Dean was finishing up the last fax to Bobby when he looked up to see where his companions were. Castiel was standing like a statue against the wall of the business center while Tierney sat in one of the chairs, flipping through a magazine, legs crossed, her foot bouncing. Dean found himself staring at her thighs, peachy red from what looked like too much exposure to the sun in a short period of time. He followed her thighs up to her hips, to her breasts and the exposed length of her neck, ending at her lips which quirked into a smirk. He locked eyes with her and he knew he had been caught and looked away quickly.

"Smooth," she laughed, sitting the magazine down. She scratched at her legs before standing up and stretching and Dean was sure she exaggerated her movements merely to taunt him. He was also sure her next move to practically saunter to stand next to Castiel was as well. He watched as she turned her gaze to the angel, who in turn looked at her with the same tilt of the head that Dean had seen too many times. She just beamed at him before looking back and Dean and winking.

Dean decided then that it was on.

Once the documents were faxed, Dean drove Tierney back to get her car.

"I'm staying at a campsite on the lake. It's pretty quiet and Ros's tents empty, if you need a place to crash tonight. No sense in wasting money on a motel you'd have to drive an hour to get to," Tierney said.

Dean agreed. Castiel made no comment.

The campsite was at the very back of the grounds, far from the showers and the few other campers. After helping her place a few logs into the pit, he settled into the lawn chair as she started the fire. The blaze roared to life and letting out a sigh of appreciation, she sat down in her own chair, cracking open a beer can. The sun had almost set and the air grew cool as Dean stared past the growing flames out onto the lake. He felt at ease like this, which in turn made him feel guilty. Sam loved lakes. He tried to push his brother from his mind and looked at Castiel, who was still without his coats, standing between himself and Tierney.

"Ok, Angel-face, you've really got to sit down. You standing there all stiff is making me nervous," Tierney said as she handed Dean a beer.

"We're here for the night Cas, might as well relax," Dean supported.

Cas just nodded in agreement and grabbed one of the extra chairs. Dean just shook his head.

"So I was thinking, maybe you should make out a list of the places Ros might have gone to around here. You said you guys do this every year, you gotta have your hot spots, right?"

"You betcha. But I've checked them all already. Well, the ones on land, anyway. I hadn't had time to check the lake yet. That's on tomorrow's agenda."

"On the lake? You got a boat?" Dean asked.

"Pontoon. At the docks down the road. I'm going out in the morning. Can I count you in?"

"What good would I be at trying to help if I'm not with you?" Dean smiled.

"And what about you, hun?" she asked Castiel.

"If you wish for me to accompany you and Dean, I shall."

"Oh, I wish alright," Tierney said with a grin.

Dean did his best not to scowl.

They shared a few more beers and some small talk before Tierney pulled out a bag of marshmallows, roasting a few for herself and Dean. She called it a night not long after, telling Dean to make sure he put out the fire before he turned in.

"You boys behave," she winked before zipping her tent up.

Dean wasn't far behind her. He put out the fire before turning to Castiel, who was watching him, like always.

"I'm turning in. You just gonna chill out here?"

"I do not feel temperature, Dean."

Dean sighed, rubbing his forehead. He heard Tierney laugh from inside her tent.

"I take it that was another human expression?" the angel asked.

"Yeah. It was. What I meant was, are you just going to sit out here while we sleep?"

Castiel nodded. Dean returned the nod and crawled into the empty tent.

He was surprised at how comfortable he was considering he was, for all intents and purposes, camping. The sleeping bag was settled on top of a small air mattress and he felt his body relax almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. That pillow, he noticed as he turned to lay on his stomach, had the faint scent of something clean, shampoo he figured. It was nice and feminine and he inhaled deeply, his thoughts drifting to a vision of the body in the tent next to him. The cell phone buzzed in the pocket of his jeans and he cursed himself for almost forgetting. He pulled it out and typed out the same one word response to his brother as he did every night. Throwing the phone somewhere inside the tent, flipping back onto his back he closed his eyes again as he let the sounds of countless crickets lull him to sleep, flashes of a bright smile and long braids slipping through the fog.

Tierney opened her eyes to darkness, Mother Nature calling her urgently. She blamed the beer. Sitting up and slipping her shoes on, she grabbed the small packet of wet wipes and quietly unzipped the tent. She knew enough hunters to know to be quieter than a church mouse, less she wanted to disturb one sleeping and risk being attacked. Granted, Dean was in the other closed tent, but that thin material would be no match for a bullet. Walking into the woods far enough to where she wouldn't be heard but close enough to still see the camp, she assumed the position for a quick pee behind a bush. Her head was still swimming just a little from the alcohol and the relief she was feeling caused her to sigh deeply and close her eyes. Once finished she opened her eyes to see the angel staring at her from the other side of the bush.

"Oh my god," she gasped, clutching at her chest. "Don't do that. I almost had a heart attack."

"I apologize."

She checked to make sure her clothes were back where they should be before walking around the bush to stand next to him. "Well it's a good thing I was already finished or you would've made me piss my pants. What are you doing out here?"

"I heard you leave the tent. I was merely checking to make sure you were alright."

"Oh. Yeah, just...call of nature is all," she said. She started to make her way back toward the tents when she felt him following close behind. She stopped and turned to him, almost colliding chest to chest with him. "Woah, easy. I'm not gonna disappear."

"I'm sorry," he said, stepping back. "Dean often chastises me for 'invading his person space'. I'm still trying to get accustomed to what is perceived as socially acceptable to humans."

Tierney was still trying to wrap her head around the idea that this man in front of her was not a man at all. An angel. It was almost too much for her to handle. She wouldn't have believed they existed if it wasn't for Pamela. Hell, she was still skeptical until she actually saw Pam and heard of the encounter. She felt a sharp stab of sorrow at the thought of her older sister.

"I am truly sorry for what happened to Pamela. I tried to stop her. She did not heed my warning," Castiel said and Tierney raised an eyebrow.

"Can you read minds, too?"

He frowned. "No. I do not possess that ability. Why do you ask?"

"I was thinking about her when you said that," she said. She started walking again, this time side by side with him.

"Coincidence," he suggested.

"Perhaps."

She lead them toward a foot path close to the lake.

"Is there a particular reason why you are acting as if you do not care that your sister is missing?"

This stopped her dead in her tracks. "Wait, what?"

"Tierney, I know you are much more worried than you are letting on. Why are you hiding your true emotions?"

"Geez, you're asking that like it's any ol' question."

He furrowed his brow. "Is it not?"

"Uh, no, sweetie it's not. That's a very personal question, which we human's may be uncomfortable answering." She noticed his face fall ever so slightly.

"I apologize. I did not mean to make you uncomfortable," he said, his eyes averting to the ground.

"Hey, its fine," she said, reaching out to touch his arm comfortingly. "I'm not usually the sharing and caring kind but for you, I'll make an exception. Something tells me you might need the insight into how we lowly creatures operate emotionally."

Walking along the path away from the campsite, she leaned back up against a tree and looked away from Castiel, looking out over the water.

"People have different ways of coping with stressful situations. Personally, I seem to go with the 'don't think about it and act flippant' method. That's not always the case, though. But with this...with Ros missing..." she started but trailed off. She knew the angel was staring at her attentively. "I guess I will have to explain a few things first. When Pam died, we were devastated, naturally. I was several states over when it happened and I felt it. I mean that literally. I was doing laundry when it felt like someone stabbed me right between the ribs. I've never felt anything that strongly before."

Pushing away from the tree, the urge to fidget was strong. Instead she walked to the bank, finding a mostly smooth river rock bed to sit down on.

"You are an empath," Castiel noted, following her.

At this she turned to him and gave a sad smile. "Somewhat. It's, I don't know...muted. Like, I can feel all of these emotions that are not my own, all the time, but they are very rarely concise. Take Dean for example. I can feel that he is unsettled. But its a very general feeling. If you asked me why he's unsettled, I couldn't tell you. It could be that something is bothering him. Or something is confusing him. It could be a particularly messed up image he saw. Someone could be provoking him. It's like I can't pinpoint the issue."

"Your ability has not yet been fully developed," Castiel offered.

Tierney tried not to roll her eyes. "I'm aware. Pam was working with me on becoming better. Ros too. But with her gone, I don't really have a guide with this sort of thing. Ros is doing ok, better than me actually. She's more of a natural." She tried not to sound too bitter. "Anyway," she began, changing the subject, "we were talking about human coping. So I had felt it when Pam died. Ros did as well. I remember I was on the floor in pain when Ros called me, asking if I had felt it too. We were talking together, both feeling the agony when it hit us. The ache just stopped and it felt like a piece of my heart...or soul... or whatever was gone. It was weird...like, it felt like grains of sand slipping through my fingers. We knew she was gone at that moment. Because of that, I can say with utmost certainty that if Ros were in serious danger I would have felt it."

Concentrating very hard on not allowing herself to cry, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a warm hand gently placed on her knee. Castiel started at this and pulled his hand back.

"I'm sorry. I thought that was an appropriate gesture of comfort."

"No,no. It is. I just didn't expect you to do that. You startled me is all." She cleared her throat and went back to their conversation. "So, with losing Pam, I've never felt that level of pain and loss in my entire life. But my 'emotional front' you are asking about was sort of thrown into hyperdive after that. It's kind of ironic really. Being an empath, feeling everyone elses emotions when I cover up my own. But like I said, it's a coping mechanism in a way. I loved Pam, but she was 8 years older than me. There's only a 3 year difference so I'm much closer to Ros. It's like my brain won't allow me to even flirt with the idea that shes been hurt or worse. I don't know what I would do if I lost her too. Does that make sense to you?"

"No," Castiel answered. His honesty surprised her. In her experience, most people (men especially) would just nod and say yes even if they had no idea what she was trying to explain. Seeing the expression on her face, he explained himself. "While I understand the logistics of what you have explained to me, the idea that your mind would build its own defensive 'wall', if you will, in an effort to keep itself from having an emotion breakdown seems counterproductive, especially in someone who is empath. You believe your nonchalant attitude is your own mind's way of keeping yourself together, yet you also believe that you would have felt it if Rosaline was injured. How can you be sure that the reason you have not sensed danger with your sister is due to the fact that your mind is blocking that particular connection, performing the exact duty you claim that it often does?"

Tierney was horrorified. Why hadn't this thought occurred to her before? What if this angel was right? This time when the angel rested his hand on her knee she didn't flinch.

"I'm sorry. I did not mean to upset you with my discourse."

"It's fine, Castiel. I'm just dumbfounded that I never though of that," she assured with a half-truth.

"Tierney..." Castiel eyed her knowingly.

"Ugh! Fine! I'm completely and utterly terrified that you are right and that Ros is now lying dead in a ditch somewhere and I have no way of knowing for sure!" she spat, running both her hands down her braids. She took a deep breath and looked the hand still on her knee. "You sure know how to be a Negative Nancy."

Castiel frowned. "I don't understand that reference."

"Don't worry, he doesn't understand any reference."

Tierney spun her head around to see Dean emerging from the trees. She quickly brushed Castiel's hand away and stood up. "Dean? What are you doing out here?"

"I heard you leave your tent but didn't hear you come back for a while. I just wanted to check on you. I heard voices so I followed them."

"And how much did you hear?" she asked, feeling uncomfortably exposed.

He cleared his throat and looked past her to the angel. "Enough."

She could feel the heat rush to her cheeks and turned away from him toward the lake again. "Awesome," she said, dejected. She felt another warmness of a hand, this one more rough and calloused, on her shoulder, turning her around.

"We're gonna find her, Tierney. I can promise you that," Dean said. The moonlight shone on his face, making his eyes look glossy and lips tinged blue. A vague sense washed over here, a blurry mix of determination and something she would almost classify as possessive. Or maybe it was obsessive.

"And I will assist in any way that I can. Rosaline will be found and unscathed," Castiel added.

She smiled between both of them and shook her head sadly before heading back toward her tent.

"I hope to the Heavens that you're both right."