"What were you THINKING Castiel?!"

Those were the first words I heard in that world.

"I saved her life."

"No, you condemned her to a living hell! She's what? 15? 16, maybe. A girl her age shouldn't be anywhere near hunters like us. She won't last ten minutes."

"Then train her. I'm leaving her with you because with you she has the best chance of survival. This is her life now, Sam." He turned to me and for a second I saw him having a pair of gorgeous raven black wings on his back. "If you want to stay here, then understand that your life will never be easy. You will face down death and pain on a day to day basis. If not, Then you can go back to your world and die in peace."

"I'll stay. In my experience, second chances are not to be refused."

His emotionless face softened slightly. "You will do well." Then, with a sound like rushing feathers, the person named Castiel was gone.

The other person in the room, Sam, turned to me. "Mind if I ask you a couple of questions?"

"Go for it," I said with a shrug. "No guarantee I'll answer, but you're welcome to ask."

"Do you have a name?"

I thought about it. No way I was going to give him my old name, Nelsa, so that meant I had to come up with a new one. "Call me Attica."

"I'm Sam. Sam Winchester. How old are you, Attica?"

"Seventeen. A bit older than you thought. Not much, though."

"Do you know what we hunt?"

"I'm going to guess that its something a bit scarier than bears or deer."

"Monsters. Anything supernatural. We've even broken a curse or two."

"Sounds interesting." I kept my face carefully blank. Just as I always had.

Sam suddenly realized something. "Dean is not going to be happy about this. He'd keep me out of this life if he could and I was trained for it. I don't even want to be around when we tell him that he has to train you."

I shrugged again. If I kept this up I'd be shrugging at everything. "I've dealt with worse."

He took a closer look at me and sighed. "I don't doubt it."

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Not happy was perhaps the mildest way of putting it. Dean, as Sam called him, was actually somewhere between furious and despairing.

"Now Dean, you need to calm down. Think about it. If we kick her out, then where's she going to go?"

"No, Sam, I do not need to 'think about it.' She has to find somewhere else to be. This isn't her fight and I won't have her involved!" His voice rose in volume until he was shouting.

In a fit of nervous energy I had begun inspecting my nails. Sam told me later that I looked perfectly calm and confident. I wasn't. "Actually," I began, "This is my fight."

"Says who?" He snorted.

"Says the angel who brought me here. He's called Castiel. Name ringing any bells?"

I swear Dean nearly choked on his drink. "Cas," he muttered menacingly, "When I get my hands on you..."

Sam caught the look on Dean's face and ushered me out of the room. "How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"About Cas."

"Oh, I saw his wings."

He gave me a strange look, then had to stifle a laugh at the only slightly muffled sounds of cursing coming from what I figured was probably the living room. At the very least that was what it was being used as. (Though it was probably meant to be the dining room, given the fact that it was connected to what appeared to be a kitchen.)

"What?" I asked. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. I was just imagining what a hard time Cas is going to have trying to explain why you're here. Dean..." Sam shook his head. "Well, you've seen how he feels about this. For now, its best to stay away. Come on, I'll take you to meet Bobby."

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A middle aged man in a plaid shirt, jeans, and a trucker cap looked up when we entered the library. "Sam," he asked suspiciously, "Who's this?"

"Bobby, this is Attica. Attica, Bobby. She's...uh...not from around here. Castiel dropped her off about an hour ago. He says we should train her. Dean is...debating with him about it."

Bobby snorted. "I bet." He started to shift his gaze to me and I stared at the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world. "Girl," came the gruff command, "Look at me when I'm talking to you." I shook my head firmly. He sighed in exasperation. His tone softened, though, so I got the feeling that he wasn't really upset. "I don't bite."

I hesitated and Sam leaned over and whispered: "Its all right. Bobby's nice."

Mustering my courage I looked Bobby in the eye. "Hi," I whispered.

"That's more like it. You didn't say she was shy, Sam."

Sam looked kind of confused. "I didn't think she was. She sure gave my brother what for."

I cleared my throat. "Sorry about that. I'm not shy. I'm just really bad with people. My name is Attica. Its nice to meet you." I held my breath, silently begging them not to laugh at me as so many others had.

"Its good to meet you too. Where are you from, Attica?"

"A whole other world."

"Castiel brought you here from a different world?!" Bobby spluttered. "How is that even possible?"

"Don't look at me. I'm still trying to get used to the fact that monsters are real."

"So why are you here?"

"I was dying. Cas offered me a second chance at life. I think he thought I'd make a good hunter."

"But won't your family miss you? Won't they wonder where you went?"

I let loose a harsh laugh. "What family? I'm a foster kid, Bobby. Things like family and home never existed."

Dean stormed in with Cas following close behind. The angel looked a bit like a puppy that someone had kicked. I suspected that someone had been Dean Winchester. "Dean..."

"No, Cas! I won't let her be involved. Find somewhere else to put her."

Sam just gave this sigh and stepped aside to let his brother past, but Bobby, for some reason, looked downright vengeful. It felt like someone had dropped a time bomb into the middle of them. You could practically see the timer. I decided to intervene before someone blew their top.

"Would it help if I said I'm already involved?"

Every eye in the room focused on me. I gulped.

"How," Dean asked tersely.

"I..." I shook my head to clear it. " Okay one, an angel brought me here. Two, I was always a bit of a freak in my world. Whenever I lose control... Well, things happen."

"What kind of things?" Sam asked the question gently. That was something, at least.

"Once, I erased someone's memory."