In the Lethe Series 2

by teaandchess

Three years have past after the events of In the Lethe, when Castiel made his choice to save a demon and the Winchesters made theirs to save one other. All that Dean, Sam and Castiel have fought for to save friends, lovers and family has started to fall apart. Old enemies begin to stalk those that they love and so it comes down to a choice. It will always come down to a choice.

16. Sinister (When Angels Protect)

Summary: Eve's recovery leads to a new kind of madness as demons, monsters, and humans are pulled into her war. With her small army drawing closer, Kevin is entrusted with protecting Nyx as he tries to find a complete cure for the Winchesters. Forced to work with her one time enemies, Meg's tolerance for working on the side of the hunters is being stretched to the limit .

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Part 12: Sinister (When Angels Protect)

Near Picher, Oklahoma

The room had been quiet for hours now, with only the steady drip of water from the leaking roof and the low hum of electricity overhead to disturb the silence. Lying on a metal table, a demon twisted his body against the straps that held him but made no sound. The leather cuffs were embossed with sigils to keep him trapped and helpless, and no matter how hard he pulled and fought, there was nothing he could do to free himself. Ever since he had been caught at a bar in Louisiana by vampires, he had been kept here and it had been days since he had seen more than the rusty beams of the ceiling above.

It had been days since he had been bitten into, days since he had felt the crawl of something inside of his veins. It had felt like worms wriggling beneath his skin. He had only been a little aware of what was happening, falling into a drugged haze that allowed him to call out and struggle, but never find the strength to actually fight. Every day he had laid here, testing his bindings, calling out threats, and it had been infuriating to wait. No one had come to see what was happening to him.

But today… today there had been pain. It had felt like pinpricks in his hand and the sensation was hot enough to make him whimper. When he had managed to lift his head to see what was happening, he had seen something dark on his hands, like a goo, and had thought maybe it was oil drippings. Hours later, it was twisting up his body his body in black trails. What he could see of his skin was covered strange etchings crawling up his arms like vines. Even with that sign of something wrong, it didn't terrify him like that feeling that had niggled up and down his spine to his brain.

He felt trapped within this shell of a body, one he had taken years ago and kept as his own. Now his soul felt like it had been burnt to an even deeper crisp, and something else was in the body with him. A slow, crawling sensation up and down his body followed each rippling movement. That, not the poison dripping into his soul, was what made him fight.

There was the low scuffle of something dragging on the table, like a knife edge scraping on the metal, and he closed his eyes.

"How does it feel, demon?" The feminine voice overhead made his eyes open to see a woman standing at the head of the table, leaning over him and the demon could only choke out a whimper at the sight. She had a knife in one hand and was tapping it slowly on the surface of the table, pausing just long enough to let it screech on the metal. It made him close his eyes again to try to hide the terror he felt at the sight of her.

Still wearing the willowy brunette with the large brown eyes, Eve had tried to keep her appearance deceptive. But the vicious twist to her lips, the way her eyes would flicker to orange now and then, belied any real innocence. Stabbing the knife into the table, she stepped around the demon with her ragged white dress floating in thick drapery around her. One hand gently caressed his chest and stomach, pressing a little to test him.

"Does it feel like pain? Like a knife twisting into your black guts? Or is it your pathetic little soul, torn apart and burnt, that hurts the most?"

The pain in his stomach seemed to tighten into an excruciating ball. The demon whimpered again, and it turned to higher, keening sound as his eyes turned completely black when her nails dug into the softness of his belly. She bent close, so they were eye to eye, and the cooing gentleness quickly became rage when she saw that he hadn't turned.

"Now a weakling like you is incompatible with us," Eve whispered as she stared at him. She had picked him, a mere messenger for Abaddon, as an experiment because he couldn't fight her as much as something with more strength. "And after three days of the venom. It isn't working!"

He screamed as the hand in his belly dug deep and began to split him open from sternum to throat. Eve ignored the way the blood sprayed, the way the broken bone and muscle flung back at her face in thick gobs. All she focussed on was seeing if maybe there was something deeper in a demon that could resist this attack. His feet kicked out and his mouth opened to let the soul escape, but the embossings trapped it. Lifting her other hand, Eve clamped it over his mouth and caught the smoky darkness in her palm, crushing it and setting it afire. The hand still digging into his flesh sliced through his chest to his heart, and the legs stopped kicking as she crushed the beating muscle with her other hand.

Breathing hard in excitement at the kill, her eyes darted up to see that his bloody face was slack and that there was no light in the eyes that anything lingered within, demon or human. Eve's lips pouted and in her palm she still felt that soul burning for just a second longer before it too was gone. Her eyes rolled up to the ceiling as she groaned impatiently. With a flick of her wrist, she tore his head off and let it roll to the floor before she stomped on it hard like a child destroying a hated toy.

The monsters, the few children she let stay so close to her in these times, stood with their backs to her out of respect. She debated on killing one or two now. It was something before she would have never done but now, faced with the decay of her monstrous children, the way the blood had thinned out, it was looking appetizing.

At least to ease the hunger growing in her stomach for destruction.

"Any news of the Winchesters?" the Mother asked while she cleaned her hands off on her dress, leaving bloody prints all over the once ivory cotton. Her own fingers were shaking from the force of her power and, when she lifted her hand to check for blood, she saw that her fingernails had finally fallen off of her one hand. Like her children, she was decaying without being able to enter this world. The body she was attached to, the demon she still kept stuffed inside the girl's walking corpse, was no longer the only thing she needed to live.

One of the vampires, an older one who was remaining unaffected by the fever taking the rest of his nest, stepped away from the group. His eyes were still blue and there was still undeniable strength in his thick body. He had the look of a soldier who had been to war and knew how to take care of himself. Though she claimed to love all her children, Eve wondered if it was time to take his head as well. She had learned her lesson in trust yet again, in love, and some of her monsters she had found in the Midwest had been disappointingly weak.

But he had been helpful.

"Nothing yet," he offered. "They're still in Kansas, far from us. The hunters we've been takin' down are usually from the area."

Eve leaned forward, hands on the table. Her teeth snapped in the air like a predator as she arched her back and shuddered. Without her other half to help take the burden of her power, more and more of her was decaying into the ruthless side. She was losing what she was and becoming the violent monster she had once told the Winchesters she wasn't. Disappointment had made her a fierce punisher to her own children.

A shuddering movement, like a wave of arms and legs, caught her attention to the younger vampires strapped to the walls. "Your nest is dying. They won't make the change into my more beautiful creations."

The vampire looked at the changing newborns. "They aren't strong enough."

"Most of you aren't." Fixing her eyes on him, she tried to see under that pleasant mask he wore. She had bit him days ago, during a strangely impressive fight he had put up before submitting. She had tasted his blood and let him taste hers and she did like this one. But she didn't trust him. A big vampire like him should be out hunting, feeding almost daily, but she hadn't seen him actually hunt. Part of her even suspected he wasn't drinking human blood.

Even with her orange-eyed gaze glowing over him, the vampire didn't flinch.

But before she could ask more probing questions, she heard a low chuckle like rusty chains. The vampire's eyes went over her shoulder but Eve didn't turn even when the chuckle died.

"Your plans failed," a man said behind her. Anyone else braving her massive nest would have been killed but Eve knew who it was standing behind her. She knew the voice and the face that went with it with perhaps more intimacy than she realized.

"You sound so pleased," she said before snapping her fingers at the vampire standing across from her. He backed away respectfully but she thought she spied something in his face. Something calculating and he was clearly absorbing her response to this intruder. It was easy to see that it would take more thinking on what to do with him than she had planned.

"Your other half was going to betray me. I can't say I am mourning him." Azazel cleared his throat noisily. "Are you?"

Slowly, Eve turned to face the 'freak' as Adam had called him. She saw under the boyish face, saw the yellow and black smoke under the surface, and yet deeper still was something glowing within. Like an angel's Grace. She had never really noticed the Grace before and her mouth nearly went slack as she tried to decide what it meant.

Azazel did not hide his own shock as well as she did. For all he had seen of her power - Adam's change, the way the venom worked, the weird combination of demons to monsters — the creature before him was not like the virginal girl he had seen in the woods.

Her dark hair hung in lank and ropey tendrils, her skin was caked in blood and mud though her eyes still glowed orange, and she lacked anything that could speak of a human whenever she exposed her teeth and revealed tiny fangs. It was when she moved that she seemed even more feral. Every stride she took towards him was an abrupt jerk of movement, as if bones had been broken and were being reset when she stopped, only to be broken again when she tried to move again. With each absurd flex of muscle, she more resembled a doll on a set of strings trying to follow the commands of some invisible puppeteer.

Azazel wondered if the Mother of All herself was being ripped apart by her own power. Her eyes and expression spoke of something beyond her usual belief that she did what was right. Spoke of violence and madness, of need. He knew at once he could use this to his advantage.

"Why are you here?" she asked him impatiently.

Azazel grinned once more. "I'm here to try a new deal with you. Technically we fulfilled the last one and I need your help and you clearly need mine. But perhaps you need something to feed on? To give you strength and a taste for demon blood? It is a restorative for humans but you already knew that." When he snapped his fingers, two more demons came in. They gave the huddled monsters a wide berth and Azazel noticed Eve's eyes focus totally on them. "They've only just left the Pit so they can't fight you so much."

"What is this place?" a demon asked. "Why are we here?"

"I told you I had a job for you. I just didn't specify what it was," Azazel explained as he backed up a step and gestured at Eve.

The demon's eyes went black in fear as Eve almost keened in delight, approaching her with more grace than she had moved before. The Mother reached out and cupped her face in her hand, the other stretching out to touch the throat of the other demon beside her. Turning her head to Azazel, Eve's orange eyes went back to large brown innocence while her fingers gently caressed the female demon's face.

"They'll do for a start. I was feeling hungry," she murmured as she lifted herself on her toes. The male demon struggled as her nails dug into his throat to hold him still and he went to his knees. Chuckling, Eve ignored his cursing as her mouth descended on the jugular of the demon she had been stroking.

The angel sharing Azazel's meatsuit woke up at the sound of the demons' screaming. His darkness was still twined around Michael's weak Grace, and Azazel forced him into submission even though he felt how furious the once-Archangel was at being around Eve once more. The yellow-eyed demon turned his head away as Eve bit into the demon's throbbing vein and tasted addictive darkness once more.

---

Duchesne County, Utah

"Move faster, Sammy!" Dean shouted as he tossed aside the empty box of ammunition and turned over on his stomach to take aim. Sam was sprinting through the open clearing close to Dean's canopy, followed by their latest prey, a massive monster that was intent on running the humans down. The first time they had come across it behind an old church, Dean had nearly mistaken it for a bear until he had seen the way its body contorted and took a man's shape. He had begged them to kill him before he changed again but they had hesitated while trying to find him a cure. Now they were paying for it by having to hunt the unfortunate shifter before he killed another group of innocent bystanders.

For a shapeshifter, he had done a great job of picking something pretty terrifying before losing his mind.

Sam had volunteered to run through the trap laden field they had planned out. It had taken days to find him, but only seconds to lure him out when he had attacked a group of normal hunters. The men had been wanting to hunt what they thought was a regular bear, but Dean's weak lie about the monster being rabid had them backing off. It left the Winchesters to do what they did best.

Or usually did best.

Sam tripped on something and the bear trap that they had laid down snapped up in a spray of snow just as he rolled out of the way. The steel jaws made a loud crunch as they collided and Dean shook his head, still sighting down the barrel.

"Get your ass moving, Sam!" he called out.

At his voice, the shapeshifter turned its massive head to the trees and Dean murmured to himself that it was too cold for this kind of crap. He squeezed off a round and missed by a long shot, the harmless normal bullet embedding into a tree. Unable to see the other hunter through the camouflage, the shapeshifter turned on furry hind-legs to charge off again. The monster was struggling to catch Sam, its bigger body hindered by the deeper snow drifts, and the hunter rolled to his knees and started off for the trees where he could get to a ladder that led to another hunting blind.

He felt its talons catch him on the side of the body and he spun out of the way, trying to remember where each of the buried traps was.

Sam was running for his life while Dean was struggling to keep his erratically beating heart under control, taking deep and slow breaths as he changed to the next round. This one had to count. Silver bullets were getting scarce as more and more hunters went after these new monsters that had been invading the central and southern states.

"Any time soon, Dean!" Sam shouted as he was whirled to the side and the beast's jaws snapped at him. It barely missed his shoulder and when he spun out of the way he nearly fell again, this time into the shapeshifter's bulky form. It swiped again and caught him on the side of the head, sending him to the ground and forcing him to stay down as it snarled and aimed for his throat.

Dean exhaled slowly as he focussed. Nearly all the air from his lungs was gone as he squeezed the trigger and felt the kickback ricochet through his steady arm.

The bullet caught the monster on its heart, and sent it to the ground with a loud boom. There was a snarl and snap as the trap it landed on closed over its calf muscle, jagged metal teeth digging into the meat of flesh. The shapeshifter went down howling and writhing, not sure what to concentrate on. The fire of silver racing through its blood from the exploding bullet or the trap digging deeper and deeper into its leg.

Sam wiped at his dirty face, flinging mud and snow to the side, and then waved up at his brother. Dean lifted his rifle back up and looked down at the struggling creature. Where he might have felt remorse or a little bit of guilt over having put a creature like that down, the deaths of the hikers had only cemented its fate. They were lucky too; four or five hikers had died but the group meeting for the hunting trip had bypassed it completely. Neither of the Winchesters wanted to feel as if they had failed this time around.

Dean adjusted his position on the perch and waved his hand. "Is it dead?"

"Think so," Sam called back, sniffing as he stepped a bit closer. The beast's orange eyes were staring sightlessly up at him and he nudged a bloody paw with his toe. "Smells like it, anyway."

The stench of split bowels and animal blood was so strong that he held his hand up to his nose and gave it another nudge.

"Yeah. Dead as it can get," he shouted and stepped backwards as he glanced up at Dean. He was only a few feet away when the creature lurched forward again, snarling as it revived for one last bite. Sam yelled as he was swept off his feet and onto his back, the shapeshifter launching itself onto of him.

"Sam!" Dean shouted, scrambling for what ammunition he had for his pistol. Below the monster, Sam struggled to keep its teeth away from his face with one hand while the other reached for the knife that had fallen out of his scabbard. Nearly dead and crazed, the monster shrieked in his face, coating him with black blood and spit as its massive legs rolled him closer to its jaws. Sam turned his head away, careful not to inhale or swallow what he knew was poisonous. Scissoring his long legs around its waist, he tried to roll it off but his head was struck at by its large paw, creating fresh sparks of pain that blinded him for a moment.

Dean's frantic calls were muffled by the monster screaming down at him as its teeth plunged down for the kill.

He opened his eyes at a familiar voice telling him to hold on, and saw a hand wrenching back on the monster's head. Its neck was exposed and Sam's own silver-tipped blade sliced into its throat, dragging from ear to ear. The hand in its fur let go and then slammed over its eyes. Instinctively, Sam threw his arm over his eyes as a glow of light filled the clearing. The shrieks ended on a low gurgle before the monster slumped completely into him. Sam panted for breath and managed to open his eyes, the sparks in his vision clearing so that he could look up without wincing.

Tossing the body to the side, Castiel turned to stare down at him.

"You need to be more careful," he said, as if Sam had deliberately tried to let the monster win.

"Cas. Where the hell did you come from?" the younger Winchester asked, rolling to his knees and getting to his feet, his half frozen clothing drenched in sweat and ice. Castiel shrugged and pointed to the distant trees.

"I was watching you."

Behind them, Dean was jogging up and heard the angel's calm explanation. "You didn't think to help sooner?" he asked as he gave the monster a kick just for the hell of it. Castiel looked confused.

"I was under the impression that you didn't need my help. That if I continued to help you it would make you less capable." He gestured at the clearing, at the destroyed trees, and the sprung traps all around them. "Perhaps I was correct."

"Cute, Cas, real cute." Dean jabbed his rifle down into a spot just a footstep away from the angel and a trap sprung, metal clanging together. The angel didn't flinch but gave him an unimpressed look. "Sam, how're you doin'?"

"I'm fine. Just got knocked around but I'm good," Sam said, still breathing hard. Castiel squinted and ran his eyes over him in such an obvious way that even Dean noticed but his brother waved a hand. "Thanks, Cas."

"What're you doing here?" Dean asked. "I bet it wasn't just to help us. Duchesne's a big area."

"Kevin told me your general vicinity. It wasn't hard to find you. When it comes to your hunting style, occasionally it is too easy to find you." Castiel didn't notice their offended looks and bent over to look at the monster. "This is like nothing I've seen before."

"More and more of the hunters are reporting beasts like this. We both saw that man turn into it. I thought he was a werewolf but…"

Castiel looked up at the sky. "There's no full moon tonight."

"Exactly." They watched him run his hands through its fur, lifting its gnarled muzzle to study the fangs dripping with black goo. Scooping some onto his fingers, he sniffed it curiously. Dean made a face and Sam shuddered; he could smell it on himself from the monster's wounds.

"It's from Eve."

"What? How do you know that?"

The angel stood, wiping his hands on his coat and shaking his head. "When Meg was infected, I remember smelling something similar on her from the venom."

Dean raised both eyebrows. "Well, no one knows what she smells like better than you, I guess. You hang around her so much."

"So he's one of the infected," Sam quickly said when he saw Castiel's glare. "Okay, so that's good to know."

"No, it's not." Dean looked around. "We're in Utah, Sam. The infected we heard about were all centralized near Kansas and Louisiana. It's travelling."

"She's infecting demons and monsters now," Castiel interrupted.

"How do you know she's infecting demons?"

The angel met Dean's curious look with a guileless stare. "Like you said, a demon and I do keep each other company."

Sam made an agreeable murmur. "That solves that. So it is spreading."

"Regular old plague, except this one is using monsters and demons as carriers." Dean made a face. "I thought she was just infecting demons to make new monsters."

"Maybe she changed tactics," Sam muttered. "I'm going to go get the shovels. We're going to have to bury this thing fast and get out of here."

Dean nodded and waited until he was out of earshot before he stepped close to Castiel. "What's wrong?"

Castiel didn't even pretend not to know what he was talking about. "Sam's body is falling apart. He's weakening. I can see it." Blue eyes swung over to Dean with his normal straightforward expression. "Three years ago, he started to fall apart. Before the spell." His eyes ran slowly over Dean's body next. "And it is happening to you too."

"I'm fine."

"Really?" Castiel reached out and laid his hand flat on Dean's chest. He thumped his fingers several times through the thick fleece jacket as if testing. "Your heart is weak, Dean. Sam's mind will eventually get as weak as your heart. Are you prepared for that? For what it may make you do?"

"We have bigger problems than us," Dean snapped as he pulled away from the hand touching him. "Like Eve changing monsters and demons."

Castiel still eyed him suspiciously but accepted the change of subject. "I would have thought Crowley would keep the demons away from her. But he's gone off the map, so to speak."

"What does Meg say about it?"

"She's not said anything about it. I haven't asked her." He held up a hand when Dean started to protest. "We were trading on our days spent investigating this problem, Dean. She's away right now. Nyx is with Kevin at the bunker so I could talk to you and be sure you were safe."

"Nice to know you care," Dean drawled, the sarcasm in his voice not lost on the angel.

"You're my friend, Dean. Why wouldn't I?"

"I told you to get as much information from Meg as possible, remember? You're coming to me with nothing from her," Dean demanded. The awkward conversation that they had had about the demon staying in the bunker unwatched had resulted in Castiel promising that she would help them.

"And she is working with me. You can't force Meg to do something she won't do, Dean. If anything, I've learned to let her work on her own time. She left this morning to speak to some contacts she claimed were not loyal to Abaddon." Castiel looked down at the dead monster. "I've had to learn not to hold on as tightly to you all."

Dean debated on saying something but then he remembered three years ago, how Castiel's drive to protect them had been what had caused quite a bit of trouble. This was a step in the right direction but it chafed at all his hunter instincts to trust a demon to do the right thing.

"All right, fine. Are you sticking around?"

"I need to get back to the bunker. Kevin was reading a book I found in the Metaron's old apartment about spells to use on monsters and I did say I could help him translate. I simply wanted to be sure you were all right and not needing me." He tilted his head and looked up at Dean. "Though it looks like my help was welcome."

"Well, for old times sake… thanks."

"You're welcome," the angel said with a smile that for once made him look nearly human. Dean nodded and stepped back as he disappeared from his sight.

Not sure why, he thought of his dreams of Anna and the other angels, all warning him that he was needed. Rubbing at his chest in an absent way, he barely did more than nod to Sam when his brother came back and handed him a shovel. If Sam noticed how preoccupied he was, he gave no sign. They both simply bent their backs to digging a deep enough grave to bury the massive creature in.

---

Castiel watched Dean and Sam from a distance and wondered why neither would admit to how sick they were both becoming. He wanted to heal them, had read all the books there were, but they all said the same thing. Spells like those, that resulted in shared souls, would crack and fall apart eventually. Humans were never meant to change their souls in such ways.

He turned to fly off and came face to face with a monster that had been sneaking up on him, its paw raised in the air. Startled by how easily it had snuck up on him, he stepped back and just barely missed being struck on the head by it. It made a chuffing sound deep in its throat and tried to struggle forward through the deep snow to get to him. Castiel realized quickly that it was a shapeshifter suffering from the same affliction as the dead creature in the clearing, but this one still had a flicker of humanity in its eyes. Everything about the way it so blindly attacked him screamed suffering.

Its bear-like head jutted down to try to grab his throat and Castiel neatly side-stepped the flailing limbs. His angel sword hummed as it fell to his palm and he flipped the blade over as he ducked another swipe, holding it level with his own shoulder. The monster landed face first onto the blade, the metal slicing through the roof of its mouth and into the brain. It didn't make a sound, simply blinked its orange eyes once or twice and then sagged completely down when Castiel twisted hard to the left to be sure that it was dead.

The angel stared down at the motionless body for a long time before he waved his hand and burnt it to ashes.

---

There had been so many calls about demons but the hunter who had been making his slow way down south hadn't expected to find two of them in one night. Nor in an old barn normally used by the local feedlot. He'd only happened on their little meeting out of pure coincidence, a rumour by some locals that there was a lot of sulphur smells in the area, and he was going to take advantage. It had been a long time since he had even seen a demon, let alone had them trapped. He was down to one now; the first had fallen, pierced by some silver knife that had been stabbed into its chest by the other demon, and he knew it was dead after he had shot at it with his salt-gun just to be sure.

"You know, you demons can never learn how to stay hidden." The heavy set man twisted his ball cap around and took aim in the shadows. With his gun reloaded, he made sure to keep his finger just on the trigger. "All it takes is waiting for you to show your true colours."

He thought he heard a laugh but it was hard to tell as the noise in the building started to build. The animals in the barn were making agitated sounds and he was sure that one or two of the horses was ready to explode out of their stalls in fear. The overhead loft was a perfect hiding spot, he decided.

Giving the first body a nudge to be sure it wasn't going to move, he carefully checked how many salt rounds he had left before he crept up the rickety steps. The second demon was around here somewhere but without much light he would have to be careful. A wounded demon was like trapping a wild animal, he reminded himself; you couldn't let them get the edge on you. He had hit her in the leg before and her blood made slippery patches on the steps that he carefully walked over.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with," the low female voice said from somewhere in the depths of the loft. The hunter lifted his gun and turned a slow circle to try to follow the whispers of movement around him.

"Some bitch demon? Well, you're not leaving here. I'll send you right back to Hell myself," he threatened. Now if only he could remember that exorcism right. Latin had never been his best language to use.

There was almost a wistful sigh from the shadows. "Trust me, baby, there have been a lot of tries for that." He heard a boot heel striking wood, tapping impatiently, and spun around to face the loft window. The demon was leaning against a rotted beam as if she had been waiting for him to figure out she was there. The hunter quickly moved to block her way to the exit. He wasn't sure why she wasn't smoking out like others would on first opportunity; maybe she was stronger than the others he had faced. She seemed too small to be threatening but her eyes were black and that was all he needed to focus on what he cared about. Sending a demon to hell.

Her eyes went to the gun now pointed at her belly. "You ever think you walked in at the wrong moment? You simply saved me the effort of finishing off old Miles myself."

"No hunter helps a demon." He lifted the gun higher and she slapped her hand over her mouth to stifle the giggle. The sound made him stare almost stupidly. Why the hell wasn't she running?

"Oh wow, you really are out of the loop." Pushing away from the window, she began to circle him and he followed her nervously. She had a way of moving that made him feel like he was about to be pounced on. "Got to wonder if you guys are still hunting and thinking you're actually making a difference. Bet reality hurts when you've really done no good. How many people still die because of you hunters?"

"Shut the hell up!" he shouted. Her words sent instant shame and fury through him, enough to blind him to the thought that she had done that deliberately.

The demon's grin was wide and mocking. "Make me."

His finger was just about to pull the trigger when she moved impossibly fast towards him. Her elbow struck him in the throat while she slammed her knee into his gut. Choking on his breath, he dropped the gun and dropped to a knee. She feinted away from him and he snatched his silver-edged knife out of his ankle holster. The demon turned before he could get it even close to her stomach but she caught it in her shoulder instead. The hunter was rewarded by her slight grunt of pain and he grabbed her in a chokehold.

But just as quickly as he had hold of her, she struck out with her hand and her fist slammed into his groin. The hunter squealed in surprise as she grabbed hold and wrenched, forcing him to let her go. Without releasing him, she slammed her head back into his face and the impact broke his nose. Howling in pain, he tried to grab for her again but the demon turned. She ducked under his arms, and punched him so that the full force of her strength struck him square on the jaw. The loud crack of bone fracturing was overshadowed by his scream as his jaw broke.

But she didn't let him fall. Instead, she held up by his throat and pushed him down onto his knees below her. He nearly wanted to weep from the pain in his face and groin and her strength was so incredible he opened his mouth to beg for his life. His jawbone made a screeching sound as the broken bone was forced to move and she smirked as she listened to him scream instead.

Her dark hair swung between them like a soft curtain of shadow, grazing his face like a gentle caress. The hunter was still whimpering he looked up into her dark eyes. Only knowing what lay beneath kept him from thinking this was some morbid dream of being beaten by a small slip of a woman. Her fingers pinched his windpipe and he continued to choke though he no longer fought her.

"It's funny," she said with a pleasant smile, as if he wasn't spitting up blood and broken teeth in his efforts to breathe. "A few years ago, I would have just ripped that ugly mug of yours off and not thought twice about it. Still would, to be honest. Maybe I just don't want to hear them bitching to me about taking care of overstuffed hunters like you."

She tapped a finger on his nose like a scolding parent. "It's your lucky day though, big guy. I wasn't here for you. You get to live another day."

His eyes widened in surprise just before she slammed her fist into the side of his temple and sent him unconscious to the ground.

"Well, that was fun," Meg drawled as she let him fall. When she was sure he wasn't about to jump at her, she knelt on his chest and thoughtfully licked her lower lip as she decided what to do. After she wiped her bloody hands on his jacket, Meg began to sort through his clothes to find his wallet. She checked the photos of his family, the expired credit cards, and his cellphone. He still had Garth in his index; lucky him, he really wouldn't have to die today. She'd been told to be more inconspicuous and right now that did make sense. Pocketing the cash he had on him, she gave his broken jaw a hard pat before she stood up.

"Sweet dreams," she muttered and headed for the exit.

---

With books piled high around him, there were times when Kevin felt incredibly small in the archives. He had pulled what he needed down, which resulted in mass amounts of dusty old books that smelled mouldy from storage. He had spent hours in here, humouring Nyx whenever she wandered around, but mostly focussed on his books and research. But the little girl did like his attention and to try to combine the two, he had taken to trying to teach her how to read a bit more. Nyx just had a way of rolling her eyes, much like Meg, that implied she didn't need his help.

There really wasn't any doubt which of her parents she had learned that from.

Amazing how a three year old was obviously smarter than many of them thought. A few weeks ago, she had been happier drawing and playing in the archives, especially over Christmas, but Kevin knew that she was not as unaware as she had been before. She was starting to figure out that maybe she knew more than even she realized and the effect was making her question everyone a bit more.

None of it erased their own questions about her and what she could be.

Sometimes Kevin wondered if Nyx had a bit more angel in her than they had realized. Other times, when he watched her tear into something to enjoy destroying it, he thought there was more demon in her. Then there were the odd moments, here and there when she was at her most vulnerable, that he thought she was more human. They weren't big changes, but now that he was watching her more carefully Kevin thought he understood her better. She wanted to be with them all and wanted them to keep her safe.

It was likely why he didn't have the heart to send her off to play by herself when she followed him into the archives to 'help' him research. Nyx had been happy when he had put her up onto a high shelf to colour, her small body fitting easily between the slats, and he left her alone. Now and then he would look up when he would hear her talking, nonsense to him really, but he wondered if to her it made perfect sense. It disrupted the quiet just enough that he found it hard to focus.

When Castiel finally appeared, the young prophet could barely hide his relief. His hair was dusted with snow and he looked as if he thinking something over, so Kevin did his best to appear casual.

"So how were they?"

"They had found the monster." Castiel adjusted his coat before he crooked his head to the side so he could see what Kevin was reading. "I believe they are on their way back. There were more of those monsters leading down from that area. I took care of what I could as quickly as I could but even I have my limits."

Kevin really did not like the thought that Eve's Fever, as the hunters were calling it, was spreading further north.

"Garth called. Said he's noticing a pattern and he's got a lot of info coming in from all over, you know? He's coming down to Lebanon this time and we all know that is not going to go well," he explained. At the angel's curious look, he gestured around as if already picturing it. "Hunters, Cas. A lot of them will be tracking him because of that rumour about Nyx being around the Winchesters. Remember what you said about Meg and those hunters in Colorado? That's just the start of it, I bet."

He watched Castiel's face shutter up a little, as if he was considering what he'd been told. But then he turned his head away as if dismissing the conversation from his mind. The prophet knew the look that crossed his face though; Castiel was already starting to make decisions to protect his friends and family, though he might never say what he was planning.

"Where's Nyx?" he asked suddenly. Kevin went to grab another book, nearly knocking over another pile, and waved his free hand at the shelves.

Giving the prophet one more skeptical look, Castiel bent down and saw Nyx lying on her stomach between the two shelves. The books Kevin had taken had given her just enough room to lie there and she was murmuring about dragons as she rested her head on her unicorn's patchy body. She was colouring something and Castiel knelt a bit to see what it was, his head bumping the shelf as he leaned in. Huddled over the drawing, Nyx was so preoccupied that he decided not to bother her and Castiel winced when he smacked himself in the back of the head as he pulled his head back.

"Meg's back, did you know that?" Kevin asked as he unravelled an old map of Lebanon on the floor. Castiel immediately swivelled back towards him at the name.

"What?"

"Came back a few hours ago but disappeared into the spare rooms. She looked a little rougher than normal. Said she needed some time to herself… I don't remember what for. Sounded serious."

Castiel went to demand what he meant when he felt something bump against his leg and then tug at his sleeve. He glanced down to see Nyx staring up at him.

"Have you been good?" he asked automatically and she nodded. "Good."

She held up an old book towards him. "I made it pretty."

Castiel took it from her and swallowed as he realized what she had been colouring. It was one of the old antique books from the theology section. The page she had turned to was of a drawing of an angel that she had coloured in black and blue. Nyx had drawn her attempt at a dragon, green scaled with orange eyes, sitting at the etched angel's feet. Her childish scribbles were only really obvious to him, because of what he knew she liked to draw, and she looked up at him with clear hope that he liked it. The priceless pages were so frail and old that there was likely no one who knew how to fix them. Castiel doubted even his Grace could manipulate something so delicate to try to return it to normal.

One eye on Kevin, he cleared his throat noisily and ripped the page out of the book. Nyx stared up at him, wide-eyed, and he lifted a finger to his lips, shushing her. He expected her to giggle but she only stared as Castiel folded the page up and tucked it into his pocket. Kneeling down, he brushed her wavy hair out of her eyes and wondered why her skin was so warm in the cool bunker.

"Our secret," he whispered. "I'll keep it safe."

"Okay," Nyx agreed solemnly. Castiel noticed that Kevin was back to work again and he reached out to give Nyx her unicorn from the shelf.

"Have you eaten?" he asked and Nyx shrugged. "You should be having a nap soon."

"Not hungry." Her hand pressed to her stomach and her face suddenly twisted into an unhappy frown. Castiel frowned and looked up at Kevin.

"When did she eat last? It's already late."

"You're her father, shouldn't you know that?" the young man countered without looking up. When Castiel said nothing but maintained an almost threatening silence, Kevin finally gave up and gestured at the kitchen. "She had a bit of soup I found but I had to really work at it. She didn't want to eat. Said her stomach hurt. I gave her some children's aspirin but she's still not looking so great."

"Not hungry," Nyx insisted before she snatched Clarence off the floor and stomped off. Kevin made a face at her back and noticed Castiel's bewilderment.

"She's been kind of… crabby lately. Maybe it's all the moving around you guys are doing. When I was little and my mom moved us across the country, I was sick a lot." He turned back to his books. "I think I have something about how to cage those monsters with spells."

But the angel was gone again and Kevin resigned himself to researching alone again.

Castiel followed his daughter into the small common room, bypassing the kitchen and the soup still on the counter, and waited as she crawled up onto the couch and tucked herself into the worn cushions. He took a seat across from her and waited for her to settle. Finally happy with how she was wedged into the cushions, Nyx watched him like a wary little kitten, her eyes wide and her lips pursed. Patiently, he held out his hand palm up and waited for her to slip her own into it.

That she now did it without any sign of hesitation made him smile a little softer than before.

"Are you sick?" he asked and she nodded as he ran his fingers over her pulse. It was beating a little faster than normal. "I don't think I've ever seen you sick before."

"Hurts," she whispered and he reached out with both hands, one pressing over her stomach and the other to her forehead. He could feel her discomfort and her face was hot though her skin wasn't flushed. Nyx made a little sway towards him and he smoothed his hand down her face, frowning when he felt her push his hand away from her stomach. "Don't want to eat."

Castiel nodded. "You don't have to. Do you want to sleep?"

Nyx gave him a weary nod, arms going out for her unicorn and he quickly handed the toy to her. Sighing happily, she hugged it tight as he grabbed the throw blanket from the arm of the couch. Castiel watched her tuck herself down with the pillow under her head but that she didn't want to be wrapped up, that she didn't bury herself, meant that something was wrong. He ran his fingers over her stomach, pressing a little and using his Grace to try to heal her. But something pushed back sharply, and he recoiled, feeling as if his fingers had been bitten at the tips. Nyx simply rolled away and closed her eyes, murmuring about feeling too hot.

It didn't take her long to slip into a deep sleep. Castiel watched her for a while, tempted to use his Grace again but restraining himself for the sake of not waking her. Running his fingers through her hair, he thought about his time as a mortal and his brief colds and fevers. Sick children were common in humans; he could simply ask the Winchesters or Kevin, maybe even Meg, what he could do if he couldn't heal her.

The thought of the demon drew him away, leaving the lamplight on for Nyx and he even tucked another blanket over her just in case. He didn't like seeing her like that and he wasn't sure why when he had seen so much illness in his long life. He was still puzzling over it as he walked up to the spare room where he could feel Meg's presence. With her not liking the demon cell or the awkward memories it tended to invoke, they had resorted to sharing the spare room with Nyx. When she slept and needed privacy, if one of them wasn't off finding information or fighting a battle, they spent their time together in the common room or the demon cell. It was easy, Meg had claimed, to pass the time when they were occupied by something and Castiel had barely hid his relief that she was willing to stay with him in those lonely hours when he had needed her to talk to or lie with.

Meg was sitting on the edge of the bed, her jeans off and her leg propped up on the nightstand. The pose was awkward for her and the sight of her made him stop mid-stride, just long enough to see the blood dripping from her thigh and calf. The knee-joint itself looked popped out, forcing her leg to jut to an angle as Meg ran her bloody hands over her exposed leg. There was a first aid kit, towels, and a bowl of water sitting to the side but the dislocated joint was making it hard for her to move fast.

"You're hurt," he said as a greeting while he closed the door with a resolute click. Meg didn't jump at his sudden appearance, just tossed her hair over her shoulder and kept touching the flayed skin.

"Wrong end of holy water, salt rounds, and another demon." She made a face at the pain in her knee.

"The demon did this?" Castiel asked and she rolled her eyes up at him when he stood in front of her.

"No. The hunter that found me trying to get information from the demon did this. I don't think he knew what to expect. Definitely didn't know what hit him." She reached down and grasped her knee with her bare palms. Castiel watched, not offering to help, as she gave a savage wrench to one side and the knee popped back into place. Meg's muffled grunt of pain made him look to see her gnawing on her lower lip. It was clear she was expecting him to say something, but all he did at first was pull a chair close to the bed, letting the legs screech on the floor.

"Let me help you," he said as he took a seat and touched her knee, smoothing his palm over the curve of it.

"I can do this," she argued back and he shook his head fondly.

"I know, but I don't mind helping you." Castiel shot her a warning look when she went to argue before pulling her leg into his lap. The demon leaned back on her elbows to watch him as he checked the wounds.

"You do like helping me, don't you?" Meg asked with an arched eyebrow and he made an agreeable sound.

"What happened to the hunter?" he asked as he dampened a towel and began to wipe the blood from her leg. Meg hissed as he brushed the ruined flesh with the rough terrycloth.

"I ate his heart," she answered seriously. Castiel's head lifted and he met her eyes. Her grin was slow coming after she finally shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. Didn't kill him but I got out of there as fast as I could once I made sure he wasn't going to follow me. It's why I'm still slow on healing. I can move fast when I need to but it tired me out."

He looked back down as he cupped her calf in his hand and raised her leg gently onto his thigh. "I know you can. Did you learn anything?"

"Only that demons are under orders to avoid the monster nests, not to cause trouble. Hell's stoppered up and Purgatory isn't touching it any longer so Abaddon is trying to get everyone in order. If you can believe that." Her head bent to watch as he began to clean a salted wound next. "Rumours are flying about Azazel."

"What rumours?" He tore a strip of gauze off and wrapped the lower part of her leg gently.

"That he wants me brought in. What the demon knew wasn't much but she was pretty sure she could take me down if she had to. To prove to Azazel that she could." She hissed as he checked the flesh higher on her leg, the part close to her thigh more tortured by the burns of holy water and salt. Castiel made a soft murmur in his throat and ran his thumb over the delicate skin after he dabbed antiseptic on it. Meg didn't move as he began wrapping over the red and angry burns and she could see his concern in the way he frowned and concentrated on her injuries. "The hunter just got lucky, is all."

"Mm."

Meg stared at the top of his head suspiciously. "That's it? 'Mm'? You're usually a bit more chatty than that when I go off like that."

"I'd be stupid if I hadn't learned that in these situations you want to be left to take care of it on your own," Castiel said in a matter-of-fact voice. "Correct?"

"Don't get smug, Clarence."

"I know you, Meg. That's all." He left her leg in his lap, stroking his hand absently over the uninjured part of her thigh while watching her face. Sitting up, Meg stared back and then rolled her eyes when he didn't look away.

"Aren't you romantic?" Reaching down, she plucked at his fingers with absent affection. "Any news on the monster side?"

"Dean and Sam killed that monster in Utah and one attacked me in the open. They were something different, something worse than before." Gently moving her leg aside, he stood up and took a seat beside her on the bed before pushing her hair to the side so he could check the bruises on her neck. Meg tipped her head to the side to let him and he traced his fingers over the marks on her skin. "I've heard things. About Eve. It looks like this sickness is spreading through the monsters and demons just by infection."

"That demon I caught did say," she hissed when he touched a sensitive bruise, "that Crowley warned them to stay back and that there were a lot of them that were scared to do more than creep around. It's been a month, Cas. No one has moved an inch and all we really have are rumours."

"You're getting restless," he observed and turned her to check the torn back of her shirt. A knife had been dragged through her skin deep enough to graze the muscle. With the placid air of a doctor treating a patient, he pulled the shirt over her head and reached for the gauze. Meg sat before him, nearly naked now but not moving away from his touch.

"I don't like fighting enemies I can't see. Do you?"

"No, I don't." He cleaned the dirt off. "Especially when there is one I've never met in a fight." His other hand holding her hair to the side, he swiped the antiseptic over the wound. "What is Azazel like when he fights?"

"Old Yellow-Eyes? Brutal. In a different way than Abaddon because he's not always physical but he was the one demon I never wanted angry against me."

"Like an Archangel," Castiel murmured. It was easy to remember his own struggles with Michael, Lucifer and Raphael.

"He's old, Cas, and age in demons means strength. When he fights, he fights to win and he spent centuries manipulating all of Earth and Hell for Lucifer. He has his own way of doing things." Her head tilted on the side while he measured the gauze for her shoulder. "No one knew all of his plans. I never would have guessed about Sam's real purpose until he told me. I sometimes wonder why he made my deal."

Castiel stared at her profile thoughtfully but said nothing as he finished taping the gauze, tapping her shoulder to indicate he was done. Meg shook herself a little and he let his hand rest on the small of her back, feeling the cold skin and the deep breaths she was taking. What little he knew of her past life, the one before her time in Hell, was something he'd never thought much on. What had made her was her time in Hell, her time as a demon, and despite his doubts maybe that pain and suffering had been what had attracted him eventually. It was natural, he thought, that now Meg's doubts were becoming his own.

For demon like Azazel to take a personal interest in the black-eyed demon wasn't strange if it was only to sacrifice her to his own battles. But to call her his daughter as if she really was one was strange to an angel used to the more apathetic view Crowley and Abaddon took to their fellow demons. Maybe some demons saw each other as family, the same as angels, but with more mistrust. From what Dean had told him, Yellow-Eyes had looked on Meg and that other demon, Tom, as his children. Was it as simple as him seeing her defection to this neutral territory as a betrayal? Or was there something more?

He felt her shift around, grabbing a shirt from the messy pile at the foot of the bed, and looked at her again. She slid one leg, then the other over his hips to sit on his lap. The movement wasn't sexual, and she eyed him with suspicion as she pulled the button down over herself. Castiel merely stared back at her as he rested his hands on her hips.

"You're thinking. I can tell. You think so loud sometimes, Clarence," Meg said and, startled by that insight, he nearly blurted out what he was thinking about Azazel. But his hands brushed the gauze on her leg and he thought of someone else who was hurting.

"Nyx is feeling sick," he said instead. Meg frowned.

"She doesn't get sick." When he went to argue that she was a small child, likely to get sick, Meg held up a hand. "Trust me on this. What I remember from those three years was that she was never really sick, Castiel. What's wrong?"

He listed the symptoms and even spoke on how distracted the little girl seemed. "Maybe it is all the moving back and forth," he finished.

"Or maybe what is happening is affecting her." Meg absently ran her hands up and down his arms and he watched her expression turn thoughtful.

"Garth is coming." Her eyes narrowed and he shook his head. "Kevin thinks there will be hunters with him. Or following him. The Winchesters were talking earlier about fighting the monsters head on. Maybe it concerns that." He lifted his hand and placed it on her back. "Which means Nyx won't be safe here anymore. We'll have to leave."

Meg leaned into the touch. "I'm not stupid, Cas. You don't want to leave. As much as you are all about protecting Nyx, you're all about protecting your humans too."

"You could leave with Nyx," he countered and Meg shook her head.

"Who's going to protect you then?" she grumbled, moving to step off of him. Castiel rolled his eyes upward and despite her struggling he clamped his hands on her hips and held her still. "Azazel wants me, Castiel, not you. Not Dean or Sam. So you guys face the monsters, I'll figure him out, but I can't take Nyx on that."

"Eve wanted you and I. She wants the Winchesters dead and she wants Nyx's blood for some reason. That makes it our fight, not just the Winchesters. Azazel and whatever it is he wants can wait. If you stay with me, you have to fight with me."

Meg exhaled. "Still stupid that Eve wants anything from me. You, I get. You and the Wimpchesters were the idiots that crossed her in the first place." Castiel chose to ignore that and the demon gestured at him, her red lips pulled into a frown. "There's nothing about me she should want."

"You helped create life. That is something that had never happened between our kind before," he answered and his hand flattened on her belly, remembering how it had swelled once as proof. He stared down at his hand and remembered how impossible and how incredible had felt to feel life within her back then.

"You claimed that was all your daddy's work, remember?" Meg's voice had a contemptuous edge to it and he looked up.

"I'm not so sure it was only him." Meg frowned and finally moved off of him to get dressed. Castiel wiped his hands off on the towel and sighed. "So what do we do about Nyx if neither of us wants to leave? We can't send her off by herself and she is too curious not to appear suddenly to the hunters. We can't risk more humans knowing what she is. If Nyx is ill and I can't heal her…"

Meg tipped her head towards him and reached out to put her hand over his mouth, stopping him mid-sentence. "You're rambling." His impressive glare down at her she ignored. "You had a point, Clarence. Kids get sick. Maybe we just wait and see for that but for everything else?"

The door creaked open and they both turned to face Kevin. He looked unbothered by the strange intimacy between them or Castiel's annoyed look when he knew that the young man had been eavesdropping.

"I've got an idea of where to take Nyx."

---

Eve ran her tongue over her dripping fangs before they receded, and her white eyes flickered to orange and then brown. Across from her, a changed demon was struggling to continue its transformation but without the seed, nothing would take root. All she could do was change her own kind now and she wanted to destroy them all for the sake of it.

"You're getting weaker," Azazel said from where he sat on an old junkyard car. They had come to the abandoned junkyard closer to town, where more and more of her offspring were trying to live even though a painful death seemed inevitable. The change that had been so easy before was getting difficult for them to survive in the first place. "Maybe it is your age."

The look the Mother sent him was murderous. "I'm dying."

"You are." He watched her head twist left and right, like an animal scent for a kill. "Not the first time either."

"The first time, my soul stayed in Purgatory, my true home, which is the only reason why my children could bring me back. Failing again was…"

"A problem." He smirked. "You were betrayed before. So I simply suggest you focus more simply. On revenge. Kill the Winchesters and the hunters. Your experiment on the demon failed; maybe you overextended your power. Without Adam, your other half, what power do you have left to try to continue?"

Her eyes were narrowed. "You're suggesting I trust you?"

"No. I just like the thought of the Winchesters dead."

"But you want that demon and her child still." When he smiled, Eve's suspicions about him deepened.

"Kill the Winchesters and their angel. You are more than able to. Then everything will work out for the best." He stepped back over the changing demon. "I'll send you some of Crowley's fresher demons to work on. To change. Gather your monsters to you for protection and be ready for an attack. The Winchesters will plan something reckless, I'm sure of it."

"I want Crowley as well. The demon child you can have so long as I get a taste of her."

"Done." He turned to go when Eve suddenly appeared in front of him.

"What do you want in return, demon?" she demanded. "Your kind always wants something."

Azazel's face turned sly. "A few of your kind to throw them off of my work."

"I will still want to taste that demon's blood."

"Have it. What I need from her is something more… internal."

"Fine. I will give you what I can spare from the nest," she agreed and that sly grin widened.

Eve frowned and watched as he walked away from her, saying over his shoulder, "Oh, and send those you promised to me in a few hours. I'll need them. Before you begin to plan for your little war."

As desperate as she was to kill as many hunters as she could in the process of getting her revenge, the Mother didn't ignore the instinctive warning going through her that to trust this demon was a mistake. Her eyes wandered to the monsters standing ready for her orders and she noticed that the change was starting to touch even the strongest of them now. Sooner or later, the fever would continue to corrupt all of the once pure strains of monsters and turn them into something more vicious, something more beautiful. Something that couldn't fail to take their proper place in ruling this wretched world.

---

When the Winchesters finally came back, exhausted from the long drive, Dean's reaction to Garth's visit and the hunters likely following him was exactly what Meg had expected. While Sam gave a resigned sort of head-shake and shrug, his brother stalked up and down the main room, ranting about how it was the sort of crap he didn't expect from their friend. Even if it was about monsters and demons, they, Dean pointed out, worked better on their own. Of course, Meg knew he wasn't really including her with the rest of them. Rather than take offence, she simply goaded him into more shouting by reminding him how much trouble other hunters could be.

Eventually, Castiel's not-so-subtle warning squeeze to her hand warned her not to take her fun too far.

Still, Dean's grumbling and snapping at all of them wasn't as surprising as his almost pleasant greeting to Garth when the hunter pulled up in his fire-trap of a car. Still in the bunker with Castiel, Meg nursed her glass of whisky as she watched the video feed. The brothers had had him drive in a back way up the dirt roads to the bunker and Sam's surveillance cameras hadn't picked up anyone else following.

"Well, well, isn't that a sight?" Garth was all big toothy grin, obvious even on the video camera, and he slapped hands with Dean. "Never thought I'd see you idjits again, or be here again. Life's funny, huh?"

"Still trying the Bobby lingo, huh?" Dean asked as he led the way in. They were gone for a few minutes, in the blind spots of the video feed, and expectantly Kevin, Meg and Castiel all filed out to the main room to wait for them. Dean was busy locking up but Garth swaggered in, and whistled as he looked around at the bunker.

"Never fails to impress."

Dean bumped him on the shoulder and led him into the main room, where Kevin muttered a hello that he answered with a tight hug. The hunter turned around and spotted Castiel and Meg, the angel wisely backing up to avoid any potential hugging.

"Wow, just like old times," Garth said with a jovial grin at them. He pointed at the demon, lacking any real fear or concern about what she was. He had seen her at her worst and decided that it made her less frightening than most demons. "Last time I saw you was when you burned Mr. Fizzles."

The grin she gave him was nasty but Sam's appearance beat her to any response. The same hand-slapping greeting, and then Castiel was thumped playfully on the shoulder hard. The lanky hunter grinned, nudging him in the ribs.

"Guess your type of therapy worked on her, eh? Better than puppet counselling."

Castiel understood and sheepishly looked away from Meg. "It wasn't exactly therapy."

"Yeah huh. Whatever. First things first. I wasn't followed." At the Winchesters' dumbfounded expressions, he smirked. "I figured you guys would be all pissy over that. I'm real good at keeping a low profile when I want to. They're coming off highways anyway and I took the backroads. Gave me time to make extra calls and make sure I had all the intel we needed."

"Kevin said you noticed a pattern?" Sam popped a few pills into his mouth and chewed on them, ignoring Dean's speculative look. Garth undid his pack and turned to unravel a map on the table. There were circled dots all around and both brothers leaned over to look. The marks and lines resembled a large chain surrounding a central point marked with a star.

"What about it?"

"All the attacks are central for this area, and there is a lot that lead back to Picher. My guess is the monsters are using some wooded areas, maybe a few abandoned houses, to travel safely. The town is small and quiet, pretty desolate at times too. Perfect for them to be hiding out." He pointed at each section and then reached into his pocket for a sharpie. "When we back track in straight lines, each set of attacks has been different but pretty damn vicious. Few survivors. Vampires, werewolves, and something new none of us really knew about. Something weird."

"Big, vicious things? Tend to not fall unless you chop off the heads or hit the heart?" Dean asked and at the other man's nod he sighed. "We've been getting an influx of them in Kansas."

Castiel stepped close to Meg to peer over her shoulder. "No demon sightings?"

"None. I mean I got a call about one in Hastings but that hunter is in the hospital in a serious condition. Not gonna get much out of him right now since his jaw is all smashed up."

Meg tilted her head and her lips quirked up a bit.

"Anyway." Garth drew lines. "Each attack happens in patterns. Gets worse the closer you get to this central area to where each point leads. My guess is whatever is causing it, is right there."

Dean ran his hand over his scruffy jaw. "It'll be Eve. Last time she picked a town to base out of and now we've got no idea how to kill her."

"If the Metatron killed Adam, her other half, then she is weaker. Meg and I watched it. It was an exorcism and a silver blade. Maybe we can find something in those books I brought back," Castiel said, trying to comfort the glum expressions on their faces.

"Or we send her back to Purgatory," Kevin offered. "I mean, she was put there and only Dragons knew how to get her out, right?"

"Maybe but then she might get through to Hell again. Dragons aren't easy to find either. Unless Castiel can work a miracle on that end." Ignoring Castiel's sudden interested look, Sam bent over the map and sighed. "If all of those attacks are happening around this area, then we could hit this point. Take out as many of her offspring as possible and see if we can either capture her or weaken her completely."

"They're infecting the other monsters. We've seen it," Dean said.

Meg tapped the map. "Not to mention demons. Whatever she's been doing is changing them if it doesn't kill them."

"Not a bad thing," Garth offered and her dark eyes went to his face.

"There's a big difference between normal demons and half-crazed with pain demons, Stretch."

"Is there? I dealt with you for a bit, remember?" he asked with a happy grin and she gave him an appreciative smirk.

"That was just tip of the iceberg for knowing about me."

"Okay, you two, stop the flirting." Dean waved his hand and the matching disgusted looks he was shot made Sam smile. "If we can get some sort of team together, cripple Eve and destroy her offspring, then she's vulnerable."

"Destroy her guard and find a way to fully take her power away," Castiel muttered. "We'll need help. There are so many paths into that area."

"Mmhmm." Garth tapped several spots in the South. "I can call in hunters from the surrounding areas. Do a flash burn over the ground to burn out any nests there and take away any hiding places. But others will be coming in from the North, which gives me another question." Leaning on the map with his knuckles, he looked at Castiel and Meg. "Rumours were true, weren't they?"

Castiel met his stare. "Yes."

Garth licked his lower lip and smirked. "Not bad. Way to give me more shit to deal with." He leaned back and looked around at the Winchesters. "I can't guarantee they aren't going to be pissed over this, guys. To them, this is another monster or demon to try to kill."

"Garth, come on, man," Sam started and the thinner man glared at him.

"We've been through a lot. When will you Winchesters start really trusting me?"

"It's not their business either. It is ours," Meg said, crossing her arms and Garth turned towards her.

"I've heard stories about you, Meg. Before these guys stopped the Apocalypse. Before Cas involved himself in your little story. About how you killed hunters, tortured them too. Did it all with a smile on your face, so I wouldn't be far off the mark for thinking you're up to no good," he said. Ignoring her impatient scoff, he stared at Dean and Sam again. "Then there's you guys getting to pick and choose who you fight with and complaining to me for not trusting you. So give me a little hint as to why I should trust what this demon has to say. For all I know, you guys are sitting on some sort of demonic atomic bomb and are blind to it because she's lying to you."

"You need to trust us," Dean said forcefully and Garth shook his head, looking away. "Garth, you know how we are, you know what we…"

Garth only half-heard him as he turned away and saw a small girl peeking out from behind the shelving unit behind Meg and Castiel. He could only stare at how small she was, at how large her eyes were with her face framed in long black-brown waves. She was clutching a stuffed toy unicorn while dressed in a too big plaid shirt overtop of bright purple leggings, and the entire time her eyes darted over all of them nervously. Everything about the girl's appearance seemed so…so… human.

"Who's she?" he asked, nodding at her. They all turned in unison towards her. To the hunter's surprise, she ran for Meg and clutched her leg to hide behind it. When she stole a look up at Garth, her remarkably blue eyes made him feel as if a shock sparked through him.

"Nyx, this is Garth. Garth, Nyx," Sam introduced. Garth was sure his jaw fell open, especially with how affectionate Sam sounded over the child. "Garth, she's the 'monster' you guys were all scared over."

Nyx made an offended sound and looked up at Meg. "Not a monster!"

"Oh, yes you are," Meg said but her eyes were on Garth. He came around the table and stared at her, aware that Meg put herself between them on purpose.

"This… this is the supposed big bad?" he asked, bewildered, and he crouched in front of her. Nyx stared up at him, chewing on her lower lip. "Hi there."

Castiel stood behind Meg and Nyx looked up at him next. He was staring at Garth, pinning him with a look that warned him not to try anything. When she reached out and tugged on his hand, he looked down at her. "It's okay, Nyx."

Garth dug into his pocket and handed her a wrapped candy. "I'm a friend of Dean and Sam."

"Hi." Taking the candy, she gave him a speculative look. "You're skinny."

"You're short," he said in a friendly way, and she smiled agreeably. Garth watched her fiddle with the plastic, eyes wandering over her from head to toe and then he nodded, getting up slowly. "She looks human."

He didn't see Meg's warning look at the Winchesters but both men nodded. "Probably more human than you guess," Dean said, eyeing Meg warily.

"I can see that. But the other hunters won't give you that chance when they show up. We go to war, they want to know you are with them 100%. Not dividing up your loyalties."

"So despite everything we've done, everything we've lost, we still have to prove ourselves to other hunters?" Dean's voice rose in a shout and Meg felt Nyx's hand slip into hers, squeezing. Castiel watched his friend closely, seeing his anger and the effect his temper had on an already bad heart.

"You think you guys own the 'suffer for the cause' moniker?" Garth demanded. "Look, I trust you. I can see how normal that little girl is. I can even get how an angel has become your friend and, for some reason I can even get how a demon started working with you. But there's a lot more to this than me. I can just bring them in, I can't control them."

"So I'm supposed to stand back and let them threaten a three-year-old girl before they help us?" Dean didn't lower his voice and Sam reached out to clasp his arm.

"You're scaring her."

They all looked down to see her clinging to Meg's leg, her eyes moving rapidly from person to person as if trying to figure out what was wrong. Meg squeezed her small fingers back but Castiel noticed her other hand going to her jacket, where he saw the glint of a knife. Moving quietly as the hunters tried to school in their tempers, he leaned in and whispered in her ear for her to calm down. The demon looked away but nodded.

"Nyx won't be here, when they get here," Castiel spoke quietly, but his low raspy voice broke through whatever angry haze Dean was seeing through. All the hunters turned to look at him and Meg. "Kevin has come up with a solution that I've agreed to. It is just a matter of getting her there."

"Where? Angel daycare?" Dean asked sarcastically. Nyx was staring up at her parents and it was clear that this was the first she had heard of it.

"Somewhere safe. One of you needs to take her."

"Why us?" Sam asked.

"Because of all of us, Meg and I are the ones being watched more closely by Heaven and Hell, especially where Nyx is concerned. If we use Meg's old car, the chance of you being followed is slim." Castiel's eyes darted to Garth and the hunter nodded.

"Ah, gotcha. I'm not part of this. I'll go make some calls and unpack old Reliable out there." He retreated amicably and the Winchesters turned on the demon and angel when the door shut behind him.

"Where are you putting her that is so mythically safe?" Sam frowned. "Like the safe-house? I thought you said you didn't want us leaving visible tracks to there."

"It's a place no one but us has been to in years. Kevin thought of it." Castiel took a seat on the chair and Nyx crawled onto his lap without speaking. "Chuck's."

"Chuck's?" Sam stared. "Drunk Chuck? Chuck who hasn't really done much in years? Chuck who basically told us all to get lost? That Chuck?"

Kevin nervously shrugged. "Uh, yeah."

"There's a plan," Dean muttered and he looked at Meg. "And you're going along with this?"

The demon said nothing but Nyx huffed. "Don't want to go."

Castiel sighed. "We don't want you to go either. But it's to keep you safe. And that way you can feel better."

"She's sick?" Sam asked and Meg gave him a short, jerky nod.

"Just a flu. Kid thing I guess."

"Huh. So if you two don't take her, who is going?"

Automatically, Dean leaned forward. "You."

"What?" Sam's voice rose. "You can't be serious!"

"I trust you more than I'd trust anyone else, Sam. And Nyx loves you to death. You're a good choice." He noticed Castiel's suspicious look and he kept going to avoid the angel asking any questions. "And you can find Chuck's house easier than Kevin I bet."

The prophet said nothing to that.

"Why Chuck though?" Dean asked Meg. "You hated him."

"Chuck's house has always been next to impossible for most angels to find and the demons won't look if we find hexbags," Castiel explained but the hunter waved his hand.

"I'm asking her."

Meg looked away and still refused to answer. Dean's suspicions only deepened but Sam's protests snapped him out of it.

"I can handle myself, Dean. I need to be here."

"We're not going to fight without you, Sam, stop worrying. I want you to do this," he said, voice gentling. On Castiel's lap, Nyx was watching them as her father helped her fix her shirt buttons so she was dressed properly.

"I'm supposed to fight with you," Sam snapped, pulling him to the side and Dean sighed.

"I'm not asking you to do this, Sam. I'm telling you. Of the two of us, you can do this. I can handle the hunters, Cas and Meg can help us fight and keep their sides out of it. You were always great at taking care of others, you know that. You take Kevin and Nyx to Chuck's, you get back here and fight, okay?" The brothers stared each other down until finally Sam took in a deep breath, looking away.

"Fine."

"Good. We'll get her car out and you get there as fast you can, before anyone else figures out what we're up to."

---

Nyx was quiet as Meg packed her bag up and when the demon turned back to grab a sweater she was stubbornly still perched on-top of her dresser. Meg cocked her head on the side. She hadn't said a word since they had left the main room "You still sick?"

"No." There was a curt note in her voice that Meg didn't like. Defiantly, Nyx toppled a book Castiel had given her so it crashed on the floor and the spine broke. Instantly, she looked upset by what she had done and fidgeted as if expecting her mother to say something. But Meg only waited, her dark eyes wandering over that usually innocent face to see her anger. "I don't want to go."

"It'll keep you safe. Won't be forever."

"Said he wasn't gonna leave." Nyx crossed her arms over her chest. "And now you're gonna leave too."

"Hey." Meg snapped her fingers so the little girl had to focus on her. "Don't start that. You like Kevin and Sam. Kevin will keep you safe. You can't stay here. We have to fight monsters."

"Why?" Nyx asked and Meg for a moment didn't answer. She wasn't sure what to think because she really didn't know. If it had been years ago, she would have disappeared, laid low for a long time until it was all over. Screw the humans, the demons, the angels; every survivalist instinct in her was warning her that she should keep under the radar for this one. But she also remembered what Adam had snarled in her ear as he tortured her, remembered how every species seemed to be interested in her now.

Meg put her finger on Nyx's chin to get her to look up.

"We're going to keep you safe, kid." She smiled and her lips lost their razor sharp edge for something softer.

"What if you don't come back?" Nyx asked as she began to pluck at Meg's leather sleeve and the demon leaned down so they were closer.

"You think I won't?" Behind her, she was aware of Castiel arriving to carry Nyx down to the car. The little girl reached up and wrapped her arms tight around her mother's neck, hugging her. Growing more and more used to these random spurts of affection and love, Meg simply held her back. "Nyx. You are going to take care of Kevin and I'm going to make sure your dad here doesn't get hurt."

Nyx finally noticed Castiel in the doorway and jumped down off the dresser to hug his legs next. She turned her face up at him while her lower lip thrust out in a pout. "I don't want to go."

He hesitated, obviously conflicted when faced with a large pair of blue eyes that looked at him as if he had hurt her deliberately. Castiel wanted her safe but he loved having her with him, enjoyed making up for the years he had lost because he found her so fascinating. But he also noticed Meg giving him that same look she had years ago when he was prattling on and on about birds and bees. Her expression was was exasperated, warning him not to give in and he patted Nyx's head awkwardly.

"Do what your mother says."

Those blue eyes went from beseeching to insolent. "You're mean."

"Ah, well." He turned his pleading expression on Meg for help and the demon rolled her eyes.

"Nyx?" When she turned around, Meg glared down at her. "Don't torment him. He's not as smart as you."

That actually seemed to delight her and Castiel watched her go running out of the room to find Dean and Sam, dragging Clarence after her. Meg tossed Castiel the bag she'd packed but instead of leaving with it, he blocked her way out. "You're sure about this?"

"Aren't you?" The retort was sharp enough that he flinched.

"I don't like leaving her." He tilted his head and stepped forward. "And I don't think you do either."

She leaned against the dresser as he came closer. "Don't get all wimpy on me now, Clarence."

"They want to fight Eve and her monsters. I've done this before, Meg; it isn't easy. I'm not sure you understand that."

"So that's why you're blocking me?" she challenged and he reached out as she tried to slip by, his hand in hers. He pulled just hard enough to draw her into him. Meg made a groan as he shouldered her back and held her steady. Before he could say a word, she rocked up and planted a quick kiss on his mouth. When she broke it, her mouth hovered just under his own lips and he felt the bite of her teeth grazing his skin. He tasted her mouth once more and could barely hide the eager response he had to her kiss.

"If you wanted me to yourself, Castiel, just say it," Meg murmured against his mouth. He followed her down as she stepped into him, head tilting back to invite more. He felt her head touch his shoulder as she brushed her lips over his and he leaned down into her. His arm wrapped around her waist and he felt her eagerness to continue the kiss as she raised a hand up to his hair. Her lips parted as he stroked his tongue over them and then he kissed her just as teasingly as she had kissed him.

"Ah-hem." Kevin coughed and Meg groaned, breaking away from Castiel. "I'm good to go."

Letting Meg go, Castiel cleared his throat. "All right."

The way the prophet waited patiently at the door meant that he wasn't about to leave them alone and Meg grumbled as she fixed her jacket and stalked ahead of them. Noticing Kevin's teasing grin, Castiel simply followed the demon down to the doorway.

Nyx was already outside at the car, hanging around Dean as he lectured Sam on the best way to drive Meg's car. Throwing the duffle bag in the trunk, the demon felt Nyx grab hold of her hand next to lead her to the car. She helped her into the car seat and crouched down beside the door, watching as the girl settled herself in before she gave the surroundings a perplexed look.

Handing over Clarence, Meg tapped her knee to get her attention. "You behave."

"Don't want to go," Nyx muttered.

"We'll come as soon as we can," Meg said, voice softening to a level that she would never let the Winchesters hear. "You be safe and we'll come find you."

"Promise?" Nyx asked.

"You know it, monster." Meg watched her finally smile. "Make sure Sam buys you food and lets you drive."

"Okay." Her arms went around Meg's neck before she could pull back and the demon froze up, still so unused to such open affection. Nyx held on tightly and whispered in her ear, "I'm scared."

"It'll be over soon." Meg smiled and finally hugged her back. For some reason, that little tinge of illness she had felt in Nyx seemed to die down a little and Nyx murmured that she felt better. When Meg let her go, her skin wasn't as hot to touch. Over her shoulder, she felt Castiel reach over to ruffle their daughter's hair.

"Be good," he whispered and Nyx nodded, happily bundling herself and Clarence up into the thick blanket Meg gave her.

With a final handshake, Sam went to the front seat without pausing to look at Meg or Castiel. He was angry and frustrated at Dean's orders to take Nyx and Kevin to Chuck's, but all of his years of obedience meant that he did as he was told. Snapping at Kevin to get in the car, Sam barely acknowledged Castiel or Meg. They stepped back as Kevin squeezed into the seat beside Nyx and in a spray of dirt and gravel the car was driving away without any goodbye. Seeing his friend's concern, Dean stepped up beside Castiel but the angel didn't turn to look at him.

"Sam didn't realize you were sending him away deliberately, did he?"

The eldest Winchester shrugged. "Doesn't matter if he did. Get the plans from Garth, we're going to get to Picher as quick as possible and get this done with. At least if Sam and Kevin are out of the way, if we need a second wave they can figure it out."

Castiel noticed Meg's curious gaze. "We'll survive this, Dean."

He was given a wry grin. "Of course you two will. What can kill you two?"

Dean walked away from them and Castiel wondered vaguely what had happened to make Dean so certain that sending his brother away was the greatest thing he could do for them all. When Meg stepped close to him, her fingers brushed his coat sleeve and she shook her head. "I don't like this. He was super protective over Sam and Nyx. More than normal."

"He's been troubled since learning the spell with him and Sam is breaking down," he answered as he led her back into the bunker.

"No cure for that, huh?"

"There's cures." He waited for her at the top of the steps. "But nothing permanent. They'll be scarred for the rest of their lives with what we did to them. I don't think that either of them will ever recover."

"Is Sam's soul still damaged by the trials?" Meg asked and he sighed, trying to think of how to explain to her.

"It is as if he… he…" He reached out and touched her shoulder, feeling the gauze even through her jacket. "It is like he was patched up from pieces of Dean's soul and it never really worked. He'll never be as strong as he was before."

"Then why don't you just undo the spell completely and give Dean back his half, and Sam his? Maybe when the souls are back in the right place, they'll take care of themselves," she asked simply as she passed him, unaware that the angel had stopped to watch her. He stared as if she had said something profound and then looked at where Dean was packing up his weapon bag.

---

"Maybe," he muttered but the hunter's insistent orders that he help back the supplies up kept him from disappearing to see if it could be done.

Not wanting to risk even more people learning where the bunker was, Garth and Dean had found a small bar close to the border of Kansas and Oklahoma, still a safe distance from the central site where they figured Eve was hiding. With Castiel and Meg in the front seat with him, Dean parked the Impala in an alley and sat back to watch. Meg sat between them, her eyes searching the approaching cars, while Castiel remained as alert as he always was. Cars were pulling up of all makes, some looking as rough as the hunters that parked them and made their way into the building. It was obvious that they weren't about to be lacking hunters from the Midwest area.

"I spoke to Garth to get our stories straight," Dean said finally and he looked at Meg. "To all these people, you're a human hunter. Unless you get exposed, then you're on your own."

"And Wings here?"

"Most of them know Cas by hearsay. Plus he sucks at hiding what he is sometimes," Dean explained and Castiel turned his head to glare at him. The hunter looked at Meg. "Am I right?"

"He's got a point, Clarence. You're not real subtle." He glared at her next before he huffed and looked out the window. He ignored their chuckling.

"I am just more aware of what I am than the rest of you," he said as if it was an excuse and Meg leaned into him, teeth snapping gently at the air close to his ear. Reluctantly, he looked back at her and their eyes locked when she smirked wickedly at him.

"Don't pout, Castiel. We're not alone for me to improve your mood. Not that I mind but Dean-o here will."

Dean snorted rudely. "You guys are disgusting."

Castiel looked away but reached between himself and Meg to give her hand a squeeze. She smirked and then looked back at Dean.

"So the master plan is…?"

"We keep you under the radar and we all divide up to lead groups into Eve's little lair she has. Set up traps, explosions, lure them all out. We can try to kill her, or at least take care of the infected monsters we were told about. You two are going to follow my lead and you," he pointed his finger at Meg, "aren't going to act like you normally do. Try to play nice."

She groaned and looked away. "This is going to be torture."

---

In the heat of the hunters' arguments, it was Dean who acted the worse of all of them. His temper, already frayed from forcing Sam to take Nyx and Kevin north and his own poor health, was threatening to explode and only Castiel's calm presence kept him from saying more things that he would regret. Some of these hunters he had known a long time; hunted with, been raised with, even learned from. All of them had had their nerves rubbed raw from the monster attacks, from the way many of them had been dragged into the Winchesters' problems before. No one wanted to listen if there wasn't a hundred percent chance of success.

"We're going to be fighting a losing battle, trusting you to lead us!" said one man who had designated himself as a leader of his own group.

"Not if we work together. We need to cut the ground out from under Eve. That means no more in-fighting between us. We've all been attacked by these things and we're losing more and more of us when we hunt on our own. The infected monsters are now outnumbering the normal ones," Dean said.

Standing at the door, dwarfed by the large man and woman on either side of her, Meg watched the leader side of him take over. It gave her time to carefully watch each of the hunters to see who would give them problems.

"You want us to face off against all of those changed monsters? A few years ago you said so yourself that killing Eve was nearly impossible. What makes this time any different?"

"Nothing. But this time we know how to handle her. If we get rid of her offspring, get rid of that threat, we can trap her back into Purgatory."

Another hunter leaned forward. He had the craggy face of a man worn down by a long time spent hunting, his eyes deeply etched with loss and sadness. "Look, Dean. All of us got great respect for you and your brother, for your whole family. But we've seen the damage this monster's kids do."

Castiel shifted his weight. "It's no worse than before. It seems that way. Monsters were quiet for years. Now they've been infected."

"What about your kind, angel? They willing to help?" the first man asked and he said nothing, causing a murmur through the crowd. "So that's our ace? A single angel? Great."

Meg's eyes went to Castiel's.

"Cas can handle himself. Here's what we do." Dean laid out the plan in a soft spoken way but there was steel in his voice, that made every instruction a warning that vibrated through the packed room. He ignored the arguments, ignored the way Garth had to soothe a few disgruntled hunters, and simply explained the plan that Castiel had helped him with. The right sort of bait, the right moment, and with the right set of explosives and traps, which all hunters carried, could at least take care of the large nest in Picher.

It would leave Eve without her protective packs of changed creatures and put her on the run. Hopefully enough for Castiel to get close enough to strike with an angel sword and try an exorcism the way Metatron had. If Eve did infest a body the same way as Adam, maybe they had a chance.

Dean looked up and his eye caught Meg's. He wondered at the small spark of approval he thought he saw in her half-smile. A hunter close to him cleared his throat and distracted him from thinking too much about it.

"That's it?"

"No. It won't be that easy." Dean leaned back. "But better we take care of this now before more and more monsters get sick. Get out there and form a loose perimeter. Keep in touch and we leave in the morning."

He watched them file out and then turned to Garth, nodding to him.

Meg watched the hunters leave before she moved away from the wall. It had been so hard to stay here, in the middle of all of these enemies, and not do a thing about it.

"What about Benny?" she asked when they were alone.

"I've tried calling. Either he's been killed," there was a bit of grief in Dean's voice, "or he's in too deep to answer. We can't depend on him for answers. Not anymore." He gave a bitter chuckle. "I guess it is just one more failed plan, huh?"

Meg knew he really wasn't asking her opinion.

A hand slid around her waist, touched her skin under her shirt, and she looked up at Castiel. He said nothing, just led her back to the table as for the fifth time Dean laid out what he wanted them to do. Meg said nothing about the plans, just struggled not to focus on the thought that they really were going into this nearly blind.

---

Chuck yawned as he scratched at his short beard and stumbled for the door. The moonlight was already peeking over the trees, the brightness of it made harsh by the icy snap of winter wind. Still it was better than the stale air of the house. He had a few hours to try to write something, anything, more than what he had tried in the past few weeks since Christmas. But first the mail. There was always the possibility that there was a letter that could distract him for a few hours. Which would be just what he needed.

Stretching an arm over his head, he let his ratty bathrobe fall apart and the cold draft from under his front door nipped at his toes. As bundled up as he had been the night before, now it was all pretty damn cold even with the heat running on high.

"Should have paid for that door to get fixed," he muttered as he popped the lock. A shadow across his front step didn't bother him. He knew exactly who it was. He simply kept rambling on, "Look, Ned. I told you that I wasn't stealing your paper anymore. It was all a big misunderstanding the first few times."

The sight of Sam Winchester on his doorstep made him stare, wide-eyed and incredulous that the tall young man had found him yet again. Like a smaller shadow, Kevin was right beside him; that wasn't strange and Chuck frowned when the prophet held up his mail for him.

"What are you guys doing here?" he demanded.

"Hi to you too, Chuck," Sam said dryly, turning away and bending down. Chuck glared at the back of his head and grunted.

"No offence, but every time I see you and your brother things tend to go downhill fast for me." He went to close the door but Kevin swung his foot in the way.

"Nice try. We need your help with something."

"My help? Since when?" Chuck tried to swing the door shut but Sam stood up and turned around. The little girl in his arms stared back at Chuck with as much seriousness as was possible for a child to have, but it was Chuck who backed up a step at what he saw.

"Nyx, say hello to Chuck."

She lifted a hand and wiggled her small fingers at him. "Hi."

"Hu-hu-hi," he stammered. "This-this is."

"She's Castiel and Meg's," Kevin said. "Right, Nyxie?"

"Right!"

He nearly fainted then, slumping weakly back against the door as Sam and Kevin shouldered past him. He thought he caught sight of a pleasant smile, so similar to one he had known before, on the child's face. Her dark hair had spilled out from under a cabby cap and it gave her a more innocent appearance as she looked around with wide-eyed wonder at his rambling old house. Sam carried her into the living room and she waved her hand in the air.

"This place smells funny."

"Smells like a writer with too much time on his hands," Sam muttered as he tossed her bag down and turned with her to face Chuck. The prophet bolted the door shut and angrily gave it a kick before dropping his bills on the table.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Kevin suggested a safe place for Nyx would be a place that no one would expect or know about, besides us."

Turning a fierce look on the young prophet, he continued to scowl. "Kevin's wrong."

The boy was hardly intimidated. "I don't think so. I bet this place is perfect."

"I have work to do!" He stalked towards them and Nyx gave him a puzzled frown.

"What work?" she asked innocently.

"He's a writer, Nyx. He creates things. Stories," Sam explained as he sat down with her on the couch.

"What kind of stories?" Her eyes turned eagerly to him and Chuck found himself confused. Normally kids didn't like him at all and his attitude would put them off.

"Just stories." He gestured at Sam. "About the Winchesters. Why is she here?"

Nyx leaned back and looked up at Sam. "Good stories?"

Sam made a face. "Well…" he started and she nodded, understanding.

"Bad stories."

"Hey, they are okay stories!" Chuck argued, tying his bathrobe off again and storming around for his kitchen. "I need a drink."

Still muttering to himself as he made coffee, he didn't realize he had been followed until he turned and saw that Nyx stood just under him. He leapt back and nearly dropped the canister on top of her head. Ignoring his gestures for her to leave, she planted her hands on her hips and tilted her head back.

"I don't like you."

"I don't like you either. You aren't what I expected," he admitted.

"You hurt people."

There was a glint in her eye, far more mature than her years. Chuck realized that, unlike Sam and Dean, or even Castiel and Meg, she knew exactly who and what he was. Which meant she might realize his role in her young life.

"I don't mean to. It happens."

Sam was calling her name but Nyx moved fast towards the prophet. With a solid whack, she kicked Chuck in the shin. The attack made him howl and grab at the injured leg and she glared all the harder at him. She looked so fierce that he could barely manage to think of what to say.

"What did you do that for?!"

"You can't hurt my friends!" she warned and then stormed off, leaving a bewildered God behind her. The small bruise forming on his leg wouldn't go away no matter how he ran his hand over his leg.

"Okay, you are definitely not what I expected," he whispered, nursing his bruise.

"Oh, please, Chuck. Did you expect her to be?"

The eerily dry voice was amused, as if just being here was a great joke. The sound of it made Chuck close his eyes and pray that this was a dream.

But when his eyes opened again, Death sat at his kitchen table across from him.

"Here we are again, Chuck. So tell me." Death's grin was ghoulish. "Did you learn anything from the last time or will this be a repeat of past failures?"

---

Eve watched her creatures trying hard to find their new balance, the ability to move with more than a few jerky motions of legs seeming to be beyond them. It was frustrating. Before her very power had been split down the middle, before she had lost him, everything had been so easy. Creation had been simplistic and beautiful.

Now all she wanted to do was rip them all apart, like dolls, and then throw them back together to see what came out.

That she had lost her mind was something the monster didn't think of, in the way of true insanity. To her, she only saw her imperfect children and the illness of this world, the weakness on them.

She had sent the last of her ruined children to help the demonic freak but when they returned they would be changed as well. There was no room for any more imperfection. The demons would fall into line or they would be consumed just as easily as the others had.

So lost in what she was doing, Eve didn't hear the first warning of a monster's howls. Or even the second and third. The desperation was something she missed as she debated on what to do next. It took a loud bang outside the building, one that rattled the windows and doors, to make her take notice. Abandoned or not, someone was outside waiting for them.

She chewed on her lower lip with a sharp canine to resist the urge to bite into her youngest child but the need to act, to fight, tofeed, was so strong.

She could smell the humans outside.

She could smell the sulphur of a demon and the Grace of an angel.

She could smell blood.

It only made her hungrier than she had been in a very long time.