"Hey, can we talk?"

Dean had been thinking about his next move, remembering the promise he made to Sam about living a normal life. There was a way for him to have it, but he needed to make sure he wouldn't make the biggest mistake of his life first. If there was the tiniest chance the woman in the room at the end of the hallway felt the same way he did, then she would be his life. Even if he also felt something for Lisa, he couldn't ignore what he felt for Allegra.
So now, Dean found himself standing in the doorway, hoping she would let him in. Allegra briefly looked up at the sound of his voice. She shrugged, and he took a seat opposite her on the windowsill. She was writing something but closed her notebook before he could see what it was.

"You okay?" Dean asked.

"Fine."

"Hey, I'm serious. You were buried alive out there."

"I said I'm fine."

Dean drew back a bit at her snappy reaction. He tried to read her, squinted eyes wandering over her. Allegra sat with her knees to her chest, her hands fidgeting with the pen she'd been using and her eyes focussing a little too much on the notebook. It seemed like she was doing her best not to look at him directly.

"Allegra, what's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Bull. You've locked yourself up in here since we came back yesterday."

She tsk-ed.

"I just wanted to give you guys some time to grieve, that's all."

"I'm not in the mood for that crap. Tell me what the hell is going on."

Allegra kept quiet. If Dean didn't know any better, he would say she put her shield up around herself to completely shut away from him. But after all this time, he got a pretty good understanding of how that particular power worked, and it wasn't like this. 
Dean wasn't going to leave it at that. One way or another, she was going to talk to him. 

"Allegra, why didn't you tell me you're an Archangel?"

Finally, she looked up at him. Her lips slightly parted as if to ask how, but Dean beat her to it.

"Cas mentioned it."

"He shouldn't have." Allegra huffed and turned her head to look away.

"You're right; you should've. We're friends, Allegra. You know you can trust me with stuff like that. Especially with stuff like that."

Dean sighed when she stubbornly kept staring out the window. 

"I know Gabriel went to see you. You've been acting different since you came back, don't think I didn't notice. What the hell did the bastard tell you? What did you find out?"

But Allegra continued her silent treatment of him.

"Allegra, please..."

Dean moved to take one of her hands, but she quickly crossed her arms over her chest, closing up even more. 

"Stop acting like you're Prince Charming helping the damsel in distress, Winchester," she spoke in an icy voice. "We both know you're not."

The insult completely threw Dean off. Allegra had never spoken to him that way before. She was usually so... well, not this! She hadn't even asked how he was doing after his brother's death! This was not at all how Dean imagined their conversation to go. If anything, he had expected her to come to him. But she hadn't. 
Dean felt his anger rising. Anger and pain. How the hell could she do this to him now? Why would she treat him like nothing ever happened between them? Like they weren't even friends?!
His eyes fell on the notebook resting in Allegra's lap. What could possibly be so important that she prefered to write in that stupid thing? He acted quickly and snatched the notebook away, crossing the room with it to create distance between them. 

"Dean, no!" yelled Allegra.

He skimmed through the pages. It looked like a journal, similar to the one his dad made and which he still used to solve cases. It seemed like everything she knew about her powers and angels was written in the notebook. Bible quotes, references to events all across the globe, personal thoughts... 

"Dean, give it back."

But Dean ignored her and halted on one particular page.

'Gabriel came yesterday. His story was interesting, to say the least. Apparently, I'm a hybrid - a human with a celestial soul. My last name is an anagram of the word 'ANGEL,' but according to him, that should've been Archangel, which is what I am. Or what I'm supposed to become, I don't know.
It explains a lot, but not everything. And I didn't buy his explanation of why I have control over the plagues. Whatever the real reason is, demons are always gonna be after me. If they get my soul, they get control over the plagues. The most likely way out is I die, and the angels retrieve my soul before the demons do. But Gabriel also mentioned that I'd be of no use to anyone if I lost my powers. So maybe I can find a way to give the powers back. Maybe I can be normal. No need to run, no need to fight. Wouldn't that be something?'

Dean swallowed. Why the hell had she kept this from him? Sure, they'd been busy with the Horsemen and stopping the Apocalypse, but it's not like he wouldn't have spared a minute to listen to her. He turned a couple more pages and came to the one she wrote before. His heart stopped when he read the words.

'Sam died. He trapped Lucifer and Michael in the Cage using the rings of the Horsemen. I tried to track his soul, but I can't get to him. But that's not going to stop me from finding a way in. Lucifer told Michael he should've taken a personal interest in me as he had. He said I should thank him for taking away my choice because if he came out the winner, I'd be his by right. I need to know what he meant by that. Castiel is ignoring me, as are the other angels. They're leaving me no choice. I need to get in... or get Lucifer out.'

Dean's hands trembled. His anger made way for unbridled rage.

"What the hell is this?" His voice quivered. "What. The. HELL?!"

He threw the notebook against the wall. Allegra didn't even flinch at his outburst. She just stood there.

"After EVERYTHING we went through, you wanna get the son of a bitch back?! What the hell are you thinking?!"

"I want answers, Dean."

"You are NOT opening the Cage, Allegra! You are NOT wasting Sam's sacrifice for this! Over my dead body!"

Dean didn't care if Bobby could hear them. He couldn't fathom why she would even think about doing this. They risked their very lives, Sam lost his. Was she really prepared to bring the biggest evil the universe had ever seen back into the world for the chance of having the truth? 
Allegra sighed and took a step toward him. Her body language said everything and nothing. It was tense yet relaxed. Her face stood strict yet serene. It was unearthly almost. 

"I don't expect you to understand, Dean. And you don't have to be involved if you don't want to be. But I have to do this." She held our her hand. "I need those rings now."

It wasn't what she asked that made him lose it. It was the way she asked it. Calm, controlled, like it was the most normal thing in the world to ask. Like it was okay to ask for it. 
Dean lunged and grabbed Allegra by her shoulders to push her against the window frame. The past two years of being around her flashed through his mind. She had been his conscience, his voice of reason, the one who calmed him down. He missed her so much during the months she fell off the radar. Now he actually found himself wishing she'd never come back.

"Why?" His fury masked his breaking voice. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Not everything is about you, Winchester."

Allegra barely blinked. Dean tried to see the lie in her eyes. But there was nothing. No emotion, no regret, nothing. He let go and stepped back.

"Guess it's to be expected from an Archangel. The cold, selfish bitch is finally showing."

He scoffed and sneered at her.

"Good luck finding those rings."

He turned around and walked away. He thought he heard a gasp, but he didn't look back. There was nothing left for him in that room. Not anymore.

If Dean had turned around, he would've seen the mask fall off. He would've seen Allegra fall back, steadying herself against the windowsill He would've seen the tears streaming down her cheeks. He would've seen the broken young woman who lied to the man she wanted to be with more than anything in the world so that he would leave - because it was the only way.

***

An hour later, he was gone. Allegra watched the Impala drive away, and all she wanted to do was go after Dean. She remembered Sam mentioning a girl, Lisa, and hoped that's who he was going to see. She hoped Lisa would let him in and give him the life he could never have with her.
Allegra could've left then. Go back to roaming the country, living in woods and abandoned houses. Go back to being on her own, which was best for everyone. But she needed help looking for answers. Castiel and the other angels were ignoring her; she hadn't lied about that in her notebook. So there was only one other person she could turn to. And she would have to be completely honest with him.
She went downstairs to find Bobby sitting at his desk, drinking whiskey. The scowl he gave Allegra when she entered the living room told her enough. Bobby took the gun from a stack of books and aimed at her.

"You got about 10 seconds to get your ass out of my house, missy," he threatened.

"Please, wait," said Allegra, mustering all her courage. "I need your help."

"If you think I'm stupid enough to give you those rings, you're dead wrong. You've got 5 seconds left."

"I lied!"

Allegra pulled out a torn page to show Bobby. It was the one she wrote before Dean walked into her room. The one she had wanted him to read.

"I don't want to open the Cage, Bobby," she explained, sliding the page over the desk. "I just needed Dean to believe it."

"Why the hell would you do that?" he asked.

"Because I needed him to hate me."

"Again, why?"

"Because I don't want him to die."

Bobby lowered the gun a little bit and sat back in his chair, surprised at the answer. Allegra took her chance to continue.

"Look, I know you don't like me, Bobby. I know Dean is the only reason you haven't pulled that trigger yet and that with him gone, there's nothing stopping you from doing that. But I really need you to listen to me. And if you still wanna kill me after... you can."

The Hunter huffed but did put the gun down. He took another glass from one of the desk drawers, poured some whiskey, and put it in front of Allegra. She sat down and told him everything. Bobby let her speak for two hours without interrupting her. She told him how she was tortured in Hell (even showed him the scars, to which he turned sickly pale) and then saved by Michael. She told him about the plagues and her other powers, about getting Dean out of Hell and sticking around the Winchesters, and about Gabriel and what he told her. She finished with the last thing Lucifer said to her. He sighed and scratched his cap over his head when she was done.

"That's a whole lot to process," he said..

"I need to know what he meant," said Allegra. "I need to know why I was created. The angels know, but they're blocking me. Even Castiel."

"I hate to break it to ya, kid, but your best shot at finding answers walked out the door hours ago."

"Bobby, I already told you I..."

"Yeah, yeah, you needed Dean gone 'cause you don't want him to die. Kinda still waiting on your explanation for that one."

Allegra swallowed. She didn't know if she had the strength to actually talk about that night. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out.

"Okay then." Bobby took his phone out.

"What are you doing?" asked Allegra.

"Calling Dean. I'll tell him you lied and that he needs to haul his ass back here pronto."

"No, don't!" She reached over to grab his wrist but quickly let go again. "Sorry. He's... He's better off away from me, Bobby. Please just trust me on that."

"If you want me to trust you, I'm gonna need more than that. So, last chance, or I start dialing again."

Allegra sighed. Then, she did the one thing she swore to never do; she talked about Eric, the only guy she'd ever been with, who died because of her. 

"Let me get this straight." Bobby stared at her with big eyes. "This guy's organs exploded inside his body, and then he just... burst into flames. A-And the angels told you that's what would happen if you...'

Allegra nodded.

"So you've never..."

She shook her head.

"Damn..." Bobby poured another shot of whiskey for the both of them. "That sucks."

"Dean and I, we... I mean, I... We..." Allegra tried to form a decent sentence, but her emotions were all over the place right now. "He... He doesn't know about Eric. I never told him. I couldn't risk being around him anymore. So..."

"So you put up the whole 'get Lucifer back' facade so that he would hate you and leave. Swell..."

Bobby sat back, a stricken expression on his face. Allegra watched him closely. She took a gamble in confiding in him. She imagined that he thought the best thing to do was just pull the trigger and be done with it. There was a part of her that actually wished for that to happen. When the Hunter finally moved, she braced herself for the shot. But it never came. Instead, Bobby put Sam's laptop in front of her, and he himself got up to take some books from the shelves. 

"You search the web, and I'll go through the books."

Allegra was too confused and surprised to react. She stammered as Bobby dropped a stack of books on his side of the desk.

"You're special, kid," he explained, going back and forth between the desk and the shelves. "Special things always come with a prophecy or something. There's bound to be something out there that predicted your existence. We find that, we find your answers."

Was this really happening? Was the Hunter who wanted her dead for years now helping her?

"I... T-Thank you, I..."

"Don't just sit there gawking. Get to work!"

Allegra looked around for Sam's laptop. She pulled it to her and started looking for prophecies with Archangels as a subject. Bobby sat down, almost entirely hidden behind his books, and got two notepads out, handing one to her.

"What's your plan if Dean finds out?" he asked. "He may be an idiot, but he's not completely stupid."

"He promised Sam he'd live a normal life. There's no chance of him finding out."

"Kid, the only way a Hunter gets out is through the grave. Dean's a Hunter. Normal don't really work out for him. Not in the long run. It might take some time, but he will end up in this room again, and when that happens, he'll want answers."

Allegra met his gaze.

"Then we better find some goddamn answers."

***

Just like that, the most unlikely pair set to work. Days turned to weeks. Allegra and Bobby searched every book and every site. They read every prophecy and half-washed prediction they came across. They even caught some demons to see if they knew anything. Bobby was less inclined to allow Allegra to use the plagues on them, but he did have to admit it was nice to see them squirm and suffer. 

But after 3 months (during which Bobby let Allegra use his guest bedroom, basically offering her the first 'home' since she was twelve), they still had very little to go on. Allegra kept trying to get in touch with Castiel, with any of the angels, really. She even found herself wishing her fa... Gabriel hadn't been killed by Lucifer 'cause then she might've been able to get more answers out of him. But he was gone. And the angels never answered. Which was weird because she knew they were watching. She'd seen Castiel around, and she still saw them in her dreams. They just never said anything to her.

In those 3 months, Allegra tracked Dean's soul a couple of times. He was always in the same place, with two other people. It really looked like he made a family for himself. And he seemed... happy. If only she could know for sure. But she didn't dare go. It was too dangerous. 
Then, one night, after waking up from quite a... steamy dream about him, Allegra couldn't take it anymore. She dressed hastily, locked onto Dean's soul, and appeared across the street from the house he was staying at. She gasped and hid when she saw Dean sitting outside on the porch, his phone in hand. It was the middle of the night; what the hell was he still doing up?

You're up too, doofus, she scolded herself.

Allegra dared to peek around the tree. Her heart nearly broke at seeing Dean's gloomy expression. He looked so sad. Really, really sad. Then she realized what it was. She remembered what day today was; Sam's birthday.
She had to keep herself from walking up to him. Her protective shield radiated from her, but she managed to stop it before it reached Dean. He knew what if felt like. It would give her presence away instantly. 
Allegra tore her eyes off him and stood with her back against the tree. She focussed. If only she could find Sam's soul! Dean would be happy that she was here then and... and... He would give up everything and everyone to get Sam back when there was no way to get him back. She would ruin everything for him.

Walk away, Allegra. Don't do this to him. Don't do this to yourself.

She slowly exhaled and inhaled, taking in the night air to ground herself in the here and now. Time to leave. If she stayed any longer... 

A sudden chill came over her. The hairs in the nape of her neck rose. Why did it feel like there was someone, or something, watching her? The sudden shadow moving further ahead only strengthened her suspicion. 
Allegra took her knife out of her boot. She would at least make sure she kept the danger away from Dean - that she could do. Leaving in the opposite direction of the house, not noticing Dean looked up at the spot she'd just been standing in, Allegra made her way to the park. She took brisk steps, but not too fast so that whatever was following her could keep up. When she reached a crossroads of walking routes, she stopped and listened to the silence around her.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were luring me away from dear Dean."

Allegra didn't need to look to know who that voice belonged to. She turned, knife still in hand, to face the self-proclaimed King of Hell.

"Crowley... I'd say it's a pleasure, but I'd be lying."

 He mockingly gasped and put a hand to his heart.

"Auch! A bit mean, don't you think?"

"What do you want?" demanded Allegra.

"A word," replied Crowley. "But not here."

He offered her his hand. She scoffed. Was he serious?

"Yeah, not gonna happen."

"And here I thought you were looking for answers."

What the hell is he playing at?

Crowley sighed in annoyance at her reluctance.

"I give you my word I won't harm you. Neither will any other demon as long as you're with me. So come on, hop to it, we don't have all bloody night."

She hesitated. Only a second. Then she took his hand. Crowley grinned, and they disappeared into the night.