Chapter 25

I tapped my foot impatiently on the ground as I stretched my senses to pick up what was happening inside the bar. Micah leaned back on the bench and remained quiet. The explosion of a bullet being fired ripped through the air. Both of us sprang to our feet and ran quickly to the bar.

"Denri," Micah stopped me before we went through the doors. "Alter your appearance."

I frowned but did as he said. I walked through the door and he was behind me. Dean had a man pinned to the floor by a pool table while another lay dead with blood spreading from the wound. Sam threw holy water on the man, who was busy telling them that the man he killed had slept with his wife.

"Somebody call 911!" Sam yelled to the bartender. I stared at her and realized that she was the other demon.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned and faced a grinning Sammael.

"What?" I asked.

"Way to blend in," she grinned.

I caught my reflection in the mirror and suppressed the urge to laugh. It would have been inappropriate at that moment. I was certainly as scantily dressed as the other women in the bar.

"Hey," a voice said from behind me.

I spun and faced him, "Yes?"

"How much?" he appraised my dress.

I arched an eyebrow. "How much?" I repeated.

"Yeah," he prodded.

Sammael struggled to contain her laughter. I noticed that both Azrael and Micah kept their eyes averted.

"More than you can afford," I told him.

"Oh," he patted his belt. "I can afford plenty."

"Hmm," I murmured. "Your soul?"
"What?" he balked.

"The price is your soul," I repeated.

"You crazy bitch," he said.
"Yes," I answered with a grin.

The man quickly walked away and I returned my attention to the boys and the situation before them. The police arrived quickly. They handcuffed the shooter and Sam and Dean perched on a barstool.

I hovered nearby unnoticed by either of them. Although, Sam did give me a cursory glance which made me wonder if there was a part of him that recognized it was me, but he returned his attention to his brother. He was anxious about the number of policemen around, an anxiety, which was natural, given that they were still on the FBI's most wanted list. Agent Hendrickson was probably still on their trail.

"Too many cops harassing, we bolt," Sam said quietly.

"Be cool," Dean told him. "Poor jerk, the only thing possessing him was a sixer of papst," referring to the shooter.

"So what's the deal then, the people in this town getting possessed or not?" Sam asked.

"I don't know maybe it is what it is, a town full of scumbags," Dean answered.

"Yeah, maybe," Sam agreed.

"You boys ready for your mug shots?" the deputy who walked up to them asked.

The boys looked shocked and puzzled.

The deputy smiled amiably. "The photographer's going to be here in a few and take a picture for the local paper," he explained.

"Be an honor officer," Dean played along. "What a thrill."

As the deputy walked off, Sam said. "Yep, Time to go."

The both stood and Dean looked around him and said, "Wait a second, wait a second."
"What?" Sam demanded.

"Where's Ritchie?" Dean asked.

Sam shrugged in response.

I felt Micah at my back and I turned to face him. He jerked his head outside and I followed him. I stared at him for a second.

"What?" I demanded.

"We have to follow the priest to figure out what is going on," he said.

"Okay," I nodded. "But why did you want me out here?"

"We need you to be able to answer your phone when the boys call," Micah explained.

"What makes you think that they're going to call?" I asked.

"Why wouldn't they?" Micah narrowed his stare.

"All right," I glared at a man who walked too close to me. "You know, I'm going back to my regular appearance." I muttered.

"No," Micah said. "You blend in this way."

"I'm not Sammael," I growled.

"Yeah," Micah looked behind me.
I spun and saw Azrael keeping a tight leash on Sammael. She was enjoying herself.
"Well," I shrugged. "She always did like a good time."

Micah rolled his eyes and signaled Azrael. Azrael dragged Sammael over and handed her to me.

"Hey!" I protested.

"It's your turn," Azrael muttered. He stopped and stared at me. "What?"

"Sammael's not the only one who can blend in," I grinned.

"This is almost as bad as those belly dancing outfits," he muttered.

"Well," I wrinkled my nose at him. "They were necessary at the time."
"All you had to do was be male," Azrael sighed. "That's all. No, you had to go put on woman's wear and end up in a harem."

"It wasn't a harem," Sammael disagreed.

"Memory lane can stay for another time," Micah interrupted. "We need to get to the priest."

"He's so bossy," Sammael observed.
"It's the whole 'plan' part of his job," I told her.
"Yeah," Sammael grinned. "Just takes the fun right out of everything.

Micah grabbed Azrael and stormed away from us.

"You know," Sammael's eyes twinkled. "If he's not careful. People might think that they're a couple."

I stared at her for a moment and then threw my head back and laughed.

Sammael pulled me to one side as Sam and Dean exited the bar. I shrugged her off and Sam stopped in front of us. We grinned at him.

"Care for two?" Sammael asked.

"Uh," Sam looked puzzled.

"Sammy," Dean came up to him. "Now's not the time to pick…"

"We don't go for less than a hundred," Sammael continued bargaining. "Each."

Dean's eyebrow shot up.

Sammael glanced at me. "What's the matter? Not going to make a girl an offer?"

Sam turned to Dean and he shook his head and began laughing. Dean's face broke out in a wide grin. Sammael arched her brow and shrugged in response.

"Kelsey," Dean chuckled. "Where did you get that outfit? And that wig?"

Sam continued laughing.

"You've mistaken us for other people," Sammael frowned.

"No," Dean insisted. "That's Kelsey. I'd know her anywhere."

I pursed my mouth and thought about it. John had done the same thing to me once a long time ago. Had he told Dean that at times I could alter my appearance?

"This isn't good," I muttered.

"Can you look like yourself again, please," Dean asked.

I shrugged my shoulders and returned to my usual form.

"What about me?" Sammael asked.

"You're fine," Dean said. "It's her that's disturbing."

"What?" I was incensed.

"Yeah," Sam finally got himself under control. "Who wants to see their…"

"Very funny," I said.

"Look," Sam asked. "We got to go."

"Yeah," Dean nodded. "One thing, are there demons in this town?"

"They're here " Sam said.

"True," Dean nodded.

"Do they do this all the time?" Sammael asked.

"Frequently," I replied.

"Do what?" Dean's eyes reflected mischief.

"Talk about me as if I'm not present," I sighed.

"Look, we really have to go. We need to go find Ritchie," Dean said.

"We'll look," Sam agreed.

"Ritchie?" Sammael asked.

"Yeah, he's an idiot, but a lovable one," Dean replied.

"Ah," I nodded. "I understand the friendship."

Sam struggled to keep a straight face while Dean merely glowered at me.

"Hey," I smiled. "I'm entitled."

"You're just upset because your disguise didn't work," Dean taunted.

"Well," I continued smiling. "It worked well enough for the man who tried to purchase my charms."

"Charms?" Sam and Dean both said as they stared at me with their mouths agape.

"I don't think that's this century," Sammael whispered.

"It is too," I hissed.

"Okay," Sam nodded. "I just don't see it."

"You'd be sick if you did," Dean pointed out.

"They have a point," Sammael agreed.

"Hippie," I retorted.

"W…." Sammael stopped.

I arched an eyebrow.

"What were you going to say?" Sam caught on quickly.

"Nothing," Sammael smiled. "Nothing at all."

"It had better have been nothing," I threatened.

"Yep," Sammael nodded. "It was nothing. You know, I think that your little friend probably left with a chick."

"Little friend?" Sam asked. "You know him?"

"No," Sammael answered. "But unless he's as tall as the two of you, then he's got to be little."

Both of them smiled at that comment.

"What did their father feed them?" Sammael asked.

"You know," I rubbed my chin. "It could have been the food I cooked."

"Oh no," Sammael was aghast.

"Yep," I pouted. "I must have mixed up the miracle gro with the pie ingredients."

Sam and Dean erupted in laughter.

"We'll catch up with you later," Sam said.
They walked away from us and continued down the street.

"They're definitely good boys," Sammael commented.

"Yes that they are," I agreed.

"So," Sammael glanced around. "What do we do now?"

"We pick up Ritchie's trail," I said.

"How're we going to do that?" she asked.

"We track the demon," I said.

"Oh," she nodded. "That's right."

I laughed at her and began walking in the direction to the other side of the town. We traveled unnoticed once I got Sammael to ditch her new 'look' and return to a more reasonable one.

We stopped at a house just outside of the town. It was a large property and the grounds seemed to be well kept. I sensed that the demon had left but there was the echo of human death. I approached the house cautiously and Sammael checked to make certain that there was nothing we had missed. We followed the scent to the basement of the house. We found Ritchie on the floor. I leaned over to check and he was dead.

"Poor thing," Sammael whispered.

"He was in over his head," I felt sad. "Dean's not going to take this well."

"Should we tell him?" Sammael asked.
"No," I told her. "We'll leave him. Dean will track him down soon enough."

"Is that wise?" Sammael stared at the walls.
"We can only do so much," I replied. "Remember that we have our orders. Besides, we can't interfere. We don't make our move until it's time."

"I can't believe your spouting the company line," Sammael scoffed.

"Neither can I," I mused. "Neither can I. Let's take our watch."

We left the house as we found it. We perched in the nearest tree and waited.