"Look, I appreciate your concern," Sam said as soon as they were out of earshot. "But don't threaten to kill my friends again."

"Some friend," Mary retorted.

A muscle ticked in Sam's jaw as he wrestled with his temper. "If it wasn't for Gabriel, I'd be dead. Whatever the hell was going on with Ricky, he was unbelievably strong and bullets barely slowed him down. Gabriel killed him before he could finish me off."

Mary shook her head. "He said the guy finished himself off."

Sam looked puzzled. "Yeah, I know. I… Look, whatever. Point is, he disabled him and if he hadn't, the son of a bitch would have hit me with that branch again and I don't think I'd have survived a second blow. So cut him some slack, OK?"

Mary huffed out a breath. "OK. For now. But I'm not backing down, Sam. There's something not right here. I'm gonna be watching him like a hawk."

"Fine," Sam sighed. "I can't stop you. But give him a chance, please."

Dean eyed Gabriel for a moment, noting the tension in the archangel's body as he watched Sam and Mary argue outside.

"You hurt?" he asked.

Gabriel shook his head. "Not seriously. I'll have some interesting bruises no doubt, but nothing more."

"Mom and I are just looking out for Sam, you know," Dean continued.

"I know," Gabriel replied. "I wish I could convince you I'm no threat to him."

"Oh I already know that," Dean said. "If I thought you were, there's no way you'd be staying in the bunker."

Gabriel regarded him carefully. "But Mary feels differently."

"She was wary of me when we first met," Cas offered. "But we've come to an understanding."

"Did she threaten to kill you too?" Gabriel snarked.

"No," Cas said. "Her reaction to you is admittedly much stronger."

"Great," Gabriel said.

"So what the Hell happened out there?" Dean said, changing the subject.

"I told you-"

"No, I mean, what was wrong with the guy? Was he a monster or a human under the influence of a monster?"

"The latter, I think," Gabriel said. "He was immensely strong and full of rage, like the old berserkers. He swung that branch around like a baseball bat. We were lucky Sam's reflexes are good, if he'd caught the full force of the blow I'm not sure he would have made it." The archangel's mouth was turned down and he was staring down at the floor. He made an odd noise and his shoulders began to shake. To Dean's horror, he realized the strange sounds were sobs. Utterly unable to cope with this unexpected outpouring of emotion he looked helplessly at Cas. The seraph had already begun to move, sitting down on the bench next to his brother. Gabriel let out a howl and threw himself into Cas's arms, where he remained shivering and gasping for a few minutes.

Nonplussed, Dean turned his attention to the window. Sam and his mom seemed to have calmed down at least, and were heading back to the store.

"Incoming," he said by way of a warning. He heard the two angels shift and by the time Sam opened the door, Cas had stood and moved over to Dean's side. Gabriel's face was a little pale but there was no other sign of his distress.

"OK, so I think we should go take a look at this Ricky and his friend," Sam suggested. "Maybe there's some clue as to what we're hunting here."

"Good idea," Dean said and without thinking, grabbed Cas's arm and dragged him towards the door. Mary gave him a curious look before shrugging and following him out.

Sam peered at Gabriel. "Are you OK? I never asked if you were hurt."

"No, I'm fine," Gabriel said, his voice wobbling.

"You don't sound fine," Sam said sternly. He knelt in front of the archangel and with his fingers tilted his chin up.

Gabriel shifted his head away from Sam's touch. "I'm OK. You gave me a scare is all."

"All right. You up to taking a look at this body?"

Gabriel gave him a feeble grin. "Sure."

Crowley sipped at the fancy cognac his guest had brought him and nodded approvingly. "Nice."

"I thought you would approve," the man said. His delicate features and soulful brown eyes made Crowley's heart pound faster and the way his long, black hair shifted as he spoke was almost hypnotic. Damn he was hot, Crowley thought idly. Those elegant fingers would look so very fine wrapped around his-

The stranger cleared his throat.

"So what can I do for you?" the demon king said hoarsely.

"One of my siblings has gone missing," his guest said. "Since there are so few of us, you understand that this is the source of some concern."

"Of course," Crowley agreed. "How many phoenixes are there these days?"

"Five," the man said. "Not including me."

"I don't suppose you have a name?" Crowley asked.

"What do I need with a name?" the phoenix laughed. "But you can call me Darius." He canted an eyebrow at Crowley and the demon swallowed in nervous anticipation.

"So, uh, your sibling?"

"Olivia. She has been living for many years in the Cascades. We are not social creatures, you understand. And Olivia has already had her only offspring, so she saw no need to engage in further social interaction."

"You can only have one offspring?" Crowley blurted out.

"Yes. We pick a time to reproduce, find a suitable partner and have one child. That's it. My species is immortal, and very hard to kill. If we could reproduce like the mortal species, we would have out-competed them long ago."

"Instead, you're almost extinct," Crowley said.

"Not quite. Our numbers are relatively stable, because we choose reproductive partners from other species."

"I see," Crowley said, wondering why the phoenix was telling him this.

"So, Olivia had her offspring about ten years ago," Darius explained. "It will take a century at least before the egg hatches but she will need to be there when it does. If she is dead… I do not know if her child will survive."

"Do you know where the egg is?" Crowley asked.

"Yes, it's safe. But we need to find Olivia." Darius began pacing back and forth. "You're the king of Hell. If anyone can find her, it's you."

"Oh, certainly," Crowley bluffed. "So, what do I get in return?"

"My undying gratitude," Darius said. "That's not a small thing, from a phoenix."

"I'm sure," Crowley said. "But I like my payment to be a bit more tangible."

"What do you want?" Darius raked him up and down with a glance. "Let me guess. You're not that powerful a demon, despite being king. What you need is to consolidate your power."

Crowley glared at him, but couldn't deny the phoenix was right. "What did you have in mind?"

"A raw source of power. It's called the letalis aqua."

"A power source called 'death water'? Sounds legit," Crowley snarked.

"Well, for humans drinking of it would be lethal," Darius allowed. "So, are you interested? Help me find my sister and I'll take you to the fountain."

"I don't know," Crowley said honestly. "I didn't get to be king of Hell by being stupid. Why would you share such a powerful thing with me? Don't pretend this is about deep love and affection for Olivia."

"I wouldn't insult your intelligence," Darius said mildly. "But there are few enough of us that the loss of even one is a crisis. And I have not yet reproduced myself. If Olivia is gone, I will have to raise her offspring if I can, which means I must put off my own reproductive cycle again."

"Again?"

"My brother, Elias was the last phoenix to be destroyed. His offspring had hatched a mere handful of years before he was slain. Olivia and I had to raise him ourselves. He was past the most trying age, thankfully and will make it to adulthood without incident I think."

"I'll think about it," Crowley said. He'd already decided he wanted nothing to do with this mess, but didn't want to say so to this beautiful but deadly creature's face.

"Perhaps I can persuade you," Darius said, stalking towards him with clear intent. He gazed at Crowley with unabashed lust. Fuck. How was he supposed to turn this down? Darius dropped to his knees in front of him.

"Your majesty," he said, looking up at Crowley through thick lashes. The king of Hell gave up. He was a demon, for crying out loud. Resisting temptation was not in his nature.

Sam and Gabriel found Dean inspecting the body of Nathaniel while Cas and Mary were focused on Ricky.

"Find anything?" Sam walked over to his mom and looked down at the corpse on the ground. Everything Gabriel had said lined up with the evidence. The hamstrings were sliced cleanly at the ankle. A stab wound to the neck was severe and had caused an impressive amount of damage. And the man's skull was cracked open like an egg. He wondered why his memories just before he'd passed out did not quite match what Gabriel had said. He frowned and resolved to press the archangel further when they were alone.

"I wonder if Nathaniel here told you the truth," Dean said from his crouched position.

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Well, look here. This wound on his head, the one he supposedly got from falling and hitting his head?" Dean pointed. "There are wood splinters. If he fell and hit his head on a rock, why would they be there?"

"You think Ricky attacked him and he got away? Why lie about it?" Sam poked his fingers through Nathaniel's hair, and examined the slivers of wood.

"No idea. Maybe he got confused, you said he was concussed, right?" Satisfied, Dean stood up and wandered over to Mary and Cas. He picked up the branch from the ground and whistled.

"Wow, that thing is hefty. No wonder he nearly split your skull, Sam." He dropped it again and rubbed his hands on his jeans. "Hey, is this from you?"

"Is what from me?" Sam walked over to join him and looked at where he was pointing. There was a trail of blood drops leading off into the forest. "No, it can't be. I fell down over there somewhere," he waved to where Ricky's body lay. "And the store is that way too. We didn't come this way. Maybe it was Nathaniel?"

"In which case, maybe we can trace it back to the site of the original attack," Mary concluded.

"Do you think that will help?" Dean asked.

"Who knows? But right now we've got a lot of dead bodies and not much else to go on."

"Good enough for me," Dean agreed. "Let's go."

The blood spots led into the forest, along a narrow but well-maintained trail. They followed it for almost twenty minutes before the spots vanished into the thick undergrowth.

"Dammit," Dean swore, looking around.

"Dean," Sam said, pointing to a tree behind him. There was a place where a large branch had clearly recently broken off.

While they were examining the tree, Mary had cautiously left the trail and began pushing through the bushes. "Hey!" she called out. "Come take a look at this!"

Dean cut a path through the branches using a knife. "OK, Mom, what have you got?"

"Here," Mary said, pointing to a large patch of blood on the ground.

"I guess this was the spot," Dean said, leaning over to take a closer look.

"What is it?" Sam said from behind him.

"I think we found where the first attack happened." Dean responded. Something caught his eye and he knelt down to pick it up. "Well, look at that."

"What is it?" Mary asked. He dropped it into her palm. "It looks like a promise ring."

"Read the inscription."

"To Nathaniel, all my love, Richard. Oh, no." Mary looked distressed. "They were lovers."

"See, that's what didn't make sense," Dean said. "All the others killed their spouses or girlfriends or whatever. Ricky and Nathaniel didn't fit the pattern, two buddies who went hunting together?"

"So we think this is a siren then?" Mary asked.

"Must be," Dean said. "Just a really fucked up one. Why did they leave the trail though?"

"I don't know for sure," Sam said. "But maybe this cave had something to do with it?" The opening in the blackish rock was more like a crack, barely wide enough for a person to slide through. On either side of the crack were strange carvings like hieroglyphics. Sam pulled out his phone and began snapping a few pictures. The symbols seemed mesmerizing somehow. He reached out his hand and traced over a couple of the shapes with his fingers.

"Sam!" Gabriel's voice cracked like whip. "No!"

Sam snatched his hand back in surprise. "What is it?" The archangel pushed him out of the way and beckoned for Cas to come closer.

"Gabriel, is this…"

"Yes. Hell, we need to get out of here." Gabriel began to back away from the cave, slipping on the muddy ground. He grabbed Sam's hand for support and then dragged him back to the trail. Cas started herding Dean and Mary in the same direction.

"What was that language?" Sam asked.

"Better not to ask," Gabriel warned. "It's dead. And the people who invented it are long gone."

Sam glared at him. "Seriously? We're in the middle of a hunt and you're gonna start keeping secrets?"

"Not secrets," Gabriel denied, looking hounded. "But we can't be here. It's not safe!"

"I agree," Cas said. "This is not a safe place and it's probably not related to the case. We need to focus on finding the monster at work here."

"But we still don't know who it is," Sam said in frustration.

"Well, there is one clue," Dean said. "The glory hole at the Roadhouse."

Sam's eyebrows shot up. "The what?"

"Oh, one of the vics apparently cheated on his wife that way," Dean shrugged.

"Right," Sam said, an uncomfortable feeling beginning to form. "And we're going to investigate this how, exactly?"

"Well, I can only think of two ways," Dean said seriously. He cast a sideways glance at their mother. "One of us has to go check it out. Either as uh, client or… service provider."

"No," Sam said, shaking his head in revulsion. "No way."

"Come on, Sam," Dean said encouragingly.

"You do it if you think it's such an awesome idea," Sam snapped. Gabriel noticed the young hunter had gone pale.

"I agree," he interjected. "If you're so sure it's a good idea, why should Sam be the one to do it?"

"Enough," Mary said. "Nobody's forcing anyone into this. We'll just have to think of something else." She stalked off down the trail. Sam gave Dean an angry glare and followed her. Both angels were scowling at him.

"What did I do?" Dean asked.

"You just asked your sexually traumatized brother to perform sex acts with a stranger," Cas said acidly, and Dean gaped at him.

"You what now?"

"You heard him," Gabriel said, looking just as pissed.

"Now wait a second, when did anyone say anything about trauma? I know that Lady Bevell bitch put a bit of mojo on him to make him think they'd screwed but calling it a trauma is laying it on a bit thick ain't it?" Dean looked from Cas to Gabriel and back again.

"Perhaps for you it might not seem so bad," Gabriel said icily. "Sam's a bit more sensitive than you are for a number of reasons. Not least of which are the depredations my brother visited upon him, years ago."

"Fuck," Dean said. "Lucifer… my brother… are you saying what I think you're saying?" He stumbled and leaned heavily against a tree. "Fuck, I think I'm gonna hurl."

"I thought you knew about this," Cas said. "Didn't Sam talk to you?"

"He didn't tell me about… ugh God!" Dean groaned and vomited noisily. Cas sighed and walked over to him, laying a hand on his back.

Gabriel took a deep breath, carefully reining in his temper. Maybe Dean hadn't understood what Sam had meant when he'd talked to his brother about his time as Lucifer's vessel. Knowing Sam, he probably hadn't been explicit. Or maybe he had unconsciously chosen to ignore the oblique references Sam had made. Humans could be like that, he knew.

"I'm going to check on Sam," he told Cas and left his brother to deal with the wreckage of Dean Winchester.

Mary was stalking angrily back and forth in front of the store when Gabriel approached. She stopped pacing and stood in his path.

"Gabriel," she said, her head at a defiant angle. "I owe you an apology."

Gabriel blinked in astonishment. "You do?"

"I was wrong about you. My older son can be a little bull-headed, just like his mom it seems. He was hurting Sam and didn't even realize it. But you did, and you stood up for him. Don't get me wrong, there was no way I was going to let it happen. I just want you to know I'm sorry I misjudged you." She looked uncomfortable and the resemblance she'd referred to between herself and Dean was never more obvious than in that moment. "OK," she added, when Gabriel struggled to find something to say. "Good talk."

"I don't think Dean quite appreciated what he was asking," Gabriel told her. "He's a little shook up."

Mary narrowed her eyes at him. "There's a lot here I don't know, isn't there?"

"Yes," Gabriel confessed. "And I can't be the one to tell you."

"He's my son! How can you keep this from me?" Mary said accusingly.

Gabriel thrust his hands into his hair. "Turns out Sam told his brother a highly edited version of events when he was Lucifer's vessel. The only person he's told everything to is Castiel. I only know what I've gathered from what Sam has been willing to tell me and the rest I'm guessing about. You can't ask me or Castiel to tell you what Sam has been unwilling to talk about."

"God," Mary said. "This is all my fault."

"Not really," Gabriel told her. "Heaven manipulated events very carefully, and Azazel was a wily operator. No offence, but you really didn't stand a chance. Now, I'd really like to go check on Sam."

"He's in the bathroom," Mary said. She sat down on the hood of the car, her arms wrapped around herself. Gabriel wanted to offer her some words of comfort, but he wasn't sure there was anything he could say.

Inside the small store, he quickly spotted the sign to the restroom. He knocked on the door and waited. After a moment, he heard the lock click and Sam poked his head out. His relief when he saw Gabriel was momentarily gratifying. The grayish pallor of his skin was not.

"Sammy," the archangel said. "I think we're done for the day. Once Dean and Cas get back we're gonna head to the motel." He reached up almost without thinking to touch Sam's face and the young hunter deftly moved out of range.

"OK," Sam said woodenly. "Lemme wash up and I'll be right with you." The door closed again and Gabriel kicked over an unoffending display of postcards in frustration.

"Dean," Cas said gently, rubbing soothing circles on his back. "It'll be getting dark soon. If we're not hunting tonight, maybe we should call it a night?"

"Yeah, sure," Dean said heavily. He wiped his mouth and took a few deep breaths before heading back to the trail. He eyed the angel and Cas could feel him gathering his courage to ask a question.

"How long have you known?"

"He's been talking with me about it over the past few years." Cas said, grimacing. " I'm not sure he's told me everything, but he's told me enough. I didn't realize he hadn't told you as well."

"No, because I'm such a crappy brother, I didn't even notice Sammy was fucking suffering from PTSD!" Dean punched a random tree trunk and then swore in pain.

"It's not your fault," Cas comforted. "It's possible he wasn't comfortable sharing it with you."

"Yeah, I guess it makes sense. I'd probably do the same thing." Dean slung an arm around the angel's shoulders and pulled him in for a one-sided hug. "Thanks for being there for him, man." He dropped his arm again as they left the woods and approached the car. Mary was sitting on the hood of the car and Sam and Gabriel were leaving the store.

"Don't you think it's odd that there's nobody here?" Mary said when she heard them approach.

"Yeah," Sam said. "There wasn't anyone here earlier either."

"But somebody must come and lock up," Gabriel said reasonably. "I mean otherwise the store would be looted."

"What if the monster, whatever it is, is the owner?" Mary suggested. "All the victims came here for one reason or another. What time does the sign say it closes, Sam?"

"6pm," Sam said. "Which is about thirty minutes from now."

"You wanna stake the place out?" Dean suggested.

Sam looked at Gabriel and then shrugged with studied casualness. "What's the harm? If it turns out to be a bust, we'll go get pizza and beer and go back to the motel." There was still a shadow behind his eyes but he didn't seem to be holding a grudge.

"Now that's a plan I can get on board with," Mary said. "We'll need to stash the car."

"I'll do it," Dean said. "You go hide out in the tree line, I'll meet you there in a few."

"Depends how good this thing's eyes are," Sam warned. But he dutifully followed the angels and his mom back to the woods. They managed to find some bushes dense enough that even if the creature had perfect night vision, a casual glance would not reveal them. Hopefully.

Dean returned about five minutes later and joined them in the bushes. "Anything?"

"Not yet," Sam hissed.

As the sun began to set, Sam realized that huddled behind these bushes, his leg was beginning to cramp. He shifted uncomfortably and bumped against Gabriel's shoulder.

"You OK?" the archangel whispered.

"Yeah, it's just my right leg going to sleep," he muttered back, then bit back a yelp when he felt Gabriel's fingers began massaging his tortured thigh muscles. But once he got over the initial surprise, it became clear Gabriel had some hidden talents. His clever fingers manipulated the muscle, forcing more bloodflow through and after some initial pain, the cramps receded and Sam had to bite his tongue not to groan with relief.

"Better?" he asked in a low voice.

"Oh God, yes," Sam whispered. The fingers paused and he added, "Don't stop." They started moving again and Sam was vaguely aware that he'd switched from pain relief to sheer pleasure at the sensation of being touched. "OK," he stuttered. "Thanks." He felt Gabriel's hand withdraw and tried not to regret it.

There was a crunching sound as a light-colored pickup truck pulled slowly into the lot. They all froze as the headlights briefly illuminated their hiding spot. But either the bushes were too thick for the light to penetrate, or the woman who climbed out of the truck was not expecting anyone to be lying in wait for her.

"Son of a bitch," Dean breathed. "It's Sienna Sands."

"Who's that?" Sam hissed.

"The sister of Ed Vitali," Dean told him. "He's one of the victims."

"She's the monster?" Sam asked. "That doesn't really fit."

"No," Dean said. "She seemed human to me."

Her phone rang and she answered it as she locked up the store one-handed. "Hey, Ed."

"Ed?" Mary said.

"It's a common name," Dean said unconvincingly.

"No, there's nobody here. Wait. There's… ah it's Richard Evans. Shit, he's a mess. And here's poor old Nathaniel Broadbent. You were right."

They watched as she poked at the bodies with her foot. "I'll have to call it in. The sheriff's not going to believe I didn't see two dead bodies lying out in the open like this."

"What the fuck is going on here?" Dean murmured.

"She's in league with it," Mary spat. "It happens sometimes. Collaborators. Traitors to humanity."

"OK, if that's what you want. But don't let anyone see you." Sienna was saying. She hung up and shoved the phone in her purse, walking over to the store and unlocking it again before heading inside.

"Bingo," Dean said. "The thing's coming here."

"If Ed''s the monster," Sam said. "But even if he is, we still don't know what he is or how to kill him."