WIP Fic: Hour of Need (2/6)

[briarwood]

Title: Hour of Need
Fandom: Supernatural
Rating: Mature
Pairing(s): Anna/Castiel, Haley Collins/Kat
Genre: AU
Warning(s): None for this chapter. The story as a whole contains some stuff which isn't usually warned for, but which squicks me out, so (highlight to reveal) fair warning - this story involves pregnancy and childbirth. And also zombies :)

Summary: Lucifer has his chosen vessel and is stronger than ever. Dean fights on with his small band of allies, but it seems there is little hope. In a desperate attempt to help him, Castiel enlists Anna to raise John Winchester from the dead. Her success has consequences none of them could have predicted. Sequel to When The World Is Burning.

Notes: This is the second story of three. The way the trilogy is structured is not exactly chronological: When The World Is Burning comes first, then stories two and three start in the same place. Story two, Hour of Need follows some minor characters, with the Winchesters in lesser roles. Story three takes place in parallel to this one and will follow the Winchesters more closely.

Links to part one: DW | LJ | AO3

HOUR OF NEED

In the early part of fall, after Sam Winchester disappeared – some said died – in Ilchester, the inexorable march of the apocalypse seemed mysteriously to pause. For a time, demonic activity was less than it had been for years. There were no more earthquakes, super-tornados or floods. Even the Seattle Flu began to wane as the CDC, which had been close to declaring a national emergency, announced that the first trials of a vaccine had been successful.

Few hunters were able to rest. In Wisconsin, a skinwalker morphed into a prehistoric tiger and took out three hunters. The fourth broke the skinwalker's back with an axe, killing it as effectively as a silver bullet, but not before it tore his stomach open. He made it to a hospital, but died two days later. In Florida something lurked in the Everglades. The press and the locals mostly thought it was a monster croc, but hunters knew the signs of something unnatural at work. The first pair of hunters who went in after it never came back. The next hunting party was larger and better prepared. Only one of them made it out.

In South Dakota, Dean Winchester and his allies sought only demons, and one demon in particular: Samhain, released from Hell a year before by a witch’s ritual sacrifice, now possessed the pastor of a doomsday cult known as the Brotherhood of Enoch. It was unclear whether Samhain founded the Brotherhood himself or took possession of the charismatic paster after the church began collecting new members. Dean didn’t care. Samhain had the ability to raise and control all manner of monsters. Dean was determined to find the demon and kill him before evil son of a bitch had a chance to get creative.

But the strange and sudden lull in demonic activity made the search for Samhain more challenging. For a time, though they could still track the activities of the Brotherhood, there was no trace of the demon.

In November, the first reports of whole towns turned into horror movies began to reach the Winchesters and their allies. The earliest reports were from isolated places: small midwest towns with dwindling economies and populations. It meant that by the time the hunters came across the stories, whatever caused the horror had already moved on. The attacks had no pattern they could discern, so they had no way to predict where the demon might strike next. Eventually, since they had no better plan, they split up to investigate the worst of the stories. Bobby Singer headed to a town in North Dakota where creatures like twisted children poured out of the cornfields, hungry for living flesh – animal and human. Ellen and Jo Harvelle travelled to Minnesota, where a great furred creature came from the forest at night and slaughtered all in its path. The people it killed rose again the next night, transformed into monsters. And Dean and John Winchester went to check out the reports from a town Dean once visited with his brother where, the stories said, zombies walked the streets, hungry for human flesh. The few who survived their attacks, once touched, became zombies themselves. The town was Lost Creek, Colorado.

Kat contemplated the pharmacy door. Behind her, the wind rattled the shutter of an upper window and Kat gasped, whirling around. She looked this way and that, scouring the street. She relaxed only when she was convinced all she’d heard was the wind. Turning back to the pharmacy, Kat pulled her coat sleeve down over her hand and made a fist around the fabric. She braced herself and punched the glass hard. She winced with pain. The glass shattered on her third attempt and she jerked her hand back quickly. She rubbed her bruised fist, but didn’t let it distract her. She had to be quick.

Working as fast as she could, Kat knocked the sharpest shards out of the way, then reached through the hole she’d made and unlocked the door. She waited for a second, half-expecting an alarm to start blaring, but it was silent. Of course it was. There was no power, so the alarm wouldn’t be active.

She headed inside, clicking her flashlight on to help her see in the dim interior. There were shelves of goods in long, neat rows. Kat walked past everything. What she needed would be in the back. She expected to find the main drug storage area to be locked, and knew getting in there wouldn’t be as easy as breaking a window. She was right. Kat slid the lock-pick into the lock, probing carefully, but she didn’t really know what she was doing. She thought she heard it click and grinned in triumph, but the door remained stubbornly closed.

Kat stepped back, considering. She thought shooting out the lock would work, but the gunshot would attract attention. Most likely the wrong kind of attention. On the other hand, she couldn’t go back without the medicine they needed. Seeing no other option, Kat drew her gun and looked around for something to use as a muffler. In the movies they always used a pillow, but she saw nothing that would work. She shrugged to herself. She would just have to be very quick.

The gunshot was shockingly loud in the small space, but Kat’s aim was true and the lock sprang open. She holstered the weapon as she moved forward. Inside, there were rows and rows of neatly stacked boxes and bottles. She scanned the shelves quickly. There were so many unfamiliar words, she didn’t know what anything was. But she had memorised the names of what they really needed and it didn’t take very long before the right box jumped out at her. Kat pulled the backpack from her shoulders and began to fill it. Then she looked for the next thing. Kat didn’t find everything on her list, but she found most of them. When the backpack was full, she tied it closed and headed out. She closed the door of the storage room behind her; it wouldn’t lock again, but it was her habit to leave things neat and tidy. On her way back to the exit she passed a display of first aid supplies. She stopped and grabbed as much as she could, stuffing her pockets and even the front of her pants.

At the door, she peered out into the street. Everything appeared still and silent. It was too silent. Knowing what was in this town, Kat didn’t trust the quiet. Kat bit her lip as she contemplated the deserted street. It was still daylight, and she was armed. She would be safer if she made a run for it now than if she waited. She looked both ways, took a deep breath, and ran.

She didn’t even get halfway up the street. They came from all sides: out of the shadowed alleys between buildings, the recessed doorways, beneath abandoned cars and even from above. Freaking zombies! Fear lent Kat speed and she thought at first that she might outrun them. Her backpack jumped as she ran, each fall slamming into her lower back, but she could not leave it behind.

Three more zombies appeared in front of her. Kat drew her gun. For a moment she hesitated, part of her still unwilling to do what she had to do. But these weren’t people. They only looked like people. Like the ghosts back in Rockford. Kat pulled the trigger.

She hit the first right between its dead eyes and it went down instantly. Her second shot missed, and the recoil made her wrist ache. She took aim a third time and squeezed down on the trigger as something tugged on her backpack.

Kat screamed and whirled around, her third shot going wide. The fourth was point-blank as the thing reached for her and its head exploded in a rain of blood and brains. She twisted back and killed another, then ran faster than she ever had before. At any moment, hands would grasp her again. At any moment her feet could catch on something and she would fall. Her lungs burned with the effort to breathe. She saw the barrier ahead: three wrecked and burned cars blocking the street. On the other side of the barrier, Tommy’s motorbike waited. If she could reach it, she could outrun them easily. She was almost there.

Kat risked a backward glance and instantly wished she hadn’t. God, there were loads of them! And they were so close. She leapt for the barrier, both hands outstretched to grab the frame of the car, to haul herself up.

Something grasped her foot and tugged hard. Kat screamed and kicked out. Her other foot slipped. Metal cut into her hand as she struggled to pull herself up.

A shotgun blasted over her head. A hand closed over her wrist and she screamed again.

“I’ve got you! It’s okay!” a man’s voice yelled. Kat looked up into the face of a stranger. But he was human; that was all she cared about. Relief flooded through her as the man hauled her up. Someone else was still shooting, but Kat couldn’t see who that was. On top of the barrier she clung to her rescuer, gasping for breath.

Gently, he shifted her to the side and, understanding his intent, she let him lower her down to the relative safety of the other side.

“Is anyone else back there?” he said urgently.

“No,” Kat panted. “I came alone.”

“Good.” He pulled back his coat, revealing a belt full of grenades. Kat saw him take one in each hand. He ripped out the pins with his teeth as he turned back to look at the things crowding close to the barrier of cars.

“Fire in the hole!” he yelled.

Kat threw herself to the ground and covered her head as the explosion ripped through the air. She felt the ground shake beneath her with the force of the blast. Then the man was helping her up.

“You okay, kid?” he asked her.

“I...yes. I’m fine.” Kat looked up at him, the shock of what happened beginning to catch up with her as her adrenaline rush faded. “Thank you,” she added.

He barely acknowledged her thanks. He turned to his companion. “Looks like we’re a bit late to the party.”

Dean reloaded his shotgun. “Yeah, you think?”

Kat felt weak. “Dean? Dean Winchester?” She wasn’t sure she could take many more surprises.

Something almost like fear flashed across Dean’s face before he covered it with a frown. “Do I know you, sweetheart?” he said suspiciously.

“I’m Kat Grantham. You and Sam saved my life. In Rockford, Illinois.”

Dean looked at her closely. For a moment, Kat thought he wouldn’t remember her. But then he nodded. “The haunted asylum, yeah. You’re a long way from home.”

Kat felt a familiar stab of pain. She struggled to keep her tone casual and offhand. “Home’s gone. It was the Seattle flu. Everyone’s dead.”

“Right,” Dean said indifferently. He took a bottle of water from an inside pocket and drank, then offered it to her.

Kat took the plastic bottle and drank gratefully. “Thanks.” She looked at the older man.

“I’m John,” he offered. “The boy with no manners is my son.”

Kat smiled. “I’m glad you were both here. But I’ve got to go.”

“What’s the hurry?” John asked her.

Kat moved toward the motorcycle. It had fallen onto its side, maybe when the grenades blew. “I went in there to raid the pharmacy. Ben’s sick. He needs antibiotics.”

“Is it far?”

Kat hauled the bike up. “A few miles. I’m living with the Collinses in Lost Creek.” To Dean, she added, “They know you, too.”

Dean grinned. “I remember Haley.” He turned to his father. “Her brother was taken by the wendigo you sent us after.”

John nodded. “Let’s go.”

Kat left the motorcycle on its stand and ran for the front door. She pounded on the door with her fist. “Haley! It’s me!”

The door opened quickly. Haley’s happy smile died when she saw Kat. “What happened? You’re...”

“I’m okay.” Kat slipped the backpack off. “I’ve got the pills for Ben. And I’ve got news.”

Haley took the backpack from her, but her sharp eyes noticed Kat’s bloody hand. She raised her eyes to Kat’s face. “What happened to your hand?” she asked sternly.

Kat looked at her hand. “It’s okay. It’s not a bite.” She held it out to Haley.

Haley examined the wound carefully. “Thank god. I’ve been worried sick.” She pulled Kat into a hug.

Kat hugged her back with relief. They held each other tightly. Kat felt Haley’s breath on her neck and turned her head to kiss her. “It’s okay,” she promised. “I’m okay.” Kat knew Haley had been scared, but someone had to go.

The rumble of the approaching car reminded her there was more to tell and she pulled back. “Haley, I found some people. Or, they found me.” She looked back over her shoulder as the dusty black Impala rolled into view.

Haley took two steps past her. “The Winchesters?”

Haley’s happy smile took Kat by surprise. So did the jealousy that flashed through her at the sight. “It’s Dean and his father,” she explained grumpily. “They saved me.”

Haley gave her a worried look. “You need to clean that cut.”

“I know,” Kat nodded. “I will. You need to get that medicine to Ben.”

A few hours later, they were sitting around Haley’s dining table. Ben was still in bed. It was too early to know if the meds were helping. Everyone else was at the table: Haley and Kat, Dean and John. Haley made a quick-and-easy meal of spiced chicken and rice; Dean attacked his plateful enthusiastically while he listened to their story.

“We call them zombies,” Kat explained, “because that’s how they behave, like movie zombies. But I don’t know what they are.”

“I’ve never seen anything quite like them myself,” John admitted, “and I thought I’d seen everything.”

“I have,” Dean said grimly. To Kat he added, “You ain’t gonna like it.”

Kat was eating with her left hand: her right was heavily bandaged. The bandaging was a little excessive, but she didn’t mind Haley fussing over her. She opened her mouth to answer Dean, but Haley got there first.

Haley set down her fork with a thump. “Dean, those things killed Tommy. I already don’t like it.”

Dean met her eyes. “I’m sorry about your brother,” he said softly. He addressed his next words to his father. “A couple of years ago, me and Sam came across this. It’s a demonic virus. Croatoan.”

“Croatoan?” John repeated. “I remember something about that.”

“It’s spread through contact with an infected person’s blood and if there’s a cure we never saw any sign of it. The victims become...” he glanced at Kat, “a lot like movie zombies. Violent. Mindless. They ain’t dead, though. They hunt in packs.”

“How did you boys get out of it?” John asked.

“We were holed up in a clinic with a couple of locals. One of ’em was an ex-marine, like you, so we had help. We were all set to fight our way out. We’d cooked up the napalm and everything. But Sam...” Dean broke off. After a moment, he shook his head. “They vanished. The whole town, except the few with us who were never infected, were just gone. At the time I couldn’t make sense of it.”

“The demons covered their tracks.” John looked grim. “I want to be sure there’s nothing we can do before we move on. If this thing is demonic...”

“I’ll call Cas,” Dean agreed.

“Wait,” Kat interrupted. “Slow down. What the hell is happening?”

“Here in Lost Creek?” Dean asked.

“Everywhere! Terrorists blowing up a convent in Maryland, martial law in Texas, the Seattle flu, doomsday cults in California...I thought America was going insane. But now...is it all connected?”

Dean looked at her. “Not bad, Kat. Yeah, it’s connected. I hate to tell you this, but...” he hesitated, then said bluntly, “It’s the apocalypse.”

“Do you think he’s right?” Kat asked. She climbed into the bed she shared with Haley and yawned.

Haley folded her clothing over the chair and unhooked her bra. “Dean isn’t crazy. I know that for sure.”

“He might still be wrong,” Kat suggested hopefully.

“Do you think he is?” Haley pulled her nightshirt on over her head and looked at Kat. “You were the one who said all this stuff is linked and Dean’s explanation made a lot of sense.”

“Yeah, but...the end of the world? It’s like a bad joke.”

Haley slid beneath the comforter. “I know it’s scary. I think we just have to do what we’ve always done. Look out for each other.” She reached for Kat’s bandaged hand. “Don’t run off like that again, baby. What if they’d caught you?”

Like Tommy.

Kat moved closer and kissed Haley. “Someone had to go. Ben needs those antibiotics and he’s not the only one. Winter’s coming and if we’re staying, we’ve got to be prepared. I just thought...”

Haley touched her lips, gently cutting off her words. “I know what you thought. I love Ben, Kat, but I can’t lose you. Not now. Please, promise me at least next time you won’t go alone.” Her fingers moved to Kat’s neck, a tickling caress, then down to stroke one of her breasts.

Although Kat was tired – it had been a long day – she leaned into Haley’s touch. She slid her hands beneath Haley’s nightshirt, stroking the smooth skin of her back. “Not alone. I promise.” It was an easy promise to make; Kat knew very well that if Dean and John hadn’t been there, she would have died like Tommy. She wasn’t eager to risk her life again. “I promise,” she said again.

The nightshirt lifted easily over Haley’s head. Kat let it fall to the floor and bent to kiss her clavicle. If this was the end of the world, she was going to make the most of it while she could.

Haley sighed with pleasure as Kat’s mouth moved lower down her body. She arched her back, threading her fingers through Kat’s hair to guide her. For a while, she forgot her fears and worries. She forgot everything except the pleasure, and how lucky she had been to find Kat.

Much later, Haley carefully disentangled herself from Kat’s sleeping body. She pulled her long nightshirt back on and stood to close the curtain. In the moonlight falling across the bed, she watched Kat sleep for a few moments before she closed the curtain, plunging the room into darkness, then left to check on her sick brother.

Haley understood why Kat felt compelled to risk her life today. Ben’s illness must have pushed all her buttons, and Haley felt guilty for not recognising it sooner. Kat lost her whole family when the Seattle flu swept through her hometown of Rockford, Illinois. After burying her parents and brother, Kat packed everything she owned into the car that was now hers, emptied her bank account and just started driving. She’d made it sound romantic when she told the story, but of course it wasn’t. Kat had been crazy with grief, alone in the world for the first time in her life. She didn’t even have a destination in mind: she just kept driving.

Eventually, Kat’s aimless travelling brought her to Lost Creek. Haley met her on the road just outside town. Kat had a map spread over the hood of her car, but she wasn’t dressed like someone on a hiking trip. Haley stopped to offer her help, assuming the girl had taken a wrong turn somewhere and become lost. She liked Kat immediately, and was curious about this strange girl who seemed to have her entire life stuffed into the trunk of her car. Somehow, in the course of their conversation, one of them had mentioned the Winchester brothers and they discovered they had the acquaintance in common. That was enough for Haley to invite Kat home to meet her brothers. She asked Kat for supper, then suggested she stay overnight. Then for a few nights.

Now, Kat was family. If Haley ever doubted it, Kat had proved it today.

The door of the spare bedroom opened a crack and Haley saw Dean peer out. He must have heard her moving around. She smiled. “I’m just checking on Ben,” she whispered. Dean nodded and closed the door again.

Haley opened the door to Ben’s room as quietly as she could. The reading light beside the bed was still on, but Ben was sleeping. Haley drew up a chair to sit beside the bed. She laid her hand on Ben’s forehead. There was no fever! She felt tears well up into her eyes. He was going to be okay.

Ben fell sick when they lost Tommy, and at first Haley thought it was the grief. She felt pretty awful herself. But when she heard Ben throwing up in the bathroom, Haley began to worry. Two days after that, Ben had a high fever and could barely keep water down, let alone food. Ben was twenty-two, fit and healthy. He should have been able to shrug off the flu, or whatever this was. But he wasn’t recovering, and there was no doctor left to call.

Haley should have realised what Ben’s illness would do to Kat, but she’d been too worried about her little brother. She was more grateful than she could ever say that Ben had the medication he needed, but she would never have forgiven herself if Kat didn’t come back from her reckless mission.

Haley poured some water ready for when Ben woke and watched him for a while. Finally satisfied he was okay, she returned to her bed, and to Kat.

Suddenly, Haley’s small house was very crowded. She had been prepared for Dean’s friend to be someone like him: weird, tough, maybe a little scary. She had not been prepared for angels.

It was a relief to escape into the kitchen. She gathered ingredients for a meal she could prepare quickly: canned soup enhanced with some extra herbs and freshly made bread. It would be enough for everyone. Haley carried the tureen into the dining room and found everyone already seated. Ben had joined them, and she smiled at him, grateful he was feeling well enough. She set the tureen down and reached for a bowl and ladle. But then she hesitated, looking at her new houseguests.

“Uh, should we say grace or something?” she asked awkwardly. The idea was alien to her, but it occurred to her that if there were really angels, maybe there was a God, too. She didn’t know how to deal with that. Or with them.

Anna smiled. “If you usually don’t, there’s no need on our account,” she answered gently.

Haley glanced at the other one, Castiel, whose expression suggested he might have given a different answer, but he let Anna’s reply stand for both of them.

Okay, then. “Thanks,” Haley said to Anna. She started ladling out the soup, passing the bowls out to each person at the table.

“What do you know of this virus, Dean?” Castiel asked.

It wasn’t good dinner conversation, but Haley was curious enough to let it go.

“Not much,” Dean admitted. “You know, Sam was the geek.”

There was the silence that always seemed to fall when Dean mentioned Sam’s name. Haley guessed something horrible had happened to Dean’s younger brother, and she mourned for him. But she knew better than to ask.

Dean went on, “It showed up as traces of sulphur in the blood. The people infected turn in about six hours. Sam was immune somehow. That’s about it.”

Castiel turned to Anna. “Sam’s blood would have given him immunity, but that doesn’t help us. Do you think we can cure this?”

Anna tore a piece of bread, dipped it in her soup and ate it while she considered. After three bites, she answered, “We can’t cure it the way we exorcise demons. It would kill them.”

Castiel nodded, then addressed everyone else. “We are too powerful; it’s difficult to control with any degree of delicacy. When we destroy a demon, we also kill the body they are possessing. It is unavoidable.”

“So you can’t take out the virus,” John repeated, “without burning the ones infected?”

“Exactly,” Anna answered, “but I think, maybe...” She looked at Castiel, then continued speaking in a language Haley didn’t recognise at all. Castiel responded in the same language. For a while, everyone human was excluded from the discussion.

Finally, Anna looked around the table, making eye contact with each of them. “Neither of us has encountered this Croatoan virus before, but we have experience of something that may be similar. We’ll need to go into town to investigate.”

“That’s crazy!” Kat burst out.

“We will be in no danger,” Castiel told her.

Haley took Kat’s hand under the table. If these two really were angels, they must know what they were doing.

“If the choice is between the infected and the living,” John said, “there isn’t a choice. We have to contain this before the virus spreads. Those roadblocks won’t last.”

Haley felt herself blanch as she understood what he meant. Her grip on Kat’s hand tightened and they looked at each other.

But it was Ben who said it. “They’re not real zombies, man. They’re alive! You’re talking about mass murder.”

John gave him a withering look. “No. I’m talking about war.”

“Ben, I know how it sounds,” Dean said, “but we’re not gonna burn the town until we know for sure there’s no one left.” He turned to Castiel and Anna.

The two angels exchanged a look. Castiel stood. “We will investigate immediately.”

Castiel hadn’t touched his food, Haley noticed. Anna, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying it. She popped a last bite of bread into her mouth then stood to join Castiel.

“We’ll be back at first light,” she said. She offered her hand to Castiel. He linked hands with her and suddenly they were gone.

Haley felt a breeze lift her hair and jerked back from the table, staring at the empty space.

Dean grinned at her shocked expression. “You get used to it,” he said.

After cleansing the Croatoan-infected town – as expected, there was no one left within the boundary marked by the roadblocks except the infected – the two angels took flight into the mountains. Population was sparse in this part of Colorado and the troubled times had thinned the people out even futher. The Collins family were the only ones left for miles, but there were others like them in isolated hamlets and cabins.

Anna revelled in the beauty of the night, darting between the trees as she flew with Castiel close behind. Up, they flew, higher and higher into the mountains until there was snow beneath them. The cold had no effect on them. Anna found a snow-filled gully near the summit and there she stopped, throwing herself down in the snow.

Castiel was at her side at once. He knew, as she did, that they were many miles from the nearest human. Even animals were scarce at this altitude. They were alone and here, they could be themselves, without restraint. They both wanted the same thing.

Clothing vanished as they moved toward each other. Anna kissed him eagerly, excitement already rising in her. Her own wings were their bed as she took Castiel inside her and they made love in the snow.

This forbidden act was as close as Anna could come to the humanity now lost to her. For Castiel, she knew their coupling was a few moments he could be free of the doubts that tormented him, but she thought – or hoped – perhaps it was becoming more for both of them. Love? As much as Anna longed to believe it, she knew angelic love was a pale reflection of the human emotion. But it had to be enough.

Anna woke to Castiel kissing her. She smiled up at him contentedly.

“You are more human than you know,” he murmured between kisses.

She ran her fingers over his bare chest. “What do you mean?”

Castiel drew back, his expression suddenly serious. “You fell asleep, Anna.”

She understood at once how strange that was. Angels did not need sleep. Was something wrong with her? Anna sat up, worried. Since she drained herself raising John Winchester she had been...different, but she attributed that to Castiel’s method of healing her. She was filled with his grace, not her own, until she could return to Heaven. She thought back, replaying the past few weeks in her mind, trying to identify anything else strange. Food. She ate food. Angels could eat, but they didn’t need to so mostly they didn’t bother. And there was this human-like affair with Castiel. Brutally honest, she added her love for Cas to the list.

“What is it, Anna?” Castiel asked.

Anna. Even that name. It was her human name, but Castiel had known her for millennia by another name. The first time they made love, in the iron room where Cas brought her back to life, he had called her by that name, but he never did any more. She had become “Anna” to him.

“You’re right,” she answered. “Something isn’t right with me.”

Castiel’s lips brushed her shoulder as he hugged her from behind. “You seem well to me.”

“No, Cas. I shouldn’t sleep. And earlier, I wasn’t eating soup to be polite. I was hungry.” Anna closed her eyes and raised both hands to her head. With concentration and a small exertion of power, she began to examine her vessel. It was a simple task that should have been routine, but Anna’s body wasn’t exactly a vessel. It was her own, human body, resurrected and restored after it was destroyed in her explosive return to immortality. No other soul shared the body with her.

Anna’s hands glowed softly as she examined herself, touching her arms, her neck, her chest and waist. She spread her shining hands wide over her flat stomach and slid them slowly down toward her thighs. That was when she felt it. She gasped aloud.

No. It wasn’t possible. She was an angel. Her body couldn’t age or change or grow.

Cautiously she repeated the motion. It was impossible...but it was true.

“Castiel,” she whispered. She reached for him, sliding her palm over the back of his hand and her fingers between his to guide his movement. Then she moved their joined hands down her body.

The moment Castiel sensed what Anna had, his whole body tensed, his power flared. His fingers twitched under hers. She released him and turned to see his blue eyes wide, shock and fear plain on his face.

“It cannot be,” Castiel said.

“But it is,” Anna answered.

Kat had three beer bottles in her good hand. She climbed the ladder up to the roof hatch using the other. She still had a dressing on the cut, but it was healing nicely. She had no difficulty climbing. Dean and Haley were already up there. The flat part of the roof had a timber deck and on warm summer nights they often sat up there.

“...just in case,” Dean was saying as Kat emerged onto the roof.

“We owe you, Dean. You saved all of us at Blackwater Ridge and you saved Kat in town. Ben might have died, too, if she hadn’t come back with his medicine. So you can rely on us if you need help.”

“It’s a risk for you, Haley. I want you to get that.”

Kat moved toward them and offered Dean one of the beer bottles. “If it’s the apocalypse, Dean, just breathing is a risk. I’m with Haley.”

She knew she’d misspoken when she saw the look in Dean’s eyes as he raised the bottle to his lips. “You sure are. Who knew?”

Pig! Kat thought, but she didn’t say it. Instead she handed another beer to Haley and took her place at her side. Haley kissed her lightly.

“We have enough stored to last the winter, but I’m not sure how we’ll cope long-term,” Haley said, ignoring Dean’s remark. “With the town gone, there’ll be no work. We might have to move in spring. But as long as we’re here, you’ll be welcome.”

Dean took another pull on his beer. “Thank you,” he said sincerely. He took a deep breath and said, “There’s something else you should know. About Sam.”

Kat curled her fingers around Haley’s hand. They had both wondered about Sam’s absence. Kat suspected he was dead.

“I don’t think there’s any reason for him to come here,” Dean said, instantly proving Kat wrong. His tone was flat, unemotional. “But if you do see him, don’t trust him. Sam...he’s not Sam any more.”

Haley frowned. “You mean he’s possessed?”

Dean was slow in answering, but finally he nodded. “That’s close enough. Yeah.”

“They will destroy you!” Castiel insisted.

“And you think that’s right, don’t you?” Anna sounded very unhappy.

Haley paused outside the room. There were too many secrets for her comfort around here. John and Dean wouldn’t tell what they were going to do in town today. Dean was vague about Sam’s fate. All around her were cryptic conversations. Haley felt uneasy about eavesdropping, but she still did it.

Castiel’s voice was strained. “Anna, the law was laid down by God. How can you defy him?”

“This is not the same,” Anna answered.

“You can’t be sure.”

“No, I can’t,” Anna admitted. “Not yet.” She sounded determined, though, not defeated. “Believe me, Cas, if it turns out to be... I’ll obey the law. But think about this, Cas. How could this have happened to me? I think we have to consider if maybe it’s God’s will.”

There was a long silence. Finally, in a very neutral tone, Castiel said, “What will you do?”

“Hide among the humans, I think. I can pass as one of them.”

“The archangels can find you anywhere.”

“Yes, but only if they have reason to look. Cas, if they were going to come after me for raising John they would have done it by now. You know what that means. I just have to hide.”

Haley moved into the doorway. “You can stay here,” she offered impulsively.

Both angels turned to her. Anna walked toward Haley, her arms open as if she was going to offer an embrace.

“That’s kind of you, Haley. I would love to stay here, but you must understand the risk you’ll be taking.”

“Just promise me you’ll explain it. No secrets. We won’t kick out a friend in trouble, Anna.”

Anna smiled warmly. “Thank you. It’s good to have a friend. But don’t decide too quickly.” She looked to Castiel.

Castiel said, “I will accompany Dean and John into town. You can stay and tell Haley and Kat what you must. But take care, Anna.”

Castiel would not eat breakfast, but Anna found herself hungry: another sign that something was not right, but now she understood it. Haley and Kat laid on a huge breakfast: eggs, bacon, fried tomatoes fresh from their kitchen garden, fried potatoes, bread warm from the oven with real butter and plenty of coffee. When Dean remarked on the spread, Haley explained that they often missed lunch, so she always made enough breakfast to “set you up for the day”.

When the men were gone, Anna offered to help clean up, but Haley asked her to leave the breakfast dishes in the sink. They needed to talk. Anna agreed, and the three women sat around the table.

“I am pregnant,” Anna announced. It felt ridiculous to even say it, but she could immediately see from Haley and Kat’s expressions that they didn’t understand. “I want to make this clear to you both. I am an angel. This body is a vessel, not my true form.”

Kat interrupted her. “Wait. You’re possessing someone? Like a demon?”

“No. Most angels do, but the vessel has to be willing. I am...different. It’s a long story and I’ll tell you some time if you want, but the bottom line is this is all me.” Anna waited but Kat seemed satisfied. “When an angel takes a vessel, their physical body is frozen. It doesn’t age or grow or change. For a female body that means...”

“No monthly visitor,” Haley grinned. “Sounds like a good deal to me.”

Anna returned her smile. She had never suffered much from cramps when she was human, but she knew many women did. “It can be,” she agreed, “but you understand that means the body is infertile.”

Haley’s smile faded as she considered. “That makes sense, but then how did you get pregnant? I mean, who is the father?”

“It can only be Castiel. We’ve been...lovers for a while. But I have no idea how it happened. Neither of us should be fertile.” Anna leaned forward, meeting Kat’s eyes, then Haley’s. “There is a way this can happen, but it’s not what we did, and it’s a serious crime. That’s why Cas and I were arguing earlier. You see, if any of the other angels find out about this, they will kill me. Many of them will think nothing of dropping the equivalent of a nuke on us, just to make sure.”

The two women looked at each other. Anna wasn’t surprised they were having second thoughts. She had intended it. Without thinking, she laid a protective hand over her abdomen, once again feeling that tiny, impossible spark of life within.

“Haley, I’m grateful for your offer of shelter, but I can’t accept it unless you understand the danger. Right now, the only people who know are you two and Castiel. If we tell no one else, I can protect us. I am still an angel.”

Haley shook her head. “It won’t work, Anna. A pregnancy doesn’t stay secret for long. It gets kinda obvious after a while.”

Anna nodded. “True. Ben will have to know, too. But it will be winter soon and we’ll be alone up here. What I mean to say is no one else can be told. And you absolutely mustn’t pray about it. They’ll hear your prayers.”

Haley shrugged. “I haven’t prayed since my parents died. That part is no problem. You, uh, you mentioned protection?”

“Yes. You have the anti-possession charms Dean gave you. We can also put protective symbols around the house which will make us invisible to both angels and demons. There are other things I can teach you, too, in case we need to fight.”

Haley considered. She thought it over for a long time, her expression pensive. Anna couldn’t read her thoughts, but she was pleased Haley took so long to come to a decision. It meant she was considering all angles and when she decided, she would be sure.

“Dean doesn’t know about this?” Haley asked.

“No. Castiel won’t tell him until it’s time.”

“What does that mean? When is it time?”

“This life inside me,” Anna began, “I don’t know what it is. I don’t know how this happened to me. As it grows, I will be able to learn more about it. When I understand what this is, I will call Castiel, and he will tell Dean. It may be...” she hesitated, but forced herself to say the words, “Cas may have to kill me to prevent the birth.”

“And you’re okay with that?” Kat blurted.

Anna met her shocked eyes. “As I said, I don’t yet know what this life will become. There is a reason this is forbidden to us. The children angels fathered on human women millennia ago were terrible creatures. If there’s any chance this is... Yes, Kat. I will give up my life before risking that.”

Haley nodded. “Well, you’re right about winter and we know we’re the only ones left in Lost Creek. Are you sure about the invisibility thing?”

“Yes.”

“Then I guess we’ll be safe until spring. When are you due?”

“I have no idea,” Anna confessed. “I’m not human. There’s no reason to expect this to take a human length of time.”

“Good point,” Haley conceded. “Alright. If Kat and Ben are okay with it, I say you’re welcome to stay.”