Sam leaned on one elbow, looking down at Elizabeth. She looked so beautiful, so peaceful, as she lay sleeping- and, Sam thought with a wry grin, angelic. He twirled her strawberry blonde locks in his fingers, stroking his hand gently across her smooth, white cheekbone. She was so young and lovely and full of life- and she deserved to live it, if not on Earth, then in heaven. Sam was quite sure that he'd convinced her that death was not the preferable solution. But unless they could figure out how to break the spell, there was no solution.

Sam's lips tightened and his eyes burned. One thing was for sure: he would not let her die tonight!

Slowly, trying not to awaken her, Sam slid out of bed. Silhouetted by the starlight streaming through the window, he pulled his pants over his hips, slipped into his T-shirt, and left the room quietly, glancing at his watch. It was four o'clock in the morning. Dawn would come at about six-thirty. That gave him an hour and a half to find a way to save her.

Sam shut the bedroom door quietly behind him, the click of the latch barely audible. As he looked around the living room, he saw Dean sitting by the coffee table, his head resting in his hand, his elbow propped on the table. Sam's laptop was still standing open, a silvery-gray, grinning death's head bouncing around in a pitch black background. Sam tapped on Dean's head.

Dean awoke suddenly, snorting and spluttering, "I swear, I didn't do anything!"

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Dean?"

Dean looked up, his sleepy eyes having trouble focusing. "Oh!" he said, grinning sheepishly. "I was trying to look up some stuff while you were… talking." He cleared his throat and avoided Sam's warning look. "Anyway, I must've dropped off."

Sam waved away his brother's excuse. He was already feeling guilty about leaving Dean to do the research while he had the fun. Well, not just for fun; he did have real feelings for Elizabeth, emotions he hadn't felt in many years. He would be very sad to see her leave, but he couldn't stand by and watch her die. "Forget it," he told Dean. "Do you still have that US road map in the Impala?"

Dean gave him a puzzled look. "Yeah, somewhere."

Sam slapped his shoulder. "Get up. We've gotta go find it." He strode briskly towards the front door.

Dean stood up stiffly, stretching his arms and back. "What, now?"

Sam turned and looked at him determinedly. "Yes, now."

Dean let his shoulders sag, but he remembered what Sam had said about being treated as an equal member of the team. And he could see the light in Sam's eyes, hear the determination in Sam's voice. He was not going to let anything happen to Elizabeth. Good. Dean nodded and followed Sam out to the car.

Sam grimaced as he removed several bacon cheeseburger wrappers from under the Impala's driver's seat in his search for the lost road map. "Dude, I swear, you have got to start cleaning out the Impala on a regular basis."

"I do," Dean said defensively, removing some dead leaves and gravel from under the passenger's seat.

"Mind telling me your definition of 'regular'?" Sam asked as he held up a Mcrib wrapper.

Dean winced slightly under Sam's scolding gaze. "It is regular," he said again. "Just not often."

Sam frowned, disgusted.

"Hey!" Dean said excitedly. He pulled out a vial of swirling blue liquid and a black cell phone. "It's Cas' phone," he said. "Must've dropped it under here before he left."

Sam narrowed his eyes, studying the vial. "And I'm guessing that's his grace." Sam shook his head. "He's more careful than that."

"You're right," Dean realized. "Cas didn't drop 'em. He stashed 'em, where we'd find 'em."

Sam was a little puzzled. "The grace I understand, but the cell phone?" A thought came to him. "Dean, gimme that for a sec." he punched some buttons and raised his eyebrows. "He has it uplinked to the Internet."

Dean looked stunned. "Cas? Where'd he learn to do that?"

Sam shrugged. "Beats the hell outta me. But one of his links is a very up-close and detailed map of a one-mile square area. And another one…." Sam's mouth fell open, and his eyes lit up hopefully. "He left himself a note. Complete instructions for the ritual." He looked over at Dean, who still rummaged around, looking for the map. "Dean, he gave us everything we need for this! Probably anticipated that something would happen to him. This map must show the ritual site."

"Ha!" said Dean, grinning triumphantly as he held up a large, flat, dark blue book. "Found the road map."

Sam handed Dean the cell phone. Both boys settled into the front seat while Dean flipped through the map. Sam brushed a stray lock of hair out of his eyes and bent over to see the map better.

Dean pointed at a thin line on the road map. "Okay, we're here. Meg stopped us here, on the highway about a mile away. We came from this direction…" He traced the highway with his finger. "So we're probably headed in this direction…." He looked at the map on Cas' phone. His shoulders sagged again. "I'll be damned."

"What?"

Dean looked up at Sam and let out a timid, mirthless chuckle. "Before I tell you, Sammy, promise me you won't punch me."

Sam gave him a funny look. "Why the hell would I do that?"

Dean cleared his throat. "Cuz this whole time, we've only been ten miles from where we need to be."

Sam worked his jaw and shook his head angrily.

"Sam?"

Sam made his bitchface. "Just get the damn car started. I'm gonna get Elizabeth and our stuff and we're getting out of here." He trotted back up to the house.