Disclaimer. Don't own Supernatural or its created characters.

Rated T for violence and mild language.

A/N: Gentle readers, you should know that this is not a romance. This story takes place approximately a month before the start of season four. I wrote this as a fun piece to tide me over during the mid-season break, and as such did not meticulously plan, plot, and edit as I normally do. I intend to see this story through, hopefully finished before the show starts up again. Stick around for the whole thing, because I know where this is going and I have a good deal of it written. Comments are greatly appreciated.

Thursday

Jane opened the plastic bag and unwrapped her sandwich. Meatball and mozzarella, her favorite. She opened the bottle of iced tea, took a long swig, and set it on the bench next to her. Gino's was a nice place to get a quick meal, but it was usually so crowded at lunch time that Jane preferred to eat on this bench outside. Besides, it was nice out. She could tell it was going to be a good day.

Jane had nothing better to do at the moment than sit and enjoy everything. Sunny skies, big, puffy clouds keeping the heat from getting unbearable. Friendly noise of people chatting inside, cars rolling by at comfortable speeds. Gino's certainly did make an excellent meatball sandwich.

"You know, the bus doesn't come until 1:15," Jane said. There was a man standing at the corner, fifteen feet away from her, looking a little lost. Maybe he was a tourist. Although she couldn't imagine why a tourist would be in this part of the city. Maybe a lost tourist. "And it's only 12:55," she called to him.

The man looked over at her. Yep, definitely a little lost. Although in a suit and trench coat, he looked rather more like a business man. He looked up and down the street, then walked over to her bench. "Thank you," he said. He had a deep voice, rocky, like he wasn't used to using it. Jane smiled. He seemed nice enough, and she couldn't help but notice that he was good-looking too. Jane was glad she'd spent extra time on her hair this morning. Her hair was still the same mousy brown, but it was as nice as it would probably ever look.

"I'm Jane," she said, and she extended her hand with a friendly smile.

"Jane. 'God is gracious'. And I'm… Castiel," the stranger said. He took her hand somewhat awkwardly, but his smile was genuine. His hand was very warm.

"Right," she said, half smiling, wondering at his strange small talk. "Castiel. What is that, Spanish?"

"Hebrew, actually," he said. He had deep blue eyes and a piercing stare that made Jane feel unnerved, as if he was looking through her. She blinked and broke eye contact, unsettled.

"So, you look a little lost out here. Are you from out of town?" she asked.

"You might say that. But I'm not lost. I'm here… looking for someone." He looked down the street again, watching people moving down the sidewalks.

"Maybe I can help you. What do they look like?" Jane asked.

"That wouldn't help, I'm afraid," he said. He fixed her again with that intense stare.

Jane shifted uncomfortably on the bench. "O…kay. Well, it was nice talking to you, Castiel, but I've got to get going." She crinkled up her sandwich wrapper and screwed the lid on her iced tea. "Good luck with finding who you're looking for," she said as she stood and tossed the wrapper into a garbage can.

"I'll need it," she heard him say quietly, but she did not turn back as she walked away.

Friday

"A double mocha-frappachino, with extra cinnamon. No, no, a DOUBLE," Jane said, pointing to the menu. Inwardly she groaned. This new guy at the café never got her orders right.

Finally receiving her coffee and confirming that it was in fact a double mocha-frappachino with cinnamon, Jane made her way to the table where her friend Danielle already sat. Jane plunked her Styrofoam cup down and climbed the rickety bar stool, which had to be carefully maneuvered so as to not tip over on its spindly legs. She sighed heavily and looked into her cup.

"What's the matter with you?" Danielle asked, absentmindedly stirring her own coffee as she stared out the window.

"He didn't put enough cinnamon in it," Jane said glumly.

Danielle snorted into her cup, and Jane cracked a smile. She took a sip. Okay, it wasn't that bad.

"So are you coming to the thing tonight?" Danielle asked after a few moments of contented silence.

"What thing?"

Danielle rolled her dark eyes in exasperation. "Come on, we've been talking about this forever! Nick and his band are playing at the club tonight and everyone is going to be there," she said, moving her hands as she talked so her bracelets clinked together.

"The Oyster Bar? I hate that place," Jane said.

Danielle looked appalled. "Jane, Nick invited you, personally. You have got to go." She nodded her head on each word. "It's the first big thing of the term, and he's really good, you know."

"Whatever, you just want to go for Brian, right?" Jane said, laughing. Danielle smiled guiltily.

"Okay, okay, I may have a slightly greater interest in the drummer than the band as a whole, but seriously, it's going to be fun." She looked at her imploringly, her almond shaped eyes wide in a puppy-dog pout.

Jane pondered for a moment. "Yeah, I guess I'll go, but I have a ton of work to do for Furmanek. And it's got to be done by Monday, uhg." She rubbed her temples as if to ward off a migraine.

"What? He's already assigning you stuff?" Danielle asked, a look of incredulity on her face.

"Yep. Three pages on Milton and his major themes."

"Furmanek is a jerk. The term's barely started and he's giving you the heavy stuff? You should drop the class," Danielle said, nodding seriously as she sipped her coffee.

"I need the credits to graduate. And don't worry, I can get it done, I just have to, you know, actually read Milton," Jane said. She tapped her foot against the table leg, trying to figure out how she was going to manage this.

"Hey, that guy is staring at you," Danielle suddenly said in a half-whisper.

Jane turned to where she was looking, out the window they were seated by. "What? Where?"

"Right there, in the trench coat," Danielle said.

There was indeed a man in a trench coat standing on the sidewalk across the street. He seemed to be looking in her direction.

"Huh. I think that's the guy I met yesterday. He was… lost or something," Jane said, looking back at the man. It was too far away to tell if he was looking at her, but he certainly was standing there very intently.

"Maybe he's stalking you," Danielle said. She cupped her hands around her eyes and leaned towards the glass. "He's kind of cute."

Now it was Jane's turn to snort. She shook her head, trying to dismiss it, but it unsettled her somehow.

"Excuse me. Are you using this sugar?"

Jane started at the voice. She turned quickly to see a man standing at their table, pointing to the bowl of sugar cubes. She hadn't even heard him walking up.

"No, sure, take it," Danielle said carelessly.

"Thanks," the stranger said, but he looked right at Jane, and she felt cold when they locked eyes. She had never seen him before—ordinary, middle-aged man, nothing exceptional or interesting. But he smiled in a way that was almost leering as he took the sugar and left. Jane watched him go, her eyes big and untrusting. Danielle hadn't noticed a thing.

Jane turned back to the window. The man in the trench coat was gone.

"So I'll see you there tonight?" Danielle asked as she stood up and slung her purse over her shoulder.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. If I can tear myself away from Milton," Jane replied. She scoured the street one last time, but there was no sign of the man. What had his name been again? Something weird….

"Okay, I've got class. See ya," Danielle said, and she grabbed her cup and dashed out.

Jane sat with the dregs of her coffee for a few moments longer. She looked around the coffee shop. The man who had asked for the sugar was gone too. Jane suppressed a shiver, gulped down the last of her coffee, and left.