Guardian Angel

'Staring out the window of yet another motel, Emma sighed and made her way over to her bed. Getting comfortable under the covers, she turned out the light and shut her eyes tight.

"Guardian angel, pure and bright, guard me while I sleep tonight," she whispered, before laying her head on the lumpy pillow and allowing darkness to consume her.

Waking up at the crack of dawn, she climbed out of bed and padded barefoot across the wooden floor to the same window that she had stood at the night before. This time, as she approached the dirty glass pane, she couldn't help smiling and opened it to retrieve the white feather that had been left for her.'

Waking up to the sound of Bon Jovi singing Dead or Alive, Emma ran a hand over her face and sat up in the backseat of the car.

"Hey there, pumpkin pie," came Dean's voice from the front seat as he smiled at her in the rearview mirror, "We were just talking about stopping to grab some food, what do you think?"

"I could eat," Emma agreed, leaning back and staring out the window as they passed a field of grazing wild horses.

It was nearly an hour, before they came across a place to eat and headed inside. Staring into her half-empty cup of coffee, Emma allowed her mind to wander and snapped back to reality at the sound of her name being called.

"Are you okay?" Sam inquired with a concerned look.

"Yeah," Emma mumbled, offering him a small smile and taking a sip of her lukewarm coffee, "What were you saying?"

"We were saying that our new case sounds like possession," Dean added, "Neither of the killers remember what happened, nor did they have any issues with the people they murdered..."

"So, we're looking for the usual signs that they were being used as a meat suit," Emma said, earning a nod from Dean and watching as Sam got up to head to the bathroom.

"What's going on with you?" Dean stated as soon as Sam disappeared from view.

"It's nothing... just have this really strong feeling that something bad is going to happen," Emma admitted with a shrug, "I'm just worried is all... the coordinates that your dad sent us take us to the middle of nowhere and I can't help but wonder what we're walking into."

"We'll be careful," Dean promised, putting his hand on top of hers and squeezing it gently, "Hey, everything will be fine."

Smiling, Emma nodded and drained the remainder of her drink. It took them three hours to finally reach the secluded town of Morlea, renting a room at the shabby motel and heading straight out to question the only lead they had in the case.

Leaning against the wall of the interrogation room, Emma watched as Dean questioned the man in front of them and wasn't surprised when the man couldn't tell them anything. Everything about the man's behavior told Emma that he was telling the truth, which only strengthened their theory that they were dealing with possession and that always made Emma nervous.

The trio was certain of what they were dealing with by the time they returned to their room, but they were no closer to identifying the demon and that gave them a whole town of vulnerable people just waiting to be controlled. Later that night once the boys were asleep, Emma snuck outside and pulled Dean's leather jacket closer around her as an icy breeze whipped passed her.

"It's been a while since I've done this and I don't know if you can hear me anymore, but I have to believe that you can. I don't know what the rules are up there, but you once told me that I needed something to put my faith in and that's still true," Emma mumbled, looking up at the sky, "I miss your guidance, I miss having someone who understands where I come from... I miss you, Cas."

"I was never far away," came a familiar voice from in front of her.

"You stopped answering my calls," Emma replied, walking forward and relaxing as Castiel pulled her into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't come to you when you needed me," Castiel said, letting her go and stepping back, "I knew that you were in good hands though..."

"You've been watching over me?"

"Of course, I made a promise to a lonely little girl with pigtails and I intend to keep it," Castiel stated, causing Emma to chuckle, "It wasn't safe for us to be down here, but that didn't mean that I couldn't keep an eye on you from up there... just shout if you need me."

Hearing the sound of a door opening, Emma looked around to find Dean watching her with a frown and turned back to where Castiel had been standing moments before to find him gone.

"Everything okay?" Dean asked as Emma reached him.

"Yeah, I just needed some fresh air," Emma lied, glancing back one last time and allowing Dean to lead her into the warmth of their room.

Growing up with hunters as parents meant that Emma was often left alone, but in her hour of need Castiel had been there and became a constant source of light in the dark world that she knew existed. He filled a large space in her heart that was left by her parent's absence, but then he'd left and it felt like she had been abandoned.

She'd never lost faith though and would pray every night, hoping that he would hear her pleas. Her childhood hadn't been much better than Sam and Dean's, but whereas they had each other, she had her guardian angel in a trench coat.

After three days of coming up empty-handed, the trio finally managed to track the demon to a local pub and set a trap that would lure it in without making their presence too obvious. Waiting in the alley behind the building, Emma listened to the sounds coming from inside and tensed as she heard footsteps behind her. Turning on the spot, she found herself face to face with the town's deputy and slowly backed away as his eyes turned a solid black color.

"Damn hunter's always getting in our way," the deputy growled, although Emma knew that it was the thing inside him doing the talking, "Did you really think that we'd be stupid enough to walk into your pathetic little trap?"

"That was the plan," Emma replied without thinking.

Hearing the demon growl once again, Emma pulled her machete loose from her belt and swallowed nervously as it was knocked out of her reach. Finding herself pinned up against the wall by an unseen force, she began to panic and gasp for breath as it intensified. Her vision was just beginning to dim, when a blinding flash illuminated the alley in front of her and she fell to the ground. Looking up as someone crouched down at her side, she was surprised to see Dean and knew from that moment that she had more than one guardian angel in her life.