Takes place between Seasons 8 & 9 of the well-beloved Supernatural show, starring Misha Collins, Jensen Ackles, and Jared Padelecki. A few characters are mine, but the entire franchise belongs to Eric Kripke, Bobby- er, Robert Singer, and all those other folks up in Canada.

Awesome.

No sooner had I gotten a can of soup out that the sound of rustling wings reached my ears. Dropping what I was doing, I ran back into my living room only to find...nothing. The woman, Ambriel/Natasha, was gone. "Dammit!" I exclaimed, pinching the bridge of my nose. Angel or no, Ambriel was already an expert in selective hearing.

I sighed. Well, complaining about it wasn't going to get me anywhere. I turned around, intent on at least heating up the soup when the back door opened. "Elijah! Have you seen Ambriel?"

He looked up at me, arms full of groceries. "Hello to you too. No, I haven't seen Bambi. Why, did you lose our angel friend?" Taking a bag from him, I slapped him on the arm.

"Bambi? Really? This isn't funny, Eli." I snorted in irritation and carried my bag into the kitchen, setting it down on the island. The paper rustled as I pulled out the food items. "We don't know how much damage she's taken already, if she really fell from Heaven."

"I thought there were no injuries on her?" He began to unpack his own bag, carefully setting the clothes on the counter. "These are the right size, yeah?"

"No physical injuries. That's not to say something else isn't right. Or what the inside of her vessel was like. Besides, her aura was...off."

"Off? And that's not the angel's real body?"

"Not bad off. Like...It was weak. A battery that needed to be charge, if you will. And no, that's a vessel. Ambriel said her name was...Natasha." I walked over to the clothes and began to check the sizes on them. "Yeah, these all match the tags on her clothes."

Elijah paused for a moment. "Did she...possess the body? Like demons do?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure...but it didn't seem like the host spirit was held against her will or anything. I think, y'know, it was a voluntary thing. I'll ask about it when she comes back." Under my breath, I added, "If she comes back."

He just sighed. "How do we know it's even a real angel? What if this is a new creature created by...Eve?"

"Oh, sweetie." I wrapped my arms around him, laying my head on his chest for a moment. "I don't think Eve is going to come back. She's been killed, remember? You don't have to worry about her any more." He was still silent, and I pursed my lips in worry. Elijah, along with almost all of my clients, had been scarred during Eve's war with Crowley. While many were being rehabilitated via therapy, very few were capable of getting completely over what'd happened. "Trust me. This isn't Eve."

"I guess you're right." He pulled away from me, and picked up the chicken soup and pot. "Hungry, huh?"

"I was going to make that for Ambriel. She claims angels don't need to eat, but I figured her vessel would at least appreciate having a decent meal."

Handing the items back to me, Eli began to put the groceries away. I, meanwhile, once again resumed my cooking. "Well, have you tried to pray to her? If she's an angel, she should be able to hear you, right?"

"I suppose. Hand me that spoon, will you?" Poking a hole into the can, I poured its contents into the pot and turned up the heat. "You mind testing it out, while I fix this up?"

"Umm..." I looked back to find Eli in the midst of hesitation.

"What?"

"I think it'd be a better idea if you did it. I don't think she'll come for a monster like me."

A scowl affixed itself to my face. "For heaven's sake, Eli. You aren't a monster; you're just a skinwalker."

"Just a skinwalker?"

"Yes! Look, do you go out and murder innocents? Do you deliberately harass others for pure amusement? Do you, oh I don't know, unleash the Apocalypse and allow Satan to break free from Hell?"

"Well, no...but, Irina, not everyone holds your same ideas. You've hung around hunters; Hell, you used to be a hunter."

"I still am, thank you."

"But not like that. You're willing to believe that nonhumans aren't all monsters. Others, especially angels, I'm betting, aren't as keen to see it like that. Besides, you've already talked to her. Last time she saw me, I was a dog."

I chewed on my lower lip. Eli had a point. Considering Ambriel knew me more than she knew him, she'd probably be more likely to listen to me. And not smite me. "Fine. You watch the soup."

"Whoa, wait, you're doing it now?" The skinwalker moved over to grab the spoon from me, nonetheless.

"Yes I'm doing it now. Ambriel is still weak, whether she believes it or not. I don't want her to die." Eli gave me a funny look, and I paused. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Uh huh."

"It's just...it's times like this when it's easy to see why you decided to do what you do, that's all."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, Romeo. I'll be back."

"Back?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna stand outside. Maybe she'll be able to hear me better."

"Hah, sure. Good luck."

"Thanks." I stopped at the back door, then threw over my shoulder, "Don't burn the soup!" He just laughed, and I stepped thorough the door.

Once outside, I went over Eli's suggestion again. All I had to do was pray to Ambriel, and cross my fingers that she heard me. Wouldn't be too hard, right? After all, I talked to angels every day!

Not.

Letting out a deep sigh, I ran some words through my mind, and began to talk. "Uh, hey, Ambriel. Look, I know it's probably demeaning for you to take orders from humans, but I seriously don't think you're strong enough to take on the world yet. Like I said, I don't want you to die on me, but I also want you to know that you're not on house arrest anything. Consider it more like... a vacation. Ish." I cleared my throat. "Look, can you please just come back here, maybe let us talk through a plan before running off? Again?"

The rustling of wings drew my attention. Looking up, I saw Ambriel standing there, clutching a bag of clothes and still dressed in my pajamas. "Ambriel?"

"I...think you were right." Blood dripped from her mouth, and the angel began to collapse.

I sprinted forward, grabbing the young woman before her head could hit the ground. "Ambriel!" I exclaimed. At the top of my lungs, I added, "Elijah! Get out here!" He came leaping out, stopping to kneel beside the angel.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. She appeared, like you guessed she would, but then she passed out."

He frowned, then carefully gathered her in his arms. "Come on. We need to put her back on the couch." I nodded, grabbing her bag before following Eli back inside.