Redeemed

Chapter 2: We Have A Problem

[[Elena P.O.V.]]

I turn around, jumping as I'm startled. "Oh my gosh Cas you scared the hell out of me. Where have you been?" I ask as I walk up to him, my hand resting over my pregnant stomach.

He smiles at me, opening up his arms for a hug. He has the sweetest look on his face.  I haven't seen Cas since he came to tell us Cassie had disappeared.  He wraps me into a warm hug, causing me to smile happily.  It's good to see him.  Plus, every time he's around I just feel so safe.  I mean he is an angel.

"Wow, you're so much more pregnant now than the last time I saw you."  He says with a chuckle as he looks down at my stomach.  I laugh, "Oh yeah, I know."  The last time he saw me my baby bump was still pretty small. We both just smile for a minute, laughing with each other. 

After a few seconds his bright smile and warm laugh begin to fade as he looks away from me, worry in his eyes. 

Something's wrong.

"What is it?"  I ask. 

There has to be a reason he's here.  Castiel doesn't usually just visit unless he has some kind of bad news or just news in general.  Usually its bad, though. 

"I saw Katherine." 

Cas says, looking at me with concern and perhaps even a little fear. Even though Katherine is just a vampire, she's tough. She's a hard one to kill especially when she's got Crowley, the King of Hell on her side. He lets out a deep sigh, making his way over to sit down at the table. I follow, sitting in a chair beside him. I'm a little nervous to hear what he has to say about her. "I didn't see Cassie with her, but I did see Crowley meeting up with her at a restaurant in Virginia." Cas explains.

"I wonder what they were doing?" I say, shaking my head in confusion. Castiel takes a deep breath as he looks at his clasped hands. "They're planning something most likely, I just don't know what it is yet. They've been laying pretty low up until today. I couldn't find them anywhere." He says with another deep sigh.

Cas looks crazily stressed and I can tell he's been worrying about this for a while. Caroline comes out from the hallway, pleasantly surprised to see Cas. "Oh! Hey Castiel! I was wondering what was keeping Elena so long." She says, plopping down into a seat near us. She crosses her arms, her blonde hair down in long curls. I'm pretty casual today but Caroline is all nicely dressed.

Castiel smiles at her, "Yeah, I just got here a few minutes ago." I look over at Caroline. "He saw Katherine and Crowley." I say, updating her on what's going on. Caroline narrows her brows as she leans into the table, looking over at Cas as the conversation takes a serious turn. "So they've finally showed themselves. Do you think they know you're watching them? I mean they've been hiding away this whole time, yet today of all days they decide to go out in public and risk being seen by one of us. They must have done that on purpose." Caroline says.

Castiel begins to shake his head, "They aren't worried about us seeing them. They aren't afraid of us. They've probably been hiding this whole time to get us to think they're gone, and that maybe they're going to leave us alone now. They want us to let our guard down." Cas explains.

This actually makes sense.

"Crowley has to know I'm pregnant by now too. Katherine knew when we were at the wedding. She said it 'changes everything'. They have to be cooking up something really bad. That's all they ever do. It's just one extreme to the next." I say, shaking my head as I let out a sigh. "Dean is not going to take this well. We haven't even seen Crowley or Castiel for months and Dean has been super protective and cautious—almost too cautious. This will only make him worse." Caroline says as she looks back and forth from Castiel and I.