These Feelings Inside:

As everyone filtered out of the lecture hall, Toni bent over in her seat so that she could place her notebook into her messenger style bag. She HAD hoped to sneak out of the room before the end of the lecture, but her Criminology Professor had chosen today of all days to go over the details he was expecting to be included for the end of term papers right at the end of his lecture which delayed her escape considerably.

When she finally did look up again, she was immediately confronted with the one person that she was hoping to avoid by sitting in the last row. She forced herself not to let her true feelings show when she caught a glimpse of the curly hair, blond undergrad that was latched onto Sam's arm.

"Toni… Hey… Umm, long time no see," Sam greeted her politely.

"Yeah… I guess we've just been missing each other," she replied somewhat distractedly.

They started up the stairs together in a more than uncomfortable silence when Sam felt his girlfriend squeeze his hand tightly.

"Oh… Hey… Sorry… Jess this is Toni… We… We've umm…"

"We've been paired up in more than a few Crim courses we've had together. It's nice to meet you, Jess," Toni jumped in when she saw that Sam was hesitating.

"Oh… So… You two have known each other for a while know," Jessica clarified.

"Umm… Yeah… Since Freshman year," Sam sheepishly replied.

Jessica just nodded and gave them both a tight smile before she commented, "So I guess we'll be seeing you in class then."

"Oh… Umm… No… I'm on the wait-list for this class… I just popped in hoping to see if I could get in and maybe stay caught up just in case anyone drops it this week."

Sam held the door open for the two women to exit ahead of him. Toni was just about to say a quick 'Goodbye' so that she could leave when she was stopped by someone calling out her name.

SHIT! She groaned to herself as she turned around. "Hey Kory. How'd you know where to find me?"

"Seriously Toni? We've been meeting for coffee after your Crim class since the beginning of the semester," he replied as he stepped up to her and started to wrap his arm around her waist.

Toni's eyes shot up to Sam's face as she felt her skin start to warm under an embarrassed blush. Sam smiled at her sympathetically then winked as he said, "I guess that mean that we'll be seeing you around more then."

"Yeah, I guess… Umm… I was nice meeting you Jessica," Toni answered as she tried to take a few steps away from the other couple.

Jessica offered her another tight smile then turned and walked hand in hand down the hall with Sam.

Kory tightened his hold around Toni's waist and quietly asked in her ear, "Hey Babe, you okay? What was that all about?"

"Oh… It's nothing… Sorry about that," Toni replied before she turned and kissed his cheek. "It's my turn to buy, right?"

***********
Weeks Later
***********

"Thanks again Toni. I can't believe someone snagged the journal and hid it for themself. I'll get this back to you as soon as I finish photocopying it today," Sam said as he slipped the book into his bag.

Toni sat down on her bed and smiled uneasily. "Happy I could help… But you can just give it back to me after class on Thursday, no rush."

"Oh… Uhh… Sure, but… Uhh… Don't you need it for the assignment?"

Toni could see that her proposal seemed to make Sam uncomfortable, so she quietly withdrew her offer saying, "Jessica doesn't know that you're borrowing it from me, right?" Sam shook his head silently. "She doesn't know that we still talk, does she?" Again Sam just shook his head in response. "Sam… You shouldn't keep stuff like this from your girlfriend… Unless… Oh, shit! Does she hate me that much?"

"No Toni, it's not… She just…"Sam replied taking a step towards her while trying to find a way to explain. "It's just that one of her friends told her all about our history before I got a chance to and she's been really annoyed with me since then, so I just haven't told her to keep her from hating you… I promise, once it's all blown over I'll come clean."

Toni looked up from her hands that were folded in her lap and replied, "Oh… Okay… So… Yeah whenever you're done with it I'll be here working on my Poli Sci paper so I'll be here… You know when you're done."

Sam smiled sadly and nodded. "Thanks again… I'm sorry if this is awkward at all."

After stumbling through her previous statement, Toni took a second to regroup before saying with a soft laugh, "Hey, don't worry about it… I'd be jealous of me too if I were in her place."

Sam smiled more easily and then turned to leave. After he opened the door, he found himself trapped because on the other side he found the same guy that had met Toni outside of their class a couple of weeks earlier. He had his hand raised as if he was going to knock on Toni's door and stood frozen in his place when he saw Sam.

They each muttered a low "Hey" then side stepped around one another until their reached their intended destination. Kory then refocused all of his attention on Toni and scooped her into a hug. The he was squeezing her tightly, Toni exchanged a sad smile over Kory's should with Sam then Sam finally pulled her door closed.

Once he heard the soft thud of the door being secured shut, Kory stole a quick glance over his shoulder to confirm that they were alone then kissed Toni softly.

"So are you and Sam an item again?" He asked as he brushed her hair off her shoulder so he could kiss a spot just below her ear.

Toni gently pushed out of his embrace quickly replying, "No, no we're not. He's with that girl you met outside of my class. Really we aren't, he was just here to borrow a book for class."

Kory was running his fingers lovingly through Toni's hair as she spoke and kissed her with a little more force when she finished speaking.

"Hey it's okay… Although I wouldn't mind sharing you if I had to," he whispered as he peppered her neck with light embraces.

While he continued to nip at her flesh, Toni almost roughly pushed him back asking, "And what does that mean?"

"Toni…"

"Did you just infer that I'm a slut who can just be passed from guy to guy?" She continued without raising her voice.

"NO! Toni it was a joke. Really…" He apologized taking a step away from her just in case she decided to throw a punch. "I really didn't mean anything by it."

Toni slumped down onto her bed and avoided looking up at him so that he wouldn't see the tears that threatened to form in her eyes while she offered her own apology. "I know you didn't Kory… Fuck, I'm sorry; I know that you didn't mean it like that at all."

He sat down beside her and placed a hand over both of hers and squeezed them lightly. "It's okay… But are you doing alright? Because you have been on edge pretty bad over the past couple of weeks… I'm kind of worried about you Toni."

"Oh, it's nothing… It's just this stupid paper," she quietly explained. "I just can't seem to make everything fit together and I guess it's frustrating me more than I thought it would."

"Oh so it isn't because of tall, dark and handsome that just left here?" He asked without sounding accusatory.

"What? Sam? No… No we're just friends," she countered sounding a little too defensive. "What in the world would make you say that?"

"Hey, it's okay if it is… Toni, we've been seeing each other off and on for a while now, but I've never seen you look at anyone like you look at him," Kory explained as he rubbed soft circles on her back.

She lifted her eyes up to his and sniffled back her looming tears. "Fuck, is it that obvious?"

Before answering her, he gently captured her lips with his own. Toni had to grip the front of his shirt to keep from falling into him when her relief washed over her. He maintained complete dominance of the pace of their kissing and held her head so he could deepen their embraces.

"Only to those of us that know you really well. I think he's too stupid to notice."

Toni didn't have a chance to defend Sam because Kory kissed her deeply once again and laid her down on the bed. To show her appreciation for his understanding, Toni let him have full control and just followed his lead obediently.

"Miss! Miss!" Toni heard as she was jostled awake by someone banging on her window. "Miss! You can't sleep here."

Toni rolled down her window and tried to focus through the haze of sleep. "What?"

"I said that you can't sleep in your car in my parking lot. If you want to get a room, fine. If not, then you and your rust bucket should just be on your way," the man replied sounding thoroughly annoyed.

"What?" She asked again absentmindedly as she stole a glance at the clock. When she was the glowing numbers "8:03", she quickly exclaimed, "Oh shit! I fell asleep."

The motel manager rolled his eyes, but before he could verbalize his snide remark, Toni pulled out her wallet saying, "I'll take a room."

He politely opened her door and helped her out of the vehicle before escorting her over to the office. Now that Toni was a paying customer, she was treated with nothing but kindness and respect. The manager completed the paperwork and explained that they had been inexplicably busy, but that she was in luck because he did have one room with a king sized bed available.

Toni finished her end of the paperwork and gave him cash for the room then claimed the key before heading back to her truck to unpack her bags. She was still feeling quite a bit dazed after being pulled prematurely out of her dream, so the only thing that was on her mind was trying to nap and then having a hot shower to start the day properly before meeting with the father that had contacted the Colonel's friend.

Before pulling out her luggage, she was stretching out some of her achy muscles when she heard, "Toni?"

Fuck! She thought as she pulled her bags out and turned around. "Hey Sam," she finally replied dejectedly.

"I thought you were heading to West Virginia," he commented with the slightest hint of confusion.

Toni forced herself to keep an even tone as she said, "We both know there's no job in West Virginia. Don't act like you're stupid just because you have no soul."

He glared at her slightly as he asked, "Oh… So you planned on sticking around and working on this case all along?"

"Yeah… I had hoped I'd find somewhere else to stay so we wouldn't get in each other's way, but idiot me fell asleep and apparently the UFO thing has been attracting people and now rooms are hard to come by."

Sam stood there silently just digesting everything Toni had told him, but she took his lack of response and his blank stare as him silently mocking her. She then put her bag down, faced him squarely in the eye and explained somewhat exasperated, "Look Sam, one of the abductees is the son of one of the Colonel's friends, so I can't just take off, okay? Please don't make a big deal out of it."

"Yeah, okay. I get that… But I just don't understand why you don't want to work with Dean and I then," he answered with the same confused look on his face.

"Seriously Sam? You don't have the vaguest notion why I wouldn't be jumping at the chance work with you again… You guys I mean," she asked in a stunned tone.

"No, I don't. You're trying to figure out what's happening here to help your dad's friend and the two of us are looking for the same answers… Wouldn't it make more sense if we pooled our resources and all of us worked together?"

Toni stared at him, completely and utterly speechless while she reveled at Sam's nonchalant attitude. Unbeknownst to both of them, Dean had been watching their exchange from beside the closed door of the Winchester's room, so he jumped in before Toni had had a chance to completely collect her thoughts.

"Well then we should let you settle into your room so you can get ready Toni," Dean interjected as he took Sam by the elbow to guide him towards their car.

Sam tried to protest and shake his brother off saying, "Dean I don't…" but his brother interrupted in a hushed tone, "Sam just come with me and I'll explain everything in a minute."

Dean then turned his focus back to Toni and said with a nod, "I guess we'll see you around Toni."

Toni smiled gratefully and whispered, "Thanks Dean."

Toni then continued on her way, nearly sprinting to room, but Sam stood his ground once again objecting, "Dean what the hell is going on? Why didn't you back me up and tell Toni that she should work with us?"

Dean shook his head, but kept from mirroring Sam's incensed tone, "Just get in the car Sam and I'll explain."

Sam hesitated, looked back towards Toni who was just opening the door to her room, then finally turned and followed Dean to the Impala. Once he was in the car, Sam waited a moment then questioned heatedly, "So are you going to tell me or what?"

"Sorry Pinocchio, but I'm going to need coffee before I start our next 'How to be a normal human' lesson."

Toni tried to keep from watching Sam and Dean out of the corner of her eye, but she just couldn't help herself. After her exchange with Sam, she could feel her adrenaline pumping, so she abandoned the thought of napping and just unpacked the essentials so that she could shower. As she got dressed, she heard her phone ringing and worried that she had taken longer than she had expected while in the shower and was late for her meeting.

"Hello?" She answered quickly while putting her phone on speaker so she could continue getting ready.

"Hey Angel. I just wanted to call and check on how you were doing."

She smiled despite herself as she continued to apply her makeup and answered, "Well I'm a little bit more rested than the last time we spoke, but other than that not much has changed in the last five hours."

Her dad wasn't deterred by her subtle indication that he was being over-protective as he inquired, "And you found somewhere to stay? Because I was checking on-line and it looks like Elwood is becoming quite the hotspot for alien activity so all of the crazies are flocking there. You don't think that that's what you're dealing with, do you?"

Toni laughed so suddenly that she almost poked herself in the eye with her mascara wand. "So you're getting pretty good on the computer there, eh Dad?"

"Toni…" Her dad cautioned to keep her from changing the subject.

"Well that seems to be the popular theory. Hopefully Mr. Wagner can shed some light on the situation and offer an alternative, especially after everything Dean was telling me last night."

"Dean…? Dean and Sam are there? Oh what DID they have to say about everything?"

"Umm… Yeah they are… Umm… But we didn't really get into it too in depth because… Well… Sam was… Uhh… Umm… Entertaining a guest when Dean and I got back to their room."

"Enter… Oh… OH! Toni, I'm so sorry Angel…"

Toni picked her phone up and turned away from the mirror so that she didn't have to look at her reflection while she lied to her father. "It's fine Dad, really. Plus it was really late too, so it wasn't exactly the best time to get into everything, you know? And speaking of… I should really get going so that I won't be late."

She quickly hung up her phone then shook her head saying, "There's no way he believed that line of bull if you don't Toni."

"Why not?" Sam questioned with an almost child-like innocence.

"Because if you had a soul, your soul wouldn't let you," Dean replied in a firm, hushed tone.

"So you're saying having a soul equals suffering?"

"Yes that's what I'm saying," Dean agreed as he stole a glance to his left to make sure that no one was listening in on their conversation.

Toni was doing a quick sweep of the bar when her eyes fell on Sam and Dean. Once Toni's gaze caught his own, Dean gave Toni a small, quick wave, but before he could gesture for her to join them, she diverted her eyes and quickly sat down at a table with her back to the Winchesters.

"Okay, so you've eaten and had coffee, can you finally explain why Toni is acting so weird? I mean she won't even acknowledge you now," Sam asked with a slight nod towards Toni's back.

Dean shook his head saying with a chuckle, "I can't believe you don't see it."

Sam scowled then questioned, "See what?"

"Dude, she still loves you, so seeing you with another chick in the… You know, Biblical sense, probably isn't sitting well with her at the moment. She's nursing a bruised ego right now."

"Still…? No, she didn't, doesn't… She never told me that she did. All she ever said to me was 'no strings attached'."

"Yeah well she wanted you to be happy and when your version of the future differed so greatly from hers, she let you go so that you could find that."

"Why would she do that? Wouldn't doing that make her unhappy?" Sam asked with his tone once again sounding genuinely confused.

"She did that because she loves you and loved you back then. You make sacrifices for your loved ones. Yeah she was probably unhappy for a while but then she would have moved on," Dean explained hoping his brother would start to understand soon because this topic was making him very uncomfortable.

"This is another soul thing, right?" Sam asked slightly annoyed. When Dean nodded, Sam clarified, "So you're saying that suffering is a good thing."

"I'm saying it's the only game in town," Dean concluded as he stood up and pulled his wallet out.

Toni could feel the Winchesters' eyes on her while she waited somewhat nervously. She closed her eyes and took in a few deep breaths willing herself to not turn around and tried to compose herself.

"Toni? Is that you?"

She opened her eyes and smiled warmly replying, "I am if you're Alex Wagner."

He laughed softly then sat across from her without offering any verbal confirmations.

"How'd you know it was me?"

"This is a pretty small town, so I just looked for a pretty stranger sitting here on her own," he answered with a sad smile.

Toni blushed slightly then got right down to business. She wanted to make sure that Chad, Alex's son, was in fact taken by whatever Dean had been taken by and that there wasn't another reason for the disappearances. She had a few questions jotted down in her notebook and was focused only on the small book and the man across from her, so she missed seeing the Winchesters leave.

After a thorough, but gentle, interrogation, Toni left the despondent father with a list of names and families that were living the same hell as the Wagner's along with a new list of questions that she needed to answer. But first, she had to plan her schedule. Where should she go first? Who should she speak with first?

As she made her way down the street to her truck, she passed by 'Brennan's Watchworks', so she decided that starting with the victims' families was the best place to start and probably the most convenient at this time.

Toni started to push on the door, but was halted by the shop owner pushing on the door from the opposite side asserting hastily, "Store's closed. Come back tomorrow."

"But Mr. Brennan, I just have a couple of quick questions," Toni explained as she wedged her booted foot between the door and its frame. "You know, about your son's disappearance?"

"Questions? Oh well in that case…" He eased up his hold on the door, so Toni moved her foot with a sly smile on her face. "Don't come back! EVER!" He shouted as he slammed the door shut.

Toni stood staring at the door, completely taken aback at his reaction. She could hear the clicking of the locks being secured on the door, so she didn't bother trying to turn the knob again. She did open her mouth to speak, but stopped because she didn't want to make a spectacle of herself in the middle of the street this early in her investigation.

Maybe I should skip straight to step two, she thought to herself as she continued her course to her truck.

While driving to her next destination, she had a brief phone conversation with the dad about her meeting with Mr. Wagner. The Colonel was happy to report that he had spoken with his friend and Mr. Wagner had nothing but nice things to say about Toni and felt more confident now that his son would return home safely. Toni only laughed uncomfortably and reminded her father that she didn't know what was behind the abductions, so she couldn't make any promises about anything just yet.

Once she reached her destination, she tried to finish her talk with her dad as nicely as possible so that she wouldn't hurt his feelings. "Hey Dad? Do you think you could do me a favor?"

"Of course Angel, just name it."

"Well some of the families… They're not exactly overjoyed about talking with yet another stranger about what's happened… Do you think there's any way that you could use some of your cop connections to help me get an 'in' with the local Sheriff? You know convince him to let me have a look at the missing persons' reports and so on?"

"I think I might be able to do you one better. Alex Wagner works for the D.A.'s office, so he's working on his boss to take you on as a 'Special Investigator'. He's hoping that they'll be able to prosecute the culprit to the fullest extent of the law and knows that you'll be a huge asset in doing that. I'll see if he can include a private audience with the Sheriff for you as well."

"Really? Dad that's awesome! Thanks so much. Okay, I'll call you tomorrow and see where we are with that."

"Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Good luck tonight Angel."

Toni stared out at the vast cornfields then chuckled, "Maybe this is just a 'Field of Dreams' vortex we have going on… How'd that work again?"

She was still laughing softly at her joke when she entered the field but remained on high alert for anything unusual. It didn't take her long to come across the flattened corn where most of the abductions had taken place. She walked the perimeter of the area trying to gauge how large it was, mostly because she wasn't sure where else to start right now.

"It's a circle, right?" She questioned out loud when she returned to the spot where she had started. "That's weird in and of itself, but what else? There HAS to be something else here."

Still feeling uncertain about what clues she hoped to find, Toni walked from the edge of the circle to the relative center and stopped. She could feel that she would find something here because it appeared to be the epicenter of activity. After walking the diameter and perimeter of the circle a few times, Toni started to feel her frustration mounting.

Since looking hadn't yielded any results, she decided to try a different approach. As she knelt down at the edge of the flattened field, she thought to herself, Please don't be wet. Please?

Dusk had fallen and Toni's visibility was becoming more and more of a problem. However, she continued to investigate by touch, hoping that her hands would land on something that her eyes hadn't seen up until this point.

"Gross… Gross… Please don't be a body part, please don't be a body part," Toni repeated a few times to herself when she touched something cold and spongy while trying to fish out her flashlight from one of the pockets of her cargo pants.

She sat down where she had been kneeling and shined her light in the area she thought that she had found something. She placed the flashlight between her teeth so that she could use both of her hands to weed through the flattened cornstalks. When she finally found what she was looking for, she picked it up with her right hand then took her flashlight out of her mouth with her left.

"What the fuck? Why are there mushrooms in a cornfield?"

By the time Toni got back to the motel, it had turned from dusk to night. She couldn't help but steal a glance at the Winchesters' room, but she pretended not to notice that their lights were still on. With her new evidence in hand, she thought that she had a new theory, but she wanted to look into a few things before she shared it with anyone else. Sure, pagan gods were real, but this? There was no way anyone would believe this insane idea unless she had some solid proof to back up the theory.

For the first time in a long, long time, Toni actually felt relieved that she was born a girl because that actually made her research faster and easier. In a fit of relief, she got so caught up in her research that she woke up to the sun shining on her face as she slept with her head on the table beside her laptop.

After drying some of the drool off her cheek, Toni stood up and stretched then pulled out a change of clothes. Once she was assured that she was fully prepared with her research, Toni exited her room and walked down the sidewalk until she was standing in front of the door with the large '9' on it.

Okay Toni, three heads are better than one, she coached herself as she knocked confidently on the door. She gave it a minute, but the room remained still and no one opened the door. She then surveyed the parking lot and felt defeated at the scene before her. Damn it! They've headed out already! She silently cursed when she finally noticed that the Impala wasn't parked where it had been parked the previous night.

Toni quickly retreated to her room and was immediately greeted by the sound of her phone ringing. She haphazardly tossed her laptop, books and the mushroom onto her bed so that she could run to answer it.

"So you're in Angel," her father announced excitedly. "The Sheriff said that if you can pop by any time after 1800 and if they don't have anything else major going on, he'll be more than happy to walk you through their investigation."

"Seriously? That's perfect, thanks again…" Toni tried to thank her dad, but the Colonel jumped in calmly saying, "That's not all Angel."

"Really? What else could top a private audience with the Sheriff Sir?"

"One with the D.A.?" He questioned almost innocently. When he realized that he had her undivided attention once again, Toni's dad added, "Alex will meet you at the D.A.'s office so that he can introduce you to Jack Quinn. He thought that a lunch meeting would be the most appropriate."

Toni shook her head to make sure it was clear before replying, "Fuck… I mean… Err… Uhh… Sorry Sir, but that's just… Just so much more than I had hoped for."

"Good to know," he answered playfully. "I'll call you in the morning to see how your meetings went… Good luck Antonia."

Toni triple checked the clock then took her time getting ready for the day. She needed to make sure that she looked the part, so Toni was meticulous about choosing her wardrobe before completing an appropriate hair and make-up routine. She even took the time to iron out some of the wrinkles from her skirt suit so that she wouldn't look like she lived like a nomad but was instead a professional that should be respected and revered.

After making sure that she didn't have a hair out of place, Toni set out to the restaurant where Alex Wagner had made their reservations. The two men were already seated at the table, so Toni offered insincere but earnest sounding apologies for her tardiness because she had heard somewhere that he who arrives last is exerting their dominance in the group and she was doing just that but didn't want to let onto that fact.

During their lunch, Toni learned absolutely no new information, but she was relieved none the less to have made contact with such powerful allies. She wanted to reassure them that she was close to the end, but she knew that there was no way she could tell them her actual working theory without completely alienating them, so she just offered vague assurances when they asked her what she thought her odds were of finding the victims. They both seemed to be satisfied by that and the three departed ways with the promised of regrouping in a couple of days if nothing else pressing was uncovered sooner.

Toni couldn't decide if she should just pass her spare time back at the motel room or if she should attempt doing more research. Yes, she thought that she had found and honest to God 'Fairy Ring' and the patterns of the abductions fit in with faery lore, but she still wasn't sure how to get any of the first born sons back. With that in mind, she figured that a stop at the library might be in order, but then she got distracted. Everyone seemed to end up at the same bar in this town and today as Toni passed their large bay window, she caught a glimpse of Sam inside.

After taking a deep breath, Toni resolved that she wanted… no NEEDED to share her theory with someone and since Dean (the safer choice) wasn't around, she'd have to settle for Sam. The irony of using the word 'settle' when it came to her feelings about Sam wasn't lost on her, so she forced herself not to focus on that point. She then started to move towards the front door, but stopped when she saw that Sam wasn't alone at his table.

Well fuck me. You lock me out of your store, but you'll talk with soulless guy? Fine, you stick with the boy who has no emotions and I'll get everyone else's sons home, she thought snidely to herself as she hurried towards her truck.

There didn't seem to be much else for her to do at this time, so she drove around aimlessly until she found a restaurant close to the Sheriff's department. Toni enjoyed a leisurely dinner while she went over all of her notes then she mentally prepared herself to speak with the Sheriff. Before heading out that way she checked her watch and cringed because it wasn't quite 1800 hours yet and she couldn't decide if showing up this early showed eagerness or naiveté. Ultimately she decided that she didn't care because she needed to get this job finished sooner than later, so she just went to the Sheriff's office, appointment time be damned.

"Hi, I'm Toni McNamara, I… Umm… Have an appointment with the Sheriff," Toni hesitantly explained as she spoke with the front counter staff.

She never used her real name, at least not her full name, when out on a job, but her father didn't know any of her aliases which forced her to do so tonight. She swallowed nervously as she watched the three women have a quiet discussion amongst themselves then one abandoned the crowd to approach her.

"I'm sorry Ms. McNamara, but the Sheriff had to step out…" She explained.

Toni looked between the three of them and was instantly intrigued as to what was so important that the Sheriff himself HAD to attend, but she didn't want to tip her hand this early in the game and just sweetly asked, "Would it be alright if I wait for him here? I really don't mind how long it will take because this meeting is just so important to my dad and all."

The ladies saw the barest hint of tears that Toni forced to emerge to demonstrate some level of vulnerability, so one quickly replied, "Of course you may, but we honestly don't know how long it will take him to get back."

"Oh, that's okay," Toni quietly agreed while pretending to keep her tears at bay. "I have my laptop so I can entertain myself."

The three office workers exchanged unsure glances then one went to open the secure door saying, "Well in that case, follow me. Can we get you anything? Water? Coffee?"

"No Ma'am, I'll be okay… But thank you, I appreciate the offer."

They all escorted her to a chair in the Sheriff's personal office then left her alone. Toni was anything but naïve, so she knew that she was under the watchful eye of every civilian worker in the office, so she refrained from snooping around the Sheriff's desk like she was itching to since the moment that she entered the room. Instead she discreetly read over some of the new information Alex Wagner had sent her until she heard someone clear his throat behind her.

Toni quickly turned in her seat and flashed the newcomer a bewitching smile. "Hi Sheriff, I'm Toni McNamara. The D.A… I mean Mr. Quinn and his associate Mr. Wagner set up a meeting between us because I'm helping them…"

"Right," he replied as he placed a booking sheet on his and desk and rubbed his eyes with the heels of both of his hands. "But Ms. McNamara, this night has been a little bit more exciting than we had anticipated…" He snickered softly to himself. "Just ask Mr. Quinn."

Toni had taken it upon herself to cautiously move the booking sheet while the Sheriff wasn't looking so she could see it better. She then saw an undeniable image of Dean's face along with what she could only hope was one of his many aliases.

"You arrested this man tonight?" She questioned out loud before she could stop herself.

The Sheriff snatched the paper back, tucked it under the clasp of a clip-board then slipped it into a slot behind his desk before he answered, "Yes I did… For assaulting your friend, the D.A., along with a few other charges. Why? Do you know him?"

"Yes Sir," she hoarsely replied. "He's… He's a friend of mine and… Umm… He's been working this case with me. May I ask what other charges you are holding him for?"

The Sheriff stared at Dean's booking sheet, and then flipped through the various sheets on the clipboard in thoughtful contemplation. When his eyes met Toni's, he quietly answered, "I probably shouldn't, but Mr. Quinn will be leaving the interview room in the next few minutes… He's aware of the charges and if he feels you should know, he'll tell you."

Toni nodded then simply stated, "Thank you Sheriff, I think I'll do just that."

She waited in the lobby and when the District Attorney finally emerged she restrained herself to let him approach her.

"Toni… You're not waiting for me are you? Because I'm fine and am completely capable of getting myself home," he explained.

Stepping up to him, Toni forced her smile to hover between easy and sincere. "No, actually I'm here about Dean… The guy that allegedly assaulted you…"

The D.A. could sense her unease and held onto Toni's arm to escort her out of the building before sharply asking, "What about him?"

"Well… Sir… He and I have been working together… Looking into the disappearances and all…" Toni then got into a long winded explanation about how Dean and herself had stumble upon this mess separately but then decided to pool their resources and work closely together to get to the bottom of it. She reported that thanks to Dean's insight and hard work, they were close to figuring out exactly what was happening to the sons of this town and that without his continued aide, there was no way she could solve it on her own.

Toni didn't dare leave the Sheriff's department until she thought that she had convinced Jack Quinn that Dean wasn't the hate spewing monster he thought that Dean was. Her only stipulation was that Toni wanted the D.A. to cite a 'change of heart' or something else along those lines for the reason why Dean was being set free. She didn't want her name to be associated to it in any way, shape or form because she didn't want her partner to feel like he owed her a favor now and the D.A. agreed to her terms stating that he might rescind his generosity if the case wasn't solved soon.

When she drove back to the motel, Toni made sure to park her truck as far away as she could so that the Winchesters couldn't see it. She tactfully watched the parking lot from her window as Dean triple and quadruple checked the area for her presence before he pulled his phone out to call her while Sam busied himself with packing the car. Toni of course let it go to voicemail and waited until the Impala was long gone before she even allowed herself to look to see if he had left her a message.

While she was on the road home, she finally forced herself to stop and listen to his message because she wanted to have that dealt with before seeing her Dad.

"Hey Toni. I don't know how you did it, but I know I have you're at least partially to thank for my freedom. Don't hold it against him, but the D.A. let your name slip during the usual, get this done then get out of town speech.
And don't worry, Sam killed the leprechaun… I know, I know, I was shocked to hear they are real too. Everyone should be safe at home now. Sam doesn't know about your helping me out either… But Toni? I'm going to figure out what's going on with him… We're going to do whatever we can to get him back… I mean OUR Sammy, so… So don't lose my number, okay?
Keep in touch."

She didn't know why, but hearing who their latest foe was didn't seem to really faze her at all. At least she knew her fairy theory wasn't completely out of left field. But something about this last outing was making her feel uneasy.

When she got home, her dad ran to the door and pulled her into his arms exclaiming, "Toni! Angel, you're home!" When he took a closer look at her face he worriedly asked, "Are you okay?"

Toni tried to give her dad a strong smile, but she knew he would see through the façade in an instant so she sorrowfully replied, "Hey Dad… Have you tried the latest flavor Ben & Jerry's have come up with yet? I hear that it's really good."