Chapter 2

It hadn't been as obvious in the hotel room, but the moment Dean stepped outside he was forced to just stop and stare. Everything was glowing. Well mostly it was things that were alive, people, and plants….the Impala. He blinked and eyed the car warily,. The glow wasn't really that strong, although it did seem to vary depending on the object. Just a ghostly shine in the air around them. Castiel watched him intently. "Why is the car glowing?" Dean finally asked. Cas tilted his head that tiny smile of his reappearing.

"It happens sometimes. An object or place can be imbued with a certain kind of life by the people who care about them. "The angel explained. Dean turned to look at him incredulously.

"The car's alive?" he demanded. Cas's look turned thoughtful.

"Not in the way you would think of it. Although perhaps someday." He added. Dean hesitated before deciding to let it go. He just nodded and turned his attention to the various other things that were glowing. The glow that seemed to be coming from various trees and bushes was fairly consistent, but the people, that was another story all together. He focused on a lady walking down the sidewalk across the street from the hotel. On the surface she looked normal enough, but the glow around her was a shifting mess of yellow and orange, with patches of a grass green. The yellow and orange were, unsettling, for some reason.

"What do the colors mean?" Dean asked, frowning heavily at the woman. Now that he was really looking at her there was a bit of a bruise purple mixed in there as well. Urk. Nasty looking. Cas frowned, looking at the woman as well.

"Greens and blues are the colors a human soul is supposed to be, the brightness and shade mean different things, generally lighter shades are better. Your own soul is nearly white, tinged with a bit of blue." Dean nearly rolled his eyes. Cas seemed to be a bit obsessed with how he had such a pure soul sometimes.

"The yellow and red?" he asked instead.

"Red is anger, yellow jealousy. Black is as you might guess – is sin. Purple is…a darkness that isn't quite yet sin. As long as the soul shows purple rather than black it can still be saved." Cas looked away from the woman and to Dean, studying him, there was a softer edge to the expression. "When I found you in Hell your soul was dark blue, shot through with purple. Contrary to what you seem to think, you never became a demon." Dean very carefully did not look at Castiel. Instead he headed down the street studying the people as he went. Castiel following faithfully along at his shoulder. Most people were fairly pastel shades of green with splashes of blue. Each with their own shifting whirl of other colors. Surprisingly flew people showed any purple that he could see.

"I'm surprised there's so few people with any purple or even black." He finally said after another ten minutes. Cas glanced at him, eyes narrowed slightly.

"Most humans mange quite well. For all the things they do, they have a very good sense of where the line between true good and evil actually is. Such is the ability that humanity gained through eve's actions. Most humans don't want to be evil, even if they don't consciously realize the inclination, and knowing where that line is - they avoid it well enough."

Dean stared at Cas, bemused, he had never really thought about it that way. Most people and creatures always seemed to say that humans were inclined towards sin and evil, but that didn't really make sense when you actually thought about it. He was about to asked something else when a horrible sensation washed over him. He froze shuddering. Cas was at his side in an instant, those not quite there crystalline wings half spread.

Cas wasn't looking at him through, he was staring about two blocks down the street on the other side. Dean finally got a hold of himself and straighten up even if he did still feel like he was going to hurl. When he followed cas's gaze and saw what he was looking at he nearly did. The supposedly normal person walking down the street was sounded by a boiling black cloud. Most of which seemed to be buried under his skin. Demon. Dean stared, for all that it did rather look like the same kind of black cloud they always did. There was just something infinitely more horrifying about it now. Castiel made a low sound and folded a wing around Dean. For all that he could still see though the translucent feathers, the black cloud was now no more than a grey haze. Dean blinked trying to get a further hold of himself, and, …had Cas just growled?

Right moving on.

"Thanks, Cas." He grunted a bit weakly. Cas nodded but didn't takes his eyes off the demon until it had disappeared around another corner, not having noticed either of them as out of the norm.

"You're welcome Dean, this is why I wished to be with you the first time you went outside. I was certain you would have a few strong reactions." Dean nodded, grimacing as the nauseous feeling the demon had caused faded as it got further away.

"Going to be kinda hard to fight demons if I fall over every time I get within a block of one. "He pointed out darkly. Cas tilted his head to the side, thoughtful, before nodding.

"Angels require extensive training to avoid similar reactions. I will be glad to help you." Dean smiled a little wryly at this, angel training hu? Should be interesting.

"Thanks Cas." Castiel nodded, with a faint smile before they continued on their way. After a few minutes Dean noticed that they weren't far from the hospital.

"We should stop by and check on Sam." he commented, Cas studied him for a moment, not breaking his stride.

"I had planned on it. I do not want you to see your brother for the first time without me there." Dean stopped walking, eying Cas with a heavy frown.

"Why?" he demanded. Cas hesitated, before sighing softly.

"Due to the demons blood Sam's soul looks far darker than it actually is." he finally said. "It is why i was so, short, with him initially. it took me a time to see that it was just the surface. Your brothers soul is very bright once you look past the blood." he finished. Dean stared, horrified. just what the fuck did Sam's soul look like? If he reacted to him like he had to the demon, fuck, not cool. He didn't want Sam to see that! He would take it the worst way possible, he was good at that.

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quetzal - so i had a plot bunny for the story just now. originally it was just supposed to be a fluffy thing that was just tooth rottingly cute, but i haz IDEAS now. ...which are still tooth rottingly cute, but now with more plot!