"You okay, Cas?" Charlie asks. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I feel like it, too," Castiel mutters, sinking back into his seat.

She props her head up in her hands and looks up at him. "What did Michael want?"

"I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you that yet," Castiel admits. Yes, this is going to be public knowledge, but it isn't yet. He's not entirely sure if the Bloody Valentine killer's return is considered confidential or not.

"Because that's not ominous."

He turns his attention to his computer, and she turns her back to her paperwork. Castiel discreetly puts in his request for the next week off. Usually, asking for a vacation right before that vacation time wouldn't fly, but these are special circumstances, and he has the added bonus of being the younger brother of the director of the FBI. He really thinks he'll be able to get away with this, and no one's even going to notice he disappeared until he doesn't show up for work for a week. He's almost there when...

"Woah, hold the fucking phone," Charlie says. "You're going on vacation?" She squints her eyes to get a better look at the screen. "Tomorrow?"

Castiel sighs. Welp, there goes the element of surprise. "Yes, Charlie, I'm going on vacation."

"And you didn't even tell me?" Charlie asks. "And here I was, thinking we were best friends."

"We are," Castiel assures her. "It's just... it's not that type of vacation."

"What does that even mean?" Charlie asks. "How many different types of vacations are there?"

"I don't know. Fun ones and not fun ones."

Charlie frowns. "I don't think I like where this is going."

"Look, don't worry about it," Castiel says. "I just need a break. You can still call me or text me whenever you want. I'm just staying home for a week."

"Right after Michael asked to talk to you, though?" Charlie says skeptically. "What's going on, Cas? Are you okay?"

Castiel just sighs. "I don't know anymore."

~~

When Castiel gets home that evening, he locks all the windows and deadbolts all the doors. In theory, there's no way Dean should be able to find where he lives, but that's what he said eight years ago about his name, and Dean managed to find that. He doesn't want to take any chances.

"Uh, Cas?" Anna says cautiously. "Are you okay?"

Castiel finishes checking the last window, then turns to look at her with a forced smile. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you're making sure you locked windows that I've literally never seen you touch," Anna says. "Are you sure everything's okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Castiel assures her. "You just can't be too safe these days, you know?"

Anna eyes him warily. "Please tell me you're not expecting a new serial killer to barge into this house, because I really don't think I could handle that."

"No, no, of course not," Castiel says, which isn't technically a lie. The Bloody Valentine is about as far from a new serial killer as they can get, and he isn't expecting anything. "Hey, can we talk?"

"Is that not what we're doing right now?" Anna asks.

"I mean somewhere more comfy," Castiel says. "Wanna sit on the couch with me?"

Anna frowns. "Cas, you're scaring me."

"You don't have to be scared," Castiel says quickly. That's the opposite of what he wanted. "Come on, let's go sit down."

Castiel puts an arm around her and leads her to the living room. They both sit on the couch, Anna sitting criss cross to face him. She still looks nervous, but Castiel can't blame her. He's making a big deal out of this, but it's not his fault. This is a big deal.

"What is it?" Anna asks.

"I wanna start off by saying that I've taken the next week off of work," Castiel tells her. He doesn't want her to think for a single moment that he's going to make her deal with this on her own. "I'm gonna be home at all times, so you don't have to worry that there's no one here to keep you safe."

"Cas, now you're really scaring me."

Castiel sighs. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to. This is just something Michael and I really think you need to know."

"Michael's in on this?" she says. "What's so important that you had to get Michael involved?"

"It's more that it's so important, Michael had to get us involved," Castiel says. "And I don't know an easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna say it. The Bloody Valentine killer broke out of prison."

For a minute, Castiel thinks he broke her. She doesn't move. She doesn't speak. He knows he should give her time to process it, but he'd expected some type of reaction, at least. He almost starts to wonder if he should ask if she's okay, though he knows just by looking at her that she's not, so he just waits. She just needs time. A lot of time.

Finally, she says, in a voice so low it's practically a whisper, "I thought this was supposed to be over."

"It was," Castiel says. "It is."

"How can it be over when he's out there right now?"

"It's over for you," Castiel says. "He's not getting anywhere near this house. He doesn't have our address and —"

"He didn't have my address, and he found me anyway," Anna reminds him, and she starts to tear up, which Castiel knew was going to happen but it hurts him just the same.

"And if that were to happen, which it won't, I have my gun," Castiel says. "I would shoot him on sight. So don't worry; you're safe here."

"But what if I'm not?" Anna asks, her voice breaking. "He's a murderer, Cas. He could kill you, he could kill me, he could kill Michael. He could even find Mom and Dad and kill them, too. I don't want to lose you guys, and I don't want to die."

"Hey, it's okay," Castiel murmurs, pulling his sister into a hug. "No one's gonna get hurt. This isn't like last time, okay? We know his name, his face. They're gonna find him, and they're not gonna let him go again."

"Promise?"

Castiel nods. "I promise."