it, everyone was staring at Dean.

"You didn't…" Elizabeth mumbled.

Dean didn't respond, however, his eyes diverted away from his siblings and locked onto Anna's innocent face.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered to her.

Elizabeth wanted to kill him right now. They had spent days looking for and hiding Anna from the Angels, only for Dean to buckle and hand Anna over to them like a piece of meat.

"How could you do this?" Sam questioned, obviously feeling the same way as Elizabeth.

"Because they gave him a choice… Either they kill me. Or they kill you and Elizabeth. I know how their minds work." Anna responded as she said the last sentence, she glanced at Elizabeth who, in turn, knew exactly what the look had meant.

Anna told her so.

Here stood Castiel, his hands shoved into his trenchcoat pockets, his hair wind blown and sticking up in random spots, his eyes slightly narrowed as he took in the scene that was unfolding in front of him. Here stood the Angel that manipulated all of this and threatened her family.

"You did the best you could… I forgive you." Anna breathed out from beside Elizabeth as she took a beat and then kissed Dean slightly.

It took everyone off guard, but no one was more stunned than Castiel. His eyes fixated on the pair for a split second and then he diverted his gaze away from them and over to Elizabeth. He knew that she was angry with him, he could see it and sense it. Her eyes barely made any contact with his and when they did, they looked cold and guarded, just as they had last night in her dream.

He wanted desperately to tell her that he didn't mean anything by all of this, but how could he when he was standing here now, ripping Anna away from them, away from Dean. He had to though, she had disobeyed and fallen.

Was that such a sin though?

Of course it was sin.

Right?

Yes- right. Angels were not supposed to rip out their grace, they were not supposed to fall from Heaven and become human and they were especially not supposed to kiss humans. Then again, there stood Anna, one of her hands on Dean's cheek, and the other resting on his forearm as she whispered her forgiveness.

If she could openly kiss a human being in front of other Angels, why couldn't he? The one he wanted to kiss again was standing a mere five feet from him. An easy distance to cover it two short strides.

"Remember what I told you Lizzy…" Anna whispered as she stepped away from Dean and was now holding Elizabeth's hand.

Castiel knitted his eyebrows and tilted his head slightly, intrigued by what Anna could have possibly told Elizabeth.

"Anna, wait you don't have to do this, we can figu.. I can figure out something." Elizabeth pleaded as she gripped onto Anna's hand tighter.

"No- this is how it must be. Now… no more tricks, no more running, I'm ready." Anna said as she dropped Elizabeth's hand and took a step forward towards Castiel and Uriel.

Castiel swallowed. The more he stood here, watching them all, the less and less he wanted to take Anna. Deep down he knew he didn't want to kill her. He didn't want Heaven to get their hooks back into her. They were friends once, they fought side by side, and it brought him joy to see her happy and free.

"Anna- I'm sorry.." He breathed out as his thoughts echoed into words.

"No- you're not, you don't know the feeling." Anna responded harshly.

However right she thought she was, she wasn't. He knew the feeling and it was currently weighing him down just thinking about it.

"Still- we have history…but.." He began again

"Orders are orders, yeah I got it. Just make it quick." Anna replied, cutting him off.

Anna's words pulled at Castiel and stung him in ways that he didn't expect. She was right, orders were orders, but that didn't make this circumstance any less hard. Slowly, he breathed out a sigh and just as he was about to make an attempt at Anna, a unfamiliar voice echoed off the walls of the barn.

"Don't you dare touch a hair on her head." Alastair said as he appeared out of thin air with two other demons, and a bleeding Ruby.

"Hello beautiful, miss me?" The demon asked as he winked at Elizabeth. The motion was extremely small, but it made Castiel's stomach lunge forward with a white hot surge of anger.

"How dare you come into this room you pulsing sore." Uriel said in a low menacing voice that Castiel knew all too well.

Quickly, Dean, Sam and Anna moved out of the way. However, Elizabeth stayed put, which made Dean hurry back over and yank her backwards by her arm. Castiel silently thanked him, for he did not want Alastair getting his hands on her.

"Name calling, that really hurt my feelings you sanctimonious prick." Alastair responded. Once again, Castiel followed the demons eyes as he gazed over at not only Anna, but Elizabeth. Finally Castiel had given up on fighting the anger and let out a cold and dangerous threat.

"Turn around and walk away. Now."

"Sure just give us the girl. Or girls. I'd take them both. Show Lizzy there what she is capable of and gather valuable information from the red head." Alastair responded.

Over his dead body, would Alastair be taking Elizabeth to hell. Slowly, Castiel made his way over to stand next to Uriel. He had about enough of this demon, and it was taking the majority of his strength not to smite him right here and now.

"You know who we are, and what we are. You know exactly what we will do, now I'm not going to say it again. Leave. Immediately. Or we lay you to waste." He said in his lowest and most threatening voice.

"I think I'll take my chances, thanks." Alastair responded.

The air between the demons and angels changed almost at once. It took only one look from Alastair for Castiel to know that he wasn't going to leave willingly. Apparently, Uriel got the message, because he quickly lunged forward and knocked one of the demons into a wooden post.

Castiel turned, and quickly connected his fist with Alastair's face. The crunch of the bones underneath his fist instantly satisfied him and surged him forward so that he could connect another fist with the demons face again. Alastair's head snapped back forward, but before he had the chance to retaliate on Castiel, he grabbed the demon and attempted to smite him from the inside out.

For the second day in a row, Castiel hit a wall. Something was preventing him from putting Alastair back where he belonged and instantly his eyes widened in response to being unsuccessful.

"Sorry Angel, why don't you run back to daddy!" Alastair said as he brought his fist back and connected it hard with Castiel's face. Cas went flying into the ground hard, and Elizabeth had to stop herself from running over to him.

Elizabeth watched in horror as Uriel put his hands on one of the demons head and sent a white light shooting throw him. It was almost impressive how easily Uriel dealt with the lesser demons, however Elizabeth didn't have time to be impressed because her attention was drawn away from Uriel and over to Castiel who was know being choked by Alastair as he said unfamiliar words in Latin.

The chant grew louder and Elizabeth could see Castiel's eyes growing wider and wider as he tried to grasp for air. She could hardly stand watching any of this and the next thing she knew she was stalking over to Alastair, ignoring Sam and Dean as they called after her.

Alastair was not going to kill Castiel. Elizabeth wouldn't let him.

"Hey- beautiful." She said sarcastically which made Alastair turn to look at her. Quickly, she lifted her arm, and all at once, the sensation that had been building up in her surged forward. Alastair released his grip on Castiel and was instantly flung backwards against the wall. His hands went around his throat as if he was being strangled by a pair of invisible hands.

A pair of invisible hands that were being directed by Elizabeth.

Slowly, Elizabeth clinched her fist and felt more energy pulse out of her, which caused Alastair to undergo even more strangulation. All the anger and confusion that Elizabeth had felt over these last couple of weeks, seemed to flow out of her and into the demon that was pinned against the wall. She couldn't hear anything that was going on around her, and her vision had tunneled so that she was only staring directly into the now white eyes of Alastair. A small smile crept across Elizabeth's face as she watched Alastair struggle against her powers.

The amount of power that was flowing out of her felt amazing and despite being afraid of her strength, she felt completely comfortable and in charge of herself.

Then, suddenly, as if a rubber band had snapped, warm liquid began to flow out of Elizabeth's nose. Her hand flew up to touch it and she looked down at her fingers, realization washed over her that it was blood and quickly her hands began to shake and her head began to hurt. It was now Alastair's turn to smile as he felt the grip around his neck loosen and then completely fall away.

"You still need more practice Elizabeth. I could teach you if you'd like, that way only one Winchester would throw away their promising future." Alastair said as he regained control of his body and walked over to the now weakened Elizabeth.

"This is what happens when you use to much juice at one time without practicing first." Alastair continued.

Elizabeth's knees began to grow weak and she felt like they were about to give out on her. Just as she was about to fall, two strong hands wrapped themselves around her waist at a sideways angle and helped her stand. At first, she thought it was Sam or Dean, but upon further investigation she found that she was gripping hard onto Castiel's shoulder. Had she not been so weak from using her powers, she would have bolted out of embarrassment.

"I see.." Alastair began.

"SHUT YOUR EYES!" Anna screamed, cutting Alastair off. Quickly, everyone in the room did as they were told and Elizabeth, without thinking, buried her head into Cas's shoulders. Shielding herself from the blinding white light that was emitting itself from Anna.

She could hear the screams coming from Anna as her grace filled her up. She could also hear the screams from the demons as they vanished with the appearance of her grace. She knew everything around her was awful, but all she could think about was how firm Castiel felt as he held her up in his arms. In this moment, she never knew why she doubted him. His embrace felt warm, and oddly comforting, it was almost like the feeling she got when she arrived at Bobby's after a long hunting trip.

As soon as the white light disappeared, Elizabeth pushed herself off of Castiel and stood at little less wobbly away from him. Their eyes locked for a fraction of a second before Dean marched over to her and looked down at her with a very fatherly expression.

"What were you thinking?" He asked her roughly.

"I don't have the energy Dean." She responded.

"Oh right maybe because you used it all trying to- I don't even know what with Alastair." Dean replied.

"Guys, maybe another time?" Sam whispered as he glanced around the room, noticing that not only were the demons gone, but so was Anna. Dean followed Sam's gaze and it quickly dawned on him that Anna was back to being some big time angel now.

"So what, Anna's got her wings back?" Dean questioned as he looked between Uriel and Castiel.

"Yes, and this is not over ye-" Uriel began, but was cut off by Castiel putting his hand on Uriel's shoulder and slowly shaking his head.

"Brother, it is over." He whispered,

Uriel let out a sigh, and nodded slightly. Then without another word, both Castiel and Uriel were gone.

Elizabeth let out a breath of air and slowly leaned against the last wooden post standing. She wasn't paying attention as Ruby said her goodbyes and then left, she didn't even hear Sam round on her and ask her what the hell she was thinking going after Alastair like that. When she didn't answer Sam shoved her shoulder, bringing her attention to full focus.

"What?" She snapped

"Alastair. Explain." Sam snapped back

"Oh like you have any right to judge me, you're practically shacking up with a demon Sam." Elizabeth responded.

Sam ran his hand through his hair and then put his hands on his hips as he stared down at Elizabeth.

"He could have killed you. You're not strong enough to take on a demon of his strength." Sam replied in a slightly softer tone.

"Right, and she never will be because you aren't supposed to be using your powers Elizabeth. Just like Sam. What don't you two seem to get about that huh? These powers weren't meant for good things, but here you are, both using them as if you have any control over them." Dean finally said.

"Dean- I can't just shut my powers off, they are apart of me now!" Elizabeth replied.

"That doesn't mean you have to use them as soon as your boyfriend gets himself in a bind." Dean snapped.

Everyone fell silent for a second as the word boyfriend echoed off the walls around them.

"Castiel is not my boyfriend. I don't even know the guy." Elizabeth whispered as her cheeks began to burn.

"No but I'm sure you'd like too." Dean replied harshly.

"Dean. Come on." Sam said

Elizabeth knew Sam and Dean were diving into dangerous territory with this subject and she frantically searched her mind for something to say in order to get them out this topic. It only took her a few seconds to remember something that Alastair said and before she could stop herself, she was blurting out a very insinuating question,

"Dean- what did Alastair mean when he said that he didn't want me to be the other Winchester who threw away all their potential?"

Dean was quiet for a second as he wiped his hand over his face and bit down on his bottom lip. Something cracked in his eyes as he glanced between Sam and Elizabeth and quickly everything he had been saying about her and Castiel floated away.

Dean looked absolutely broken as he let out a quivering sigh.

"He was talking about me…in Hell." Dean began

Quickly Sam shot Elizabeth a questioning look, but Elizabeth didn't return it because she had her eyes plastered on Dean's face.

"It wasn't just 4 months… Time in Hell, it's different or something. What seemed like 4 months to you guys was actually more like 40 years to me." Dean whispered.

Elizabeth's face instantly softened as Dean's appearance began to become more and more vulnerable.

"Dean…" She whispered, but he held up his hand and clinched down hard on his jaw. Trying with all his might not to let the tears escape his eyes.

"Let me get this out Lizzy." He replied.

"They had me on this thing called the rack, and every day, they would cut and slice into me in ways that… Either of you wouldn't believe. It was never ending torture… And then suddenly, after they had practically destroyed my body, I would be whole again. Like magic… And they would start the torture all over again…. After each and every day, Alastair would come over to me, and make me an offer.. he would take me off the rack, but only if I put souls on it… And every day I told him to stick it where the sun don't shine. " Dean said through a struggling voice.

Elizabeth could see the tears pooling around his green eyes now, she knew that in any minute they would over flow onto his face, and that would shatter her heart into a million pieces.

"I held out for 30 years, and when 40 came around, I just couldn't take it anymore guys.. So I got off that rack, God help me I got off it… And then I started tearing other souls apart… I… I lost count of how many I ripped to shreds… the things that I did to them…" Dean whispered.

Sam cleared his throat and looked down at Dean, who was know letting the numerous tears stream down his face.

"Dean… You held out for 30 years. That's more than anyone would have.." Sam replied softly. Elizabeth took a step towards Dean as more tears began to stream down his face. Her heart ached for him, and she felt her own eyes begin to water up as she watched Dean break down in front of her.

"The way I feel… inside me… I wish I couldn't feel anything. I wish I couldn't feel a damn thing." Dean whispered through his quivering lips.

Elizabeth had enough, and she quickly closed the gap between her and Dean and threw her arms around his neck, swallowing him in the warmest hug she could muster up. Her eyes locked onto Sam's as Dean lowered his head into her shoulder and shook silently as more tears escaped his eyes and fell onto his jacket.

"Shh.. Dean it's okay.. It'll be okay." Elizabeth comforted.

She desperately wanted to believe those words, but as she held the sobbing Dean and stared into Sam's broken eyes, she knew that they were already damaged beyond repair, and the worst part was, they hadn't even stopped the Apocalypse yet.