5. Angels, Demons, and Hunters, Oh My!

Something shot me back to life. I jolted upright, feeling my lungs freed of any fluids in them. I put a hand to my face. There was still blood, but I was alive. That was all that mattered at this point.

Sam was beside me, looking very much alive.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I don't know," I said honestly. I looked to see the man in the trench coat still hung around, but the lead angel was nowhere in sight.

"Come on, up you go."

With Sam's help, I was back on my feet. Dean looked to be recovered too. The only thing that was left of our angel-given injuries was the blood stains on me and the floor. I looked at the man in the trench coat, slightly wary.

"You don't have to be afraid of me," he told me. His hair was mussed, there was light stubble on his face. His blue eyes looked like they were trying to be soft and understanding, but they were failing terribly.

"Really? You stabbed two angels." My eyes bulged at hearing myself utter the word "angels."

"No, no, he's right," Sam told me. "He's on our side."

"My name is Castiel," the man in the trench coat said.

"Castiel," I let the name roll off my tongue. "I'm Dakota. Nice to meet you...I think."

Castiel ignored me and looked to the Winchesters. "You two need to be more careful."

"Yeah, I'm starting to get that," Dean panted. "Your frat brothers are bigger dicks than I thought."

"You're an angel?" I threw the question at Castiel.

"Are you sure she should be here?" Castiel asked the brothers.

"I'm stubborn."

"Anyway, I don't mean the angels. Lucifer is circling his vessel. And once he takes it, those hex bags won't be enough to protect you."

I stepped back as Castiel approached the brothers, putting a hand each on their chests. The brothers gasped aloud.

"What the hell was that?" Dean demanded.

"An Enochian sigil," Castiel explained. "It'll hide you from every angel in creation, including Lucifer."

"What, did you just brand us with it?"

"No. I carved it into your ribs. Did you want her protected too?"

"Hey, hey, whoa there," I said warily, taking a step back, afraid Castiel might try to carve something into my bones next. "I don't know what's going on here. Just a few hours ago I was leaving a diner with a long lost friend from high school! Now, here I am, having witnessed one too many stabbings, and realizing that on top of demons, angels are here too!" I breathed heavily.

"You seem to be taking this surprisingly well."

"This isn't my first supernatural run-in."

"If you are with the Winchesters, Dakota, you must be protected, as you will be in danger too."

"I-I don't know where I'm going from here," I stammered, putting my hands to my head. "I-I need some time to think about it. I don't want you carving anything into me unless I'm absolutely sure."

Castiel nodded.

"Hey, Cas," Sam said, "were you really dead?"

"Yes."

I slapped my forehead. Of course this was a resurrected angel. Why did that surprise me? I'd already seen enough supernatural things for one night, why not tack on a back-from-the-dead angel?

"Then how are you back?" Dean asked.

We looked around to see Castiel had vanished.

"Spooky," I noted.

"That happens a lot," Sam told me. "Why don't you head back to the car and wait for us?"

"What are you two going to do?"

"We can't leave the bodies in here," Dean told me.

I nodded. "Don't take too long."

The May air helped me out a little bit. I put my hands on the Impala, using it for support. I did deep breathing exercises. This is totally real. What I've seen...it's all real. Angels, demons, and even...Lucifer. The name sounds intimidating alone. There were so many holes that I needed filled in. I knew two people who could give me the full picture, but they hadn't come back out yet.

What was my next move when I parted with the Winchesters? Would I continue my homeless life, sneaking into houses and stealing goods to keep me going? What if, just by the run-in at the motel, I unintentionally put myself in some serious danger? What if I couldn't live on the streets anymore because, on top of humans, I was being watched now by angels and demons?

I picked my head up and tried to collect myself as I heard the brothers exit the storage room. I climbed in the back like normal while they both got into their assigned seats. A car sped on by us. I hugged myself to try and calm myself down. It wasn't working.

"Where to?" I asked once the Impala started moving.

"Back to the hospital," Dean told me.

"You okay, Dakota?" Sam asked me.

"I don't think I am." I burrowed my head against the seat. "I need some time to digest this."

"Well, you've got about three and a half hours to."

"You know what? Let me ask you something."

"Don't think this is story time," Dean said immediately.

"I need to know what's going on. Who was that back there?"

"His name is Zachariah. That should be enough for you."

"I agree with you, Dean. He's a dick." I swore I saw him crack a smile. "What's really going on, guys? I can't not know when I've been teased about things."

The brothers looked at each other. Between the two of them, they told me of how they ended up in this situation. It all started with a demon named Lilith who wanted to free Lucifer from Hell. The only way to do it was to break 66 seals. Once the first one had been broken, the domino effect had begun. Unfortunately, Lilith had been the last seal, and Sam had killed her, thinking that he was stopping her from breaking the final seal.

"So...Lucifer is an angel, but he's the Devil," I said slowly. "Ugh, I think I'm overloaded, you guys. Too much information."

"You said you wanted to know," Sam told me.

"Yeah, yeah." I rubbed one eye. "I think I'm beginning to regret it."

"How come you didn't piece it together?"

"Look, I'm barely knee-deep into supernatural research. I only knew of demons and how to shield myself against them and send them back to Hell. That's as far as my knowledge goes."

"So...you're what...not a hunter?"

"No, not a hunter," I confirmed.

"Then I don't see why we need to keep her around," Dean butted in calmly.

I decided to ignore the brothers the rest of the ride back with a little nap.

* * *

I didn't see why I needed to be woken up when we got to the hospital, but Sam did it. I groggily shuffled out of the Impala, dragging my feet behind them both. I was severely annoyed by all the loud noises in the hospital. I wanted sleep. Was it too much to ask for a little less noise?

Sam and Dean managed to find Bobby's room number. I could barely keep myself walking in a straight line. I was worn out.

We had to be getting close, because we could hear Bobby's voice, clear as a bell.

"'Unlikely to walk again'?!" his voice bellowed. "Why, you snot-nosed son of a bitch! Wait till I get out of this bed!"

One of the doors burst open, and a doctor fled like his life depended on it. We found the door and peeked in. Bobby looked better, definitely more awake than when I had seen him hours earlier. They had him stuck in a hospital bed, and he looked pretty pissed off.

"I'll use my game leg and kick your friggin' ass! Yeah, you better run!" Bobby noticed we were here. "You believe that yahoo?"

"Screw him," Dean said. "You'll be fine."

"So, let me ask the million-dollar question," Sam voiced. "What do we do now?"

"Well..." Bobby started. "We save as many lives as we can for as long as we can, I guess. It's bad. Whoever wins, Heaven or Hell, we're boned."

"What if we win?" Dean said.

All eyes went to Dean. To me, he sounded a little too confident.

"I'm serious," he continued. "I mean, screw the angels and the demons and their crap apocalypse. Hell, they want to fight a war, they can find their own planet. This one's ours, and I say they get the hell off it. We take 'em all on. We kill the Devil. Hell, we even kill Michael if we have to. But we do it our damn selves."

"And how are we supposed to do all this, genius?" Bobby inquired.

"I got no idea. But what I do have is a GED and a give-'em-hell attitude, and I'll figure it out."

"You're nine kinds of crazy, boy."

"It's been said." Dean went to Bobby to pat him on the shoulder. "Listen, you stay on the mend. We'll see you in a bit."

Dean was the first to leave, I followed behind him. I looked over my shoulder to see Sam nowhere in sight. I stopped and headed back to the room, letting Dean leave on his own. Just as I was about to peek in, Sam came out.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Fine." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Bobby said he wanted to talk to you for a minute. I'll make sure we don't leave without you."

"Thanks."

We traded places. I popped my head in.

"I don't bite, get in here." Bobby waved me in. I stood by his bedside. "Look, you seem like a really nice kid, and I'm sorry that you had to go through what you did today."

"You shouldn't apologize. It's not your fault."

"Listen to me, Dakota. You better make the right choice here. I know you're torn on whether or not to go with those boys."

I cocked my head. "What makes you say that?"

"I can see it. You may call me a liar and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about, but I have a feeling I'm right-you just don't know it yet. If you're smart, you'll part ways and continue to live your life. But...there's the chance that you may get roped into this mess no matter what you choose."

"We just met today, Bobby. Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"At the motel, I saw you go catatonic. This mess we're in, you don't belong in it. I don't know you, yes, that is true, but I can see this isn't your first rodeo with demons and such. It tore you apart, whatever happened. Just...just make the right choice, is all I'm saying. There are enough people who've gotten dragged into previous messes and got hurt or never lived to tell the tale. I'll be the first to tell you that none of us want any more blood on our hands."

I sighed through my nostrils. More to think about. Why can't my head just be quiet and empty for more than an hour right now? I'd kill for some sleep.

"No promises, but I'll try my best," I told him. "Hope you feel better."

"I hope to God I don't find you back here, Dakota. I just hope it."

I smiled sadly at him before leaving his room. I took my time swerving through hospital traffic. Once I was back outside, I found Sam and Dean easily. Dean was heading inside the car, Sam still lingered outside.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

Sam twisted to look at me. "What did Bobby want?"

"Just to talk, say thanks for helping out," I lied. "So...now what?"

"We'll go back to the motel, then I guess it's goodbye from there." Sam went to the front passenger's seat while I once again took the back.

Nobody made conversation on the drive back. Something was off, I could feel it in the air. But I didn't look too deep into it; I had enough on my plate right now.

Bobby was right; I had to make the right choice. He was definitely right in me not realizing that I was torn right now. I had to look past all this Lucifer-Michael-apocalypse talk to realize it.

But would my choice not make a difference in the end?

**I don't know, you guys. I think we all know what we WANT Dakota to choose. But really, it IS better for her to NOT go along with the boys.**