A/N: Thank you again for the reviews and follows. You all are amazing and I truly appreciate you!


Hearts are worn,

In these dark ages

You're not alone

In this story's pages

The light has fallen

Amongst the living and the dying

And I'll try to hold it in

I watch the heavens

But I find no calling

Something I can do to change what's coming

Stay close to me

While the sky is falling

I don't wanna be left alone

Don't want to be alone

Sarah McLachlan – Worlds on Fire


Aeron sat on the steps near the entrance to the motel, staring absently in space. She had been watching people come and go from the motel, all of them seemingly walking down the street without a care in the world. All of them unaware that Lucifer was lurking out there, somewhere, waiting to strike. She ran her hands through her hair, tugging at the ever-increasing number of knots, before finally giving up and pulling it back into a ponytail. In the distance, she heard the rumbling of an engine, its familiarity comforting. As it drew near, she stood, happy to see the Impala and Bobby pull up to the curb.

"Hey Bobby," she said wearily, with a slight smile.

"Aeron," he said, almost as if he were surprised to see her sitting there alone. He walked over to her and pulled her into a tight hug, "where are the boys?"

"Room 35," she said, pulling away to look him in the eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked quietly. "You look…" she paused, not entirely sure how to put to words what she wanted to say.

"Yeah," Bobby said with a slight laugh, "Must just be tired is all."

"I hear 'ya there," she replied with a small smile. "Come on," she turned towards the motel. "I'll show you to the room."


They had been researching for what seemed like hours, the silence almost overwhelming as they looked for some sort of lead on Michael and his sword. She sat on the bed, attempting to keep her eyes open, praying silently that one of them would find something soon so that they could get out and actually do something. Research had never been her strong point and add to that the lack of sleep, she was becoming restless and irritated.

She looked up at Sam when Bobby asked him if everything was okay, and her heart broke for him. He looked so defeated, so broken as he began to explain what had truly happened with the final seal. She caught Dean's eye as Bobby began his approach towards Sam and wanted to just hug Sam when Bobby said he wanted nothing to do with him anymore. She watched him walk out the door and she couldn't help but wonder how much more repentance Sam would have to show before Dean and Bobby would be willing to forgive him. Was what he had done really in his control? She wasn't sure. Yes, he had made several, if not dozens of mistakes, but his heart had been in the right place. He had been seduced into believing that he was going to save not only the world, but also his brother from the Devil himself.

Aeron went to stand, wanting to follow him, knowing that he needed someone to be at least a little bit understanding. One look from Dean had her sitting back down on the bed and pulling a book into her lap to continue reading.

"Let's just keep looking," Dean said, walking back towards the book he had left on a counter top. He looked at her again, raising an eyebrow.

"Right, keep looking," she said unenthusiastically, flipping a page.


Now she knew it had been hours. The sky had turned dark and her eyes continued to droop as she read word after boring word from an incredibly dull book.

She tossed the book to the side as Dean and Bobby began talking about a storage unit John had kept in his name.

Her eyes continued to close, as she fought the increasing desire for sleep. It wasn't until she saw Bobby punch Dean that she woke up completely, jumping to her feet.

"What the hell Bobby!" she yelled, sucking in a breath when he turned to look at her with black eyes.

She lunged across the room, towards Ruby's knife when the door burst open. Her fingers just barely missed the hilt of the knife as a male and female walked into room. The male grabbed onto her, pinning her arms to her side, her body pressed tightly against his.

"Get off me asshole," she grunted angrily, struggling to free herself.

"Shut up," the woman responded, backhanding her across the face. Aeron could taste blood in her mouth and glared at the woman as she walked towards the table to grab the knife.

Aeron stopped struggling as the female talked to Dean, realizing that her attempts were futile. Her eyes searched the room for some way to free both herself, Dean, and take out the demons all in one shot. She was coming up short on all three counts. The female, who she now knew as Meg, walked towards her, carelessly waving the knife around, before she slowly began running the tip of the blade down Aeron's cheek.

"These are the days of miracle and wonder Dean…" she continued talking, slicing a thin cut along Aeron's cheek. "We really owe your brother a fruit basket."

Aeron's eyes met Dean's and she could see the cold anger in them as he attempted to divert Meg's attention back to himself. She struggled against the hold of the male as Meg kissed Dean and then passed the knife over to demon Bobby. She continued struggling as Bobby raised the knife above his head, screaming in horror as Bobby stabbed himself, the sound a momentary distraction. Dean lunged at the male, knocking her loose from his grip, the two of them struggling to get the upper hand. Aeron looked over as Sam walked into the room, a stupid move on her part as she was backhanded across the face by the demon she had been struggling with. Aeron looked up to see Dean pin the demon on the ground and she grabbed the knife, plunging it into the man's body, watching as the demon within him died quickly. She turned her attention to Meg, ready to toss the knife over to where Sam lay on the ground with Meg standing over him, watching as the demon recognized she had lost the upper hand in the fight and abandoned the body.

"Bobby," she heard Dean say and she turned to see the older may lying on the ground, bleeding profusely.


They burst into the emergency room, Sam and Dean carrying a delirious Bobby between the two of them. Aeron internally struggled to keep it together as they rushed him away towards a trauma room. How many more of their friends and family would they have to lose? How many more loses could she mentally handle? She honestly didn't want to know the answer. Bobby had to survive, that's all she really knew. She watched as his body disappeared down the hallway before turning to Sam and Dean.

"Sam, we have to go," Dean said, looking at this brother.

She wanted to protest as much as Sam was, but understood there was nothing they could do for Bobby. His life now lay in the hands of the emergency room doctors and nurses.

"Aeron," Dean said quietly. "Stay with Bobby," he caught her eyes briefly before turning to his brother. "Come on Sam," he said as he headed towards the doors. Aeron followed quickly behind.

"What are you talking about Dean!" she said, grabbing his arm to stop him. "I'm not staying here! What good am I going to be here? The only thing that I'm going to end up doing is talking to law enforcement and attempting to come up with some plausible story! No Dean, you are taking me with you!" she pushed past him, walking towards the car.

"Aeron," he paused, grabbing her arm and pulling her close. He moved them to the side so Sam wouldn't overhear. "I don't want you getting hurt over this."

"Dean, you're being ridiculous. I am going with you! This is what I am, this is what I do. You can't start getting overly protective of me now. It's ridiculous! Why now? Why this job?"

"Because I can't risk losing you too!" he exclaimed, his voice raising a bit. "I've almost completely lost Sam, and Bobby to this. I can't lose you too."

"Dean, let me help you. You can't guarantee that they aren't going to win as it is. If they do, I'm already dead. You need all the help you can get. Don't start pushing me away now." She reached up and brushed a piece of hair off his forehead. "Haven't you learned anything in the past 48 hours? You can't do this alone," she looked over to Sam, meeting his eyes. "Neither of you can do this alone. This is it; this is the beginning of the end of the world. You need all the help you can get. So just…" she sighed exasperatedly, "just take the help when it's offered. Stop arguing and accept that there are people out there that want to help you."

"Fine," Dean said walking towards the car. As they neared, he pulled Aeron aside for another brief moment.

"Just," he paused. "I don't want to see you hurt. You, Sam, and Bobby are all I have left and I'm getting tired of watching everything I love crumble to the ground."

She wasn't sure what she could say to that. Part of her wanted to tell him that she was a big girl and that she could take care of herself, yet the other half wanted nothing more than to show her own vulnerabilities and confess that she loved being taken care of. Instead, she nodded her head, silent, before kissing him softly on the lips and walking the rest of the distance to the car.

The drive to the storage facility was silent. No one knew exactly what to say. Honestly, none of them really wanted to speak anyway. She followed the boys to the storage locker, her eyes scanning the darkness around them. She hated not knowing what she was walking into, and yet she was constantly placing herself in that position.

Aeron stepped over the bodies lying on the floor, attempting to push from her mind that at one time they had been innocent people just minding their own business prior to being virtually raped by a demon. She shook off the thought, wandering around the area, looking at the objects John had obviously thought important enough to keep locked in a storage facility. She looked up at the sound of Zachariah's voice, shuttering and internally asking for forgiveness as she wished the angel would just die and go away. She stepped closer to Dean as the door slid closed behind her, unconsciously wanting to protect him, her heart skipping a beat when Zachariah revealed that Dean was actually the Michael Sword.

"What you thought you could actually kill Lucifer? You simpering wad of insecurity and self-loathing? No," Zachariah stated with a smirk. Aeron placed a hand on Dean's back, wanting to project strength and love to him through her touch. It seemed to work as Dean began to talk back to the angel.

"What do you mean I'm the word?" Dean asked.

"You're Michael's weapon," Zachariah paused, "or rather his receptacle. You're the vessel. You are chosen! It's a great honor Dean."

"Yeah, life as an angel condom," Dean stated sarcastically, and Aeron couldn't help but smile, "I think I'll pass."

Aeron smirked at Zachariah, her eyes meeting his briefly. She was shocked at the anger she saw within their depths. It amazed her that on some level she actually preferred Ruby to this thing. She wasn't entirely sure how to refer to Zachariah so she decided to go with thing. She hated him. She wasn't entirely sure how someone like Castiel had come from the same place as Zachariah.

She felt Dean's body shift back into hers and she focused back on the conversation, only to see Zachariah raise his hand, pointed at Dean as if it were a gun before it quickly shifted to Sam and he fell screaming in agony, his hands going to his now obviously broken leg.

"Stop!" Aeron screamed, moving to Sam's side, checking his wounds. She remained on the ground by Sam, trying to figure out some way to get out of the storage unit or some way to get rid of the angels. She had seen the symbol Dean had painted in his own blood, but she couldn't, for the life of her, remember what it looked like in order to reproduce it. She looked up at Dean when he was given the choice between Bobby walking again or not. She prayed that Dean would not give into the angel's demands. Zachariah knew that by using the people Dean loved against him, he would ultimately wear the man down and he would have to give into their demands. She hoped that he would be strong enough to not let that happen. Even if it was at her detriment.

"No," Dean said, his eyes cold.

"Then how about we heal you from stage four stomach cancer?" Zachariah stated as Dean began coughing up blood. Aeron's blood ran cold at the sight and she shifted unconsciously towards Dean. She internally berated herself, making herself stay by Sam's side. If she needed him to be strong, she needed to do the same thing. She closed her eyes against the tears that formed when he let out a weak no.

"Then let's get really creative, let's see how Aeron does without her lungs," Zachariah said, his eyes meeting hers.

Aeron felt an immense pressure on her chest and she struggled to pull in a breath, but was doing nothing more than gasping as if she was a fish out of water. It was amazing, it didn't burn, it didn't hurt, there was just this overwhelming fight response in which her brain was telling her it needed oxygen and yet, she had no way of complying with that request. She struggled aimlessly for air, her eyes meeting Dean's for a brief moment. Sam pulled himself to her, his arms going around her body as he looked down at her helplessly. She could feel her heartbeat racing as it attempted to push more oxygenated blood to her brain, and she knew that it was only a matter of minutes before her organs would begin to shut down and she would lose consciousness.

She raised her head as a bright light enveloped the room, her gaze landing on a body as it fell to the ground. She looked back up, her head beginning to pound and met the eyes of Castiel, her vision beginning to blur at the edges, darkness seeping in to take over her line of sight. She watched Castiel fend off the other angels in the room, trying with her oxygen-deprived mind, to figure out how he was there. She closed her eyes as the sounds around her began to become digitized, her mind beginning to shut down completely. An odd feeling overtook her, and with what she believed would be her last feeble gasp, she felt air rush into her mouth and fill her newly reformed lungs. She opened her eyes and slowly began to stand up, slipping out of Sam's grasp. She was dizzy, her blood beginning to flow again through her veins, her head pounding with each beat of her heart. She watched as Castiel placed his hands on the boys' chests before moving over to hears, sympathy in his eyes.

"This will hurt," he said quietly. She nodded slightly and ground her teeth together as he touched her, carving the Enochian Sigil into her ribs as well. She rubbed her eyes, wishing her headache away as the boys continued to talk. She didn't open her eyes again until she heard the flapping of Castiel's wings, signaling he had left. She walked over the Dean, reaching out to wipe the blood off his lips, his arms slipping around her, pulling her against his body in a hug.

"So, what do we do now?" she asked quietly.

"Go check on Bobby," Dean said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head with a sigh, "After that? I don't know. Maybe he will have some idea."


Aeron walked back towards Bobby's hospital room, a cup of tea in her hand and specific instructions from the doctor Dean had forced her to see on how to handle her headache. She could hear Bobby's yelling down the hall and almost laughed when the doctor came running out of the room as if he was being chased by, she paused, thinking. Her mother had always said begin chased by the Devil himself. At this point, it could be actually true. She shook her head, cursing herself for the action as a sharp pain shot begin her eyes. Hopefully the drugs she had been given would kick in soon or it was going to be an incredibly long night.

She walked into Bobby's room, giving each of the men a small, sad smile. She leaned against the doorframe, listening as Dean began talking about not taking sides in this fight. The fight only for themselves and the rest of humanity.

"We take them all on," Dean said passionately, "We kill the Devil, hell we even kill Michael if we have to, but we do it our own damn selves."

"And how are we supposed to do all this, genius?" Bobby asked with a frown.

"I got no idea," Dean said with a shrug and Aeron had to smile at him. "But what I do have is a GED and a give 'em hell attitude and I'll figure it out," he continued with a determined look on his face.

She walked over to where he was standing, slipping her hand into his, lending her support, even if she didn't actually say anything. She knew that a part of him was just trying to give Bobby some hope, especially as he was laid up in the hospital. She stepped over to the side of the bed after Dean said good-bye and turned to walk out of the room.

"Get well soon Bobby," she said quietly, kissing him on the cheek. "I'm gonna need your help keeping these two in line," she smiled as she straightened up. "I'll check on you tomorrow," she said, turning to follow Dean out of the room.

Aeron walked beside Dean, not completely listening to the conversation around her. She was so wrapped up in everything that had happened, her mind couldn't compartmentalize everything. She didn't stop to listen until she heard Dean state that they didn't have a snowball's chance in hell. Her heart constricted painfully at the thought, and she wanted nothing more than to deny what he was saying venomously, but she knew he was right. Deep down she knew that they were honestly fighting a losing battle. It was one thing to take on a group of demons, but to think that they would succeed in bringing down the demons, the angels, and Lucifer all at once? It was nothing more than wishful thinking.

"…you chose a demon over your own brother," Dean said with a shake of his head, "and look what happened. You were the one I depended on the most," he said softly, "and you let me down in ways I can't even…" his voice faded away and Aeron slipped her hand into his, giving it a light squeeze. She could feel his pain, seeping through his skin into her own.

"What can I do?" Sam asked, looking down at the ground.

"Honestly?" Dean replied, "Nothing. I just don't…I don't think that we could ever be what we were, you know? I just don't think I could trust you."

Aeron wanted nothing more than to mend what had been broken and she could feel her eyes well up as Dean squeezed her hand before letting go and walking away. She raised her eyes to meet Sam's, words escaping her. With a sad nod of her head she turned and headed towards the car, she opened the passenger side door and with a quick glance in Sam's direction, she slid into the seat beside Dean, his hand immediately searching out her own.

"You were right," he said quietly.

"About what?"

"I need you right here with me...beside me," he said looking straight ahead out the windshield. "You are all I have left right now."

Aeron opened her mouth to protest, to tell Dean that Sam was standing right outside wanting to help, but stopped as Dean looked directly into her eyes. This wasn't the time. All Dean really needed was someone to be there unconditionally for him, and for now…she was that person. She shifted closer to him, her hand reaching out to cup his cheek, her thumb running over his cheekbones.

"I'm right here," she whispered, leaning in to lightly brush her lips against his. "Whatever you need, I'm right here."