Soft music from the 70's poured out the old speakers like water from a zen fountain. The two passengers sat comfortably in the slick leather seats as if they'd been doing it for years. They pass a road sign: Welcome to West Native Creek. population: 15,309. Up ahead, in the gap between the thick trees over the black highway, traffic from a small city could be seen.

The driver did not smile. He knew that beneath the comforting, homely appearance that the small town provided there was a secret side. A side that was draped in shadows and crawling with the creatures that blend in so meticulously well that it takes only the most trained eyes to see the difference.

Of course, when you've been raised to see them, it's not that hard.

"So get this," the man in the passenger seat said, "Two babies have gone missing, I can't find any links with the families except that both of the kids went to the same day care. They are of different races, and even different religions. The Thomases were committed atheists, while the Browns are Buddhist flower children. Literally, they have a Buddhist/Hindi shop downtown."

The driver nodded his head in acknowledgement. "So, we check out the day care first?"

"Yeah. I'll dig the CPS badges out when we get to the hotel."

"Right. We're getting food first. We've been on the road for thirteen hours."

The man in the passenger closed his laptop. "Dean, you just ate a burger like two hours ago."

Dean, the driver, turned from the main street, following signs to a cheap motel. "Shut up Sam. I'm hungry."

Sam laughed, conceding to his wish. Dean parked their car, and cut off the rumbling of the old motor by taking the keys. Sam opened his door and slipped the laptop into a duffel bag in the back seat. Dean went directly inside the motel office, asking for a room with two queens. He came out of the office with two room key cards and tossed one to Sam over the hood of the car as the two of them retrieved military-grade duffel bags from the back seat.

They entered their room and each man sat his bag down on a bed. Dean turned towards the bathroom, but jumped back, startled. "Ah!" The man standing before him in his path had a serious, solemn face. His shoulders sloped and blood soaked his white dress shirt under his black suit jacket.

"Cas, what happened?" Sam stepped forward, worry bringing his eyebrows together. Cas started to fall, but the boys rushed forward to catch him. Dean got there first, lifting the suited man up and onto his bed with a grunt.

Cas's voice was gruff as he spoke. "I was attacked. I didn't know anywhere else to go."

Dean turned on Sam, raining his voice sternly. "Sammy, go get the shit from the trunk!" He threw his keys at the taller man and turned back to Cas.

"Who hurt you?" He helped him out of his suit jacket, Cas groaning at the pain washing through his body. Dean unbuttoned his white dress shirt and peeled it away from his wound as Sam reentered the room with a tackle box.

"I don't know his name, Dean." Sam and Dean stared down a huge slice on his torso from a knife, starting from his shoulder and coming down across his pectoral muscle and down his abdomen. It wasn't very deep, but it was long and there was a lot of blood. Dean went right to work, Sam handing him thick pads of gause and medical tape to stop the bleeding before they can stitch him up.

Cas had removed his blue tie from around his neck and put it in his mouth to bite down on when the boys did something. His hands were at the sheets, almost ripping them as his face screwed up in pain adn his loud groans echoes throughout the room.

Sam gave him a shot of morphine, ignoring to Cas's protest that it wouldn't work. He soon passed out, leaving Dean and Sam to stitch him up.

Sam started suturing at the top of the large cut while Dean started at the bottom to get it done quicker. Sam was glad that Castiel chose them to come to for help. The wound didn't look like someone had just cut Cas, but like it was done minutes or even an hour ago. There was blood everywhere all over Cas's suit. His vanilla trench coat was missing.

Cas would have had to wait until Dean and Sam were alone in their hotel room in order to appear to them, for it would be problematic if someone had seen him and called 911 or tried to take Cas to a hospital. Angels in hospitals don't pan out well.

"Who do you think made this cut, Dean?"

Dean glanced at his brother, who was further along in stitching than he was. Guess Dean was always the one getting hurt protecting him and Sam had more practice sewing him up.

"It had to be an angel blade, but everyone's got one nowadays, so it could have been anyone."

The brothers eventually finished their sewing and wrapped Cas's torso in bandages, having to lift him up. Cas woke up right as they started, groaning. Each of his arms were over a brothers' shoulder, his sweat streaming down his face. He fisted the sleeves on the boys' shirts as they wrapped bandages around his body.

"Thank you for doing this." They laid Castiel back down against the sheets.

"You're family, Cas," Dean said. "We're going to go investigate. We'll be back later, okay?" He brought out a black and white suit from his duffel bag and went into the bathroom. Sam dotted Cas's brow with a cool wet cloth, wiping away the layer of sweat that appeared there. He gave him another shot of morphine.

"Why can't you heal yourself, Cas?"

"I don't know. There was something in that blade. I can't... It's very hard to explain."

"Your mojo's broken?"

Cas nodded weakly. "Yes, that's it."

Sam stood up and pulled his suit out, too. His was dark grey. He started to take off his layers of cloths, flannel shirt and then his white t-shirt under that. Cas's eyes closed in sleep as Sam changed into his suit. Dean came out of the bathroom, straitening his black tie. "Damn I'm hungry."

Sam shrugged on his suit jacket and tossed Dean his CPS badge. "Let's go eat." The boys salted the door and window before leaving Cas to sleep in peace.

Dean patted the top of his precious Impala before sliding into the drivers seat enthusiastically. Sam stared sideways at his brother. "Dude, how can you be so peppy? Cas just got attacked. He's hurt, Dean."

Dean threw the can into reverse and began to rumble down the street with the other cars. "Ain't nothing we can do for Cas right now until he feels better, and me being sad isn't going to help either. I'm about to get a gravy-smothered chicken fried steak and baked potato. Sammy, I'm happy."

He clicked on the radio which was already on a classics station and turned it up.

They browsed for restaurants before picking one and pulling into the parking lot. The brothers stepped out with natural grace and walked into the double doors where they were greeted by a host who took them to an empty booth.

Sam immediately went to work, pulling a stack of papers, a folded map, and a laptop from a satchel on the seat beside him.

"Oh com on, Sammy."

Sam paused in what he was typing and looked at his brother innocently. "Babies are going missing, Dean."

Dean plucked a standing drink menu from the salt and pepper holder and began to glance trough it. "Exactly how much time passed between each kidnapping?"

"Uh," Sam searched through his notes and did a quick calculation in his head. "Almost exactly forty-eight hours." His eyebrows came together as he redid his math with an online calculator.

Dean nodded absently and put the menu back, upside down. "And how long's it been since the last one?"

"Twenty-five."

"Mmhm. So we have twenty three hours to figure out who or what is stealing babies and how to kill it." And its only ten in the morning."

Scribbling a pen onto a note pad, a waitress appeared at their table. As soon as Dean looked up at her, his eyelids fluttered as he put on his I'm-totally-available-but-not-desperate face. The woman wasn't too young or too plain, and had shoulder-length wavy dark hair with pretty blue eyes. She was wearing a simple dark grey t-shirt advertising some local business and a nice pair of jeans.

"Hello, sirs. My name is Gina. What can I get you guys to drink?"

Sam ordered sweet tea without looking up and chose to flip through his papers, looking for a certain one. Dean, having remembered that he was technically supposed to be on duty didn't order the alcohol tonic he was planning to and went with a cherry coke instead.

"Alright, I'll have that right out."

"Thank you," Dean said, laying his charm. "Hey," He caught her wrist as she started to walk away, "have you heard anything about the babies that went missing?"

The girl nodded. "Everyone has, it's big news here."

Dean nodded in a very professional way. "Did you know either of the families?"

Gina nodded. "I go into Mr. Brown's store all the time. He's a nice man."

"Nice how?"

Gina smiled sweetly, living in a memory for a moment. "When my mother died, and my dad couldn't find work, I had to find a job to help support the family. Mr. Brown gave me a job when other people wouldn't hire me. I was just under sixteen."

"He sounds great. My partner and I are here to investigate the question of why these children are going missing. Anything you could tell us would be appreciated."

Gina lightly chuckled. "Of course. I'll get your drinks first, though. Your partner looks like he needs a drink." She threw a glance at Sam before walking away from their table.

"Dude," Dean smirked at his brother who finally looked up from his papers, "she's totally into me."