Chapter 5

Sam escorts Mina into the conference room where the others are waiting. Dean and Castiel stand in greeting. Mina smiles brightly when she sees Castiel. "Castiel," she breathes and moves in to give him a hug. The angel stands there stiffly and she backs away. "Right. You don't remember me."

"Do you want to tell us just what the hell is going on?" Dean asks in aggravation. "And what is up with this?" He holds the picture out towards Mina for emphasis.

"Right," Mina responds. Now that she's been discovered, she makes no effort to hide her British accent. "Grab some drinks and sit down." She looks pointedly at Dean. "You're going to need it."

Once the men have retaken their original seats at the conference table, Mina lithely climbs onto the table top and sits cross legged, facing the three men. She picks up the photograph and looks at it wistfully. "This picture was taken right after the worst pain of my life was replaced by one of the greatest joys." She presses soft fingertip kisses to two spots on the photo. Pink stained tears begin to fall from her blue eyes before she can stop them. Mina takes a deep breath and pushes her long red braids behind her shoulders. "I'm not quite sure where to begin. I suppose this picture." She holds it up towards the men and points to the people in the photograph as she talks. "This is Abraham Van Helsing," she points to the person who looks like the Winchesters' surrogate father, Bobby Singer. "He was like a leader and a father to all of us."

Dean starts to speak up to ask a question, but Castiel puts a hand on his forearm to stop him. "Let her speak, your questions may be answered."

Mina gives Castiel a grateful look. She takes another deep breath before continuing. "This is Dr. John Seward," this time she points to the one unfamiliar face in the picture. "I'm afraid he never truly recovered from the death of my dear friend, Lucy Westenra. He was never the same." She sighed again, looking at the photograph longingly before she continued. "My husband, Jonathan Harker. One of the best men I've ever known." Here, she pointed at the Dean clone. "And finally, yes, Castiel, this is you in the photograph." She looks intently into his deep blue eyes, willing him to remember.

The two stared at each other like that for at least a minute before Castiel finally drops his gaze. "I'm sorry, I just don't remember."

Not being able to hold back any longer, Dean interrupts. "I'm sorry, but why do these people look like me and Bobby?"

Castiel is the one who answers him. "Reincarnation is the only logical answer. That also explains my vessel now bearing such a striking resemblance to my vessel of then."

Mina nods. "Yes. That is the reason you were sent to us in the first place." She sets the picture down on the table in front of her, her fingertips brushing it lightly. "These people, they were my friends, my family, my lovers." Mina's words dropped almost to a whisper as the memories she had tried to forget swept over her.

Dean, wanting answers, no matter what, interrupted her thoughts. "Do you want to run that last part by us again?"

Forcing herself to regain her light heartedness simply looks at Dean and says, "What? Why do Americans insist that 1960s hippies invented the concept of 'free love'? Every era has it. We just hid it better back then. Jonathan was my husband, the love of my life. But, he was not the only one. Lucy and I were much more than just friends. When Dr. Seward and I both lost her, we sought comfort with each other."

"And what about me?" Castiel asks. "Why did you say we're connected?"

"Well," Mina begins, "I've tasted your grace."

"That's not possible," Castiel protests.

Mina reaches down into her flannel shirt and pulls out a small blade. "Yes, it is." She sets the knife down on the table, and all the guys recognize that it resembles an angel blade. "It's an athame. Castiel had it forged for me when he was trying to convince us of his mission."

"What was my mission?" the angel asks in wonder.

"You were supposed to convince Jonathan to take my head," Mina answers, matter-of-factly.

All three men look up at her in surprise, a collective "What?" fills the room.

Mina can't help but laugh at their reaction. "Well, clearly it didn't work."

"But, why?" Sam asks. "Why would Heaven care enough about a Nosferatu to send an angel to kill it? And to make her husband do it? That doesn't make sense."

"Angels are dicks," Dean and Mina answer in unison. "Except for Cas," they both add.

Mina continues. "Reincarnation is why. Do you guys remember that big bad end of the world thing you prevented?"

"Which time?" This time it was Sam and Dean who answer in unison.

"The apocalypse," Mina continues. "The Arch Angels had a very specific idea about how it was supposed to go down. And they had a very specific idea of who they wanted in place when it happened."

"Yes," Castiel added, "I remember this. There was talk that the ones destined for the apocalypse had to be very skilled hunters, and they wanted to make sure the skills would come to them naturally."

Mina nods. "Well before the story of Dracula that most people think they know, Jonathan Harker was one of the greatest hunters in all of Europe. And I was one of the most skilled practitioners of white magic. When Jonathan and Van Helsing rescued what was left of my coven from a coven of dark practitioners, I too became a hunter. Apparently the Powers that Be wanted both a skilled hunter and a skilled witch for the End of Days."

"So you're a witch too?" Dean asks. "Son of a bitch. I hate witches."

"Practitioners of light magic don't spew their bodily fluids, Dean." Sam says, rolling his eyes at his brother. Then he looks up at Mina. "So, what you're saying is that they," he looks up towards the sky, "They wanted you and Jonathan to come back as me and Dean?"

"In a nutshell, yes," Mina answers. "That's why they sent Castiel down. It was his job to have me beheaded and escort my soul to Heaven for recycling. If I'm killed without an escort into Heaven, my soul goes directly to Purgatory. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not get sent back to Earth."

"So Sammy was supposed to be a girl?" Dean asks, humor sparkling in his green eyes.

"So whose soul did I get?" Sam asked.

"You're brand new," Castiel answers. "Or, well, you were…before the cage." The angel looks back to Mina. "So, what happened? Obviously I didn't have you killed."

"That's because you couldn't," Mina looks at him with soft eyes. "You ended up falling in love with Jonathan, and by extension, me."

Everyone sat in stunned silence at that revelation, and they wanted to hear more. Before they could ask her to continue, Mina lost her balance and nearly toppled off of the table.

"I'm sorry boys, but I'm going to have to pick this back up this tomorrow night. It's getting near dawn, and I haven't fed in days. I need to find some bagged blood and a safe place to sleep for the day."

"There are no windows here," Sam says. "How can you tell that it's near dawn?"

"I can feel it," Mina answers simply. "Really, I need to go."

"You can stay here," Sam volunteers. "We have plenty of extra rooms."

"That's sweet, Sam, but I also need to feed." Mina protests.

Sam hits a few buttons on his laptop. "There's a blood bank nearby. We'll make a food run."

"We will?" Dean asks.

"Yes." Sam insists. Dean knows better than to argue with Sammy when he's made up his mind about certain things.

Sam shows Mina to a spare room, and then he, Dean, and Cas head out to commit larceny at the blood bank.