Thirteen

We were about to pass through a town called Effingham in Illinois when we needed to stop for gas. Dean pumped the gas, Sam got out to stretch his legs, Dylan was sitting in the back-seat and I was resting in the passenger seat with my eyes closed. I was completely drained.

After Dean and I had gotten back to the motel, he had to explain what happened, Dylan heard Joshua's name and flew into action, she got all our gear together and packed the car, she even made Dean and I peanut butter sandwiches while I was in the shower because neither of us had eaten since breakfast. When Sam complained about the long drive she nearly bit his head off explaining who Joshua was, that he was a close friend of Dads and had reigned him in more than a few times when it came to disciplining me. In truth, Joshua was similar to Bobby in the way he was almost a surrogate father to me, the difference was he knew how to handle Dad, it was Joshua who had given me my butterfly knife, the one I still carried. Sam hadn't said anything else about it after that, from what I knew from Dylan, they both knew how family didn't end with blood. When we had gotten in the impala, Dylan had insisted I sit in the front with Dean, I knew this was because she wanted to stretch out her legs and put her feet up, something she knew irritated me, Sam on the other hand knew better than to argue with her. At some point during the drive, when Sam had fallen asleep and Dylan was watching a movie on the laptop, Dean pulled my hand into his. I flinched but didn't remove my hand.

"Rayne?" he asked quietly, trying not to wake the others, "you ok? You've been staring at the windshield for nearly 3 hours."

I nodded, not wanting to open my mouth for fear of bursting into tears again. He stroked my hand gently but had to let go as Sam stirred.

Sitting at the gas station I smiled thinking about my hand in Deans and then berated myself for feeling happy when Joshua was in trouble. As I was mentally beating myself up I heard a faint rustle of feathers. I opened my eye a crack and just as I suspected Castiel had appeared in the back-seat next to Dylan. I closed my eye and heard her gasp slightly in surprise. I didn't know what to do, I knew Dylan could tell when I was feigning sleep but would Castiel? I knew Dylan couldn't see my face, I opened my eye again, it didn't look like he could see it either, I had Deans leather jacket pulled right up to my face, he must have put it on me when I fell asleep. With my eye only open a tiny bit I could only see the space between the front seats, but I realised if I shifted slightly to my left, I could see both of them in the rear-view mirror. Castiel and Dylan sat staring at each other for a few seconds and I almost laughed, the intense serious expression on Dylan face as not something I was used to seeing. Castiel spoke first, his deep voice quiet and solemn as it was the first time we met him.

"Hello, I hope I'm not intruding?" he asked his face flat and expressionless. Dylan shook her head. This made Castiel smile, he had impressively white and straight teeth, but I guess that was to be expected, I had never seen an angel who needed braces.

"I'm glad, I came to apologise, I had not realised that Sam and Dean were unaware of your status. I hope I did not make things unduly complicated for you."

"No you didn't," Dylan smiled, blushing, something I had never seen her do.

"I'm glad," he touched her hand, "I would never want to do anything to harm or upset you." he reached up and touched her face again, Dylan was quivering slightly. Castiel leaned in slowly until he was just inches from Dylans face, he turned his head slightly.

"May I kiss you?" he asked so softly I could only just hear. Dylan froze, her face looked like something before it gets hit by an oncoming truck, she was even hyperventilating slightly. I could tell she was analysing everything in her head, as ditzy as she acted at times, she never did anything without weighing up every single option at least four or five times. I was probably more impulsive than she was if it really came down to it, but being an angel her brain worked a lot faster than mine ever could. After a second her breathing slowed down and the panicked look went, she began to nod and before the had even nodded fully once, Castiel leant in quickly and kissed her. I closed my eyes, it felt wrong to intrude on this moment. Unfortunately I couldn't close my ears, I could hear some very human sounds coming from the back-seat. When Dylan drew her breath in sharply I opened my eyes again, just in case she needed help. I needn't of worried, when I looked up I could see their lips still locked together, Dylan's hands running through his hair and he was touching her face. I closed my eyes once more before I heard Sam call out to Dean a few feet from the car.

"I have to go, thank you Dylan, for my first kiss, it was, amazing." I heard Castiel murmur and then with another flutter of wings he was gone. I didn't dare even move for fear that Dylan would realise I had witnessed her first kiss with another angel. I could hear both boys approach the car, and when Dean climbed in I opened my eyes.

"here," Dean handed me a bottle of water and a Mars bar, "you haven't had anything in hours." I smiled and thanked him and turned around looking at the two in the back-seat.

"How's thing you two?" I asked, trying not to let on that I had seen anything out of the ordinary. Dylan said nothing as she tuned towards the window and stared out. Sam shrugged.

"Ok, just wish I knew what we were heading to," he answered honestly.

"I'm sorry Sam, I know this must be weird, but if it means anything I am really glad you came." I told him, trying not to cry thinking about what could have happened in the six hours since Joshua called. Sam must have seen this and handed me my phone.

" I tried calling a few times while you slept, no luck, I'm sorry." he frowned sympathetically.

"We've been trying for hours, I might leave it an hour and try again." I looked over at Dean.

He nodded and started the car, turning out of the gas station and back on to the busy road.

"We'll find him Rayne, I promise." Dean sounded determined. 'I just hope we find Joshua in one piece' I thought to myself as the impala roared down highway towards the unknown.