Hey guys, long time no see. I'm really sorry that this chapter took so long to get out. That was never my intention, I just had a small period where I lost my motivation to write anything. I think I was just drained out from a combination busy work schedule and all the writing I had done before. That said, this story is almost at an end, and I promise the rest of the chapters won't take as long as this one did to get out.


February 14th, 2010 - Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Valentine's Day had arrived, and so had another case. The hunters had gotten word of a 'sexual suicide' where two people were on a date and ate each other to death.

Amy went with Sam to one of the victims' apartments, while Dean went to the coroner's office to look at the bodies.

They were greeted at the door by the victim's roommate.

"Are you Alice Storen's roommate?" Sam asked, pulling out his badge. Amy followed suit, pulling out her badge as well.

The woman nodded. She had a sad look in her eyes as she pushed her brown hair out of her face.

"I'm Agent Cliff," Sam said. He gestured to Amy. "This is my partner, Agent Smith."

Amy gave the woman a nod. "We're here about the death of Alice and her boyfriend?"

The woman nodded. "Come on in." She stepped aside and let the two hunters into the apartment.

They walked into the kitchen, where the two bodies had been found. Sam walked over to the fridge and examined a blood-splattered picture of Cupid on the refrigerator. "So...you were the one who found the bodies?" he asked.

Alice's roommate took two picture frames from the fireplace mantle. "There was blood everywhere," she told them, "...and...other stuff. I think Alice was already dead."

"What about Russell?" Amy asked. She made her way around the table to stand next to Sam.

The women walked over to an open box and placed the pictures inside. "I think he was, mostly, except... he was still sort of...chewing a little."

"Oh." Sam grimaced. "Uh-huh."

"How do two people even do that?" the roommate asked. "Eat each other to death?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Amy muttered.

Sam nodded in agreement. "The last few days, did you notice her acting erratically?" he asked.

"How do you mean?"

"I mean, did she seem...unusually hostile, aggressive?" Sam elaborated.

The woman shook her head. "No way. Alice never drank, never even swore. She was a nice girl. And I'm talking, like, a nice girl-Like she still had her promise ring, if you know what I mean."

"She was a virgin?" Sam asked.

Amy turned to the tile in front of the fridge, where she could still faintly see the blood on the tile.

"No premarital." The roommate leaned down to pick something up off the table. "I used to wonder how she did it. I mean, you know, didn't do it." She picked a stuffed rabbit up from the table and stroked it. "It was her first date in months. She was so excited."

"Apparently, they were both pretty excited," Sam muttered. He frowned, looking around the room. "Okay, well, I think my partner and I have everything we need. We'll call you if we have any more questions."

The woman nodded silently. Amy and Sam left the apartment and headed back down to the car.

"This has gotta be the weirdest case ever," Amy commented as they approached the car.

Sam sighed. "Come on, let's get back to the motel. Hopefully, Dean got something."


Sam and Amy stopped for fast food on the way back to Diamond Jack's Motel. They entered the room to find Dean sitting with his feet up on the table, reading through a file.

"How'd it go?" Dean asked.

Sam closed the door. "Um...No EMF, no sulfur. Ghost possession and demonic possession are both probably out."

"Hmm. That's where I was puttin' my money."

Sam shook his head slightly. "Nope."

"How'd it go at the coroner's office?" Amy asked.

Dean rubbed his eyes. "Oh, you guys should have seen the bodies," he said. "I mean, these two started eating a-and they just... kept going. I mean, their stomachs were full. Like - like Thanksgiving-dinner full. Talk about co-dependent." He picked up a beer bottle and took a drink.

Sam sat down across from Dean. "Well...I mean, we got our feelers out. Not much more, we can do tonight." He took a deep breath and pulled his laptop closer. "All right. I'm just gonna go through some files. You can go ahead and get going."

Dean took his feet off the table. "Sorry?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, Dean. Even I know what Sam's talking about."

Dean looked back and forth between Sam and Amy. "Where am I going?" he asked them.

"Dean, it's Valentine's day," Sam reminded his brother. "Your favorite holiday, remember? I mean, what do you always call it- uh, unattached drifter Christmas?"

Dean sighed and stood up from the table. "Oh, yeah. Well... be that as it may..." he grabbed a new beer bottle from the cooler and opened it up, turning back to Sam, "I don't know. Guess I'm not feeling it this year."

"So, you're not into bars full of lonely women?"

"Nah, I guess not." Dean took a sip of his beer. Sam continued staring at him. "Ahh. What?"

"Who are you and what have you done with Dean Winchester?" Amy asked.

"It's when a dog doesn't eat," Sam said. "That's when you know something's really wrong."

Dean nodded and made his way back over to the table. "Remarkably patronizing concern duly noted. Nothing's wrong. We gonna work or what?"

Amy eyed Dean worriedly as he opened the file back up. She glanced over at Sam to see that he had the same expression on his face. Something was definitely wrong.


February 15th, 2009

The next morning, they got a call about another mysterious double suicide. Dean drove them down to the Coroner's office and headed inside.

As they walked down the hallway, they passed a bald man carrying a briefcase. Sam turned to the man, giving him an odd expression and sniffing the air.

"You okay?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Amy frowned, wondering what was going on, as she followed the Winchesters into the Coroner's office.

An older doctor was in the room, finishing up with the body. Dean led Sam and Amy into the room, getting the doctor's attention.

"Agent Marley, you just can't stay away," the doctor said. He was a large, balding man with white hair and glasses.

"Heard you tagged another double suicide."

The doctor nodded. "Well, I just finished closing them up."

Dean gestured to Sam and Amy. "Doctor Corman, these are my partners, special agent Cliff and special agent Smith."

Doctor Corman shook Sam and Amy's hands. "Agent Cliff, agent Smith. I've finished my prelims." he walked across the room, pulling off his lab coat. "I pulled the organ sets and sent off the tox samples."

"Great. You mind if we take a look at the bodies?" Sam asked.

"Not at all. But like I said, their..." Doctor Corman opened the fridge, revealing several plastic containers with organs inside. "good-and-plenties are already tupperwared."

Amy forced a smile.

"Super," Sam said.

Doctor Corman closed the fridge. "Leave the keys with Marty up front. And please, refrigerate after opening, you three." He tossed Dean the keys to the room and picked up his hat and jacket before leaving the room.

The hunters put on aprons and gloves before getting the containers out of the fridge. They sat down at the table and opened the containers.

"Hey." Dean slid over a container with a heart in it to Sam. "Be my Valentine?"

Amy rolled her eyes and went back to examining the heart in front of her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Sam said quickly. "Wait a second. These hearts both have identical marks. Check this out."

Amy leaned over to see Sam pointing to a strange looking symbol on the heart with a pen. "What is that?" she asked.

"It looks like some kind of letter." Sam's eyes went wide. "Oh, no."

"What?" Dean asked.

"I think it's Enochian," Sam said.

"Enochian?" Amy echoed.

"You mean like angel scratches?" Dean asked. "So you think it's like the tagging on our ribs?"

Sam shrugged. "Dean, I don't know."

"Ah, hell." Dean stood up and dialed a number on his phone. He walked around the room as he talked. "Cas, it's Dean. Yeah, room 31-c, basement level..." He continued talking as he walked around the metal table. "St. James medical center."

The angel suddenly appeared inches from Dean's face. "I'm there now." His voice echoed through the phone.

Dean stared at Cas. "Yeah, I get that."

"I'm gonna hang up now."

"Right."

"Get a room, you two," Amy said jokingly.

Cas and Dean hung up their phones. Amy saw Dean roll his eyes as Cas walked over to the table where she and Sam were.

Cas picked up one of the hearts and studied it. "You're right, Sam," he confirmed. "These are angelic marks. I imagine you'll find similar marks on the other couples' hearts as well-"

"So, what are they?" Sam asked. "I mean, what do they mean?"

"It's a mark of union." Cas set the heart down. "This man and woman were intended to mate."

"Okay, but who put them there?" Dean asked.

"Well, your people call them Cupid," Cas said.

"A what?" Sam asked.

"Oh, come on, Sam," Amy said, "Surely, you've heard of Cupid."

"What human myth has mistaken for "Cupid" is actually a lower order of angel," Cas explained as he walked away from the table. "Technically, it's a cherub, third-class."

"Cherub?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, they're all over the world," Cas confirmed. "There are dozens of them."

"You mean the little flying fat kid in diapers?" Dean asked.

Cas spun around to face them. "They're not incontinent."

"Okay, anyway." Sam changed the subject. "So, what you're saying-"

Cas cut Sam off. "What I'm saying," the angel snapped, "is a Cupid has gone rogue, and we have to stop him-before he kills again."

"Oh, so, nothing new, then," Amy muttered.

"Naturally," Sam said.

Dean sighed. "Of course we do."

"How are we supposed to find..." Amy paused for a moment, taking a moment to process what she was about to say, "Cupid, anyway?"

"The cupid is at the Bar and Grill three miles from here," Cas said.

"And you just happen to know that?" Dean asked. When Cas didn't answer, he sighed. "Bar and Grill it is then."

"I was getting kinda hungry, anyway," Amy muttered. She helped Sam and Dean close up the tupperware containers and put them back into the fridge.


They drove to the restaurant and pulled up to the curb. Cas appeared on the sidewalk as the hunters got out of the car.

"The Cupid is in there," Cas stated, looking up at the restaurant in front of them.

"And you're sure about this?" Dean asked.

Cas turned to Dean. "Yes."

Without another word, Cas walked inside the restaurant. Sam, Dean, and Amy exchanged a glance before following the angel inside.

They were seated at a nearby table. Dean and Amy ordered cheeseburgers while Sam got himself a salad. Cas sat awkwardly next to Sam as he looked around the crowded room.


A short while later, a waitress brought out three plates of food and set them down in front of the hunters.

"So, what, you just happen to know he likes the cosmos at this place?" Dean asked Cas.

Amy picked up her burger, taking a bite as Cas turned to Dean.

"This place is a nexus of human reproduction," Cas replied. "It's exactly the kind of," he paused, watching Dean put ketchup on his burger, "of garden the Cupid will come to- to pollinate.

Dean brought his burger to his mouth but put it down before he could take a bite.

Sam raised an eyebrow at his brother. "Wait a minute. You're not hungry?" he asked jokingly.

"No," Dean said. Sam stared in shock. "What?" he asked defensively. "I'm not hungry."

Amy scoffed. "You sick or something?"

Cas pointed to Dean's plate. "Then you're not gonna finish that?" he asked. When Dean didn't reply, the angel reached across the table and took the burger.

Amy, Sam, and Dean watched in shock as Cas picked up the burger as if he was going to take a bite.

Just before the burger reached his mouth, Cas turned to a couple at a nearby table. "He's here."

Amy looked around.

"Where?" Sam asked. "I don't see anything."

Cas pointed to the couple. "There."

"You mean the same-side-of-the-booth couple over there?" Dean asked.

"Meet me in the back."

Amy turned back to Cas's seat, only to find the angel gone.

Sam and Dean sighed before standing up and walking towards the back of the restaurant. Amy stood up, grabbing a few fries before following them.


They found Cas in a dark room with his arm outstretched in front of him.

"Cas, where is he?" Sam asked.

"I have him tethered." Cas began to chant. "Zoda kama mahrana. Manifest yourself." He lowered his hand as nothing happened.

"So, where is he?" Dean asked, stepping forward. Out of nowhere, he let out a cry. "Oof!"

"Here I am!"

Amy spun around to see a large, almost entirely naked man hugging a terrified looking Dean from behind.

"Help!" Dean pleaded.

"Oh, help is on the way," Cupid said as he giggled and shook Dean around. "Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Hello, you!" He dropped Dean and walked up to Castiel, picking up the angel in a hug.

Cas let out a shocked noise as the Cupid shook him up and down.

"This is Cupid?" Dean asked.

"Yes," Cas said in a strained voice.

Cupid put Castiel down and turned to Amy. "Come here, you!"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Amy said quickly, trying to back away from the man strolling towards her.

Cupid gave her a huge grin. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes," he said happily. He reached Amy in a few strides and picked her up.

'Put me down, put me down, put me down,' Amy pleaded in her head as her feet lifted from the ground and Cupid shook her from side to side.

Finally, Amy was set back down on the ground. The image of Cupid hugging her was still fresh in her mind as Cupid eventually turned to Sam.

"And look at you, huh?" Cupid began making his way towards Sam.

"No." Sam turned away, but Cupid appeared in front of him and pulled him into a hug as well.

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!"

"Cas, what the hell is happening?" Amy asked.

"Is this a fight?" Dean asked, still looking shaken up. "Are we in a fight?"

"This is... their handshake," Cas said slowly.

"I don't like it."

"Me either," Amy added.

"No one likes it," Cas admitted.

Cupid finally put Sam down and turned to the others. "What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Why are you doing this?" Cas demanded.

"Doing what?" Cupid asked.

"Your targets," Cas explained, "the ones you've marked. They're slaughtering each other."

Cupid's smile fell into a frown. "What? They are?"

Amy frowned as well. Cupid genuinely looked like he didn't know what they were talking about.

"Listen, birthday suit, we know, okay?" Dean spoke up. "We know you been flittin' around, popping people with your poison arrow, making them murder each other!"

"What we don't know is why," Castiel added.

"You think that I..." Cupid trailed off as he began to cry. "Well, uh...I don't know what to say."

Amy sighed. "Great," she muttered.

"Should...Should somebody maybe... go talk to him?" Sam asked uneasily.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Dean gave Cas a light shove. "Give 'em hell, Cas."

Cas walked towards the crying Cupid. "Um... look," he began awkwardly. "We didn't mean to, um-" he turned back to the hunters. Dean gave Cas a thumbs up, and the angel turned back around "-hurt your feelings." He suddenly let out a groan as the Cupid hugged him again.

"Love is more than a word to me, you know," Cupid said as he put his head on Cas's shoulder. "I love love. I love it! And if that's wrong, I don't want to be right!"

"Yes, yes. Of course. I, uh...I have no idea what you're saying," Cas admitted.

Cupid pulled away from the hug. He held Cas's arms at his side. "I was just on my appointed rounds. Whatever my targets do after that, that's nothing to do with me," he told them. "I- I was following my orders. Please brother. Read my mind. Read my mind, you'll see."

Cas stared into Cupid's eyes for a moment. Finally, he relaxed, turning back to the hunters. "He's telling the truth."

Cupid sighed in relief. "Jiminy Christmas. Thank you."

"Wait, wait, you said-You said you were just following orders?" Dean asked.

Cupid nodded. "Mm-hmm."

"Whose orders?"

"Whose?" Cupid repeated. He let out a laugh. "Heaven, silly. Heaven."

"Why does heaven care if Harry meets Sally?" Dean questioned.

"Oh, mostly they don't," Cupid said. "You know, certain bloodlines, certain destinies. Oh, like yours." He turned to Amy. "And yours."

Sam stepped closer. "What?"

"Huh?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, the union of John and Mary Winchester, and the union of Jessica and Henry Jones. Very big deals upstairs, top priority arrangement."

"Are you saying that you fixed-up our parents?"

"And mine?" Amy added.

"Well, not me, but, yeah." Cupid chuckled. "Well, it wasn't easy, either. Ooh, they couldn't stand each other at first. But when we were done with them...perfect couple."

"Perfect?" Dean asked.

"Yeah."

"They're dead!" Dean snapped. "Hers are too!"

Cupid's smile fell. "I'm sorry, but... the orders were very clear. You and Sam needed to be born. As did Amy. Your parents were just, uh...meant to be." He did a small dance. "A match made in heaven- heaven!" he sang.

Dean balled up his fist and swung it at Cupid's face. Cupid didn't move an inch as Dean spun back around, holding his now injured hand.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean shouted.

Cupid vanished from the room.

Dean spun back around, looking where Cupid had just been standing. "Where is he? Where'd he go?!"

"I believe you upset him," Castile said.

"Upset him?!" Dean repeated angrily.

"Dean. Enough!" Sam snapped.

"What?"

"You just punched a Cupid!"

"I punched a dick!" Dean countered.

"Um...Are we gonna talk about what's been up with you lately or not?" Sam asked.

Dean's face fell into a scowl. "Or not." He shoved his way past Sam and Amy and stormed out of the room.

Sam and Amy watched as Dean walked away. They exchanged a quick glance before following him back out to the car.


They drove back to the motel in silence.

Dean finally broke the silence when they arrived. "So, if it's not a homicidal Cupid we're dealing with here, what is it?" He unlocked the motel room and led them inside. "Ames, any ideas?"

Amy shook her head. "Nada." She sat down on the far bed as Sam and Dean sat at the table.

"Hmm."

Sam's phone began to ring. "This is agent Cliff," he answered.

There was a brief pause as Sam listened to the person on the other line. There were various "uh, huh"'s before Sam finally said, "alright, sounds good. We'll be there first thing in the morning."

"Doctor Corman?" Dean asked as Sam hung up his phone.

"Uh, yeah."

"He get another weird death?" Amy asked.

Sam nodded. "Said he wants us to go check it out in the morning."

"Alright," Dean said. "We'll head over there first thing." He threw himself facedown onto the bed and sighed. "In the meantime, screw consciousness."

Amy scoffed and shook her head at the older Winchester, but slid off the bed and grabbed her duffle bag. It was getting late, and she was getting tired.

Amy headed into the bathroom and changed out of her FBI uniform. After slipping into something more comfortable, she ran a brush through her hair and headed back out to the main part of the motel room. Tossing her bag back onto the ground, she laid down on the bed and fell asleep.


February 16th, 2010

The next morning, Amy woke up to find Sam and Dean already dressed.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Dean said jokingly as he took a sip of his coffee.

Amy stretched her arms as she slid out of bed. "So, we going to see that new body doctor Corman called about?"

"You and Sam are," Dean corrected. "I'm gonna stay here and see if I can dig up any more info on what's going on."

Amy nodded. "Okay. Let me just get dressed real quick, and then we can go."


After getting dressed, Amy and Sam climbed into the Impala and headed back down to the medical center.

Doctor Corman was waiting for them at the end of the hallway. Sam had called him on the drive over to let him know they were on their way.

"You said you wanted to hear about any other weird ones," Doctor Corman said as he led them into the morgue.

"Okay."

Doctor Corman led the hunters over to a gurney and pulled back the sheet covering the corpse.

Amy looked down at the body of a man with a grossly distended belly.

"Lester Finch." Doctor Corman handed Sam a file. "Pulled his records. Looks like this gentleman used to weigh 400 pounds or so till he got a gastric bypass, which brought down his weight considerably. But then, for some reason, last night, he decided to go on a Twinkie binge."

"Any idea why?" Amy asked

Doctor Corman shrugged. "No clue. But, after he blew out the band around his stomach, he filled it up till it burst. When he could no longer swallow, he started jamming the cakes down his gullet with a-," he paused briefly, "-with a toilet brush like he was ramrodding a cannon."

Sam pulled at his collar, uncomfortably. "So, what do you make of it?" he asked.

"I'd say that it was a very peculiar thing to do..."Doctor Corman finished by taking a drink from his flask.

Sam and Amy exchanged a disgusted look before thanking the doctor and leaving the building.

As they walked back towards the Impala, Sam pulled out his phone and called Dean.

"Hey. So, uh, this guy was not marked by Cupid," Sam said into his phone, "but his death is definitely suspicious." There was a brief pause before he spoke again. "Yeah, if there's a pattern here, it ain't just love. It's a hell of a lot bigger than we thought."

Amy leaned against the car while she waited for Sam to unlock the doors.

Sam rubbed his temples as he listened to Dean on the other line. "Yeah, okay." He ended the call and pocketed his phone. Instead of unlocking the car, he turned back around towards the medical center and glared.

Amy shivered and leaned over to see what Sam was looking at. Coming out of the building was the same bald man they had seen a couple of days ago, carrying a briefcase.

"Wait here, Amy," Sam instructed.

"Where are you going?" Amy asked as Sam took off after the man.

"Just wait!" Sam called back. He disappeared down an alleyway after the bald man.

Amy shivered again, realizing Sam hadn't given her the keys, and the car was still locked. She rubbed her hands together to warm them up before using her powers to unlock the passenger side door. She climbed into the car and closed the door.

It was only slightly warmer inside the car with the heat off, but Amy figured it was better than being out in the cold.

While she waited for Sam, she pulled out her phone and opened up her contacts. Maybe now would be a good time to call her grandparents? She had met them two months ago but hadn't talked to them since.

Her finger hovered over the "talk" button. Maybe her grandparents didn't want to talk to her. They hadn't called her either in the last two months.

The driver's door opened, and Sam slid into the car, bringing Amy out of her thoughts.

"Hey," Amy said, putting her phone back in her pocket. "Where'd you..." she trailed off as Sam placed the briefcase the bald man had been carrying into her lap, "-go?" she finished.

Sam started the engine. "Demon," he stated. "I got that suitcase off of him."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know that guy was a demon?"

Sam shifted in his seat as he began driving down the street. Amy decided not to push the matter any further. She placed the briefcase on the floor by her feet and stared out her window.


Dean was waiting for them in the motel room when they returned. Amy carried the briefcase as Sam led her up to the room.

"There you guys are," Dean said as they entered. He nodded at the briefcase. "Where'd you get the briefcase?"

"Demon," Sam said.

"Demon?" Dean echoed. He turned to Amy.

Amy shrugged and set the case on the table. "Don't look at me, dude. Sam told me to wait by the car, then he took off down an alley after some bald guy and came back a few minutes later with a briefcase. I know about as much as you."

"What the hell does a demon got to do with this, anyway?" Dean asked.

"Believe me, I got no idea," Sam said. He shifted on the spot again.

Dean noticed. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sam said quickly. "I'll be alright."

Dean looked down at the briefcase. "Let's crack her open. What's the worst that could happen, right?"

"You just had to say that, didn't you?" Amy asked.

Dean opened up the suitcase and a blinding white light emitted from it.

Amy quickly shielded her eyes, trying to blink away the spots that were now clouding her vision.

"What the hell was that?" Dean gasped out as the light died down.

"It's a human soul," Castiel said from behind them. He was holding a White Castle bag in one hand and a burger in the other. "It's starting to make sense." He took a bite of his burger.

Amy had to blink a couple times to make sure she was seeing things correctly. Cas was eating? What the hell was going on?

"Now, what about that makes sense?" Sam asked, pointing to the briefcase.

"And when did you start eating?" Dean asked.

"Exactly. My hunger- it's a clue, actually." Cas took another bite of his burger.

"For what?" The three hunters asked simultaneously.

"This town is not suffering from some love-gone-wrong effect," Cas explained as he walked closer to them. "It's suffering from hunger. Starvation, to be exact-specifically...famine."

"Isn't that a horseman?" Amy asked.

Cas nodded and took another bite of his burger.

Dean scoffed. "Great. Th- th-that's freaking great."

"I thought famine meant starvation, like as in, you know, food," Sam said.

"Yeah," Amy agreed.

Cas nodded. "Yes. Absolutely. But not just food. I mean, everyone seems to be starving for something-sex, attention, drugs, love..."

"Well, that explains the puppy-lovers that Cupid shot up," Dean realized.

"Right. The cherub made them crave love, and then Famine came, and made them rabid for it." Cas ate some more of his burger.

"Okay, but what about you?" Dean gestured to Cas. "I mean, since when do angels secretly hunger for White Castle?"

"It's my vessel- Jimmy," Cas said, a hint of shame in his voice. "His, uh, appetite for red meat has been touched by Famine's effect."

"So, Famine just rolls into town, and everybody goes crazy?"

"And then will come Famine riding on a black steed. He will ride into the land of plenty... " Cas quoted. "And great will be the Horseman's hunger, for he is hunger. His hunger will seep out and poison the air." Cas finished off his burger and pulled out another one from the bag. "Famine is hungry. He must devour the souls of his victims."

"So, the guy who died from a twinkie binge?" Amy asked. "That was his soul in that briefcase?"

Cas nodded. "Lucifer has sent his demons to care for Famine, to feed him, make certain he'll be ready."

"Ready for what?" Sam asked.

"To march across the land."

Dean began pacing around the room as Cas sat on the bed. Amy sat next to the angel as Sam pulled at his shirt's collar and made his way into the bathroom.

"Famine?" Dean repeated.

"Yes," Cas replied through a mouthful of cheeseburger.

"So, what, this whole town is just gonna eat, drink, and screw itself to death?" Sam called out from the bathroom.

"Yes." Cas shoved another bite of his burger into his mouth. "We should stop it."

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock," Amy muttered.

"How?" Dean asked.

"How did you stop the last horseman you met?"

"We cut the ring off his finger," Amy recalled.

Dean pulled out War's ring and held it up for Cas to see. "And after we did that, he just tucked tail and ran. And everybody that was affected, it was like they woke up out of a dream. You think Famine's got a class ring, too?"

"I know he does."

"Well, okay. L- let's track him down and get to chopping."

"Yeah." Cas stood up and looked sadly into his empty bag.

"What are you, the Hamburglar?" Dean asked jokingly.

"I've developed a taste for ground beef," Cas admitted.

"Well, have you even tried to stop it?"

"I'm an angel. I can stop anytime I want."

Amy scoffed disbelievingly.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Sam, let's roll."

"Dean...I, um...I can't," Sam called out shakily. "I can't go." He stumbled out of the bathroom, sweating heavily as he leaned on the doorframe.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

Sam let out a heavy, shaky breath.

"Sam?" Amy asked worriedly.

"I think it got to me," Sam admitted. "I think I'm hungry for it..."

Amy knew immediately what Sam was talking about. "Crap," she whispered.

"Hungry for what?" Dean asked.

"You know."

"Demon blood?"

Sam hung his head in response.

Amy sighed and spun around, placing her hands on the back of her head as she began to pace.

"You got to be kidding me." Dean turned to Cas. "You got to get him out of here. You got to beam him to, like, Montana. Anywhere but here."

Cas shook his head. "It won't work. He's already infected. The hunger is just gonna travel with him."

"Well, then, what do we do?" Dean asked.

"You go cut that bastard's finger off," Sam said in a strained voice.

Dean shrugged. "You heard him."

"But, Dean," Sam began, "before you go, you better...you better lock me down - but good."

Dean looked at his brother and sighed. He pulled a pair of handcuffs from his duffle.

Sam stumbled back into the bathroom. Amy followed Dean and Cas as they walked in after Sam.

Dean handcuffed Sam to the bathroom sink pipe. "All right, well, just hang in there. We'll be back as soon as we can."

Sam let out a groan. "Be careful. And... hurry."

Amy took a final look at Sam before walking back out of the bathroom with Dean and Cas. The angel used a hand to push the dresser in front of the door, and they left the motel.


Dean drove them to the medical center. He led Cas and Amy down the hallway until they spotted Marty. "Hey, Marty. Is Doctor Corman around?"

"You haven't heard?" Marty asked.

"Heard what?"

"Doctor Corman died last night."

Dean and Amy exchanged a look.

"How'd it happen?" Amy asked.

Marty led them into the morgue and over to the metal table. He pulled back the sheet, revealing the pale, lifeless face of doctor Corman.

"Guy's been dry for the last 20 years," Marty explained, "but this morning, he left work, went home, and drank himself to death."

"It's Famine," Cas stated.

Marty looked confused. "Pardon?"

"Would you give us a minute, please?" Dean asked the young man.

Marty nodded. "Sure." He left the room.

"Thanks." Dean walked around Corman's body. "Crap! I really kind of liked this guy."

Cas held a hand over doctor Corman. "They haven't harvested his soul yet."

"Well, if we want to play "follow the soul" to get to Famine, our best shot starts with the doc, here," Dean said.

"What are we gonna do after we find Famine?" Amy asked.

"We'll think of that when the time comes," Dean replied. "But we better get out of here before that demon comes back for Corman's soul.


They headed back outside to the Impala. When they got to the car, Amy turned to ask Cas something, only to find him not there. She looked around for him, before turning to Dean.

"Uh, Dean?"

Dean turned around, his hand on the car door. "Yeah?"

"Where's Cas?"

Dean looked around, as well. He opened the door and peered inside the car to see if Cas had just gone to the passenger seat. Finally, he straightened up and muttered. "Son of a bitch."

"Guessing he's not in the car, then?"

Dean shook his head. "Come on, get in the car. Hopefully he'll show up, but we still gotta find out where that soul is being taken to."

Amy climbed into the backseat of the Impala as Dean got into the front. They sat in silence in the dark while they waited for a demon to walk out of the building.


About five minutes later, Cas returned in the passenger seat. He was holding another bag from White Castle. He pulled out a hamburger and took a bite.

Dean scoffed. "Are you serious?"

Cas smiled like a kid on Christmas. "These make me...very happy."

"How many of those have you had?" Amy asked.

Cas shrugged. "I lost count. It's in the low hundreds." He took another bite. "What I don't understand is...where is your guys' hunger?"

"Huh?" Dean asked.

"Well, slowly but surely, everyone in this town is falling prey to Famine, but so far, you two seem unaffected."

"Hey, when I want to drink, I drink," Dean said. "When I want sex, I go get it. Same goes for a sandwich or a fight."

"I actually think it has gotten to me," Amy admitted. "Earlier today, when I was with Sam, I-"

Casa cut Amy off, pointing out the window. "Look there."

Another man came out of the medical center carrying a briefcase. He got into a car across the street from the Impala and drove off.

Dean put the Impala into gear and followed the other car.


"Aright, so, what's the plan?" Amy asked.

"Cas'll go in, cut off Famine's ring, and meet us back here, " Dean said decidedly.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Amy asked. "Cas is affected by Famine right now. What if he goes in there and something goes wrong?"

"As long as he does it quickly, we shouldn't have any problems."

They followed the demon to Biggerson's restaurant. Dean parked the Impala across the street.

Inside the restaurant, Amy could see a handful of demons surrounding a very old man in a wheelchair.

"Demons." Dean turned to Cas. "You want to go over the plan again?"

Casa didn't reply as he smiled down at his burger.

"Hey, happy meal. The plan?" Dean repeated.

Casa put down the burger. "I take the knife, I go in, I cut off the ring hand of Famine, and I meet you back here in the parking lot."

"Well, that sounds foolproof." Dean looked over to see that Cas was gone.

Amy and Dean sat in the car, impatiently waiting for Castiel to return.

Less than ten seconds after Cas had vanished, Dean opened his door. "This is taking too long."

Amy quickly opened her door as well and followed Dean into the restaurant.

They entered through the kitchen door.

"Cas!" Dean called out quietly. "Cas."

They turned a corner and spotted Cas on the floor in front of them. His back was to them as he shoveled handfuls of raw ground meat into his mouth.

"Ames!"

Amy quickly spun around to see two demons. Dean punched one of them and Amy quickly ducked as the other swung at her.

The demon Amy dodged grabbed Dean by the collar of his shirt. He threw the hunter into the doors, before walking over and picking Dean up, pinning his arms to his side.

Amy felt her arms get pinned to her side as well as the demon Dean had punched grabbed her. She and Dean we're dragged out of the kitchen and brought face to face with Famine.

Famine looked like an extremely old man with an oxygen tube in his nose. A demon with black shades on stood on either side of his wheelchair.

"The other Mr. Winchester," Famine drawled. "And miss Jones."

Dean gestured to Cas. "What did you do to him?"

"You sicced your dog on me. I just threw him a steak."

"So this is your big trick?" Dean asked as he struggled against the demon holding him. "Huh? Making people cuckoo for cocoa puffs?"

"Doesn't take much-hardly a push." Famine laughed. "Oh, America. All-you-can-eat, all the time. Consume, consume. A swarm of locusts in stretch pants. And yet, you're all still starving because hunger doesn't just come from the body, it also comes from the soul."

Dean smirked. "It's funny, it doesn't seem to be coming from mine."

"Yes. I noticed that," Famine said quietly. He turned to Amy. "Have you wondered why that is? How you could both even walk in my presence?"

"Well, I like to think it's because of my strength of character," Dean joked.

"I disagree." Famine moved closer to Dean, touching him on the chest. "Yes. I see. That's one deep, dark nothing you got there, Dean. Can't fill it, can you? Not with food or drink. Not even with sex."

"Oh, you're so full of crap."

Famine ignored Dean and turned to Amy. "You on the other hand," he said, moving closer to her.

Amy struggled against the demons holding her as Famine touched her on the chest as well.

"Yes," Famine said slowly. "Just as I thought. You are infected after all."

"And yet, like Dean, it doesn't seem to be affecting me," Amy said. She struggled some more against the demons.

"Yes," Famine drawled. "Seems you have someone out there protecting you." He backed his wheelchair up and turned back to Dean. "I can see how broken you are, how defeated. You can't win, and you know it. But you just keep fighting. Just... keep going through the motions. You're not hungry, Dean, because inside, you're already...dead."

"Let him go."

Amy looked up and gasped in shock at what she saw. Sam was standing in the doorway, his mouth covered in blood.

Famine turned around. "Sam..."

"Sammy, no!" Dean strained.

Two demons moved to attack Sam, who got in a fighting position.

"Stop!" Famine ordered. "No one lays a finger on this sweet little boy." The demons stopped and Famine smiled. "Sam, I see you got the snack I sent you."

"You sent?"

"Don't worry. You're not like everyone else. You'll never die from drinking too much." Famine let out a laugh. "You're the exception that proves the rule. Just the way...Satan wanted you to be. So..." Famine lifted up his hands, gesturing at the demons surrounding him "...cut their throats. Have at them!"

"Sam, don't!" Amy begged.

"Sammy, no!"

"Please, be my guest," Famine urged.

Sam lifted his hand and closed his eyes. Amy and Dean both watched in a mix of shock and horror as all five demons were pulled from their host bodies at once.

The demon smoke pooled on the floor and Sam lowered his hand. "No."

Famine smirked. "Well...Fine. If you don't want them...then I'll have them."

Famine jerked up in his seat and opened his mouth wide. He swung his hand towards his mouth and the devoured the demon souls.

Sam stepped forward and extended his hand towards Famine.

Famine laughed. "I'm a Horseman, Sam. Your power doesn't work on me."

"You're right. But it will work on them." Sam clenched his fist and ripped the demon souls out of the horseman. His nose began to bleed with the effort.

Famine screamed as the demon souls exploded out of him. Finally, he slumped down in his chair, his eyes empty.

Cas stood up and slowly turned around to face Sam. Amy and Dean stared in a mix of shock and horror at the younger Winchester for a moment, before Dean quietly stepped forward and pulled the ring off of Famine's finger.

Dean took another look at Sam, before walking out of the restaurant without a word.

"Dean, wait!" Sam called out after his brother. He hurried after Dean.

Amy reluctantly followed Sam and Dean out to the Impala. She didn't even notice Cas leave as they climbed into the car and Dean started the engine.


It was a long, quiet drive to Bobby's house. Sam stopped trying to get Dean to listen after a while.

When they arrived at Bobby's, Dean dragged Sam out of the car. He ignored Bobby as he brought Sam downstairs and shoved him into the panic room, slamming the metal door closed on his brother.

Dean took a few heavy breaths, before going back upstairs, coming back down a moment later with a beer.

Sam began pounding on the door. "Let me out of here, please! Help!"

Dean leaned against one of the pillars, letting the distress show as he took a sip of the beer.

Cas appeared next to Dean. "That's not him in there. Not really."

"I know."

"Dean, Sam just has to get it out of his system," Cas continued. "Then he'll be-"

Dean cut Cas off. "Listen, I just, uh...I just need to get some air." He walked back upstairs, leaving Cas and Amy behind in the basement.

Amy slid down the wall until she was sitting on the ground. She pulled her knees to her chest, trying to ignore Sam's screams.