Rating: T

Summary: Melissa probes the cause of Castiel's kidnapping, and why Sam can't touch him. Still Hurt!Castiel

Angels Fall Sometimes

I held him in my arms. Even in sleep he didn't look as peaceful as he should. He looked uncomfortable, scared. God, why couldn't I just make this go away?! Why couldn't I do anything to make this better? His body still trembled with cold, and his wounds weren't any better than they had been earlier.

"Any better?" Dean asked. I jumped, wondering how long he and his brother had been standing there. I shook my head and wiped my eyes.

"No, it's…it's the same." I said.

"Why the hell would someone do this to an angel?" Sam asked. Sam, something wasn't right about him. Especially because when he touched Castiel he burned him. Shouldn't something be evil in order to do that? I gently lied Castiel down, being as careful as I could not to wake him before I stood.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked.

"Yeah." Sam said.

"Why can't you touch him?" I said, a little more accusatorily than I had intended. Dean looked from me, to his brother and back again.

"I don't know." The younger Winchester said honestly.

"There has to be something about you that would burn an angel if you touched them," I saw something in his eyes; guilty recognition. "I know you know. What?" He remained silent. "Don't you think I deserve an answer?!"

"It's complicated, Melissa." Dean said.

"I have all the time in the world." I said. Sam sighed and glared at me. The look meant nothing to me. As if I cared if this man liked me or not.

"When I was six months old a demon dropped his blood in my mouth. I guess it never wore off." He said.

"That wasn't all that complicated." I said.

"That isn't all of it." Dean stated.

"But it's all we're telling you." Sam snapped. I scowled at him.

"Did I do something to piss you off?" I asked.

"Let's see, you call us out of nowhere and say that you can't find Castiel. When we do find him he's beaten to hell, and you were the last person that saw him before hand." Sam accused. I couldn't believe he had said it.

This man didn't know me. This man had no idea who I was, what I've done in life, and he sure as hell had no idea what Castiel meant to me.

"How dare you," I said darkly. "You think I actually had something to do with this?! You don't even know me, you son of a bitch! How dare you stand there and accuse me of something like that while you can't touch him because you have his type of poison running in your veins!" Sam looked at me, and then at his brother, who shook his head.

"Sam, if she had something to do with this, don't you think Zachariah would have said something?" He said.

"You're taking her side?" Sam asked, appalled.

"She's an angel's girlfriend, dude. I don't think she could do anything like this to hurt him. I mean, did you see her face when we found him?" Dean defended. I was grateful. At least they both hadn't condemned me.

"Could be an act," Sam said. I scoffed. I really didn't like this guy. "And she hasn't exactly been the nicest person to us."

"How the hell would you act if someone you cared about disappeared? You wouldn't be the happiest camper, now would ya?" Dean said. Once again I was grateful for the defense.

"It's not our fault that Cas got taken by that guy." Sam said.

"And it's not mine either," I said. I sighed. "I was just asking why you couldn't touch him, okay? I wasn't trying to royally piss you off." He nodded shortly.

Fine, I thought. Be a dick, I don't give a damn.Dean opened his mouth to speak when Castiel whimpered. I spun around, scared. He jerked and rolled over in his sleep, his face screwing up in pain. I went to him, not sure how I covered the distance between him and me so quickly.

I touched his forehead, which was giving off a tremendous amount of heat and only worried me further.

"No," He begged softly. "No, no, please. Let me go, please."

"Shh," I caressed his cheek, trying to wake him up gently. "Cas, wake up Baby, it's alright. Shh…"

"It hurts, please, it hurts." He sobbed, tears leaking from his eyes. The storm started up again, as loud and viscous as before.

"Cas, c'mon, Angel, wake up." I lightly shook his shoulder. He writhed underneath the sheets, his body covered in a cold sweat, making him tremble.

"Uhhn, please." He pleaded.

"Cas, wake up!" His eyes opened and he looked around the room frantically. I saw deep confusion in his eyes.

"No, no I wasn't here," He said quietly. "I was, and they were, and I, no-"

"Shh, it was a nightmare, Angel," I said. "That's all. He can't hurt you anymore."

"But, but it was so real!" He said shakily. I sighed. Castiel had never dreamt either. How the hell was he supposed to know what the difference between a dream and reality was?

"Shh, it wasn't real. It was only a dream. Dreams can't hurt you, alright?" I said. He shook his head.

"I don't know what a dream is." He explained. I nodded.

"I know. It'll be okay." I pressed the wet rag to his forehead again, biting my lip when he whimpered.

"'S cold," He said, shivering. "Always. So cold." I pulled the blanket that was draped over him up to his chin.

"I have to get your fever down." I said. Got I hated hurting him. It wasn't at all fair. What I wanted to know was where the hell was God? Why would he let one of his angels be hurt this way?

Look at the Holocaust, Mel. Why'd he let that happen?

I couldn't name all of the terrible things that had happened and God was nowhere to be seen. But I had faith.

"Why did my father let this happen?" Castiel asked, as if reading my mind. "Why didn't he help me?" His eyes truly begged me for the answer.

"He did," I said. He looked confused. "He sent me to you. I found you, I got you out of there. I don't think it was by accident, Angel." I didn't believe my own words, but he did. He shut his eyes and took a trembling deep breath. He was silent for awhile, and I was barely aware of the two brothers standing solemnly behind me. I continued to dab his forehead with the rag, praying that it might bring his fever down. I was still highly doubtful that Tylenol would work, or any other medicine for that matter. I wished desperately that I could subdue his suffering, even a little. But no, he had to endure it.

"Ah," He moaned, cracking the silence like the thunder outside. "Me-Melissa, something's wr-wrong!" He looked at both of his arms and his torso frantically.

I pulled the covers back and gasped. His veins were a violent shade of red. I could see them pulsing with his heart, standing on end. I lifted his shirt and saw the same thing there. I gently touched a tributary; he cringed. They were hot, unbelievably hot, but the rest of him felt so damn cold.

I realized then that the fire I had felt when he had shown me what happened when he was forced to drink the demon blood was still there. It was slithering its way through his bloodstream. Maybe it would be cleaned out soon and his vessel would be free of toxins, but it could be a long wait.

"What…Wh-what's..?" He asked, fear thick in his voice. I lifted him into my arms, letting him bury his face in my shirt. The storm worsened when he started to cry. He was at his wits end. I didn't know how much more he could take.

Going from never feeling pain to more than most people had ever felt in their lives in less than a week was definitely enough to drive one insane.

"Make it stop," He begged. "Please, Melissa, please make it stop. I can't…No more…I can't…"

"Shh," I soothed. "You're gonna be fine, alright? I promise it'll stop." His gentle eyes were soaked in pain, such confused pain it was.

I kissed his temple and hugged him again, tears in my eyes.

"Oh yeah, Sam, she sure as hell wants to hurt him, mm-hm." Dean whispered.

"It hurts, so much…" Castiel choked.

"I know, shh," I looked down at him, trying to give him a reassuring smile. "You need to rest." He shook his head.

"No! No! I can't. Please, Melissa, don't make me, please!" He begged. The nightmares. He was scared of the nightmares.

"Cas, I'm gonna be right here. Right next to you, okay?" I said. I lied down with him, pulling his trembling body to mine.

"We'll be, uh, outside." Dean said awkwardly. I didn't care. Castiel was all that mattered right now. I hugged him to me, running my fingers through his hair.

"Don't leave me." He said softly.

"I won't, Angel." I said.

"Promise?" He asked. I nodded; the tears I had been holding back fell, breaking through the levee.

"I promise."

He was fine the next morning. His wounds had utterly disappeared. There wasn't even an echo of a scar left. He was back to normal, well, whatever normal was for him. He did his usual I have and tried to vanish after that.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked. He looked confused. "After all of that last night, you just go and bail on me? What happened to you? How did that demon get you?"

"Melissa, it was an accident. I thought he was a human that needed help. He turned out to be a demon that wanted to hurt me." I sighed. There was no getting through to him when he was like this.

"So, when can I see you again?" He bowed his head, and I knew the answer. I nodded bitterly. "Well, bye then. Nice to see you too." I turned, not wanting to look at him anymore.

I was surprised when I felt arms wrap around me and turning me around. I looked up into that brilliant blue, astonished by the look he was giving me.

"I can't thank you enough for what you did for me, Melissa." He kissed me, and I felt like I was in heaven. We didn't break apart too early, like we usually did. This time he held onto me and wouldn't let me go. Our lips parted and joined together several times, but he continued kissing me. And I let him.

I tried to memorize the feel of his lips, their shape, everything. How he held me, how warm he was, how his lips tended to linger above mine before he decided to keep going, everything.

We finally did break apart, and reality came back to me.

"Are you alright?" I asked. He smiled gently.

"Don't worry about it, alright?" He said. He kissed me once more, swiftly though. "I have to leave…"

"I know."

"I love you." One more kiss.

"I love you." I said, and he was gone. The next time I saw him, he wouldn't be him anymore.

--More later!--