"Agent, please don't tell anyone," Gris pleaded after giving her confession. She was in hot water now. Apparently, Gris had hit a drunk Jacob Marley, and then she cheated on her girlfriend with none other than the good sheriff. She was desperate, Gris was sure to make that much clear to Dean. She got close to Gary purely out of guilt. Her own way to right a wrong. "Please don't let Gary know," she whispered. Dean just eyed her with a hint of contempt. Of course he did understand her motives. He knew what desperation felt like. It had bitten him in the ass a couple of times before. However, he wasn't a real Federal agent, so he naturally lacked the authority to call her out on her crap. Plus, when he thought about it, Gris had already payed enough with the deaths of her aunt and sister.

"...Have a good day, Miss Wingler," Dean said, turning on his heels. Startled, Gris almost went after him, but she stopped herself.

"Agent!"

Dean stopped at the door. Gris sucked in a breath.

"...Please."

He hesitated. The man glanced aside, then pushed the door open and left. He hopped into the Impala and took off, leaving Gris to her own devices. He had a vengeful spirit to ice. He couldn't do it in broad daylight of course. The cemetery was small. He'd be easily seen. Dean had to take care of Marley under cover of darkness.

It wound up being a routine job. Of course it was harder to dig up Marley without Sam, but after a almost a half-hour of digging, he was able to salt and soak what was left of the man. After hacking his way through the lid of the casket. Marley's casket had been locked shut.

"That's new," he muttered, fingering one of the locks. Dean had never dug up a locked casket before. He guessed the morticians were getting smarter about grave robberies. It frustrated him that he had to climb out of the hole he dug and go back to the Impala for an axe. His spade wasn't enough to chip through the thick oak wood. Dean knew he was gonna be sore in the morning from all the swinging. He actually made out tonight. Marley didn't show his face. Which was strange, considering that he was torching the man's corpse. He'd have thought that Marley would've put up a fight. It gave him a nagging feeling that the job wasn't quite done, and he really hoped that he was wrong.

Dean looked into the white flames that ate away Marley's corpse. He looked around warily, hoping that no one would see. He figured that waiting until two in the morning would be the best move. Hopefully everyone in the immediate vicinity was home and asleep by now.

As for all of the unaccounted for time between his departure from the Rockchuck Bar and the grave defecation? Dean had spent most of his time walking around town. He stopped in on Sam back at the motel room a couple times, and each time he found his brother fast asleep. It scared him a few times, and he'd check Sam's pulse. Sam's heart was still beating. Dean even did a little research himself. He considered returning to Waynesville, Missouri to wrap up his first job, but then he remembered Kevin. Damn, he hoped that he made it home alright... Dean flipped open his phone and dialed the kid's number. The call was automatically transferred to voicemail. That was far from comforting.

—

When Dean came stumbling in at quarter past three, Sam was awake.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty," Dean joked, happy to see his brother was finally conscious, "How're you feelin'?"

"Better-" Sam grumbled, rubbing one of his eyes to clear the sweep away.

"No pain?"

"Not anymore."

"Good," Dean said, relieved, "We gotta get back to Kevin."

"What about Cas?" Sam asked, brows crinkling a bit.

"... He's a big boy. He can handle himself."

"Dean."

"What?"

"I think Cas is in serious trouble. I know you're thinking it too. ...We gotta find him, man," Sam said, almost unable to believe that Dean was really brushing off his best friend. But then again, Kevin was their responsibility too, and from what Dean told him, Castiel had left the kid in pretty bad shape. It seemed that they were at an impasse.

"We could split up," Sam suggested, "I'll go find Cas, you head home."

"No," Dean shot him down at once, "No, we are not doing that, Sam-"

"Well what choice do we have-?"

"Sam, you got the holy Hell beat out of you with this whole angel thing-"

"Ezekiel," Sam interrupted.

'...Yeah."

Sam could feel the tension simmering again, and he willed his facial muscles to relax.

"—You're in no shape to go after Cas," Dean concluded. "And anyway, we don't even know where guy is- it'd be a wild goose chase! Look, man, Kevin was in really bad shape when I got to the bunker- he almost died."

The last word was laced with poison. It put a cork in Sam's argument.

"Yeah. Believe it. Cas almost killed Kevin."

Sam still said nothing.

"I don't know what we're gonna do with him, Sam," Dean continued, "Cas just keeps spiraling. He's not in his right mind and he's dangerous. I hate to say it, I really, really do, that man is like family, but we can only forgive him so many times."

"...Yeah..." Dean had a point and Sam knew it. He hated the mere thought of abandoning Castiel, but everything considered...

"Forget about Cas, Sam," Dean continued, "Right now, Kevin is our main concern, alright? I had to leave him at the hospital by himself to come get you." He conveniently left out the fact the he had given the young man sloppy directions back to the bunker. Stupid, he thought, letting Kevin go out there alone in that condition...

Sam nodded, "Yeah, right-" Dean sighed. This whole knot-up with Castiel was bogging him down too, but they had more pressing matters to attend to right now.

"I'm sure Cas is fine," he nodded to his younger sibling, "He's a capable warrior. He can fend for himself..."

Dean yawned.

"...I can take the first driving shift-" Sam offered.

"No."

"Dean, I'm well-rested. You look like you're about to drop dead."

"And what if you have some kinda episode or seizure or something happens while you're behind the wheel, huh? You could get us both hospitalized or killed. That'll do a lot of good for Kev. Just give me a Five-Hour Energy shot or something and I'll be good to go."

Sam didn't try to debate with him anymore. Instead, the two brothers left the hotel room after gathering up the few things they had. Dean locked the room behind him and left the keys on the counter with a small wad of cash tucked underneath out of sight. The Winchesters loaded up, hopped in the vehicle and took off. First stop, a gas station. Next stop, the bunker.

Mother of Gandhi. I'm sorry for the two-month hiatus. I lost touch with this story for a while, but now I've found my muse again~ More chapters to come in the near future.

Additionally, R.I.P., Kevin Tran. [12/2/93-12/3/13] In Jewish tradition, I read that people who die on the day they were born are blessed by God. So close, and yet so far. He'll always live on through us. We won't let him die.

Here's to the mid-season premiere.