The next morning was not pretty.

Everyone was still grumpy, not really ready to think of me as who I truly was.

John and Mary Winchester's daughter.

The words felt strange in my head, and I now wondered why I had bothered to make the deal at all. They were dead. There was no one for me to go back to. And heck, if it had been any two normal people who were still alive, then what would I have done? Showed up on their doorstep and hoped that they would take me in? Hi, I'm an angsty teenager who is only three quarters your child. I promise I'l ltry really hard not to blow up your whole life with my angel powers. Oh, and did I mention, the king of Hell wants to capture me! Nice to finally meet you!

Give me a break.

Did I really need to know that Michael was my father to know what I could do?

Nope. Probably not.

And it only served to make me feel crappier over what I'd done, that my deal was nearly for nothing. Although, I had to admit that I was intrigued by Jack. Who could he really be? Why couldn't I see his true form? I would get to find out eventually, which both thrilled and terrified me.

I slept late, and when I first went down to breakfast, the fact that everyone kept looking at me did not help my mood. They kept glancing around, maybe trying to see small ways that I looked like their parents. Ways that I was their sister.

I certainly looked for signs in them. But at least I felt bad about doing it when I caught myself.

Along with everything being different as far as attitude, Bobby seemed to realize that he was now officially my closest-thing-to-a-parental-unit, and was acting as such.

He started off by grounding me.

"Now what'd I tell you about summoning demons? Dammit Lily, you could've killed us all in our sleep. It was lucky I woke up when I heard some raccoons in the trash, or else god knows what would've happened. You're grounded young lady. No phone and no computer for a month. No powers for a week. And I expect you to run twice as far as usual every morning until then. That means waking up an hour earlier."

Damn it. Bobby really knew how to lay down punishment.

Despite Bobby's warnings, I spent the afternoon listening in to the angels, which I figured was only half cheating and using my powers. Cas had mentioned a civil war, and I had wanted dig a little deeper and find out more.

It turned out that I'd dug too deep.

Things weren't going well for Cas, and I had to wonder if there was something that I could do. Surely a child of Michael had their sway. I'd have to ask Cas the next time I saw him, and until then, I'd constantly be worried about his safety. At the very least, it kept me away from the angel network for the rest of the day.

Still, this no powers thing was boring, and I could hardly resist lighting something on fire just for the fun of it.

I settled for practicing guitar, up in my room and contemplating the meaning of life, when Dean came up once again to visit me.

"You, uh, doing okay, Lily?" He was acting like I was a stranger again, after all of the time that we'd grown close. I cursed the knowledge that had changed everything for me.

"Yeah," I lied. I was okay in the way that he was looking for, just not in the way that I was. "Just tired. I'm not sure that knowing actually helps anything, though, After how long I've waited and all I've been through."

"Yeah, well," he replied. "Curiosity's gotten the better of me before too. What matters is that we know who to trust when the fallout hits."

Fallout? Did he know that I'd made a deal and wanted me to tell about it? Well I couldn't, even if I wanted to.

"I know who to trust," I replied. "And I'm never going to doubt them again."

I felt like I sounded stupid, but what I said was true. If I hadn't gone against what Sam, Dean and Bobby had told me, things would have never come down around me.

Dean smiled, mostly in a sad way.

"All right. But we're here for you Lily. If there's anything that you need to talk to us about… Just remember that."

"Thanks, Dean."

He nodded and went on his way, visibly more relaxed, heading downstairs to watch the game.

"How quaint," someone mused from the corner of the room, where Castiel had first appeared a few months ago. It felt like years.

I found out immediately that it was Jack.

God damn it, he's snuck up on me again.

"Please don't tell me this is gonna happen all the time now. I really don't need to be in any more trouble than I'm already in," I replied, immediately feeling conscious of the dirty clothes I'd left around the room and the ratty t-shirt I was wearing.

He was lounging in my desk chair, sitting on it backwards like people in the '60s used to, casually.

"Trouble? Who said anything about trouble? I'm just here for a chat," his eyes glinted gold in the twilight glow of the sunset streaming in through the window.

"And for you that means I'm in trouble. Was that you last night? That dream?" I asked, curious.

"It wasn't a dream. That was live. Just because I'm not allowed to tell you my deal doesn't mean that Crowley isn't allowed to," he replied.

"Then why don't you just get him to tell you what it is and how to break it, and then show me that live?" I asked.

"Just because he's old doesn't mean he's stupid. He knows that I'm up to something. I don't think that he cares what as of yet, but should he find out, you'll wish that you had sold your soul to me," he sighed dramatically. I just rolled my eyes.

"Somehow I doubt that. I've spent the last several months on Crowley's most wanted list, and I think the worst thing that's happened was meeting you," I retorted.

It was mostly true. Although towards the end of that time, I hadn't exactly been the happiest.

"That's awfully kind of you. Don't spare my feelings next time," he pouted.

"You don't have any real feelings. You're a demon," I replied.

He cocked his head to the side, intrigued.

"I don't know whether to be proud or hurt by that sentiment. I mean, sure, it must mean that I'm an excellent actor, but I'd thought that you were a bit cleverer than that," he raised an eyebrow, almost tauntingly.

"I just needed confirmation," I replied.

He had to be... what, Nephilim then? There was no other explanation. No angel could get through my wardings (or would work with Crowley for that matter), and nothing else that I had studied in lore could even come close to the powers he'd already displayed. For the rarest beings on the planet, there sure were a lot of us cropping up.

"Are you going to make me guess who your parents are then, or will I have to offer you a deal?" I questioned, doing my best impression of him.

He laughed a bit, and I had to hide my grin at the sight of him, relaxed and calm, and laughing at my lame jokes the way that my friends did, back before I had left all for this strange and dangerous life.

"I think that you aren't quite privy to that information just yet. Stick around for a while and we'll see."

Fine. I didn't need to know who his parents were. The last time I had been on a quest for knowledge like that, I had very nearly ended up in hell.

"Hopefully I'll be gone long before then," I responded.

"If you're half as good as you are confident, Michaels, then I'll be out of your life just as soon as you want me to be," he smirked.

"I already want you to be."

"Well, you must not, or I'd be gone," he responded.

"Watch yourself," I warned. "If you're dead, I don't have to keep my end of the deal."

"Haven't you already tried killing me? As I recall, it didn't end up going well," he smirked. He did an awful lot of that apparently.

"That wasn't for lack of trying. I know how to kill you now. Plain and simple," I threatened, my hand going subconsciously to the angel blade at my belt.

"I'm quaking in my boots," he mocked., putting his hands up in surrender.

"Scared of an innocent little girl? You're worse than a demon. You're a pansy," I taunted.

"I'd like to think I'm more of a buttercup," he replied, rising. "And, by the way, petunia, I meant to mention earlier, but watch out. Something big is coming, and I don't want you caught in the middle of it."

"Cryptic warnings? Please don't tell me that you're going to turn out to be the Angel to my Buffy."

He cocked his head to the side, like he didn't understand my reference. If he was as out of date as his clothes were, it could bee a clue to what his deal had been.

"I'll try not to be too cryptic. Have you heard from Raphael lately over the angel communications?"

I searched my memories, but found that I hadn't. He was one of the ones fighting against Cas, and I'd tried to listen for him especially today, but I hadn't heard anything.

"He's been quiet. But that's a good thing, right?" I asked, confused.

"Not exactly. I've got informants that have told me exactly what he's up to, and its certainly not good. Have Cas look into purgatory. And make sure you do it right away," he instructed, pulling on a low hat from nowhere and putting it on his head, giving it a tip to say goodbye.

"How do I know that this isn't another trick?" I asked, rising,

He began to fade like the Cheshire cat in the old Alice in Wonderland cartoons, fading into the shadows of the room slowly.

"You don't."

So I just wrote this chapter and didn't edit it yet, but oh well, here you go. I hope you enjoy it, typos and all. (Even ugly things can be pretty, especially in a dark room). Thanks all for reading and reviewing! Ta!