4. The Adventure in Babysitting

I automatically take a step back and get a bad vibe coming from the stranger in the doorway. I hold the baby tighter to me.

"Hello, Castiel," says the stranger.

I blink in confusion. Castiel? Who the hell is Castiel? He can't mean Steve, can he?

Steve half-turns to my confused gaze. "Get Tanya back to her room," he tells me.

"But—"

"Sierra, please."

I'm still left with a lot of questions, but I head back to Tanya's room. The look in the stranger's eyes tells me he wants to do some harm. Whether it's to me, or to Steve—or Castiel, or whoever the hell Steve really is—or to even little Tanya in my arms.

I feel slightly better that Steve follows me, but I'm not happy that the stranger just walks into Nora's house like he's a welcome guest. I hover near Tanya's crib.

"You better tell me what the fuck is going on here," I snap to Steve.

"Language, Sierra," he scolds me gently. "I'm sorry you're here for this."

"Here for what? What's going on?"

"Something that you might not be able to understand."

I swallow, looking down at Tanya. I realize she's stopped crying. Strange.

"Squalid little dump," comes the stranger's voice from another part of the house. "No wonder she cries."

"It's a fever, Ephraim," Steve tells the stranger. "It will pass."

The stranger—Ephraim—steps into Tanya's room. "You remember my name? I was just a nobody when we met, but you—you were a legend. You've been here before. This is my first time, and it's...intense."

"You know, there's a lot you don't understand about humanity at first. If you would just stop—"

"Stop? I won't stop...until I wash the planet clean of all suffering."

On cue, Tanya starts crying again. I have no idea what to do. The way these two are speaking suggests that they aren't human. Well, I believe Ephraim isn't human, but Steve—or whatever the hell his name actually is? He's as human as I am.

Ephraim steps towards Tanya. "Allow me."

I form a blockade with "Steve" in front of Tanya's crib. "Get near her—"

"Or you'll do what?" Ephraim tells me. "Scream? Fight? You don't understand what you're up against, girl."

My hands go into fists. I hate it when someone who looks about my age calls me "girl."

"Don't. Touch. Her," says "Steve."

"You think I came for her?" asks Ephraim. "No, Castiel. I came for you."

Ephraim works his way around us to Tanya's crib. I look at "Steve," totally befuddled now. Should I be calling him Castiel now, since Ephraim keeps calling him that? I feel like I should call someone. But this doesn't seem like the type of situation for the police to handle. Something tells me Ephraim isn't from this world.

"So much pain and despair, so many voices begging out for relief," Ephraim murmurs.

"How'd you find me?" asks "Steve."

"Because you're warded? The same way I find all my patients—I just followed the sound of your pain. You have no idea how loud it is. I could hear you for miles."

What is Ephraim talking about? I feel like I should be able to comprehend this better, but I can't right now. The fact that Ephraim wants "Steve" bothers me, a lot. Yes, I'm happy he's not after Tanya, but still.

"Steve" is out of the baby's room, Ephraim follows. I remain with Tanya, just in case. I can still hear the men talking though, from outside of the room.

"Do you really think you're doing Heaven's work down here?" asks "Steve."

"I know I am."

"Well, you're wrong. Earth can be a hard place. But these humans, they can get better. They're just doing the best they can."

"Is that what you think you're doing, Castiel—the best you can? Well, I'm sorry. But if this is the best that the famed Castiel can do, you're a more urgent case than I thought. I used to admire you. You failed more often than you succeeded. But at least you played big."

I hear the commotion as it happens. I wince at the crack that I hear, Castiel's yell of pain. I creep towards the doorway.

"Now what are you doing?" Ephraim snaps. "Burying your head in the sand. Right when your kind needs you the most. Shh-shh-shh. It'll be over soon. I'll take the pain away."

I'm sneaking out of Tanya's room now, keeping my footfalls lithe. I don't know what there is I can use to help him, but Castiel needs help.

"I want to live," says Castiel.

"But as what, Castiel? As an angel? Or a man?"

An angel? Did I just hear that right? Well, I did hear Heaven get mentioned earlier. But some of the pieces still aren't adding up. How can Castiel be an angel if he's as human as me?

I bolt when I hear the door crash open, abandoning Tanya, who begins to cry again. I run through the hall and into the main area where Ephraim has Castiel down on his knees, and someone has come crashing through the door. With a flick of his wrist, Ephraim sends the stranger flying into a corner.

"You say you want to live," Ephraim spits. "But you can't see what I see. By choosing a human life, you've already given up. You...chose...death."

Okay, okay, Castiel is about to supposedly die. Think! I look around. Ephraim doesn't know I'm in the room, his attention is on Castiel. The stranger who is trying to pick himself up off the floor has a silver blade that's awfully close to my feet. I grab it, the stranger doesn't say a word.

I see Ephraim's hand go for Castiel's forehead. I strike, stabbing Ephraim through his back. He screams loudly in my ears, and bright light blinds me. I stumble away, landing on my ass on the floor, covering my eyes.

When Ephraim's screams stop, the white light disappears. I take my arms away from my eyes, panting, seeing the dead body on the floor. I look at Castiel, who looks a bit surprised by my action.

"Okay," I pant heavily. "Can someone please explain to me what the fuck is going on here?!"

Castiel looks at me, trying to find words, but nothing comes to mind. From the corner of my eye, the other stranger is on his knees, trying to catch his breath. I get to my feet, walking to Castiel, offering a hand. I pull him up gingerly.

"You okay there, 'Steve'?" I ask a bit bitingly. "Or should I call you Castiel now?"

"I know, I have to explain myself."

"Damn right you do. But seriously, are you hurt?"

"I'll manage. Thank you, Sierra."

"What are roomies for?" I try to smile.

"Not bad," come the deep rumble behind me.

I half turn, then fully turn. As he's brushing himself off, I feel as though I've seen a ghost. The last time I saw him was over a decade ago. That day had been my last as the old me before I ran off to cover my tracks and start anew.

The family business has hardened him, I can tell in his features. His green eyes are looking at me as I find myself staring back at him. I recognize him, he hasn't changed. But does he know who I am?

The question is: what's the connection between my brother and my roomie?

"Nice reflexes," he continues to tell me.

I toss my hair dramatically. "Someone had to do something." I look back at Castiel. "Let me guess, he's the friend you mentioned?" Castiel nods. I scoff. "Figures. He would be the one to give you some first date advice."

"You act like you know me," says my brother.

"That's because I do, ass-hat. You just don't remember me."

"What are you saying?" asks Castiel.

When the green eyes finally give me a thorough examination, the light goes off in his brain. He stiffens, and I know the reason why. He hadn't appreciated me leaving the family. The tense silence blankets us. "You call yourself 'Sierra'?" my brother asks me. "You always had a fascination with that name."

I shrug. "Good cover name."

"Yeah, well, the cover's blown now, sis."

"I'm sorry," Castiel interrupts. "But did you say she's your sister?"

I look at Castiel. "Yes, he did."

"Cas, meet my little sister, Josette," my brother introduces me.

Castiel looks at me in a different, critical way. His gaze goes between me and my brother, trying to search for the similarities. "There's a third Winchester offspring?"

I roll my eyes. "Yes, I'm the third Winchester child."

My brothers scoffs behind me. "She hasn't been a Winchester for over ten years."

I tense. "I had my reasons and you know it."

"Look, if you two want to catch up, you can. I think your phone is ringing, J-Josette. That might be Nora." Castiel runs off to fetch my phone.

I turn my attention back to my big brother. Yes, big brother. He's the oldest, I'm the middle, and then we both have a baby brother. The age gap is two years for all of us, well, four years for my brothers' age gap, two for them and me.

"So, Rexford, Idaho, huh?" my big brother asks. "This is where you've been crouching all these years?"

"Yeah." I wrinkle my nose. "It was a quiet place until Ephraim started killing people." I rub my forehead. "For over a decade, I was kept out of this, and I guess it came back to find me in the form of your friend Castiel."

"He mentioned someone had taken him in. Never would've thought in a million years it would've been you." He takes back his blade from the floor.

"I can see you're still in the business."

"Yeah, I am."

"What about Sam?"

"He's right there with me."

I frown. "Damn it. Am I the only one who escaped?"

"You did for a while, until now." He wears a matching grimace to mirror mine. "You been a hermit since you left?"

"I've kept my head down and out of all things supernatural," I state a bit coldly.

"Doesn't really answer the question, Jo-Jo."

My nostrils flare. I shake my head. Unbelievable. For years, I've hidden. I'm back in the spotlight.

"Nora's on her way back," Castiel says as he comes back into the room. "She's really worried."

"Well, considering you told her you were gonna take Tanya to the hospital, I'll bet," I say neutrally. "You know, a hospital visit isn't necessary." A light bulb goes off in my head. "Don't tell Nora, but I'm gonna look through her medicine cabinets. I don't know how I didn't think of this before..."

"Wait, why?"

I begin to search for a bathroom in the house. "Here's a tip for you, Castiel: when a baby gets a fever, something like Tylenol will help tackle it."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I've been on this earth for a few decades, I know what I'm talking about. I know you've been alive eons longer than me, but you've spent your time up in the clouds whereas I've been down here all my life."

I've just somehow suddenly accepted the fact that Castiel belongs to Heaven. Getting back into this is way easier than I want it to be. I shouldn't be back in this so quickly. I shouldn't be taking this all so lightly like I am. I should be raging on my older brother and against Castiel. I should be freaking out on them for just pulling me back into this.

He's right there with me. And what's worse? I hear that my little brother is in cahoots with our older brother too, even though I know he'd thought about staying away from the life too. Guess he didn't have as big of a chance as I had when it came around.

I push my angry thoughts aside and continue to dig through Nora's medicine cabinet to help Tanya tackle her fever.

**Yay, a family reunion! But looks like Cas is in some hot water for lying. Well, Josette can't talk much, because she gave him a fake name too.

But even out of practice, our girl can still kick ass. She's a Winchester, after all.**