Three Men, an Angel and a Teenager

Chapter 3

Mary reappeared in the centre of a field; she didn't know exactly where she was, she had needed to get out of the motel room her destination simply somewhere isolated. Looking down at her hands she saw that her skin was still glowing, she could feel the intensity of the power as it began to build up inside her, curling its way through her body. She continued to look at her hands as long tendrils of her grace began to seep through her skin and knew that she had to get her emotions under control. Sinking to her knees she sent up a silent prayer for strength to her Father. Unbidden tears filled her eyes, the blue orbs luminous as she struggled to draw the power back within her body.

She didn't know how long she knelt there for, but she felt the exact moment that her dad appeared in the field, his grace overloading her fragile hold on her power.

"Please you have to go, I won't get this under control if you're here" she cried, the pain of holding back the burst of energy struggling to be released causing her body to tremble.

Castiel stood watching the girl, who claimed to be his daughter as she bent over in pain, long tendrils of pure angelic power flowing from, and around her body and within the glow he could see the faint outline of wings. He had never in the millennia since his creation seen a being such as this, but she was a child and the power wrecking havoc within her body at this moment was more than she was able to control on her own. Stepping forward into the energy swirling around the child he immediately felt the purity of the grace encompassing them both.

"Please... please don't" she sobbed, as she bent over, dragging in deep gulping breaths as she struggled with the power within her.

Ignoring her weak cries he dropped to one knee and wrapped his hands around her arms, pulling her up to look directly into her eyes "You must focus on the energy, pull your grace back within yourself." He said forcefully, shaking her lightly as her eyes began to close, a grimace of pain on her face.

"Think of a place where you feel safe, where you feel calm and go there in your mind, then allow your grace to return to that place where it resides deep within you."

Mary looked into the crystal blue eyes of her father for a moment before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Breathing in his familiar scent she thought of home, of her mom, her dad and the love they shared; almost immediately she began to feel calmer, the energy surrounding her fading as it was drawn back into her body. They sat there for a long while as Mary's grace returned to her completely and the energy dissipated.

Pulling away, Mary whispered "Thanks... sometimes ... sometimes if I get too emotional I find it hard to keep a lid on my grace, never that bad though... so thank you."

"Does the loss of control happen often?"

"Not now...more when I was little. Kiddie tantrums really were a bitch on my mom and dad. My dad thinks that as soon as my body matures and my powers fully develop that my grace will settle down too... something about my grace continuously fluctuating because of the continuous changes going on within me. Thankfully I don't think it's going to be much longer I haven't had an episode in a long time, but I guess being thrown back in time's gonna shake things loose... " she explained, trailing off as she looked up at her dad who was staring at her intently as she spoke.

"You are my child?" he asked quietly, he looked into her eyes, seeking confirmation and truth from their depths.

"Yes, in my time you're my dad, but here in this time... I don't know." She replied truthfully, reaching out tentatively she placed a hand on his, happy when he didn't pull away "I know that having a child, particularly a hybrid child is horrifying for you, the laws of Heaven are clear, but the circumstances surrounding my birth are a little unusual. Heck I don't even know if I'm gonna be born now, things are so different here...Maybe we should go back to the motel and I'll do my best to explain."

"Castiel" A voice called from behind them, the slow drawl easily identifiable.

Castiel was immediately on his feet, his sword in his hands as he turned to face the newcomer, his body positioned between them and Mary.

"Raphael"

"Castiel, this is a surprise. I thought that you had left Heaven to once again assist the Winchester brothers, but here you are."

"Yes but why are you here Raphael?"

"We intercepted a prayer to Father and a burst of angelic power from this location. We came to investigate..."

"We?" Castiel asked.

"Yes, we" Raphael replied as five more angels appeared, surrounding them and blocking any point of escape.

Castiel knew that as soon as Raphael got a good look at Mary he would assume, as he had, that she was an abomination, a Nephilim to be destroyed. He would not look beyond the surface to the pure angelic grace that he had witnessed, he would strike first. He knew that the odds of him surviving a battle with the Archangel and the five seraphs were slim, but to do so whilst attempting to protect Mary was suicide, their best chance of survival was to run.

Mary saw her dad tense, his sword in his hand ready for battle. She had of course heard of Raphael, the Archangel who had killed her dad after he rebelled and helped her Uncle's. It was clear that there was no love lost between the two brothers in this timeline either. She also knew that he had attempted to have her destroyed as a child but had been overruled by the other Archangels; as soon as he turned his attention to her he would know that she was neither angel nor human that could be a problem she thought dammit!

Thinking quickly, she pushed her grace to the very edges of her being, so that she would appear to be an angel inhabiting a human vessel, well she hoped that was how she would appear she'd never tried it before, had never had too hide what she was from her angelic family. She knew that after the recent painful episode of reigning in her grace and power that it was risky to push her grace out, but it was a risk that she had to take if they were going to get away from Raphael without a fight, one that they were unlikely to win. Allowing her own sword to materialise, she stepped out from behind her dad.

"Raphael brother" she said slowly, allowing the words to fall without emotion. She could feel her dad stiffen beside her, but he said nothing.

"Sister" Raphael replied

Castiel watched silently as Mary walked towards Raphael, he didn't know what she had done, but he could no longer tell that she was anything other than an angel, a very powerful angel. He glanced down at the sword in her hand an Archangel's sword; the distinction between angel's swords determined their rank in their garrison. What did it mean that Mary had an Archangel's sword?

Stopping a short distance from Raphael; Mary brought her eyes to his, her head inclined in the way that she had seen her dad do many times "It has been a long time brother."

"You have me at a disadvantage sister" Raphael replied, his sword lying loosely at his side as he warily observed the newcomer.

"I apologise, it has been many millennia since I have taken a vessel, and it is taking some time to adjust." Mary said, her eyes never leaving Raphael's face "You do not remember your own sister? Our Father has called for my return; The Nephilim are rising from the pit and once more must be stopped."

"Celeste?"

Mary nodded, her eyes never leaving his as she focused on holding the illusion.

"I had not heard of your return or of the rise of -"

Eyes turning hard "Do you doubt the truth of my words, of Fathers instructions? How much has changed since I last walked on this planet. This is still Fathers creation is it not?" her voice dripping with authority.

"Yes of course sister, but Father has left us without revelation for so long he speaks with no one"

"You choose not to listen Raphael! Father speaks with Joshua and he walks the earth, he choose not to intervene when the Winchesters stopped the false apocalypse, he brought back Castiel. Our Father will return and when he does..." she allowed the unspoken threat of her Fathers wrath to lie in the silence.

Castiel watched astounded as Raphael stepped back a glimmer of fear passing over his usually stoic face, he did not know of the things that Mary spoke of, had never heard of the angel Celeste, but Raphael clearly had, he was not questioning her claim but was treating her with deference. Mary's whole countenance spoke of power and authority, Raphael knew "Celeste" and Mary knew enough to convince him of the truth of her words. He would question her on their return to the motel, for the moment he would not interfere with this charade for fear of alerting Raphael to Mary's duplicity.

"I apologise, I did not mean to question... sister are you returning to take control of Heaven? Michael is trapped in the cage with Lucifer the Angels require leadership."

"Not at this time, I must locate the Sword of Light and deal with the Nephilim. Michael will be released from the cage to take his rightful place in Heaven as our Fathers General when Father determines. When this battle is over I may return if it is Fathers wish for me to do so."

"Go now return to Heaven, your place is not here." She instructed in a tone which suggested she would tolerate no arguments from him.

Without a word Raphael nodded to the Seraph who disappeared, then turning to "Celeste" said "It would be good to have you home sister" before he too disappeared.

Castiel waited until he was certain that the other angels had departed before turning to Mary "Mary that was dangerous" he said disapprovingly.

Mary simply looked at him as she pulled her grace back, before grinning her eyes alight with suppressed laughter as she did a little happy dance "Yeah, but it worked right. We didn't get our asses kicked by the mean archangel and his five men in black wannabes."

"No we didn't get our asses kicked, however-"

Rolling her eyes; "Do you think you could save the lecture dad till we get out of here?"

Castiel simply stared at her, before nodding slowly as he said "Yes, we can save the lecture until we get out of here. Can you find your way back to Dean and Sam at the motel?"

"Motel, yeah" she said before winking and saying "last one back buys the burgers."

xxOOxx

Dean sat at the table in the motel room wondering where the hell Cas and Mary had disappeared to; the young girl had looked terrified just before she disappeared her body glowed with an unnatural light. He hoped that Cas was able to find her and bring her back. Thinking of Cas with a kid, let alone an almost adult daughter was unbelievable; the angel had been so disconnected from humanity since his return to Heaven, the Civil war laying heavily on him. He was the first to admit that he had been hard on Cas since he had found out about Sam's return and his own return to hunting; he had been selfish and had expected the angel to simply be available, at his beck and call when he needed him. He hadn't really considered what his friend was going through. Now though, they had three problems that needed attention Sam's soul, helping Cas cope with his daughter and finding a way to send Mary home.

Running a frustrated hand over his face he turned to look at his brother who was sitting on his laptop, he had not said a word since Cas and Mary had disappeared "Any thoughts Sammy?"

"On what?" he replied not looking up from his laptop.

Directing an exasperated look at replicant Sam he stood up and closed the laptop with a thud "Cas has a freaking kid Sam, who just happens to have appeared from the future! Does that not freaking matter to you?"

"What do you want me to say? I know I should care, but I don't so..." he replied with a shrug.

"Okay you don't care about Cas or Mary, what about your soul Sam do you care about that? You haven't mentioned that since our visit to monster prison?"

"I don't want it back Dean, I heard what Cas said and to be honest I'd rather do without."

"What! You don't mean that."

"You heard me Dean, if it's not coming back whole, then I don't want it back. Why would I want to become a drooling mess?"

"We'll make sure that doesn't happen, Sam... I'll make sure of it."

Sam said nothing, instead re-opened his laptop and turned his attention back to the screen

Dean couldn't believe what he had heard; If Sam didn't get his soul back then he didn't know what he was going to do. He could not spend much more time with soulless Sam; he was not his brother, everything that made Sam his brother was missing. Getting up he grabbed a bottle of scotch and moved to sit on one of the beds, pouring a glass he swallowed it down in one long swallow before pouring another glass and doing the same again, feeling the buzz as the scotch burnt a trail to his stomach. Pulling his feet up onto the bed, he closed his eyes to await Cas's return.

"Alright!" Mary exclaimed as she re-appeared back in the motel room.

A few seconds later Cas appeared a perplexed look on his face as he looked at her dancing in the middle of the room "Mary I believe that you said that I should save the lecture until we were no longer in the field. Would now be an appropriate time?"

At this Dean opened his eyes before he burst out laughing "Cas, you do not ask your kid for permission to give them a lecture and why do you need to give her a lecture? She's been here what all of five minutes."

Castiel turned to Dean, his posture stiff as he said "Raphael was alerted to Mary's presence and came to Earth to investigate. She put herself in danger by ..."

"Yeah, but I got him to go away without a fight. You should pleased." Mary interrupted, with a grin; her eyes sparkled as she looked at her dad.

"Yes you have said, however Raphael will discover your deceit and will be most displeased. He will be determined to find you."

"Ohh" Mary said as the grin fell slightly from her face, she hadn't thought of that.

Dean glanced between the two, a slow grin forming on his face "Did you two bond whilst you were gone?"

"Yes Dean we bonded whilst we were gone, Mary is not the abomination that I had thought and she is my child." Castiel replied seriously.

"Wow, thanks that's awesome... not an abomination, really feeling the love there dad." Mary said, her grin returning, this version of her dad was so different from her real dad, but he hadn't met her mom, hadn't fell in love with a human or been changed by that love but he was still her dad, so she'd just have to shower him with love until she could find her mom and let her work her magic. That was the only way she could see herself getting back home.

"Thank you"

Dean laughed as Mary's mouth dropped open at Cas's simple "thank you", this girl was the complete opposite of the angel, her mom must be one hell of a woman if she loosened Cas up and they raised this bubbly young woman together. He wondered about his and Sam's role in her life she'd called him DeeDee and was so distraught when she realised that Sam didn't have his soul. Well the only way to find out is to ask, he thought.

"Cas, you can tell me about Raphael later, right now though we need Mary to finish the explanation that she started before turning into glowgirl."

"Of course"

"Actually, I'm really starving is there any chance we could eat?" Mary asked.

"Okay, food we can do, in fact I'm starving too. I think I saw an all night diner on our way in. What do you want?"

Without hesitation Mary said "Burger, fully loaded, large fries and a large chocolate milkshake...oh and the biggest piece of pie you can get."

Dean looked down at the tiny girl as she ran through her order and wondered how she was gonna pack that lot away "That all?"

"Yes thanks" she replied with a grin as she reached into her back pocket "I have some money."

"Keep it I'm sure I can stretch to a burger." He replied before turning to his brother "Want anything Sammy?"

"What Mary's having sounds good." He replied, still not lifting his head from the laptop.

"Cas?"

"No thank you I do not require sustenance."

"Mary you coming or staying here?" he asked, as he noticed her staring at Sam her expression once again filled with sadness.

Pulling her gaze from her Uncle Sam; Mary turned back with a small smile "Would it be okay if I stayed here?"

"Sure... Cas you coming with?" he asked the angel who was still standing stiffly in the middle of the room, his gaze following Mary's every move.

"Yes, I will assist you Dean."

"Right kids play nice." Dean said with a grin as he pulled his jacket from the chair and left the room, Castiel following behind.

Mary stood for a few moments after they left simply staring at her Uncle, who had not once lifted his eyes from his computer. Walking over to the table she sat down tucking her legs under her as she did so and watched him work.

"Uncle Sam?"

Hands hovering over the keyboard he raised his eyes to meet Mary's "Uncle Sam?"

At her nod he asked "What?"

"Where's your soul?"

"It's still in the cage with Michael and Lucifer... and you smited the demon who could get it out. Thanks for that by the way." He answered his face emotionless as he looked at the young girl.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know all I saw was Crowley and ... well half angel here kinda my job to smite."

"Don't be sorry, I don't want it back anyway."

Mary looked at him shocked, why wouldn't he want his soul back? Without it he was a shell of the man that he should be the warmth, compassion and joy which normally resided with him was gone, he couldn't feel anything "But why?"

"Because Cas and the demons all seem to agree that it'll be a broken mess after spending more than a year in the cage as Michael and Lucifer's plaything. So no I don't want it back. I've already told Dean if it doesn't come back whole, it's not going into me."

Mary's mind raced, if Sam's soul was being tortured in Hell, what would that do to her mom, their souls were tied. The pendent may still keep her hidden, but the tie in their souls was still there just dampened "What do you think would happen to a person if their soul was tied to someone who's soul was being tortured in Hell?" she asked quietly.

Sam looked at her puzzled by the question "You're talking about soul ties, the theory that twins share a soul which is why they have been reported to have a sixth sense when it comes to the other."

"Yes"

Shaking his head "I don't know it's an interesting question though. Why do you ask?"

Mary shook her head an overwhelming sense of fear for her mom coming over her, unable to help herself she plucked her wallet from her pocket and pulled out a photo "Because...because my mom's your twin" as she slapped the photo in front of him "so you better start wanting your soul back, because if it's hurting her then my version of you would do anything to get it back broken or not if it meant making sure she was okay."

Sam frowned as he picked up the photo that Mary had laid down on the table, it was a picture of him with his arms wrapped around a tiny brunette, both laughing as they stared into the camera. He was at once struck by the look of complete happiness on their faces, but he didn't know this woman, he knew that he had never met her before and felt even less for her than he did for Dean.

"Yeah, but I'm not your version of Uncle Sammy so why should I care?" he said coldly, and then watched dispassionately as the young girl's face crumpled and tears started to fall.

TBC

Thanks for reading, please review.