Chapter 34

Nadia awoke to a faint sound around her. She sat up and looked around only to find that she was back at home in her own bedroom. With her heart racing, she slid off her bed and walked silently to the bedroom door to listen for any movement on the otherside. She reached out her hearing to every whisper of the wind and tic of the clock and heard nothing out of place. Her hand was shaking when she wrapped it around the handle and slowly turned it. A deep breath later, she pulled the door open a crack and peaked out into the empty living room. She found that her strength was renewed as she channeled it all into her palm where the familiar and comforting ball of fire gathered.

Every room was empty and she tried to remember everything she could about where she'd been before she'd woken up. She was in Colorado with Sam and Dean but now she was suddenly hundreds of miles away in a house that she'd spent her whole life in but it suddenly didn't feel right. Teleportation, she remembered and expected some sarcastic comeback from Aidan, but all was silent. Her heartbeat rose as she realized that Aidan was nowhere to be found anywhere inside her head in this strange place. She wasn't in her head or even talking to her from across a darkened clearing in the woods as she had before. She didn't exist here. That thought scared Nadia more than she ever would have thought and she had to fight hard to keep her panic at bay. This is nowhere she could have teleported, so where was she?

From the corner of her eye, she noticed light coming through the open doors of the red barn where she spent countless hours honing every defensive and offensive skill she knew. At the end of the block of light shining through the door and onto the ground, sat the Impala. Hope surged within Nadia at the sight of it. The door tore open without a touch from her hand and she raced off the porch and across the yard. She grabbed the giant sliding door's handle and used her momentum to swing her around and into the blinding light of the barn.

The cement was cold on the bare skin of her feet and the sudden change from darkness to light left her blind for a few seconds. She blinked the glare away and her heart stopped when she saw a large man sitting on her weight bench. "Who are you?" she barely got out above a whisper.

The man lifted his head to look at her and smiled a smile that made her blood run cold. She never thought she'd wish so adamantly that Aidan was with her, as she did right then. "Nadia," he breathed.

Before she knew what she was saying, sarcasm bubbled through her lips. "What are the odds? It doesn't really fit you though."

His smile turned blatantly nasty, "Charming."

Her muscles were starting to thaw and she raised her empty hand like she was about to throw something at him. "Who are you?" she demanded more forcefully. He laughed at her and in an instant, the fire returned to her hand.

His eyes narrowed and he watched the flames lick at her fingers before turning back to her. "Impressive; but your threats are empty here, half breed," he said icily. She froze again at his words and he smiled smugly. "That's right, I know all about daddy dearest and your scum," he all but spit the word, "of a mother."

Rage flooded through Nadia and the fire in her hand grew to a blinding white that she'd only created once before-months ago, before she knew what she was. She started toward him and he rose up to stand defiantly. "You have no idea what my mother was," she growled.

"I know exactly what she was... A whore," he baited and she continued forward.

"Uriel!" Another voice boomed from another doorway in the barn. "That is enough."

Uriel glared at the figure in the doorway and Nadia stumbled backward. "You," she breathed. "You were in Florida. I saw you." She glanced between the man in the trench coat and Uriel. "What are you?"

The man in the trench coat turned to face only her and watched her as if she were a rabid animal that could attack at any second. "My name is Castiel. I am an angel of the lord."

The barn was quiet for a couple of beats. Finally Nadia said flatly, "An angel."

"Yes."

"Right..." She glanced around her, "And, this is what? Heaven? Because, I gotta say; it's pretty much a massive letdown."

Castiel narrowed his eyes in confusion and Uriel snorted, "Like you would be allowed in heaven."

Castiel ignored Uriel's outburst like he hadn't heard a thing. "You are half demon yet you do not believe in angels?"

"Well let's just say, we see a lot more of the other side around here."

"This is your dream. And we," he glanced between the two of them, "are angels." Lightening filled the sky and flashed through the barn door and Nadia stumbled back as two pairs of giant black shadows of invisible wings covered the wall behind Castiel and Uriel. Nadia fell back onto the cement floor and the lightening stopped as quickly as it had started.

She swallowed and stared at them in shock. "Now that was an entrance," was the only thing that came out of her mouth.

Sam sat at his laptop burning up more time with research. He had spent hours searching over the last couple of days but had come up with nothing that fit what Nadia had described. He leaned back and rubbed his eyes. When he glanced over at Dean, he found him watching Nadia intently. He watched Dean's face, trying to figure out what could be going through his head; caution or protection.

Dean's eyes swept over every inch of Nadia's face and no matter what he told himself, she still looked the same. But most of all, she still made his heart race and ache with the desire to touch her; just a simple touch of their hands or the brushing of their arms as they passed each other. She still looked at him like he was the most fasinating thing in the world but it killed him that she also looked at him with the pain of loss. Even now, he was fighting with himself not to brush the strand of hair from off her face. Her eyes raced back and forth and her brows pulled together as her entire body tensed. He leaned forward and reached toward her but didn't touch her for fear of waking her from the sleep she so desperately needed.

"What's wrong?" Sam's unexpected voice made Dean jumped.

He glanced over at Sam and then back at Nadia. "I don't know... It's probably nothing, just a dream," he didn't sound convinced, and continued to watch her every move. Her hand twitched and she clenched her jaw. He laid his hand on hers in an effort to get her to relax. Nadia's head whipped to the side suddenly and she cried out softly. "Nadia," he leaned over her with his hands on her shoulders and shook her. "Nadia, wake up. Wake up!"

Sam jumped up and came over to the side of the bed but didn't know what to do so he just knelt on the floor and watched her.

Castiel watched Nadia carefully as she walked over to the other workout bench and sat down. She looked up from beneath her lashes at him and sighed. "What do you want from me?"

Uriel started to respond but Castiel held up his hand to stop him and never took his eyes from Nadia's. "You are close with Dean and Sam Winchester."

"Yes..." she tensed at Dean and Sam being brought up. Protectiveness rose within her and she was more careful of what she said. "What do they have to do with anything?"

"A lot," he said simply.

She snorted, "You're going to have to do better than that."

"You are-" he started but Nadia interrupted him.

"Not about me. Why are you so interested in Dean and Sam?"

Uriel and Castiel glanced at each other but Castiel was the one to speak. He studied her like an appraiser study a painting, "You care more for them than you care for yourself."

"What's your point?"

"That is a...honorable trait."

She narrowed her eyes, "You sound surprised by that. That I would be so honorable," I clarified.

"It surprises me."

"Boy, you're not one for gestures or changes in expression are you?" She pointed out and he looked confused so she moved on, "You still haven't answered my question."

"They are important for what is about to start."

She sighed heavily when he didn't elaborate. "It's like pulling teeth," she groaned.

"I would imagine that is painful."

Laughter bubbled up at the absurdity of the situation and she shook her head. "You really need to get out more." Nadia pulled her hair out from the thin, black ponytail holder and massaged her scalp; she felt tired even though she was sleeping at this very moment. "Can you just spit it out so that I can get back to dreaming about chocolate and unicorns?"

"We want you out of the picture," Uriel stood with his arms crossed and looking down at her, in every sense of the word.

She looked to Castiel for any clarification or indication that Uriel was lying; but he just looked back at her. She stood up and Castiel took a step back and Uriel shifted so that he was ready to fight back if need be. "You're afraid of me," she said with awe. Uriel snorted but he didn't ease his stance. Nadia raised one brow, "All I did was stand up and you both readied yourself for a fight."

"You are dangerous," Castiel said and Uriel looked pissed that he'd revealed such a fact.

"Duh," she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That doesn't mean I'm going to kill you or anyone else for that matter."

"Your recent festivities say otherwise," Uriel sneered.

She gritted her teeth. "I did everything in my power to save Dean's life in the least horrible way possible. You'd think you'd be a little more appreciative since he's so important to you."

"You seriously think that we needed you to do anything? We would have sent someone there to retrieve him ourselves," said Uriel with his usual charm.

"You know, I really don't like you," she replied flatly.

"The feeling is mutual."

"What a shocking development," she said dryly. They were all quiet for a moment and she started to really think about what they'd said. She swallowed nervously and continued with caution, "So what exactly are you planning to do with me, since I'm so dangerous?"

Uriel looked at Castiel, arms crossed, and waited for him to answer. Nadia didn't like the smugness in Uriel's eyes but she too waited for Castiel to respond. "You are too great a threat to allow to...continue..."

Her eyes narrowed and it felt like her throat was tightening. She wanted to run but she made herself stand her ground and not look terrified. "What you mean, is that you're going to kill me," she said slowly.

"Yes," he said simply.

"Why?" She couldn't believe that she was so calm when she'd just found out that she was on the angel's hit list.

"Because you are a child of Lucifer."

"I'm not."

"Your father was a demon. You are half demon. You are a child of Lucifer. You are his greatest asset."

"His greatest-" she stopped herself and closed her eyes, trying to sort it all out.

Castiel continued before she could put together words. "The apocalypse is on the verge of happening. Lucifer will rise and you cannot be here when he does."

She sat back down with her head in her hands and staring at the ground, "The apocalypse? Lucifer? As in the devil? As in Satan?" Her head shot up and she looked at Castiel with disbelief. "You think I'm going to, what, help him?"

"Not you."

The answer was obvious, "Aidan." Uriel did nothing but continue to glare and Castiel continued to stare. "You don't understand," she shook her head, "she won't-"

"She is a demon like any other," said Uriel.

"No, she's not." She turned her attention back to Castiel, "She's different."

Uriel laughed, "She's different."

"Uriel," Castiel warned.

"She may be a demon but she's a demon with a conscience. My conscience. I hear her thoughts, every one of them. She can't hide anything from me. If she were planning on teaming up with Lucifer to end the world as we know it, I think I'd have heard something about that by now."

"You truly believe that she is so much different than the other's we have dealt with?" Castiel seemed genuinely curious to hear her answer.

Nadia shifted her weight to her other foot and crossed her arms, "Oh, so you've dealt with half demons like me before?" When neither of the angels answered, she smiled smugly, "That's what I thought. You have no more idea about what Aidan is like than anyone else outside of me, someone who, you know, shares her brain."

"Let's just kill her and get it over with," Uriel practically whined.

"What's the matter, Fido, my logic too much for your tiny little brain to handle?" Nadia's voice was pure acid.

Uriel lunged forward but Castiel stopped him; his voice still cool and calm. "Control yourself, Uriel. There are simpler ways to do this." He took a cautious step toward her, "We can determine Aidan's intentions for ourselves."

"And how are you planning on doing that?"

"We will bring her out."

"I've already tried that, she's not here. Your angel juice is keeping her at bay or something."

"In a manner of speaking," Castiel said simply.

"We can't talk at the same time; unless you want me to speak for her or vice versa. Which I don't think would be very wise since you're going for the truth and all." She sort of hoped that they would just give up and let her either wake up or leave her to dream in peace.

He shook his head and reached toward her even though he was still a good distance away. He dragged his hand to the right as if he was holding something heavy and Nadia felt a painful pulling in her chest. The pulling grew until she doubled over and clenched her teeth together with a force she was sure equaled that of a pit bull. Finally the wrenching eased but she felt weak and empty.

"What the hell?" Nadia spun around as she heard her voice come from the spot beside her. For a second she thought that she was looking into a mirror except for the fact that her other image was looking down instead of straight ahead.

She was breathing heavy from both the shock of her sudden mirror image and whatever Castiel had done; which was becoming more apparent. "Aidan?" she whispered.

Aidan's head snapped up and looked her over and then down at her own matching body. "I repeat; what the hell?"

Nadia swallowed, "So, good news, I found out what's been after us. Bad news, it blows."

Aidan's brows pulled together with confusion and then she saw Castiel and Uriel for the first time. After a quick glance, she stood up straighter, "You have got to be joking."