Vera was indeed the first one to wake. Their room had a coffee maker and she decided to use it instead of going out to get coffee. She felt real guilty though when it sounded loudly after the coffee had brewed. Both boys were quick to wake after that. Maybe Sam faster than Dean.

"I swear to fucking God that was not even four hours." Dean groaned, aggressively pouring himself coffee and sloshing it all over the counter. Vera Calmly cleaned up the mess and kept her mouth shut even though she knew he'd already slept six hours. Sleep didn't always mean peace.

"We need to get on the victims families." Sam said pausing to yawn.

"Agreed." Said Vera.

Dean groaned sitting at the table laying his head on his arms.

"Fine." Said Vera. "The Science labs that work with the PD don't open for a few hours anyway. Me and Sam will talk to the families and you can sleep in and then go check for anomalies on the scene that the officers wouldn't have recognized."

"I changed my mind about you." He said groggily waving a finger in Vera's direction. "You'll be a fine edition to our team." Sam shook his head in exasperation.

"Come on lets get going. The first victim's fiancée has got an early job at a local bookstore & café."

"My two favorite shops." Vera said happily getting up to don another FBI undercover outfit.


They arrived at Stacie's Book and Brew with the sun just working it's way over the horizon. They went around back because the shop didn't actually open for an hour or so. They found a younger boy moving boxes through the open back door.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"Yeah can you tell us where to find Stacie Vautin?" Sam asked him.

"That's me." Said a woman coming out of the back door. She was tall with straight black hair and bangs. She had on plain clothes, her hair was drawn back and she seemed slightly out of breath; all signs of a hard-working woman. "It's okay Mikey, go on in and unload the new books." The little boy got up and did as Stacie asked. "What can I do for you guys?" She asked.

"Were with the FBI." Sam said and Vera took the cue and took out her badge. "We were hoping we could have a minute of your time to talk to you about your fiancé Aaron Parker?" Stacie's face fell.

"I guess. I just gotta get the rest of these boxes in and then we can sit and have a chat. Mikey!" The boy reappeared in the doorway. "Can you take out friends to the coffee bar for me?" He nodded and gestured for Sam and Vera to follow him. He led them through the back and then into the shop. All the walls we lined with books and there were tables and chairs dispersed throughout. The boy led them over to a table staring at his shoes the whole time.

"Is there anything I can get for you?" He asked shyly. Vera looked at the walls.

"How bout a recommendation?" She said. The boys face lit up.

"The newest Percy Jackson came out this year. It one of my favorite series."

"Really? Me too." Vera said and smiled at the boys look of excitement.

"Did you read the last one?"

"Not yet had the pleasure." She said.

"I have three copies." He said proudly. "One of my paperbacks is really beat up cause I read it so much, but you can have it if you want."

"That'd be really generous of you." He looked shy and then ran off to get it. Stacie came in finally and sat down with them.

"I hope Mikey didn't give you guys any trouble."

"Not at all." Said Sam. "He's a cute kid."

"How old is he?" Vera asked.

"Eleven in three months, Aaron and I had him when we were just teenagers."

"That's a long time for you guys to be together." Said Sam.

"Yeah, it's a rough ride. We sure did have our problems. I still can't believe he's gone though."

"What kind of problems, would you say?"

"The normal arguments. We'd fight about just about anything. My moms said we'd fight over the oxygen molecules in the air if we could see 'em. It got worse and worse. We've been engaged for six years. We kept pushing it back but I don't think either of us was ready to get married. I think he even started to cheat on me toward the end. We only tried to make it work because of Mikey."

"Did he have any other bad habits?" Vera asked. "Drinking? Gambling? That kind of thing?"

"Oh he was an alcoholic. He'd been in and out of rehab a few times. How is this relevant to the way he died?"

"With think the killer may have been targeting a specific personality type."

"Ah well he drank himself stupid at his favorite bar and fell into any arms he could at the local whore house."

"Which would that be?"

"I don't know the name."

"The bar then."

"Something Sour." And indeed her face did look as if she had tasted something sour.

A moment later Mikey came back into the room holding a battered copy of The Last Olympian. He put it on the table by Vera and then went to stand behind his mother.

"Thank you." Vera said pleasantly.

"Is there anything else you need to know? I've got to get the shop ready to open"

"I think that just about does it. Thank you." They shook hands and Vera and Sam moved onto the next person on the list. When they got in the car Sam called Dean to make sure he went down to the labs.

"Who's next?" Vera asked.

"Janet and Henry Lockhart, They were close friends of Warren Carr." Vera sighed.

"How many vics are there?"

"Seven."


Vera and Sam had just finished up interviewing Marty Nessen, who was the brother of the most recent vic Stuart Nesson. Marty had started to bawl after he told them about Stuart's trips to jail, the most recent of which being just before his death. They had to suffer through the rest of their questions while Marty sobbed. They were finally free and they all but ran from the house. Sam and Vera got into the car and sat for a moment in stunned silence.

"Wow."

"Yeah"

"I mean Wow."

"Uh huh."

"How can one man cry that much?" She asked.

"I really don't know."

"So many tears."

"So many tears." He agreed.

Sam started to drive back to the motel when his phone started to ring. Vera picked it and, upon seeing it was Dean, answered.

"Hey."

"Vera?"

"Who else?"

"Well I thought I called Sam."

"He's driving."

"Are you kidding me?" He practically yelled. Vera smiled and Sam laughed.

"At least we're not going to die in a fiery car crash." She defended.

"Whatever." Dean sounded like he was shaking his head. "So get this, at every crime scene there have been traces of Sulfur, however miniscule."

"So it is demons?"

"I'm thinking so. Now all we gotta do is find out where the damned thing is hiding."

"We think all the vics might have frequented the same bar, Something Sour."

"Never heard of it."

"We've got an address. Meet us at the hotel and we'll go check it out."

"Alright bye." He hung up

"So demons?" Sam asked.

"There was sulfur. We're gonna meet Dean back at the hotel and go check out Something Sour."

"You ready for more Demons?" Sam asked.

"You bet." She said without enthusiasm stroking the tender scar on her belly.

"You don't have to come you know."

"Yeah." She said resting her arm on the window. "You keep on telling yourself that."


As soon as they got to the motel Vera changed for a demon hunt. She put on a regular black skirt and slipped her devils trap skirt on under it. She had on a purple tank top and a jean jacket too trying to dress down her skirts. She put on thick metal jewelry that were made salted iron and slipped three flasks of holy water into her purse. She pinned up part of her hair with the palo santo. She put on her boot because they had protection runes carved into the soles.

When Vera emerged from the bathroom Sam was surprised to see her new outfit. He wasn't quite sure what he expected but it wasn't this. She looked indefinable. Her skirt was very refined. Then with the boots and jean jacket it made her very punk rock, but her hair and beaten metal bangles made her look very artsy. She had Odyne cinched at her waist, which made her look like a hunter. Her face was clear of make up and that just made her look beautiful. Sam realized he was staring at her and shook himself out of it.

"What's wrong?" She asked looking down at herself, having noticed him staring.

"Nothing." He forced his mouth to say. "I didn't expect this when you said you needed to get ready for the hunt." She laughed heartily pushing some hair back behind her ears. Sam noticed Each one was pierced four times. Three were helix, along the side and had little silver (Or more likely iron) hoops through them. One was on the lobe and she had mini pentagram earrings on. She had been about to explain more of her attire but Dean walked in just then.

"Ready to go?"

"Yep." Vera said smiling. And the three of them headed for Something Sour.

A/N: So I finally went back to edit somethings i wasn't happy with. Ch 4 changed quite bit but nothing that you absolutely must go back and read. Reviews are always welcome and so are suggestions and ideas. I love everyone who reads here! You've no idea how much it means to me.