Chapter 1.

10:10. Sam's first thought was that the clock had to be wrong. His phone alarm should have gone off hours before and if it hadn't, Eileen would have woken him.

His phone was gone. So was Eileen. He grabbed a bundle of clothes and headed to the shower in his sweatpants. He had a swift, cold shower to wake himself up, dressed quickly and almost ran to the kitchen. There was nobody there, but the coffee was hot. He poured a cup, made some toast, slathered it with butter and headed for the library, where Anael was working her way through a stack of wedding magazines he had never seen before.

"Good morning!" she said.

"I overslept." he said, unnecessarily, "Where is everyone?"

"Eileen and Charlie are on a supply run, Dean's working on that car for Jack, Cas and Jules are at Bobby's place." It took a moment for him to realise she meant the restored Bobby's place in Sioux Falls and not the version in the mind link.

Before he could say anything, Dean came in, wiping his hands on an old rag. "Hey, Sammy." he said, "Sorry, I was gonna offer to make breakfast for you."

"Why didn't you wake me?" said Sam.

"Eileen asked me not to. Said you slept through the night for the first time in weeks. She figured we should just let you sleep."

Sam looked at the wedding magazines. "Are these Eileen's?" he said.

"I hope I'm not hearing the sound of cold feet." said Dean, "Shouldn't you be excited about the wedding?"

"I am." said Sam, "I just worry ... Dean, I have this fear of embroidered vests and elaborate floral boutonnières. I'm a hunter, not a fashion model. I like simple. I thought Eileen did too."

"Relax." said Anael, "These are his." She nodded to Dean.

"Now I'm really worried." said Sam.

"Obviously, I got them for Eileen." said Dean.

"I get that this wedding really means a lot to you," said Sam, "But bearing in mind that most of the family on both sides is dead, you may wanna keep it lowkey."

"Sam, I just want to make things special for Eileen. The kid's been through a lot and she deserves a little bit of fairy tale after all that."

Sam knew he meant it. He couldn't help it. She had become family the moment Dean saw she was in love with Sam and he couldn't step back and let them plan it out alone, because it had to be perfect for her, for the woman who had given his little brother a hope of happiness.

"I don't mean to interfere." said Dean.

"No, I know you don't." said Sam, "And it was a good idea, to get the magazines. It can't hurt for her to look at them, right?"

"Right. And we can guide her off the more floral options for men."

Sam shrugged. "To be honest, if she wants me dressed entirely in ferns and roses, I'll do it. I'd do anything for her."

"That's what I like to hear!" said Dean. He looked at Anael and his smile vanished. His face became cold, even harsh. "Are you being good?" he said.

"I'm looking at magazines." she said, "How can that be part of an evil plan?"

"I never mentioned evil plans." he said.

"You don't have to. I can read your mind. It's all over your face in large, clear print."

"All I did was ask if you're behaving yourself. Given the circumstances, I think it's a reasonable question."

"And I think you're a paranoid dick." she said.

"Hey, both of you," said Sam, "Why all the hostility? Can't we all be civil to each other?"

"Apparently, he can't." she said.

"I can if she can." said Dean. His phone rang. He checked the screen. "It's Jody." he said. He switched it to speaker. "Hey, Jody, you're on speaker. Go ahead."

"Sorry to bother you, boys," she said, "But there's something in your area, a young hunter, out of his depth. He got me through the grapevine and when he said where he was and what it was, I told him you were closer and had more experience. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all, Jody." said Sam, "What's his location?"

"He's at Grubb's Motel in Salina, Kansas."

"That's in our backyard." said Dean, "No problem."

"When I mentioned your names, he got real excited." said Jody, "Seems he knows you. Apparently, you saved his brother's life about 15 years ago in Wisconsin."

"Wisconsin?" said Dean.

"Fitchburg, maybe?" said Sam.

"Was his brothers name Asher?" said Dean.

"That's right, Michael and Asher Ward. They're both in Salina. The case they're working on, well, it sounds demonic."

"Demonic's a cake walk for us." said Dean.

"That's what I told them."

"Okay. Let them know we'll be there in a couple of hours. Give them our numbers and tell them to send us details of the case."

"One problem with that," said Sam, "I think Eileen took my phone."

"And gave it to me." said Dean, handing it over. "She just didn't want it waking you. Sam finally got a full night's sleep, Jody!"

"Well, hallelujah!" she said.

"Is there some kind of daily bulletin I didn't know about?" said Sam.

"We're just worried about you, kid." said Jody.

"Don't call me kid."

"Call him Sammy." said Dean, "He loves that. Talk to you later, Jody."

"I'll come with you." said Anael.

"No way." said Dean.

"Cas is in Sioux Falls. You're down one angel. You have a spare. Yay!"

"She could be useful." said Sam.

"What did I say about her not ever touching my car?" said Dean, "We can call Cas back from Sioux Falls."

"Cas is working." said Sam, "And Jules is with him. You really want him to leave her and Meg unsupervised?"

"Crowley's there." said Dean, then he frowned. "I can't believe I just said that." He looked at Anael and said, "You sit in the back, quietly. I pick the music and you at all times obey without question."

"Fine!"

"And you tell no-one you're an angel, not Michael and Asher, not random law enforcement, no-one."

"I wasn't planning on it. I wish I didn't have to be an angel."

"Yeah and don't start all that Pinocchio crap. You're an angel. You'll never be anything else. Deal with it."

Sam tentatively raised a hand. "Anael and I can travel in a different car."

"I need you to tell me about the case." said Dean, "We'll be fine now everybody knows the rules."

"I'm just thinking it may be a pretty tense trip if you two are sniping at each other all the way."

"No, it'll be fine." said Anael, "I'll take a magazine to read."

Dean called Charlie. "Hey, Charlie, it's Dean. We're heading to Salina on a case, taking the spare angel with us. We'll call you later."

"Voicemail?" said Sam.

"Voicemail. Let's grab some road food and get out of here."