"What do you mean, 'I'm not going to like it?'" Dean asks. Alex was still shaking, and he didn't know if it was due to the cold in the air, or to her nightmare. "I'm sure I've heard worse. Trust me," he says with a half smile.

Alex puts her other hand on top of his. They were something to hold on to, something to bring her back from the darkness that was inside her head. When they came back to the room, he had been the perfect gentleman, offering her clean, dry clothes when she realized Darcey hadn't put any thought into her packing. They had even talked for a few minutes, before she drifted off to sleep.

"If someone came to you, with an impossible decision," Alex pauses, trying to form the right question in her head. She had come to her decision just moments before, knowing Darcey had reached the same one day ago. "If you were faced with your life, or someone else's, what would you do?"

"Believe it or not, I'm faced with that decision all the time." Dean thinks to himself, what had this woman gotten herself into. "It's kind of my job."

Alex shakes her head, looking down at their hands. She was freezing, and she couldn't stop shaking.

"Dean, do you remember how you told me you wished I wouldn't look at you like I knew you?" Alex stares into his eyes.

"Like you're doing right know? Yeah, I remember." Dean's warning signals started going off.

"Would you mind handing me my bag? The black one?" Dean lets go of her hands, and crosses the room, picking up her large black purse. He carries it over to her, and watches as she pulls a book out of it, backing up when he sees that it is a much worn copy of "Shadow," by Carver Edlund.

"You're a damn fangirl?" he asks.

"No, Dean. I am not a 'fangirl.' Haven't you read any of these books?" Dean shakes his head in disbelief. "There's something in here I think you should read."

He was kind of surprised the only fans of the books he and Sam had come across were Becky, and the group at that crazy convention. And now he had one, in his motel room. He wouldn't be surprised if she wrote a book about it. Or at least posted a message on some website.

"Fine, if you don't want to read it, I'll read it to you." Alex removes a piece of paper from the book, setting it face down on the bed. 'John knew he had to help his boys, had to get to Chicago. But he was so close on the heels of old yellow eyes. 'Don't worry, John' his friend Brian Black said to him. 'The girls and I will finish here for you. You save your sons.'

Dean cuts Alex off. "I don't need to hear this. I lived…, I mean, these are silly books."

"No, they aren't. Please, just let me finish?"

"Fine," Dean huffs, walking away from Alex. They were silly books. He still didn't understand why anyone would want to read about them.

"'Brian, I can't help but think this is it. That we won't see each other again.' John says to his friend with deep foreboding in his voice. He turns to the women standing next to Brian, the beautiful blond and the brunette with eyes that burned. 'Darcey, Alex, be careful.'"

It takes a minute for Dean to process what he had just heard. He stares into the mirror at Alex, watching her, then grabs her other bag and wet clothes and throws them at her. "You're a fangirl, larping as an unknown character in some stupid book. Get out."

"Dean, I'm not 'larping,'" Alex says, staring back. "I AM the Alex in that book. Just like you are THE Dean. If you'll just give me a minute," she moves around on the bed, trying to find the piece of paper she had removed just minutes ago.

Crossing the room, Dean grabs her arm, pulling her out of the bed just as she finds the paper.

She puts a hand to Dean's chest, pushing him back, then handing him the photo. "What is this supposed to be?" he asks.

"It's of Darcey's wedding day. Darcey, and your father's friend, Brain. Dean that is your father standing next to them. Next to me."

************

Darcey stretches out in the bed, rolling over like a satisfied cat. That was fun, she thinks to herself. More than she had anticipated. She narrows her eyes, hearing Sam's deep voice from the bathroom. Men could be such boys, sometimes, she thinks to herself. He was probably telling his brother about his conquest. It didn't bother her, really. Besides, she had a job to do, and now was as good as time to get started.

"So, you're a hunter." Sam says, coming out of the bathroom, and tossing his phone onto the table. He grabs a shirt, feeling strange standing there half naked.

"I am a hunter," Darcey answers, pouting a little at no longer being able to stare at his firm chest.

"Don't you think you should have told me?"

"No. I knew you would figure it out. If not by the tattoo, then by the stockpile of guns. Or maybe the hex bags." Darcey shrugs nonchalantly, getting out of bed and pulling on a pair of jeans.

"So, you're what? In town on a hunt?" Sam inches slowly towards the door.

"Sam, I need time to explain. It is complicated." Darcey reaches behind her, pulling a gun out from under the mattress. He wasn't going to make things easy for them, was he? Alex could play the damsel in distress perfectly, and Dean always fell for the damsel. But Darcey hated acting, preferring instead to cut right to the chase. "Besides, I cannot let you go running off, can I?"

*************
6 days ago

Castiel was not used to interacting with humans. While he had been on earth for just over a year and a half, he knew that the Winchesters and their fellow hunters were a minor sampling of humanity. His search for God had led him to many interesting places, and he made it a habit to take a moment, a very brief moment, to stop and watch humanity at work. So it was purely by chance that he overheard two women talking about Sam and Dean Winchester, while sitting in a diner.

"I thought you said these things worked?" Alex asks Darcey, the tremor in her voice noticeable. Castiel couldn't understand why his presence was making the woman shake so violently.

"I thought they were," Darcey answers, turning to Castiel. "We are looking for them. We have not refused to perform this job. We just need more time."

"What 'job' is it you are referring to?" Castiel asks, staring at them both with wide blue eyes.

Alex turns to face him, anger breaking through the terror. "The one the other angel gave us four days ago."

"The other angel?" Castiel thinks for a moment, adding what he had overheard in the diner. "Another angel has set you with the task of hunting the Winchesters? And you believe that I am…checking in…on you." Things were worse than he had feared, and it had started sooner than he had hoped.

"Zachariah," Darcey answers. "So you can go back to him and tell him that we are doing the job."

"Please, just go," Alex whispers.

"You are mistaken. Zachariah did not send me. I do not work for him. I work for the Lord."

"So God is unable to find two men, as well?" Darcey asks. These angels were confusing her.

"God is not looking for the Winchesters. God knows where they are."

"Then why don't you ask God where they are, and leave us alone?" Alex asks.

Castiel shakes his head at the two women. "It is a long story. But Zachariah's…interests are not the same as the Lord's. They are not the same as mine. And if you are hunting for the Winchester brothers, then I am afraid I cannot let you continue." Castiel raises both hands toward the women.

"Wait! Please, just wait. If Zachariah didn't send you, then how did you find us?" Alex asks, thinking. She hoped Darcey was coming to the same conclusion.

"I was not looking for you."

"Then, if you were not looking for us, the hex bags work?" Darcey ponders.

"If you mean, could I…sense you, no. They work."

"Ok, you weren't looking for us, you don't work for Zachariah, and you appear to be on the Winchesters side. I am right?" Alex had stopped shaking. Maybe, just maybe, this was someone they could trust.

"You are correct. But I cannot allow you to harm the Winchesters."

"Castiel, you don't know how happy I am to hear you say that."