Hey there, guys!

Here am I! On time this week...But I can't promise that it will always be like this! Sorry...Anyway, I wanted to give you all a V-day present, even if i really don't do Valentine's day. Just...I hope that whoever of you care about it have/had a nice day!

Back to the story. This chapter is mostly an aftermath of the previous, both for the Winchesters, who still have to keep on hunting while waiting to find a way to fix the current mess, and for Charlie, who has got her "trial period". And Cas? Well, you won't see him in this chapter...Maybe in the next one! He has his own plot line from now on.

One more thing. I've realised that I've never explained the meaning of the title. It's quite "simple" to tell the truth...As I said in the introduction to the first chapter, the plot revolves mostly around the relationships among the characters with particular attention on the themes of trust and faith. The blue irises symbolically represent these two themes. So the title is basically a metaphor.

Alright, I'll leave you to the story! Thanks a lot to all the readers! I really appreciate your interest!
Please, if you can and feel like, leave me a comment! It will help me understand if I'm doing good or not!

Enjoy!

Warnings: This story contains slash (guy x guy romantic/sexual relationships). Don't like, don't read! English is not my first language.

Summury: AU for s06e22. Castiel, betraying his deal with Crowley, opens the Door of Purgatory to absorb the souls and gain the power to beat Raphael, but he is stopped by the last person he was expecting, Gabriel, who persuades him to give it up. However, before Cas can close the Door, something comes out and spreads on the Earth. So, the two angels find themselves in the position to fight a war against their own siblings and to have to deal with the Leviathans, whose leader seems to have ill intentions towards mankind.

The Winchesters are reluctantly forced to help, but the collaboration isn't going to be easy. Dean and Cas can't put aside their personal conflict and the angel decides to leave to try and find his lost faith, whose lack is quickly and inevitably consuming him. The brothers are left to fix the whole mess by themselves, together with the trickster archangel who has ambiguous intentions towards Sam and who is also busy dealing with his own issues.

In his behalf, Crowley finds an odd partner-in-crime in the brilliant IT employees Charlie Bradbury, but the results are not quite the ones he was expecting.

Pairings: Dean x Castiel, Sam x Gabriel, some Crowley x Bobby.

Disclaimer: I don't own the show nor its characters. Supernatural is Eric Kripke's creation.


Sam woke up slowly, feeling reluctant to leave the warm and pleasant sensation that had accompanied his sleep, but he couldn't prevent his mind from becoming active once again. He didn't remember the last time he had felt so well rested and for once he found that he had awaken not because he needed to or to escape some nasty nightmare, but because he was perfectly sated with sleep. It was one of the most wonderful feelings he had ever experienced.

He stirred his still numb limbs and used his arms to put himself in a sitting position, running a hand on his eyes. His thoughts were still a bit blurred and it took him a couple of yawns and some minutes to recall exactly what had happened. The ritual, he and Gabriel doing it, the few words he had exchanged with Dean. He felt his cheeks flushing a little at the memory of his shameless statements. God, he wouldn't have said something like that even while being completely wasted. Apparently being drunk with angelic Grace fucked your mind much more than having too many drinks. But at least it left you feeling great instead of making you face the negative sides of a hangover.

"Hey, welcome back to the real world, Sleeping Beauty!" a familiar voice sang from the other side of the room. "You've slept for a day and a half! How do you feel?"

Sam looked up and he saw Gabriel standing on the threshold, carrying a trail loaded with what looked like his favourite foods. "I've never felt better than this" he admitted, eyeing the dishes. "I slept for so long? Wow. I didn't even realise it."

"I didn't expect you to. Your body needed a while to metabolise the effects of my Grace. And you needed to rest". The archangel put the trail in his lap and sat down next to him. "But it's a good sign. It means that the ritual has actually worked. Not that I had doubts."

"Yeah…" the hunter mumbled, looking away. Having the shorter man so close to him brought back pleasurable memories that were still a bit too intense for his likings. He focused his attention on the food. "You prepared this?" he asked, the "just for me" going untold.

"Shall I remind you that I just need to snap my fingers to get everything I want? Trickster here, remember?" the other asked in a non-caring tone, shrugging. "I just thought that you'd be hungry. I know human needs pretty well after centuries spent living with your kind."

"Yeah, I could tell" Sam nodded, trying to smile but not totally achieving it. It still felt so awkward being around the archangel after what they had done. He had had some one-night stands in the past, but they had never been is thing. Besides, what the two of them had shared hadn't just been a quick contact of skin. Gabriel had made him see the stars, literally speaking, while ravishing his soul. And he had heard his true voice. He cleared his throat and busied himself with his chicken salad. "Thanks, Gabriel. For everything."

"Don't mention it. We are even" the archangel stated offering him a seductive smirk. "I told you that I would have been very grateful if you had let me have my way with you, and so I am."

"Idiot" the young man muttered, rolling his eyes, but his embarrassment was evident. "I guess you won't give me the time I need to digest what we have done, will you?"

"Oh, and spoil my fun? No way, Sammy-boy!" Gabriel crossed his arms, clearly amused. "I love it when you squirm to fight the awkwardness! Your brother is right, you are such a girl sometimes!"

The hunter shot him a murderous glare. "I don't squirm. And I do not act like a girl" he claimed with force. "And you jerk should just shut up. Or should I remind you how caring and gentle you have been with me?" He grinned satisfied sensing his speaker tensing at that. "I wasn't high enough not to notice, not at the beginning at least. Don't deny it, it's useless". His tone softened. "You do care, in spite of everything. About me, about Castiel, and maybe even about my brother as well."

Gabriel snorted, not pleased at all with where the conversation was heading. "Yeah, fine. It's true. I care about you wimps. You have the bad habit of putting yourselves in serious troubles. Someone needs to look after you" he admitted, almost sulking. "Cas is family and he is the reason I'm back and you…Well, I told you already. I like you, gigantor boy, and, since you care so much for your idiot brother, I feel responsible about him as well."

Sam gaped at him for a while, fork half way to his mouth, not knowing what to say. He had expected a sarcastic answer, which he had got, but he hadn't anticipated such openness. He felt a hint of warm spreading in his chest, but he dismissed it as a leftover of Gabriel's Grace reacting to its owner's closeness. There was no way that he was going to consider the fact that maybe the odd feeling that lingered between them was some kind of unresolved emotional and sexual tension. "Speaking of my brother, where is he?" he asked, quickly changing the subject to chase away those disturbing thoughts. "I remember him being quite not cool with what we did…"

"And I guess you also remembered your comment about how awesome is having sex with me" the archangel teased with a small chuckle, making Sam smile a bit in turn. "Well, he said that he needed time and that he was just letting it leave for now." He turned serious. "The fact is that things between him and Castiel hadn't been good. My brother left."

The younger Winchester groaned. "He left? What has Dean done to make him go away? That jerk…" he sighed shaking his head. "I knew that leaving them alone was a bad idea!"

"Your brother refused to give me much information. I got that the two had a fight and that Cas left because he wants to find a way to make Dean trust him again" the archangel explained calmly. "Obviously I went immediately after him. It's taken me a while to find him, he is getting better at his tricks even if his Grace is fading. He is my baby brother after all. We spoke for a while. He didn't tell me what he was up to, but he promised that he will call if he gets in troubles." His eyes became unfocused for a moment. "I'm not happy knowing that he is out there alone, but he needs to do whatever he is doing. And I want to trust him since he trusts me, even after everything I have done."

Sam smiled sadly at those words and reached out for the shorter man's shoulder. "I'm sure he will be fine" he offered trying to sound reassuring. "Castiel knows how to take care of himself." He hesitated for a moment. "Were you two close? Before you left Heaven, I mean."

Gabriel looked at him, clearly surprised by the question. "Angels don't share the same type of bonds you humans are used to. We are all connected to each other by default, or at least we were when Dad was still with us. We used to share everything and just knowing that brought us joy. It was all light, love and similar stuff. A real bore." He let out a laugh, but it sounded empty. "Cassie has always been the weird one, he had always felt too much for his own good, and I liked him for that reason. He was so young at the time. He was always around questioning us archangels about Father and His creations. And when you explained him something he didn't know, he gave you this look full of wonder that made you blush. Really. Even Lucifer was not immune to his bright stare. And that was so much fun. He and I spent hours watching Dad's creations. Everything was so…peaceful." He shook his head. "But the thing that we all envied him was his faith. No one was capable of such a deep trust, and that's why it was rumoured that he was one of Father's favourites, in spite of him being just a foot soldier. Even after Lucy's Fall and Dad's disappearance he's never stopped believing. And when he has been forced to give up his faith in Heaven and God, he found something else to believe in."

"Dean" the hunter completed for him, nodding. He couldn't help finding the story touching. Lucifer's Fall, God's disappearance, the Apocalypse had always been something he had had to deal with, but that didn't really touch him. Now, listening to Gabriel's version, he saw what they were: the tragedy of a family that had fallen apart completely. He had never thought about what all that could have meant for the angels. He even understood why Raphael was so eager to bring Heaven on Earth. She was just tired of seeing her people fighting. It was her way to express her wish to have her family back.

"Exactly. Your brother has become Castiel's new point of reference" the archangel went on, unaware of his reflections. "Castiel needs to believe in something. He is falling, but until he had his faith he could find a way to survive. But the last events haven't been nice on him. Seeing his family at war once again, feeling rejected from his home…It's more than he could take. That's why he had been so desperate to find a way to stop the conflict. He feels responsible. But then Dean has rejected him as well, not trusting him, and he has lost everything he had. I'm more worried about him not finding his faith once again than him being left alone to fight against Raphael."

"Why is that?"

"Do you know what happens to angels when they lose all their Grace?"

"They become humans?" the younger Winchester offered, but he had the feeling that it wasn't the right answer.

"That's true if it is removed or if we voluntarily leave the Host. Because even if we lose our power we still keep our essence, which is based on faith" the other corrected him in a gloomy tone. "If angels stop believing…they die."

Sam stared at him in horror. "Are you saying that Cas is…" he started to ask, but he was interrupted.

"You should go and check your brother. While I was out and you were sleeping he has decided to drink himself unconscious. When I came back he was totally wasted" Gabriel said, sounding suddenly cheerful. "I tried to make him stop, but he shot me. More than once. So I just put him to sleep. Bobby wasn't happy when he found out about the whole mess. Anyway, Dean woke up about two hours ago and locked himself in the bathroom. But by now he should be done with the vomiting."

"Gabriel…" the hunter tried again.

"Get dressed and go and check on your brother, Sam" the archangel repeated more firmly, his tone becoming imperative.

He could do nothing but nodding, getting up and grabbing his clothes from one of the chairs. He put them on quickly and, before heading for the door, he laid a hand on the other's shoulder again, letting it linger for some moments before heading for the door. He stopped by the threshold. "We won't let anything bad happen to him. He may have betrayed us, but once you have become a part of the Winchester family it's not so easy to get out."

Gabriel nodded and then shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't get me wrong, kiddo. I'm not even considering that option. He'll be absolutely fine because he has me to watch over him now."

Sam laughed shaking his head. "Yeah, the fabulous angelic Trickster" he teased with a grin.

"Go to Dean, Sammy-boy" the archangel ordered, but this time his smirk looked less fake.

The hunter sighed and turned around to exit the room. However, he had barely taken a step when he felt a flap of wings coming from behind his back. Instinctively he looked back, but Gabriel was nowhere to be seen.

ж

Dean let out another pained groan, tightening his grip on the ceramic of the toilet bowl. His head hurt like hell and so did his neck, probably because of the weird position in which Gabriel had left him after having put him to sleep. Damned archangel. He was going to punch him as soon as he felt better. Ten hits for fucking his baby brother, because there was no way that he would buy the ritual shit, and five for the pain that was tormenting his body. He had had to ask Bobby to help him to the bathroom because he couldn't walk by himself. The older man had shot him a reproachful glare, but he had patted his back sympathetically before leaving him alone so that he could relieve the burden in his guts. For many terrible long minutes he had thought that he would die there, twisting in pain on a cold floor, cursing some bottle of alcoholic God-knew-what and a fucking Trickster. But then something had finally started to move inside his stomach and he had spent the following hour and half spewing his guts out.

At the moment the headache was still terrible, but he was feeling a bit better, even if nauseous. He decided that he could use an aspirin as soon as he managed to get up and go downstairs. He smiled in spite of everything. There was a positive aspect in being so wasted. The physical sufferance was preventing his mind from lingering too much on the whole Castiel's issue and he was very happy about it.

A soft knock broke the trail of his thoughts and he looked up to see Sam carefully opening the door. His brother looked at him for some moments with a strange expression on his face, as if he didn't know if he should laugh or fuss over him.

"Man, you look worse than I had imagined" he commented in the end, raising an eyebrow. "Do you need help?"

"You look awfully good, instead, Sammy. Is having sex with an angel so miraculous? Maybe I should try too. Anna doesn't count, she was human at the time" he talked back sarcastically, but held out a hand towards the other hunter. "Get me off this damned floor, will ya?"

"I don't think that Gabriel would accept to give you a go if you asked" Sam stated with a smirk, grabbing his brother's arm and helping him on his feet. "He doesn't like you as much as he likes me."

"And I thank all the gods for that!" the older Winchester exclaimed, glaring at him. "Don't tell me that you two are already mutually exclusive! Aren't you going a bit too fast?"

Sam snorted. "Very funny, Dean. But I'm sorry to inform you that I'm not dating the Trickster." He rolled his eyes and gave the other a light push, being careful not to affect too much his already precarious balance. He was glad to see that after all Dean had taken the whole ritual sex thing better than he had expected. Even if he would be much happier if his sibling just stopped those sarcastic allusions.

The older hunter smirked. "Oh, sorry. So, are you fuck buddies? 'Cause I can't believe that you don't want to repeat the experience since it has been the best sex of your life. Your own words, little brother."

"Oh shut up, Dean! I wasn't myself when I said that!"

"So you now state that it was not?"

The younger didn't answered and looked away, hooking his arm around his brother's back to keep him from stumbling. He would have lied if he had said that he hadn't mean those words, but it still didn't imply that he was going to have sex with Gabriel again anytime soon. At least, that was what he had been telling himself since he had woken up. He didn't know how he would have reacted if the archangel had decided to seduce him.

"I knew it" Dean muttered with a sigh. He didn't like the fact that the Trickster had got so close to his brother, but on the other hand he preferred to know that Sam was banging one of their allies instead of going around and getting into unhealthy relationships with some hot demon chick. He still hadn't got over the Ruby affair and he had no intention of seeing it happen again. At least he knew that the archangel would watch over his brother instead of tricking him into freeing the Devil from his cage. He didn't trust Gabriel, but they shared the same kind of protectiveness towards their younger siblings, so he was sure that he'd never hurt his. "Well, you are an adult. Go and do whatever you want with your new heavenly boyfriend. But don't ask for my blessing. And I swear that if he doesn't treat you as he should I will personally kill him again and piss on his fucking grave."

Sam looked a little shocked by his words and gaped at him for some moments. His older brother had to be still a lot drunk to be saying those things. Or maybe it was his way to deal with the guilt he felt for how things had gone with Castiel. He was being permissive with him not to remember how hard he had been on the angel. It made sense, it was a Dean thing. "I'm not going to marry him or anything. Actually, I'm not even sure that it meant something more than him healing me" he said quietly in the end. "But thanks for trusting me."

"It's not a matter of trust. The fact is that I can watch you two since you are around" Dean corrected him in a strict tone. "I still don't approve. But better a fucking male archangel turned Trickster turned archangel again than a demon chick. That's my policy."

"You'll never let that go, won't you?"

"Oh, I will. If you start banging Gabriel for real. That I will never let go."

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

Sam let out an amused snort, but didn't talk back, busying himself with helping his brother to walk down the stairs, which turned out to be more difficult that he had expected since Dean kept missing the steps. When they reached the ground floor, he was already almost sure that the other had been doing it partially on purpose.

Bobby was waiting for them in the living room. "Oh, look at who has finally decided to show up!" he greeted them with a sarcastic tone. "Well, Dean, you look much better now, even if I bet you still feel like shit. You owe me a lot for all the alcohol you drank." He gestured the empty bottles that he had set on his desk. "Oh, and by the way, tell your Trickster friend that if he mess with my kitchen once again I'll kill him, archangel or not."

"If he does, call me and I'll lend you a hand" the older Winchester said with a groan, detaching himself from his brother and reaching out for the couch. "And, for the record, he is Sam's Trickster friend, not mine."

"Dean!" Sam exclaimed exasperated. "Stop it!"

"Idjits" the older man mumbled. Then he raised his voice. "Don't sit down, you boys are leaving. There's a job for you" he announced firmly. "Pack your things and bring you asses to the Black Hills. One of my contacts informed me that something's going on in Mountain Pine, a small town near Hot Springs."

"You are sending us on a hunt?" the younger hunter asked incredulous. "What about the Leviathans? We should focus on finding a way to kill them. That's our priority!"

"We know nothing about them right now. I can manage the research part on my own. Besides, I have a friend that could help us" Bobby stated, crossing his arms. "You kept hunting even during the Apocalypse, so I don't see why you shouldn't now. Staying here waiting for finding by chance a secret weapon or, worse, for some of those damned angels to show up won't be useful. You'd better go and do your job."

"He has a point, Sam" Dean admitted, glaring at the sofa resentfully. It looked too comfortable for his likings in that moment. "Staying here won't do us any good. It's better if we go and unload some tension. I really feel like killing one of those bastards right now."

The younger Winchester lifted his hands in surrender. "Fine, we are going. Let me get my things" he gave up with a sigh. The other two were right. He felt fine at the moment but he knew what days of inactivity could do to him. He didn't need action as much as his brother, but he still wasn't able to just sit and wait. "Can you manage yours, Dean?"

"Yeah, I'm not that wasted. Not anymore" the muttered answer was.

Half an hour later, the two young hunters were already on their way. Sam had taken the driver seat, stating that Dean wasn't in the shape to drive, which was true, but it hadn't prevented the elder from complaining loudly. Now he was sitting next to him, the newspaper articles that Bobby had given them resting on his lap.

"So what's going on there?" the younger asked, looking away from the road for a moment.

"Fourteen mortal accidents. Too many to be just some random events. And it all started three weeks ago" Dean answered, picking up some of the papers. "A man lost the control of his car and fell in a river. He wasn't drunk and they found no technical faults. Two kids were crushed under the ruins of an abandoned house, which had been perfectly stable until five minutes earlier. A woman accidentally hung herself while climbing. A teenager killed by a hair-drier fallen into the bathtub. And so on."

"Nasty" Sam commented, raising an eyebrow. "Could it be a cursed object? Most of the ones that Dad had collected were deadly weapons."

"Could be. Or maybe it's a ghost linked to an object, like that painting in New York" the elder offered. "Or it could be a bored demon. We've learned too well how supernatural creatures can act when they are bored…"

"If you are somehow referring to me, consider me offended, Dean Winchester" a voice claimed from the back seat.

The Winchesters turned around, caught off guard, and found a sulking Gabriel sprawled in the back of the car, a half eaten candy cane in his mouth. Dean groaned loudly, showing his unhappiness at the unexpected visit, while Sam rolled his eyes and went back to watch the road.

"What the hell are you doing here?" the older hunter asked, hostile. "Shouldn't you be somewhere taking care of your fucking angel businesses?"

"I've just sent four of my brothers back to Heaven. They were looking for Castiel, but they found me. Too bad for them" the archangel chuckled, licking the sugary cane. "They are chasing you too. I'm here to make sure that nothing bad happens to you. And, besides, we are fighting the Leviathans together, or have you already forgotten?"

"We haven't. But now we are on another kind of hunt, so we don't need your presence. We can manage some angels by ourselves" Dean talked back, glaring at him. He didn't want him around while they were working. He would surely bring more problems than help and he would keep on distracting them not to get bored. And that was the last thing he needed. "So you can leave."

"Just because you have managed to trap Raphael once it doesn't mean that you'll be able to do it again" the shorter man pointed out. Those boys were too much self-assured for his likings from time to time. "She will look for you because she knows that you are the quickest way to get to Castiel. If he hears that you are in danger he will run to you, not caring about the consequences. So, if I want to keep my brother safe, I must keep you out of troubles."

"He is right, Dean. We can't afford to face an archangel alone" Sam agreed, looking at his brother. Surely the other would make some sarcastic comment about him accepting Gabriel in the team so quickly, but he knew that it was the best choice. "And he can be a nice back-up if we accidentally run into a Leviathan while on the job."

"Why am I not surprised to see you agreeing with him?" the expected mocking answer was. Then the older Winchester's tone became more serious. "Fine, you can stay. If someone keeps those angels away, it's better for us." He didn't mention the fact that he didn't want to put Castiel in the position of having to choose between their safety and his life, because he already knew what the angel's choice would have been. He bit is lower lip lightly and chased the thought away. "But if you interfere with our job I will banish you, got it?"

"Alright, I'll behave. Pinky swear!" Gabriel teased raising his pinkie finger and gaining a nasty look in response. "Oh, come on, relax, Deano! We are all still fine for now. No one has been badly wounded or sent to Hell yet."

"Very reassuring, Trickster."

The archangel opened his mouth to offer a sarcastic answer, but he seemed to change his mind because his smirk widened. "I know what can help your mood!" he claimed solemnly snapping his fingers. "And I don't want to hear again from you that I'm not a nice buddy."

Dean blinked as a laptop that looked suspiciously like Sam's appeared on his tights, a video playing on its screen. "What the fuck…!" he started to say, but he stopped abruptly, his eyes widening in surprise. He raised the volume. "Oh, man! This is…Where did you get it?!"

"Trickster, remember?" Gabriel grinned maliciously, leaning forward and resting an arm on the back of the elder's seat to be able to look at the screen in turn. "It's that special edition of Casa Erotica that you have wanted to see. But of course you can't find it in your usual cheap motel rooms. This is high quality stuff!"

"Wait a second!" Sam interjected shooting a horrifying look at the other two. "You are not watching porn on my laptop in this car while I'm here and driving!"

"Oh, we are indeed, Sammy!" his brother said, getting more comfortable against the seat. "You want me to let this freak stay? Fine, but I'm enjoying the positive aspects of his presence. Besides, I didn't get laid like you the other day. It's been a while!"

"He has a point, Sam" the archangel agreed, shooting an amused look to the younger hunter. "Besides, this is more fun than your usual conversations. But don't worry, I won't jerk off in front of you. First of all, because Dean would kill me and, secondly, because I don't want you to forget about what you are supposed to do. A car crash would be an irritating event."

Sam turned to face him, not knowing if he felt more angry or embarrassed. "Gabriel!"

"What?" the shorter man asked innocently.

"Shut up, you two! The good part is about to start!" Dean ordered, waving his hand without looking away from the screen.

Sam held back the urge to bang his head against the steering wheel and did his best to try and ignore the slow moans and little screams that soon filled the car. But after a while he had to admit that the worst part of that awful situation were his two companions' comments. He was used to Dean's atrocities, but the last thing he had wanted was to hear his older sibling describing in details to an archangel his sexual kinks. Not that Gabriel's ones were better, but at least he wasn't his brother. He let out a desperate sigh. It would be a long drive.

ж

Charlene got off from the bus that had taken her to Hot Springs and looked around. Crowley had told her that she needed to find the petrol station near the main road and wait there until she saw a black 1967 Chevrolet Impala, which seemed to be her targets' car. Then she had to hitch a ride and learn what they were doing and where they were planning to go next. Nothing too difficult, her new employer had stated, but there was no way she was going to trust the Devil. At least he had covered all her travel expenses.

She sighed, trying to chase way the thought of the convention that was about to start. Instead she tried to recall the details she had been given about the guys she was about to meet. Dean and Sam Winchester, monster hunters or whatever they did for a living. Good-looking dudes, the shorter one a womanizer and the taller a nerd. She hoped that none of them tried to hit on her because that would have been quite annoying. Maybe she should immediately state clear and aloud that she wasn't interested in whatever had a male form. Or, perhaps, she could casually mention her lovely, imaginary girlfriend. She nodded to herself, satisfied by the idea. That would have solved a lot of problems.

She crossed the street, walking quickly towards the end of the town. Crowley had said that they would be on a case and heading towards a small town near Hot Springs. Her cover said that she was a journalist and that she was there to investigate about the strange accidents that had been happening there. She didn't know how the demon had made sure that the Winchesters would be on that road just in time to pick her up, but she had the feeling that it had something to do with her hacking that Taylor guy's email account.

Outside the small city there wasn't a pavement, so she was forced to walk in the grass next to the asphalt. She sank her hands in the pockets of her light brown coat and adjusted the weight of her rucksack on her shoulders. It was late afternoon and the air was starting to feel chilly. The sky was covered by huge grey clouds and she hoped that it didn't start to rain. She had left her umbrella at home. The fact of having to stand waiting without a shelter hadn't crossed her mind when she was packing up.

Luckily the petrol station came into view after a short time and Charlie felt relieved by the sight. She usually wasn't so susceptible, but her current mission was making her nervous. She had already lived more than one life, starting anew when things hadn't gone well as they should have, so playing a role was not what was bothering her. She just had a bad feeling about her whole business with Crowley. Technically, she still hadn't accepted to work with him, but on the other hand she was pretty sure that she couldn't just say "no" to the Devil without having to face unpleasant consequences. The way out she had created for herself was just an illusion, she was smart enough to see it. But it was nice to pretend that it was there.

A car passed past her and she caught a glimpse of four people chatting and singing together with the radio. Crowley had also told her that maybe the brothers wouldn't have been alone. He hadn't elaborated the information, but somewhere in her head a neon light saying "not human" had started to flash. She had been tempted to ask for a clarification, but the demon had already began to inform her of how she should behave with her targets and she had had to chase her questions away and listen to him. And now she had to wait and see what surprise the black Chevrolet would bring her. She could have bet that Crowley had omitted that detail on purpose, just to make everything more fun. Yeah, because if she could have her trial period, he had to get his dose of entertainment.

She reached the small open space in front of the petrol station and put down her rucksack before leaning against a pole. There she was. Now the only thing she had to do was waiting for the Winchesters and their possible inhuman companions. She shot a longing glance at the pretty cashier of the station. If she hadn't been a woman on the job she would have surely spent some time flirting with her. Too bad that she couldn't afford missing the Chevrolet. She sighed and pulled her mp3 player out. The music would keep her some company. She leant more against the wood and relaxed, her eyes never leaving the road, the notes bursting in her ears.