"Wa-ho, this looks different," Peter said, lifting up a vial.  I turned around to see what he was holding.

"Oh, wow, you found it!"  I accepted Castiel's grace with glee.

He smirked, handing it over.  "So, now what?  How exactly do you give it to him?  Like, he's unconscious, right?"

"I think I'm just supposed to unscrew it and hold it up to his mouth?"  I shrugged.

For a moment, we were both silent.  Peter looked into my eyes with interest.  Finally, he spoke.

"I've gotta ask...what's it like to have heterochromia?" he said.

"I'm sorry?"  My brow furrowed.  "Heta-what?"

His placed his fingers on my temple, tracing around my right eye.  His fingers were gentle, and surprisingly soft.  It took me a moment to remember that it was a different color.

"You know, heterochromia.  Two different eye colors."  He dropped his hand to his side.

"Oh!  Right.  Yeah."  I touched my hand to where his fingers had been.  "It's...new."  I smiled.  "Long story.  Angel-stuff."

"Ah, interesting."  His eyes landed on my cheek, and I wondered if he was going to ask about the "tattoo" of swirls.  He only smirked, then looked down at the grace in my hand.  

-

We reached the hotel room via fire escape.  Castiel was still unconscious.

"An angel in a trenchcoat?" he asked.

"Yeah."  I climbed through the window, Peter behind me, and approached him on the bed.  "God, I hope this works."  I pulled his chin down, opening his mouth.  Next, I opened the vial and tipped it towards his mouth.  The blue-white fog swirled inside until none was left.

Castiel gasped; his eyes snapped open.

"Close your eyes and take cover!" I shouted to Peter.  We both did as I said.

Castiel stumbled to his feet, and a sharp ringing pierced the room.  I squeezed my eyes shut tighter and covered my ears.  There was a bright flash of light that I could see through my eyelids, and a gust of power was thrown from him in a full circle.  I felt a book hit the back of my head.  I was lightheaded for a few moments, but I did not pass out.

Once I decided that it was over, I sat up and looked at Cas.  He still emitted a little light, and I managed to see it before it went away, along with the shadows of what remained of his wings.

"Is he good?" Peter said, his voice muffled, since his face was buried into his thighs.

"Yeah," I said.  "You can look now."

Peter stood to his feet, staring at Cas.

"Thank you," Castiel said to me.

"Technically, Peter was the one that found it."  I pointed to Peter.

"Ah...heh..." he said awkwardly as Cas looked at him.

"Peter.  Parker?" Castiel asked.  Peter nodded.  "Thank you."

"Yeah, no problem."

"So," I said.  "How do you feel?"

"Like an angel," replied Cas.

"That's fantastic!"  I sat on the bed.  "So, now we..."

"What?" Peter asked.

"Thank you for your help, Peter, but we've got it from here," I said.

"But don't you still have to get home?"

I smiled. "Now that Cas is better, that's the easy part."

Peter nodded.  "Okay. As long as it's okay..."

"Don't worry.  Besides, you should probably get some sleep."

"All right." Peter began to climb out of the window, then looked over his shoulder.  "Will I see you again?"

"I don't know."

"Well, if you're ever around and need anything, let me know.  I'll do my best."  His feet landed on the fire escape stairs.

"Hey, Peter?"

"Yeah?"

"Let Gwen go.  At least for now, until she makes it to England." 

He looked at me with sad eyes, then finally gave a wild nod.  "Yeah.  Okay."  He released a long, heavy sigh.  "Good luck."

He leapt into the air, fired a web into the sky, and swung away.

"Damn, he sure did take that pretty well," I mumbled under my breath.

"I suppose the constant exposure to what people thought was impossible opens the mind to accept anything," suggested Cas.

"I guess.  And, with Matt, knowing if you're lying or not sure does help out."  I looked at Castiel, who was staring out the window.  The night breeze swirled into the hotel room.

"Sam and Dean prefer motels.  It allows them to get away quick and unnoticed, and the lack of hallways and lobbies gives them a bigger sense of free will."

I scrunched my eyebrows together, trying to understand why he was saying this. "Are you saying that you don't feel very free?"

Cas shook his head.  "No, the opposite, I suppose.  Getting my grace and my wings back--well, at least part of them--I have a sense of independence again."

"Independence, like, you don't need friends anymore, or independence like..."  I was beginning to get worried.

"Like I can do more good.  Because what good is an angel if they can't even be an angel?"  He frowned.  "Yeah, that doesn't make any sense..."

"It makes perfect sense," I said.  "But Sam and Dean?  They don't give a rat's ass how much of an angel you are or aren't, as long as you're you.  And neither do I."  I tucked my hair behind my right ear.  "I don't know if this has to do with regret over what you've done in the past, human emotions that managed to take over you while you were unconscious, or something else, but don't ever think that you were worse than you are now because of some piddly grace."

"Having my grace, but not in full...A tiny piece of me is still human; I can feel it.  And I don't want it to go away."

"It gives you morality," I said.  He nodded.  "That's good. It means that you're the most important angel of all.  One that cares for people in a way that other angels can't.  Other angels would smite someone without a second thought if the first thought was that they had to."

Cas was silent; perhaps he was thinking, or maybe he just had nothing to say.

"So," I said.  "Does this mean that you're able to do the angelic charge-whatever?"

He nodded.  "Yes, but since I just got my grace back, I'm not quite charged enough myself, yet."

"So you need to rest for awhile?"

"No.  I need to move around, be active, be--"

"...adventurous?" I suggested.  Cas nodded again.  "Like a workout.  To make your body stronger, you have to exercise it."

"You seem to be enjoying yourself as we go from one universe to the next.  Until I'm strong enough, we can go to a couple more."

I blushed.  "Oh, is my obsession really that obvious?"  I ran a hand through my hair.  It was messy, dirty.  How long had it been since I last had a shower?  "I'm sorry."  I gave an awkward laugh.

"Don't be.  It's...different.  A good change, I suppose, after being in only one universe for the majority of my lifetime," said Cas.

"Yeah, I guess," I said, my voice trailing off.  There was a short silence.  "So, that means that we have to find the bridge anyway.  It could be anywhere in the newspaper HQ, but it's probably in Jameson's office..."

"Okay."

"Can it wait till tomorrow?  I really gotta crash, and a shower sounds really nice right now."

"It can wait.  But we'll have to go first thing in the morning."

"Fantastic," I said sarcastically.  So much for sleeping in.

-

My eyes fluttered open, and I yawned.  I moaned.  I really did not want to get up.  Laziness doesn't just go away.  At least when you're me.

"I guess we should probably head out now," I mumbled.  I slowly got up and went into the bathroom.  My hair looked awful, so I just brushed it and pulled it back into a ponytail to make it look kinda like I curled it.  Kind of.

Actually, not really, but whatever.

We had to walk there, since we had no money for a taxi ride.  That was good for Cas, I guess, since he needed the physical activity.  Apparently he needed to not only exercise his body, but his mind, too.

When we entered the building, we found a lady at the front desk with bright red hair and freckles.  Her glasses were balanced on the very tip of her nose, and earbuds were jammed into her ears.

"Hi.  Where is Mr. Jameson's office?" I said.  When she didn't reply, the smart-ass in me switched to Spanish, waving my hand in front of her face.  "¿Dónde está la oficina del Señor Jameson?"  What?  I took a class in school.  I was curious if I still knew any words.

Castiel stood behind me, looking confused as always.

She finally looked up, eyes widening.  She removed the earbuds, apologizing.  "I'm sorry!  What do you need?"

"Where is Mr. Jameson's office?" I asked again.

"Sorry, but he isn't accepting any visitors right now."

"Please.  It's important."

"Why?  What do you need him for?"

"It's for a story.  One on Spider-Man."  I watched her eyes flicker when she heard my words.  Mr. Jameson was Spider-Man-obsessed, but for all of the wrong reasons.  He was determined to warp stories in as many ways as he could to make Spider-Man look like some kind of antichrist, the Spider-Menace.

"All right, one second."  She picked up the phone and pressed a couple of buttons.  "Yes, Mr. Jameson?  There's someone here to see you.  Her name is..."

"Nicole.  Nicole Bennett," I said.

"...Nicole Bennett?  She has something for a Spider-Man article...Yes.  I'll send her right away."  She put the phone down.

"Fifth floor, room 507.  Would you like an escort?"

"No, thank you.  I know my way around."  Castiel and I headed for the elevator.

"Do you really know your way around?" Cas asked.

"Nope," I said.  "I don't really know much about the Jameson from this universe, since they didn't fully have that character in the movies yet.  But, I mean, how hard can it be?  Just look for room numbers."

Once we reached the fifth floor, I scanned the signs on the doors.  Once I found room 507, I knocked twice.

"Well, come in already!" he shouted.  I tipped my head down with amusement, then opened the door.  He sounded just like the one in the Tobey Maguire movies.  "Oh, I didn't realize you had your father with you."

"Oh, he's not my father," I said.  "He's my, um...informant?  A witness.  To help prove the information that I am about to provide you about Spider-Man, the guy who swings around the city--"

"Quit rambling and give me your information already.  The longer you talk, little girl, the more I want to bash my head against this desk right here."  He tapped its wooden surface.

"Right," I said, swallowing awkwardly.  "Find the bridge," I whispered to Cas from the corner of my mouth.  I walked up to his desk and casually placed my fingers on it.  Okay, so the desk is not the bridge.  Maybe it's his laptop?

Castiel headed for the corner of the room and opened the filing cabinet.

"Cas!" I called out to him.  "What do you think you're doing?"

He looked at me, shocked and confused for a moment.  "Oh, you meant...discretely."  I gave a stern, tense nod.  "Right."  He gave an awkward smile.

"Those are my cabinets, and they are not up for grabs for the public.  I want you to leave my office right now," Jameson said angrily.

"Sir, but I haven't even told you about what I found yet!"  I said, suddenly pretending to be excited.  I threw my hands out, "accidentally" against his laptop.  Please be it, please be it, please be it.  Nothing happened.

Crap.

"Watch the computer, missy!"  He rose to his feet, his face turning red.  "Leave right now or I'm calling security!"

Okay, that's it.  Plan A wasn't working, so time for Plan B.

Dammit, I didn't want to do this.

I picked a large book off of his desk and threw it at his head.  He staggered backwards, rubbing his forehead with his hands.  His mouth hanging open, he stepped forward and smashed his palm against the security button.

I threw another book and went for a bodyslam.  "Find it, Cas!"  I heard him searching frantically for the bridge behind me.  I smashed into Jameson one more time, and he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Security burst through the doors, just as I saw Cas vanish.  He must have found the bridge.  And, to make the matter all the better, security, which consisted of three very large men, stood in between myself and the bridge.

Peachy.

Maybe I could outsmart them?  I hopped on top of the desk, so their attention was up high.  They all ran for me at once, and I dropped behind the desk.  They all ran behind it, but I crawled under it and out the front.  I reached for a notebook, which had fallen to the floor.  Of course, what Jameson recorded his notes in.  Once I touched it, I'd grabbed a handful of grass.

I rolled over onto my back, staring into the blue sky with a large sigh.  My eyes fluttered closed as the breeze tickled my cheeks...

"Nicole."

I almost peed myself.  "Dammit, Cas!"

He frowned.  "I didn't know if you were all right..."

"Yeah, I'm fine."  I groaned, pulling myself to my feet.  My eyes widened when I saw what was before me.  "Wait...is this..."

A red truck drove by.  I caught a glimpse of my parents riding inside, a baby in my mother's arms.  They looked younger, maybe by fifteen or sixteen years.  The truck slowed and turned into a driveway.   I watched them climb out and head for the house.  The baby cried a bit.

"Awww, it's okay, Nicole," Mom said sweetly to the baby in her arms as she climbed the three steps that led up to the porch and front door.  "You're home now.  We're your new parents, and we're going to take good care of you."