Sunday came, and with it, church, Dean, and his entourage. They apparently wanted to see what Dean could do in his spare time if he had a mind to, not that he wanted to do anyone. Claire said that they all needed to go because something was odd the last time, and that more eyes might catch what it was. "Liar," Dean said under his breath, but Claire heard him.

"You know it's true. He was not the preacher he is now. He started delivering better sermons a year ago. I can't get past the fact that you moved here a year ago."

Dean thought that was a flimsy excuse, but he couldn't argue with it. Everyone was just so damn excited to get their religion on. "Well, it is possible that he just figured his shit out. Literally nothing weird has happened here since I moved here."

"How long's it been since," Claire stopped a moment, seeming to consider her phrasing before continuing. "Uh, since, Cas?"

Sam thankfully answered, "It's been a little over seven years."

"Has it?" Chuck tipped his head considering.

"Yeah," Dean mumbled and everyone accepted it.

Chuck moved over to Claire's side. "You think maybe he's?" The question was cut off, but Claire seemed to know what he was asking.

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. What if he was kinda compelled to show up here by, I don't know, like a higher power or something?"

"Seriously, you two, what are you thinking here?" Truth be told, he knew what they were thinking. Dean's thinly veiled irritation was bubbling up. He was fine with researching and sending them off on this little mission, but now they seemed to be looking at the preacher like he was part of something more supernatural, and that seemed a little too close to his old hunting life-meeting nice people, watching them get sucked into his messed up world, standing by helplessly while they die.

"Dean, you see it right?" Claire said as she gave him the look, raised eyebrows and an eyeroll to boot. "The list Chuck made, said that we needed a bunch of stuff, and one of the things we need is a 'man of faith.' He could be our man of faith."

"I don't think that we should be tossing civies into a potentially messy situation. We don't even know for sure what will happen. You haven't researched this nearly enough. For God's sake, you all are so quick to just jump headlong into this thing, and none of you know even remotely what this thing is, what will happen, or if we should just run screaming from it all."

They all stared at him in silence. Chuck settled a hand on his shoulder and said, "You know we have to do this. I for one, am not a brave man, not even close. In fact, my entire run as a prophet was spent hiding away in a dark house with my computer and liquor-copious amounts of mind numbing liquor. So, when you say that this might be bad and I'm not the first one running out the door, that should tell you something. This isn't a scary thing. Something is calling us, and I for one, think it might be God. We don't need to be afraid. We need to help."

"Well, Chuck bully for you. We aren't going into this without the research. You all haven't figured out nearly enough yet. You all can't just go off because Chuck here has a feeling. That shit gets you killed. Ask Cas. Oh wait, you can't." Dean stormed off to his room and slammed the door in his wake. It was no real escape, but he needed to end the conversation and the door slam punctuated the point. He would wait in there until he absolutely had to face them again. He glanced at the clock. "Shit." It was just twenty minutes to go time. The service would be starting at ten. He let himself stay in the room for two full minutes of blessed silence before he turned back to the door and all that was beyond it.

When they met up with Charlotte in front of the church, Sam's hand snapped to his hip. Luckily Dean saw the move before it happened. "She's not Billie," he whispered in Sam's ear.

"Shit." Sam looked from Dean toward Charlotte and back. She was standing in front of the church waving at them as they approached. "It's uncanny. You checked?"

"Of course I did. I'm not an idiot. She's just Charlotte." Dean stepped away from Sam then and moved ahead to be the first to greet her. He pulled her into a hug and said, "Hey fam, this is Charlotte. Charlotte, this is everyone." He went through the introductions and Charlotte shook hands with each of them. She'd already met Chuck and Claire, but Dean reintroduced Chuck for good measure.

When he got to Sam, Charlotte stepped up close. "I feel like I've already met you. Dean practically worships the ground you walk on."

Sam smiled and ran a hand back up into his hair. "I feel like I've met you already too. Pretty much every time I talk with Dean it's all, 'Charlotte this' and 'Charlotte that.' I'm glad he found a friend out here."

"Your brother's great. I'm the one that's been lucky. I was new to the area too. Dean and I kinda took each other in." Charlotte had a brightness to her that seemed to radiate kindness. Dean remembered when he first met her. After he had gotten over his scare concerning her looks, he found her to be welcoming. He felt like they just kind of made sense together. They had lunches and casual conversations that never seemed to tax him. Charlotte was like a calm spring day. She made everything seem easier.

People were starting to head in and they could hear the light melody of a hymn wafting out on the breeze. "Sounds like we better get in." Dean moved toward the stairs. Claire looped an arm through his.

"Need some help up the stairs, Pops?" Claire smiled up at him.

"Rude." Dean kept her arm anyway.

Charlotte laughed at them. "You two."

They made their way in and found a full pew in the middle that was still empty. They took that one and waited for the service to start.

Dean made a point of focusing this round and not on the sermon. He looked to the walls and the art. He took in the colors and the congregation, well, at least the backs of their heads. Nothing was weird or out of place. Once he directed his focus to the reverend though, he noticed that he was being watched, and that the reverend looked concerned.

Chuck was seated to his left and Claire was to his right with Charlotte on her other side. Sam and Alex were next to Chuck. Dean noted that Alex was clear on the other side away from Claire. He decided to make a point of chatting with Alex about it, see if he could help. He leaned forward at one point and made eye contact. She looked at him and half smiled back. He turned his attention back to the reverend.

Paul was talking about faith, at least that was what Dean was hearing. He leaned over to Chuck and whispered, "So what are you getting from the sermon? What's the message?"

"Doing one's duty," Chuck whispered back.

"Yeah, but more about having faith right?" Dean asked.

Chuck looked doubtful, then turned to the reverend to listen. After a few moments he said, "Yeah, there's some bits on faith in there. It's all connected to purpose and duty though."

Charlotte leaned forward past Claire and swatted at him. "Shhh." Dean noticeably cringed in apology and leaned back to show he was now focused on the sermon and not Chuck. The sermon was definitely about faith.

"Now, we've all heard the verse concerning faith. It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Dean turned to Charlotte as the reverend uttered the words. She winked back.

Claire leaned into him and took a chance, whispering, "Remember what the specifics are and we'll compare later." Dean nodded.

He noticed that Paul seemed nervous up there, not like the confident man that he saw the Sunday prior. He also spent a lot of time looking in their direction, and then pointedly avoiding looking at them. "Without faith, we cannot hope to see God. It is our faith that creates the bridge, that carries us to all that is good. It builds us up and strengthens us in times of sorrow."

Dean tuned him out and leaned forward again. He cast a glance down the pew to Sam. Sam was intently watching the reverend. His hands were clenched on his lap. Alex, next to him, was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

The sermon seemed to end abruptly. They stood together, and the reverend delivered a final prayer. Dean did not close his eyes. He watched the reverend as he prayed. The reverend stared back. The prayer ended, and Dean waited for him to make his way down the aisle. Paul just lingered at the front though. Charlotte leaned past Claire and said, "Well, you all gonna head out? You're holding up the pew."

They were the only group in that pew, but it was weird to just stand there while everyone around them was heading out. Dean threw one more look toward Paul. He was speaking with an elderly woman at the front of the church and not looking at Dean. They moved out into the aisle then.

"Will he be chatting with the congregation out in the vestibule again?" Claire asked.

Charlotte answered, "Doesn't look like it. Harriet has his ear, and she won't likely let him escape anytime too soon."

"Oh," Dean let slip. His tone sounded disappointed.

They got out into the aisle and started heading out to the vestibule. Charlotte moved up to his side and elbowed him a little. "So, you were hoping to have a couple of words with Paul?" Her tone was low and conspiratorial.

Dean glanced at her then returned his focus to the path ahead. "I had a couple of questions about the sermon. I can just ask next time."

"Oh," she said the word like it had four syllables and a rising pitch. "Just a few questions about the sermon, huh?" Dean looked at her again but said nothing. "You know, I bet he would totally join you for coffee or maybe dinner to talk about your questions."

"No, Charlotte." Dean quickened his pace, hoping that he could put distance between himself and that conversation. Luckily, it seemed like everyone else was engaged in their own conversations. Claire was whispering with Chuck, likely about the service. Sam and Alex were walking arm in arm, also whispering.

"Just saying, Dean." Charlotte sounded like she was going to launch into the many merits of the Reverend Paul Carmichael.

Dean interrupted, "Look, Charlotte. He's plenty good looking, okay, but I'm not interested. I don't think I'm ever going to be much of the dating kind again. And if you have his ear, it might be nice if you let him down easy for me. It'd be far better than encouraging him where there's no chance." They were out on the street now and apparently everyone chose to start paying attention to Dean and Charlotte at just the right moment. "Great." Dean tipped his head back and rolled his eyes to the heavens. "Seriously, what did I ever do to deserve this?" Chuck came to his side and settled a hand on his shoulder. He opened his mouth to answer and Dean just said, "Oh, don't you dare."

"What?" Chuck's mouth slowly spread into a shit-eating grin. "I was just going to list some of the many things that you have done that seemed worthy of this brand of rewarding. I happen to have so much to share and little opportunities to do so." Chuck tapped his head with one finger and laughed.

Claire said, "I don't think you should discourage the reverend just yet." She turned her attention to Charlotte, but Dean could tell that she was still directing some of her words to him. "Dean is rash and impulsive when he feels cornered. Give him some time, and if he wants out of the path that he is on with the handsome reverend, then, well, he's a big boy. Let him take care of it." Claire turned back to him with a grin.

"You all hate me."

Sam came up to Dean and gave him a sideways hug. "Ah, you know we love you." Then he mussed up Dean's hair with a noogie.

"Dude, we are way to old for this." Dean ducked away and stepped behind Alex as a shield.

They all laughed at him. Charlotte came over to him and gave him a hug. "I promise not to do anymore encouraging, but I'll also hold off on the discouraging too. Anyway," she looked down at her wristwatch. "I gotta get going. Sorry to church and run, but I have a lunch date."

"Oh," now Dean gave the word too many syllables and a raised tone. "You've been withholding information."

"I'll share more tomorrow or Tuesday, if you're up for lunch between classes."

"Sounds like a plan. Have fun." Dean watched her go, a spring in her step as she headed down the sidewalk.

Claire came up to him and punched him in the shoulder. "What're you thinking trying to blow off Paul? Seriously, we need to talk to him, get some info, and you just want to make that all kinds of awkward first?"

"I'm not gonna lead him on just so you all can find out what he's about. I can find that out without being a dick." Dean started off down the sidewalk.

Claire stopped him, grabbing his arm. "Well," she looked at Chuck then back at Dean. "Chuck and I think that you need to go talk to him. We think he's definitely the 'man of faith' that the list called for. Chuck got a vibe."

Dean glanced at Chuck then and said, "Then maybe you should go talk to him."

"Pretty sure that would be the definition of awkward. I've never even met him," Chuck said.

Dean's phone buzzed then. Charlotte had sent him a message. By the way, Paul has office hours today and throughout the week. You can catch him there between 5 and 7.

Claire leaned over and looked at the message. "Perfect, you can catch him today and bring him up to speed."

"Shit, Claire. I don't even know what the actual plan is. Maybe you should go." He tucked the phone back into his pocket. "And don't give me the line Chuck just did. It'd be way less awkward for you, and you've talked with him just as much as I have."

Claire glanced around and seemed to settle her gaze on Sam, who gave her a nod. Dean wondered what that was about. Then Claire said, "I'll rock, paper, scissors for the honor. Loser talks to Paul."

Dean looked over at Sam, who just wrinkled up his face and shrugged like he hadn't just caused this solution to appear out of thin air. "Fine." Dean shook out his shoulders and pushed up his sleeves. It seemed like there was nothing he would take more seriously than this challenge.

"Ready?" Claire asked as she stood across from him, equally serious. She held her one hand out in front of her flat with her other hand in a loose fist on top.

Dean had the same posture. "Ready." Tap, tap, tap, and Dean threw scissors.

Claire gave him a rock and won. Sam muttered behind him, "Still with the scissors, Dean. After all these years…"

Dean directed a scowl his way. "I don't even know what to say."

"I think he already knows," Chuck offered. "Just tell him everything. He'll go along with it, but he should know what's up. Pretty sure you'll make it sound like a horrible plan and like something he shouldn't do, but he will."

"Why?"

"Because God wants him to." Chuck's look was so sincere, and yet it did nothing to make Dean want to go through with any of this. A bet's a bet though.

Dean started to walk off. Claire called out, "Hey, where're you going? You've got hours before he'll be in his office."

"I'm gonna go have some me time before. I need to clear my head." He waved back at them as he made his way down the sidewalk. It was more than just telling Paul about the situation. It was about pulling an innocent party into something that could be dangerous. He really didn't want to do this.

AN: Thank you all for the love. I appreciate all of the comments.