TWO WEEKS LATER

PEORIA, ILLONIOS

Ella smiled a little as she wrapped one of her hands around the back of Sam's neck, pulling him closer to her as she pressed her lips to his. They fell back onto the silk sheets on the mattress as the kiss deepened. She giggled as she started to unbutton the top button of Sam's blue and white plaid shirt. She looked up at him, smiling, and then she screamed, pushing him off of her and jumping from the bed. "Zacharia? What the hell!"

Zachariah grinned as he curled his arms around her and deepened kiss. When she pulled away and jumped from the bed, he sat up slowly and watched her. "Sorry to interrupt… is this a bad time?" He asked with a soft chuckle. "I must say… Sam Winchester is a lucky, lucky little maggot."

Ella's eyes were wide as she backed away. She lifted a hand to her face and wiped at her mouth with the backside of her hand, trying to get the stench of old man off of her lips. "I'm dreaming, aren't I?"

"Yes," Zachariah said, stand up as he buttoned the front of his shirt. "We're inside your mind. I wanted to speak to you in private. Because of the untimely death of your previous guardian we are having make other arrangements. We are sending another angel to you."

"Another one of you guys? That's just fantastic. Don't bother, I can take care of myself. Now please leave, before I vomit," She said, crossing her arms over her chest protectively.

"Sorry, darling," He said, walking toward her and brushing his knuckles down her left cheek, under her chin, and up her right cheek gently. "You don't have a choice in the matter. He's at your hotel now." He said, leaning forward and whispering it against her ear.

Ella's eyes shot open, only to find darkness. She moved her hand across the bed, finding Sam laying on his side next to her. She let out a sigh of relief. Just a dream, she thought, climbing out of bed and tip-toeing through the dark over to the nightstand, switching on the lamp.

"Hello, Ella," The voice came from a tall, thin young man sitting in the chair beside of the lamp. One of his legs was crossed over the other. He was wearing a neat black suit and his hair was black and slicked back. He had high cheekbones, thin cheeks and eyes so blue they were almost white. He tilted his head and looked toward her with a little smile. "Sleep well?"

Ella screamed, waking the others as she stumbled backwards. Dean immediately pulled out the knife that was hidden underneath his pillow, and turned over, jumping from the bed. Sam lurched up from his bed, "Ella?" He said quickly as he moved to her, curling his arm around her protectively as he looked at the young man. "Who the hell are you?"

"My name is Ezra," He said, standing. "I'm Ella's new guardian angel."

"Another one?" Dean asked, raising his eyebrows. "Sorry buddy but the last guy who had your job, well, he's dead."

"Which is why I am here." Ezra said lowly.

Oshea was sitting up in the bed, staring wide eyed at the angel. Sam narrowed his eyes. "We don't need you, we can take care of her ourselves."

"Yes, you've done a wonderful job so far. You let her die once already. The next time you might not be able to find a demon that'll trade for you."

"So, this is it, huh? I just live the rest of my so called life being followed around by you guys? Is that it? If you die, they just replace you with another one, and so on?" Ella cursed loudly, kicking at the nightstand, instantly regretting the fact she wasn't wearing shoes. She clenched her jaw, trying to ignore the pain. "Get out, Ezra, or whatever your name is. You're services are not needed here," she said, gritting her teeth as she pointed to the door.

"Afraid I can't do that, Ella," Ezra said, clicking his tongue softly. "You're just going to have to get used to it."

Ella stormed from the room quickly, the sound of the bathroom door slamming echoing throughout the small motel room.

Dean glared at the tall, dark haired man, sighing as he slammed the knife down on the nightstand, cursing under his breath. "I'm starting to miss the JoBro angel," he mumbled.

"Too bad," Ezra said in an almost threatening tone. "He's dead. You're stuck with me."

"This is going to be fun," Dean said sarcastically, resisting the urge to punch the angel.

"You'd just break your pretty little hand if you tried," Ezra said with a smirk as he sat himself back down in the armchair. "Now, don't mind me. Go back to sleep. You kiddies have a big day tomorrow. You have to stop the seals from being broken…"

Dean rolled his eyes and sighed deeply. "I'm going out for some air," he said, and then was out the door, slamming it behind him. Oshea glared at the angel and threw off the covers, wearily climbing out of bed and yanking open the door to follow him. When she stepped outside, she curled her arms around herself; she was wearing only the tank and a pair of shorts she had been sleeping in.

"Dean," Oshea said softly, walking to him. "Are you okay?"

Dean had started walking down the sidewalk from the motel, but he stopped when he heard Oshea call out his name. "I'm fine," he said, not turning around. Oshea walked around in front of him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You don't seem fine… you've been acting a little weird since the whole Chuck thing. Especially toward me… I mean," She lifted her hand and brushed some of her hair behind her ear. "You've been looking at me funny."

Dean sighed and turned around, facing Oshea. He shook his head, faking a little smile. "Really, I'm fine. I'm just going to go for a walk."

Oshea watched him a moment then lowered her eyes, not seeming convinced. "Okay," She said quietly. She rubbed her upper arm a little. "I'll just… I'll be at the hotel." She kept her eyes down as she padded back down the sidewalk and stepped into the hotel. She was moving down the hall when she was suddenly grasped by the upper arms and shoved violently against the wall. Ezra gripped her arms tightly as he leaned forward and whispered into her ear.

"You want to know why he looks at you that way? Hm?"

Oshea trembled slighlty, breathing a little heavily. "You're hurting me…"

"It's because you're a monster… you're no better than the things he's killed before. He thinks he'll have to kill you someday, you know he'll do it. The world and all of the innocent little piggies that inhabit it are worth more than one measly little fling. Even your sister is disgusted by you… they all are. It would be better for you if you just left. Go and live with your little demon friends." He brushed one hand against her cheek. "Or better yet, make the world a better place and just put a gun between your teeth."

Oshea closed her eyes tightly as he spoke and when he had finished, she suddenly found herself able to move. She opened her eyes and looked up and down the hall, seeing that he was gone.

A few minutes later, Ella emerged from the bathroom, running her fingers through her hair as she walked over to Sam. "Where'd everyone go?"

"Ezra made Dean mad and he took off. Oshea went after him. Ezra poofed away and I have no idea where Castiel is." He said with a little nod. "Are you okay, Els?"

"Not really. This whole thing is just…" She shook her head as her words trailed off. "I'm sick of this angel crap. I mean sure, Castiel, fine, there's one angel that doesn't make me want to stab his eyes out. But the rest of them… they just give me a bad feeling. Something isn't right."

Sam sighed and put his hands against her cheeks. "I know. Look, we can pack up the Impala and go. Joel said that the angels wouldn't be able to find you with the brands, right? You and I can go now while Ezra's gone… we'll call Dean and Oshea and they can follow us. We can find a way to contact Cas, see if he can brand me and Dean, too. Then they'll never be able to find us…"

Ella sighed. "I don't know, Sam. Do you honestly think it would be that easy?"

"It's worth a try," Sam said as he released her and started into the room, pulling out his suitcase from beneath his and Ella's bed. "We can take a bus or something. Dean would kill me if I stole the Impala." He said, dropping the suitcase on the bed and moving to the chest of drawers, pulling out their clothes.

"There's no use in trying to run."

Sam looked up quickly, cursing under his breath as he saw Ezra sitting on the other bed. The angel shook his head. "You're stuck with me whether you like it or not. Little Ella needs to be protected. She can see and hear us. If the demons got a hold of her, they would have their own private channel to Heaven. And you don't want that do you? Besides. If you tried to leave, I would just find you. I might not be able to track Ella, but I can still track you, Sam. And I know you'd not leave her alone."

Ella groaned quietly and climbed back into the bed, pulling the covers completely over her head.

Sam narrowed his eyes and walked over to Ella. "Ella… where did you put that angel killing sword thing?"

Ezra smiled gently. "Have you ever been curious about what your spleen looks like?"

"No, thank you," Sam said through gritted teeth. He stood up and walked toward the door. "Ella… I'm going to call Dean. I'll be right outside." He said, pulling out his cell phone and dialing his brother's number.

"Yeah?" Dean said, flipping open the cheap Verizon phone as he stood outside the small convenience store down the street, a can of soda in one hand and the phone in the other.

"Dean, we have got to do something about this Ezra character." Sam said.

Dean took a last sip of the drink and then tossed it in the trashcan before he started back to the motel. "Like what?"

"Anything to get him away from Ella." Sam said with a sigh.