Chapter 12

"Those little suckers exist, mark my words!"

Aiyla perched on the arm of the couch in the study, listening to Sam and Dean argue over the existence of leprechauns. She inwardly groaned, she should have never asked if they had ever encountered one. She'd simply been trying to make conversation…but this was quickly escalating into a civil war. The debate continued to heat with every second. The brother's were obviously stir crazy, she supposed…too long cooped up in Bobby's house having to watch her. She glanced longingly outside, where she could see Bobby fiddling with something or other under the hood of an old vehicle. Oh, she wished she was out there too; rather than stuck acting as a mediator between two very large, very angry men.

"Dean, do you really think there's a little man sitting at the end of a rainbow just waiting for…"

"As a matter of fact I do!"

"Well you're an idiot!"

"Well maybe we should settle this outside!"

"Fine by me!"

"Fine!"

Aiyla hurriedly stood, teetering on her crutch. "Pie!"

Dean and Sam, red faced and standing toe to toe, stopped. They slowly turned their heads toward her with raised brows.

Aiyla squirmed beneath their rapt attention, scrambling for words. "Ah…um…all this talk about wee folk has got me hungry for pie." Aiyla awkwardly patted her stomach, "Yes..indeed, I think a nice apple pie is just the, ah… ticket." She could practically see the wheels turning in the brother's heads as they tried to find a connection between leprechauns and pie. Well they weren't going to find one anytime soon…she'd simply said the first thing that came to mind in an act of desperation to prevent an all out brawl. The brothers gave her twin looks that clearly questioned her sanity; but then turned back to each other, intent on continuing their argument. Aiyla slumped, momentarily defeated…but then saw Sam's hand inching toward a knife at his hip the same time Dean's inched for his gun. She squared her shoulders and rallied. "Mmmmmmmm, yep. Hot, fresh baked pie… right out of the oven! It just sounds so…ahhhh… soooo… good!" She inwardly winced at her too loud voice and halting delivery. An actress, she was not. But she was committed now, so she barreled on, "Don't you think so Dean? Why, all that cinnamon and those tart apples…oooo, and the crust…so flaky and warm and …"

Dean seemed to warm to her words, "And icecream?"

Ha! She had him now!

"Oh yes, of course! And Sam, didn't you tell me just the other day how partial you are to…ah..." She actually had no idea what he was partial to.
"Cherry?" Sam supplied, looking slightly hopeful now.

Aiyla bobbed her head, trying to look serious, "Oh yes, cherry. How could I forget? Well that does it, we'll just have to make ourselves some homemade pie."

Dean grinned, argument forgotten just like that. "Hells yes! Homemade pie Sammy!"

He clapped his brother on the back, suddenly oblivious to the fact that he'd challenged him to a dual not 5 minutes ago.

Aiyla let out a huge breath of air, crisis averted. "I'll just make up a list of ingredients we'll need and then you two can take a trip into town to get them." She grinned, proud of her quick thinking and headed for the kitchen. Oh her way out, she caught her crutch on the edge of the couch and went careening forward.

"Woah, there!" Dean snatched out a hand, to steady there. "Slow down speed racer, there's no hurry."

Aiyla winced, "Sorry…really sorry." Red faced, she continued toward the kitchen.

Dean waited until she was out of earshot and then whirled toward Sam. "She's a menace."

Sam winced, reluctantly agreeing with Dean. They were on day 5 with Aiyla in residence, and it had become ever more apparent that the girl was an absolute klutz. When you added a bum ankle and crutches to the mix, she turned into a pintsize apocalypse waiting to happen. Yesterday afternoon she'd caught her crutch on a rug and careened into an unsuspecting Dean's back, taking them both down in a whirl of limbs. Last night she'd accidentally mashed Bobbie's toe with her crutch and then knocked the 600 year old femur of a lesser saint off the desk, where it shattered into about a bazillion pieces. This morning she had somehow managed to lurch off balance and hit a bookcase so hard that it began to tip. She was lucky Sam had been in the same room, he just barely managed to catch the shelf before it turned her into a flapjack. Death by bookcase…that would have certainly been a new one. Unfortunately, even his quick reflexes had not been able to keep the heavy hardbacks from careening off the shelves and raining down like literary hell fire. Sam took a giant tome to the grapefruit that required 3 stitches, and Aiyla now sported a black eye and bruised collar bone. Sam was glad Sheriff Mills wasn't due to arrive back for another few weeks. If the woman saw Aiyla now, he was certain she would shoot first and ask questions later. Aiyla looked like the new poster child for a victim of domestic abuse.

"Where the hell has Cass been anyway? He started all this…why isn't he babysitting little miss hell on crutches?"

Sam shrugged, "He's fighting a celestial war Dean, what do you expect?"

"I expect him to remember he dragged us into this mess in the first place! The guy can't ignore us for weeks on end, and then expect us to drop everything the minute he needs help! We aren't frick'n babysitters, we have hunting to do!"

Sam shook his head, Dean may be partially right, but he was also the pot calling the kettle black. He'd lost count of the number of times they themselves had called on Cas for assistance…expecting him to come running like their own personal errand boy. "He rebelled against heaven for us Dean, don't you think we should cut him a little slack, besides…Cass's plan was to ice a monster…he wasn't exactly prepared to get saddled with a hybrid girl. We're the ones who convinced him to let her live."

Dean shot Sam a withering look, choosing to ignore that particular point and barrelledd on, "If Crowley hasn't come after her yet, maybe she's not as important as Cass thinks. We need to be hunting Sammy. That job I found in the paper this morning ain't gonna wait. She'll be fine with Bobby."

Sam snorte, giving up. "Fine, let's go then…But you're going to miss out on pie."

Dean frowned, weighing his options. "We've lost too much daylight today, better leave tomorrow morning." He grinned, pleased with himself. "That means pie for breakfast too!"

Dean glanced up at the ceiling, "You hear that featherbrain? As of tomorrow, Sammy and I are done babysitting your new girlfriend. She can chill with Bobby. If you don't think that's good enough, you can just zap your celestial ass down here and…"

"I am not courting the female Dean." Cass appeared in the study, frowning.

Sam grinned ruefully, "Thank god for that, can you imagine those two together?"

Dean had been ready to tear Cass a new one, but shined to the topic, smirking. "Yeah, clueless and cluelesser…er. And the award for socially awkward couple of the year goes to…"

Cass quarked his head, his frown deepening. "Cluelesserer is not a word Dean."

"I have the list! Oh…um…hello Castiel." Aiyla stopped dead hobble, as she laid eyes on the angel. Good to ..ah…see you again. Are you here to visit?"

Sam stepped forward, clapping Cas on the shoulder, "No, we called him. Dean and I need to go on a hunt…"

"…tomorrow." Dean interjected helpfully, eying the ingredient list. Pie still clearly took precedent in his mind.

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother and continued, "You'll stay here with Bobby while we're gone."

Castiel frowned, clearly unhappy with the situation. "I do not thin…what happened to your eye?" Frowning, Cass abandoned whatever argument he was about to make, noticing her new injury and marched forward, reaching out a hand to clasp Aiyla's chin and get a better look. Her eyes grew wide, but she stayed still. Then, Cass saw the giant bruise on her collarbone, peeking from beneath yet another of Bobby's repurposed shirts. He hooked the shirt collar with a finger and slid it to the side. Reaching up his other hand, he gingerly prodded at the huge mark he'd revealed. By this time, Aiyla had gone beet red, unused to such familiarity.

Sam sighed, "Cass, personal spa…"

The angel whirled on the brothers with angry, slitted eyes. "What did you do to her? He pointed a righteous hand back toward Aiyla,"You were supposed to be protecting her."

Dean tensed, marching forward, "Now just hold on one second, Cass…if you think for one moment we…"

"Cas, It wasn't their fault!"

The angel glared at Dean for a moment longer, and then reluctantly turned his gaze back to Aiyla. "What do you mean?"

Frazzled, she hurriedly shuffled forward. Or at least tried to. "Clearly, her first run-in with the couch had not left much of an impression. Once again, her crutch caught on the it's corner. This time, Aiyla had more momentum, and neither of the brother's was near enough to catch her. Arms cartwheeling, she saw the edge of the desk, realizing with horror, that she was about to take a header right into it. Squeezing her eyes shut, she prepared to see stars. A steely band, whipped round her middle and swung her away from imminent concussion with enough force to knock the breath from her. Aiyla found herself situated rather snugly against a big wall of warmth. Quirking one eye open, she looked up…up, into the enlightened eyes of Castiel.

Taking A deep breath she attempted to reclaim the air she'd lost. "Thankyou Cas. I'm sorry, I haven't quite got the hang of using crutches."

Cas clasped Aiyla under the arms, lifting her up like she weighed no more than a child, and setting her atop Bobby's desk, feet dangling over the side. "Stay put." Turning back to the brothers he opened his mouth to speak, but Dean beat him to it.

"Don't get your feathers in a twist Cass. Open your eyes, The girl is a holy terror on crutches."

Aiyla nodded emphatically, "It's true Cass, it wasn't their fault at all. I tripped and fell against a bookcase yesterday… in fact, things could have been far worse if Sam hadn't been there to keep it from toppling. Why, just look at his poor forehead…he's was injured while helping me…in the line of duty you might say.

Cass's shoulders relaxed a bit, but he remained frowning. "You were still injured while in their care."

Aiyla shrugged sheepishly. "Really Cass, I was quite fortunate. I was only accosted by a rather droll book about some stuffy greek god…it was much smaller than the medieval torture tactics tome that bushwhacked poor Sam. These two have been just marvelous, really. I truly am quite the holy terror when on crutches… as Dean so eloquently stated." She tilted her head and muttered, half to herself, "Truth be told, I don't exactly embody grace even when I'm free of injury. " She shrugged sheepishly, "Amerielle said I was the clumsiest person she'd ever encountered. And she was a witch…they live a long time you know…she had surely met multitudes…of clumsy people I mean!"

Sam watched Cass's face as Aiyla made her longwinded argument, in a vain attempt to spare the brothers of his wrath. With some surprise he watched Cass's face go from tense to amused and then to indulgently fascinated as they all listened to her rather eccentric way of wording things. Was that the shadow of a smile pulling at the corner of Cass's mouth? Sam squinted his eyes, looking closer, but Aiyla finished stating her case and was looking at the angel expectantly. Cass quickly composed his features, any evidence of a smile, was gone before Sam could confirm.

"I understand." Turning back to the brothers he inclined his head, "My apologies for the accusation."

Dean snorted, "Damn-skippy featherbutt." Eager to move things on, he clasped his hands together, rubbing them excitedly. "Now where's that list Aiyla…I do believe there are two pies that are just waiting to get made."

As Aiyla and Dean bent their heads over the grocery list, Sam turned to the angel. "We really do have to leave tomorrow Cass, it looks like there's a big case shaping up two states over. Lives are at stake, you know?"

Cass sighed, eyeing Aiyla. "I understand." The angel's shoulders slumped a bit…yet another mannerism that was very uncharacteristic for the angel. He hesitated, but then continued. "This war is proving to be very demanding Sam. The girl is a complication I was not prepared for. It was fortunate, we were able to learn of her existence first. Raphael does not know about her…and I'd like to keep it that way. The angel glanced toward Aiyla and Dean as they continued to discuss the pie ingredients with excitement. He shook his head, "There's no telling what Raphael would do…kill her, use her, twist her to breaking until he has a puppet for his own means."

Sam nodded, "She said Crowley took samples of her blood and was trying to get her to give up her soul…any luck figuring out why?"

Cass shook his head, "Not yet…it is difficult to seek out information without tipping Raphael and his spies off about her existence." He paused, frowning. Once again he hesitated.

Sam clenched his teeth, "Come on Cass, what is it…you're obviously thinking something.

"It could prove entirely unimportant, but there is one thing. That girl is the culmination of a previously unheard of fusion of sentient beings. Angel, demon, human, monster….perhaps even lesser gods. It begs the question; upon death, where is a soul such as hers destined to go? Souls are…powerful Sam. The potential of one such as hers…."

Cass trailed off. Aiyla and Dean had straightened, done with their discussion.

Sam let out a breath, "Yeah, I think I get it."

Cass nodded, "She must be protected." Then, louder he addressed Aiyla and Dean as well. "Sam and Dean will be departing in the morning. Aiyla, You will stay here with Bobby. I will check in as much as I am able in their absence." He caught Aiyla's gaze and held it, "Do not hesitate to call for me if something happens."

She nodded, brow furrowed. "O…okay."

Cass nodded in approval. "I must take my leave for now." He paused, "Enjoy your …ah….Pie." And then he was gone.