NOTE: Sorry I was a day late in posting this. I had it all ready to go, but my Friday was just crazy! Anyway, I hope you enjoy chapter 2. As always, I love comments.

The silence was broken by Gus. He made a sound, as if he was clearing his throat. "Holly, are you taking me out tonight?"

"Jesus" Holly grumbled before sipping her wine. She rolled her eyes and looked anywhere but at the skull.

"Take you out?" Dean asked the skull. Holly's dismissal of Gus' request did not go unnoticed.

"I'm limited in my movement. That's part of our agreement. My housing is limited pretty much to the skulls" Gus told Dean.

"So by taking you out-?" Dean started to ask.

Holly cut him off. "He wants to ogle women."

"It's the least you could do" Gus replied. "You could have let me have better housing. Look at this angel! He has good housing."

"My vessel was willing to let me in" Castiel piped in. Holly gave the angel a look, silently telling him that he wasn't helping. She set her wine glass down and busied herself with turning the oven on and pulling a rectangular baking dish from the fridge. "Why were we called to Switzerland?"

"Evil sorcerer" Sam replied. Castiel raised his eyebrows.

"Sorcerers?" Castiel repeated.

"Yep. Holly here is a good sorcerer, but she's been tracking some dude named Leon Saxer for over a year now" Dean nutshelled. He watched Holly take the foil off the top of the dish and sprinkle a top layer of cheese over noodles. "What is that? Lasagne?"

"Just a basic lasagne, yes" Holly replied. Holly returned to her spot at the counter while the oven heated up. "He's been abducting women."

"Are the police looking into it?" Sam asked.

"He seeks out female tourists who travel by themselves. I'm not saying that the police don't care, but I don't think they suspect foul play" Holly replied. "We might be in the middle of nowhere, but that old abbey and the quaint village of Gryffburg get a lot of attention."

"What would he need women for?" Castiel asked.

"He wants to open a doorway to Hell" Holly told him. "An open, revolving door." She looked away for a moment in thought. "I don't know what he's after."

"Saxer if a foul human, but very powerful" Gus told them. "I keep telling Holly to wait for him to be in the bathroom-"

"Gus, I am not that stealthy" Holly rebuked. The oven beeped and Holly put the dish in the oven, set the timer, and went back to the counter.

"Aren't there hunters here?" Dean asked. Holly shrugged.

"If there are, I don't know them and I haven't run into any" Holly said.

"How long have you been here?" Castiel asked. He reached for another cookie. "These are tasty."

"Gus and I have been here for...six months?" Holly asked her daimon.

The skull shifted ever so slightly and the orbs continued to float. "Thereabouts. Just the two of us."

Castiel wandered around the kitchen, looking at the house. Dean filled up his glass and offered to fill up Holly's. He spoke when he set the bottle down. "I only know about sorcerers from movies, but I thought they always have books and junk."

"I do" Holly replied. She carried her wine glass and stepped around the counter so she could see the living room. "Come on." Sam, Dean, and Castiel followed her into the living room. The orbs of Gus floated over to Holly's earrings. Holly raised a hand and made a specific motion with her hand. "Malturu annasi kalu amaru."

"That's a lovely dialect of Akkadian" Castiel told her. The empty bookshelves slowly faded and partially full bookcases were revealed. Sam and Dean crossed the room to check it out.

"Thank you, Castiel" Holly said. "I'm glad I didn't butcher the language."

"You may call me Cas, as the others do" Castiel told her. Holly watched as Sam chose a book on Pythagorean magic.

"What is this?" He asked as he flipped through it. "Is this in Greek?"

"It is" Holly said. "It's a book on Pythagorean magic."

"Like...Pythagoras from math class? Pythagorean theorum?" Sam asked.

"One in the same" Holly replied. She sipped her wine. Dean checked out the books and found himself looking at a skull on the shelf.

"How did you learn Akkadian illusions?" Castiel asked.

"Gus" Holly said. Castiel remained standing beside her and she looked him up and down. "Could I ask you to do me a favor?"

"If it's within reason" Castiel replied.

"I have the timer set on the oven" Holly told him. "When it goes off, will you pull the lasagne out of the oven? I have to go to work."

"Work?" Dean asked. He was opening a small ornate box that was on the shelf, only to find a bunch of dead bees. "Ew."

"Yeah, work" Holly said. "How do you think I paid for your tickets?" She set her wine glass down on a side table and crossed over to the stairs. "Look, food will be ready soon. You guys are welcome to watch TV. Does anyone have a pierced ear?"

Sam pointed over to Dean. Dean's eyes widened for a brief second when he realized she was taking out a skull earring. "Wait a second-"

"Just watch Gus for the night" Holly said. Holly walked over to Dean and handed him the earring. She waited for him to put it in.

"I don't want to stay with them" Gus protested.

"Gus, get over there" Holly told him. "I'm not taking any skulls with me tonight." The grumbling daimon floated from the earring she still wore into the one now in Dean's ear. "Keep an eye on them for me, Gus."

"Can we have more cookies?" Castiel asked. "I find them more delightful than American cookies."

"Have at it" Holly replied. She left the room, heading upstairs. She was back down rather quickly, only she was dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie. She had a beanie on and looked like she might just go for a run. Her purse and coat were slung over her arm.

"What sort of job do you have?" Sam asked. He was sitting on the L-shaped sofa with a book.

"I just work part-time" Holly said. "I'll be back around midnight."

"You work short hours" Castiel stated. Holly slipped her coat on and just smiled at Castiel. Dean snickered from his spot next to the bookcase. The others looked over at him.

"This guy is a riot" Dean told them. Holly slung her purse over her shoulder and headed for the door.

"There's an extra house key in the kitchen, in the drawer with the ice cream scoop" Holly told them. "You can walk into town from here. It only takes 15 minutes to get to the town center."

"Have fun at work" Castiel said with a smile and raised hand. "I will not permit anything to go wrong while you are away."

"Thank you" Holly said before leaving. Part of her was deeply disturbed with leaving her things and Gus alone with three strangers, but Gus has asked for the situation to happen. She trusted that daimon more than she trusted anyone else in the world. "Just get to work, Holly."

Dean shoveled lasagne into his mouth, groaned, chewed, muttered something about it being "frickin' awesome", swallowed, and repeated himself. Castiel had done as asked and had removed the food from the oven. He had even turned the oven off. They had all dug in to the hot dish. Sam and Castiel were happy with a single helping, but Dean was currently working through seconds.

"Dean!" Sam said with a little disgust in his voice. Dean looked up at the other two. "C'mon man, it's just lasagne."

"This is homemade lasagne with fresh pasta, Sammy" Dean replied. He gestured to his bowl with his fork. "This is better than anything we get back home."

"She bought that pasta just for you" Gus said from the bear skull on the counter. "Holly does not usually eat pasta."

"Well she sure knows how to cook it" Dean said before going in for another bite.

"It sucks that she had to go to work" Sam said. "What does she do, Gus?"

"Performance art" Gus replied. Sam snorted at the response. "Tell me about America, boys. I've heard that you know both God and the King of Hell. Is that true?"

"Yeah, unfortunately we know both" Dean quipped.

"Dean" Castiel chided. He opened the tin of cookies and pulled one out.

"We've worked with both" Sam told Gus.

"I've been to both Heaven and Hell" Gus told them. "It was in a tourist capacity. Both were highly fascinating."

"Hell is never fascinating" Castiel said shortly. If he wasn't mistaken, the skull appeared to be grinning at him.

"I learned much from both places" Gus simply shared. The skull moved a little bit and soon it floated up so it was at eye-level.

"You can float?" Sam asked.

"Why do you think the ancients depicted daimons as skulls with wings?" Gus said. The skull turned from side to side so Gus could look at the three sitting at the counter. "Holly isn't a hunter."

"We know" Dean said. "She mentioned it."

"What sort of creatures have you dealt with?" Gus asked. Dean, Sam, and Castiel glanced at each other.

"Ghosts, demons, vamps, werewolves…" Dean began.

"Uh, yeah...wendigo, angels, archangels, princes of Hell, shapeshifters…" Sam added.

"Death" Castiel said. Gus' bear skull floated back and forth, almost as if he was pacing.

"Holly can kick some butt if she needs to" Gus told them. "But she has very little experience with creatures such as those, well...other than a few demons here and there."

"You want us to teach her?" Dean asked. "We aren't teachers, Gus."

"She needs to work with people" Gus said. "She spends most of her time by herself or with me."

"Isn't she at work?" Castiel asked.

"Yes" Gus said. He chuckled. "If you want, angel, you can pop in and visit her."

"We should do that" Dean said. "Get some beer, some pie, and tell her that this lasagne is the best thing I've ever eaten."

Gus chuckled again. "If you go out, I'm going with you. I've been cooped up all day." Gus paused briefly. "You'll see though. She works, but it's not like she's socially social. Performance art doesn't lend itself to the constant chatter one might get if they were a bartender or something."

"She won't get mad if we pop in to see her when she's working, will she?" Sam asked.

"We can just mix with the crowd" Gus said. He set the skull down on the counter. "She'll be so surprised!"

Kiss blared over the speakers in the noisy bar when the Winchesters and Castiel entered. For a small Swiss town, the bar was moderately busy mostly with men. Dean found an empty table in the back and sat down. Castiel and Sam sat down and looked around. The bar was a dive. On a stage there were three dancers in skimpy outfits. They each had a pole and amiable dancing area.

"Nice" Dean said to the others. "I didn't think we'd be hearing Kiss until we were back home."

"At least they're not stripping" Sam muttered. The dancers appeared to simply be dancers. A waitress came by the table and Sam ordered them pints of beer.

Castiel leaned over to Sam and spoke softly. "Sam, over there." The dark-haired dancer on the far side of the stage was swinging around her pole in a biker outfit. She had a few tattoos on her arms and one on her shoulder blade. "Isn't that Holly?"

"Oh my god" Sam said with his mouth open. He looked over at his brother, who was watching a blonde in a red fringe cowgirl outfit. Castiel watched Holly do some pole work.

"I have been told that pole dancing isn't easy" Castiel said. The waitress was quick to bring them their beers.

"I totally agree" Dean said with a laugh. Sam and Castiel looked over at him. "Yeah, redheads are good too."

"Is he talking to Gus?" Sam asked.

"I believe so" Castiel said. Sam watched as men left money on the stage for the dancers. Part time, he figured, could make more than enough to get by if you were frugal.

"Hey" Dean said reaching for his beer. "So where's Holly?"

"She's over there" Castiel said pointing towards the far dancer. Dean looked out at the crowd.

"Where?" Dean asked. "Is she waiting tables? I mean, that's cool."

"Uh, Dean-" Sam started.

"She's the dancing biker" Castiel informed him. "She's quite good. Look at that." Holly was hanging onto the pole with her feet only. "That takes some real talent."

Dean made a noise and didn't even care about the little bit of foam left on his upper lip from his beer. He looked away when the song changed. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "Holy crap."

"Should we say hi?" Castiel asked.

"No" Sam spat out before Castiel could get up from his chair. "I don't know if that would be a good idea."

"Gus says that it wouldn't" Dean said. He drank beer and tried to shrug off his interest in the dancers. "Maybe we should finish our beer and go find some pie."

"I do feel like this is an invasion of Holly's privacy" Castiel said. He drank a quarter of his beer.

"Her privacy? She's out there in barely more than a bikini" Dean said. Dean turned his head slightly. "No, no. I do respect her privacy. I'm just saying that she doesn't seem to mind dancing in front of a crowd of guys, so I don't think she would really care if we happen to be watching." He looked at the other two, broke into a smile, and pointed to the skull earring. "Gus."

"Let's just finish our beers and go find Dean some friggin' pie" Sam said.

By the time midnight rolled around, Sam was upstairs in bed while Dean and Castiel were on the couch watching 'The Burbs'. There were two empty beer bottles on the side table closest to Dean and Castiel had a half-finished glass of water on the coffee table. The bear skull rested on the coffee table.

"These neighbors are completely paranoid" Castiel stated. He had his trenchcoat off, his tie loosened, and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He was currently holding a pillow in his lap.

"It's kind of the point" Dean replied. The chalet door open and Holly came in as bundled up as when she left. She locked the door behind her, hung up her coat, and stepped into the living room. "Hey, Holly!"

"Good evening" Holly said. "'The Burbs', huh? I haven't seen this in years."

"Want to join us?" Dean asked.

"Maybe in a bit. I need a shower" Holly replied. She gestured to the skull. "How was Gus tonight?"

"Oh, yeah, he's cool" Dean said. "We stepped out to get some pie and beer. He showed us around. Your lasagne, by the way, was fantastic!"

"You're also quite the dancer" Castiel told her. Holly's expression was a mix of surprise with a slight show of horror and curiosity.

"You...stopped by?" Holly asked. Gus turned to her.

"On our way to getting pie and beer" Castiel said.

"I'm...I'm going to go take a shower" Holly said. She walked over to the stairs and stopped. "Castiel? I'm sorry I didn't think about it before. There are only three bedrooms. You can take my room if you would like. I don't mind the couch."

"I don't require much in the way of sleep" Castiel told her. Holly just nodded and went upstairs. Castiel looked over at Dean, who watched Holly walk up the stairs. "You like her?"

"I don't know about that. I don't mind looking" Dean said with a smirk. "Know what I mean?"

"You mean that you find her pleasing to look at, but you aren't-" Castiel said.

"Yeah, yeah" Dean said waving his friend quiet. They turned back to the film and let the comedy of Tom Hanks entertain them. For the next fifteen minutes, Dean kept an ear tuned to the noise from upstairs; the doors opening and closing, the water rushing through the pipes indicating a shower, etc. When the water turned off, Dean stood up with his empty bottles. "I'm going to toss these. Need anything?"

"I'm good" Castiel told him. Dean heard footsteps on the landing and looked up. Holly was in pajamas and a robe with her hair tied up.

"Coming down?" Dean asked. Holly started descending the stairs instead of answering. "Want anything from the kitchen?"

"Maybe" Holly said. "What did you pick up?"

"Beer" Dean replied. Holly crossed the room, heading for the kitchen. "Pie."

"I love pie. What type?" Holly asked. She stood next to the kitchen counter while Dean threw his bottles away.

"Apple. It seemed to be pretty popular around here" Dean said. A smile was etched into his face as he pulled the pie from the fridge and cut her a slice. He handed her the slice on a plate and cut another slice for himself. He moved to stand near her at the counter. "It's pretty good."

Holly took a forkful and ate it. "It is." She loaded her fork with more pie. "Mind if I watch the rest of 'The Burbs' with you?"

"It's your place, doll-face" Dean replied. Holly sighed and shook her head.

"Up until now, you were a perfect gentleman, Dean" Holly said before turning and going into the living room. She took a seat on the far side of Castiel and let Dean take his previous place on the couch.

"Cas, are you sure that you don't want to take my bed?" Holly asked. "I feel bad if you end up sleeping on the couch." Holly tucked a foot under her as she ate her pie. "I don't sleep much."

"He won't sleep with you, sister" Dean said saucily. Holly looked around Castiel and narrowed her eyes at Dean.

"Dean" Castiel said. "You're being rude to our hostess."

"It's fine, Cas" Holly said.

"You two are also ruining the movie" Castiel complained. "It's hard to hear with you two snapping at each other."

Dean shook his head and ate his pie in four large bites. He went into the kitchen to put his plate in the sink, then passed through the living room, still chewing. He muttered about needing beauty sleep and not to disturb him unless absolutely necessary.

Tom Hanks pulled his two friends into his fictional movie-set study for a "little talk". Holly knew how it all panned out. If she focused, she could remember the tiniest details about most of her life and that included movie plots that she had seen. It amused her when Castiel chuckled after the "get your balls out of your wife's purse" line and when Tom Hanks pulled a toupee from his shorts.

It didn't take long for 'The Burbs' to finish. When it did, Holly took her plate to the kitchen and started the electric kettle. She went back into the living room and found Castiel browsing through television channels. The powerful being that looked like a mortal man was fascinating.

"Can I ask you a question?" Holly asked from across the room.

"Of course" Castiel replied still browsing through channels.

"Why are you-no...how-" Holly sputtered. She cleared her throat and started again. This time Castiel had turned to look at her. "You're with those two upstairs. How did that happen? Did they summon you? Are you in debt to them? Did you just, one day, decide to hang out with two hunters?"

"That is a very long story" Castiel replied. "I thought you would be familiar with my kind since you are a sorcerer."

"I have only read about angels" Holly said. "You can't cast a stone at my books without hitting something mentioning angels."

"You lack faith in angels" Castiel stated. Holly leaned against the jamb that divided the living room from the dining room/kitchen area. Castiel set the television remote down and stood up. Holly watched as he moved to stand behind the couch, leaning on it, keeping the distance between them. "Dean, when I first met him, lacked faith as well."

"And now you are friends" Holly said.

"No" Castiel shook his head. "Both of them are more than that. They're my family. Dean is my best friend."

Holly was quiet. She was processing Castiel's answers and her brain switched to another subject. "Did you guys finish looking around the chalet once I left?"

"We mainly just watched television and checked out your books" Castiel replied. He cocked his head to the side. "Why?"

Holly gestured for him to come with her. She walked into the kitchen and turned on a light switch to the small hall that led to a supply closet and a laundry room. The back door had a decorative glass window in a floral design. Holly unlocked it and opened the door to the night air. They stepped out onto a deck.

"You guys didn't notice the hot tub out here" Holly replied.

"A hot tub" Castiel repeated. "We did not notice it."

Holly smiled and stepped back inside. "We'll have to turn it on later. It's the best thing about this place, if you ask me."

Holly stepped into the laundry room while Castiel came inside and locked the door. She shoved something black and blue into Castiel's chest. Her kettle made a loud click and it's roaring boil died down. She headed for the kitchen, leaving Castiel to look down at the items that he was now holding. It was a large black t-shirt and large sweatpants.

"When I sent the guys plane tickets, I picked up spare clothes" Holly told him. "I can't tell you how many times I end up gross and dirty." She pulled out a box of tea bags and a mug. "You can use them. They're going to be loose, but at least you'll be comfortable."

"Thank you" Castiel replied.

"Tea?" Holly asked. She was ready to pull out another mug.

"No, thank you" Castiel said. He left the room with the clothes. Holly went about getting her tea and doing her usual nighttime things like doing any dishes, cleaning a little here and there, making sure the doors were locked, etc. When she finished in the kitchen, she went into the living room and found Castiel dozing on the couch. He had a show about safari animals on at low volume. The clothes he came in were neatly folded on the coffee table. He looked substantially more comfortable in the oversized sweatpants and the t-shirt. Holly didn't disturb him. Instead she pulled out a few books and positioned herself at a desk that faced a window. Holly pulled the shades and curtains in the living room out of sheer paranoia of being spied upon. From a desk drawer, she pulled out a worn, leather jacketed journal. She opened it to the marked spot. She opened the shallow drawer of the desk and pulled out a mechanical pencil and an ipod. In no time, she was pouring over the texts while drinking tea and listening to her music.