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- Sam's POV -

Diana was quick to calm her friends down but, even though our guns were put away, Dean and I were still tense, mentally calculating any and every way we could attack and get the girls out as quickly and efficiently as possible. Even while seated on the couch across from the others, being served coffee by Diana and her friend, Kara, I made sure to sit in a way that would ensure easy access to my gun.

"Okay," Diana smiled at us all nervously. "Um, kids, this is Sam, his brother Dean, and our friend Charlie. Charlie's Angels, these are the kids I grew up with in the foster home, Kara, Jake, Grace, Matt, Toby, Josh, and Mandy."

The youngest girl, maybe fourteen or fifteen, rose to her feet to correct Diana. "It's Miranda, now, Dee." She flashed me a smile and said, in her lowest, velvetiest voice, "I'm all grown up now."

Diana shot her a look. "All right, sit down," she ordered. Pointing at me, she said, "Off limits."

Mandy frowned up at her. "Why?" she whined.

"Because he's a dozen years your senior!" Oh shit. She was thirteen.

"So? You always said older guys were hot!" Mandy protested. Diana turned bright pink.

"Shut up and sit down, Mandy," she growled at her. Mandy sighed, and obeyed, shooting me a flirty smile as she went. I wanted to run.

"So, Dee's got dibs on the tall guy, fine," Kara announced, making Diana's face redden further and bringing a little color to my cheeks as well. "What about his brother?"

"Okay, stop!" Diana yelled, glaring down at her friends. "You will stop treating my friends like pieces of meat and be respectful or I will take them and go. You are not horny teenagers, with the exception of Mandy and Josh. Speaking of, Mandy, check yourself. And Josh?" The boy jumped and looked up from gawking at Charlie. "Wrong team, honey."

Charlie smiled. "Sorry. But I'll totally kick your ass on that sometime," she pointed to his T-shirt, displaying the logo of some video game or other. He smirked and nodded, accepting the challenge.

"Great! Bonding! Awesome," Diana smiled at them. "You guys go ahead with that, and while you're doing that, I'm going outside for a few minutes because I'm in trouble, so!" She turned on her heel and walked out the front door, closing the door behind her.

Dean and I glanced at each other. He nodded his head towards the door and offered me a half smile. I patted his knee, asking him to be nice with my eyes, rose and followed Diana outside. As soon as I closed the door behind me, she started rambling a mile a minute.

"I'm so sorry! I know, I know! I shouldn't have left but Kara called me and she said she needed help and she sounded so distressed and I love her like a sister and I wasn't even thinking, I just ran! I'm so sorry, I know I could have gotten hurt or hurt other people, but all I could think about was Kara! She's my family and I love her and I couldn't just leave her when she called me for help and I-"

"Diana!" I called loudly, grabbing her wrists gently, cutting off her voice and flailing hands. "It's okay. I understand. I would've done the same thing."

"You're not upset that I left?" she asked, biting her lip nervously.

"A little, but I know why you did and if I chastised you for it, I'd be a hypocrite. That being said, you've now been exposed to the King of Hell, which is not good. I promise you that we will keep you safe, but you need to realize that the job just got a whole lot harder."

She sighed, looking up at me apologetically. "I know and I'm so, so sorry. Whatever I can do to make it better, please just tell me."

"Just keep studying and working hard. That's all you can do for now. Once you've got it under control, then we'll talk." I released her wrists, reached up and tugged gently on her chin, releasing her lower lip from between her teeth. "Don't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because, then I couldn't do this." I planted a gentle kiss on her lips, but when I pulled back, she was looking up at me, confused. "What?"

"I just... I don't know... I thought... I thought that you might back off... From me..."

"Why would I do that? I thought we had a great night..."

"We did," she assured me, a smile overcoming her. "We definitely did. But, Charlie and I were talking and I know that you've been hurt before and that you've always wanted a normal-"

"Hey," I cut her off. "Life, especially our lives, are insane and unpredictable and likely very, very short. I'd like to spend what I can of it with someone I care about who makes me happy. If I can't have a white picket fence and a rose garden out front, I'll be okay. But I'll be damned if I have to live the rest of my life without being able to take comfort in someone I care about. Someone like you."

She blushed, grinning widely, and pulled me in for another long kiss. I hummed happily against her lips, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her close. When she pulled away, I gave her a gentle squeeze and a smile, then opened the door for her and we stepped back inside.

"What?" Dean was shouting at Kara, Matt, and Toby. "No way! Kansas is an awesome band! I grew up on that!"

"Well, yeah they've got a few good ones," Kara reasoned, but Dean held his hand up to stop her.

"A few? Come on!"

Diana grinned up at me and I smiled back. "What?"

"They're getting along!" she bit her lip again, her lips stretching into a face-splitting grin. I laughed at her excitement and planted a kiss in her hair, then followed her over to the group.

"What?" Kara gasped. "Shut up! The Beatles were badass!"

"I mean, they were all right," Dean agreed.

"All right?!" Kara looked away, holding up her hand towards Dean. "I can't even look at you!"

"Rock country, Kara," Diana smirked. "That's what he's into."

"Yeah, fine, but nothing else?" Kara demanded, clearly appalled. "Not even if Diana's singing?"

"What?" I looked down at her. She was looking anywhere except at us. "You sing?"

"Nope."

"Yes she does!" Kara laughed. "And she's pretty good, too!"

"You just don't know when to shut up, do you?" Diana snapped at her friend through a too-sweet smile. Kara folded her arms, satisfied she was forcing Diana to spill. Looking around at us all, she sighed. "Yes, I used to sing. My parents were those parents who wanted me to take a language, play a sport, and be somehow musical. I took Latin, did rock climbing with my father, and sang. But I stopped when they died."

"You used to sing for us," Mandy butt in, sliding next to Kara. "Especially at night when we had nightmares. Remember?"

"Or under your breath," Toby added. Diana groaned.

"I'm not singing for you!"

"Please?" Mandy and Kara sang, batting their lashes. Diana covered her face with her hands.

"I'll sing for you," Dean offered.

"Really?" Kara pounced on it. "You can sing?"

"No," I laughed. "He can't."

"I can sing better than you!" Dean protested.

"Well yes, but that's not hard to accomplish."

"Sing for us!" Toby smiled, picking up an acoustic from behind the couch. "I can pick up anything. Whatcha got in your back pocket?"

Soon enough, Dean was singing a pitchy Bon Jovi song that was only barely recognizable. Still, everyone was grinning ear to ear and applauded wildly when he was finished.

"Boom," Dean smirked at me. I laughed.

"Wanna see what I can do?" Mandy giggled eagerly. We all nodded and she moved to the floor. Within the next three minutes or so, the girl's limbs were all twisted and knotted up in a way that baffled me. She was like a human pretzel. And then she moved from her position on her knees to supporting her crazy, twisted body on her hands.

"That's nice, hun," Charlie smiled. "But can you read minds?"

"What?" Dean laughed. "No way."

Charlie asked him to think of a number and the next thing I knew, there was a talent show happening in the little front room. Grace could draw beautiful portraits in five minutes or less. Matt was like a walking dictionary, the way he could define any word we threw out at him, not to mention recite The Odyssey from memory. Josh knew some magic tricks and Kara prided herself in being able to take down 6 foot men from her 5'2" build.

"What can you do, Sam?" she smiled. I shrugged. "Oh, come on! Everyone can do something!"

"He's a folklore encyclopedia on legs," Dean smirked. "Ask him any question about any creature and he can give you a detailed answer."

"Tell me about Goddess," Charlie motioned towards the kitchen where Diana had disappeared.

"A goddess, you mean?" I corrected her, raising my eyebrows in warning. She blushed at her fumble and nodded. "Um, well, Artemis is a goddess of Greek mythology. She is the daughter of Zeus and the only goddess, aside from Athena, who was allowed to remain unmarried, a privilege granted her because her father, Zeus, had a soft spot for her. Goddess of the moonlight and the hunt, Artemis always carried a silver bow and arrows with her and enjoyed remaining in the woods with the animals she watched over, running free like they did. She was also a source of jealousy for Hera, Zeus' wife, because Artemis and her twin brother, Apollo, were children of Zeus and another woman. Hera being a very jealous and untrusting wife indeed, was always looking for ways to make her step-children suffer and raise her own children above them. However, Artemis disregarded her as harmless, well aware of her influence over her father, and continued to live on without fear of Hera. There are other myths and stories of the goddess, but that is what is generally agreed upon in most sources."

"Cool!" Kara grinned.

"What about vampires?" Mandy asked, biting her lip and grinning. "Or werewolves? Are they all strong and sexy, like Edward and Jacob?"

"No. Actually-" I froze, listening hard. Glancing down at Dean, I could tell he'd heard it too. "Wait here a minute," I told the others, rising with Dean and quietly making our way to the kitchen. Diana wasn't there. We found a back door, leading out to a porch, and saw her standing there with Castiel. We rushed out, closing the door behind us.

"What's going on?" Dean asked in a low voice, so as not to alarm those inside.

"She is not safe here," Cas replied flatly. "You have let her out in the open and now she is being hunted."

"Please," Diana begged him. "You can't let them die. They're everything to me, they're just kids, please!"

"I cannot be held responsible for the casualties that result from your recklessness," Cas replied without emotion.

"What's hunting her?" I demanded, pulling Diana to my side.

"Everything."

"Everything? What do you mean, everything?" Dean growled.

"I mean, the angels, the demons, the vampires, the werewolves, the shape shifters, the fairies, everything. They're all after her."

"But why?"

Castiel's eyes settled on Diana's face. "Because there is a reward being offered by heaven, and hell is quickly outbidding them."

"Cas, help us out here!" Dean barked. "What do we do?"

"Surrender."

We all took a step back. "What? Why would we do that?" I asked, holding her tighter to me.

"Because Sam," Castiel sighed, "despite your belief that your lust for the girl makes you untouchable, you cannot take on all of them. If you allow her to be taken, there will no longer be a hunt and you may then focus on retrieving her."

"And what if they kill her, Cas?" Dean demanded. "Huh?"

"They wouldn't dare, she is too valuable and powerful. Run," Cas ordered. "Run away from here, give her up, then work to get her back. It is your only chance." And with that, he disappeared.

Moving from my side, Diana headed for the door again.

"Go get the car ready, I'll make something up," she said. I grabbed her arm.

"Wait a minute. We're not going to give you up."

"Well, we can't stay here and put them in harm's way," she protested. "We have to go. I don't care where, just far away from here! I won't allow my family to die! Not again." She yanked her arm away and headed back inside.

"I'll get Charlie and we'll grab all the salt they've got here," Dean said. "You just go start the car and rack your brain for any way to cloak us from all the creeps on their way." I glared at the ground and Dean put his hand on my shoulder. "We're gonna keep her safe, all right?" I nodded once and he disappeared back inside.

Just as I was about to follow him, Cas reappeared in front of me.

"Sam, as your friend, I would like to offer you some advice concerning Diana," he said. "Do not fall for her. She is a weapon, that is all. An immortal weapon who will be unable to return any love you grant her and who will soon forget you. Spare yourself the heartache. Get the job done and move on."

And I was alone again.

I'm just making this up as I go... Not sure how it's going now...

Thoughts?