~I~ – Finding Sam Winchester

Damn demons. Whatever they put on those weapons prevents me from healing.

I'm a tattered mess. Anyone walking by me would probably assume I'm a homeless person.

I'm lucky to have enough strength to find him. Call it intuition or just a feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I know I'm on his trail.

I stagger, seeking out the abandoned house. Alona and I have been separated. She won't approve of what I'm doing. But I have to. The Winchesters were involved with Lilith, and they still are. Since the elder Winchester is currently spending life in Hell, the younger is the only one left. If he wants to go after Lilith, he's the key to ending her, with or without him.

I know he's not dead, I would have heard it over the angel radio. I hold one of my bleeding sides, feel sticky stuff on my face. I need to clean myself off. Right now, I barely have enough power to try and heal a little bit.

I find the door of the abandoned house. It reeks of slowly decaying wood. I push the unlocked door and step inside, the creaks in the floor giving away my position. He should be here somewhere. Or he was here. I'm not sure what kind of trail I'm following just yet.

I enter the den room and pick up another scent on top of Sam Winchester's, one I can't exactly place right away. This can't be where he hides. But then I remember he is a hunter of the supernatural.

Feeling lightheaded, I stagger to the nearest chair and slump into it, holding my wounds. All are still bleeding, but not profusely enough to cause alarm. Alona, I will find you. I think I've found him. Sam Winchester. He could be tracking her. I can possibly end her and all of this.

I feel stray dark, curly strands tickle my face. I blow them away, but they come back to irritate me more. I scowl.

Then I hear it. Normal beings wouldn't be able to, but I'm no ordinary being. Wincing, I grab my blade and jump out from the seat, standing on wobbly legs. I feel full of relief as I've found Sam Winchester, but I'm not happy about who I've found him with.

What I really see her as prevents me from seeing the vessel she's inhabited. If I can see her, she most definitely can see me. But how come he's with her? Don't hunters know better, that a demon is the enemy?

I am tall for a woman, but Sam Winchester is taller. He's got a ragged-looking knife in one hand, while the demon is behind him, almost as though she's a loyal lapdog. This picture doesn't look right.

"Who are you?" Sam demands.

"I-I found you," I whisper, flinching.

"I said, who are you?"

"Easy, I'm not out to hurt you."

"Really? The weapon says otherwise," says the demon.

"As you can see, I'm injured." I drop the blade at my feet. My vessel's legs cave under me, and I go to the floor. Sam is the first to run for me and keep me from hitting the ground.

"Whoa, whoa, okay, okay," he says. He turns his head to look at the demon. "Help me."

Reluctantly, the demon gets one arm over her shoulder and Sam gets the other. Together, they haul me back into the chair I originally sat in. The demon picks up my blade, arming herself. I narrow my eyes at her.

"I believe that's mine," I say coldly.

"You're not getting it back until you answer our questions." The demon twirls the weapon.

"What do you want to know?" I huff.

"A name, for starters," says Sam.

I pant. "Vera. M-my name is Vera." I swallow.

"How did you find us?"

"Intuition." I shift in the chair.

"She's obviously lying," says the demon. She points my own weapon at my chest. "How did you track us here?"

"I have my ways."

The demon looks about ready to kill me, the look in her eyes is severe. "Would your ways happen to involve your heavenly powers?"

I curl my lip into a snarl, and Sam looks at the demon questioningly. Well, I guess it's hard to hide being an angel when a demon is present in the room. "Yes, they would."

"Meaning?" Sam cuts in.

"Meaning I am an Angel of the Lord," I explain.

"A—an angel? A...real angel?"

"Sorry if I'm not what you expected." I chuckle.

Sam's hazel eyes light up in wonder. It's like he's found the best prize in the world. "I—I mean, but—but I thought...?"

"Angels don't exist?" I smile bitterly. "Where there are demons, there must be angels." I narrow my eyes at the demon in the room. "Speaking of demons, are you aware that your dog here is one?"

"I am not his dog," the demon snaps.

"And yes, I'm aware she's a demon," Sam says.

I look at the two of them, tilting my head in confusion. "But you're a hunter. She's a demon," I state.

"So? He needs my help, I'm helping," the demon says, crossing her arms. "What brought you here to us?"

"Lilith." I gasp in pain.

"How bad are you hurt?" asks Sam.

"She can heal herself, Sam," the demon says lowly.

"Not badly, but I feel the pain," I say, ignoring the demon.

"Okay, uh, let me see what we've got around here," says Sam before he wanders off. This leaves me and the demon alone in the same room together, with her still pointing my blade at my chest.

"You the only feathered freak around here?"

"No. There are others. But if you mean near this dump, I'm the only one."

"How many?"

"Like you deserve to know."

"If I wanna stay alive for the future, I kinda want to know."

I snort. "I don't believe you have to worry. Lowlife monsters like yourself aren't priority."

"Don't you guys smite things like us?"

"Oh, sure, but you're not the main goal. If you get in our way, we won't hesitate." I wrinkle my nose. "Speaking of which, why are you with Sam Winchester?"

"Why did you seek him out?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

"Likewise." She narrows her eyes at me. "What's your game, angel?"

"Like I said before. Lilith. Sam has his reasons for wanting her gone, Heaven has its reasons." I hold my head up. "You wouldn't understand."

"Oh, I think I do. I heard talk about what she's cooking up."

I tilt my head. "How would you know what Lilith is up to?"

"When you're in the Pit, you hear things." The demon shrugs.

"And you want Lilith dead too?" I deadpan. "But she's one of your kind. Why do you want her dead?"

"Heaven has its reasons, I have my own." She frowns. "If you can be cryptic, so can I."

Sam comes back a minute later with some wrappings. "You two playing nice?" he half teases.

"As nice as angels and demons can," I say.

"Show me the wounds."

I do as he says, lifting up the bloody shirt so that he can nurse the wound. He makes the wrapping snug, so snug that I almost think that I won't be able to breathe. But it's not on my chest, I'll be okay. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. So...an angel, huh?"

"Yes. Hard to believe, I know. We haven't had reason to be on Earth until now."

"Have you been tracking her?"

"Trying to. She's rather hard to place." I gasp. "I had a lead with my partner—"

"Girl or guy?" asks the demon.

I give her an odd look. "Doesn't matter."

"Matters to me."

"No, you just want to be a nuisance." I look back at Sam. "We thought we had a lead, but instead we found a hoard of demons. They didn't resist the chance of an angel feast, so they attacked us. I got away, I don't know about Alona."

"She's probably dead," says the demon.

I scoff. "Typical. A creature of the underworld assumes their kind is the strongest in all of creation. You assume angels are weak. I can prove that we are not."

"Bring it on, feathers. I want a challenge."

"Hey, hey, stop it!" Sam yells at us. The demon and I both look at him. "Is there anything we can do?"

"No," says the demon immediately.

"Help me find Lilith," I say. "We share the same endgame for her, right? We want her stopped. Let me help you."

"Sam." The demon pulls him away, well out of earshot. Or so the demon thinks. "Bad idea."

"She can help us."

"She'll use us to help herself. We don't know her, Sam."

"Look, we need some extra help. She's it."

I hear the demon sigh. "We're already working on building up your strength. We can't be responsible for her too!"

"Is this because she's an angel?"

"Partly."

"I am more than capable of handling myself," I say loudly enough for them to hear. "I am a celestial being, ergo I can hear you."

"This is really going to get old," the demon snarls.

That's a yes. I'm in. 

**So, I'm doing things a tad bit out of order. Really, this is around 4x9 "I Know What You Did Last Summer", since in the episode, the flashbacks were the months when Dean was in Hell and Sam was in his god awful downward spiral. 

We'll jump back to 4x1 "Lazarus Rising", just playing a bit of backtrack so that things make sense for this story's sake.

P.S. First thoughts on the first chapter?? I know, you don't have a lot of details about Vera's partner, Alona. She'll appear later on.**