Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.

Dean lowered his voice and focused on Addie. He wondered how freely he could speak to her. Sure, she seemed a little spacey, but he knew better than to judge a book by its cover.

"I'm wondering if you know anything about a baking competition. You know, it would be around this time of the year—French Quarter Fest is it? My brother and I, we don't like to admit it, but we're foodies. You know, those people who always take pictures of their food and post it online?"

He gave Addie another dazzling smile, which she did not return. She merely stared at him, one eyebrow raised. He didn't need to be a mind reader to know that she wasn't buying what he was selling.

"I know what a foodie is," Addie replied slowly, as if she were choosing her words carefully. Her mind was spinning; ever since the last disappearance the bake off was banned for the protection of all those involved. How did he know about the underground revival? Especially if he wasn't local.

Addie studied him carefully; his eyes looked…tired despite their brightness. He seemed to be carrying a heavy burden, but she couldn't seem to identify what it was.

"There used to be one," she began. Dean watched her weigh each word. "But there were some…problems with it, so the festival organizers discontinued it. I'm sorry you came all this way for-"

"I'm Dean," he interrupted. Addie looked at him quizzically. "My name," he replied. "You were right, it's not Richard, it's Dean."

"Okay, Dean," Addie said, "well either way, it's not around anymore."

"That's not what I've heard," Dean said, he was beginning to get impatient. He was honest with her which was more than he could say about half the women he met; the least she could do was return the favor. "I have good reason to know that it's still going on, but it's more hush hush now."

"How on earth would you know that?" Addie asked, her voice filled with skepticism.

"Let's just say researching these kinds of things is my job. Right now, kid, you're not helping me, and I need you to help me. If this thing goes down and someone else goes missing and you knew it was going to happen, that blood is on your hands, understand?"

Addie was silent for a moment. Something was unusual about this guy, he seemed to be chomping at the bit, but still holding it together.

"It's this weekend," she piped up. Dean leaned in closer to her. "The bake-off, it's this weekend. And you're right; people do go missing, but there haven't been any leads and no bodies have turned up. It's like you said, the people, they just…vanish."

Dean let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair, "How long has this been going on?"

"I don't know, at least six years. I started competing five years ago though."

"Wait—what? You compete in this thing? Even with people disappearing? Even after you knew people were vanishing?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" Addie said harshly, raising her voice slightly. "My mother disappeared from that stupid bake-off six years ago. Just as they were about to announce her the winner, she vanished. I looked everywhere for her and I'm still looking! This bake-off is the only chance I get to come even remotely close to possibly finding her."

"Hey, kid, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to touch a sore subject," Dean said, softening his voice.

Addie blinked away hot tears that were welling up in the corners of her eyes. She felt so angry and vengeful; it was a feeling she had never felt before. It was as if a monster was chewing away at her insides, trying desperately to come out, but something was holding it back. Addie looked back over at Dean and wiped her eyes furiously, realizing those feelings of white hot fury weren't coming from her—they were coming from him. He was the one harboring those ugly thoughts and she was channeling them somehow.

"It's fine," she murmured, clearing her throat, then meeting his gaze again.

"No, really, I know what it's like to lose—"

"Just…don't, okay?" Addie interrupted him. She felt he meant well, but sympathy wasn't something she wanted right now. All she wanted was to curl up in her bed and go to sleep for a long time, then go to the store, and then bake her pie.

Bake her pie…

Addie dipped below the table and rummaged through her bag, grabbing out an old post-it with a grocery list on it. She scribbled down her address and handed the post-it to Dean.

"If this kind of thing is your job, then help me win the bake-off. You and your brother, you guys can come to my house tomorrow and we'll bake a pie that's worthy of an abduction, okay? Maybe I'll find my mom and maybe you'll solve your case. Sound like a plan?"

A/N: Thanks for reading! Let me know via review or PM: What is your favorite type of pie?