Castiel crouches on the ground next by Emma's side and presses two fingers against her neck. Her pulse is steady, and she's definitely still alive, but unconscious. He stays there for a few moments, hoping she'll wake up on her own, but it doesn't happen. With a frown, he scoops her up in his arms and carries her bridal style back to the house. He kicks the door a few times in lieu of knocking, unwilling to put her down and open it himself.

There's a long pause, and he almost thinks he'll have to kick it again when the curtain of the nearby window moves, and Castiel barely catches a glimpse of James's face before he opens the door. James steps back to let them in, and though he doesn't make a formal accusation, Castiel notices him glance at the line of salt at the door as if reassuring himself that Castiel can't come in if he or Emma were possessed.

As soon as Castiel steps over the salt line, James reaches over and presses his fingers against her neck, checking for a pulse.

"She's alive," Castiel says. "I made sure of it."

James breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god."

"Where's Hannah?"

"Castiel?" She peeks her head out from around the corner.

Now it's Castiel's turn to be relieved. "Are you okay?"

Hannah slowly steps into view, looking between Castiel and Emma with a nervous expression. "She shot my mommy."

"No, she didn't," Castiel says. "It was a demon. Just like how your father didn't try to hurt you. They were possessed."

"You mean the devil made them do it?" Hannah asks.

"No —"

"Exactly," James interrupts, shooting Castiel a pointed look. "The devil corrupted them, but the devil's gone now, and they're still the same good people they were before." He crouches down so he's closer to her height. "That girl right there? She's my and Castiel's best friend. She's going to keep you safe, okay? I promise."

Hannah hesitates, then nods.

Pushing himself back to his feet, James says, "Now, Castiel is going to leave you with Emma so we can go talk about grown up things, but we're going to be right back, okay?"

"Don't leave me," Hannah squeaks, eyes growing wide. "What if the devil comes back?"

"He won't," James says. "We're going to watch and make sure. But we really need to talk, and I think Emma would really, really appreciate it if you stayed with her while we do, okay?"

Hannah nods again.

"Do you have a couch or something where Castiel can put her down?"

Hannah leads them down the hall to what appears to be the living room. Castiel lays Emma down on the couch, then gently lifts her head to slide a pillow underneath.

"Castiel and I are going to be right there, okay?" James points to the kitchen. "If you need anything, just yell."

James forcefully drags Castiel from the room and out of earshot of the child. Castiel isn't sure why he's being so forceful about it, but there are more important matters at hand to discuss.

"Did anyone survive?" James whispers. "I know Emma did, but did Hannah's parents? Her brother or sister? Anyone?"

Castiel shakes his head. "It got to all of them." And the worst part is, had he been in his right mind, he would have noticed that it wasn't Emma, and he could have saved at least the parents, if not the whole family. There's no reason Hannah should be an orphan right now. It's all because Castiel messed up.

"Where are the bodies?" James asks, oblivious to Castiel's inner debate.

"The kids are in the car. The parents are outside."

"We need to burn the bodies." James glances at Hannah, who's still nervously watching Emma. "And she needs to stay as far away from the bodies as possible."

"Why?" Castiel asks. "Shouldn't she get to say one last goodbye?"

James sighs. "You don't deal with little kids a lot, do you?"

"No, not for a long time," Castiel says, thinking back to when Claire was a kid. He'd like to imagine that he has gotten a little better at human interaction since he stole her father's body all those years ago. "Why do you ask?"

"Little kids don't want to see dead bodies," James says. "Especially not the bodies of people they love. You put her anywhere near that fire, she's never going to stop crying. It's going to mess her up for the rest of her life."

"I suppose so," Castiel agrees. He never thought of it like this, likely because he doesn't know any other children, but in hindsight, this would make sense. Childhood trauma would explain a lot about the Winchesters. "So what do we do with her?"

"Well, we definitely can't leave her alone," James says. "I can stay here if you take care of the bodies."

"That works," Castiel says. "I will be back in a few minutes."

Castiel walks away, and James heads back to Hannah and Emma. Before Castiel even reaches the door, Hannah starts bawling. Although they just met a few minutes ago, his heart hurts at the thought of how she must feel. She lost her whole family today.

He'd like to think he knows how it feels, but he's never been completely alone. Leaving the Winchesters doesn't count, of course; they hadn't been a family in a long time. Even losing most of his angelic siblings doesn't compare, seeing as they've been fighting for years, and haven't been very fond of him in a while. He can't even imagine being in Hannah's position.

But there's nothing he can do about it now. The only thing he can do is burn the bodies and leave James to pick up all the other pieces. It's bad enough that Castiel made this mess in the first place. He doesn't want to make it worse. God knows he's done it enough these last few years.

Castiel is halfway to the car when he hears footsteps behind him. He pauses, giving James a moment to catch up to him.

"Change in plans," James says. "Hannah won't calm down unless you're with her."

"Why?"

James shrugs. "Cause you're an angel? 'Cause you saved her? I don't know. She's five; she doesn't explain things very well."

"Oh."

"I'll take care of the bodies," James says. "You just go stay with Emma and Hannah and try to keep Hannah entertained without mentioning her parents, monsters, or death."

Castiel nods. "I can do that."

"Go," James says. "I'll be back in a few minutes, and then we'll figure out what to do with the kid."