With everyone dressed and sitting around, no one quite sure about what they should be doing, as investigating the sacrifices wasn't likely to help at this point until they knew more about what was happening with this struggle between Heaven and Hell. As the day wore on, each of the four had at one time or another took a few minutes out to yell for Castiel, hoping to get his attention and bring him there, hopefully with answers to their growing questions. Stevie had found herself stealing glances at Sam throughout the morning and then mentally chastising herself, but there was some consolation in the fact that he had been stealing glances at her as well. There was just something about him, she wanted to believe, and yet, she knew it wasn't her own thoughts, but how could they not be?
She'd found herself watching as he would get up, walk around the table or even just lean down and look into the fridge for food that hadn't magically appeared no matter how much he'd wished it. When he brought her over a bottled water, his fingers touched her hand and the spark was intense, so much so that she outwardly gasped, then let out a near heart wrenching sigh. She'd built walls, not just one but many, so she'd never get hurt like that again, never again be vulnerable and in less than a day Sam had bulldozed his way through every single one without even trying.
"Where the hell are you, Cas," Dean grumbled for what must have been the hundredth time that day, Stevie's reaction having not gone unnoticed.
"Right here, Dean," Castiel answer evenly.
"Where have you been? We've been calling you all day." Dean huffed, standing up to move over toward Castiel.
"I got your messages," Castiel spoke, this time including everyone in his gaze.
"And you couldn't even pick up the phone and give us a clue what the hell is going on?" It was obvious that Dean's mood was not getting better by Castiel's appearance just yet.
"There is no cell reception in Heaven," he simply offered, then let his eyes move between Stevie and Sam. "I can't say that I'm surprised," he said as he moved over toward where Stevie was sitting, his eyes still moving between the two. "You've both joined this world because of losing the one you were intending to spend your life with," he said, then turning to silence Dean before he could speak. "I know that Sam grew up in this life, but he'd given it up until," his words trailed off, not needing to say her name for everyone to understand.
"You have to help us find a way to stop this, Cas. I don't... I can't..." Stevie's words faltered, and Castiel putting a gentle hand on her shoulder, his eyes closing as he sighed with the frustration of knowing that at this moment, he couldn't help her. There were still more questions to be answered, more questions still to be asked, and until such a time as he could do it all, he did not know how to heal the girl's suffering.
"I know that you've blocked this part of you off for a long time, but I hope this helps you to at least realize that when we are done, you need to start opening yourself up more, lest you be prone to such heartbreak again," he told her, knowing that his words would most likely fall on deaf ears.
"Okay, I've had enough," Maria said as she stood up. "Give me something, anything, that I can do to at least start to figure out how to cure my sister. What happens if they give in to... whatever this is? I want to know." She was standing behind her sister now, her eyes fierce with a loyalty few would ever have the pleasure of knowing.
"I don't know," Castiel replied honestly. "No one does at this point, which is why I don't have any answers. There are dozens of angels up in Heaven right now pouring through millenniums of scripture to try and find these answers. I wish I could tell you more."
"We can't just sit here waiting for Sam and Stevie to jump each other's bones. We have to do something," Dean huffed, running his hand over his short hair, the frustration in the action as obvious as the look on his face.
"We're not," Sam said as he spoke up for the first time since Castiel had arrived. "We're going to go ahead and treat this like any other hunt. We're going to find answers and do what we do best," his words were strong with determination as his eyes then fell to Stevie. "Like you said before, we don't give in."
Stevie smiled up at him, knowing that above all else she had a partner in this that truly understood how she felt, then looking to her sister she knew she had the strongest of allies. The more her heart opened up to Sam, the more she knew she had to rely on Maria. With each hour that passed, she could feel the pull of Sam deepen, it was becoming near irresistible. She turned her eyes to Castiel, "Go find out what you can as soon as you can. We're going to handle this our way until you can give us something better. Nobody is going to choose our fate, no one but us."