Dean pointed out the police cars driving to the motel as they drove away. Elena wasn't expecting their cars to make such loud noises with the sirens. She felt fear just from the noise and flashing lights and was happy that they had left before anything else had happened. She bit her lip and looked out the window, finally pressing her cheek against it to distract her from the pain she felt already from Castiel's absence. As they drove away, she realized that the sun had set. She and Castiel must've been gone for quite some time.

"Well, after we split this town, I'm stopping at the first place I see that looks like they serve burgers," Dean announced.

Sam made a noise of approval. Dean glanced in the rear view mirror at her.

"Hey, you okay back there?" He asked, looking between the mirror and the road ahead of him.

Elena kept her eyes focused on the sights around as they drove.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. I don't understand so much of what is happening right now," she said, doing her best to not become distressed again.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Cas has been around for a really long time, and met a lot of people. If he waited until meeting you before choosing to get down, I think that probably means you're someone special to him."

Elena smiled a little and looked at Dean, meeting his glance in the mirror. She could tell from his eyes that he was smiling, too. It felt like they reached a diner in another town soon after leaving, but Elena had not yet developed a reliable perception of time. It wasn't something she ever needed as a unicorn. What she could tell was that she was hungry again, very thirsty, and really needed to use a bathroom. Sam helped her get her shoes back on and Dean pointed out which door for her to use when they got inside.

As she walked away, she heard him mutter to Sam "Cas better thank us for potty-training his girl when he gets back," and Sam replied back with a "Thank us? I think you mean thank me."

It was a little awkward, but Elena managed to get done what needed doing, though not without making a bit of a ruckus. She sighed and made frustrated noises as she was going along, trying to remember the order in which she was supposed to do everything. There was a woman waiting outside when she opened the door, looking at her with some concern and a little bit of apprehension. Elena brushed past and joined the boys at the table.

"Elena, let me know if you want us to order a few things for you again or if you just want to get something like what we're having," Sam told her.

"I want to try it all."

Dean laughed and nodded approvingly.

"My kind of girl," he said, shaking his head a little. "We were thinking, Elena, that it's probably best if we take you somewhere safe while we wait for Cas to return," Dean continued. "We have this friend named Bobby, and I think it's a good idea to head there and just hunker down until we get some answers. I don't think too much traveling is good, we might bring some unwanted attention if we stay exposed too long."

Elena agreed to the plan and the waitress came over to take their order. She tried her best to use the cup like Sam was showing her, and this time did much better about spilling everywhere. She felt her stomach rumbling and making some funny noises.

"Ah, just in time! This one's got an appetite like a lion," Dean said as the waitress dropped off their food, nodding in Elena's direction.

"You expect me to believe that, boy? That girl is practically just skin and bones," the waitress retorted, chuckling a little before she left them to eat.

Elena watched Sam and Dean digging into their food and worked to emulate them. Everything tasted so good to her, though, that she found it difficult to pause in between bites long enough to chew and swallow.

"Hey, Elena, ix-nay on the ow-glay," Dean said sharply, nudging her from under the table.

"What's that?" she asked, taking a moment away from her food to focus on him.

"You were starting to, you know, glow," he said, his hands imitating a growing circle of some sort.

"Oh, I didn't even notice. I really like food. It's almost as pleasurable as the sexual relations with Castiel," she said before picking up the remainder of a hamburger and cramming it into her mouth.

Sam choked on his bite of food and Dean spit a swig of water back into his cup. They looked at each other and then back at her.

"Yeah, about that…" Sam trailed off, looking a little nervous to see her reaction as he spoke."What was that whole explosion thing about?"

Dean chimed in.

"You guys gonna need a panic room or something every time you make whoopie?"

She did her best to follow what they were saying, but a part of her was glad she hadn't learned all those words yet.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. It wasn't anything intentional. We didn't even notice until you two came in."

Dean raised his eyebrows and shook his head a little.

"Well, I mean, Cas seems to be pretty over-the-moon for you in general. I don't think I've ever seen him like that about anyone, not even me."

Sam rolled his eyes but agreed with Dean.

"When the two of you are in the room together there's some crazy energy going on," he said, and Dean nodded.

Elena sighed a little and pushed back from her food, glancing over to the window. It was so dark out now that it was hard to see what was outside, the light from the diner bouncing back off the glass and making it seem like there was no world beyond.

"I'm worried about him tracking down whoever was involved in all of this. Whatever brought me here and did this to me has to have a lot of power."

Sam shifted in the booth across from her, straightening up.

"Look, I understand why you're worried. We're worried, too, believe me. But Cas has faced some pretty big bads since we've known him. Hell, all of us have. We've had the odds stacked against us more than once and made it out to see another day. He's smart, he'll be careful."

Elena tried to take comfort from his words, but she couldn't shake her concern. After they settled the bill, she followed Dean and Sam back to the car. Her eyes took a few moments to adjust to the bright lights from inside the diner back to the darkness that had fallen around them. She felt a hand grab her arm and yank her sideways. Her yelp of surprise was cut short by another hand covering her mouth, but it was enough to alert Dean and Sam to the presence of trouble.

"Elena!" Dean shouted, pulling out a handgun and pointing it at whoever was holding her.

Elena struggled to break free but her balance was still causing her problems. She could see a man's face as he dragged her backward, her back against his chest.

"Don't even think about it, Winchesters," the man sneered.

Elena saw his eyes were black and felt the negative energy pouring out of him—he wasn't a man; he was a demon. Sam was wielding a knife as well and tried to circle wide behind them, preventing the man from taking her any further away from them.

"Did you really think we wouldn't notice the little power surge from it?"

The demon laughed at them, gripping Elena tighter in his grasp.

"You just never seem to learn, always playing around with toys that are too expensive for you to afford."

Dean tried to stay close but another demon ambushed him from the side. As they struggled, Elena saw a flash and heard a bang, and the demon attacking Dean slumped to the ground. He lunged after them, trying to get close. Sam lunged forward, sinking his knife into the demon's neck. His hold on Elena was released and she fell to her hands and knees, scrambling away as quick as she could toward Dean, who helped her back onto her feet.

"Sammy, let's go!" he yelled back, hurrying her into the car.

She jumped in as quick as she could and Sam ran up and got in quickly behind her. Dean had already started driving away by the time Sam closed his door. They were all breathing heavily from the ambush.

"Well, I guess they know we're here somewhere," Dean said. "There goes our quiet escape."

"We just gotta hope they don't send reinforcements before we get to Bobby's," Sam said, finally taking a moment to buckle up.

Elena followed his lead before burying her head in her hands, elbows resting on her legs as she hunched over. She felt like all of this was her fault. It was her energy they tracked, from when she and Castiel had been intimate. Sam seemed to know what she was thinking and tried to comfort her.

"It's okay, Elena, none of us knew they had any way to track you. It's not your fault. Bobby's got a lot of books on all sorts of things, maybe he'll even have something that can help us. Then we can call Cas off his search. We'll just keep driving through the night to get there as soon as possible. Why don't you try and get some sleep," he offered, and Elena nodded.

She was feeling tired. It seemed like a while before she felt her eyelids getting heavy, but for all she knew it could've been five minutes. Time passing still wasn't syncing up for her. Dean looked periodically in the rearview mirror to check if Elena had fallen asleep, talking once he was sure she was asleep. She stayed still and kept her eyes closed at first, but she hadn't been able to get comfortable enough to fall asleep.

"Okay, Sammy, we gotta figure something out. This isn't gonna last too long, keeping her safe, if every time she thinks of Cas she gets all doe-eyed and starts sending up the friggin' horn symbol in the sky," he said.

Sam cringed a little at Dean's words and sighed, rubbing his forehead with one hand.

"As always, I have to congratulate you on your tact, Dean."

Elena opened her eyes and saw Dean smirk at Sam.

"But you're right. I don't know what might protect her from being seen by them, whoever they are."

They both fell quiet for a few minutes, lost in their own thoughts.

"It is kind of cute, though," Dean said finally.

Sam looked over at him in surprise, and Dean caught the look.

"What? I can be sensitive. I'm not heartless. And Cas is like a brother. You know, the kind of brother you keep locked in the basement at parties because he walks around pretending to be a dinosaur even though he's forty, but a brother nonetheless."

Sam laughed and shook his head.

"Yeah, it's kinda sweet. Weird, but sweet. I mean, what happens when he's able to get her changed back? I can't imagine there would be anywhere safe here for her. If someone was able to track down the unicorns in a hidden realm, I don't think keeping the last one here in plain sight would really be that great an idea."

"Plus, I can't imagine the sex at that point. That's some weird friggin shit right there." Dean shivered.

"Dude," Sam said, disapprovingly.

"What? I know you were thinkin' it too, there's no way you weren't."

Sam held in his breath before releasing it audibly, refusing to acknowledge the comment.

"Well, let's just hope Bobby has some answers for us somewhere."

"Did you say anything about why we were coming when you called?"

Sam shook his head.

"No, I figured this is a conversation best had in person...I just told him we had someone with us who needed our help."

"Probably for the best. He's gonna think we're out of our minds when he hears who she is," Dean said.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Sam replied.

They both fell quiet again after that. Neither realized that Elena had been awake, listening. She had stayed silent on purpose, wanting to hear what they really thought. Something Dean said really made her think.

What am I going to do if Castiel can find some way to reverse this and I can go home?

Elena couldn't imagine going home without her family there. What a lonely existence that would be. And Dean was right, she couldn't stay where she was now, it would never be safe.

Would it be possible for Castiel to join me? Would he even want to give up his life for that?

It took such power to break through the barrier that there was no way he could just pop in and see her whenever he wanted to. It would have to be an all-or-nothing kind of deal. Elena did her best to keep those thoughts at bay, not at all ready for the answers to those questions. After some time, despite the discomfort of the car, she fell asleep.