"You don't need that."

After breakfast, Cas had appeared, and we had gone out to the woods behind Bobby's house to start training.

"Don't need what?"

"That anti-possession charm. It's a redundancy. Normal demons cannot possess your body," Cas had told me, on the way there.

"Really?"

"Yes. There are some…exceptions, however," he replied. "Some major forces that have the power. Only a few. You shouldn't have to worry about any of them."

"Why not?"

"They have all been destroyed, to the best of my knowledge," he replied.

"By who?" I asked, curiously, expecting some biblical hero. Moses or Ezikel or something.

"Sam and Dean." He replied simply.

We moved on through the woods, looking for a clearing, apparently, and I thought about what Crowley had told me yesterday. Cas knew who my dad was.

Now, considering that Crowley was the one who told me, I probably shouldn't say anything to Cas. It was probably meant to cause trouble, or to start something. I wouldn't ask. I would trust Cas' judgement. It was his or Crowley's.

We came to the spot in the woods, and halted. It was mostly clear, save for some old targets that looked like they were practically rotten, the wood falling apart and giving way.

"Since your physical abilities are more pressing, we will begin with those. You already know that you are very powerful. You must learn how to channel all of that power without destroying yourself or anyone else around you who you do not intend to harm. We will begin with what you did last night, the beam of energy that you created unintentionally. Did it hurt you at all?"

"A little. It burned," I replied, remembering the feeling I had gotten, like I had just swallowed a too hot drink.

"Then don't push yourself so much. Close your eyes and picture what I describe: The energy is in the air around you. You are not able to see it, but there is movement occurring between every particle of everything. Try first with just the light. Feel the energy of motion around you and harness it, gently. Change it into the energy of light." I opened my eyes to see that I had made my own little pool of sunshine, gently pulsing through the clearing and cutting through the cloudy, gray afternoon. I looked at Cas, to see his approval, and the light flickered.

"Concentrate. You must focus on your task." He told me. My mind jumped back to the image of the glowing air, of the light energy around me, and the glow strengthened. I tried to imagine the light looking more like industrial lighting, more blue and stark, and the light in the clearing faded automatically.

"Good." Cas replied. "Try color."

I watched as the light changed, from red to blue to green to purple and orange and back around again.

"When you stop, try to do it quickly. Like a switch."

I did as he asked, the lights flipping off as though switched.

"On." He said. And they were back, even less effort used than before.

"Off." They were gone again.

"On." Now that I had learned how, the simple trick was easy.

"Good. Now focus the light into one beam. Let the rest of it go, except for what is in a straight line between you and your target," he said.

I focused the light into one beam, pointed at the target that was nearest to me.

"Now select another target."

I turned the light off and it appeared again pointing to another beam.

"Another."

We kept going until I could control it, the light focusing and bending at my will, even forming shapes, blades and arrows, even a devil's trap, made in the air. I learned fast, more quickly than any human student could.

"Now change the light into a more pure form of heat."

The beam that I had pointing at the target glowed brighter, turning into what I guess could be called a laser, pure energy, melting through the plastic cover and setting the wood behind it on fire instantaneously.

Cas zapped the target back to the way it was before.

"Now do what you learned to transform it into a blade."

I obliged, focusing the beam to have a razor sharp edge, slicing through the target. With a glance, Cas repaired it.

"Again."

I proceeded to immolate the targets to the best of my abilities.

"Now repair them."

I imagined the target coming back together as one, and it was immediately repaired.

"You are doing well. Continue to practice and focus."

I concentrated, making the cut sharper and the slice and repair quicker, improving with each blow.

"Well, don't focus too much. Could be dangerous," said a voice coming from behind me, where a man was walking out from behind a tree. I tried not to jump or accidentally fry anyone.

He spoke with an accent, British maybe, and was wearing faded jeans and a sport coat over a v-neck t-shirt. He had short cropped blonde hair, that matched the sandy wings folding behind him. Another angel.

"Balthazar." Cas nodded a greeting in his direction, though I noticed he stepped forward a little bit, almost in defense.

"Dear old Castiel. Is this the little one you're so puzzled about?"

Balthazar was looking at me, his head tilted to the side in inspection.

"Lily. My name's Lily," I informed him, curtly.

"Ah, how rude of me. Of course you'd object to being spoken about like you're not in the room. Happens after a day or two of hanging around those Winchester boys."

I opened my mouth to say something that I probably would have gotten into trouble for.

"She is the one I asked you about. Is there anything that you can confirm?" Cas interrupted, noticing my attempt to say something salty.

The blonde angel strolled around, in a circle, watching me, while I raised an eyebrow at Cas to ask if he was really being serious, or if I should mind my manners. There was a slight shrug in response. Helpful.

"Well," Balthazar concluded, moving to stand still on the other side of Cas. "I can tell you that she's not one of mine. Or Uriel's. And, I've tracked a bit of Raphael's bloodline, and she's not his either. Thank dad for that. Can you imagine a whole mess of little pricks running free? Either way, if I had to guess, I would say Archangel. But I don't really have to guess, do I?"

"Maybe. That is, if you want to be immolated," I replied.

"Sweetheart, I'd let you try, but it would take so long that I might die of old age before you manage to get strong enough."

I wondered if that would be true.

"But, Castiel, I think your other theory was correct. The one regarding her mother," Balthazar continued, completely ignoring my glare.

"I have since found evidence to disregard that possibility."

"If you say so."

"I do."

Balthazar turned back toward me.

"We'll have to chat another time dear. Ciao!"

With that, he was gone.

"I apologize for that," Cas told me.

"No, it's not your fault. I didn't mind so much. Whatever helps me find the truth faster, right?" I searched for his eyes, which were staring off into the distance. He looked down at me, and meeting my gaze perfectly, he lied.

"Right."

I'M SORRY. But here's the thing, I love Balthazar, and he fit here, so even if they aren't supposed to know him yet, TOO DAMN BAD. Okay, thanks. Sorry. Thanks for reading and reviewing, love you all. xx Ta!