Angel Warrior

Dean wasted no time at all as Hunter climbed the tree, rounding on Castiel with hard eyes, "How the hell is this chick our sister? What, did dad just go around and have kids with whoever?" He asked harshly, grinding his teeth when Cas just looked at him passively.

"Dean.." Sam protested weakly, wanting to know the answers as well but not with the way Dean was approaching it.

"She's your twin sister, Dean," Cas answered, eyes looking up the tree that Hunter had climbed moments ago. He could hear her talking to the girl, trying to get her to come down. There was a silent pause as the brothers processed the news.

"How is that possible? If she's Dean's twin, shouldn't she have been with us?" Sam asked, eyebrows furrowing in curiosity. Dean was silent, staring at the ground as the muscles in his jaw flexed.

"Your father gave her up for adoption, proclaimed he couldn't take care of three kids, let alone a female," Cas bowed his head as Dean scoffed angrily and got up, pacing between the trees; Sam just shook his head sadly before looking down at his lap.

"That son of..." Dean growled, moving to kick one of the dead bodies a few feet away from them.

"Was - was she save? Did she go to a good home?" Sam asked quietly, looking up at Cas timidly. Castiel tried to smile a bit but it came out more of a grimace.

"I wish I could tell you more but Gabriel was the one who watched over her, he'd tell you what you want to know. Or you could ask Hunter herself," He suggested, tilting his head a bit as he watched Dean. He knew how the other male felt about his father, knew how he thought the father did no wrong but now that Dean knew that he put his only sister - his twin sister - up for adoption, it made Dean furious. So many years wasted of not knowing, thinking he only had Sam and now that it was the apocalypse, he suddenly has two more siblings - one that was actually his twin for fucks sakes!

"Gabriel!" Sam called out, being mindful to not be too loud yet loud enough for an angel to hear.

"Why is Gabriel her "guardian angel"? I thought you were, I mean, she's a Winchester, isn't she?" Dean asked, pacing in front of the two. Castiel sighed and shrugged a little.

"We knew she was a Winchester, yes, but her name was O'Brien at the time, so she went to Gabriel. It made sense at the time since she was always with two of his other charges," Cas explained, fiddling with Hunter's bow string. Sam furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head.

"O'Brien?" He asked, scoffing a little with a snort. Castiel raised an eyebrow at him and Sam had enough sense to look shameful as he dropped his head.

"She went to an Irish couple, yes. From age four to twenty-five, she lived in Ireland. She came back to the states, on a ferry, with two of her friends and stayed in Boston until she enlisted in Marines on her thirtieth birthday," A voice said from behind the tree Castiel was leaning against. Gabriel stepped out and did a slight bow before plopping next to Cas.

"Why did you wait 'till now to tell us, you dick?" Dean growled, narrowing his eyes at Gabriel, ignoring how Sam threw a look at him. Gabriel just smirked up at him.

"Because she didn't want us to tell you nor did she want you to know. Yet," Gabriel explained lightly, still smirking up at Dean. Sam rolled his eyes in exasperation and clicked his tongue.

"So, what, we have an older sister and a younger half-brother?" The two angel nodded in confirmation. Dean laughed dryly before muttering "great" under his breath.

"Hunter is actually Dean's twin, if you yahoos missed that tidbit," Gabriel mocked, picking apart a stick he found next to him. Sam just rolled his eyes again.

"We know, I just figured she was the older one since she said "younger brothers"," Sam said, flicking a piece of grass at Gabriel as Dean glared at the trees. Seems he didn't like that he was no longer the older brother, in the blood sense, but that didn't mean he was accepting that this lady was his older sister - his sister, yes, but not older. Nope.

"Wait, does Chuck know about her?" Sam suddenly asked, causing Dean to stop his pacing, eyes darting between the three men rapidly. The two angels shared a look before Gabriel sighed tiredly.

"Unfortunately, yes, just not in your series. Hers was a separate series, a little longer then yours, granted, but still the same," Gabriel explained, shooting Cas a glare when he tried to knock an arrow on Hunter's bow. Castiel just shrugged a little, handing the bow to Gabriel with a tinge of embarrassment.

"Are her books gonna be part of the "Winchester Gospel" or whatever it's suppose to be now?" Dean demanded, eyebrows furrowed angrily. Castiel absentmindedly licked his lips before answering - a habit he picked up from the brothers.

"No, hers won't be, not anymore. If things were different, then, yes, perhaps they would be - however," He paused, glancing over at Gabriel before continuing, "her story doesn't exactly...give her a good light. When people read your story, they loved you both - unconditionally. They admired you. When they read Hunter's story, however...they despised her. Wanted her dead," Seeing the boys' expressions, Gabriel jumped in before they started shouting.

"Chuck had to stop her books after the threats got too bad, thought that if someone was crazy enough, they might've gone after her," The boys scoffed.

"Still, why would they admire us but want her dead? What the fuck did she do that would have hundreds of people out for her blood? And how come we never knew about these books?" The two angels just stared at Dean with blank expressions long enough for him to shift uncomfortably.

"That's a conversation for another time and we ordered Chuck to not inform you," Castiel said, looking up at the tree that Hunter went up with rapid attention. Gabriel just sat there and continued to play with Hunter's bow.

A rustle of leaves caught the boys' attention and all of them stiffened as they waited for Hunter to come down with the girl. Much needs to be explained and they didn't really have the leisure to sit around outside after dark anymore.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sophia?" Hunter called out softly, gripping the tree branch tightly as she cautiously made her way towards the small girl. The twelve-year-old blonde girl eyed Hunter warily, clutching the ratted doll to her chest and shrunk further into the bark; the poor girl was dirty and looked exhausted. "It's okay, sweetie, I was sent to come find you, bring you back to your ma, to your group. It's okay,"

Sophia still stared at Hunter warily and whimpered, "Who are you? I don't know you," Her bottom lip started to quiver and Hunter cursed silently - she doesn't do crying children - or crying anyone, for that matter.

"My name is Hunter, I was sent to find you, you just have to trust me on this. I'm going to take you back your ma, I promise you that," She said softly, holding a hand out towards the girl. Hunter could hear angry, hushed voices down from below and she figured that the boys were trying to tear Castiel a new one. Her suspicions were confirmed when a sudden controlled shout of "Gabriel!" sounded throughout the forest, causing the girl to jump a bit; she didn't have to hear to know that a flutter of wings would come next.

"I have a few friends down there waiting for me," She explained, rushing to add once she saw the girl's eyes widen in fear, "It's alright though, they're good people, they won't hurt you, I promise on my ma's life, bless her soul," Sophia stared at Hunter for a few more beats before nodding hesitantly, scooting towards her to wrap her arms around Hunter's neck.

"It'll be easier for me to climb down if you were on my back," She said, gripping the girl's legs gently before maneuvering her behind. Hunter made sure the girl had a tight grip on her before descending the tree, looking down periodically to make sure she got her footing right - the last thing she wanted was to fall out of the tree and land dead center on the poor girl.

When Hunter was closer to the ground, she decided to drop the rest of the way, making the small girl let out a tiny shriek and clung to Hunter, even when they landed safely on the ground. Hunter patted the Sophia's hands, reassuring her that she was safe and sound before tugging at her death grip. Turning to face the small group, she raised her eyebrows at her brothers' furious aura and the angels' aloof stature - clearly her brothers didn't understand the definition of 'patience'.

"What did I miss?" She asked, trying to lighten the atmosphere but the tension was so thick, it was no use - plus, with the looks she was getting, it wasn't appreciated either. She sighed and rolled her eyes, crouching down so Sophia could get off her back easy. Spinning on the balls of her feet, she gripped the girl's hands gently and smiled softly at her.

"Sophia, these are my brothers, Sam and Dean," Hunter said, pointing them out for the girl. She smiled shyly at them, eyes taking in their massive forms. "And these are my friends, Gabriel and Castiel," She continued, nodding towards the two sitting angels. Sophia waved timidly at them all before making her way towards Sam, who was still sitting. Sam just watched the girl warily, wondering what she was doing; Sophia just smiled gently at him before wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug, making Sam stiffen with a wide-eyed, shocked expression, his gaze snapping up to Hunter's.

"Looks like little Sophia here wants you to carry her back, Sam," Hunter chuckled, standing up and stretched out her limps, sneaking a glance at Dean - who had returned to glaring at the trees - before making her way towards the angels, smirking at Gabriel who just made a face at her in return; she just chuckled as she bent down to gather her weapons.

"Well, c'mon, we only have about an hour and a half before it gets dark and the highway is about three miles that way," She murmured after she was done, pointing North with her one of her swords. Hunter didn't wait long for them to get ready, taking point as she lead them through the forest, slicing the random Croats that got in their way before any of them could lift a weapon.