Castiel reappeared in the hotel that the Winchesters and Ella had stopped at for the night. He stood in the doorway a moment, swaying slightly. Blood was pouring down his face and pooling at his lower lip before running down his chin. Sam stepped from the bathroom and his eyes widened. "Dean!" He said, stepping forward as Castiel started to fall. Dean hurried over, catching Castiel and walking him over to one of the beds, sitting him up on the edge of it. He fell backwards onto the mattress.

"What happened to you?" Dean asked. "You were only gone for like ten minutes."

Castiel brought a hand up to his head and sighed. "I went to see one of my superiors, Uriel." He said, lowering his hand and slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position. "He knew about Ella. He told me that it was orders. This is what happens when we disobey." He said, gesturing vaguely toward himself.

"And he beat you up just because you confronted him about it?" Dean scoffed, shaking his head. "Sorry to say, but you got some crappy big brothers."

"I don't know, Dean, you've thrown a couple punches at me before," Sam said, arching a brow slightly. Castiel looked between the both of them, leaning his elbows against his knees and cradling his head in the palm of his hand.

"I am sorry, Dean." He said after a moment. "If I had known…"

The door to the bathroom opened, and Ella stepped out, her eyes growing wide as she saw Castiel on the bed. "What happened to him?" She asked, looking over at Sam.

"One of his angel buddies beat him up," Sam said with a frown.

Castiel lowered his eyes and dropped his hand. "I have to go… there is something going on with the angels and I have to find out what it is." He said slowly, grimacing as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Wait, so you're just going to leave, again? I can't believe this…" she muttered. " Okay, look, you already look like you're in trouble with your little winged friends, anyway, what's it going to hurt if you…" She looked down at the floor. "…bring Oshea back?"

Castiel looked toward her and sighed, "I can't bring her back." He said softly. "I am sorry, but I just can't."

"Can't? Or won't?" Ella asked, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared at Castiel.

"I don't understand, Castiel, you brought Dean back." Sam said, shaking his head.

"You do not understand." Castiel said, his brows furrowing. "When I dragged Dean out of Hell, my brothers and sisters were helping me. There was a full scale battle to get to him. I cannot get her out by myself and no one is going to help me."

"You can't do it by yourself? What kind of angel are you?" Ella asked bitterly.

Castiel stared at her for a long moment then looked away and vanished. Sam sighed as he left and lifted his arms before dropping them to his sides. "Now what, Dean?"

Dean stood there for a moment before lifting his shoulders in a quiet shrug. "Nothing, I guess. If he can't help us, or won't… If he ever wants our help, he can forget it."

xx

That night there was a loud, frantic pounding on the door. The numbers on the clock read 3:42 AM. "Dean!" The familiar voice was scratchy and broken. "Dean!"

Dean jerked awake, sitting up straight in his bed. His eyes widened as he listened to the familiar voice call out his name a couple times. He forced himself to his feet and ran to the door, swinging it open. The person at the door swayed and the neon light of the motel sign flickered, illuminating the figure. She was trembling and wearing a torn button down shirt and skirt with dried blood on it. "Dean…" Tears were running down her face.

"Oshea." He whispered. His stare moved to a familiar handprint wrapped around her arm. "Cas brought you back…"

She looked at the handprint and brushed her fingertips against it. "I… I guess so. I just woke up in the woods. I've been looking everywhere for you all." She lifted a hand and coughed a little touched her throat. "Do you have any water… I'm so thirsty."

Dean nodded and turned , walking over to the mini-fridge, grabbing a cold bottle of water out of it and handing it to Oshea. "Here."

She stepped inside the hotel, closing the door behind herself and took the bottle from him. She unscrewed the cap and lifted it to her lips, gulping it down and tilting the bottle until the water was completely gone. She lowered the empty bottle, panting slightly and nodded. "Thank you…" She sighed. "How long was I… gone…?"

"A little over a week," Dean replied, taking the bottle from her and tossing it in the trashcan. "Are you okay, how are you feeling?"

"It felt like longer," She said softly, bringing a hand to her head. "I feel hungry… and sore… and tired… like I could sleep for days." She said with a little chuckle. She looked around the room slowly then back to Dean. "This… this isn't a dream, is it?" She asked weakly. "I'm not going to… going to wake up and be back there…am I?"

Dean smiled a little. "Nah, you're not dreaming. From what I remember in my forty years in Hell, I didn't dream once," he shook his head. "You should get some rest. I'll explain everything to Ella and Sam… you just, you get some sleep, okay?"

Oshea nodded and stepped over to one of the beds, easing herself down and sitting on the edge of it. "Will you… uh…" She said quietly. "Will you sit over here with me…? Please?" She said, keeping her eyes down.

Dean walked over and sat down next to Oshea, wrapping one of his hands around Oshea's hand. "This week was pretty crappy without you," he said, looking over at her.

Oshea squeezed his hand and laid her other hand over both of theirs. She laid her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. "It was... A few months for me." She said quietly. "I missed you…"

Dean nodded. "I miss you, too."

She clung to his hand as she relaxed and soon fell asleep against his shoulder. A few moments later, Sam turned over in the bed and looked up at Dean's bed sleepily. His eyes widened and he jerked up in bed. "Holy…." He stared. "Dean… is that…?"

"Yeah, Sammy… it's her. I guess that last thing Ella said really got through to Cas," Dean said with a nod. Sam shook his head.

"I don't believe this…," He whispered. He looked down at Ella, who was sleeping beside of him and he gave her a little shake. "Ella, Ella wake up." He said quickly.

Ella shook her head, grumbling, her eyes squeezed shut as she pulled the covers up over her head. "Ella!" Sam said. He gave her a little shove, knocking her from the bed. "Ella, get up!"

Ella rolled off the bed and hit the floor with a loud thump. "Sam, what the hell?" She shouted, crawling to her feet. Her eyes moved from Sam to Dean, and then finally to Oshea. "Oh my god…"

Oshea shifted, slowly opening her eyes as Ella's shout woke her from her sleep. She lifted her head from Dean's shoulder and blinked sleepily, looking over at Ella. She gave a little smile. "Hey, sis…," She said drowsily.

"Hey sis? You come back from the dead and all you have to say is 'hey sis'?" Ella said, arching a brow. She shook her head and chuckled, and ran over to her sister, wrapping her in a hug. "I'm so glad you're back."

Oshea smiled and wrapped her arms around her, clinging to her tightly. "I'm glad to be back. So glad." She sighed and pulled away a little. "By the way, where is Castiel? I want to thank him for bringing me back…"

Dean shook his head. "We're not sure. We haven't seen him since Ella royally ticked him off a few hours ago."

"Ella, what did you say to him?" Oshea said, her brows furrowing as she looked over to her.

Ella avoided everyone's eyes as they looked at her, staring down at the ground. "I uh… kind of implied that he wasn't… a very good angel…" She scratched the back of her neck nervously. "I guess I sort of owe him an apology."

xx

"I really wish we could have found Castiel," Oshea said as she packed up her things, zipping up her duffel bag. She ran her fingers through her hair, which she was wearing down around her shoulders. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a snug tank. "I'm kind of worried…"

Sam shook his head, "I don't know, I mean, he's disappeared before."

"But from what you said, he was hurt and having problems with his angel friends…," Oshea said, her brows furrowing. "You don't think they did something to him do you?"

"I hope not…" Ella said, slinging her own duffle bag over her shoulder. "I feel bad about what I said to him."

Dean walked in through the motel door, car keys jingling in his hands. "We ready to leave?"

Oshea sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I guess so." she said, pulling the strap of the duffel bag over her shoulder. Sam walked up behind Ella and shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. He always disappears for a while then reappears. I'm sure he's fine." He said as he stepped out with them to the Impala.