They drove all night, Sam and Dean taking turns behind the wheel while Cas told them where to go. He seemed to be able to sense it, which way to turn and where to go next. Around dawn, Cas suddenly shouted for Dean to stop.

"What, Cas? What is it?" Dean peered through the windshield, but all he could see was empty desert, stretching on for miles and miles.

"This is it," Castiel told him, "This is Night Vale."

"This?" Dean asked. "Cas, there's nothing here."

"No, no." Cas opened the door and climbed out of the Impala, slamming the door behind him. Sam and Dean climbed out after him. "It's here," he insisted, "I can feel it." He put his hands up, as if studying the air in front of him.

"Hold on." Sam bent down and picked something up from the sand. "Guys, check this out."

He held up an old pocket watch. It was silver, and tarnished from being left in the sand for what must have been an eternity.

Dean took it and turned it over. "Cas?"

Castiel swallowed, then turned his deep blue eyes up to look at Dean. "It. Is. Here. That watch is proof."

"So… what?" Dean asked, "How do we get there? Or see it? Or whatever."

Cas closed his eyes. "You believe, Dean. It will reveal itself to you if you believe in it."

"What?!" Dean looked over at Sam. "No frickin' way. Are you listening to this?"

Sam shrugged. "It might be worth considering, Dean. This case isn't like one we've worked before."

Cas still had his eyes closed, and was humming meditatively, his head tilted up toward the starry sky. The headlights from the Impala lit up his whole face, casting shadows from his sharp cheekbones and making him look especially eerie.

Suddenly, Cas flickered and disappeared, like a dying image on a television screen.

"Cas?" Dean shouted, "Cas! Get back here, you nerd angel!"

"Dean," Sam whispered. Dean looked over to see that Sam also had his eyes closed and his head tilted back.

"Oh no," he groaned, "Not you, too!" And just like that, Sammy disappeared.

"Great," Dean grumbled. "I'm alone in the middle of the desert with an old pocket watch and a quarter tank of gas.

He returned to the driver's seat, where at least it was warm. Turning the watch over in his hands, he peered ahead at the empty desert. "Fine," he sighed. "I'll believe in this town. I will. Of course it's real. We have evidence. Dad was there, for one thing. And we know about Carlos the scientist, and we have this old pocket watch, which someone must have dropped here…"

He trailed off, staring down at the shining watch. Something was going on inside. There was a fast clicking and whirring noise. Carefully, Dean flipped open the watch.

On the clock face, the hands were spinning wildly. They were a blur of motion, going faster than should have been possibly. "What the hell…?"

Dean felt his car begin to shake beneath him. "Holy shit." He gripped the door handle as he felt the engine start up beneath him.

"Okay," he said. Then louder: "Okay!" he yelled to the night sky, shutting his eyes tightly. "Okay, I believe! I freaking believe in your stupid ghost town! I'm sorry I ever doubted you! Just… oh, for God's sake, don't hurt my baby!"

Abruptly, the shaking stopped and the engine quieted down. Dean slowly opened his eyes, straightening up in his seat.

He was on a smooth stretch of paved highway, maybe half a mile away from a small town. His car was in idle, and Dean could feel her revving to go. "It's okay, baby," he whispered, patting the steering wheel, "We're okay."

He looked down at the watch. Its hands had stopped spinning completely, and were now frozen at 10:38. It was around four in the morning.

Dean looked ahead, to where two solitary figures trudged along the road less than a hundred meters in front of him. He grinned and pulled the car up next to them. "You boys need a lift?"

Sam laughed and swatted Castiel on the shoulder. "See Cas? I told you he'd make it."

"I never doubted you for a second, Dean," Cas reassured him as he climbed into the backseat. "Sam called you a quitter."

"That was you, Cas."

"Oh, will you two quit bitchin'. Check out the view." He pointed out the window at a fading wooden sign that read, "Welcome to Night Vale."

"Here we are, boys," Dean said as the Impala rolled past the sign, "Time to find a couple of rogue angels and a missing scientist."