The sun was casting low shadows on the tree-lined streets before Dean and Sam met up with Maya again. They strolled along, takeaway coffees a comfort in their hands, the unusually warm day fading away to a balmy night.

"The PD in a city in South Dakota filed the report earlier today- Brookings, I think it was. Same deal, the woman was seen entering her home by neighbours, but not leaving. She didn't show for work this morning and her co-worker called it in."

Dean took a sip from his steaming cup, his nose scrunching up at the bitterness of the cheap coffee. "Ok, so Jenny and Laney west missing when? Friday night? It's now Monday… if the call in Brookings was made today, the new vic went missing on Sunday sometime? How far's Brookings from here?"

Maya slipped her cell from her jacket pocket, lips pursed. "Ten hours,"

"So whoever took the girls… if it's the same person-"

"Or thing." Sam offered.

"Or thing… why the hell make such an effort? This doesn't seem random to me."

Sam's eyebrows pulled together. "Maybe they're trying not to draw attention to themselves? Moving around?"

"Even so. What's special about these girls? Angel, what did you find out?"

Maya chewed the inside of her lip. "Nothing interesting. They were friends, both successful athletes, smokin' hot…"

Dean nodded his head in appreciation, a smirk pulling on the corners of his lips.

"…but other than that, nothing significant."

Sam's face turned pensive. "Okay. Brookings is like, what? An hour from Sioux Falls? We'll call Jody, get her to check it out."

"Meanwhile…" Maya dropped her half-full coffee cup into the nearest trash can with a dull thud. "We'll ask around about Laney and Jennifer, see if we can dig anything up."

"Good idea. I've missed seeing you in that Fed suit of yours." Dean gave Maya a roguish grin, green eyes glinting evilly.

"Easy tiger, we're on the clock."


A single lightbulb hung from the ceiling of dusty shed, silver slithers of moon light slipping in through the cracked wooden panels, capturing the dust. Laney Holden's wrists burned where the cable-ties held her captive, every movement causing her to suck in a sharp breath.

Someone entered through the crooked door- a man. He paid no attention to her, instead looking straight through her to the man who'd brought her there.

"Three specimens in one delivery…. Well, well, Jacob, I'm impressed."
Laney couldn't see them, but she heard one of them shuffle on the dusty floorboards.

"Th-thank you, sir."

"What have you brought for me, Jacob? Give me all the details."

The taller man finally turned his attention to Laney, his hands gripping the back of her chair, her skin prickling as his breath grazed her ear. He smelled like clean cotton.

"Who is this one?"

"She's an athlete… a runner."

"A good one?" The man stood, circling her, as though admire a piece of furniture in an antique store.

"She's won medals… lots of them. I found about her in a local newspaper. The one I bought with her is an athlete, too- a gymnast."

He bent down in front of her, squinting in the dull light as if to see her better. "Peak physical condition… very good, very good. I'm impressed with your instincts. The third one?"

"She's a scientist- brain science or something… I thought-"

"Intellectually superior? I like it…"

"Yes, sir."

"It was a blow to us, the huntress losing her powers, but, we must move forward. We use all three… the witch- does she have everything ready?" His voice was sweet as honey, warm and sickly in her ear.

"Yes, sir. She's waiting for you."

"Excellent. Jacob, take the evening off- go and spend time with your family. Bring this one back inside before you go. You've done well, these past few days. Maybe a promotion is in order?"

"Sir." The small one nodded as his boss left the room, eyes casting one final glance over Laney's body, leaving her skin crawling.

The lackey stepped forward, into the light of the dusty bulb. She flinched away from him as he pointed a finger at her ribs. Burning spread through her chest, forcing her to whelp. It was gone as soon as it began.

She was hauled up by her torn jacket, the ties on her wrist drawing blood as she struggled.

"Get up… it's time."


"There's really nothing you can think of that might give us any clue at all about your friends' disappearances?" Maya's voice had adopted that sexy-professional tone he loved so much.

The guy held his hands up. "Nothing. If I did I would tell you… of course I would, man… but what the hell has sulphur got to do with anything?"

"First of all: don't man me. Second, that's absolutely none of your business. We ask the questions, you answer."

The corners of Dean's mouth pulled up into a sly smirk. He quickly shook it off. "Well, thank you Joel. You've been incredibly unhelpful. We'll see ourselves out."

"Wait, wait! There was something, but I don't know how how useful it'll be." The man rubbed his shoulder awkwardly.

"We're listening..." Dean leaned closer to him, almost intimidating.

"She said... Laney said she'd seen someone hanging out around the gym, Thursday night I think. She thought he was just a creep..."

"Did she give you any details? What he looked like? What he was wearing?" Maya asked, her tone clipped.

"No, nothing... just that she'd seen him..."

Dean got the sense that Maya had to literally suppress a groan of annoyance. She stood up quickly, brushing down her pant suit.

"If you think of anything else," she said brusquely, "call us."

The pair stepped out into the warm morning air, Maya slipping her sunglasses over her nose and Dean just squinting at her. He loved those sunglasses, they made her look so… Rita Hayworth.

She smiled at him. "What?"

"Nothin'… just lookin'."

"Well that was a huge waste of time. Dean, I've gotta be honest, it doesn't seem like there's anything remotely weird about these women. That guy could just have been any creep lurking outside a gym, and we have no idea what to look for...Maybe somebody did tamper with the CCTV."

"Hey, don't go all Dana Scully on me. We want to believe here, ok? You said yourself, nobody would go to the effort of editing every camera in the building just to grab two random chicks. Plus, we got the third woman in Brookings. It's weird and you know it."

She rolled her eyes.

"We'll head to the gym tomorrow, see if we can't pick the dude up on CCTV." He nudged her arm gently, and the whisper of a smile graced her lips.

Dean's phone pinged. Maya's eyes lit up.

"It's Sam. He says Jody didn't find anything interesting. Woman was a brain scientist, 32, attractive, blah blah blah."

She groaned like a toddler. "Take me out."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Take me out." She said again.

"We're supposed to be-"

"I want Japanese food." She lifted up her sunglasses to look at him, giving him a coquettish grin.

Did she just flutter her eyelashes?

"Ok… it's a date. Right now?"

She wrapped both her arms around one of his."Yes please."

"Can we talk about work?"

"Mmmmmm. Yes."

He opened the passenger door of the Impala for her. "Get in, then." He bent down to kiss her, quick yet intimate. She smiled into it.

"I'm gonna get salmon sashimi."

"Should we have called Sam?" Maya asked, sipping her iced tea through a straw.

"Nah. He'll understand. It's a date."

She picked up a California roll with her chopsticks with ease, which was strangely sexy.

"So, you wanna tell me what all this is about?"

"I love Sake Sashimi?" She grinned. "I felt like we were hitting a dead end with this job. I was hungry, you're hot- why wouldn't we have a lunch date? I thought a change of scenery might help."

Dean nodded. "I am pretty hot."

"Of course that's all you took from that. Okay, what do all these women have in common?"

"What's this?"

She narrowed her eyes as Dean jabbed something on his plate with a single chopstick.

"It's Takoyaki. So… what do they have in common?"

"Tako- what?"

"Yaki. It's filled with octopus. Just eat it. What do they have in common?"

He dropped the chopsticks back onto his plate. "Jennifer and Laney were athletes. The woman from Brookings was a neuro-scientist… they're all successful, well respected?"

"Exactly. That's the only thread that I can see. They're at the top of their game, making money, peak physical condition and intelligence…"

Dean's eyes lit up. "So that's the connection… the-the pattern!"

"Someone's on the hunt for the best of the best: smart, physically fit… beautiful…"

"But why? And more importantly: who? I'm gonna call the gym, see if they're open late. We gotta check that footage."

"I think I can save you the trouble."

I started, more than I'd care to admit, and dropped my tempura shrimp straight out of my chopsticks and into my peach tea.

"Cas! What the hell?" I tried to compose myself.

"Dude… you cannot do that. Especially not in public. Especially not when we're in a booth, enjoying a pretty gross octopus filled date." Dean shuddered.

The angel tilted his head at Dean, eyebrows dipped into a frown. "Octopus filled?"

Dean jabbed one of the little dumplings with his chopsticks. "Octopus balls."

I tutted. "You know who's behind this? How? Who?"

"I heard mumblings on the angel radio. Where is Sam?"

"Um… we should call him."

Twenty minutes later, the four of us were cramped in our little booth, all ears.

"The angels are concerned about a certain individual. They say he has been acting suspiciously, spending a lot of time on earth, not responding to summons, being generally odd…"

"An angel did this?" Sam asked, brow furrowed.

"I'm not one hundred percent certain, but it is very likely. The angel was located within a twenty-five mile radius of each of the two locations."

"So… definitely an angel." Dean muttered. "Jerk-offs. Do you have a name?"

Cas visibly tensed. He drummed his fingers on the table, looked to me, then to Dean and then to Sam. "Yes."

"And…?"

"Kushiel."

I felt my heart miss a couple of beats. The name stung like a knife. My body stiffened. "What… what would Kushiel want with humans? He made it very clear how much he despised us."

"We don't know. Since we haven't found any of the women…"

"You don't know what he's doing to them." Dean's hand unconsciously moved to his stubble. "We need to find them."

"The angels have tried. Kushiel has… warded them."

I screwed up my face. "Why? What would he want with humans? Why does he need athletes and a neuro-scientist?"

"He has recruited a grunt, so I've heard. An man called Jacob. We find him, we get our answers."

"Can we do that?" Sam asked, leaning closer.

"I can do that." Cas replied, muscles in his face tightening.