How did life go from good to bad, from clean to rotten, from happy to heartbreakingly sad, all in the space of a single encounter" More importantly, how did you start to pick up the pieces that were left to you afterward" Losing her mother had never been something that Ayden had ever really contemplated, and her father had never really been a part of the equation. But she'd always thought, when it happened, it would be years from now, peaceful, natural, normal. Not death by feathered as$-wipe with an ego the size of Canada. And to learn on top of that shock that John had been dead for a few years ....it might have been too much to bear alone. But Ayden wasn't alone.

For all that her very existence had been a shock to the system for them, she had two brothers who jumped to take her under their respective wings as soon as their suspicious minds had been set at rest. She had their friends who opened their arms to accept her as a part of this strange extended family without a second thought. And though it was still early days and she couldn't predict yet quite how things were going to go, she could be grateful that she wasn't alone. Especially today.

It had been Bobby who had strongly recommended cremation. Ellen who had talked her through the details of organising the funeral. Sam who had gone through her mom's address book with her. Dean who had given her the strength to go against tradition and say no to having a wake or a brunch. And even sitting there in the front row of the almost empty chapel, knowing that the only people there were the colleagues and friends who had been able to get the afternoon off from work, Ayden knew she couldn't have held a hope of holding it together without her brothers beside her.

The service was simple, meaning cheap, the appointment with the solictor made for tomorrow morning. By sunset of the next day, everything tying her to Windom would be dealt with, she hoped. But it didn't help her to watch the coffin slowly slip from sight. Sam's suit was never going to be the same again - she could already see the material crinkling from the sheer amount of salt tears that had soaked his shoulder.

It didn't seem right that the sun was shining when they stepped out of the chapel, out of the way of the next grieving party booked for the little space. But the sunlight made it a little easier to accept the condolences offered by her mother's friends and colleagues as they lingered, not knowing quite what to do now. Ayden blew her nose loudly on a tissue, turning away from the chapel. "Thank God that's over."

"You okay?" Sam asked, playing the part of the comforting big brother, hovering close, never letting Ayden get too far out of sight, while Dean didn't stay in one place for too long, constantly on the move, like a cop on the beat. Both brothers were dressed in dark-colored suits usually only worn when they were impersonating FBI officers investing some case or other. Thankfully, Ellen had made sure both suits were clean and pressed before they'd left Sioux Falls, or they'd have looked a wrinkled mess.

"Honestly?" Her dark head tipped back to let the tallest of her brothers see the brimming redness of her eyes as she sniffled, wiping the heel of her hand over her cheeks roughly. "No. No, I'm not okay. But that's allowed, right?" She glanced over at the prowling Dean, a faint frown touching her brow. "What's he doing?"

Sam slipped a protective arm around Ayden's shoulders to give her an encouraging, reassuring hug. He was generally better at giving comfort than Dean, always careful about his choice of words, while Dean wore his heart on his sleeve and said whatever was on his mind. Sam glanced over at his brother, who was just exiting the chapel after giving it a final go over. "He's just taking precautions," Sam replied, looking back to Ayden with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. We're not gonna let anything happen to you." Sam noticed a small crowd gathering for the next service and looked back over at Dean nervously.

"Encouraging words, Sam." The voice that spoke was not Ayden's, but it was one both she and Sam knew well enough to recognise. Zachariah turned from where he had been standing in the midst of the milling crowd of people, levelling a deceptively benevolent smile onto the brother and sister. With skillful Brownian motion, the people about to enter the chapel mingled their way into the space that had been left between Dean and his younger siblings, propelled by the angels in their midst, cutting him off from Ayden and Sam. "Do I take them to mean that you and your brother are finally considering playing by the rules?"

Ayden jumped violently, shrinking back against Sam. "That's him, he -" He killed my mom. But she didn't dare say it aloud, not out here in front of people who may or may not be friends or enemies.

Sam didn't budge an inch. The arm he'd wound around Ayden's shoulders only pulled her protectively closer. Unlike Dean, who would have gone for his gun, Sam didn't bother, knowing it wouldn't do him any good anyway. "Like you play by the rules?" he retorted, eyes narrowing. Where the hell was Dean' he wondered, unable to search the crowd, needing to keep his attention focused on Zachariah. "What kind of angel are you, anyway' Killing innocent people to fulfill your own objectives. Is that God's will?"

"Spoken like the true Vessel of Lucifer." And despite the sneer the words were spoken through, Zachariah actually seemed pleased with this development. Movement behind jostled him, and his smug smile faltered for a moment. "You know the worst thing about my job?" he said mildly. "Besides having to wear one of you ....apes ....It's having to deal with the lack of respect down here." He waved a hand, and the world around them froze, people caught in a single moment of time that would not end until his hold on them was broken. "Much better. Where was I?"

The sudden cessation of natural movement all around them was a little too much for Ayden. Whatever she might have said at hearing the name of the Devil thrown into the mix died in her throat as she was given another clear indication of how ready this angel was to use his God-given gifts on anyone in his proximity.

Sam darted a worried glance at Ayden, unable to hide his alarm. This wasn't the way he and Dean wanted her to find out what she'd inadvertently stumbled into, and there was no way in hell they were allowing her to say yes to Michael, no matter what the consequences. "Did it ever occur to you we might be more inclined to play by the rules if you didn't shove those rules down our throats?" Sam asked, darting a glance at the crowd to search for Dean before looking back at Zachariah. Sam could only hope that Castiel had showed up and he and Dean were working on getting rid of Zachariah.

Zachariah rolled his eyes, dismissing Sam from the focus of his attention. "Blah, blahblahblah ....it's not you I'm here to talk to, Sam, so -" He clicked his fingers in Sam's direction, releasing one of those nasty little spells he was so fond of on the Winchester. His gaze focused instead on Ayden. "I'm here to talk to you, precious. Don't you want to see Mommy again?"

Sam groaned and doubled over in agonizing pain, the taste of his own blood filling his mouth, feeling like his insides were being torn apart. He dropped to the ground, clutching his middle, unable to do anything but writhe and groan, a little too reminiscent of Ayden's mother's death. "Don't..." he hissed through clenched teeth. "Don't....trust....him."

Any time now would be good, Dean, Sam thought to himself as his insides hemorrhaged. He coughed, blood dribbling from his lips onto the pavement.

"So not back to my mom's house, then." Ayden rolled her eyes, still fighting down the urge to panic as she guided her brother's gorgeous car through streets she knew better than any other. "What sort of place are you talking about - a motel, or somewhere to squat, or what? I'm not used to this, I don't know what you mean by lay low."

Sioux Falls was only a few hours' drive, but that was out of the question as she had to meet with the lawyer in the morning and finish wrapping up Ayden's mother estate. "Somewhere out of town." Dean grimaced as he finished wrapping up his hand. "Damn it! I knew he'd be here, that son of a bitch. He didn't hurt you, did he?"

She shook her head, grateful that she was driving. It meant she didn't have the luxury of studying everything that had just happened as in-depth as her brain would like before the shock and fright wore off. "No, he didn't touch me," she assured her brother. "He just ....Are you sure Sam's gonna be okay' He's not going to die from complications like my mom did?" And there was the punch in the gut - her mother had been expendable. No one had yet managed to find the words to explain to Ayden just what was going on, and Ellen had extracted painful promises from all of them that they weren't going to drop the whole gory mess on her in one go.

Dean glanced over his shoulder at his brother, who was a bit too quiet in the back seat, just to make sure he was, indeed, still alive. He didn't look so good, but Dean could tell from the slow rise and fall of Sam's chest that he was still breathing. Anyway, they both knew Zachariah didn't have the balls to kill Lucifer's "true vessel". He might use Sam to try and force Dean into saying yes, but he wasn't going to kill him, not unless Michael told him to. Ayden, on the other hand, was another matter. A thoughtful frown touched Dean's face as he turned back around. He'd promised Ellen he wouldn't spill the beans to Ayden all at once, but if things kept going the way they were going, it was going to be hard keeping that promise.

"No, he's not going to die." Not yet. Not while they need him. "We should head out of town. Somewhere they won't think to look. A campground or something. Some place where we can hide the car and lay low for a while. A motel is the first place they'll look," Dean instructed, as he finished wrapping his hand, tying the cloth off with his teeth.

"Oh." It was such a small sound, capable of betraying any number of emotions. This one, falling from Ayden's lips, was more a suggestion toward sound than anything actually audible, cut off by a hurried shock of breath inward that she held too long for comfort. One week had not been enough time to get over the horror of her mother's death, and it certainly hadn't been enough time for them to prepare her for the angels to try again.

She nodded as Dean handed out instructions once again, forcing herself not to give into the deep desire to break into little pieces all over again. "Uh, there's a few, uh ....there are cabins, in the woods," she offered in a tight voice, taking the next turn that would bring them out of the town. "It's not the season yet, so they're probably all empty."

"That works." Now that Sam was settled and Dean had finished wrapping his hand, he looked over at Ayden again - really looked at her. He thought she was holding up pretty well, all things considered, but she was a Winchester, after all. Now that they were fairly safely heading away from Windom, Dean had a moment to think on how hard this all had to be for her, and he felt a mixture of compassion, sympathy, and pride for his long-lost sister, mingled with rage at the angels for having dragged her into this. He couldn't just leave her hanging with no answers, no matter what he'd promised Ellen.

His first thoughts, however, were for her well-being and that of Sam. He had to get them somewhere safe and then maybe he could explain a few things. He recognized the signs of shock and stress, trying to keep her mind occupied by letting her drive, but unsure if that was wise. If she started to come undone behind the wheel, it could prove disastrous. "You okay to drive?"

A slightly hysterical laugh snorted free of her lips as she shook her head. "I'm not going to drive us off the road, if that's what you're asking," was her slightly snarky response to his concern. There was a moment of quiet as again she made the effort to calm herself down, understanding that there would be time to fall apart, just like there had been last time. It just wasn't right now. "What did he mean?" she asked softly. "When he said Sam was off-limits. What's so special about you and Sam?"

"It's not just me and Sam," he told her, frowning again. You're part of this, too, thanks to my father. Our father. "I'm not supposed to tell you. Ellen thinks you'll freak out and fall apart." He studied her to see what her reaction would be to that small bit of information. She was on the verge of hysteria as it was, and he wasn't sure how much it would take to send her over the edge. "How much do you know about us" Me and Sam?"

"What do you mean, it's not just you and Sam?" Ayden demanded, an edge to her voice that suggested she was careening headlong toward an angry outburst, rather than the tears her brothers were more accustomed to. Neither of them had seen her really lose it yet, but if she was anything like them, they could probably imagine what was going to happen. "I know what you've told me; I know you're hunters and Dad was a dick with trust issues which is why you didn't know about me and Sam's best weapon is his puppy-dog eyes and you're always one burger away from a coronary and if you guys weren't around, I'd be in a complete mess, but I don't really know anything about you!"

Dean frowned at her sadly, just for a moment all the tragedy of his life flooding to the surface and making itself known by the expression on his face, before he turned his head away to stuff it back down and carefully compose himself again. "This isn't the time or the place. You're just gonna have to trust me a little while longer." Not while she was driving. He wasn't sure if it was better to tell her all at once or in bits and pieces.

Either way, it was going to be a shock. He knew he should probably focus on explaining what was going on now, how this all affected her, and not burden her with his own issues, his own burden of guilt and tragedy. "Dad was trying to protect you, Ayden. That's why he never told us about you or let you call us. He didn't want you involved in this. He should have stayed away, but he didn't. I don't know why. Maybe he wanted a little normal in his life. Maybe he loved you too much to never see you again. This life always finds you eventually. It's why me and Sam aren't attached. It's not safe to be attached."

"Yeah, well, I'm attached to you now," was her cutting answer, and in just those few words was the connection she'd made with her brothers, a connection that should have been a lifetime in the making. She drew in a deep breath, clearing her throat, her eyes fixed on the road ahead. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you, it's just ....My mom was my world, you know? And I'm not even allowed to say goodbye to her without something happening. He made her spit blood, just like he made Sam, I - I thought it was happening again. And I know there's something huge happening that you're all in the middle of and you're trying to keep me out of, but ....Dean, I can't lose anyone else. I don't care how long you lie to me, I don't care if you never tell me what?s going on. Just don't shut me out. I really can't do this on my own."