Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. Except for Sylvia. Who is, for the most part, mine. : ) I hope you enjoy it.

Also, a big thanks to everyone who has reviewed/favourite this story. It means a lot to me.

Also, my question mark button is defunct. This information has no real bearing on anything, I just wanted the people who read this to know that every time I hit the '?' I have to whack it about five times. Does anyone know any good question mark button shops?

Sam hit the second speed dial on his phone before holding it to his ear. Dean sat in stony silence in the driver's seat, and in the back Sylvia sat twisting her rings. The phone rang twice before it was picked up.

"Yeah?" said a gruff voice.

"Hey Bobby. It's Sam."

"Sam! Where have you and your idjit brother been? I've been trying to get in contact!"

"Sorry Bobby. We had . . . things to take care of." Sam looked at Sylvia through the rear-view mirror. He knew that Dean was regretting taking on the job, but Sam still felt sorry for Sylvia. She looked lost.

"What sort of things? Is this some more strange mumbo-jumbo that you two always seem to be getting stuck in?"

Sam sighed heavily. Bobby wasn't far off the mark.

"Yeah. I'd rather not tell you over the phone. We'll be at yours in about three hours. See you there."

Bobby grunted an affirmation and then hung up. Sam looked at Dean, who stared stoically at the road ahead. Sylvia caught Sam's look and turned away, still twisting her rings.

This was going to be a long three hours.

"Heya Bobby," Sam called when they walked into his house.

"Back here boys!" came the call from the direction of the library. The three of them trailed into the room, Sylvia following with a look close to awe on her face. As they entered the library, Sam watched as Sylvia took it in. Her already huge amber eyes widened as she saw the books lining everything. Sam chuckled to himself. He had somehow known she was a bookworm.

"Ah," said Bobby, eyeing the newcomer. "This would be the strange mumbo-jumbo then?"

Sylvia's eyes flashed to his, and to Sam's disappointment, she sneered. For some reason, he had wanted her to make a good impression on Bobby. Out of everyone Sam knew, Bobby would be the one person most likely to change Dean's mind about Sylvia.

"Excuse me?" she asked pertly.

Bobby laughed.

"Forget it," he stood up with a groan. "My name's Bobby. And I'm guessing that your name is Sylvia Strider."

Dean turned from where he was standing, his back to everyone.

"How do you know Sylvia?" he asked.

Bobby looked from Dean to Sylvia and back again. Sam could tell from his expression that just like that, he had read the situation.

"Everyone knows Sylvia," he explained. "She's a bloody legendary hunter. She and her brother Adrian. She's more a legend because she doesn't look like one."

Here he broke off, turning to Sylvia.

"No offence."

To Sam's surprise, the sneer melted off her face to be replaced with a genuine smile. The smile transformed her completely, and he realised that she could be truly beautiful if she wanted to.

"But," continued Bobby, "If you two idjits are travelling in the company of a Strider, than something whacked is definitely going down." He turned to Sylvia. "Where's your brother, sweetheart?"

The smile froze on Sylvia's face, and she frowned sadly.

"I don't know. He's . . . he's gone."

And then, to Sam's complete and utter surprise, she began to cry. What surprised Sam further was that before anyone could even react, Dean had taken a giant lunge towards her and was rubbing her back, murmuring comforting phrases into her ear.

Sam and Bobby met each other's eyes over the pair. Bobby raised his eyebrows. Sam shrugged his shoulders.

Sylvia stopped crying. Probably more from surprise than the comforting charms of my brother, thought Sam, and he wasn't far off the mark. Sylvia was staring at Dean with a look of utter incomprehension. Dean, on his part, was backing away from her awkwardly, looking uncomfortable.

To break the weird silence, Sam turned to Bobby, and began recounting everything that had happened since the phone call he had received from Sylvia two days ago, to Castiel's strange reaction to Adrian's name. Bobby listened intently, occasionally making a deep noise of surprise, or looking at Sylvia. Sylvia and Dean still stood away from each other, apparently both unsure of how to react to Dean's strange compassion.

When Sam had finished, Bobby looked at Dean.

"I always knew you two were freak magnets," he said. Before either Sylvia or Dean could protest, Bobby cut them off. "What have you got to add Dean?"

Dean opened his mouth, looked at Sylvia, and then shut it.

"Nothing," he said.

Sylvia glared at him, and then turned to Bobby.

"He's lying," she said with conviction.

How can she be so sure? Wondered Sam. He watched her carefully. She was fingering the emerald ring again, a pained look on her face. That ring . . .

Bobby raised his eyebrows. "Dean?"

"Okay, okay," Dean glared at Sylvia again. Their happy hiatus hadn't lasted long. "I was talking to Castiel before Sylvia and Sammy came over. He was telling me . . . telling me that he couldn't sense Sylvia. Where he can usually read people's history and emotions, with Sylvia he just drew a blank. It was like she didn't exist."

Sylvia looked pale.

"But my brother," she said. "He knew my brother. Adrian."

Bobby sighed heavily.

"Sweetie, I think you ought to be very worried about your brother. If you have angels as low down the pecking order as Cas freaking out over him, then you can bet your sweet ass that something big and ugly is going down. If he weren't your twin, I would be telling you right now to get the hell out of here and pretend like there never was an Adrian Strider."

"Anyway," Dean interjected. "How can we know that Adrian is still alive?"

"I know," said Sylvia quietly. Though the bond between her and Adrian was severely weakened, she knew now that it was not gone like she had thought before. When it was very quiet, and she was very calm, she could still feel Adrian, alive somewhere. But it was a weird feeling, almost like the bond was being smothered by a pillow.

She explained as much to Bobby, Dean and Sam.

Bobby looked thoughtful.

"Hang on a second," he said. "Show me your rings."

Sylvia approached, thrusting her hand out for Bobby to see. He carefully turned each ring, feeling the texture of each.

"These are very powerful rings," he said finally. "For protection, knowledge, strength and speed," he listed, pointing to each one. His finger stopped at the golden one, engraved with an eye. "This is the one," he whispered. He could feel the power pouring off it, tangible. It covered her whole tiny body, a thick layer of . . . of what? Protection? But she had the ruby for that. He didn't know. He just knew that it was vitally important. He told them all as much.

Sylvia slipped the ring off, and held it out to Bobby. Suddenly, Bobby felt queasy. He didn't want to touch the ring.

"No, you keep it. Does it say anything?"

Sylvia inspected it, and then gasped.

"Love to Sylvia," she read for the first time. "Pro infinitio , fio infinitio. Adrian."

"What's that?" asked Dean. "Latin?"

"Yeah," said Sam. "It means 'For eternity, become eternity."

"Mean anything to you?" Dean asked Sylvia.

But Sylvia didn't answer. She was staring at the ring, her eyes wide, and her face pale. She was breathing shallowly.

"Oh my God," she said softly.