**Grace Awakening** Supernatural Fanfiction: Book Two

Part Six: Grace Awakening

Dean hadn't had a dream about Sophie in a long time, and now they were starting up again- preventing him from sleeping through the night. There was something different about them this time. Used to, in his dreams, Sophie would die time and time again; Castiel and Sam would turn on him- sometimes, even his father would show up and tell him what a failure he was. Other times, he'd see Sophie burning in Hell as he once did, being tortured by the things he'd hunted in the past.

Now, in these dreams, Dean was seeing Sophie in Heaven, among the angels. Sometimes they were torturing her; sometimes, she was at Dean's feet, asking him over and over what she had done to deserve death. She'd plea with him to bring her back, tell him that he was going to burn in Hell for letting her die and ask him why he always left her behind- chose Sam over her. It was heart breaking and, as much as Dean knew they were only dreams and that it was unlike Sophie to be so cold, it terrified him.

Before Sam lost his mind and before the Leviathans, Dean often wondered if Castiel resented him for what happened to Sophie. After all, even though Cas was a celestial being, Dean knew Cas counted on him to follow through and he hadn't. When they were in Purgatory, and Dean had tried to pull Cas out, Castiel had said he'd forgiven him just before Dean let go of his hand. Cas was out there, in the real world, somewhere, but he hadn't been around in ages. Did Cas mean what he said?

Castiel had said, after Sophie died, that she was the one angel to whom he held a special bond. They were both angels, but Cas had still felt like her guardian in some way or another. Sophie was a perfect, forgiving angel and it made her naive in many ways. She managed to see the imperfections in her brother and sisters, before she saw the imperfection in mankind; that may have been her mistake. Trusting that Dean could follow through and keep her safe. Everyone knows, Death follows Dean like a wave.

Still, what Sam had said to him the day before rattled around in his mind. Even now, as Ella stood at the edge of the grave, ready with the salt and lighter, Dean took notice of a certain resemblance. He hated to admit it, and every part of him wanted to deny it. If he had given Sophie the chance to hunt with them, she would've looked the way Ella did now. He had to give the girl no guidance- she knew exactly what to do to burn the corpse's bones, standing calm and composed. Dean had met Supernatural fans before, and even they freaked when it came to seeing the real deal. Ella hadn't.

Dean climbed out the the grave, watching Sam as he pulled the coffin open. As it turned out, the vengeful spirit was that of a Martha Alburry and she was taking her vengeance out on widowed husbands that had caused their wives death. Of course, the husbands hadn't murdered their wives directly, they had been survivors in accidents in which their wives suffered the consequence of death. All because Martha Alburry's husband had let her die in a house fire.

Sam pulled open the worn casket, revealing the decrepit bones of Martha Alburry. Out of the corner of Dean's eye, he noticed Ella keeping a straight face and was somewhat impressed. She salted the bones almost immediately and tossed the empty container to the side once she finished. "You're pretty good at this," Dean complimented.

"Thanks," Ella responded, nonchalantly.

"Dean!" Sam hollered suddenly.

As Ella was pulling out the lighter, Dean happened to glance over as the ghost of Martha Alburry appeared beside her. He was too slow to react and the Ella was flung off into the distance, slamming her back against a tree. "Ella!" Dean shouted, watching as the girl dipped her head, unconscious.

Sam pulled out his shotgun, but the spirit sent it away just as quickly. Sam's expression fell just before the spirit brought him to his knees. Dean tried to reach for his gun, but the spirit stuck her hand through his chest, gripping tightly onto his heart. Dean hissed in pain, feeling the sharp pain in his heart as the spirit squeezed.