They slept that night all crammed into Evie's little two man tent, with Evie in the middle.

Sam woke up. Evie was gone. The dark was just giving way to the late dawn of winter and outside the tent he could hear her moving quietly about the camp. He lay there a little longer, there was something very domestic about it, it reminded him a little of better days. Dean was still dead to the world, he had the sleeping habits of a combat soldier, he could wake up in moments, stay awake for as long as he needed to, but when he was able to sleep, he slept deeply.

Evie's spare phone rang, her own having been ruined in the sea, as had Sam's. He heard her sigh, then answer it.

"Lamorna," she said. "The jobs not finished, if that's what you mean...Why?...Can you repeat that?...Sorry Lamorna, but it sounds like you're saying the woman's house, that's H.O.U.S.E. is trying to eat, E.A.T. her...wow!...Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss it for the world. I'll be there within the week...No, I can't get there any sooner...Well, I have to finish this job...no, I can't leave them to it, they need me...our plan relies on my particular talents, why are we arguing about this? It's not like the house has grown legs and started hunting people down...it's very simple, if the house is trying to eat her, tell her not to go in the house, and I'll be with her just as soon as I can...YOU WHAT?"

As soon as she had raised her voice, Evie shut herself up, then took herself away from the camp.

ooooooo

"Do you mean to tell me that you've had Morwenna spying on me? Instead of looking for Treve like I asked you to?" She demanded.

-I have to. Otherwise I don't get the whole story, do I? What do you think you were doing? You could have been killed! All to save the life of a virtual stranger.

"Sam Winchester's a friend…"

-A friend who doesn't trust you.

"He trusts me now. Why am I even discussing this with you? It's none of your business."

-Anything that risks your life is my business Evie. You cannot afford to die. Your life is not your own to risk like that!

Evie pulled the phone away from her ear and tried to get her temper under control.

-I want you in New Orleans, and I want you there within the next couple of days, is that clear?

"Yes, it's clear. It's clear you've forgotten who you're talking to. Remember who's doing who the favour here Lamorna."

-We pay you…

"A pittance for clearing up your mess. I'll do it. I'll track Trevelyan down, and while I'm at it I'll clean up the smaller messes your witches make." A small gasp proved that Lamorna had understood the insult.

-I don't want you seeing those Winchester boys! Do you understand me?

"You don't get to tell me who I can socialise with. Now, you can tell your woman I'll be with her soon, and in future, if you need to contact me, you can do it through my mother!"

She closed the phone, and nearly threw it in the water. The truth had finally been pulled out of Lamorna, she didn't want Evie seeing the Winchesters. Why the hell not? She wondered.

"Everything alright?" Sam asked, coming through the bushes.

Evie pushed her hands through her thick black hair.

"Yeah, I think so. I tell you Sam, I love my country, but sometimes I am so glad I'm here. The trouble with any organisation is that eventually they want to play games, and I'm fed up with being the favourite toy. I just want to be left alone to get on with my job. They made me this way, why can't they just accept that?"

"You really love hunting?" Sam asked.

"What's not to love? What other career stretches you like this one? And you get to live in the real world, without the blinkers that most people wear. Come on, Sam, could you really go back to that world?"

"I did it once."

"You did? It didn't drive you crazy? Living among people who believe in the myth of modern life."

"No, it didn't. It felt good to be normal, to not have to watch my back all the time. What about loneliness, Evie? With the life you live, not even a friend to travel with you, don't you get lonely?"

Evie took a deep breath as she thought about that.

"Let me tell you something, Sam. Loneliness is part of the human condition, it's got nothing to do with the job - the whole world is lonely. Come on, I need a cup of tea before we start this."

Dean was up and making coffee.

"Hey, making a move on my girl?"

"Oh don't you start." She muttered. She looked at the pot. "Why coffee? Why do you Yanks always have to start the day so aggressively?"

Dean looked at Sam with a puzzled expression.

"I think she just had a difficult phone call," Sam explained.

Evie looked up at him, her eyes flashing electric blue, and for a moment Sam was actually worried. Then she softened.

"I'm sorry. That was uncalled for." Suddenly she cocked her head at the muffled sound of an engine. "Peter's here already."

oooooooooo

"Hey, Pete," Dean hailed, as the three emerged from the bushes some fifty metres seaward from the lake. "How's it goin'?"

The middle aged man looked up from unhooking a moped.

"Morning Dean, can you give me a hand?"

The three men carefully lifted the moped off the boat. When he was done, Peter brushed off his hands and looked at Evie.

"Good morning Miss Kernow."

"Good morning Peter. You can't have gone to sleep, to be here so early."

"It's all one to me, anything I can do to help you, and to bring justice down on that man, I'm more than happy to do."

Evie glanced at his aura.

"I didn't realise, you lost someone."

"My brother was one of the ten."

Evie touched his arm. "Oh Peter, I'm so sorry to hear that."

The man touched her hand awkwardly.

"Thank you, from you that means a lot." He roused himself. "Well, I'll be off. Blessed be.

They watched him go.

"Okay," Dean said. "So now we wait. Don't you need to get changed?"

Evie looked down at herself.

"Why, what's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"You're wearing a dress."

"Yes," Evie answered patiently. "I'm not going to walk around in the middle of winter stark naked until Treve decides to take a dip now, am I? I'm hoping he might take me for a water creature, and a Speedo cossie might ruin the effect. I've got my knife and a bag for the bits. What more do I need?"

"Do you enjoy hyperthermia?" Sam asked as they approached the camp.

"I don't get cold in the water."

"Oh, right, I forgot, you're a mermaid."

"I wish I hadn't told you now," she muttered. "Just make sure I can get warm quickly when I get back."

ooooooooooo

Evie had taken her mug of tea and was now sitting by a bush next to the lake, her eyes fixed on the house across from her only now emerging from the pre-dawn gloom.

"Maybe one of us should stay," Sam suggested. "She might be good, but those are guards with automatics over there."

"Nah, she wouldn't thank you even for suggesting it," Dean replied sitting across the stove from him. "Even if they did find her, all she'd have to do is jump in the water."

"But what if she can't?" Sam asked. "What if they catch her away from the water? She's not that big, she wouldn't stand a chance."

Dean smiled. "Well look at you getting all protective of the poor little hunter. Seriously, Sam, I think there are a lot of things that don't exist any more because they underestimated Evie Kernow. Having you there might actually slow her down."

"Are…"

"I don't mean because of you, I mean because she's not used to working with other people. Don't worry, she'll be fine."

Sam thought about this, staring at the lonely figure over by the lake. Finally he nodded.

"Okay, so let's not let our side down. Are we ready?"

"The skiff's all turned around and primed to take off the moment we're on board with 'essence of Treve'." Dean assured him.

"Guys," Evie called as quietly as she could. "We're up."

She slipped off her wrap around dress and waded into the water wearing nothing but a knife at her ankle and a small bag slung across her body. The brothers saw her disappear for a moment, then she reappeared, bobbing like a seal while she put on her flippers, then with a final splash she was gone.

Sam refilled the kettle and set it to boil again. Dean collected her dress from the damp ground and brought back to camp.

"She was right, he does swim early."

"Well, I guess she'd know, he is kin," Sam replied. Then he smiled. "I bet that rankles."

"What does?" Dean asked.

"Her having a family member gone bad."

"Yeah," Dean agreed. "She doesn't strike me as someone who'd put up with that."

There was no sign of her. They scanned the lake for the signs of someone coming up for air, but if she did, she was very careful. Finally Dean stood up.

"I'm going for a walk."

"Evie said not to wander off."

"Yeah, well, the only person I take orders from is dad."

"She said it for a good reason!" Sam hissed furiously at Dean's receding back.

"I'm not going far!"

Then Sam was left alone, holding vigil.

oooooooooooooooOOOOOooooooooooooooo

About fifteen minutes later Sam watched a man hurry down from the house to the jetty. He seemed to test the water, and a few minutes later Treve's head broke the surface. He swam over, a few words were exchanged, then he got out. A guard put his robe around his naked body and they all left for the house. Sam was pretty sure Evie hadn't done her job yet and he scanned the surface of the water anxiously.

Not long later, Treve reappeared. He looked around the edge of the lake. It was hard to tell from so far away, but he was pretty sure that the man was unsettled. The robe dropped to the wooden planks again, and Treve dived back into the lake.

Sam looked around for Dean, so much for him not going far. It wasn't like him to drop the ball in the middle of a job like this, so he assumed he was just along from there. Probably waiting until they got worried, then reemerging like he'd been in control all the time.

Treve had disappeared under the water for a good twenty minutes when suddenly he reappeared by the jetty. He called, and the guard hurried to his side. Treve took one last look at the lake before leaving the water for good, he seemed to be limping.

Five minutes later, Evie appeared.

"Where's Dean?" She demanded as she handed over the bag. Through the clear plastic Sam could see a lock of graying hair, a cloth stained with blood, and an alarmingly large piece of skin.

"What happened?" Sam asked.

"Oh, my knife slipped. It's not easy being surgeon-accurate underwater you know. Where's Dean?"

Sam opened his mouth, but before he could speak Dean came out of the undergrowth.

"I'm here, why? D'you miss me?"

Evie took one look at him then bent down to unstrap her knife. Suddenly she leapt on Dean, throwing him to the ground, she held her knife at his throat.

"Hey!" was all Dean managed to get out.

Sam grabbed her by her arms and pulled her off.

"Who are you?" She demanded.

"Evie, it's me, it's Dean," he said, clearly non-plussed.

She shook her head. "No, you're not Dean. You don't look like him."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked. "Of course he looks like Dean."

"Yeah, because I am Dean." He said, holding out one hand in defense.

Evie looked at him doubtfully. To his alarm, she actually looked disgusted by what she saw, as she stood there still dripping from the lake with nothing on but a knife sheath.

"What…" she began, still holding the knife at him, and doing her best to keep Sam away from him. She looked around him, then at his chest. She plucked at his shirt. "What's this?" She demanded. "You're…I don't understand." She pulled again at his shirt. "This isn't you." She waved her hand around the rest of him. "This is you, but not here. This I don't recognise. You wandered off, didn't you?"

"I didn't go far," he said, defensively.

Finally she put her knife down.

"You went far enough, you dipstick. They caught you." She turned her back on him and went to get dressed.

"I think I'd remember if I was caught," Dean called after her. He looked at Sam. "She's lost it."

"Maybe," Sam answered carefully.

"I haven't lost it!" She answered furiously, coming back, doing up her dress as she did. "I know what I can see, even if you two are blind to it."

Without pausing, she ripped open Dean's shirt. There on, or rather in his chest was carved a diamond, and embedded in the centre was a quartz crystal.

"What the f…?" Dean said, staring in horror at himself.

"Like I said," Evie spat. "They caught you."

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"Oh shit." Dean reached out to Sam for support as his legs gave way.