~singing~ GOD'S NOT DEAD HE'S SURELY ALIIIVE, HE'S LIVIN' ON THE INSIDE, ROARIN' LIKE A LION! ~fades slowly~

(so yeah i'm a Christian lol ANYWAY, hope you guys enjoy this one ^^ next chap. we get to see a little of Aubrey's past ;) )

I DO NOT OWN SUPERNATURAL OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS, ONLY MY OC: AUBREY MILLIGAN!


CASTIEL

Castiel was wandering a place known as Phoenix, Arizona when he heard someone calling his name.

"CAAAAAASSS!"

Immediately he homed in on exactly where the desperate cry had come from. The voice sounded familiar, and the unspoken presumption of whom the voice belonged to was confirmed when his feet touched the ground of an empty asphalt road; a girl with dusty yellow locks and warm hazel eyes stood in front of him, her nose only inches away from his.

Castiel could feel the girl's breath fanning over his chin. The closeness did nothing to daunt the angel, but the girl, Aubrey, stepped back with a startled yell.

"Hello, Aubrey."

"Jesus Christ," the girl said, surprised, causing Castiel to become considerably confused. Had she mistaken him for the Son of God? Castiel had met Him before, seen His face, and he looked nothing like Him.

"I'm not—"

"Yeah, I know." Aubrey raised her hand to him, and Castiel fell silent, staring at the girl with curious eyes. He had no idea why she looked so familiar, why she felt so familiar. It wasn't her face as much as it was her soul. Castiel felt like he'd been close to it sometime in his angelic existence. Had they met before? He was positive that they hadn't.

The girl continued, "I know you're not Jesus, I was just…" Castiel noticed her brows furrow. Her breaths came out in short puffs, and she was visibly shaking.

Castiel took a step closer. "You are cold."

"Yeah," she said, looking at him as she rubbed her palms together. "Sam and Dean are gone."

The angel froze. "What?" What kind of trouble had the boys gotten into? Castiel knew that the boys were hunting a Trickster. They'd given him a call during the day, telling him that they were going to make a move. Castiel felt that they didn't need his help. Tricksters were cunning, but as far as he knew, the Winchesters had gotten the best of one before. Why couldn't they again?

Aubrey, still shaking, said, "We went to the warehouse. As soon as we arrived, I felt like something was wrong. The window…" She trailed off, a frown on her face as if she was trying to remember something.

"What was wrong with the window?"

The girl didn't talk again for a moment, staring at the ground. Castiel stepped up and touched her shoulder. She jumped. "N-nothing. Nothing was wrong with the window, it's just… I trailed behind them. They went inside first and the door slammed shut behind them. When I finally got to bash it open, they were just… gone."

"It was the Trickster."

"I should have been there with them. I could have helped them, maybe even gotten them out. We could have overpowered the thing, right? There were three of us and one of it and if I had only just been there…"

Castiel wasn't listening anymore. He had spent enough time with Dean Winchester to know that when humans were feeling strongly about something, they would not stop talking. Castiel didn't really mind, but time passed by quickly on Earth.

He looked around. The buildings surrounding them were all either empty, or filled with sleeping occupants. Clouds gathered above, and Castiel could see his breath coming out of his mouth.

"We should get out of here," he said. When he turned around, the girl nodded her head vigorously.

"The car's parked a few blocks away. Let's try to get there before it starts pouring."

He nodded; and he might have imagined it, but Castiel thought he saw the faintest hint of a smile on the girl's lips. He didn't know what was so funny about what he had said. "Did I say something funny?"

"Nah," she replied, though her smile grew wider, and in no time she was laughing, having a hard time keeping up with the angel as he briskly walked. The air turned humid around them.

When a black odd-looking car finally came into view—presumably Aubrey's—the rain fell. The drops were light, but many, and neither of the two had anything to cover themselves with. Aubrey stepped into the driver's seat, and Castiel sat beside her on the passenger side. They were both dripping wet.

Angels were warmer than humans. He was well aware of the heat radiating off him. By that time, Castiel and his clothes were already dry. But not Aubrey. The girl drove recklessly down the boulevard, the seat beneath her soaked as well as her clothes.

Castiel stared at her, both in concern and fear. The fact that both her hands were on the "wheel" didn't reassure him. Her eyelids drooped from time to time, and whenever that happened the car slowly trailed off the middle of the road. Aubrey always woke herself up just in time to correct the direction of the car but they were still far from the motel.

He grew worried. "Aubrey." Castiel had only ever said her name once, and even then he was unsure of it. It was a peculiar name.

The girl's head shot up. "Yeah," she yelled, very, very loudly. Castiel's brow furrowed and he laid his two fingers on the girl's shoulder. He could feel the exhaustion weighing down on her mind, drowning her like water. But he could also feel the girl fighting. She was losing, however, and she would succumb sooner rather than later.

Castiel closed his eyes, lending her some of his energy.

"What did you do?" she asked, her voice firmer this time, though she looked confused.

"You'll be able to stay awake for a few more minutes."

The angel heard her mumble a thank you, and said, "You're welcome." She didn't smile that time. The ride continued on in silence.

By the time they arrived at the motel, Aubrey was once again exhausted. Her head was bowed low as she walked back to the room. Castiel trailed a few steps behind her, watching in case she collapsed.

He watched as she leaned left to right while walking, positive that her eyes were already closed. Finally, she reached the door to her room and, with fumbling hands, took out the keys and slid it into the knob. She stepped inside, and Castiel followed. He probably shouldn't have, but he did.

As soon as Aubrey reached the foot of her bed, she fell onto it face-first. Castiel rushed forward, afraid that she had gotten hurt somehow, but when he flipped her surprisingly light body he found that she was already sleeping.

He gently placed her back onto the bed, not face-first because he knew that she could suffocate.

Castiel stood by her for a few minutes longer, drawn by her strangely familiar presence. He looked back in his past, trying to think of any reason why he would find the girl acquainted. She was beautiful, and there were many beautiful angels in the garrison, but Castiel had to remind himself that this girl was not an angel.

She was human, and imperfectly so. She drank, and she cursed, and she used the name of God in vain just like any other imperfect human, just like Sam and Dean Winchester.

Why else would he expect more from her?

From what Castiel had gathered the night before, the girl was practically raised as a Winchester. He had found many similarities between her and the brothers.

And now she wanted to save them, just as Castiel did. He had heard the desperation in her voice when she called for him. She was out of options. And, to Castiel's utmost dismay, he felt guilty. He felt guilty for not thinking to look for Sam and Dean sooner. He had already felt something was wrong. He couldn't sense them, and only when Aubrey called on him did he start to worry.

His decision was made. And as he walked out the door, Castiel swore to himself and to the girl breathing lightly behind him that he would find out exactly who the Trickster was, and make him pay for ever giving him a cause to feel so profoundly.

AUBREY

She had no dreams that night. But when she opened her eyes to find that she was staring right into an angel's face, Aubrey indeed thought that she was dreaming.

"I've found them," Castiel said, his voice as deep and rugged as Aubrey remembered.

Her heart did a little leap inside her chest. "Really? Where?"

The angel said something to answer that question, but Aubrey barely heard it. She was too distracted by the warm breath fanning over her face—it smelled like mint leaves—and the nose only inches from hers and the intense blue gaze staring straight into her hazel ones.

He must have noticed her unfocused expression, because somewhere along the lines of "asleep" and "found", he stopped talking.

Aubrey put her hand on the angel's shoulder and squeezed it lightly, before slipping out from underneath him. She was fully aware of his gaze following her through and through, but she tried to ignore it.

As soon as she was standing in a safe distance from Castiel, Aubrey beckoned for him to continue.

Needless to say, the angel was confused, but he spoke. "As I was saying, I went searching for Sam and Dean last night while you were asleep. I found them inside the warehouse where you said they disappeared from."

Her brain was still foggy from exhaustion and sleep, but she understood most of what he said—mostly embarrassed about the fact that she had collapsed onto the bed right in front of an angel. "Wait, no, that's impossible. I searched that place top to bottom for at least four hours. They weren't there."

"Well, their bodies aren't there," Castiel said. "But I could sense their presence somewhere inside the building. Some kind of barrier blocked me from homing in on their exact position. It was almost as if—"

"The Trickster." Aubrey didn't mean to cut him off, but she couldn't help it. "The Trickster's keeping you from finding Sam and Dean."

The angel nodded his head. "I had intended on going there and trying again but thought it best to bring back-up."

"I'll be ready in ten minutes."

Aubrey was dressed and prepared with a jug of coffee warming her hands in five. The sun hung over them, already in its apex as she drove, Castiel warming the whole car beside her. He explained to her all he knew about Tricksters, which was more than Sam and Dean had ever told her.

She learned that Tricksters were practically gods, able to manipulate time and space, conjure up objects from thin air. He also said that they were incredibly difficult to outsmart, making them almost impossible to kill.

"Thank you, Captain Sunshine," Aubrey had said, taking another big gulp of coffee. "But you can kill it, right?"

She took a second to turn her head and look at the angel, and found his face deathly serious. "I would need a wooden stake—"

"—dipped in the bodies of one of the Trickster's victims," Aubrey finished for him. "Yeah, I got mine at the back."

Castiel nodded his head. "Then yes, I can kill him."

Aubrey beamed. That was the second piece of good news she'd received from him that day, which was more than she had hoped for. She had to admit, having an angel working with you made everything a whole lot easier.

They arrived at the warehouse in less than two hours, though considering the speed limits Aubrey had just broken it made sense.

She made her way to the back of her pick-up and opened it, eyeing Castiel as he stared at the warehouse. "Cas," she called. He turned around and Aubrey handed him her stake.

His brow furrowed. "What will you use?"

Aubrey took her gun out from its holster and showed it to him. "I'll just have to make do with this." The angel looked like he was going to argue, but she beat him to the punch. "We're killing this thing today, okay? I won't be strong enough to do it but you are." Aubrey threw a crooked smile at him. "We have to find Sam and Dean, right?"

She closed the trunk and locked it before making her way to the warehouse doors. Castiel trailed behind her, and was still there when she kicked the door open.

She kept herself on high alert as Castiel circled the room, her gun up. "Hurry."

Then something appeared that wasn't there before; a lever, by one of the crates at the other end of the room. Castiel saw it as well and made his way towards it. Aubrey followed behind him.

"I don't know what this will do," he said, examining the rusted thing. "But no matter what happens you mustn't leave the warehouse unless I am with you." He looked at her with stern eyes.

Aubrey met his gaze evenly. "Wasn't planning on it."

Then Castiel pulled the lever down, and his eyes rolled back into his head.

Aubrey expected him to collapse, or convulse on the ground, or anything, but he remained upright and she assumed that it was all part of the plan.

Something dripped onto her head, and she prayed that it wasn't bird poop. Aubrey brought her hand up, touched the wet place, and brought her finger to her nose. Oil. She looked down to her feet to find a circle of the substance drawn around Castiel, and immediately made a move to pull him out.

But within a millisecond the oil was set ablaze and her ally was encased within a circle of fire.

Aubrey stepped back, the heat reaching her cheeks. "Cas!" The angel remained still, his eyes white, and his hand still on the lever. Aubrey called again and this time something happened.

The angel took a sudden sharp intake of breath, his eyes finally coming into focus. He stumbled backward, but stopped when his foot passed over the flames. He yelled, and the sound made Aubrey reel. She never thought he'd hear him like that.

But she also knew that fire wasn't supposed to be very lethal to angels, so why wouldn't he just step over? Castiel looked at her and met her gaze. He shook his head, and Aubrey's stomach flipped.

Suddenly, another figure was in the room, seeming to have appeared out of nowhere. And Aubrey had to balance herself against the wall because she knew that it was the Trickster. She also knew, however, that she was face to face with a ghost from the past.


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