Spellbound

Dean stopped the bleeding and after much protesting from Carly, allowed her to take a shower.

She sat on the edge of the bed, Dean just beside her. She shivered as Dean gently brushed her hair away from her neck. He re-cleaned her wound and placed an over-sized bandage over it. "You should be fine. Just clean it with warm water and soap."

Carly nodded and thanked him. The weight on the bed shifted and she watched him stretch, "We shouldn't stay here too long. Crowley knows we're here, and when it comes to him, I like to stay elusive."

She nodded again and watched as he laid on the bed. "Thank you by the way."

Dean glanced over at her, eyebrows raised, "Oh, it's no problem. Just a little first aid..."

Carly shook her head, "That's not what I meant.." Dean watched her as she gently touched the wound, her fingers softly grazing the bandage. Dean shook his head, "Don't worry about it Carly; I know you are good at what you do, you couldn't protect yourself that time." She nodded again, and looked down at her hands. She stood from her bed, pushing the covers back, before climbing in. She tossed and turned for a few minutes before settling down. Dean sighed and turned off the light, crawling under the covers himself.



The flutter of wings woke Carly out of a dead sleep. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark room and looked around for the source. She saw a man standing at the foot of Dean's bed and momentarily figured it to be Castiel, but the posture made her think twice. She watched as the figure moved his hand into the inner jacket pocket, and began to extract whatever was hidden within. As Carly watched, she slowly searched under her pillow for her weapon, her hand then touched warm metal and she slowly began to withdraw the gun from under the pillow. Satisfied, she sat up and pointed the sub-compact at the angel just as he extracted his blade.

"Drop it."

The angel laughed and looked at her from the corner of his eye, "And why should I trust you to not shoot me if I put it down?"

Carly smirked, "You can't."

The angel smiled wider, and brought the blade up to his chest and moved to the opposite side of Dean's bed.

"I said, put the blade down!"

He ignored her and continued to raise the blade higher. Without hesitation, Carly fired a warning shot, shattering the window behind the angel. Dean instantly woke, jumping from his sleeping position and moved just as the blade came down, piercing the bed where Dean would have been. Suddenly, a brilliant white light filled the room and the angel dropped, a burn print of outstretched wings spread across the room.

Dean glanced between Cas and Carly, unsure of what to say other than a thank you.

Cas nodded, "I think it's time to re-brand." Dean groaned, rolling his eyes. Carly's mouth dropped open, her eyebrows raised, "Um... what?"

"Branding. I carve Enochian into your bones making you invisible to angels, including me. It is quick, but it will hurt." Cas explained as he placed his hand on Dean's chest. A white light, similar to the one earlier, burst from Cas' hand and shown onto Dean's body. She watched him grit his teeth in pain as the light slowly dulled away. Dean shook off the pain and when his eyes opened their gaze met. His bright green eyes distracted her from the realization that Cas stood directly behind her. She could feel the warmth radiating inside of her and suddenly a sharp, stabbing, pain shot through her body. Her breathing became labored and her eyes winced in the bright light surrounding her.

Suddenly, her eyes refocused on Dean as her body slumped sideways.



When Carly woke, Dean immediately stood from his seat at the coffee table, and came to her side, "Easy there. Sit up slowly." He helped her into a sitting position and she scanned the room.

"What happened?"

Dean smirked, then attempted to cover his smile by coughing, "Well, you fainted. Cas caught you before you cracked your head on the headboard," Carly's cheeks turned red and she groaned, burying her face in her hands, "Hey, in your defense; it's painful." He watched her for a few moments before patting her on the back, standing from the bed, "Listen, we need to hit the road. We're about four hours outside of Colorado. We'll need to keep moving. So, get your bearings and start packing, okay?"

Carly nodded and slowly took a deep breath before she began to pack her things.

By ten, they were on the road. The scenery slowly began to change; fields gave away to large, hovering trees and large snow capped mountains jutted up in the distance. The temperature change made Carly shiver and she reached for her plaid fleece pullover. Dean drove until they reached their destination; booking a room at the first motel they spotted. After much debate with the desk clerk over the subject of a king bed or two queens, they finally got their key.

Carly knew she was in the mountains when she saw the room. The beds were made from cedar wood, filling the room with a forest-like smell, the lamps were made with replica deer antlers and the walls were lined with forest themed wallpaper. Dropping the bags onto the beds, Dean cleared his throat, "You didn't happen to pack a suit or anything relatively "professional" did you?"

Carly grimaced, shaking her head, "Not really.. I have a pair of khakis and a polo..."

Dean contemplated the look for a moment, before frowning, "Let's get some food and get you some professional clothes."

Carly smiled, "Sounds great. I love going clothes shopping."