They reached the outskirts of the Ohio town where the meteor was supposed to have fallen. Sam got out of the Impala with the map in his hand and studied it for a moment before looking toward the woods.
Dean glanced at Anna. "So, can you tell where your grace is?"
Anna closed her eyes and focused for a few seconds before pointing deeper into the woods. "I can feel it. It's that way."
Anna started walking, and Dean, Sam, Bobby, and Henry followed her through the trees.
After a while, Dean suddenly extended his hand toward Henry without saying anything. Henry looked at him, then reached into his jacket and pulled out a piece of candy before handing it over.
Dean looked at the candy in his palm and gave Henry a completely flat expression.
"Don't ask for another one. They're mine."
"Who the hell needs candy? I want Colt"
"Oh" then he pulled the Colt from his jacket and handed it over without being asked. Dean immediately slipped it into his jacket.
Henry continued walking beside them. A few moments later, Dean glanced over at him. "Why do you carry candy around with you?"
Henry pulled another piece from his jacket and unwrapped it. "I like sweet things. Is it really that wrong?" He popped it into his mouth. "You've got plenty of disturbing habits yourself. I don't judge you for them."
Sam looked at Dean with an amused expression. "He's right. Want us to start listing your bad habits?"
"No."
Sam smiled. "Didn't think so."
Dean gave his brother an annoyed look before continuing through the woods.
***
Anna stopped in front of an old tree and placed her hand against the bark. "This is it."
Bobby looked around the woods and sighed. He was already tired of dealing with angels, demons, and everything else that had been thrown at them lately. At this point he just wanted to finish the damn job and get back to his house.
Anna pulled her hand away and shook her head. "No. It's gone." She looked around the area. "Someone took it."
Dean sighed. "Kinda expected that. Nothing ever goes smoothly for us."
Before anyone could say anything else, a flash of light appeared among the trees. Castiel stood several meters away, his eyes fixed on Anna.
"Anna, it is time you atone for your sins."
Henry stepped forward, looking more annoyed than afraid. "Castiel, can we be done with this? Compared to Lucifer, Anna and I are a pretty minor problem, aren't we?"
"No. Sinners must be punished."
"Then why aren't we being punished?" Castiel remained silent. Henry continued, looking directly at him.
"If God really thinks we're sinners, why hasn't He punished us? You keep saying God sees everything, so He should know exactly what we've done."
He gestured toward Anna. "Anna has been living as a human for years, and I'm standing here even though Heaven supposedly wants me dead. So why let either of us live?"
Castiel's expression became slightly uncertain. Henry continued before he could answer.
"Maybe it's because we're already forgiven. Maybe God knows something you don't. And if God himself is the one who allowed me to become what I am, then why would Heaven suddenly decide I'm supposed to die?"
Castiel said nothing. For a moment he simply stood there as though listening to something beyond the reach of everyone else.
The orders coming from Heaven had changed — he was being told to leave Anna and Henry alone and focus on the seals. Lucifer and the Apocalypse were becoming increasingly important, and Sam and Dean's safety had to take priority.
Castiel's gaze shifted between them. "For now, we can ignore the sinners.
Heaven's work takes priority. But don't think that because we're leaving you alone this time, you'll get another favor. If you interfere with Heaven again, you will face Heaven's wrath."
Anna looked at him. "Castiel, what about my grace?"
"We have it, Anna. But you aren't getting it back."
Before Anna could say anything else, Castiel disappeared in a flash of light.
Henry stared at the empty space where the angel had been standing. "Well, there goes our model angel."
Despite his words, Henry was actually quite satisfied with how things had turned out. Anna wasn't getting her grace back, which meant she wouldn't regain her full angelic powers anytime soon.
More importantly, he remembered what could happen in the future if she did — she had once become convinced that the only way to stop the Apocalypse was to prevent Sam and Dean from ever being born, and that could lead her down a very dark path.
For now, that possibility had been pushed further away.
"So, are we done with this?" Dean asked.
"Not exactly. Demons are still going to come after her. That's one thing we can't ignore."
Anna shook her head. "You don't need to worry about me. I can hide from demons." She glanced toward the woods where her grace had been taken. "But since getting it back is going to be much harder now, I should probably lay low for a while."
Dean nodded slowly. "That might actually be the smartest thing we've heard all day."
Sam looked at Anna. "Where would you go?"
"Somewhere demons wouldn't think to look."
*****
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