AnnaBeth's eyes fluttered open, sometime in the middle of the night. She frowned in the darkness, having crashed on Bobby's thread barren couch. It was oddly comfortable and reminded her of something from a grandparent's house. She smirked at her inner thoughts, and raised her body from he couch, feeling the unmistakeable presence in the room with her.

"Hey…", she whispered into the darkness, "I said hey…"

"I heard you the first time.", Castiel's voice came piercing through the intense silence, almost causing AnnaBeth's muscles to seize as she jumped. Then, it dawned on her who the voice belonged to.

"Cas? Cas, what are you doing here?", she whispered, stepping closer to where she heard his voice. She reached out to touch him, and couldn't find him. It was as if he wasn't actually in the room, only in her head. She narrowed her eyes in confusion, mouthing 'what?', and turning her head to the side.

"Raphael…", Cas said simply, before sighing, "He said that he was coming to 'pay you a visit'. I had to…I wanted to see for myself."

AnnaBeth took a second to take in exactly what he was saying. Raphael was coming for her. Great. It was bad enough, before the apocalypse, when every demon wanted a piece of her, to get to Lucifer. Now, she had something about as powerful as they come, besides God, wanting to peel her skin off and bleed her dry at the alter. Peachy.

"How do you feel?", Cas echoed in again.

"What do you mean? I feel fine. I'm still gimp…I have been since Lucifer left…", she replied, looking down at the palms of her hands, or what she could see of them in the pale light of the moon shining through the window.

"You know that's not what I mean. I'm not concerned with the…affliction that Lilith and Lucifer placed inside of you."

AnnaBeth frowned into the darkness. The demon blood coursing through her veins had saved them countless times during Lucifer's reign of terror. In fact, said blood was probably the reason that she was still alive. Lucifer loved her…too much to kill her. She swallowed heavily and raised her head to look toward his voice again.

"…So, what are you concerned with, if not my soul..?", AnnaBeth asked him in a bratty voice.

"Are you afraid?"

"Of an Arch Angel? No…", she lied, but Castiel's voice held a smile of disbelief, and admiration.

"Well, you should be. If he gets through. If he comes for you…there's very little that can stop him…"

"I'm aware…", AnnaBeth snapped, becoming a little aggravated at his attempts to break through her coping façade. She gritted her teeth, and Castiel made himself visible to her, his trenchcoat brushing her hands as the wind of his wings died down. With a gasp, she looked up at his face, and had to fight with every fiber of her being not to smile.

"You remind me of Dean in this light. You really shouldn't grind your teeth. I've read that it causes problems…quite painful for humans…", Castiel said softly, his bright blue eyes glimmering in the light of the moon. He was almost smiling at his own humanity shining through like a beacon. AnnaBeth's face cracked into a smile. She pushed down the lump in her throat, and threw her arms around his neck, resting her now teary eyes against his shoulder. She could have sworn she felt his lips touch her temple, as he sighed in relief.

"Mika and me…We…assumed, I guess…that you were dead…", she whispered against his shoulder, before pulling away and looking up at his eyes, "Cas, I'm sorry if I..I mean…if I overstepped anything last night…"

"Stop it.", Castiel said quickly, looking away from her, and illuminating his eyes again in the moonlight, "If I needed an apology…If I needed to doubt your intentions…I wouldn't be here. I've learned that much from the Winchesters. If someone takes your sympathies, and uses them in ways that make break you down…you don't just…come back."

AnnaBeth didn't quite understand what he was talking about. That's all Dean and Sam did. They were self-sacrificing, and no matter what the other did, they always came running back to each other. There was never a 'you don't just come back' point. Either way, she took Castiel's words as forgiveness.

"Thank you…", she whispered, reaching down and grabbing his hand. He took it upon himself to take the hand back, and place it on her face, lightly brushing her high cheek bones. The admiration in his eyes was almost as beautiful as their color. It was true, and strong, and beautiful…

"I'll ask you one more time…are you okay?"

"No. No, actually. I'm not okay.", AnnaBeth said softly, closing her eyes. She sighed through her nose, before opening them again and looking to the left of Cas' face, "I mean…this was all over for me. Sam took Lucifer to Hell. He took my powers with him, and I lost everything. I had actually come to grips with that. I spend one night…being normal. I spend one night, doing something totally out of the cards, and it sparks an idea for more angels to come after me. So…no…I'm not okay…"

Castiel's eyes smiled, before he brushed her hair behind her ear and sighed, "That's what I thought. You should be afraid. Raphael won't stop…until you're dead, and Lucifer is free. You should know, however, that I will not let him touch a hair on your head. I have a way to defeat him. I have a way…to end this, and I'll take you to heaven…and you can be safe, and human…and free from all of this…"

AnnaBeth shook her head, "But that's not what I would want. I'm the Boy King runner up, remember? I'm really doubting that the other angels would take me in, as well as you have. I mean, I'm surprised that Dean hasn't already put a bullet in my head."

"He thought about it…", Castiel blurted out, his social skills slipping up, again, "But…you remind him of Sam. For that, he couldn't justify making an exception for one, if not for all…"

"Thanks for the literal interpretation, Cas…", she smiled, finding the motion strained, "I mean, I don't think I belong up there…"

"So, you believe that you belong in Hell?"

"I don't. There are too many demons in Hell that, if given a chance, would rip me apart in front of Lucifer, just in spite of his protection of me. If he was free. If he reigned alone, and I was powerful, then maybe…", AnnaBeth said, as if it was the most rational thought she had said in years.

"I don't believe that…", Castiel whispered with a frown on his face, clearly offended, "You…are too good to fall to Lucifer's feet. He is NOT your father…he just played the role, long enough to pull you away from Sam."

"Don't talk about him like he's trash...Please. Lucifer did so much…WAS so much, to me. You wouldn't understand."

"Wouldn't understand? I wouldn't understand. Lucifer was a brother to all Angels. What he did…was…", Cas started.

"Was no different from how you fell…", AnnaBeth said quickly. She wanted nothing to do with the conversation. Even Mika knew to avoid it, because even Mika knew what Lucifer had meant to her. He created her. He watched over her the entire time he was on Earth, and if truth was told, he was still commanding the demons that were after her, in Hell.

"How can you say that?", Cas asked her in a hurt voice.

"The things that happened that day, to Sam...to Mika…you and Bobby...they were terrible. That doesn't mean…", AnnaBeth couldn't come up with the right words to plea her case. Everything she attempted to come up with, to defend Lucifer…was wrong. Lucifer would have done no good. He was the father, who was loved, despite his wrong-doings, and it was the worst feeling in the world.

"You can't defend him. I know…the love you had for him. We all felt the pain…the loss, when Lucifer rebelled. When God cast him down, it was a sad day, in Heaven. Many of the lesser angels fell behind him, because they couldn't handle his absence, and a few of them are the demons that followed him closest. I'm sorry, but…you don't belong by his side. You're too…good.."

AnnaBeth stared at Castiel's face. That was the first time those words were ever said to her. It was the first time that anyone had made her think of her soul in any other way but damned. Even Dean, was convinced of her damnation, because of what happened to Sam, and all of Azazel's other children.

"I'm sorry if I've offended you…", Castiel said softly, attempting to judge her facial expression, while his remained blank.

"No…you just…No one has ever said I was…good…", she whispered.

"Such a small gesture…", Cas started, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Can change everything…", AnnaBeth replied, giving a small smile, before sitting on the edge of the couch, where she soon drifted off to sleep without realizing it. She woke up to the smell of coffee and bacon drifting through the house. Looking around, she noticed Bobby sitting at his desk, reading over an old book. She looked down at her chest, and noticed that she was covered with something.

"So, Cas came by last night…", Bobby said in a drone, and obviously sleepy voice, "He have anything to say?"

AnnaBeth groaned a bit, sitting up and removing her 'blanket', "How did you know that he…", looking down, she picked up Castiel's trenchcoat off of her lap, and held it to her chest, with a dreamy look on her face.

"Are you gonna start sniffin' the thing next? You look like you just found a lock of Justin Timberlake's hair…", Bobby grumbled, taking a drink of his coffee, "What did Cas want?"

"He wanted to warn me about the Arch angels…"

"Like, Arch angel Arch angels? What about 'em?", Bobby asked, now looking at her.

"They want me…"