Sam moved the machine and the now disused I.V. tubes closer to the wall. "Dean probably hit the button on accident when he jumped back... it'll take a little longer for her to wake up, but since she's still breathing and the tube is out, she should be fine. Just have to wait for it to wear off... I should get back outside, Dean's still a little rattled."

"Why is he outside?" Castiel asked, his panic still wearing off.

"Burning the pieces, with salt, like you said." Sam answered. He considered Castiel's obvious expression of weariness. "Listen, do you think she'll be okay waking up in here, since she hates hospitals? I can move her for you."

Castiel nodded, "That may be for the best."

Dean watched the fire in the metal tray, trying not to think about the number of times he had listened to flame destroy the flesh of a loved one.

This was different. He tried to remind himself, this time, they had saved her. She was actually better off now than when they'd found her, as she would be able to die a normal death when her time came.

Not that that ever seemed to be the case with Winchesters...

Sam came to stand next to him.

"Dude..." he said, passing Dean a beer. "It's not a funeral. Hell, this time, we win, so we should celebrate."

"Celebrate?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. That's what normal people do when they save someone." Sam said.

Dean took a drink, and shot him a sceptical look. "She lost everything except her life, you know... and for a while there, she lost that too."

"She's still has Cas. And us. And, I don't know, she seems like an optimist."

"Only when she's drunk..." Dean said, taking another swig.

"What does that mean?" Sam asked pointedly.

"It means... while you and Cas were getting all this-" he waved his palm in a circle at the small fire, "ready, I've been distracting her. Really, she's been a mess... Her kids think she's dead, only Chase knows she isn't, and she hates his guts now for stealing her children. Man, I have tried damn near everything to cheer her up since I got back. Only thing that's been working is getting sauced."

Sam nodded. "That's a lot to lose... So you figure instead of dealing with her problems, she should drink all the time?"

"Shut up, Sammy... You know this can only go one of two ways, either she has to ditch us, and go make a new life for herself, or she's going to get sucked into what we do, and ruin what life she has left. Just kind of scares me what might come after her if she's out on her own, or what she might do, but even scarier is the shit that follows us around. Look what happened when I dragged Crowley into this. Of course, if I hadn't, maybe she wouldn't have died..."

Sam was pensive. "You think this is our fault?... That she's lost her kids and her family?"

"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a pattern for our family."

Sam took a drink as he watched the fire continue to burn the small pile into salted ash.

"Yeah, well... she was born into it." Sam said. "No telling what'll happen."

"Sam, when she got to the warehouse, she went in knowing she might not make it out."

"Did she say that?"

"She did, when Cas had passed out, and... Man, I don't know, I didn't think he was still alive... she charged up his batteries or something, but right before that... she made me promise if she died that we'd stay the hell away from her kids."

Sam nodded. "So you figure she got the idea we're bad luck, and didn't want us losing them too."

Dean shrugged. "What else could it have meant?"

"It's a couch, not a trampoline, guys."

Castiel looked up quickly. "Melissa?"

"Wait... what?" she mumbled.

"I thought you'd wake up soon, since you'd started to dream."

"Yeah, when are we... wait, did we already do the stuff?" Melissa asked in a mixture of excited and groggy.

"It's gone. All of it." Castiel assured her.

She managed to get herself upright, but promptly doubled over onto her legs. Castiel took hold of her shoulders and righted her.

"I'm scared to check." she said in a hushed tone. "What does it look like?"

Castiel took her forearm and turned it so her palm was up, running his fingers over the soft, untanned area. "Like this, and only slightly paler."

Melissa put her own hand where his had been. "Really?"

"You're crying... I thought this would please you?" Castiel said.

Melissa ignored him, and felt carefully at her back, just above the waist, to as far up as she could manage. "It's gone... All of it?"

"Yes... Although one may have been beneficial for you to keep, it's all been removed. There's a metal charm with the same symbol you can carry to prevent demon possession." Castiel said.

Melissa settled down into the pillows. "Is Dean okay?"

"Sam is with him." Castiel said, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

As the fire started to die down, Sam began to poke through it with a stick, making sure nothing was left intact.

Dean stood back, more concerned with his beer and his phone. Sam noticed when he heard chuckling.

"What, you found a good kludge?" Sam asked, still poking the ashes.

"No, just, uh... Lita. She's in Spain, now, and her great grandma made her eat her vegetables... Yeah, old ladies are adorable." Dean said, shaking his head.

"You're... still talking to Lita?... The college freshman?" Sam said. "Shouldn't you be hitting on her great grandma?"

"Hey, it's summer, she's not a freshman anymore. And anyway, she transferred, so she's... whatever the thing is, in Spanish. With, like, Spain-Spanish, even. And this hunters network, we should get in on this, or at least keep an eye on it." Dean said, putting his phone away and draining his bottle. "So... are we done here?"

"Looks like it." Sam said, getting to his feet.

Castiel closely followed Melissa into the kitchen late that evening. She was still unsteady on her feet thanks to the mishap with the anesthesia.

"Hey, now it's a party!" Dean said from the table, closing his laptop.

"No partying, dude, she's still coming out of it." Sam said from the stove.

"Sam's making spaghetti." Dean said, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm great, just tired." Melissa said quietly.

Dean nodded, satisfied with her answer. "So, you guys got any big plans for the weekend? Sam and I got a call, probably a job, out in Utah. Looked something up for Garth, but if it gets any worse, he'll have us run in and help."

Melissa shook her head, "No plans... don't think there's anything I could do to help with that, either... or much of anything else."

"Hey, you've got a really good work ethic, there are places, charities all over the world that could use having you around. That whole sainthood thing is probably still a big factor." Sam said. "How does that work, now, Cas?"

Melissa and Dean also turned to look at him.

Castiel shrugged slightly. "Technically, she is still a saint, otherwise she wouldn't be able to create grace at all. There's no precedent, however, for there being 37 saints in the world. There could be repercussions we don't know about yet."

It was the middle of the night, three days later.

"You have to sleep eventually." Castiel said.

"No... not without the lamp on."

"You agreed to try. If you want me to stay here with you, I will." Castiel reminded her.

"What if I wake up, and it's completely dark? I can't take that idea. I miss my window, being able to turn over and see the moon, or at least some stars." Melissa said, scooting closer, and finding his earlobe with her lips.

"Melissa, please try to sleep. You need your rest."

"For what? Another gruelling day of sitting around in the bunker? Fucking hole in the ground..." Melissa said, rolling onto her back. Her voice was closer to broken when she spoke again. "I miss my kids."

Castiel pulled her bare body tight against his own. "I promise they are safe."

"I want to see them." She said, turning her head, despite not being able to see him in the darkness. "It's three a.m. there, right? They never wake up after eleven, no one would notice."

Castiel kissed her softly, and turned on the light.

A short time later, a rustle of wings occurred in a large, comfortable room in a large, comfortable house outside of Birmingham.

Two full sized beds stood against one wall, one empty despite the rumpled blankets, the other held two sleeping children.

The rest of the room contained toys, a small television and game console, two dressers, and a pair of child sized desks, littered with age appropriate craft supplies. A nightlight glowed faintly in one corner, and a large glass cage on a shelf held a pet snake. Crude crayon and construction paper artwork peppered the walls.

"Can you keep them asleep? I don't want them to wake up. It would break their hearts."

Castiel nodded, certain she knew already how bad the pain would be, feeling it herself.

Melissa climbed onto the middle of the bed, taking each of her children's hands. Even with her back to him, Castiel could tell when the tears began to flow.

"They know what you are, Castiel... There's no reason you couldn't come see them for me." Melissa whispered.

"Their sanity could be questioned, if they said they were receiving messages from their dead mother from an angel." Castiel said quietly.

Melissa wiped several tears off the side of her face. "I guess you're right... Are they being taken care of?"

Castiel reached out to the children with his grace. "They are well. And their stress is far less than yours. I'm certain they miss you, but if they stay here, they will continue to adjust."

Melissa nodded. She tried to keep it together as she put one small hand into the other, before climbing off the bed, kissing each of her sons on their heads, and walking back to the middle of the room, but Castiel could feel it as she shrugged, clearly unable to speak for fear she would start weeping.

Sam staggered into the kitchen, ready for some coffee, only to find a nearly empty pot.

Melissa sat at the table with a brand new laptop.

"Hey... So, what's up?" Sam asked through a yawn.

"Paris." Melissa answered.

"Paris... okay." Sam said. "What about Paris?"

"I'm thinking a week should be enough to see most of the stuff I'm interested in. Then, who knows?... Maybe I'll go meet up with Lita, check out this hunters thing."

Sam nodded. "You know you need a new identity, right?"

"Yeah. Melissa Faulkner is dead. Said goodbye to her kids last night and everything."

Sam blinked. "You went to see them?"

"Castiel took me. They're going to be okay, but not if they stay with me... Chase is right, even if I hate him for it." Melissa said, rubbing her face. Sam finally noticed she looked like she'd been crying.

"So, any ideas for your new name?" Sam asked, sitting down at the table.

"Yeah, actually... the last one anyone would ever expect to find me using." Melissa said with a chuckle.

"What's that?"

"Mitzy Winchester."

The End

(A/N: Hope you enjoyed it, 37th saint, 37th chapter, booyah for symmetry, right?

So sad she had to say goodbye to her kids, but, she's a Winchester, loss is part of their life. Tragic, but we wouldn't be fans if we weren't gluttons for punishment.

Anyway, Lita... goodness, I had no idea she'd develop like that, I really like her, so she'll be back very soon in a new story, working title currently 'Tree-fiddy.')