A/N: Thanks for all of your support! I hope you continue to read and review! And enjoy!

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CHAPTER FIVE: PROTECTING THE SEAL

Castiel looked down at the bullet hole. It hadn't really phased him. He walked over to Sam and touched his forehead, causing him to go to sleep. Then, he turned his attention to Dean. "Dean, what are you doing with these creatures? We are in the middle of an apocalypse. 48 of the seals have already been broken and yet you do nothing to stop this from continuing." He was angry that Dean was not listening to the orders he was giving him.

Flare kneeled next to Sam, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Is he going to be okay?" she asked, worry etched in her voice.

Dean looked into Castiel's eyes. "Well how am I supposed to stop them from being broken if I have no idea where they are?!" he asked hotly.

"Wait, seals? What seals?" Flare asked, confused. "And creatures? That's kind of mean, don't you think?"

Castiel paid no mind to Flare, instead turning his attention to Abbey. His eyes lit up. "Dean, please tell me you are not going to kill this one." He circled around Abbey, examining her. "She is a seal.. The demons, do they visit her while she sleeps?" Castiel looked to Dean for an answer.

"No, I wasn't," Dean answered.

"Oh, okay, pay no attention to the elf," Flare mumbled sarcastically before kicking the gun away from Sam's hand. "And what do you mean she's a seal?"

"The demon?" Abbey asked, looking at Castiel. "With the pale blue eyes?" She looked at the ground. "He tells me to join him. To kill Dean and become part of his army."

"You can't do that!" Castiel yelled. He turned to Dean, grasping his arm and pulling him away from the crowd. "If she turns dark side, Dean, the seal will be broken. Also, if she is murdered, the seal will be broken." He looked down at Sam's body. "Keep him in check." With that, he disappeared, the flapping of his wings the only thing being heard in the alley.

Flare looked at Abbey, hurt that she hadn't confided in her about the dreams she had been having. "Who are you anymore?" she asked sadly, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Abbey looked at the ground, unable to look her sister in the eyes. "I-I-I don't know what's happening to me."

Dean gently put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't cry, Abbey."

Meanwhile, Flare swung one of Sam's arms over her shoulder. He was semiconscious now, so he could walk a little.

Sam smacked his lips together as he began to wake up. "What-What happened?" he asked hazily.

Flare looked at him, then looked straight ahead once more, staying silent.

Abbey looked at Dean, shrugging his hand off her shoulder. "Who was that guy? He got shot and it didn't even do anything to him!" She backed up. "And what's a seal? What am I, Dean?"

Dean sighed, knowing he needed to explain everything to Abbey so she wouldn't get herself hurt and cause the apocalypse to start earlier than necessary. Finally, he explained everything to her, taking another deep breath before he began.

"I don't want to be a part of your stupid apocalypse!" Abbey yelled at Dean, walking away from him. "Just stay away from me. I can handle things myself."

"Abbey, wait!" Dean ordered. "You are a part of it, now."

Abbey spun on her heal. "I don't want to be a part of this, Winchester! Don't you get it! I just want to be normal!" She looked at the ground, flipping the knife she still held around in her hand. Finally, she looked back at Dean. "You know, I was at school when I was attacked by that black smoke. And then everything went blank. I could see what I was doing, but I couldn't stop." A tear rolled down her cheek as she thought about what had happened the day she was infected. "I killed my roommate. She was my best friend...and I killed her." Again, she locked her gaze on the ground. "I'm a monster. There's no...normal for me, I guess." She continued to look at the ground as more tears were shed.

Dean looked at the ground, unsure of what he could say to something like that. Really, he couldn't say anything. Nothing he said was going to take back what Meg had made her do while she was possessing her.

"Just go, Dean," Abbey sighed. "I don't want to play any part in your little apocalypse. I promise I won't go dark side and I won't let myself die." She turned and walked down the alley, turning the corner to make sure Dean didn't follow.

As she walked down the alley, Abbey had a strange feeling someone was following her. Concentrating, she listened to the sounds around her. Footsteps, and the faint sounds of thoughts. She knew if couldn't be Dean, then; he would never think such things. It was a demon. Feeling scared, Abbey pulled out her cell phone and called Flare.

Sam was becoming more like himself, and he could stand upright now. And walk by himself. "Are you mad at me?" he asked, noticing Flare was ignoring him. When Flare didn't answer, he knew he had made her mad. Each time she wasn't looking at him, he would steal a glance at her, hoping her mood would lighten.

"Stop looking at me," Flare spat.

Sam looked away quickly. "Sorry," he mumbled, walking over to the empty bed on the other side of the room and laying down. If she wasn't going to talk to him, he was going to get some sleep.

Suddenly, Flare heard her cell phone ringing. Quickly, she grabbed it from the table, answering it. "Yeah?"

"Flare!" abbey whispered into the phone. "H-help me. I'm at the end of the alley. There's-There's something following--Ahhh!"

"Abbey!" Flare yelled into the phone, fearing for her sister's safety.

Sam jumped from the bed, running over to Flare. "Flare! What's wrong?" he asked, shaking her slightly.

Flare grabbed a gun and knife. "Abbey is in trouble," she said. "Not that you would care."

Sam grabbed his gun and ran behind her. "I do care. She is a part of the apocalypse, now. We have to keep her safe or else Lucifer is that much closer to walking free. I can't have that happen."

Flare continued to pack. When she was finally finished, she looked at Sam. "Are you coming or not?"

Sam rolled his eyes at her tone. "Of course I'm coming."

As she bent down to pick up her bag, she winced. Sam noticed and walked up behind her. "What's wrong?" Sam asked, putting a gentle hand on her back.

"The gashes just hurt a bit," Flare admitted.

"Here, let me look at them," Sam said, motioning for her to sit on the bed. She did as she was told, looking up at Sam as she sat.

Figuring she was allowing him to take a look at the wounds, Sam kneeled down in front of her. Slowly, gently, he grabbed the bottom of her green tank top, pulling it up to just below her bosom, seeing her blood was seeping through the bandages. He let the hem of her shirt slip from his fingers as he stood up, walking into the bathroom. "We need to change those bandages before we go." He came out a moment later with peroxide, gauze, and medical tape; everything he needed to fix her up.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

As Sam redressed her wounds, he sighed. "Me, too. You were right. If Dean was the one in trouble, I wouldn't care if he was dangerous. I would do whatever I had to to make sure he was safe."

"And about what I said. That you could turn dark side."

"Don't be." Sam stood up, walking back to the bathroom and replacing all the materials. "It's true. I could turn dark."

Flare shook her head. "Not if I can help it."

Sam smiled, knowing he didn't have to say anything to let her know he appreciated what she was saying. He turned to the window, pulling out his cell phone. "I'm going to call Dean. Maybe we can hook up. It'll make tracking Abbey a lot easier." He dialed Dean's number, waiting for an answer.

Abbey woke up, her head throbbing. She felt her blood trickling down the side of her face, figuring she had a gash on her head where she had been hit. She tried to move, but soon found she was tied to a chair. She looked around the room, her vision still a little blurry from the pain in her temples. Suddenly, she saw something in the corner of the room. She squinted, trying to make out what the object was. Finally, she realized it was a small television. A wire was connected to it. She looked at her ankle, noticing the wire was also attached there, too. She kicked her foot back, starting the video. She gasped when she saw the pale blue eyes staring out at her from the television. On the bottom of the screen, it read, "Hello, Abbey."

She struggled against the ropes binding her to the chair, crying out in pain as she pulled at the ropes holding her hands, feeling her flesh burn. She pulled as hard as she could, but the rope still didn't budge. "Hello!" she yelled. "Is anyone out there?! Somebody, please, help!"

Dean, who had been able to follow the trail, kicked the door in. "Abbey!" he said, running over to her.

"Dean!" she yelled, relieved. "God, I have never been so happy to see someone in my entire life." Again, she struggled against the ropes. "Hurry, get me out of here."

Dean grabbed a knife out of his pocket and cut the ropes carefully. Once she was free, Abbey rubbed at the raw flesh on her wrists, wincing in pain as she did. Then, she threw her arms around Dean's neck, pulling him into a tight embrace. "Thank you so much, Dean! I was wrong. I can't handle it myself." She pulled away, looking into his jade green eyes. "Take me home."

Dean nodded, picking her up in his arms and carrying her out of the building. She lay her head on Dean's shoulder as he carried her out of the room, feeling safe in his big, muscular arms.

"You'll be okay, Abbey," he whispered, just as his cell phone began to ring. He stopped, gently putting Abbey on the ground. "Sammy, I got Abbey," he answered.

"You got her? Well, that's great. Flare and I were just about to go looking for her," Sam exclaimed.

"Don't worry, I'm heading back to the motel," Dean said before hanging up the phone. He picked up Abbey again and continue walking.

"Well?" Flare pushed as Sam hung up the phone.

"Dean has Abbey. He's bringing her back to the motel right now," Sam answered.

"That's good," Flare said, sighing in relief. Sam smiled, glad that he and Flare were okay again.

Flare looked into Sam's eyes, knowing there was something wrong. She placed her hand on his cheek, still holding his gaze. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he lied. He knew there was a chance he could turn dark side. Hell, he had almost gone there once when he was drinking Ruby's blood. He cowed to never go there again, knowing it would kill Dean. Quickly, he pushed all memories of Ruby out of his head. They just made him angry.

Flare frowned. "You're not fine, Sam."

Sam smiled. "Yes, I am." He could tell she wasn't buying it, so he quickly thought of a reason he wasn't feeling fine. "It's just...I wish Dean was here, is all. I worry about him when he's out by himself a lot."

She smiled lightly before placing her head on his shoulder. He put his hand on the back of Flare's head, stroking her hair gently, liking the way her body felt against his. Flare closed her eyes, feeling calm. Gently, Sam planted a kiss on the top of Flare's head, feeling all of his worries just seem to melt away. She smiled and looked up at him. He smiled back at her, wanting to kiss her so badly, however not wanting to overstep his boundaries.

Slowly, Flare moved her face closer to Sam's. He took the hint, dipping his head closer to hers, filling the gap between them. As his lips crashed onto hers, he felt a rush run through his entire body.

After a while, Flare pulled back, smiling. "I remember, now...why you looked so familiar," she said.

Sam smiled. "Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"New York Middle School. We went to school together."

Sam thought back to the little amount of time he had been in New York around his middle school years. Suddenly, he remembered her. "Oh, wow. I remember now, I had the biggest crush ever on you. But we never stayed in one place for too long, so I kept my distance. Tried not to get too close."

She smiled. "I remember, you saved me from the bully that was making fun of my ears."

"I like your ears," Sam admitted with a smirk. "And besides, they were jerks anyway."

Flare smiled at Sam.

Abbey pushed on Dean's shoulder. "You can put me down any time now. I'm perfectly capable of walking."

Dean put her down, slowly. "Right. Sorry."

As Dean put Abbey on the ground, she tried to walk, but grabbed Dean's shirt as she almost fell. She looked up at him as his arm was once again wrapped around her, preventing her from falling. "Shut up," she warned, knowing he was going to make a snide ass comment.

Dean chuckled, biting back his comment. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Abbey answered. "Just a little wobbly is all."

Dean nodded. "I'll carry you, if you want."

"No, it's okay," Abbey told Dean. She took his hand, pulling it around her body, resting it on her hip. "Just keep your hand there and hold me up while we walk." Her entire hip tingled where Dean's hand was.

Dean smirked at her reaction. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Abbey scoffed. "What would be wrong?"

Dean shrugged.

Suddenly, Abbey accidentally stepped on Dean's foot as she went to fall again. "Oh, sorry!" she said, frowning. "I didn't mean to do that."

"It's okay. Like I said, I've had worse."

Abbey rolled her eyes. "You always say that."

"That's because it's true." Dean looked down at her, studying her face for any sign that she felt for him.

She could feel his gaze on her. She looked up at him. "What are you staring at?"

"One of the prettiest girls alive," Dean answered with a wink.

Abbey elbowed Dean in the stomach. "Shut up, you horn dog. I can hear what you're thinking up there and you can just forget it." She rolled her eyes. "Pervert."

"But, I--" Dean started.

"But nothing, Winchester."Abbey rolled her eyes again. "And stop picturing me naked!"

"Right. Sorry. Sorry. It's hard."

Abbey rolled her eyes. She was glad that she could read Dean's mind. Now, she had access to all of his dirty little secrets. And, it was a huge plus to know that he was feeling the same way about her as she was about him. Maybe there was hope for their future, after all.