Wanted

Chapter 25

The first few times Michael visits his sister, he's like any good brother — worried, loving, the whole nine yards.

The fourth time he visits his sister, he's with a flock of other agents, and it's all business.

Well, mostly.

"Hey, Anna," Michael says quietly, giving her a brief hug.

"Hi," Anna says with a small, half-hearted smile.

"Is it okay if they ask you a few questions?" Michael asks, pretending he hasn't already asked her, with full intentions of not letting anyone talk to her if she didn't want them to. Or, at least, that's what she told him, but Castiel had reluctantly given the two some space during his visit.

"Do you want me to leave?" Castiel asks. He's not sure how much he's allowed to know now that he's out of a job.

"No, you're all set," Michael says quickly, before the agents who took over his job can complain.

Castiel fights back a frown. He was expecting Michael to give him the go-ahead. He really doesn't want to talk about the guy, it even listen to them talk about him. Hopefully, if all goes well, they'll ask two or three questions, ignore Castiel completely, and be gone in five minutes, tops. There can't be much for Anna to tell them, anyway.

"What do you know about the Bloody Valentine already?" one of the agents — Bela Talbot, maybe? — asks. "Before then."

Anna shrugs, then winces at the movement. "I don't know. He kills people. That's about it."

"Nothing else?" she insists.

"Michael and Castiel didn't exactly chat about it at Thanksgiving dinners, if that's what you're wondering."

"Of course not," the other agent, Crowley, says quickly, shooting Bela a glare. "They wouldn't do that."

"Of course," she deadpans.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Crowley asks.

"Um..." Anna pauses, then says, "Well, he knocked on my door, and I answered it, obviously, and he said he was new to the neighborhood and he needed to borrow some sugar."

Bela looks at her partner and sys quietly, "Well, now we know where the bag of sugar came from."

"Well, I gave him some, and he pulled out a knife and he..." Anna trails off, fiddling with her hands in her lap.

"And you're still alive," Bela points out. "That's never happened before."

"I was lucky, I guess," Anna says. "Or..." She pauses, thinking, and realization dawns on her face. "No, he called 911 for me. He didn't want me to die."

"Why would he do that?" Castiel asks before he can stop himself. Seeing the glares him Bela and Crowley, Castiel quickly averts his gaze.

"I don't know," Anna says. "I... No, wait, I do know. Kinda."

Castiel cocks his head to the side, more interested than he'd like to admit.

"I have pictures on my bookshelf. He recognized you."

Castiel gapes at her. "He recognized me? Like, me me?"

Anna nods. "Yeah, I think. I'm pretty sure I heard him say your name."

"Well, that's... creepy," Castiel says, but if he's being honest, that's what saved his sister's life. He really can't complain about it.

"Can you let us do this?" Crowley asks, exasperated. "It's not your job anymore "

Castiel puts his hands up in a half-assed surrender.

"What do you remember about him?" Bela asks.

"He was tall," Anna says. "He, um... he seemed really nice — you know, at first, obviously. He... Oh, he said his name was Dean. Does that help?"

"He would have given you a fake name," Bela says. "But thanks for trying."

Castiel raises an eyebrow. What would he get out of giving her a fake name? He was just going to kill her, anyway. It didn't matter what she knew his name or not.

But god knows they won't want to hear it.

"Is that it?" Crowley asks.

Anna nods. "Yeah, pretty much. I'm sorry."

Though Crowley and Bela assure her it's okay, as they walk away, Bela mutters, "Well, that was useless."

Anna sighs and lies back down in her hospital bed. "I'm sorry. That didn't help at all."

"It did help," Michael says. "Anything helps. Just knowing that he's tall helps."

"Does it help to know he's, like, your height?" Anna asks.

"Definitely," Michael says. "Do you remember hair color?"

"I remember he looked really put together," Anna says. "That's about it."

"You remember he looked put together, but not his hair color?" Michael repeats.

Anna shrugs sheepishly. "He was kinda cute."

Michael sighs. "Anna."

"I thought he was just a new neighbor," Anna says. "I'm allowed to think my neighbors are cute."

Michael just shakes his head, but he almost looks amused at that. "Well, I have to go, but thank you. For everything. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I know you will," Anna says with a small smile. "Go be important. I'll be here."