Disclaimer: I do not, sadly, own anything to do with Supernatural. Although I might one day. (Watch out Misha Collins.) Please don't sue me – I will be very sad. Also, I am broke.

CHAPTER THREE: FOUR IS A SIDESHOW, NOT A CROWD

Sam's POV

There was the usual amount of hunter to angel staring.
"Guys? She's probably dying?" I trailed off, raising a hand towards the comatose queen in the wooden chair bound by old anchor ropes.
Dean rolled his eyes at me. "So, she told us she was paid to kill us. A hitman."
Castiel frowned. "But she's a female."
"Really?" Dean snapped. "That's the part you find wrong?"
Castiel offered his best friend a light shrug. I sighed, and stepped forward towards the angel. I glanced back down at the girl again. The knife was still in her hand. Dean must've seen me looking at it, because he moved forward in one step and pulled it out. The girl sat bolt upright and screamed again. She was deathly pale and blood ran down her collar bones down under her shirt. I screwed up my nose. She looked like hell.

"Can you heal her?" I asked Cas. I watched the blood from her hand run down the arm of the chair and onto the cement floor of the warehouse.
Cas nodded and started to walk towards her. But Dean stopped him with a hand on the angel's shoulder.
"Wait," my brother started. "Is there some way to look inside her head or something, see if she's telling the truth. See if we can get a name or something?"
"And then, please heal her," I told Castiel.
"Of course Sam. She's in immense pain." With that, Cas threw Dean a nasty look. My brother gritted his teeth, looking away.

I watched as Castiel walked to the girl's side and placed his hand gently on her should. He looked down and shut his eyes. Minutes passed before he looked up again.
"Well?" Dean folded his arms.
"What she told you was true," Cas said.
"Well she had no reason to lie. Dean nailed her to the chair."
Dean shot me a dirty look.
"However," Cas continued. "She was also telling the truth when she said she was never told a name. I didn't get a number. But she was to be paid $50,000 to dispose of you. She doesn't know anything about you. It's not her job too."
"Is that all?!" Dean asked, uncrossing his arms and folding them again.
"So she doesn't know anything? Interesting. Any ideas? Maybe Crowley is behind this? I'm not sure that this is something he would do though." I frowned.

Castiel shrugged again. Vanna's breathing was getting more shallow. Without saying anything else, he reached up and placed two fingers on her forehead.
Vanna's eye opened slowly and she squinted around the room as her big brown eyes adjusted to the semi darkness. She let out a small groan, and then saw Dean standing in front of her and snapped upright in her chair.
Dean raised his hand to her. "Stop. Wait. We believe you. I know you don't know anything about the person that hired you. And I know you don't know anything about us. We're hunters. This is my brother Sam. And this is Castiel. He helped you."
The girl glared at Dean. "I wouldn't need help if you had of listened. Why the hell would you assume I'm a demon. Did you see my eyes turn black?! Asshole."
I smirked, and looked at Dean. He didn't seem so pleased.
"Look. I made the angel help you, I can make him kill you. Shut up."
Castiel looked at Dean for a long while, frowning. I nearly laughed. Vanna sat back in her chair.
"Angel?"
"I'm an angel of the Lord. I help the Winchesters. And of course, the rest of humanity."
Vanna snorted. "You're a bit late to the party aren't you?"
Castiel frowned. "Well, I am doing my best to rectify-"
"Cas. Enough," Dean said, walking to the girl. "If I untie you, are you going to try and kill us?"
"Are you going to try and kill me?"
"Good point. No."
I looked at my brother and sighed.

Dean's POV

Damn Castiel and his righteousness. Not allowed to kill the girl that would have killed me. Then again, there was a slight possibility that he'd just drag my sorry ass from hell again.
But anyway, we were back to square one. And back on a case, which officially meant my precious vacation time was cut horribly short. And nearly my life. But still.

"What now?" Sam looked at me.
"Back to the bunker. We take her with us. Cas, you wanna come with us and keep an eye on her?"
Castiel nodded.
"I don't need some weird guy babysitting me," Vanna mumbled, folding her arms and glaring at me down her nose. Like hell she didn't.
"That's what's happening until we decide what to do with you."
Sam took her right arm carefully and handcuffed it. He gave her a quick 'I'm sorry' look and then lead her around to the back door of the Impala.

Castiel walked to my side. "We could never find out who paid her to do this Dean. It's a long shot-"
"I know Cas. But I don't really trust her. If she's been given a deposit she has to finish the job."
The angel nodded at me, and then climbed into the car next to Vanna.

I pulled out of the warehouse and back along the gravel road. ACDC played quietly on the car radio and Sam taped away at his laptop., frowning. Castiel and the girl in the back were silent. I glanced in the rear view mirror – the girl was staring out the window, not blinking. As I watched she yawned softly. Her right arm was chained to the door handle.

Sam was the first to speak in what felt like forever.
"I traced the number to a disposable cell phone in Ohio. No longer in use, of course. But it was purchased in a Walmart in Tucson, Arizona. So no real leads," Sam said, looking up from his laptop.
Castiel frowned. "That's nearly two thousand miles away."
"Exactly. Whoever used the phone was smart. And has clearly done this before." Sam moved the laptop and lent around so he was vaguely facing Vanna. Considering his size, it didn't really work.
"Did this person ever call you? Or try to meet in person?"
Vanna shook her head slowly. Then looked up.
"I got a sound clip from them once."
"Male or female? Any background noise?" Sam started to open his laptop again.
"I couldn't tell. The voice was Autotuned to the shithouse. It just sounded robotic. And there was no background noise. So I'm assuming whoever edited the file cleaned any interference."
Castiel was watching Vanna, head titled and all squinty.
"You're quite intelligent," he told her. Vanna shot him a glance, looking somewhat offended that he'd thought otherwise.
"And you're weird."
I felt Cas frowning at me in the rear view mirror.

Three and a half hours of awkward driving later, we pulled into a tiny diner. Even as I opened the car door to get out, I could smell beef patties cooking, and the faintest hint of waffles. 'Bout time.
"Leave her here or take her in?" I asked, pointing to Vanna as I slammed my car door shut.
Sam gave me a quick frown before opening her door for her. Always the gentleman. He undid the cuffs and slipped them into his jacket pocket.
I glared at her. "You run, I kill you."
"Well I hope you're paying," she shot back, putting her hand around her right wrist as if checking to make sure the cuffs were really gone.
I followed Sam into the diner, Castiel next to me. The girl didn't trail behind, but walked just behind Sam, as if we were all friends heading out for lunch. This was an odd feeling.
Spoke too soon. Sam pushed the door open and stopped dead.
I looked around him, only to find Crowley sitting at a small table by the bar.
"Hello boys," he said, smiling his slimy grin and lifting his glass of whiskey.