The walk to the library was quiet, but it was comfortable. Pandora had a small smile plastered across her face, and she had a suspicion that this was going to be permanent around Sam. She couldn't say she enjoyed the idea of being so attached to a human. Actually, it made her stomach churn. Human lives are fleeting, she knew that better than anyone. She'd had friends over the years, people she considered to be family. She'd watched them flicker out just as quickly as they'd come, leaving her alone again. She couldn't find them in heaven like the other angels could, she wasn't welcome there... Despite having felt the loss of human friends over her years, she hadn't ever felt this attached to someone before. It was like she was drawn to his presence, and the idea of being dependent on someone terrified her. Pandora was "Miss Independent". She found pride in the fact that she didn't need anyone else... But she had a sinking suspicion that she needed Sam. When she wasn't with him in the past, she'd be spying on him, checking to make sure that he was still alive. During his battle with Michael, she had sat far away and watched, felt the pain in her ancient heart as she watched him being tossed around and toyed with by her idiot brother. She had to stop herself from intervening more than once... Actually, she had to stop herself from jumping in to save him during rough hunts every single time.
Sam glanced at Pandora, wondering what she could be thinking about. He was thankful that, whatever it was, it was causing her to become so enveloped in her own thoughts, that she didn't notice him glancing at her every thirty seconds. Sam knew when it was that be came to rely on her presence. It was in the hospital, when she became a regular visitor. He wasn't sure if he would have survived for as long as he did if Pandora hadn't been with him, pouring bits of her Grace into him whenever she could. When she hadn't returned for him, he thought that she had grown tired of him. Though he'd never admit it, he had felt his heart break a bit at the thought. Knowing why she couldn't stay now didn't get rid of that pain. He knew that was why he had been so panicked this morning. He hoped that becoming so worried would not be a daily occurrence... Sam wasn't sure if he could handle that feeling of panic everyday. What if she got injured during a hunt? Sam shuddered at the thought, not wanting to think about what he'd do.
Pandora felt Sam's aura of worry at the back of her mind. It snapped her out of her trip down memory lane and pulled her attention back to the human she felt so drawn to. She placed a hand on his shoulder, Sam jumped at the contact. "Sam, are you okay?" Pandora asked, her brows knit together with concern.
Sam opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to his ability to speak. "Yeah... Yeah I'm fine," he replied when he discovered his vocal chords again.
Pandora narrowed her eyes, but decided not to press the issue. She didn't want to return to her own thoughts, so she decided that conversation might be a good tool to use. "So... Last night..." her voice trailed off and she smirked. "It was fun. We should do it again sometime."
Memories of the heated kiss rushed over Sam like a tidal wave. And then suddenly, he had a horrible thought. What if he fell for Pandora, and then he lost her? He was already afraid of losing her, so he could only imagine what love might do when added to that mix. His stomach did a nervous flip at the thought. He clenched his jaw, now attempting to swallow the lump in his throat. "Pandora..." he said with a sigh.

Pandora felt her palms begin to sweat. His tone was not one that she enjoyed hearing...
"I don't know if that's such a good idea..." he murmured, avoiding her gaze. "It's just that... If I let myself..." Sam found he didn't have a lot of words to express his concern. They had stopped walking now and were just standing on the side of the road. Sam turned to Pandora, now meeting her terrified and concerned gaze. He clenched his fists and forced himself to form a sentence. "If something were to happen to you and we had... And I was... Pandora, I don't know what I'd do. I can't go through that again."
Pandora's lips formed a tight line. "Samuel Winchester," her tone was sharp, which surprised Sam. His eyebrows shot into his hairline and he blinked a few times in shock. "Do you think you're the only one that would be affected by that? Human lives are fleeting, Sam. I've lost a lot of people I care about because I let myself get attached to them... But you... I'm more attached to you than I was to all of my friends, combined. And Sam, that scares the Grace right outta me. It's gonna hurt like hell either way, Sam... I'm already too invested for it not to..."
Sam opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced by Pandora holding up her hand. "Just... Just think about it, okay? And for once, don't automatically assume that I'm gonna go anywhere. I'm an archangel, Sam and-"
"Yeah, and I've lost an archangel that I was just beginning to care about too," Sam snapped.
Pandora was silenced. She felt a pang of sadness at the mention of Gabriel. He was much like her... A run away angel that felt the need to help the Winchesters.
"And just like you, I hated him at first too. But then he helped us, and then we lost him..." Sam sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "You're not invincible, Pandora..."
Pandora sighed and nodded her head. "I know... And yeah, there's a chance that I could be killed. With the way things have been lately, I'd say a hell of a chance. But I'm gonna let myself care too much either way... And I have a feeling that you will too."
Sam opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again when he found he was at a loss for words. He knew that he was already in too deep to stop now, but every cell of common sense he had told him to not take the final leap.
"The library is just there... We should go do that research," Pandora said, pointing at the brown brick building.

Sam typed away on his computer, researching the contents in the hex bag they had found. As far as he could tell, Pandora was right. This wasn't old magic, but it was still powerful. Sam's gaze flickered across the table to see Pandora with her nose buried in a yearbook from 1986. He smiled fondly, despite the serious situation. Her hair was out of its bun and she had removed her blazer and tossed it in the chair beside her. Sam hoped she was right when she said she wasn't leaving. He longed for it to be true, actually. Here was someone who believed in him, believed he was a good person, someone he cared for and who cared for him. It seemed too good to be true. There was a part of him that was wary of her, wary that she might have a hidden agenda, just as everyone always seemed to. Sam shut his eyes tightly, hoping to expel the thoughts from his mind. Instead, he decided to give Dean a call and give Pandora a good word. Sam hoisted himself from his seat, smiling to himself when Pandora was so engrossed in what she was doing, that she didn't even notice.

Sam wove between the rows of books, running his fingers lightly along the spines. He pulled out his phone, dialing the familiar number.
"Yeah?" Dean answered gruffly. Judging by the informal greeting, Sam figured that he wasn't in the middle of an interview, inwardly he let out a sigh of relief.
"Hey, Dean," Sam replied.
"Everything okay? That bitch hasn't gotten into trouble has she?" Dean's tone was warning, as if he was just daring Pandora to do something to piss him off.
Sam rolled his eyes. "No, Dean. Pandora's looking through yearbooks, trying to find a bigger connection between all of the vics. Look, Dean... About Pandora-"
"She's gone, Sam. Gone."
Sam knew that Dean was sensitive about Cas, he had been ever since he got back from Purgatory. Admittedly, Sam has always expected there was more between the two than friendship. Actually, he was almost certain that he heard them one night before he entered the motel room, which is what promptly made him run in the other direction as quickly as possible and return two hours later. He'd never snapped at accusations of a relationship between them before, but Purgatory had never been in the mix.
"Dean, listen... Pandora-"
"No I will not listen, Sam! What has she done to deserve to be with us?" Dean demanded.
Sam scrunched his face in frustration. "Oh, um...How about saving my life?"
"If she wanted to save your life in that hospital then she would have cured you before you wall was completely gone! Cas was the one that saved you, not her."
Sam ran his fingers through his hair. "Dean, she couldn't do that! She would have been found and we would have both been in danger! She kept me alive long enough for Cas to get there and-"
"Yeah, she kept you alive long enough for Cas to get there and take your pain and toss himself in the looney bin! She hurt both of you, Sam!" Dean spat.
"Dean, if she had put my wall back up, it would have just come down again."
"Then we'd put it back up! She didn't do shit to help you, Sam."
"She kept Lucifer away, Dean. That's enough for me."
"That's-"
"You get to trust Cas, Dean! You get to trust Benny!"
"Cas and Benny deserve-"
"So does Pandora! I trust her, Dean. I don't care if you don't. You can hate her all you want, but she's not going anywhere. Even if she was willing to leave, I wouldn't let her."
Judging by the silence on the other end, Sam could tell that Dean was trying to control his frustration.
"Look Dean... I care about Pandora a lot. Her keeping Lucifer away was really big for me. It's nice to...have someone, I guess..." A small smile flickered across Sam's face.
"Have someone? You mean like-"
"No! Someone-her... Have her...here! It's nice to have her here," Sam stuttered, fumbling over his word choice.
"...I think next time I should room with Pandora..." Dean replied.
"Dean now hold on- wait... Next time?" Sam repeated hopefully.
Dean gave an exasperated groan. "Yeah, goddammit, she can stay... Look I'll be at the library in like ten minutes, hang for me there and I'll pick you and feathers up."
With that and a click, Dean was gone and Sam was left grinning like a madman. He honestly hadn't expected that to go as well as it did, and was utterly thrilled at the results.

Sam walked back over to Pandora to see her scribbling something down excitedly. He raised an eyebrow. "Find something?" he asked curiously.
Pandora looked up with a wild grin. She rose to her feet and wrapped her arms around Sam's waist. She hoisted him off of the ground with inhuman strength and spun him around, his feet knocking some of the books off of the table.
"They were cheerleaders!" she exclaimed.
Sam wriggled out of her grasp and smoothed out his shirt, his heart still pounding at suddenly being picked up and spun around. He could honestly say that he had never been picked up and spun around, and he never wanted to be again. "What?" he asked, knitting his brows together in confusion.
"The four vics! They and two other girls were the only ones on the cheerleading squad junior year of high school, and this was the only year they were all together. I'm betting one of those girls is our witch."
Sam frowned, looking down at the yearbook. Sure enough, there were the four vics together, plus two other girls. Sally Harper and Julia Vauxler. "Well...I can't say you're right, but it's worth checking out," he replied with a shrug.
Pandora practically danced around the table as she gathered the books. "Awesome! I have their addresses here. Julia Vauxler is now Julia Graham. Sally is still Sally Harper. Ten bucks says it's Sally that got bitchy and turned witchy," Pandora taunted, waving around the paper with their addresses.
Sam rolled his eyes and grabbed his suit jacket. "Let's get cleaned up, Dean is gonna be here in ten minutes to get us."
Pandora stopped her dancing and spun to face Sam, arching an eyebrow. "...Us?" she echoed, a tone of hopefulness in her eyes.
Sam tried to suppress his grin, but failed miserably. "Yeah, us."
As their gazes locked, Pandora grinned in return, capturing Sam in another happy embrace. "I don't know what you did, but you're the greatest!" she squealed, burying her nose in his chest.
Sam could feel his heart beating faster as he wrapped his arms around Pandora's shoulders. He hadn't been smiling this much in quite a while...it was an odd feeling.

Dean pulled up to the library to see Sam and Pandora waiting outside, talking and laughing and smiling. Dean groaned, now knowing that he could never send Pandora away, unless she did something to betray the trust Sam had given her. Dean hadn't seen his baby brother genuinely laugh and smile like that in way too long... "Shit, I'm stuck with her..." he grumbled, climbing out of the car. "Hey, d'you guys find anything?" he called, waving to them to catch their attention.
Pandora was the first to talk over, now looking serious. "Dean I'm... I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have- Look, it was too far... It was wrong... I was wrong..." As she spoke, Pandora fiddled with her hands and the hem of her shirt, which was a clue to Dean that she didn't apologize very much.
"It's okay... Pandora, I still can't say I trust you like my brother does... In fact, I'm not sure if I ever will. And you're still gonna have to be with one of us at all times, until I say otherwise-"
"Dean.." Sam interrupted.
Dean's gaze shot to Sam and he raised a warning finger. "Sammy, I said she could stay... But we've been bitten in the ass by trusting people before. If it was reversed and she was Benny, you'd want me to be the babysitter," he stated firmly.
Sam's jaw clenched as he silenced himself, not wanting to admit that his brother was right.
Pandora cleared her throat, breaking the tense silence. "Okay... I'll be with one of you at all times, I promise." She couldn't say that she liked needing a chaperone, actually the mere idea of it pissed her off. But if she had to earn her trust from here, she would... And that meant keeping this promise.
Dean nodded sternly in response, pleased and surprised that Pandora hadn't put up a fight. "So what did you guys find at the library? Anything helpful?" he asked, wanting to get off the current subject.
Pandora opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Sam. "Pandora found out that all four vics were on the cheerleading squad together, plus only two other girls their junior year."
Pandora nodded her head in agreement. "It was the only thing where they were all together, so I figured that going to the other two girls and asking about the relationship between the victims would be a good idea," she explained.
Dean shrugged his shoulders and climbed into the Impala. "Alright, let's get going."

A/N: Sorry this wasn't a usual Saturday update! Unfortunately, I had a hard time working up the muse to write. I think I'm gonna wrap this case up in the next chapter (so it's gonna be a really long chapter) and move on to the next point in the plot, because this one is dragging on for a bit. Reviews are always appreciated and loved!