Ok, this is a long chap but it may be a couple of days before I can post again. Hope you enjoy :)

FYI, in case you didn't notice, the chapter titles are random excerpts from the chapter. Taken out of context, they can be misleading, lol. This chapter's title is a quote from Cas – got you wondering?

CHAPTER 10 – I Am Not in Love with Dean Winchester

June 2009

Dean let the shower run hotter than usual, enjoying the soothing effect the steaming water was having on the new array of bruises from his round with Kim. He leaned his hand against the tile shower wall for a long while, hanging his head as the water ran down his neck and over his aching back. He was both disheartened and tired. Hoping to get a couple of hours sleep before heading out to find the vampires, he reluctantly shut the water off, stepping out and wrapping a towel around his lower half before coming back out into the motel room for some clean clothes.

No sooner had he stepped through the bathroom door than Castiel appeared, standing in his trench coat and tie by the motel door. Sam had been relaxing on his bed but quickly sat up.

"Cas," Sam announced.

Cas nodded in way of a greeting, looking first at Sam then over to Dean. "Where is the witch?"

Sam swung his legs over the side of the bed and got to his feet. "Dead. A ghoul already had her."

"Yeah, sorry man," Dean said as he rooted through his duffel for clean clothes. "We screwed up. All four witches are dead. We lost the seal."

"Did you kill the ghoul?" Cas asked.

"Yes," Sam answered.

"Then all may not be lost," Cas informed them, getting a raised brow from both Winchesters.

"Are you saying the seal doesn't break until the ritual is completed?" Sam asked, sounding hopeful. "You think we have time to stop it?"

The angel nodded. "The ritual involves the reinstatement of four specific elements of Netiran that are manifested in the witches then transferred to the appropriate dark beings. Without these beings to supply the elements, the ritual can't be completed."

"Whoa, so you're telling me if we waste any one of the four monsters, then the ritual can't happen and we save the seal?" Dean actually grinned. "Then we're homefree, Cas! We wasted the Shritga and the ghoul. Lillith's two down. She'll have to start from scratch now, recruit four more witches."

Cas didn't look as pleased as the brothers thought he should have. "Lillith has been one step ahead of us for fifty-nine seals. She would have an alternate plan."

"So you're telling us not to count our chickens?" Dean clarified.

"No," said Cas, giving the hunter a furrowed brow of confusion at the chicken remark. "I'm telling you I don't think we should assume we have won."

Dean ignored the correction. "But there were only four witches," the hunter argued. "We've dusted Netiran's memories and his life-force, which were the ghoul and the shritga. They killed all four witches to take this stuff so they can't just go back and take it again."

"My sources tell me there were five witches," Cas said.

Sam winced. "Right. Ella."

"Ella?" Dean didn't sound convinced. "She was a demon."

"She took part in all the coven's spells," Sam pointed out. "There was a human inside there. She was as much a witch as the rest of them, prepared for the ritual by the spells. Lillith could try again with her to replace the memories or the life-force."

"Okay," Dean conceded. "But even if she did, that still leaves Netiran's brew one ingredient short." He addressed Cas as he sniffed the pits of a grey t-shirt, shrugged, and pulled it over his head. "Or can she take two elements from one witch?"

"I don't know," Cas said slowly. "I'm not sure how it works. It's complicated."

Dean didn't hide his frustration. "Enough with the complicated, Cas! You guys locked these seals, didn't you? How is it you know diddly squat about how they're opened? You gotta stop holding back on us. I almost got killed by demons twice in two days – that's a bad average, even for me!"

Castiel had the decency to look apologetic for a brief second. "I am sorry. I have already told you they don't tell me much," he said. "I did not personally create the seals. I don't know if they can use the last witch for both the missing elements. What I do know is that we cannot take that chance."

"Okay," Sam shrugged. "Dean, hurry up and get dressed. We'll go get Ella."

Dean let Sam's bossy tone slide as he was in complete agreement with the plan of action. He grabbed his jeans and headed for the bathroom door. "We'll go get her but this time, you look after her!" he called over his shoulder at the angel.

"Uh, he's gone," Sam informed him, just as there was a loud knock on the door.

Sam got up to look through the peephole in the door, his hand automatically reaching for the 9mm still in his waistband. Dean was torn between taking a defensive position and taking the time to pull his pants on, not wanting to be caught undressed if it was an enemy at the door. He decided on the pants, waving an arm at Sam to stall before opening the door as he yanked his jeans up under the towel.

Sam's shoulders relaxed and he threw an eye roll Dean's way before pulling the door open to reveal Josh standing there. The blond man was wearing a striped shirt that was a size or two too small for him and his face still looked a little pale. He grinned as he stepped over the threshold into the room.

"Hey guys."

Sam closed the door behind him, throwing Dean a look that said 'so much for the ditching him plan'. "Doc let you go already?" he asked in a surprised tone.

Josh gave them a sheepish shrug. "What can I say? I heal fast."

Both brothers could tell that wasn't the whole truth of the matter. Dean pressed the issue, a little annoyed they hadn't had the chance to split. "Lucas said you'd be down for a couple of days. It hasn't even been twenty-four hours," he pointed out.

Josh gave him a slight frown. "Well, I didn't want you two getting any ideas about ditching me. And thanks for thinking to drop my car off," he added, heaping on the sarcasm since the Bronco was still parked out front where he had left it the day before. "I just loved hitchhiking across Denver in a friggin' special edition Zac Efron shirt."

"Dude, you could have just called," Dean defended. If truth be told, it hadn't even occurred to him to take Josh his car to him. He and Sam usually worked alone. They didn't normally have to worry about anyone else. Besides, Dean Winchester didn't do car pool.

Josh shrugged, taking a seat on Dean's bed. "I would have," he admitted, "but I sorta forgot my phone at the clinic." He changed the subject at that point so he wouldn't have to lie. "Which, by the way, was a veterinary clinic! Thanks for that."

Dean laughed. "Hey, you're the one who refused a hospital."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll have to take your word one that one." Josh only had a vague recollection of the drive to Ella's sister's house. He hadn't rented his own room the first night he had shown up, being too worried about the Winchesters giving him the slip, and had instead camped out on the floor of their room in a sleeping bag from his SUV. His duffel bag was still on the floor and he hauled it up next to him, rooting through it for a decent sized shirt. "So what's going on with the hunt?"

"You just missed your future brother-in-law," Dean informed him.

"Castiel? The angel?" Josh's head snapped up. "What, is he shy? I wouldn't mind meeting an angel."

"News flash," said Sam, surprised that Josh knew about angels and guessing Alex must have told him in the letter. "Angels are dicks."

"Not what I hear," Josh countered. "I hear they're sparkling bundles of glowy goodness."

Both Sam and Dean snorted loudly to that image, which was clearly Alex's mistaken point of view. "Cas is alright," Dean conceded, "but as for the rest of them, you can't trust them as far as you can throw them."

"So what did Cas have to say?" Josh asked. "Does his visit have anything to do with this hunt?"

"Yeah," Dean admitted, figuring Josh was already in this neck deep so they may as well let him finish it. "Turns out the witches in our local coven are all being killed as part of a plan to perform a ritual that may open a gate to Hell. As a matter of fact, we gotta go get Ella back right now. Come on, I'll explain on the way."

Josh exhaled wearily and rose to his feet. He wasn't up for driving so he slid into the back of the Impala after rooting briefly through the trunk of his own vehicle. On the half hour ride out to Ella's sister's house, Dean explained the gist of the hunt, omitting the minor fact that the completion of the ritual also signified the breaking of the sixtieth seal on Lucifer's prison. Josh listened intently, interjecting with a few technical questions about vampires and shritgas. He had come across a few ghouls before and knew the headshot rule. He had also encountered his first werewolf a year ago so knew the basics about killing them too. He didn't bring up what he had seen Sam do with his powers to the demon possessing Ella and neither Winchester offered any explanation.

When they pulled up on the street outside Ella's sister's house, they noticed a second car in the driveway that hadn't been there when they had dropped her off. Dean held back, stopping behind a scraggly hedge that ran along the roadside. A man and an elderly lady were standing talking on the front porch.

"What do you think?" Dean asked his brother, eyeing them nervously.

"I don't know," Sam answered thoughtfully. "You thinking they could be demon?"

"Two traps in two days," Dean reminded his brother. "Damn right they could be demon. I'm not about to walk into a third."

"They could just be relatives," Sam pointed out. "Or Jehovas."

"Well, if they are demons, they'll recognize you two," Josh spoke up. "So I'll go in. They won't risk blowing a trap for a nobody."

He slid over to the door to get out of the car.

"Wait," Dean barked. "What are you packing?"

Josh rolled his eyes. "I get it," he snapped, sounding more than a little annoyed. "I'm still the useless rookie." He pulled out a .45 from his waistband and ejected the clip. "My all-purpose gun," he commentated, holding it up as if doing a product demo on the shopping channel. "One silver round, one consecrated iron round, then one regular round. Full clip. Seven of each, all in rotating order. If the first bullet doesn't work, the second or third will." He snapped the magazine back in place and pulled out a small flask from his pocket. "And holy water. I have done this before, you know." He looked at the brothers expectantly. "Are you satisfied? Do I pass, Professors?"

"Yeah, yeah," Dean conceded. "Just don't go inside. Find out who they are and ask for Ella to come to the door. She'll recognize you and I'm sure she'll agree to come with you. And keep your eyes open."

Josh just gave him the finger and stepped out of the car. As he strolled up the driveway, Dean threw Sam a sheepish look. "Dude," he grinned, "that's a smart play, mixing your ammo in case you don't know what you're gonna be dealing with. Howcome we never thought of that?"

Sam shrugged, grinning also, mostly at the fact that neither of them would be admitting to Surfer Boy that he had come up with a good idea.

They watched him walk up the three porch steps and shake hands with the middle-aged man in what seemed like a friendly greeting. The two spoke for a moment before the man helped the elderly lady to the extra car and drove away as Josh knocked on the front door.

"Let's go, Dean," Sam suggested, getting out of the car. "Doesn't look like there's anything hinky going on here. We're getting paranoid."

The door had still not been answered by the time they reached it, despite Josh's second round of loud thumps. Josh turned to face them. "Dude says he was Ella's uncle and the old lady was her great aunt. He said she was inside but she's not answering."

"Let's go in," Sam said tensely, striding up to the door and turning the knob. It was locked. He drew his gun and slammed his foot into the center of the door. It flew open with a crack and a bang, slamming hard against the side wall.

"Ella!" Sam yelled, ducking in through the doorway with his 9mm held out in front of him. Dean followed closely behind and Josh brought up the rear.

They split up and searched the house, Sam taking the main floor while Dean went upstairs. Josh stepped warily down the steps leading to the basement.

"Found 'em!" Dean called a moment later from upstairs. He was joined within seconds by Sam.

"Aw crap," Sam cursed as he approached Dean, who was squatting next to the body of Ella with his fingers on her neck feeling for a pulse. The pretty brunette was lying on her back, her eyes and mouth wide open. Her lips were cracked, her cheeks hollowed, and her face ghostly white.

Just as Josh came up the stairs behind him, Sam stepped past his brother to the body of a second girl. Despite the bloodied face, he recognized her as Ella's sister, who had answered the door when they had dropped Ella off yesterday. There was no need to check her pulse, it was evident she was dead.

"Shritga?" Josh asked, looking at Ella as Dean stood up shaking his head to indicate she was gone.

"That would be my guess."

"Did a ghoul eat that one?" he asked, this time addressing Sam who was standing nearest the sister.

Sam shook his head. "No. She's not eaten. Looks like a few stab wounds. Besides, she wasn't one of the witches. I'd say wrong place, wrong time. Collateral damage."

"The old lady!" Dean exclaimed suddenly. "On the porch! Shritgas usually take the form of an old lady when they go human."

Sam looked sharply at Josh. "How about the man? Think he could have been a demon?"

Josh shook his head. "Nope. Maybe ghoul or shritga or even werewolf, but he definitely wasn't vamp or demon."

"How do you know?" Sam pressed.

"Well vamps are cold, for one thing. I found that out yesterday. I shook his hand and he was warm. As for demon, he didn't flinch when I said Christo."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "How the Hell did you get the word Christo into the conversation?"

Josh grinned, extending his arm out to Dean as if offering to shake hands. "G'day, mate. Name's Christo Williams," he said in a thick but perfect Australian accent. "I'm in town from Sydney and thought I'd drop by and see my old friend Eller. D'ya know if she's about?"

Dean laughed in approval. "Throw another shrimp on the barbie. Nice play."

Sam's attention, however, was still on the case and he wasn't much in the mood for laughing. They'd just lost the fifth witch. If Lillith had somehow managed to get another ghoul in the mix, she would be free and clear to perform the ritual. "Okay," he frowned, "we need to find four monsters. Fast."

SPN-SPN-SPN

It was dusk in the Philippines and there was a light, monsoon wind coming in from the southeast. Castiel stood in contemplative solitude on the roof of a fifty-seven storey high-rise in Manila, gazing out over the ocean as the last yellow rays of the sun were swallowed by the approaching darkness.

A bright, white light shone briefly behind him but the angel didn't turn around. There was a fluttering noise and a vaguely luminescent, non-human figure appeared at his side, its majestic wings tucking miraculously away as it approached.

"This is a surprise," Cas said finally, with no surprise evident in his voice.

"I thought I'd find you here," the second angel replied though no audible sound was made. "It looks a lot different than it did when you used to seek revelation here many centuries ago."

Cas made no reply but the newcomer continued the casual chatter. "This whole area was trees and, if I remember correctly, the most magnificent beach of golden sands. You always did have an eye for our Father's more beautiful creations, Castiel. I never understood how you could enjoy such a humid climate though."

"What are you doing here, Miniel?" Cas finally asked, turning to look at the figure next to him.

"I've been hearing disturbing whispers. Whispers about you. I am troubled."

"And what whispers have you heard?" Castiel looked away, not sure why he had bothered to ask for he already knew the answer. He too had heard the whispers.

"Word is you are getting too close to your human charge."

"The task of guiding and protecting him was bestowed upon me," the angel in human form defended. "I take my duty very seriously."

"Little brother, I am not here to judge you."

"Then why are you here? I haven't spoken to you in close to a thousand years."

"Actually, it has been exactly a thousand years."

Castiel remained silent. Miniel sighed inwardly.

"I sought you out because I understand your situation," he explained silently into his troubled brother's head.

"My situation?" Cas was surprised at his old comrade's sudden appearance but found himself eager to hear his words. Like him, Miniel had always appreciated the wonderful complexities of man and expressed a genuine fondness towards them. That fondness, in fact, had brought much suffering on the disgraced angel.

"Castiel, I know what it is like to walk the earth invisible and unnoticed, just watching and observing. As you are aware, that is all I have been permitted to do for a thousand years now. But I also remember what it is like to instead take a vessel and interact with the humans, having them see you and touch you and…" he paused, clearly censoring his next thought before continuing, "…affect you. I know too well how compelling the attentions of a human can be, how influential their emotions can be."

Cas found himself growing increasingly defensive and briefly wondered if Zachariah had sent Castiel's old comrade to speak to him. "You have not been permitted to inhabit a vessel for a thousand years, Miniel. You disobeyed an order from Heaven for the sake of a human," he pointed out.

"A mistake I do not wish you to make also, Castiel."

Cas narrowed his eyes. "You fell in love with a human girl," he accused. "You betrayed your fellow angels to save the life of a human whose fate it was to die. You…"

Miniel's thoughts cut him off. "Fate put me there in a position to save her! If it was our Father's will that she die, he would not have made it so," he said with a hint of anger.

"It's not my place to lay judgment upon you, brother," Cas assured him, his shoulders relaxing. Although he had disapproved of the choices Miniel had made, Cas had forgiven him centuries ago. "You have paid for your disobedience. Your thousand years of penance have now been served. I can assure you I am in no danger of following in your footsteps. I am not in love with Dean Winchester."

"There are many types of love, Castiel. Love of a friend. Love of a brother. And of course, true love, the love I fell victim to a millennium ago." His non-voice hardened slightly at his next words. "Love is a powerful emotion that our kind is only permitted so that we may bestow it upon our Father and better serve Heaven."

Castiel couldn't be sure but he thought he detected a hint of bitterness in his old friend's last remark. He had spent many centuries in this world with Miniel and had thought he knew him well. Miniel's keen interest and fascination with humanity had earned him many assignments that involved taking a human vessel and walking amoung them, far more than Uriel, Anna, or himself had ever been given. Cas had disapproved vehemently when Miniel had disgraced himself and up until a year ago, he would have voiced his disappointment all over again. Standing next to his brother now, however, he finally felt a flicker of understanding.

Miniel was silent for a moment. Cas watched him, admiring the angel's true visage, however subdued it may be at the moment. An angel in its true form left unrestrained and free was gloriously magnificent but would certainly attract unwanted attention standing on a rooftop in a busy city, so Miniel was making a strong effort to suppress his luminescent splendor. He was gazing silently over the ocean in deep thought now, much as Castiel had been before the arrival of company.

When Miniel spoke, however, he did not voice words of understanding or encouragement but instead delivered a stern warning.

"Do not allow your judgment to be clouded, Castiel. I remember the confusion I felt when a human first laid their faith in me. When they opened their heart and spoke to me as a friend, not as an angel. I remember the sense of responsibility I suddenly felt for that human. That bond - that feeling - although tempting and powerful, comes at the expense of your faith."

Castiel wished he wasn't in his human vessel because Jimmy's face seemed to automatically betray whatever emotions Cas was experiencing - emotions he was not supposed to be experiencing. He covered any that may have inadvertently reached Jimmy's boyish features by pulling a scowl over them. "I appreciate the warning but I assure you your words are entirely unnecessary. I serve our Father and only our Father."

SPN-SPN-SPN

The three men stopped for an early lunch on the way back to the motel, much to Josh's delight. "This is different," he announced. "I mean, you guys are like robots. I'm used to hunting with Lexie. My sister hates dead bodies. No way she'd be able to grab a bite after seeing what we just saw."

"You don't seem that shaken up about it," Sam pointed out.

"Honestly, I almost lost my breakfast back there," Josh admitted. "And I hate it when we're too late and some innocent person dies, but you gotta keep trying, right? You might not be too late for the next person."

"So what, now you're a hunter?" Sam teased, referring to the claim both Brentons had continually made that they weren't actually hunters.

Josh shrugged. "With angels running around the planet and demons spouting off about the Apocalypse and all, I'm figuring you guys can use all the help you can get."

Sam nodded in approval. "My sentiments exactly."

"Hey!" Dean interceded indignantly. "We do alright!"

"Not us personally, Dean," Sam clarified. "But things are getting messy and the more hunters in the game, the better. This isn't any time for capable people who know monsters are real to be taking a time out." He gave his brother a pointed look that clearly showed his opinion on ditching Josh and letting him or anyone else sit this one out. It was all hands on deck.

Dean's stomach knotted at the memory of Sam dragging Adam so recklessly into this dangerous way of life. Dean knew he could never escape it but that didn't mean he wanted it for anyone else, Josh included.

"So does this mean you're gonna tell me what's going on?" Josh asked hopefully. He hadn't been pressing for details in case it pushed the Winchesters into giving him the slip and taking away any chance he had of finding out where his sister was but they seemed to be warming up to him.

Dean leaned back in the gaudy vinyl booth bench just as the waitress approached with their food. "You already know more than most, dude. Let's just leave it at that."

The waitress turned out to be quite flirty and by the end of the meal, getting her number had escalated into a fierce but friendly competition between the two elder hunters, neither of which seemed to be having any luck sealing the deal.

"Guys, she's just playing you for tips," Sam said, embarrassed as usual at the lines these two were feeding the pretty but obviously cosmetically enhanced blonde.

Josh laughed. "If you ask me," he observed, "she's waiting for you to join in. Bet you'd get her number in a heartbeat if you were inclined to try."

"I'm not," Sam huffed.

Josh looked over at the waitress then back at Sam, shaking his head in disbelief. "You got something going on with the little brunette hunter chick?"

Sam and Dean both gave Josh a quizzical look.

"At Ella's grandmother's place," Josh explained. "Some things are pretty foggy," he admitted, "but I'm sure I didn't imagine her. She had a nice ass."

Dean snorted and Sam rolled his eyes. "There's nothing going on between me and her," Sam lied.

Josh didn't believe him. "So she's fair game then?" he asked, trying to force an admission out of Sam. "I wouldn't mind getting me some of that."

Dean snorted again. "Trust me, buddy, she's not your type."

Josh laughed. "I just got out of jail. I don't have a type."

"You've got a species, don't you?" Dean asked, chuckling at the look of astonishment on his friend's face.

"What? Whoa, demon?"

Dean nodded. Sam dug back into his food, avoiding the conversation.

"Okay, you got me. Even I have standards. Doesn't matter how tight her ass was, it can't make up for demon. That's just nasty." Josh curled his lip in distaste, not noticing the pointed and smug look Dean threw his little brother. "Why was she helping you then?"

Dean shrugged. "Not so sure she is," he answered.

"Okay, let's not forget we'd all be dead right now if she hadn't shown up!" Sam interjected with enough malice to silence the older two. They all focused on their meals for a few minutes until Dean's phone rang, the first few chords of Zepplin's Kashmir grinding out of his pocket before he could answer it.

"Bobby, what's up?"

"I was gonna ask you the same thing. There's a lot of buzz goin' round Denver."

"What kind of buzz?"

"Gee, let me think. There's been a werewolf, a vampire, and a shritga all playing in the same building. You ain't the only hunters in the country, ya idjit. They're all over this thing like flies on shit. I was gonna suggest you and your brother haul ass out of there. Some hunters don't necessarily take too kindly to you two."

"Can't." Dean answered matter-of-factly. "God's orders."

"Castiel?" Bobby always put things together quickly. "He told you to work this? Is this a seal?"

"Yep. A big one." Dean sighed into the phone, not wanting to bother his old friend with the next piece of bad news. "It's number sixty," he said quietly, glancing up at Josh as he spoke even though he knew there was no way the less-informed man could figure out what Dean was talking about from just one side of the conversation.

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. "Sixty?" Bobby sounded almost scared. Bobby never sounded scared. "How are things comin' then? Think you'll be able to stop it?"

"Well, the witches are all dead and now the creatures that killed them are to be part of some sort of ritual that will open a gate to Hell," Dean explained. "There's a vamp, a werewolf, a shritga, and a ghoul. We killed the ghoul so we may be homefree, but Cas says Lillith would likely have a back-up plan so we can't be too sure."

"Well, your angel-buddy is right," Bobby admitted grudgingly. "Listen, you boys be careful."

Dean smiled at the concerned advice. "Aren't we always?" he replied sarcastically.

Bobby grunted his disagreement. "Well, thanks to your new friend, you may not have a doctor to stitch you up next time so don't go gettin' yourself all bloodied up. Call me back if you need anything – I'll keep you posted on any information that comes my way."

Bobby hung up, leaving Dean to look quizzically at his phone and wondering what the remark on the doctor was about. "Bhodi, you forgetting to tell us something?" he asked Josh.

Josh winced. "Is this about Lucas?"

Dean nodded.

"Huh. Well, I may have burned that particular bridge for you two," he admitted.

"How?" Sam asked, more curious than upset. They were used to patching up their own injuries anyway.

"Uh, remember the receptionist?"

Dean nodded, a grin spreading across his face. "She was hot."

"Tell me about it. And she had a great bedside manner too."

Sam dropped his fork on the table and groaned loudly, shaking his head in disapproval. Like one Dean wasn't enough to deal with.

Josh continued, at least having the decency to look sheepish. "She also forgot to mention that she was Lucas's daughter."

Dean snorted his laughter into his coke. "That's why you forgot your phone," he accused.

Josh nodded. "I got sent outta there pretty fast. I had to steal a shirt from a clothesline in the neighbor's yard."

"You know, if you guys put as much effort into this hunt as chasing tail, we might be getting somewhere!" Sam snapped. He wasn't even aware his leg was twitching under the table and his fingers absently brushing the flask in his pocket.

"Whoa, what's with the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde routine?" Josh fired back at Sam, surprised at the angry outburst.

"And why am I getting thrown into this?" Dean argued, his voice slightly raised. He resented the accusation that he would let his extra-curricular activities get in the way of a hunt. Sam was way out of line.

Josh bit his lip, still offended at Sam's remark but deciding to hold his tongue. The kid was probably just stressed about the gravity of the gate-to-Hell situation. He held his hands up as a gesture of peace.

"Okay, okay," he said calmly, turning to Sam. "I apologize if I've put you guys in an awkward situation. I was out of commission at the time and it wasn't affecting the hunt. Besides," he picked up a fry and popped it in his mouth. "I'd been in jail for almost six months. Can you really blame me?"

Sam feigned a dismissive look, returning his attention to his food. Dean's jaw was tense but he too agreed to drop the subject and shoveled the last of his burger into his mouth. Josh studied them both as surreptitiously as he could and wondered what had happened between them to cause the apparent canyon-wide rift that clearly had nothing to do with him getting laid.

SPN-SPN-SPN

"I don't get it," Josh said, closing his laptop in frustration.

"Get what?" Sam snapped his phone shut, ending his fifteenth useless phone call in search of clues.

"If there are so many monsters running about Denver, shouldn't there be more weird stuff going on? You know, murders and mayhem. I just hacked the police 9-1-1 call log and there's nothing out of the ordinary in the past two days besides the dead witches we already know about."

Sam looked thoughtful. His FBI impersonations to all the various departments of Denver PD had been equally futile. "Maybe Lillith is keeping them on a short leash."

"And Lillith is what, the head demon?"

"Yep. Queen Bitch," Dean chimed in.

"The one trying to bring on the Apocalypse?" Josh fished.

"That would be the one." Sam pulled his face into a frown, his usual deep thinking pose. "You know," he said, "I think the vampire will be the easiest to find."

"Why's that?" Dean asked.

"'Cause we know what he looks like. I think it's Ivan."

"Ivan, the teenager? The punk who came charging in to attack Ella?" Dean raised a skeptical eyebrow at his brother. "You think he's the one who's supposed to be in the ritual?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded, sitting up straight as it all came together in his mind. "Both of the shritgas killed the witches right away rather than making them sick. Bobby said the older a shritga gets, the faster its victim dies. So we know they were both really old. The werewolf went after a specific target which implies it retained rational thought even in animal form," he continued. "So we know it must be really old too. Kim said she was six hundred. Again, that's really old for a ghoul."

"How does that point the finger to Ivan?" Josh asked, not really remembering much about the vamp except that his fortuitous arrival in the cellar yesterday had probably saved him from sprouting fangs himself.

"Ivan told me he's probably the oldest vamp on the planet," Sam explained.

"Okay, but how does that help us find him?" Dean questioned.

Sam shrugged. "Well it doesn't but vamps are a little more predictable than the others," he offered. "They run in packs. They sleep most of the day. They tend to hole up in abandoned, secluded places. They like to drink and party so they often frequent bars. We should be able to find them even without a blood trail."

The other two didn't look convinced. Denver was a huge city, not like the rural podunk towns most creatures of the supernatural usually had their fun in.

"What are our other options?" Sam demanded, annoyed that they weren't jumping to follow his suggestion. "We could try the graveyards for a ghoul but that's a slim chance, especially in the daytime. Even though it's full moon, we have no clue where to find a werewolf in the day because he'll be human. You got any leads on the old lady from Ella's? 'Cause I don't. We flaked out on that one and didn't think to get the license plate of their car."

"Alright," Dean conceded, rising to his feet. "A door to door search of the city's abandoned warehouses is a longshot but it's all we got right now."

Sam couldn't help but be irritated by the fact that Josh stood up also, apparently waiting for Dean to agree to the plan. He shrugged it off quickly, realizing he was probably reading something into nothing and was being childish. Sam booted his laptop back up and did a quick search for all the likely properties in town that would serve as a vampire hideout while Dean sorted through what weapons they would need. Fifteen minutes later they were on the road again.

SPN-SPN-SPN

May 2009 (two weeks prior)...

"What do you mean you asked her to come stay for a couple of days?" Alex was being as polite as she could to Bobby, who looked incredibly uncomfortable standing by the door with his keys in his hand. She wasn't able to completely keep the offense she was taking at the humiliating situation from her voice though even though she knew it was coming across more like anger. "I don't get it; you don't trust me in your house?"

"No, of course I do, it's just that I could be gone a while and…"

"And what? I don't need a babysitter B! I've told you a hundred times, I'm fine. I have been alone before, you know. I'm twenty-five, not five!"

The mechanic looked increasingly panicked as Ellen was making her way up the porch steps and would be at the door any second. The last thing he needed was her to be snubbed after agreeing to do him this huge favour. This was the first time Alex had argued anything non-music related with him and he was a bit surprised at her reaction. He had seriously just expected her to meekly say okay and greet Ellen politely.

He supposed the young blonde did have a point. She was fully capable of taking care of herself and certainly didn't need a chaperone. But he was aware she had the occasional nightmare and was noticeably shaken by them, whether she admitted it or not. Bobby was observant and had figured out she wasn't a big fan of being alone. There was also that remote possibility that Red Eyes would somehow find her and Bobby was sickened at the thought of her having to face him alone again. While she was staying at his house she was under his protection.

Besides, he didn't think Dean would take it very well if anything happened to her and would do anything to spare the kid any more grief after losing Adam last week.

"I know, I know," he agreed pleadingly, "But uh…" He ran out of time as there was a knock at the door. He opened it with a sigh and greeted Ellen, introducing her quickly to Alex. To his surprise and relief, Alex smiled politely and kept any resentment of her presence hidden. Hoping he hadn't pissed the girl off too much, he left, hunkering down in his old truck for the long drive to Utah where an old hunter friend needed help with a persistent poltergeist.

Alex fell right back into her old habit of being polite and friendly without sharing even a hint of personal information. Ellen seemed nice enough but the younger woman wasn't sure what she knew about Bobby and hunting and, most of all, her situation – namely Red Eyes and her psychic freak radar. Bobby had sprung this little arrangement on her without much explanation and, as grateful as she was to not be in the big house alone, it sucked to have to be on her guard again. She had begun to relax around Bobby, not just because he was a hunter, but because he had to be the kindest, faux-grumpy older dude she'd ever met. Not that she'd ever tell him that, though; they'd both probably drop dead from embarrassment.

After a day of short, polite conversations, it became apparent Ellen was a no-nonsense kind of person. She looked across the kitchen table at Alex the next morning with a thoughtful expression on her face and blurted "So, Bobby tells me you hunt with your brother."

Alex looked up, realizing she shouldn't really be surprised. If Ellen didn't know Bobby was a hunter, she would surely have questioned why the mechanic had a giant heptagram painted on his ceiling.

"Bobby didn't tell you?" Ellen laughed. "I'm a hunter too. My husband was a hunter, most of my friends are hunters, and my stubborn daughter is a hunter."

"Oh," Alex relaxed, silently thanking Bobby in her head. "Yeah, I hunt sometimes with my brother. He's in jail right now but he should be out in a couple of weeks."

Ellen was not shy on sharing and told Alex how she once owned a bar that hunters frequented but now she traveled with her daughter, Jo. Ellen would have preferred to stay within the intel and networking aspects of hunting but her headstrong offspring insisted on charging the front lines. "You'd probably like her," she smiled. "She's just about your age."

The next couple of days went by quickly. Alex was immensely impressed with Ellen, finding her to be tough but kind of motherly in a takes-no-shit-from-anyone kind of way. The hunter went so far as to slap the delivery boy upside the head when he harmlessly (if obviously) looked the older woman up and down with a "Hellooooo ladies!" when she answered the door. McLovin – Alex couldn't remember his real name, Dan or Dave or something – had looked terrified and had accepted Ellen's dressing down with a series of squealed 'Yes Ma'ams'. Alex hadn't dared interrupt and mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' to him from her position behind the stern ex-bartender all the while trying not to laugh at his predicament.

Ellen tactfully never brought up the subject of Oceanview. It was clear she was very fond of the Winchester brothers, though she apparently had a beef with Dean that he hadn't called her when he'd been rescued from Hell. She was just stubborn enough that she was refusing to call him first, convinced he'd get around to it at some point. Alex had her doubts about that, figuring the hunter was clueless that Ellen cared about him as much as she did – that anyone cared about him as much as they all did.

It was in the middle of the third night that Alex thought she heard a man's voice from upstairs. Not much sound penetrated the walls of the panic room she was staying in though, so she came out to investigate. She climbed the steps, her mouth spreading into a grin when she recognized Bobby's gruff drawl as she neared the kitchen.

She froze in the hallway though, stopped short by the raspy tone of Ellen's voice, which sounded as if she were on the verge of crying. Alex didn't want to intrude on a potentially private moment so she held silent and still for a moment, ready to sneak back down the stairs unnoticed if necessary.

"So you read her file?" Bobby was saying, keeping his voice low.

"Yeah. I snuck a peek at it, like you asked, to see if I could add anything." Ellen answered. "There's a report from Dennison that says in '91 when she was about eight, she had told her brother that two men had come to the house and convinced her to sneak out and set a trap so they could kill the monster."

"Yeah," Bobby acknowledged. "Dean said that was two hunters. Alex told him that one of them got killed when it all went down."

"The hunter that got killed was Bill," Ellen choked out.

Alex slapped her hand over her mouth to stifle her own gasp of horror. Bill was Ellen's late husband, William Harvelle. Ellen had told her more than once what a kind and loving husband and father he had been and how she had missed him every day for almost twenty years. Her heart thumped painfully in her chest as she leaned back against the wall, almost too mortified to keep listening.

"How do you know?" Bobby asked gently after a brief silence.

"Right time, right place. We had argued because it was Jo's birthday that weekend and he had promised to be there for it. But when he told me it was a demon hurting a little girl, I let him go. John promised me it was a straightforward hunt. They were gonna lure the thing out and kill it. Now I know Bill never woulda let John use the girl as bait so he musta stayed with her when it came."

"I'm so sorry Ellen." Alex heard Bobby sigh. "Though it's not like John Winchester to leave a hunt unfinished," he added with a hint of disbelief.

"Says here her parents got scared because she was dropped off in the middle of the night at the door covered in someone else's blood. CPS was already breathing down their necks about the number of bruises she was always getting so the family up and moved away that week. John probably lost track of them. Besides, he took things pretty hard; didn't come around much after…" Ellen cut herself off and was silent for a moment. When she spoke again, there was anger in her tone.

"My husband died trying to kill this thing," she spat, her voice getting louder.

"Now now," Bobby urged quietly, "can we take this outside to the porch? Just in case."

Alex backed into a dark corner behind the door, desperately hoping Ellen wouldn't see her standing there. She really didn't want to face her right now, not after what she had apparently cost her. She hadn't missed the hostility in Ellen's voice.

As the two older hunters passed the hallway, neither one saw the blonde in the shadows, a stream of tears flowing freely down her face. As soon as they were gone, Alex ran back downstairs to the safety and comfort of the panic room.

Outside on the porch, Bobby and Ellen spoke in hushed voices for a few moments, sharing their information. Finally claiming she felt a strong urge to get back to Jo, Ellen headed down the porch steps to her truck. She paused with her hand on the pick-up's door handle and turned to face the mechanic.

"You need to kill this thing, Bobby," she said urgently. "Bill died trying to protect that poor little girl and if we let that bastard finish her off, that'll all have been in vain. Now, my husband would have gladly died to save a child, but not for her to spend the rest of her life running in fear. That just ain't right. I'll find out what I can and I'll send you the little I have already, but promise me you'll finish it. Promise me."

Bobby nodded gravely. "I'm workin' on it," he sighed.

SPN-SPN-SPN

June 2009

After a quick stop at the morgue to score some dead man's blood, the hunters started checking out the fourteen abandoned warehouses on Sam's list. The first one turned up nothing but rats, however the second looked more promising. A sprawling series of empty warehouses and fabrication shops sported dirty, dented and faded metal siding littered with an array of spray-painted graffiti.

The men decided to split up in an effort to speed up the search. The plan was to call the others before engaging any vamps they might come across. Worried about Dean's foolhardy stubborn streak kicking in, Sam reminded his brother that Ivan may still be particularly strong after having fed on the younger Winchester's demon-tainted blood and should not be tackled alone under any circumstances.

Sam decided to start at the farthermost end of the sprawling facility and work his way back towards the car. He was carrying a dagger on the off chance he needed to behead a vamp and tucked it inside his thin jacket as he searched the place for signs of undead squatters. It was fairly quick work as most of the rooms and shop areas were empty. He entered a large machine room and noticed a couple of woven hammocks suspended between steel posts. Instantly on guard, he drew his gun and worked his way around the derelict machinery, hoping not to startle an unsuspecting homeless person.

He was checking behind the boiler when he felt a cold metal object press into the back of his neck. He had enough experience to know it was a gun.

"You look a little clean to be a vagrant," a man's calm voice sounded from behind him in a rich, Texas drawl.

Sam cursed himself for letting this dude get the drop on him. He ruled out spinning and grabbing the gun because having crept up on a Winchester, the guy clearly had skills. He raised his hands to shoulder height slowly and took a step forward, relieved the instant the pressure on his neck disappeared. He turned around to face his attacker, hoping to God he was alone and that he didn't have fangs.

His silent prayer must have paid off for there was only one man standing there. He was about Sam's age, a few inches shorter which still put him at about six feet, and had longish brown hair sticking out from under a tan cowboy hat. He was aiming a pearl handled revolver at Sam's chest with one hand and his other was fingering the hilt of a sword under his brown duster.

Sam raised an eyebrow, squaring his shoulders towards the stranger. "Dude," he snorted, thankful his gun and his dagger were hidden under his jacket. "What's with the dressup routine?"

The guy narrowed his eyes at Sam. "Now that's a bit disrespectful for a feller in your position, don't ya reckon?"

Seeing Dean materialize silently from the darkness behind the man, Sam laid on the sarcasm in hopes of distracting the threat, saying whatever he thought Dean would have come up with in that situation. "My apologies, Aragorn. Lemme guess, you want me to hand over my valuables. My ring maybe?"

The guy scowled in obvious annoyance. "What are you doing in here smartass?" he demanded.

Sam never had to reply for that very second, Dean's Colt pressed up against the man's neck. Sam couldn't help but notice the guy barely flinched and the revolver pointed at him never wavered.

"I was just about to ask you the same question, Buffalo Bill," Dean purred into the stranger's ear. "I suggest you stop pointing your piece at my little brother or I'm gonna pull a Pat Garrett on you."

"Pat Garrett shot Billy the Kid, not Buffalo Bill," the guy retorted, his gun still trained at Sam center mass and his eyes never leaving Sam's face. "And if you shoot me, my trigger finger here just might twitch and it'll be bye bye little brother."

"You'll still be dead," Dean deadpanned. He suddenly sniffed loudly, a look of disgust distorting his face. "Dude you stink."

Josh suddenly entered from a side door, seeing Sam first. "What, are you slacking off Junior?" he chirped before suddenly taking note of the Mexican standoff and scrambling to draw his own 'all purpose gun'. He aimed it quickly at the stranger's head, cursing loudly.

"Looks like you're outnumbered, Billy," Dean gloated, his voice ice cold.

The stranger was looking at the latest arrival. "Jawsh?" he drawled.

Josh knitted his brow in momentary confusion before his shoulders suddenly relaxed and he lowered his gun, a huge grin spreading across his face.

"Well I'll be damned," he laughed. "Look what the cat dragged in!"

SPN-SPN-SPN

TBC...

I love Ellen and thought I would tie her past into the story by giving the monster that killed her husband a face. More to come on that front as Alex doesn't take the news very well.

Miniel is a new OC angel I introduced to befriend Cas and he does have an important role to play in Cas's revelations that lead up to the episode 'The Rapture', which happens right after this story (where Cas tries to tell Dean something and gets sent back upstairs for re-educating, leaving the boys with Jimmy and where Dean sees Sam drinking the demon blood for the first time).

Sam is a full-blow junkie in this story so remember his thoughts and views are often affected by his addiction - the highs and lows. I am a huge Sam fan but this was a dark time for him.

Next chap: Sam and Dean tousle with some more vampires and... play Guitar Hero?