Sorry if Keara hadn't been seen for a while. Kid has to sleep. But here's to make up for it.

The song here is "Dirty Paws" by Of Monsters and Men

Dirty Paws

Although her father tucked her into bed and told her the story of the time he raised a batch of Hellhound pups and cared for them, she seemed restless. She thought about the pups and how when they got older, they were very loyal to her father. They wouldn't listen to any other crossroad demon.

Maybe it was the story or maybe it was the fact that she simply couldn't sleep, but Keara stirred in her bed as she was having a vivid dream. She was running around the mansion, but she was closer to the floor and her vision was slightly blurred around the edges and sharp as she focused on certain things.

She was running, but then would slow and watch around the corner, then proceed. She could hear footsteps and she could sense exactly where demons were standing. She could even sense who those demons were.

Just around a corner, she saw Nikolai leave the mansion with her father, but he was told to stay here and watch over her and her mother. He was still out of the mansion, but she wasn't certain if he'd come back inside. She was searching for him with her eyes, yet it didn't really feel like herself.

Come to think of it, running around the mansion didn't like herself either…

All of that didn't matter when she spotted Nikolai sitting outside of the mansion just to the right. He left the doors of the mansion wide open which was odd, but maybe he did that on purpose. Or maybe he forgot.

He sat on the ground and he was scratching his arm. Keara approached, although she still didn't feel like it was her moving. It didn't matter. She got a little closer to see him and then noticed what he was scratching specifically.

He was scratching the mark on his arm that made him awesome.

As he scratched, he clenched his jaw and she had never seen him do that. She had never seen him act that way or scratch at that mark. He didn't seem like himself and that made her stomach hurt. Her mother said it hurts when one worries. If that's true, than she was worried about Nikolai's scratching the mark that made him awesome.

At that moment, he quickly glanced over and stopped scratching, slowly looking more like himself. He relaxed his jaw and the wild look in his eyes cooled. Then, he smiled and she knew her Nikolai was fine.

"Hey Ginger." He said and held out his hand. "Come here girl." He added and Keara approached as she tried to ask why he had called her Ginger, but all that came out was a sort of growl.

She sat down next to him as he scratched her head. He stared deep into her eyes, his soft eyes becoming hard as if he was trying to recognize what was looking at him. Why was he doing that? Didn't he know it was his little Princess Cookie?

Keara tried to talk again and it was the same; she growled and the more she tried to talk, the more she growled and grunted like an animal. After a couple of seconds, Nikolai relaxed that look in his eyes and chuckled as he swung an arm around her.

"Haven't seen you so talkative before." He said and that angered Keara. What did that mean? "You better go stand by Keara's door; make sure that Gabriel stays in his chair." He added and it shocked Keara as if she got hit by a running Hellhound at its top speed.

What the Hell?

Keara bolted up in bed, breathing hard and clenching her blankets tightly. She looked down at her hands and her knuckles were stiff as she was trying to open her hands. Her hair was in her face and when she pushed it back, her face was wet.

She pushed back her blankets and pushed herself to the edge of her bed, judging the distance to the floor. She slowly slid off the bed and silently touched the warm floor with the points of her toes. She then placed all of her weight on her feet and glanced around her room for the pony that Nikolai won for her.

It was in the corner of the room and she walked over and picked it up, hugging it tightly; taking in Nikolai's scent. It smelled just like him although he hadn't held onto it for long at the amusement park.

She turned around and walked to her door, slowly turning the doorknob and slowly peering into the bright hallway. She looked to the right and saw nothing, then to the left where she saw Ginger trotting up to her. She sat by the door and looked up at her with a strange look in her eyes.

At the end of the corridor, Keara noticed a man rocking in a rocking chair, eating candy. Was that the man Nikolai was talking about? Then it dawned on her that she saw something odd in him. He didn't look like everyone else in Hell. This made him super suspicious.

She quietly stepped out into the hallway and stayed close to the wall, as if that made her invisible. She kept her eyes on him and was certain she could see a sort of soft glow, although she couldn't be sure.

Then, as she got closer, he seemed to have felt that he wasn't alone and he glanced at her, meeting her eyes dead on. Then, looking into his eyes, she felt like she had met him before, which was unsettling. He smiled and that smile broadened as she hid most of her face behind her pony.

"You must be Keara." He said and that voice was definitely familiar. She had met him before, but not like this. Was it in a dream?

"You're different." She said and he chuckled lightly as he nodded. If her dark eyes were reflecting her demonic side, he paid no attention. Wasn't he scared of her?

"So are you." He replied and she lowered her pony, frowning at him. How dare he! She was scary and different didn't begin to cover it!

"I'm special." She corrected and he laughed louder and glanced at her, smiling. It unsettled her and she hid behind her pony again. What was his problem? He was odd and he didn't belong in Hell. Why was he there and who allowed him in? Why would Nikolai let him in?

"I'm Gabriel." He said and then the name was very familiar with this face. At that moment, she knew exactly who he was and what he was. Nikolai has mentioned his name and now it made sense. She had met him before… she just wasn't born yet.

"The angel." she said and then took a small step back as if that was some unexplainable instinctual move to protect herself. He gave her a small pouty lip, as if pretending to be offended, and held out a piece of candy, as if it was a peace offering.

"I'm a friend of your parents." He said and she couldn't help but give out a small chuckle as if to say "Yeah right!". He widened his eyes slightly as he chuckled, as if he was a little surprised by her reaction. Keara knew her mother didn't like him. She remembered that much. She may have been a fetus, but she felt her mother's emotions and she didn't trust this angel. And Daddy doesn't like angels. The only one that her father ever tolerated was an angel named Castiel because he was so gullible and was Dean Winchester's pet.

Keara looked at the piece of candy and it was very tempting. He didn't say anything and didn't move either; he simply waited for her to trust him.

Well, he was in Hell, not being attacked by her parents, Nikolai, Nerilla or Hellhounds. So, he must have had permission to be in her home…

"Is it strawberry?" she asked him and he glanced at it and back at her.

"Cherry." He replied and she shook her head.

"I want strawberry." She said and he grinned at her as he switched it with a strawberry candy. She approached slowly and once she was in arm's reach, she yanked it out of his hand and stepped back, quickly putting the candy in her mouth, keeping the plastic wrapping in her little hand.

Gabriel chuckled as if he took no offense that she didn't trust him any further than an arm's reach. As she looked into his eyes, there was a glimmer that she found was pretty close to that of a demon. It seemed he was mischievous enough not to be a boring angel. She smiled and lowered her pony.

"Thank you." She said and he smiled.

At that moment, Keara felt her mother's presence from the end of the hall behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled at her mother who looked so pretty in a flowing black silk house coat wearing these pretty black slippers than looked more like flat shoes. Even in her pajamas, she looked graceful and powerful.

"Keara, what are you doing out of bed?" she asked and scowled as her daughter hid her face behind her pony. She glanced up at Gabriel who smiled at her innocently. She ignored him and knelt down in front of Keara, tenderly lowered the plush pony so she could get her daughter to look at her. "Can't sleep?" she asked and Keara shook her head.

"I had a bad dream." She said and dropped her pony to her feet so her mother could comfort her. She never had bad dreams, except for the ones where she was trying to catch stray kittens on the side of a highway on a dark and rainy night. Clara stroked her face with her warm hand and smiled softly. "I was running around the house, trying to find Nikolai. When I did, I saw him scratching his arm and when I tried talking to him, he kept calling me Ginger." She added with a slight frown.

Clara's smile faded a little as she looked above Keara's head to the angel behind who had stopped rocking in his chair. She looked back at her daughter and pushed her hair behind her little ear.

"Was he scratching something on his arm?" she asked and Keara nodded her head.

"The mark that makes him awesome." She replied and Clara's face wasn't soft, but she wasn't mad either. If anything, she looked a little worried. "It was a dream, right?" she asked, not understanding why her mother was so worried. Then she smiled, but it was sort of sad.

"No." she said and stroked Keara's face gently. "You were seeing through Ginger's eyes." she added and explained further so Keara would understand. "Really good demons can see through the eyes of Hellhounds. I did that once when I was pregnant with you, but I didn't just see; I controlled its actions." She concluded and Keara smiled, but then that meant that seeing Nikolai scratching his arm wasn't a dream and her smile faded.

"That's when Grandma got chassed out of Hell, right?" Keara asked and Clara smiled as she nodded.

"Did your father tell you that story?" she asked and Keara hid her smile behind her pony. But, her smiled faded as she thought about Nikolai. "Is Nikolai okay, Mommy?" she asked and her mother smiled encouragingly.

"I'll go see him while Gabriel tucks you back into bed." she said and Keara frowned.

"The angel?" she asked in a whisper and Clara fought a grin.

"He's nice and he's here to help. You're so special that you have too babysitters with awesome powers." She said and after a couple of seconds, Keara smiled and hid her face behind her pony as she blushed.

Clara kissed her forehead as Gabriel stepped up with a grin on his face, since Clara had just complemented him. She stood up and met his eyes, looking past the grin, knowing that he was worried about Nikolai just as much as her.

He looked down at Keara and gave a small smile, holding his hand out for her to take. Surprisingly, Keara took it with a smile as she dropped her pony to her side, walking to her room with Gabriel.

"Are you going to tell me a story?" she asked softly. "I like stories." She added and Clara smiled as she watched them disappear into Keara's room. She might not like Gabriel too much, but this moment changed that. She was starting to warm up to the Archangel.

If her daughter could in a matter of seconds, so could she.

Now she had to go see Nikolai and make sure the Mark of Cain wasn't affecting him like it did Dean Winchester or a rebellion of demons was the least of their problems.