Piper knew she should be reading. She knew that keeping Cass from opening the gate to Purgatory was paramount. It was incredibly important.

She just… Couldn't.

Figuring out how to function around the heavy weight of betrayal in her chest was impossible. How was she supposed to stop thinking about how he'd gone behind their backs? Or how, even when they'd confronted him with the truth, he'd insisted that it was the right thing to do, his only course of action? How could she focus when their best friend had betrayed them?

Dean slammed the book he was attempting to read shut, startling Piper out of her thoughts and making Monster jump a little and hiss from his place in her lap. "Well, Samuel's journals are pointless," he snapped. "I mean, I'm sorry, but, uh, Jebediah Campbell has squat to tell me about how to stop Cass from cracking purgatory."

Bobby was coming into the study just then. The scowl on his face matched the one on Dean's. "Actually, it's not about the journals we have, it's about the one we don't."

Sam looked up from his own research. "Meaning what?"

"That's the bad news. Our pal Cass didn't stop in last night just to mend fences."

Dean's face darkened further. "What did he do?"

"Stole something."

Piper closed her eyes, shock and dismay making her chest ache. "What did he take?"

"The journal of one Moishe Campbell."

Sam cocked an eyebrow. "Moise?"

"Of the New York Campbells."

Piper pressed a hand to her forehead, hoping to forestall a stress headache starting to form there. "Okay. We have to get it back."

Bobby handed her the envelope he'd brought in with him. "Or just read the copy I'd already made."

Piper's smile felt almost genuine. "Paranoid bastard," she said fondly.


Dean braced his hands against the kitchen counter, watching the coffee spin around in the microwave, trying to wrap his head around the last two days.

He was livid about Castiel's blatant betrayal. He knew that they were just humans, and that the war that Cass was fighting was on a scale that they probably couldn't comprehend. He got it, he did, but what the fuck? After everything they'd been through, did Cass not think he could come to them?

On the other hand, he ached for the life he and Piper had created together. The normal, suburban life they'd thrived in. He wanted her to wait tables and him to be covered in grease and for them to come home at the end of each night and just be together, curled on the couch with their cat. After what Cass had done, it was, once again, almost too tempting to go back and just give the hunting life up.

And if they wouldn't be screwing over Bobby, Sam, and maybe the world, he'd do it in a heartbeat.

"Dammit, Cass," he growled as the microwave dinged. He pulled the three mugs out, mixed Piper's the way she liked it, took a sip to check, and carried them back into the study.

As he did, Bobby was sitting up. "I think I zeroed in on something."

"Whaddaya got?" Dean asked as he handed one of the cups to Sam. He walked over and gave Piper hers before settling a hand on the back of her neck. She hummed appreciatively and leaned back into the touch.

Bobby handed the page he'd been reading from to Sam, who read aloud. "'Went to Howard Phillips about the events of March tenth.'"

"That's March tenth, nineteen-thirty-seven," the older hunter clarified.

"All right, so who's this Phillips guy?" Dean asked.

"Phillips ain't his last name. It's Lovecraft."

Piper stiffened beneath his hand. "As in, H.P. Lovecraft?"

Bobby nodded, and Sam snatched the paper from his hands.

Dean was lost. "Am I supposed to know who that is?"

Piper leaned back and smiled up at him. "A horror writer, babe."

Bobby cocked an eyebrow. "At the Mountains of Madness? The Call of Cthulu?"

Deans hook his head. "Yeah, no, I'm… I was too busy having sex with women."

Piper twisted her arm back and smacked him on the leg. "Hush, you." He grinned down at her.

Bobby rolled his eyes. "Well, anyhow. There's one notion that comes up over and over in his stories. Namely, opening doors to other dimensions and letting scary shit through."

Dean's eyebrows rose. "You don't say."

"Wait," Sam interjected, "so you're saying you think Lovecraft knew something about purgatory?"

Bobby shrugged. "All I know is Moishe paid him a visit."

Dean opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the shrill sound of Piper's cell phone. She had been easing back into the role she'd held before the averted apocalypse, when hunters called several times a day to get advice or assistance. It wasn't unusual for it to be ringing.

Piper looked up and shot each of them an apologetic look before pulling the phone out of her pocket and answering, "Go for Piper."

Dean couldn't place the voice on the phone, but the distress coming through the line was clear enough. He sat his mug of coffee down and came around to crouch next to Piper. She'd tensed immediately upon answering. He could only hear her side of the conversation, but it was clear enough.

"Brandy?

"What?"

"What are they?"

"Did you see their eyes?"

"Teeth?"

"Brands, this is important, I need to know."

"Okay, where are you now?"

"Brandy, listen to me, go to your window and jump. Any bones you break won't compare to what they're going to do to you. You have to jump." Piper stood, knocking Monster off of her lap, who complained with a loud mrowl. Everyone ignored him.

"Brandy, I'm coming, we're coming, just run, just… Brandy? Brandy? Brandy?!" She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it in horror.

From the speaker, Crowley's voice made Dean's skin crawl. "Piper. Fancy a chat?"


Piper felt her face harden. "Crowley," she snarled.

"How long's it been, peach? Since my so-called demise, yes?"

"Oh, fuck you. Let them go, this isn't about them, it's about us. I swear to Christ, if you hurt them at all-"

"Yes, yes, you'll rip me a cornucopia of orifices. Let's get to the bit where I tell you how this goes. Your chocolate's been in my peanut butter for far too long."

"I'm going to kill you," she growled.

"Oh, dear, no. I've got your 'friends,' Piper, and I'm keeping them until I'm satisfied that you've backed the fuck off!"

Piper took a deep breath and let her eyes fall shut, trying to keep her voice patient and even. "This is your last chance, Crowley."

"You're adorable when you get all threatening," he simpered. "Don't worry, I won't hurt them. Provided that you, Tweedle Dum, and Tweedle Dumber stand down. Got it? Splendid. Kisses." The phone went dead.

"What's the story?"

Piper looked up from the phone going dark in her hand to realize that all three of them, Bobby, Sam, and Dean, were standing around her, concerned and angry. "They… Um, he has Brandy and Steve. They were our neighbors, and…"

"Our friends," Dean finished grimly.

Sam heaved a heavy sigh. "You think Cass knows about this?"

Piper started to protest, but was interrupted by her husband. "We gotta assume that he does."

"So what are we going to do?"

"We're going after them," Piper said firmly. Dean nodded and stepped away so they could start getting ready.

"I'm coming with," Sam said.

"No, you're staying here with Bobby to finish the Lovecraft lead. This is too important, we can't afford to drop the ball on this. Cass is already way too far ahead of us."

She stared the younger Winchester down until he sighed and looked away. "All right, well how do you intend to find them?"


"I was drinking a seventy-five Dom out of a soprano's navel when you called," Balthazar snapped. "That was important."

"Crowley's alive," Piper said, ignoring the angel's dramatics. She didn't have time to soothe riled egos. "And he's working with Castiel."

"Excuse me?"

Dean nodded next to her. "Handshake deal. Goin' halfsies on all the souls of purgatory. He fill you in on that?"

"Well, yes, yes," the angel spluttered. "Yes, of course he did."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I know you're lying. Look, Crowley and Cass took two people who are important to us."

The angel scoffed. "And I care why?"

"Because," Dean snarled, "maybe there's a shred of decency under all this… Snarky shit. They're innocent people, and we're asking for your help."

The angel hummed. "Fair enough." He vanished.

"Son of a bitch!"

Piper chewed on her lip indecisively. "Maybe we should just call Cass. Maybe he doesn't know anything about this?"

Dean gave her a flat look. "We're not calling Cass, kitten. You know he… You know…"

She stepped toward him and reached to twine her fingers in his. "Yeah, I know," she said softly. "So what now?"


An hour later, Dean was on the phone with Bobby.

"Lovecraft tried to jimmy open a damn dimension door. Idjit."

Dean smiled at hearing the insult directed at someone else for once. "So what happened?"

"Well, nothing much. Except, I dug, and every guest invited to the hoedown? Dead or disappeared inside a year."

He whistled. "Damn. Where are you off to now?"

"Have a chat with one of the guests."

"Didn't you just say that everyone there died?"

"Yeah, everyone Lovecraft invited died. Seems the maid had a nine-year-old boy. He was there."

Dean frowned. "So he's, what, old as shit now? Where is he?"

"Same place he's been since the big night. Locked in a mental ward."

"Huh. Well, good luck."

"Yeah, yeah. How's things on your end?"

Dean leaned back against the side of the building that Piper was in. "Slow. Pipes has got that psychic friend in New Orleans, she thinks she has a location spell that can find Crowley."

"You don't think he's cloaked himself against stuff like that?"

Dean shrugged. "Pipes has faith in Mara, and between you and me, I wouldn't put very much past her, either."

"You kids got a backup plan?"

"Ah… Not one that Pipes is cool with."

They had argued fiercely about how to get the information they needed. Piper wanted to give Mara a chance. Dean thought that there were more… Direct ways to get Crowley's location. Faster ways.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Piper quite as furious as she had been when he'd brought up that he could torture the information out of a demon. She had flown off the handle, her hazel eyes snapping fire at him before storming out. She'd told in no uncertain terms him that if he did, in fact, capture a demon, that he'd have to answer to her.

Dean had very little doubt that Piper would find out, so he didn't. He'd just followed her to the motel room she booked to work the spell that Mara sent over. He'd silently helped set up the ingredients, making sure to keep silent and give her the space she needed. When Bobby had called, she'd been about to start the spell. She had pressed a gentle kiss to Dean's cheek as he'd answered the phone, and he knew he'd been forgiven.

"Well," Bobby said gruffly, "She has always been smarter than us."

Dean grinned. "You're telling me."


Piper was putting the final pieces of the spell together when she heard the whoosh of feathers behind her. She tensed, but didn't turn around. The urge to call for Dean was almost overwhelming, but she still didn't think Cass would hurt her.

Well. Cass wouldn't hurt her physically, anyway.

"What do you want?" She asked sharply without turning around.

"Piper, you… I didn't know Crowley would take your friends." His gravelly voice was desperate, strained.

Piper didn't particularly care. She kept quiet as she sprinkled the herbs into a circle in the middle of the room.

"You don't believe me."

"I'm having a hard time believing anything that comes out of your mouth, Cass," she said honestly.

"I thought… I thought you said we were like family. Shouldn't that run both ways?"

Piper put her bowl down and twirled on Cass. "Don't you put that on me," she hissed. "I would trust you just fine if you had been honest with me. But you went behind my back with the king of hell!"

"You would have tried to stop me!"

"Because it's a stupid plan!"

Castiel shook his head. "I came to tell you that I will find your friends, Brandy and Steve, and I will bring them back. The only thing I ask is that you stand with me."

Dean was walking back in, and his face darkened when he saw Cass. Piper wanted to stop, to go to her husband and tell him what was going on, but she wasn't willing to break her staring contest with the angel.

"You're asking me to stand down. Asking us to stand down?"

"Piper," he pleaded.

"You know," Dean snapped, coming around to stand next to Piper, "That's the same fucking ransom note that Crowley handed us You know that, right?"

"Dean-"

"We'll find them ourselves," Piper said firmly. "You go back and tell Crowley that I will find him, and he is going to suffer for bringing innocents into the line of fire."

She turned away so she didn't have to see the angel disappear again. She managed to keep her tears under control until Dean wrapped her up in his arms.


**Feedback gives me the warm fuzzies and keeps me going.
**Kind of a short and sweet chapter, sorry. It was going to be ridiculously long, so I cut it in half. I also wanted to get something up for you guys since my birthday was this week, so I've been slacking. ^^'