Isn't it ironic

Driving after the taillights of the beautiful black Chevvy Impala didn't bore Aliza for hours straight. Dean had complemented her on her '71 dodge challenger, saying she was a 'chick with good taste for wheels'. Aliza had smiled, and was still smiling. She didn't even mind the cheap flirting Dean didn't seem able to stop. She could see him mentally kicking himself whenever he made a cheesy comment, reminding himself who she was. As sweet as the gesture was, Aliza couldn't help herself from checking out Dean too. The guy was a good piece of meat, no lying there.

She was on the road once more, still alone in her car. But there were people not far away. And most importantly: she had a real destiny. And it was a home for Dean and Sam. They weren't specific about the place, just that she needed to watch out for anyone following them.

Once they stopped the car, Aliza was partly excited and partly concerned. They seemed to be on some dirt road with no building within sight. She stepped out of her car, stretching her limps from the long sit.

'Home sweet home,' Dean called out.

She pushed one hip out, placing both hands on her hips. 'Seriously? We're in the middle of nowhere.'

Dean smirked mischievously. Like he was about to show his own-build treehouse that was way too awesome. 'That's what it's supposed to look like. Come on in.'

Aliza wasn't ready for something like the bunker she walked into. The place was huge! And all of it underground. She stood at the top of a staircase, curling down to a round room. Panels lined the walls, and in the middle was a massive table showing a map of the world. Behind the round room she saw a study/library room. Millions of books were on display. More doorways indicated the place to be even bigger.

'You've got to be kidding me,' she breathed.

'It's all real, honey,' Dean said. He clapped her playfully on her shoulder and started down the stairs. She followed him down. Aliza spun herself around in the round room.

'How did you find this place?' she asked while looking at the high ceiling.

'Men of letters left it behind,' Sam told her when he threw his duffle bag on the huge wooden table in the study.

'The what?' she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sam chuckled at her reaction. 'Tell you all about it some time. So, think you could spend some time in here?'

She faced Sam and looked at him with sparkling eyes of joy. 'Hell yeah.'

Aliza spend two days roaming around all the halls and rooms in the bunker. So far she had discovered a kitchen, a bunch of bedrooms, each with an own bathroom, a parking garage – where she was allowed to park her car next to three old-timers – a training room, a swimming pool and a lot of other places. Even in a war bunker, under the ground, she had never quite felt like home before this. Of course she knew it wasn't her place, and she shouldn't count on a long stay, but for the moment it felt nice.

A home.

Two friends.

It was more than she had in a long time. Her house in the forest had been awesome, but it never felt like home. It was just a house.

As she tried to find her way back to the main room she suddenly got a nasty feeling. Something in her gut warned her. Something bad would happen? She was going to be sick from the chicken she ate yesterday? She couldn't tell, but it didn't feel good.

'I think we should check it out. Seems like a case to me,' Dean's voice spoke. Aliza was just one corner away from the entrance room.

'Shall we take Aliza with us?' Sam asked.

She rounded the corner and walked in with a witty smile. 'You sure as hell are.'

They noticed her and turned around. That was the moment Aliza realized there were three men in the room. Another man stood next to Dean. He wore a light-colored trenchcoat over a suit with a blue tie. He had dark hair but the lightest of blue eyes. He crooked his head to the side.

Aliza froze. She didn't take another step, she didn't even breathe. Only her eyes moved, as they grew big and blinked a lot of times.

'Oh right. You two haven't met yet,' Dean started.

She had already said it a hundred times in her head before she could actually speak the words out loud.

'What are you doing here?'

This surprised all three men. There, on the other side of the table, stood her teacher from college. The one she had sex with. The one she was sure she would never see again. Jimmy.

'You know him?' Dean asked.

'He knew you,' Jimmy finally said. His voice wasn't the same. It was a lot deeper. The same voice he used when things got really intimate. A shiver went down her entire body. She was pretty sure she was over the guy, that she never had any real feelings for him.

But damn he was still hot.

'He?' Dean and Sam asked simultaneously.

Jimmy walked around the table to close the distance between himself and Aliza. He came way too close in her personal space. She took a couple of steps back. He started to scare her. To add up, she still had the weird feeling in her gut.

'Jimmy. He has memories of you,' he told her.

None of this settled the panic she felt rising to the surface.

'W-why do you talk like it isn't you? You are Jimmy. You were…you know,' she stuttered.

'You knew Jimmy Novak?' Sam asked, finally catching up.

Aliza shook her head a little. 'Remember the teacher I told you about?'

'Yeah,' Dean said fondly when at the same time Sam said: 'yes.'

'Yeah…Jimmy was my teacher.'

The smile disappeared from Dean's face. 'You slept with her?' he asked the man with a little anger and a little jealousy.

'I didn't. Jimmy did,' Jimmy replied.

'Quit it Jimmy. This ain't funny,' Aliza breathed uneasily.

He lowered his face a little and looked at her through his eyelashes. 'I am sorry to tell you this, but I am not Jimmy,' he told her apologetic.

Her heart was beating twice the normal pace now. She started to realize someone possessed Jimmy. It could be a demon, but the Winchesters seemed to be familiar with him. Plus he just apologized.

It could be a shapeshifter, but that left her with the same statement. Any kind of monster didn't make sense. A part of her already knew what was going to happen next, but the biggest part of her mind tried to ignore the possibility.

'My name is Castiel. I am an angel of the lord.'

It were exactly the words she was afraid of. At long last, they had found her. She had come on their radar. She didn't want to blame Dean and Sam, but they were the reason this happened.

'No,' she whispered. Slowly she stepped further back.

'It's okay. Cas is a friend. I don't know whether you met any angels, but most are dicks. Cas is different,' Dean tried to reassure her.

'No,' she whispered again. The angel kept staring at her with that apologetic look on his face. He felt sorry for taking Jimmy's body as his vessel, but he wasn't sorry about the things he would do to her if he knew…

'I am sorry about my appearance. You should know that Jimmy embraced my spirit willingly. Twice, actually,' Castiel tried to sooth.

Aliza stared harsh at the ground, trying to stop the tears. Her death was near, and she could feel it.

'Dean, Sam. Thank you for the offer. But I can't stay. I will grab my stuff and leave,' she said to the ground.

'What? Why? I thought you said it was a fling. Or…did you…love him or something?' Dean asked awkwardly.

Her head snapped back up, staring at Dean. 'I didn't love him. I didn't have any feelings for him except lust. I wanted to try it.'

'Then why do you act so shocked?' Sam asked calmly.

Their concerned looks pushed her to tell the truth. The first tears fell.

'I can't stay, because I don't trust angels.'

'I told you, Cas is different,' Dean argued.

She shook her head and held her hand to her forehead, covering her tear stained face.

'I don't care. Angel is angel. I don't trust them.'

'Why?' Dean asked.

Aliza looked back up at him and Sam. 'I can't tell you.'

'Why not?' Dean pressed.

Aliza took a deep, shuddering breath. 'Because I don't trust you enough either.'

The brothers exchanged a look. 'I kind of figured. And it's fair,' Sam answered.

An awkward silence filled the room. The only sound was Aliza's soft sniffing.

'Anyway, I will be gone within-,'

'You stay. I go,' Castiel suddenly said.

For the first time since she knew it wasn't Jimmy, she dared to look him directly in the eyes.

'You need this place as a home. I can leave, and not come back,' Castiel elaborated.

If this was any human being that wouldn't torture her if he knew what she was, she would argue that he was their true friend and she was the intruder that needed to leave. But this was not that simple. She hated looking at a familiar, friendly face, and seeing her enemy reflected in his eyes.

'You would do that?' she asked with a little voice.

He nodded once.

Then it became too much again, and she diverted her gaze. 'Thank you.'

She felt something strange, like feeling soundwaves without the sound. The feeling was shortly followed by the sound of wings flapping. When she looked back up, the angel was gone.

Her with tears filled eyes looked up at the brothers.

'I'm sorry,' she softly replied.

'It's okay,' Sam replied.

Dean didn't seem to agree though. He stared sternly at her.

'So you demand that our friend leaves, but you don't trust us to tell why? In our home?'

His words cut her like knives, because she knew they were true.

'Yes. And that isn't fair,' she replied.

Dean rolled his eyes. 'Well, good we know you know.'

'I want to tell you,' she replied before he could walk off. He spun back around.

'But you wouldn't,' Dean stated.

Aliza hugged herself. 'I'm too scared.'

Dean gave her one more second to elaborate, but when she didn't he turned and left the room. Sam walked over to her and sat her down on a couch in the study. He sat next to her.

'Don't mind Dean,' he said.

Aliza shook her head. 'He is right. I know he is. I don't know Castiel. Maybe you guys can trust him. Maybe he is different about the apocalypse and all. But there is no exception in this case.'

Sam sighed. They sat silently for a moment.

'I could be a lot more helpful if I knew what was bothering you,' Sam silently said.

Aliza sighed. 'I know.'