Author Notes: I was going to split this chapter up because it was running long, but then I decided against it. I haven't updated in 8 months. Eeek! I've had the next few chapters written, but I ran into writer's block and wanted to rewrite some plot points. I was also distracted by my other stories. Hence the delay and my sincerest apologies. Please tell me what you think at the end, I read every single one of your reviews and appreciate all of them. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer world and all characters depicted are a creation of Eric Kripke and Joss Whedon, respectively.

Believe Nothing of what you Hear

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

Buffy POV

"Brian, come on, man, just one more." Sam was drunking it up all over the pool table as Dean and I watched from the side. I honestly don't know how we ended up in a seedy looking dive bar -again- but here I was witnessing the Winchester hustle in action. "Just -just give me a chance to win it back."

"It's your cash." Brian, the biker out to win all of Sam's money just shrugged.

"Excuse me." Dean stepped in. "My brother's a little sauced to be making bets."

"He insisted." Brian reasoned.

"Yeah, but you've already taken, what, two bills off him?" Dean was acting like the protective older brother. "I'm just saying."

"Hey, shut up, Dean." Sam drunkenly snapped. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not fine." Dean was laying it on thick. "You're drunk!"

"Let's make it five hundred." Sam sloppily demanded.

"Five hundred?" Dean acted disbelieving.

Brian smirked to his buddies and nodded. "Sure."

As Sam slapped down the money on the pool table, Dean threw his hands up in the air. As Dean took the seat next to him I rolled my eyes at him. "Way to go Laurence Olivier. That was an Oscar worthy performance."

"You saying I'm not a good actor?" Dean mumbled around his beer.

"Exactly. You can lie your way in and out of anything, but your acting chops might need some work." I watched as Brian set up the table for their five hundred dollar game. "If you already have credit card fraud down, why do you even bother with this pool shark bit?"

"Keep your voice down." He shushed me.

"No one is listening." I watched on as Sam momentarily sobered up his act and cleanly broke, sinking several of the balls into the pockets. Kid had some talent. "You taught him well Obi Wan."

"Thanks." Dean responded proud of his swindling baby brother.

But the moment was lost when Sam noticed something across the room and dropped the cue on the table. "Keep the money." He said distracted and made his way through the crowd.

"Luke has gone rogue." I mocked as Dean got up in panic.

"Keep the money?" Dean followed after Sam. "What-"

As the brothers walked away, the biker guys glanced over to me. I finished off my beer and hopped down from the bar stool. I marched over to Sam's abandoned pool cue and leaned over the table to take over. The bikers didn't seem to mind -probably because they were too busy staring at my ass. What they didn't know was that I was the Slayer. One girl in all the world with all the hand-eye coordination to win back all of Sam's money and buy some cute shoes. Thousands of years of slayer history are pumping through my veins and I was channeling it all into this moment. Lining up my shot I closed one eye to make a clean hit.

"Scratch." Brian said with a laugh and reached into the pocket for the cue ball.

Or not. I frowned at the white orb in his hand and glanced down at my pool cue. Obviously slayer kills were not meant to be used for bar games. Even though my old watering hole, The Bronze, had a billiard table, I had never taken part. I just sat back and watched as Xander or Oz played their rounds, with Oz being the better player of the two.

I sighed and left the pool cue on the table. "Just take the money."

Walking away from my failed career as a pool shark, I approached the brothers as Dean was shooting death glares at the brunette. The girl reminded me a bit Faith with her dark hair and leather jacket. Judging by the look in Sam's eyes, this was the notorious demon blood dealer.

"Ooh, great, demon whispers." Dean scoffed sarcastically. "That's reliable."

"Girl named Anna Milton escaped from a locked ward yesterday. The demons seem pretty keen on finding her." The girl barely spared me a glance when I joined the group. "Apparently, some real heavy hitters turned out for the Easter-egg hunt."

"Why?" Sam asked. "Who is she?"

"No idea." The girl shrugged.

"I say she's a slayer." I threw in my comment.

Dean shot me a look. "This isn't up for vote."

"Who's this bitch?" The girl asked.

"Whoa, no need to throw names around Faith-wannabe." I snapped and sized her up. Thankfully, she was only about an inch or so taller.

"Let's throw some water on the cat fight there ladies." Dean, always the misogynist, interrupted. "Anne, this is Ruby. Ruby, this is Anne."

I raised a brow at my alias, but kept quiet. Dean must have his reasons and I'd probably hear about it later.

"Anyways," Ruby started again as if I was the one that started it. "I'm thinking this Anna is important, 'cause the order is to capture her alive. I just figured that whatever the deal is, you might want to find this girl before the demons do."

"Look, maybe we should check it out." Sam suggested in a voice I was used to hearing when he was trying to convince Dean of something.

"Actually, we're working a case," Dean sounded belittling and smug. "But thanks."

"What case?" She caught him in his lie.

"Uh, we've got leads, big leads." I take it back, Dean is a terrible liar.

"Chupacabra. Two states over." I helped him out of his lie. "Can't leave the livestock unattended."

Ruby shot Dean and me a deadpan look. "Sounds dangerous. You're chasing after a goat eating monster instead of something big?"

"They're the farmers' livelihood." I tried reasoning, but the more I said something the sillier it sounded.

"So we don't have time to go goose-chasing after some chick who, for all we know, doesn't even exist." Dean was gaining his confidence with my terrible lie apparently. "Just because you say she's important."

"I'm just delivering the news." Ruby backed away. "You can do whatever you want with it. Far as I'm concerned, I told you, I'm done."

I thought that was the end of it, until Sam went to stop her. "Wait, wait, wait. The hospital Anna escaped from -it got a name?"

In a series of conversations and events I wasn't exactly clear on, the three of us were piled into the Impala on the way to this hospital. I appreciated that we were sans Ruby because being called Anne for the three day drive would have probably driven me insane.

Also, the drive was awkward because it seemed the brothers forgot I was stretched out in the back seat. I wasn't a participant and I tried not paying attention since it seemed like it was family matters. They were hashing out some communications issues, but I couldn't judge. I was, after all, not in contact with my own little sister. Heck, my sister thought I was dead.

I swear I had a permanent crick in my neck by the time we reached the hospital. The brothers seemed completely limber and fine. Then again, they were probably used to it after years of being cramped up this car. How to boys over six feet tall folded themselves up into the Impala is a mystery to me.

"I feel like I'm applying for a loan." I grumbled as I tugged on my suit jacket. I felt ridiculous in my black skirt suit and white button down. Sam even talked me into wearing my hair in a low bun like I was some kind of librarian.

"You look good." Dean assured me. "Now stop fidgeting. FBI agents don't fidget."

"Yes, sir." I mumbled and followed obediently behind them.

Sam glanced back at me with a smile. "Remember, you're a probie so just take notes."

"Probie?" Why did that sound dirty?

"Probationary agent. You want to get the language down." He handed me a pen and note pad. "You'll eventually get it."

"Show time ladies." Dean brought our attention to the moment at hand as we approached the front desk.

Watching the two of them work was fascinating. They were like a well-oiled machine and had their act down pat. I didn't have anything remotely useful to contribute so I kept quiet and hung back. Maybe I should have just stayed in the car and they could have just filled me in. While I would have been able to fight alongside them in a fight, I was useless in a con.

Our quick chat with psychologist led us to check her house, and we were piling back into the car. As we pulled up to the residence I peered over the seat. "Maybe you guys should do this alone."

Dean turned to look at me and raised a brow. "You got spooked at the asylum?"

"No, but I felt like I was in the way." I unbuttoned my jacket and took it off. "You boys go have fun. I'll watch the car."

They didn't put up much of an argument, so I figured that I really was in the way before. I'm a big girl, I can take it. I know what I'm good at, and it's never been thinking up a cover for my slayer duties. I took one of those career tests once and I was deemed for law enforcement. You'd think the Winchester swindle would come naturally.

I pulled out my fake FBI badge and looked it over. The things that Dean could do with a photo strip, copy machine, and laminator was amazing. Was that a holographic stamp in the corner? I could only imagine the bank Dean made when he was at college. All those fake IDs he passed out. He must have been the popular kid on campus. My time on campus wasn't so stellar.

Climbing out of the car, I stretched my limbs out. I could feel the pencil skit being pulled to its limits as I bent forward and tried touching my toes. I felt my shirt pull out of the back too, and stood back up. I may not be the biggest fan of the skirt suit, but I feel like the brothers would have scorned me like an elementary school kid if I ripped it on my first day.

Going around to the back, I popped the trunk and searched through my bag. I'd be damned if I was wearing this thing for the rest of the day. If I'm leaving the boys to play federal agent, I'm getting back into my regular clothes.

I sighed at my sorry selection of clothes. I really shouldn't complain considering the boys lived their entire lives out of the trunk of a car, but I really did miss my closet. Grabbing a pair of jeans and a shirt, I climbed back into the back seat. I may not have the luxury of a changing room, but I wasn't about to change in a suburban driveway either.

While I changed my top without much trouble, I struggled with the skirt. When I finally got it off, I was startled by a knock on the window. Turning around to look out, I was met with the Winchester brothers. Sam had the decency to look away, but Dean peered in with a lascivious grin on his face.

"Nice show you're putting on here." He commented as he tugged of his tie and undid the top button of his shirt.

I made quick work of the jeans and tugged them on. I swung the door out so that it hit him in the leg a little harder than it needed to. "What, you're going to join me or something?"

Sam was doing the same off to the side as he made his way around to the back of the car. As they undressed with the trunk open Dean explained, "Things just got messy in there. We don't exactly have an extensive collection of suits so we need to keep these in one piece."

The boys, unlike me, didn't have a sense of modesty as they hid behind the meager cover of the Impala to change out in the open. At the same time I realized that I was more Dean than Sam, since I stole more than one glimpse of the brothers changing. I may have had my terrible luck of being thrown in the path of one apocalypse after another, but I did have supreme luck with good looking men surrounding me. At least the Powers were sending me nice pieces of eye candy.

"So where to now?" I asked, pretending not to look.

"Church." Dean answered simply as he took off his pants to change into jeans.

"To pray?" I grinned at them. "You two are just gunning for a public indecency charge."

"We're the FBI." Sam's tone was joking, but I think they may have pulled that trick more than once. He was surprisingly blasé by the next revelation, "Her parents were dead in there. Killed by demons."

They went about getting dressed, as if this was normal and fine. Having been only on a few 'cases' with them, I knew that finding dead bodies was not out of the ordinary. We shouldn't have been jaded, but we were.

Fully dressed in their usual shirts and military-style jackets, or what I liked to call their hunter wear, we were on our way to the church. According to their detective work inside, they figured that this mystery girl was holed up in her church to keep away from demons. Unfortunately, that never works. Angel mentioned once that he felt uneasy going inside a church, but he never burst into flames from it. I immediately had to push memory aside. I'm sure if I had a shrink, he would tell me that it was unhealthy to continue shoving these emotions down. I was probably sporting a nice tumor of unaddressed emotional baggage, but that's something I'll have to look into when the apocalypse is averted again.

A quick search of the church lobby... is it called a lobby? Anyways, a quick search of the church lobby didn't result in a crazy girl so we moved on to the attic.

"Guys." Sam called back with his gun pointed at someone in the corner. "Anna?" The boys put their guns away and I decided to take their lead and lower my scythe. "We're not gonna hurt you. We're here to help. My name is Sam. This is my brother, Dean. This is-"

"Anne." Dean interrupted before Sam could finish. Sam shot a sidelong glance to Dean but kept quiet.

"Sam? Not Sam Winchester?" Anna came out of hiding and stepped forward. The look of awe on her face made it seem like she was addressing her Lord and savior.

"Uh, yeah." Sam answered dumbly and shared a look with his brother.

"And you're Dean." She asked hopefully. "The Dean?"

"Well, yeah." Dean nodded. "The Dean, I guess."

She turned to me and furrowed her brows. "You're Anne... I'm sorry. I don't know about you."

Great, I felt like a snubbed celebrity. "I'm a distant cousin. On their mother's side."

That seemed to placate her interest enough because she ignored me and walked up to Dean and gazed up at his face. "It's really you. Oh, my god. The angels talk about you. You were in Hell, but Castiel pulled you out, and some of them think you can help save us. And some of them don't like you at all. They talk about you all the time lately. I feel like I know you."

For some reason, I expected something a little crazier with Anna. Something in a straightjacket and a hospital gown, not a normally dressed girl in her twenties. Anna was also very pretty with long red hair. I immediately thought of Willow, but pushed that thought down too.

"So, you talk to angels?" Dean was always good at asking the right questions.

"Oh, no. No, no way." Anna shook her head like she was embarrassed and unworthy of the suggestion. "Um, they probably don't even know I exist. I just kind of... overhear them."

"You overhear them?" Sam sounded amazed.

"Yeah, they talk, and sometimes I just... hear them in my head." Okay, so maybe Anna was a little crazier than I previously thought.

"Like right now?" Dean was obviously curious.

She shrugged. "Not right this second, but a lot. And I can't shut them out, there are so many of them."

"So, they lock you up with a case of the crazies when really you were just tuning into angel radio?" Sure, try to reason the actually crazy girl's insanity. When I had my head scrambled, he just thought it was severe PTSD. Well, I guess that's not that far off.

"Yes." Anna said relieved that someone understood her. "Thank you."

"Anna, when did the voices start?" Sam, also a good investigator, asked. "Do you remember?"

"I can tell you exactly." She said. "September 18th."

"The day we got out of Hell." Dean stated and looked over at me.

"First words I heard, clear as a bell." Anna started, "'Dean Winchester is saved.'"

"What do you guys think?" Dean asked Sam and me.

Sam shrugged. "It's above my pay grade, man."

"I think the angels forgot to mention me." I really was starting feel neglected. "And our Anna hear is a good old fashioned oracle."

"An oracle?" Sam repeated as a question, but I could tell he was already digging through his memory bank of mythology.

"Usually they're higher beings, but I do remember reading that they can be human." I gestured toward her. "And there you go, your very own connection to the conversation upstairs."

"How is that different from a prophet?" Sam was obviously the lore-knowing of the two brothers.

"Prophets write stuff down so that it can scare the shit out of people later." I offered in explanation, thinking back on my very first prophecy about killing the Master.

"Well, at least now we know why the demons want you so bad." Dean looked over the girl. "They get a hold of you, they can hear everything the other side's cooking. You're 1-900-angel."

Anna, who had kept quiet for bit stepped toward me. I watched her carefully, even though I was pretty sure she couldn't overpower me even if she tried. "Are you Buffy?"

I was taken aback by her question. So she did know who I was. But did that mean I was mentioned on FM angel? In what context?

Before I could ask, we had a sudden newcomer rush into the attic. Ruby, the poor man's Faith rushed in. "You got the girl. Good, let's go."

Anna screamed at the sight of her. "Her face!"

I smirked, I could get used to this crazy redhead.

"It's okay." Sam tried calming her down. "She's here to help."

"Yeah," Dean scoffed. "Don't be so sure."

"We have to hurry." Ruby cautioned with urgency.

Dean, however, was still suspicious. "Why?"

"Because a demon's coming," Ruby, the bringer of bad news. "Big-timer. We can fight later, Dean."

"Well, that's pretty convenient." Dean accused. "Showing up right when we find the girl with some bigwig on your tail?"

"I didn't bring him here." Ruby voice was scathing. "You did."

"What?"

"He followed you from the girl's house." She tried rushing us. "We got to go now."

"Dean." Sam called his brother over and we all looked up at the statue of the Virgin Mary in question. Blood flowed out like tears from the statue. Crying statues is not something I've ever run into.

"It's too late." Rube declared. "He's here."

"Blood tears means demon in the church?" I asked Dean, but he was a little distracted waiting for this supposed baddie.

Sam took Anna by the arm and headed toward a closet tucked away in the corner. He came back with holy water prepared in hand. Ruby shook her head. "No, Sam, you got to pull him right away."

"Whoa, hold on a sec." Dean protested.

"Now's not the time to bellyache about Sam going dark side." Ruby was pushing this hard. "He does his thing, he exorcises that demon, or we die."

Dean didn't get a chance to say anything else on the contrary because Sam immediately put the flask of holy water away as the demon entered. Stretching arm out forward, he looked like he was concentrating really hard with his mind. But nothing was happening. It really was unfortunate that this didn't work, because he looks ridiculous when he tries. Honestly, he looked more constipated than anything.

The demon was in the body of a middle aged man who looked like he actually was a parishioner at this church with his blazer, khakis, and button down. He sneered Sam. "That tickles. You don't have the juice to take me on, Sam."

Sam was thrown down the stairs, which had Dean attacking next with his demon knife. I jumped in with my scythe at the same time and was able to slice cleanly on the demon's upper right arm as Dean was about to be overpowered. The demon shot me a glare, but that dissipated into recognition. "Long time no see slayer." I frowned at his comment, but he turned to Dean. "Hello again to you too, Dean."

I could hear Anna's screams behind me but I couldn't take my eyes away from the demon. I pressed the blade of my scythe to his throat. "Why don't you let my charge go?" I threatened.

"Charge?" He smirked at the word and wasn't fazed by my threat. "Come on, Dean. Don't you recognize me? Oh, I forgot. I'm wearing a pediatrician. But we were so close... in Hell."

Dean's eyes widened in realization and he whispered out a name, "Alastair."

That's enough. The fear in Dean's eyes was something that I had only seen once before when he hallucinated about Lilith, so I knew this demon was not one to take lightly. The fact he seemed to know me was another red flag I couldn't ignore. I swiped with my full force with the scythe downward from his throat across his arm and downward.

I didn't seem to know my own strength, because I was able to get a clean cut through his arm. His amputated arm still gripped Dean as he screamed in agony and glared at me. "You bitch!" Alastair was ready to come at me when I suddenly saw Sam from my periphery.

Sam pulled Dean out of Alastair's other loosened grip and tackled me on his way to the window. I didn't get the second to protest before the three of us were careening our way through the stained glass and down what I believe to be a good two story fall.

I felt the slices of glass as it crossed my forehead and my left thigh. Sam, who acted as the break to my fall, had us on our feet and running. I had slayer strength so the fall wasn't that bad, especially with Sam as my cushion, but these boys were troopers. How in the hell are they sprinting away after falling a good twenty feet?

We ran back to the Impala and Sam took the driver's seat. After getting into my usual spot in the back, Dean shoved me further in as he got in the back with me. "Where's Anna?" I asked from the back as Sam peeled us out of there like a bat out of hell.

"Ruby's got her. She's safe." He asserted as he drove like a maniac back to the motel.

"Why are we running?" My voice was edging on angry, which I was attributing to the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

"He was going to kill us!" Sam shot back.

"He's a one-armed demon now. What could he possibly do?" I rolled my eyes and sat back in the seat. Hearing the muffled groan from next to me, I glanced over at the other brother. "How's it going there, Dean?"

"Peachy." He bit back another groan.

"Your brother is dying back here." I tossed forward.

"Don't even joke about that." Sam snapped.

Dean chuckled painfully. "Sammy's a little sensitive."

I nodded enthusiastically at Dean, and he shot me a smile while holding back a grunt. All things considered, the brothers got off easy. A dislocated shoulder and a bleeding arm were painful, but that didn't take you out of the fight like a broken leg.

It was a short, but rapid drive to the motel. I tried helping Dean out of the car so he didn't hurt his shoulder, but I think I was more in the way than anything. Once inside the room, Sam made a beeline for his pack and pulled out a sewing kit. Marching up to Dean, he sequestered a lighter from his brother's jacket and then went about heating the needle to disinfect it.

Dean went straight to the sink to swill water in his mouth which resulted in a bloody mess. How did he get blood in his mouth? He then reached for his own form of medication: a bottle of whiskey. Oh great. I'm watching testosterone at work.

Knowing where this was going, I went up to Sam first. He was, after all, the one who was bleeding profusely. Without a word I helped him out of his jacket and button down, leaving him in a T-shirt.

"Oh, no. Your precious western shirt. You only have about eight more in your arsenal." I commented sarcastically as I threw his shirt on the table.

"I can do this." Sam insisted, self-conscious that he was getting help. God, these boys can be so macho sometimes.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Sit." I pointed to the bed. "Stay. Let me help you." I took the needle and threaded it. "I have a surprising amount of field experience with this."

"Patching yourself up?" Sam asked, trying to distract himself as I rolled up his sleeve a bit to have better access to his arm.

"No, but I had really foolish human friends." I pierced the first bit of skin to pull the nasty gash on his arm together. "And a little sister who was a danger magnet."

I didn't say it out loud, but I was surprised by how even my stitches were coming out. No need to tell Sam that I got a C in home econ.

I was halfway through the gash when Dean grumbled. "Nurse Summers, mind if you pop my shoulder back in?"

"Wait your turn." I kept up with the stitching. "Anyways, you want your brother to do that."

"Never fixed a dislocated shoulder?" He was swigging that whiskey a little too quickly. I was going to end up with an inebriated Dean on my hands soon.

"I sometimes can't gauge my own strength, so unless you want a broken shoulder," I finished off the last path through of the needle and tied it off. "You'll get your brother to do it."

"Done?" Sam questioned and took in a relieved breath.

"Almost." I motioned for Dean. "Give me that bottle."

Dean came over with the booze and offered it to Sam. "Liquid courage?"

"The worst is over though." He frowned at me.

I shrugged and poured a bit of the liquor over his stitches. With gritted teeth Sam took in a rapid breath. I handed the bottle back to Dean, who seemed to need the drink after watching Sam going through pain. These boys had a serious case of empathic misery.

"Done." I concluded and helped Sam up. I turned and motioned for Dean to sit. "Your turn to play nurse, Sam."

Setting the bottle down, Dean braced himself as Sam took position. "All right. On three. One..." Without finishing his count Sam popped his brother's shoulder back in. They went through that way too easily, they had a little too much practice with this stuff.

"Your turn Buffy." Sam pointed to the bed and had the needle and thread in hand.

I shook my head and backed away from the needle-happy Sam. "Don't worry about me. We need to find Anna."

"You'll scar if don't take care of that." Sam stepped toward me again.

I rolled my eyes and stepped back. I swiped the blood from my forehead and motioned to it. "See, no worries. The bleeding already stopped."

"How the..." He grabbed a towel from the bathroom and soaked it a bit in whiskey. Wiping with a bit too much gusto, Sam got the drying blood off my forehead. "It's already healing." He shared a look with his brother, who now both looked suspicious.

"I'm not a demon." I declared. "No need to attack me with your knife."

"Knife." Dean patted down his pockets. "Sam, where's the knife."

Sam went for his jacket and shook it out. "I grabbed it when you dropped it..."

"You had it when you tackled us out the window." I offered.

"I..." Sam seemed to be backtracking his actions up to now in his head and frowned. "Did I drop it?"

"Shit, Sam!" Dean hollered at his brother.

"I was saving your ass." Sam remarked back, but then turned to me. "You're not getting off the hook that easily."

I sighed. "Forget about my Superman healing. It's part of the slayer package."

"Wolverine, not Superman." Dean corrected. "Superman is pretty much just invulnerable. Wolverine has the super healing."

I shot him a glare. "Because that distinction is crucial at this moment. We have a missing oracle to worry about."

"I told you, Ruby's got her." Sam defended.

"You sure about Ruby?" Dean challenged. "'Cause I think it's just as likely she used us to find radio girl and then brought that demon in to kill us."

"No, she took Anna to keep her safe." Sam's faith in the demon was worrisome.

"I say we don't take our chances trusting her." I reasoned. "We get the girl back and if she's alive and well, we can judge Ruby then."

"And if she's dead?" Dean questioned.

"Then I kill Ruby." I stated sternly and faced Sam. "Seems fair right?"

"What gives you the right to go after Ruby?" Sam was grabbing at straws and I knew that reaction. It was the same reaction I had when the Scoobies threatened to go after Angel or Spike. I knew better than most that there was a wide grey area in this world. Call it slayer's or woman's intuition, but there was something about Ruby I just didn't like.

"It's in my job description." I asserted. "But I'll leave her alone if she's on our side."

Dean wasn't exactly thrilled by my proposition, he probably preferred I kill her first and ask questions later. But I have had more than my fair share of monsters on my side of the fight. Sam seemed sensible enough to make good judgment calls, but he was also a guy. I saw the way he talked to Ruby. He was thinking partly with his head, but also with his head down below.

"What's the plan now?" Dean asked gruffly. "Wait for Ruby to give us a call?"

"That demon is probably watching us right now, waiting to follow us right back to Anna again." Sam gestured vaguely outside. "That's why he let us go."

"You call this letting us go?" Dean took a long drink from the bottle.

"Yeah, I do." Sam disputed. "Look, killing us would've been no problem to that thing. That's why, for now, we just got to lay low and wait for Ruby to contact us."

I frowned. "Are you sure he would have killed us? I think I might have been able to take him on."

"My powers didn't work." He was sounding more like a witch and less like a hunter.

"Because brute strength doesn't work sometimes?" I thought back to all the monsters I've killed without magic or powers. Sometimes, a bad guy just needed to be punched. "According to Cas, my scythe can kill demons."

Sam shook his head. "He didn't spark though. Demons spark with the knife and colt when it works. You might have just hurt the meat suit."

"Christmas lights. That's what I'm going for when I kill a demon?" Was Sam pulling my leg? That description sounded weird, then again vampires do explode into dust.

"Or black smoke if you can pull an exorcism." Dean offered.

"Noted." I walked over the bathroom and surveyed the small facility. Seeing the window, I turned back to the boys. "You two sit tight. I'm going to scout out the church, maybe I can get a whiff of where Ruby might have spirited away our oracle."

"Wait, you're going out there alone?" Dean approached me. "We'll go with you."

"You two are giants, I don't need the attention. I can be a lot more inconspicuous." I reasoned.

"A blonde girl with a battle axe is inconspicuous?" He did have a point, but I wasn't ready to let this thing go. He questioned me at seeing my reluctance to leave the scythe behind. "Do you always carry that thing?"

"Well, I prefer to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it." I shrugged.

"But going out there alone with that demon looking for us isn't exactly safe." Sam added his argument from the other room.

"I appreciate the concern, but 'safe' isn't exactly something I've been since I was called." I motioned to Dean's shoulder and Sam's stitches. "And you two aren't exactly in the best shape."

"What about your thigh?" Dean asked.

I raised a brow. "What? You're volunteering to patch that up for me?" I shook my head and laughed. "Thanks, but I'm good. It's probably healing faster than you can get my pants off."

"Wanna bet?" Okay, Dean's flirting right? I'm not imagining things? God, this guy needs to think about the time and the place.

"I'll call you guys if something comes up." I cracked the bathroom window open and peeked out. All clear. "Uh... if I die... I'll send the angel or something."

I nodded and made to step up on the toilet seat to climb out of the small bathroom window, but I felt a sudden tug on my upper right arm. Within the small bathroom and the awkwardness of the position, I fell back against Dean's chest with an ungraceful thump. At least he was strong enough that he caught me without a problem.

Getting my footing back, I turned to shoot him a glare. "What was..." My words trailed off as I caught the look in his eyes. Dean looked genuinely worried.

While I was used to angry Dean, joking Dean, and even coy Dean, I was never on the receiving end of worried Dean. That look was usually reserved for Sam.

"This seems like a bad idea." He said quietly in all seriousness, his teasing tone vanished from his words.

"Probably because it is." I whispered back conspiratorially so Sam couldn't hear. "But following through on bad ideas is pretty much in my job description."

He furrowed his brows and tried to gauge how serious I was about this. Within the small confines of the bathroom I was able to get a close look at his face. It must be because I'm used to my friends being from an attractive lot, but I had forgotten how handsome Dean was.

He had dark blonde hair that I suspect he kept short to hide the fact he was a blonde. Also, from what I had seen sharing a room with him, his hair was perfectly coifed from rolling out of bed. On more than one occasion I had mentally sworn at his luck of perfect bed head. I was also jealous of the shade of green of his eyes. While I had a certain swampy moss color to my own green eyes, his veered more toward an emerald. And oh God, the perfect amount of five o'clock shadow and the boyish freckles were enough to melt any girl. Honestly, I'm surprised he hadn't snuck away with more than one girl since I started traveling with the brothers.

And in that small moment where he worried about my welfare and I blatantly ogled him, I had the sudden urge to kiss him. With my free left hand, I tugged him down while I reached upward on my tiptoes and pressed my lips on his.

Dean was rightfully surprised at first, but it only took him a second to reciprocate. His lips were as soft as they looked and he had technique. Oh boy, he had technique. Before it could get too hot and heavy, I pulled back and kept it pretty PG. I bet you could include the scene in a Disney movie and everything.

He slowly blinked his eyes open and that put a bit of a smirk on my lips. Apparently I still had it.

"What was that for?" He murmured, looking ready to go in for a second helping but I patted him on his chest and shook my head.

"Are you complaining?" I taunted with raised brow.

"No, just wondering what I did right so I can do it again." He responded with a smile that crinkled the edges of his eyes. I mentally noted that this boy was far too suave for this own good.

"I have this motto that I developed after coming back from the dead my second time, where I kiss people when I feel like kissing them." I thought back on the moments I stole with my two vampire beaus.

He chuckled softly. "You can only get away with it because you're a hot chick. If I went around kissing people when I felt like it, I would have been killed in a bar fight years ago."

I shrugged. "Well, either way, I've learned that you need to get these things done when you have the chance. I have a tendency to die so you know, carpe diem."

"You can carpe my diem any day." He suggested with a waggle of his brows.

"And the moment is gone." I said with an exaggerated sigh and eye roll. I turned back toward the window. "Don't worry. I'll be back."

Dean didn't seem convinced to let me go alone -not that he could stop me if he tried. "I'll text you if we hear about Anna."

I nodded and leapt out the small bathroom window. Sneaking out of windows was one of my pastimes back in high school, but I rarely ever had to do it in broad daylight. I glanced down at my scythe. This thing really did attract too much attention. Then again, I wasn't about to get caught without it. I really needed a holster for this thing.

Setting aside my thoughts of my highly noticeable weapon of choice, I made my way back to the church. I didn't see demons lurking on the path back so it was quiet. When I made it back to the church I saw the broken window and the debris. It was a wonder why no one had noticed it yet. Shouldn't there be a priest, reverend, pastor, or something worried about their stained glass windows? Oh, or a deacon. Anna's father. Guy was dead, I guess there was no one to report a broken window. I should really stop being glib, even in my own head.

The church was empty. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. God, there I go again. No wonder Giles yelled at me all the time. Cracking jokes in the house of God was probably not winning me any favors either.

I climbed the stairs to get back to the scene of the crime. Unlike the struggle from earlier, there was no one there. The broken stained glass window left a gaping hole which seemed to be doing the good job of drying up the large pool of blood on the floor. Since the Winchester's injuries were post-window, the blood probably belonged to Alastair. I still wasn't sure who this demon was to Dean, but I had an idea.

"Slayer." I was startled by the deep baritone voice from behind me.

"God damn it." Whirling around, I glared at Uriel. "What the hell is wrong with you angels? Can't you announce yourself instead of suddenly appearing?"

"Do you expect me to knock?" His tone was snide. This angel had sarcasm figured out, while Cas needed a few more courses before getting his degree.

Speaking of, Uriel was making a solo visit this time. "Where's the cute one?"

He frowned at my comment. "Castiel is looking for the two idiots."

"The Winchesters aren't that bad." I defended my hunter buddies. "So what's with the visit? I usually deal with Cas, I'm not usually one-on-one with you."

"We want the girl." Much like his angel brother, Uriel was straight to the point.

"Get in line." I pointed to the pool of blood. "Know where I can find that guy?"

"This isn't a negotiation. We want the girl." He pressed again.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Look, I don't know where she is. I'm actually out looking for her, but I also want to find this guy. So if you're not here to help me out, leave me alone."

"The brothers are here because we find them useful. You are here because Cas wants you here." I could hear a threat coming on. "But I don't have any reservations of tossing you back if you're more trouble than you're worth."

We had a heavy silent standoff for a long minute while I glared at him. Then, I finally broke the quiet with an exaggerated eye roll and a retort. "Not exactly a new threat." Although I was curious about what he mentioned about Cas, I wasn't revealing my cards. "So you're not exactly scaring me."

Uriel was visibly annoyed by my comment but kept a pretty good level head. "We have orders from above. The girl needs to be terminated."

"Why didn't you say so? I'll lead the way." I don't know if being sardonic was looked upon well in a church. "She's an innocent."

"She's far from that." He left it vague.

I frowned, "Why would you want to kill an oracle?"

"She's not an oracle." His voice was steady and even, but a nagging feeling in the back of my head told me not to believe anything he says. My butt has been saved more than a few times by that nagging, so I was inclined to listen. "She's a fallen angel."

I shrugged, "That really doesn't mean much to me."

"Lucifer was a fallen angel." He pointed out like it was obvious. Maybe I should read more scripture. "If she regains her memories, she'll starting breaking the seals faster than all the demons combined."

"See, you're naming all the reasons why you want me to be on your side." I sighed, "But you're not giving me any reason to drink the Kool-Aid."

"But you're a champion of God." He tried arguing.

"You mean like the Champion of the Powers That Be?" I smirked. "Nope. Sorry, that wasn't my gig. I'm a slayer. I fight because a bunch of shadow men got bored around the campfire one night."

"Your new dose of power came from Heaven."

"Not my problem." I reasoned. "It was a gift. You guys shouldn't be expecting favors because of it. Also, it wasn't like I was sitting down on the job. I stopped the First."

"So you're going to protect this girl?" He didn't seem pleased by the prospect.

"Look, if she starts speeding us toward the apocalypse, I'll think about it." I offered. "But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"Even if your sister's life is on the line?" Uriel sneered at his own threat, probably reveling in his success.

Too bad that trick didn't work on me anymore. "Sorry, holding my sister's life isn't going to get you anywhere. I love her, and I don't want her to die. But between saving the world and Dawn, I've learned my lesson."

"So I can kill your sister?" He was obviously upset that his tactic didn't work.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't, but she not my weakness anymore." I confirmed sternly.

"Everyone has a weakness." He asserted.

"Well, I don't." I've been in this game way too long to fold under such little pressure.

"You do." The look in his eyes chilled me to the core. While Cas was socially awkward and inherently good, Uriel was another story. He was the one to be scared of, not the demons. "You just don't know it yet."