Ethriel awoke confused and angry on the floor of the motel room. She was certainly not done with her questions, and who was he to tell her that she had to go somewhere? What did he know? But then the knowledge of what had just transpired flew into her head and knocked her back.

She had just met God.

It was strange to think about. For a moment she thought that maybe she had actually just passed out and dreamt, as she didn't really know what dreaming felt like and had no idea if they were that… real. But then the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it couldn't have been. She felt fine, full of grace and tip top shape. There was nothing that would have made her fall asleep, except for extreme external forces. Like God, for example.

She checked her internal clock to see exactly what time it was, and gawked. It was six in the afternoon? So she had been gone in Heaven for about eleven hours… How had time passed so quickly? She checked the clock on the table beside the bed just to be sure, and of course she was right. She hadn't really expected to be proved wrong, it was just surprising. Usually trips to Heaven were the opposite, seeming long while there but really only being a small amount of time on Earth.

Wasting no more time mulling over her racing thoughts, Ethriel spread her wings and flew to the Winchesters' Batcave. After being invited in and introduced to almost everyone, the cupid didn't think it was necessary to get another invitation inside.

Landing in the middle of the war room, Ethriel was surprised to see it completely empty. She could have sworn she felt at least three human souls, with the exception of a very faint, flickering one. She knew either that flickering was a mortally wounded resident, or the faintest grasp of humanity her old friend Castiel seemed to have grabbed.

She made her way down a few halls, blindly following the warmth of the souls. Eventually she found a larger, more open area that looked similar to the library and war rooms, but was more of a small kitchen attached to a large sitting room. She immediately smelled the strong aroma of sealed meat and the sounds of rustling plastic bags. Dinner.

She walked around the room to face the furniture and its occupants. On a recliner sat Kevin, and on the couch was Castiel and who she had assumed to be Sam but had never actually been formally introduced. "Hello," she said weakly, feeling all their gazes turn directly on her.

Sam raised a brow, Kevin smiled, and Castiel gestured toward the unoccupied chair on the other side of the couch. "Hello Ethriel. I was beginning to believe you wouldn't return," said Castiel, his normally dark and rough voice a tad bit lighter with what Ethriel assumed was contentedness.

She smiled politely and sat on the offered chair almost awkwardly. She was not good at being the center of attention. "I was… held up." She was never good at lying, but she wasn't sure if she should tell Castiel about her encounter, let alone everyone in the room.

"By what?" asked Kevin innocently, his curiosity piqued.

Ethriel sighed. Like I said, she wasn't going to lie and to be frank she wasn't in the mood to keep secrets either. "God," she said simply, her eyes weary.

"What about Him?" said Dean Winchester as he came strutting in with a large bag of Doritos and a burger. When his gaze fell onto Ethriel, he shrunk almost imperceptibly. But Ethriel noticed it. He kept walking, sitting down awkwardly next to Castiel on the couch. The cupid had to fight not to smile at the fact that the spot looked absolutely reserved for him only.

But Castiel didn't seem to even notice that Dean had sat next to him, as his eyes were wide and he was staring at Ethriel in shock. Of course she knew he would react like this. The others seemed floored, but no where near the kind of dull ache that she saw in her friend's eyes. "I don't understand. He talked to you? What did He say? Is He returning?"

Ethriel smiled grimly, shaking her head. "He appeared to be and told me to ask any questions I wanted. I only got in a few before he left." She saw that Castiel was about to start asking questions again, so she thought she'd save him some trouble. "He brought me to Heaven, Castiel. He told me about His thoughts on the current situation, why I am like I am, and what exactly had been going on in relation to my orders."

Castiel nodded, looking less intense than a moment before. But he was still extremely curious, Ethriel could see that much easily. "So? What exactly did He say? Anything specific?"

Ethriel thought. "Well, He told me that my theory about the built-up list in my head was wrong. He said that the names were actually just being given by Him, but lately much slower. He said He was letting us… catch up. Or at least giving us a small break. So… your match is actually only a couple days old," she said softly, gesturing between Castiel and Dean. Dean blinked slowly, but didn't say anything as he angrily tore into his burger.

Castiel didn't look at Dean, and didn't look remotely interested to know his reaction to this news. In all fairness, Castiel himself looked a little weary, but he took a moment to blink and swallow nervously. He looked away for a moment before turning back to Ethriel. "So you're actually caught up on your orders, and this is the most recent?" Ethriel nodded. "Alright. Anything else?"

"He lectured for a very long time about how everything that has happened and that is happening is simply His plan, and that that was the reason He never interfered." That got both the Winchesters' heads to shoot up and look at her. She gave a small smile their way. "Yes, He said even the battle between Michael and Lucifer was planned to be a failure. He was very pointed about getting the fact across that nothing happened without His say so."When she looked back to Castiel, all he was doing was nodding as if it was the simplest thing in the world to understand and he looked angry that he hadn't thought of it that way before.

"He also spoke quite fondly of you, Castiel," she said softly.

Castiel's head shot up quickly at that, his eyes boring into hers. "He spoke of... of me?" the ex-angel almost squeaked.

She smiled. "Indeed. He said that it was originally His plan to shape all of His angels into more human-like forms, but the only angel that ever seemed to listen to Him was you." She paused. "He also spoke quite kindly of Gabriel, but admitted that the archangel was not as special to Him as you were." She paused again, swallowing almost audibly with nerves. "He spoke of how important my job was here. This job." She gestured in the general direction of Dean and Castiel.

The others, who were surprisingly quiet during the whole conversation, started giggling softly. Ethriel had no idea why the prospect of their two friends getting together was so hilarious, and she decided to be frank and ask them.

"Why do you two find the prospect of your two closest friends being bonded in the most intimate of ways, both emotionally and physically, so absolutely hilarious? Surely this is not just a game for you all. I cannot imagine the kinds of things you humans think about during times like these, and I honestly don't want to. However I am shocked that you two would even think such things about who you consider family. It is positively disgusting, and I see no immediate reason not to scrub the thoughts away from your mind this instant," she chided like a scolding mother, her grin widening at the disgusted faces growing on Kevin and Sam. Dean got up with a clearing of his throat and walked out, his face bright red.

Castiel stood up then, his face a mixture of hers and Dean's, and dragged her by her arm into the next room. "That was amusing, but unnecessary."

"Hmm, I do not think so. I found it quite… relieving. They have not taken anything seriously since I arrived." She smiled then, beaming brightly at her old friend.

The ex-angel opened his mouth to start and say something, but Dean walked up to them, having recovered some, and stopped the sentence before it started. "Hey Cas, you mind telling your girlfriend to stop embarrassing me in front of my little brother? That would be great, thanks," he said harshly, his stern gaze drifting slowly from Castiel to Ethriel.

"She is not my girlfriend," was the immediate response.

Dean sighed. "Whatever. Just… can you not?" The question was directed at Ethriel.

She nodded. "I apologize. Embarrassing you was not the intent."

The older Winchester's eyebrow twitched at that, and his anger softened. "You know I'm not sure if I like you yet, but you're kind of growing on me, E." He smirked.

"E?"

"It's a shortened version of your name," Castiel cleared up quickly. "Dean has a tendency to make things simpler."

"I see."

There was a bit of an awkward silence as the three of them stood around, staring at one another as time ticked by. Ethriel debated bringing up the topic of her staying in the Batcave because she didn't want to start another fight between Dean and Castiel - or worse: Dean and herself. However, she didn't have to wait in the awkward silence for long before Castiel brought it up himself.

"What do you mean, 'stay here'?! I'm sure she's got a place of her own, and we don't exactly need her to stick around if my answer is no." Dean grunted the last bit, not meeting anyone's eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest.

And there it was again, that topic that no one wanted to talk about but needed to or else they'd get nowhere. Ethriel decided this was a perfect time to finally use that elephant metaphor she had heard so many times.

"Dean." It was Castiel, his hand gently laying on Dean's shoulder now. "I understand if you don't want this, I've told you this. But you said you needed time, and that was not a no. I'm confused."

The hunter sighed, shaking Castiel's head off, though gently. "What I meant was that I needed time to figure out… what I thought about this. What I was going to say or do. And I still need it."

Castiel nodded. "And that is what Ethriel is offering. Allow her to stay here in the bunker, so that she will be able to get to know you better, and vise versa. I'm sure that you wouldn't mind, and she's more than happy to try and get to know you, right Ethriel?" The cupid nodded excitedly, her eyes wide in hope. "Please."

He closed his eyes. "Alright. But only of she promises to not get all mushy-gushy on us all the time. I need my space." He paused. " 'Specially now."

The angel nodded profusely, and Dean agreed to let her stay. Afterwards, Castiel showed Ethriel to her room and told her that she could do whatever she wanted to do with it and told her where all the important places were.

She was going to like it here.

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