Spare This Treasure That I Found:

"Something better be chasing you," Dean quipped the instant his brother was visible from where he sat at the table behind his laptop in their motel room.

Sam scoffed loudly then replied with a glare, "It's good for you."

"No, no it's not good for you," Dean lectured pointing at Sam with his hand wrapped around a glass of whiskey. "Look at you. You're… You're a mess and you stink… Well while you were out being Lance Armstrong…"

"That would be biking," Sam interrupted without even trying to hide his disdain.

Dean continued talking as if Sam hadn't spoken at all saying, "I was working. You ever heard of a town called Prosperity, Indiana?"

"Has anybody?"

Sam leaned against the door jamb while his brother told him about the two deaths that he had been reading about that had occurred in that town. The first was a woman who had died after being fried under a hair dryer at a salon. That was supposed to be impossible, although Dean refused to fully explain how he knew beyond a fact that something like that could never actually happen. That fact alone of course was enough to pique the Winchester's interest, but having that impossible feat compounded with a story about a man that had died in his hot tub convinced them that this was more than likely something that they should look into as soon as was humanly possible.

After agreeing with Dean that they would be heading out that way to see what was really happening, Sam paused before turning away to shower asking, "You know… One more thing. What's going on with you?"

Dean smiled self-consciously to himself before he more sternly replied, "We have had this conversation Sam."

"No, we haven't… See… To do that you'd have to… Uhh… Sort of… Speak."

Dean sat up straighter in his chair then replied with a fairly condescending tone, "Okay, let's see if you can get this straight. See you're… You're 'New Sam', right…? Lance Armstrong…" "Biking," Sam nearly huffed as he tried yet again to correct his brother with apparently little or no effect as Dean continued, "And uhh… And I'm still me, okay? All right so… So you might see things different now… Uhh… Toni called it a 'Runner's High' or some crap… But that doesn't mean that something's going on with me, okay?"

Sam nodded then flippantly replied, "Yeah… Okay" as he turned and walked towards the bathroom.

"No, don't say 'Yeah… Okay' like 'Yeah, okay'," Dean retorted with annoyed exasperation.

"Yeah… Okay," Sam called out again without any attempts to change his tone.

Dean huffed then stared at his computer screen and almost violently whipped his glass off of the table top. He looked at the amber liquid for a heartbeat then put the glass back down and decided to just glare at their empty beds instead while he decidedly was not thinking about any topics that Sam might have conjured up with his line of questioning.

"I mean it Sam!" He finally shouted, although he wasn't sure what point he was actually trying to drive home to his brother. But Dean was certain that there was no force on the planet that would allow him to grant Sam the last word in any conversation. (Because they were not having an argument, so it was just another annoying conversation in Dean's mind.)

Sam poked his head around the corner of the door saying into his phone, "Sorry, just give me two seconds." As he held his phone away from his face, Sam turned his attention back to his brother asking, "What were you bellowing about now Dean?"

Dean just glared at Sam in reply, so the younger Winchester returned to his phone conversation without prodding any further. "But to answer your earlier question, I pushed it all the way to three miles today."

"Only three? Oh… Well I guess that's pretty good for a beginner… Uhh… Congrats."

"Yeah ONLY three miles tough guy. How many are you up to now?" Sam countered while trying to suppress the grin that wanted and needed to accompany his humorous tone.

"I can do four comfortably now, but when I pushed it past a little over five I was completely laid up for a couple of days…" Toni replied hesitantly before somewhat awkwardly adding, "My left arm was completely useless for two days and I was kind of limping because… Umm… My leg was so tender too…"

Toni hadn't wanted to admit to Sam that she was still experiencing some issues as a result from her almost completely healed gunshot wounds, but she was constantly reminding herself that if she was going to insist on absolute, uncomfortable honesty from Sam then that was what she had to offer him without protest. Sam seemed to take the news as well as Toni had predicted he would because all that she heard was a loud sigh followed by an even more uncomfortable silence. When she heard him take in a deep breath, she was confident of what would happen next and before he could apologize unnecessarily, yet again, she quickly asked, "So… Chester, Pennsylvania? Are you ready to fill me in on all of the uncomfortable details about that job yet?"

"Ohh… Umm… Uhh…" Sam started to answer awkwardly.

"We've already debated this and came up with an agreement, remember? I wouldn't push to find out about it IF you didn't get all over protective and worrisome about my screwing up and getting shot… Right?"

"Yeah we did, but…"

"SAM!" Toni interrupted sharply. "I mean it damn it! Stop! I had Trick look at both of my wounds and he said that they would be just fine in time. He gave me some shit for trying to push it and not so gently reminded me that it'll all be okay if I behave myself. But…"

Sam started to worry about what she was going to say next even though Toni had trailed off intentionally to get to him and he more than showed his apprehension as he asked, "But what?"

"Sorry… Sorry… But he also told me to pass on his praises to whomever I found to patch me up. Apparently you guys do such good work that I'm lucky I didn't end up with more muscle or tendon damage. He's been pretty insistent that it would have been so much worse if I hadn't been smart enough to see some 'professionals' to take care of me this time. He still thinks that I went to the hospital and a plastic surgeon this time around."

Seeing his brother start to blush caused Dean to take more notice of Sam's conversation and then he attempted to catch Sam's attention as subtly as he could. Sam was still slightly stunned but did manage to flatly say, "Well we try our best."

Since his other attempts seemed to fail, Dean actually snapped his fingers as he asked in a hushed yell, "Is that Toni you're talking to?"

Sam tried to shoe Dean away with a wave of his hand as he quietly replied, "Yeah it is… Shh…"

Toni laughed softly as she asked, "Are you fighting with Dean too?" Sam muttered something inaudible then Toni thought of something and quickly added, "Wait! You were saying that you just got back from your run, right? Have…? Have you showered yet?"

"Yeah, I did just…" Sam was slow to finish his full reply for two reasons: One he didn't completely understand why Toni would be asking that question and two he couldn't for the life of him figure out why his brother was waving for him to hand Dean his phone so insistently.

"Oh gross Sam! No wonder Dean is being such a pain in the ass to you!" Toni teased. "If it's as sunny there as the weather channel says it should be you must be beyond ripe. Poor Dean."

Dean seemed to have heard that portion of the conversation because he smirked fairly smugly. Sam had grown used to Toni's good natured teasing, so he didn't allow his anger to get the best of him and just countered her statements while grinning, "Well I was going to try to save you, but since you insist…"

"Sam? Save me from what? Sam? SAM?" Toni questioned fruitlessly in a mild panic as Sam stepped forward and passed his phone to his brother. "Sam?"

"He has finally gone to have a shower," Dean informed her before he took a large gulp from his glass.

"Oh well in that case, you're welcome Dean."

Dean nearly choked on his drink before he was able to ask, "What?"

"I said 'You're welcome'… You know, for getting Sam to shower after his run. I assume that that's what you wanted to talk to me about. Isn't it?" Toni clarified with an overly innocent tone.

After another soft chuckle, Dean had completely recovered so that he could respond, "Yeah he definitely needed to go get cleaned up, but that isn't what we… By that I mean you and I, need to talk about."

This time it was Toni's turn to utter a confused sounding, "What?"

"I've been thinking that we need to talk about this stupid health club kick you have my brother on," Dean replied almost angrily. "I don't know if he… Or if both of us can keep this pace up for much longer."

Toni laughed disdainfully as she said, "Wait! You're pissed at me because Sam's made running part of his daily routine?"

"Yeah…" Dean answered with slight hesitation and a new bout of uncertainty.

"Fuck… Dean… Dean Dean Dean Dean Dean…" Toni's tone started to shift from being completely annoyed to sounding faintly amused. "Alright, before I lose you to your sullenness, can I ask you a quick question?"

Dean's eyes narrowed even though there wasn't any possibility that Toni could have seen it in an unconscious attempt to augment the sound of his suspicion as he replied, "Yeah… Okay… Shoot."

"Okay… Since he's taken my advice…" She started with a more than audible relieved sigh. "Has he had any…? Shit what'd you guys call them before? Has he had any 'Bag lady' episodes?"

Toni's question caught Dean slightly off guard for a moment, but he answered as quickly as he could to keep her from noticing his surprise, "No he hasn't. Why is that important?"

With a feeling of slight superiority, Toni replied, "Exactly! And has he been thumbing at his scar on his left palm at all?"

"Not so much…" Dean said with a much more defensive tone. "But you only bargained for one question, so that means I get to ask you one or two… What the hell does that have to do with his whole Lance Armstrong routine?"

"Flo Jo," Toni stated firmly.

"What?"

"Flo Jo," Toni repeated again calmly. "If you're going to belittle Sam about running the least you could do is use the name of someone from the appropriate sport."

"Right…? What…? Okay, fine… Whatever… That's not important," he countered not trying to hide his mounting confusion.

After taking in a slow deep breath, Toni replied, "Actually it IS important Dean."

"Oh yeah? How do you figure?"

"Well after I had talked to Doc about Sam's condition, I got to thinking… Lucifer, or a figment of him in the back of Sam's brain, is trying to convince Sam that he's still in Hell, right?" Toni paused more for dramatic effect than she did for an actual answer so she continued before Dean could respond. "And that too got me thinking… Maybe if I… If we could help him to find some ways to find the 'happy hormone' here on Earth then he'll know that he isn't in Hell… You know… Like exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy…"

"And 'happy people just don't shoot their husbands, they just don't'," Dean finished with a bitter bite. "Okay yeah, I guess that does sort of make sense."

"Of course it… Wait… Did…? Did you just finish that quote from 'Legally Blonde'? Wow… Shit… I know that Sam has always said that you were a movie buff, but the chickiest of chick flicks? Fuck I only know it because Vanessa used it to tease me about wanting to be a lawyer and made me watch it over and over. But you? You actually know it well enough to quote it too?"

"Yeah I… Well she… I…" Dean tried to explain awkwardly. "While I lived with… Them… She liked watching girly movies once in a while, so I watched them with her to make her happy. But whatever, can we move on now?"

Toni knew exactly who Dean was talking about even though he was being so vague so she quickly apologized, "Shit fuck… I'm sorry Dean. I didn't mean to pick at an old wound like that. I just wanted… Fuck! How do we always do this when we talk to each other?"

Dean laughed self-consciously as he replied, "Natural talent?"

"Yeah," Toni agreed with a calmer tone. "Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that I know that running helps me clear my head, so I was hoping that it would do the same thing for Sam… And… Well from what he's told me, I would be slightly inclined to believe that it's been working for him too…"

Dean sat listening to the water in the shower shut off before he said, "Yeah, I… I guess it probably has, but…"

"But it isn't how you like to deal with things," Toni offered with a sincere sympathy in her tone. She thought that she heard Dean sigh out an emphatic and heated 'No' so she continued with a bit more force in her voice. "But what you or I would rather be doing doesn't really matter right now does it? We both just have to focus on what's best for Sam."

After finishing her statement, Toni swallowed hard while she waited for Dean's reply. After what felt like an eternity she started to squirm in her seat slightly and was just about to fill the silence when Dean finally said, "Alright, I think you have more than made your point. And… Okay I won't razz him about the health kick if you promise to help me with something."

"Anything," she replied almost too quickly because of her relief.

"If you both want me off his back, then it's only fair that he gets off of mine," Dean stated flatly.

He paused there and Toni took a couple of seconds to try to properly digest Dean's announcement. "Your drinking," she nearly stated as a question. "You want him to shut up about how much you drink every day, right?" Dean made a noise to the affirmative so Toni continued more confidently, "I'll see what I can do about that. I can't make any promises… But Dean? He…" She forced herself to lose some of the bravado from her tone to allow her raw sadness and concern to show. "He… We do worry about you. I've seen how alcohol can destroy a person, body and soul…"

"Your dad," he cut in softly.

Toni nodded and swallowed back her tears so that they could continue this calm, civilized conversation. "Yeah. But it isn't about the drunken rages or spotty memory that worries me Dean. It's… Well… Your physical health. I've done some research on it and… Well even functioning alcoholics… The people that can drink all day but still function and look and act sober… They aren't immune to things like liver disease or cancer. Do…? Do you know what that could mean?"

"No," Dean whispered, unsure that he wanted to hear the impending explanation.

"It's not the drinking that worries me and I'm not going to presume to speak for Sam on this, but I'm worried about losing you. God and his angels might be able to bring you back after something… Fuck… After something supernatural has killed you, but will they be able to do the same for you if something as mundane as liver disease kills you?" She paused to let her words sink in then finished with a soft, "I'm sure that Sam would really miss you… Plus who else would both Sam and I be able to pick a fight with so that we can keep ourselves from becoming too perfect for this world to handle?"

Sam walked into Dean's eye-line with a pensive frown on his face at seeing his brother still talking on his cell phone. Dean turned his eyes up towards Sam's face and made near perfect eye contact with his brother as he answered, "Well when you put it that way, I guess it would be best for you two if I did try to stick around for a while." Sam took a step towards the table and since Toni was just laughing heartily, Dean quickly said, "Sam'll call you later, okay?"

Before Toni could reply, Dean hung up the phone and tossed it to Sam saying, "You should really give Toni a call later." The look on Sam's face showed every bit of his confusion and uncertainty, so Dean tried his best to joke his way out of this awkward situation by light heartedly adding, "Hey don't give me that look. You don't say a proper goodbye to your girlfriend and I'm the one that gets his ear chewed off for…" He paused to pointedly check the time on his laptop screen. "Fuck for fifteen minutes. I'm just saying you might want to call her to clear the air with her is all."

Dean was on his feet and moving towards their bags while Sam stared at his phone in an attempt to catch up with everything his brother had said. Just as Sam opened his mouth to respond, Dean said, "But first we'll head to Prosperity and then you can smooth things over with Toni, okay?"

"Okay," Sam agreed putting his phone into his jeans' pocket. "So how far away are we from there? And what theories have you come up with for this one?"

They both paused in their spots and made direct eye contact before Dean smiled and said, "Get the car packed up while I shower and then I'll fill you in on everything I found while we make our way there."

Dean had the bathroom door closed before Sam realized what had just happened and grumbled, "Fuck… How do I get roped into packing the car up alone every single time?"

It took all of the finesse and charm that she could muster, but Toni was finally able to convince the foreman to hire her for the job at the "event of the year". Even though she had had to lie and say that she had the uniform at home, which meant that she had to make a detour to the mall in order to buy the pieces she was missing, Toni was still nearly fifteen minutes early for the orientation meeting that new employees were required to attend. She had already put on the uniform and styled her hair perfectly and applied her makeup to look as wholesome as possible before entering the building in the hopes that if she looked the part that everyone would just ignore her for being a faceless worker bee and not stop her to ask questions.

Toni managed to check out pretty much every inch of the building, except for the actual hall area where the benefit would be held that night, while everyone else was doing the orientation she had been expected to attend. Once she rejoined the small crowd, Toni tried her best to find out who was 'in charge' as discretely as possible, but she quickly realized that none of the female workers would talk to her. Finally after numerous unsuccessful attempts, a man in the same charcoal black, three piece suit as her and everyone else stepped up towards her. He had a commanding air about him, but Toni only pretended to be impressed by the clipboard in his hand and what it represented. She had attended enough of this type of function with her family to know that the 'pompous ass with a clipboard' was the person that she would need to impress in order to get the critical information that she needed to finish the real job at hand. At least in theory he was, so she was more than willing to play to those cards and be as polite as was physically possible to him no matter how rude he might be to her.

"Umm… I'm sorry… Uhh… But I kind of got lost, so I think that I'm kind of late," Toni tried to apologize using a humble tone that sounded truly repentant.

"Name?" He questioned firmly without looking away from watching the busy men and women behind her that were putting the room together for the event.

"Nicole," Toni replied with a faint French accent. "Nicole Gaultier, Mr. Gillen."

"Gaultier… Gaultier… Right, here you are," he replied with an unimpressed tone. "Well I did have you slotted for bartending duties, but since you were late I think we should start you with something a bit less important for now."

Toni swallowed hard and straightened out her black vest to remind herself that she couldn't fight with him if she wanted to find out what was happening, "To start…? So does that mean that I'm not off completely off bartending duties?"

The foreman finally turned his eyes away from the other workers and couldn't stop their unconscious widening when he took in Toni's beauty before he hoarsely replied, "Well you're…" He coughed a couple of times to clear his throat before continuing more authoritatively. "You do have the most experience mixing drinks…" He caught the playful glint in her eye and tried not to get lost in it as he attempted (and almost failed) to remain sounding very condescending as he said, "But don't let that make you think that you aren't expendable Ms. Gaultier, understood?"

Toni nodded and swallowed any of her usual sarcastic commentary answering overly politely, "Yes sir, I completely understand… What…? What did you want…? Uhh need me to do?"

"Paintings… Help hang up the paintings," he quickly replied while diverting his eyes from her steadfast gaze. "I'll have you start there… Also make sure that there are no scuff marks on the white walls. Once you're done with that, come and find me for your next assignment."

"Yes sir," Toni eagerly agreed as she moved towards the fake walls that had been erected in front of the stage and tables that were still being set up.

As soon as she turned around to complete the tasks she was given, Toni ran into a wall shaped man that could look conspicuously like a body guard. She quickly flashed him a beguiling smile saying, "I'm supposed to help with the painting for the auction…" She made sure to put on her best 'helpless waif' face and blinked her eyes seductively asking, "Help a girl out? I really screwed up and need to impress the boss so that I don't get fired before this thing starts… What needs to be done with the paintings?"

The stocky, dark skinned male in a suit jacket that was much looser fitting than most of the other staffers (which Toni knew was done so that he could easily hide his firearm) gave her a faint predatory smile as he answered, "I'm pretty sure that Mrs. Stark would be overjoyed if the frames were dust free and the walls looked nothing but snow white."

"Dust free frames and clean walls," Toni replied enthusiastically as she wrung out some water from a rag into a bucket. "I can most definitely do that." She almost asked him to point out Mrs. Stark to her, but she figured it was too early for someone of her importance to be at there, so she instead asked, "Could you just let me know if Mr. Gillen needs me for anything else while I'm doing that?"

She wasn't sure if it was the smile on her face or the tone in her face, but the bodyguard sneered before he replied, "Oh I'm sure that he'll have more than enough… Work for a lady the likes of you."

Toni forced her smile not to falter and just nodded even though she really wanted to give him a piece of her mind before starting to clean the first frame of the row and carefully rehung it on the wall. As she reached up to get the next painting into place, Toni paused when she felt a gloved hand grip her harm tightly.

"Mrs. Stark was most insistent that no one is to touch the frames with their bare hands," a painfully deep voice informed her.

"Oh… Well…" She tried to recover smoothly. "Mr. Gillen didn't say anything about that to me. I'm really sorry. She didn't see me did she?"

He shook his head as he released her arm to take the frame then smiled sympathetically and said, "Well I think he's a little bit overwhelmed by how demanding the organizer for this thing is… Here, why don't you let me take care of these?" Toni nodded then nearly whispered, "But I…" He smiled even brighter and interrupted her, "While you assist me of course. Deal?"

Toni loudly exhaled the breath that she had been holding and said, "Deal."

Her new helper ended up doing the vast majority of the work and she was more than happy to just hover behind him looking busy in order to make a good impression on her 'boss'. He wasn't very chatty, in fact he hadn't even offered her anything close to a polite introduction, so Toni didn't force conversation and took that time to watch everyone around the room. After a while her attention became fixated on a striking brunette in a form complimenting teal dress who seemed to command (or demand depending on your point of view) the attention of every single person she passed.

Toni hadn't noticed that she was standing completely still in her spot staring at the woman while all of the other workers continue to do their parts until she heard a male voice call out, "Two FBI agents came by asking questions."

The brunette (whom Toni was now being a bit less obvious about watching) turned around to face the man she had been arguing with saying, "Hunters sweetheart, that's what they are. Oh… I can see you're terribly concerned for my safety…"

Shit! They must be the Starks. Toni thought to herself while she watched Don Stark start to walk away. Perfect! Now I can stop pretending to be a stupid worker bee and warn them before this stupid benefit starts.

Maggie Stark turned to continue on with her day and caught Toni watching her with a strange smile on the younger woman's face to which the philanthropist snapped, "What do you think you're staring at?"

Toni jumped and looked genuinely startled as she replied, "Oh I… I didn't mean… M-mean to… But… Sorry it's just that the teal of your dress just brings out the color of your eyes that it makes them beyond breath-taking. I'm really sorry Ma'am."

"Oh… My…" Maggie said with a soft smile. "Thank you for the compliment, but…" Something happening behind Toni caught Maggie's attention and instead of finishing her response, Maggie shouted, "No! Not there! Does it look like those should go there?"

Any further pleasantries with Toni was quickly forgotten in order to reprimand one of the other workers who was apparently doing something that might ruin the integrity of the event. Toni sighed with relief and then walked away while pulling her hair into a loose ponytail so that she would be more comfortable. The only reason she had tried so hard to keep this job was so that she could finally get a visual on the Starks to shadow one or both of them, but she hadn't anticipated seeing either of them before the benefit had begun, so now she could happily forget this charade to watch over them more inconspicuously.

She was surprised and somewhat confused that the Starks knew what a 'hunter' was (according to the new definition she had recently learned). That wasn't something that she had anticipated in the least, so she felt the need to mentally tally all of the information she had been able to gather along with this juicy tidbit added into the mix. But first she really needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of putting this event together so she could focus solely on her thoughts while also avoiding attracting the foreman's attention in her direction while she found a hiding place, which thankfully didn't take long.

She tucked herself behind a large curtain of a window that was overlooking the courtyard at the front of the building. Her eyes focused on a bust of Don Stark and she smiled when she noticed the dead vegetation that flanked its pedestal. When she had started putting her dossier together, Toni had convinced herself that she was hunting a witch and that the Starks were mostly next on her hit list, but she had no idea who the culprit could have been. Now she felt beyond relieved that she had actually figured out not just the 'what' but the 'who' she was hunting, although she still had no idea how she was supposed to stop both of them.

A witch… Or is it two witches? A witch and a warlock? Is that the proper term? She mused to herself silently as she pulled out her cellphone. Life had become so much easier for Toni since she had reconnected with Sam because whenever she was completely stumped on a job, she could now simply call the Winchesters to pick their brains for any elusive answer. The best part of this deal was that if the boys didn't have the answer, she now had a Bobby in her back pocket. At first she had felt a little guilty because it seemed vaguely lazy, but when lives were at stake she figured that the method that took the least amount of time was the best course of action, so she completely forgot that she should feel bad in anyway.

Toni kept her eyes trained on the bust outside as she dialed Sam's number and almost thought she was going completely crazy when she saw it (and nothing else outside) start to shake. In an attempt to clear her head, Toni closed her eyes and shook her head vigorously. When she opened her eyes the statue was thankfully completely still again.

Suddenly, just a Sam answered the phone, the face of the statue cracked and fell to the ground causing Toni to quietly exclaim, "Fuck me."

"Well as tempting as that is, I'm not so sure that I can help you out with that right now," Sam replied holding back his laughter as best he could.

As he finally did start to laugh, Toni felt her cheeks burning red hot with embarrassment as she groaned and said, "Sorry that wasn't meant for you… I mean… Shit… Uhh… Not that I'm with another guy or anything, it just… Damn it… It's just that… Something weird just happened and you weren't… Well no one was meant to hear my reaction to it. Sorry."

Sam continued to chuckle softly then said, "It's okay, you don't need to sound so freaked out. So… Bearing in mind that we aren't in the same State, what can I do to help you then?"

"Oh… Well…"She started before she knocked on the passenger's side window of the Impala. She didn't disconnect their call until Sam made eye contact with her. He still had his phone up to his ear as he rolled down his window. Dean was engrossed in a phone conversation with Bobby but nodded a brief 'Hello' to her when she poked her head into the now open window. Toni placed a quick, soft, chaste kiss on Sam's lips then quietly said, "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

"More surprised than scared," Sam replied as he slowly lowered his arm to put his phone away. "A very welcomed surprise," he added almost apologetically.

"Well I have to admit that you two are a sight for sore eyes." She nodded towards Dean while he was feverishly writing something down on a menu with a Sharpie. "I take it he's getting some instructions about to we can put this bitch down?"

With a warm smile and a short heartfelt laugh, Sam replied, "Yeah Bobby was able to find a spell for us."

"Yeah… Thanks again Bobby." Once Dean had his phone tucked away, he turned to face his brother and Sam's girlfriend then smiled and said, "Did we know that you were in town Toni?"

"Only if Sam's psychic premonitions are back," Toni teased before opening the back door and slipping into the seat behind the brothers. "So it sounds like you guys have this all figured out, but I would still be more than happy to offer my services."

The Winchesters shifted so they could more easily look at the woman in the backseat. Dean eyed her up and down then raised a single eyebrow suggestively. Toni wasn't one hundred percent sure what thoughts were running through Dean's mind right now, but she figured that a steely glare of disapproval was never a bad response to any questionable looks from the elder Winchester.

"I thought that one of the Starks was next on the hit list, so I talked myself onto the wait staff for this shindig," Toni explained somewhat defensively about her current attire. Sam and Dean then turned and looked at each other, but didn't appear that they were going to include Toni in on the conversation, so she jumped in asking, "Me working here means something to you guys, doesn't it? Come on… Throw a girl a bone?"

Sam smiled warmly as he turned towards her replying, "Actually it's kind of perfect. This way you can keep an eye on Maggie until we can get back from finding all of the ingredients that we need to get together."

Toni fidgeted with her bow tie nervously and smiled sheepishly as she said, "Okay… Keep an eye on the big bad witch… Yeah, I can do that. Just… Promise me that you'll give me a call the instant that I can finally cut out of there?"

By this point Toni had pulled her hair out of the messy ponytail and was trying to straighten it out in the reflection of the review mirror the best that she could. The boys started to chuckle silently once her hands reached her bowtie to pull it back into place and smoothed out her vest to ensure that she looked presentable.

Sam couldn't help it and sputtered out a loud laugh before saying with a teasing tone, "Don't sound so upset… At least this company isn't forcing you to wear something girly like a dress or anything while you serve the over-privileged masses."

Toni glared at him half-heartedly then leaned in and kissed his cheek while squeezing Dean's shoulder replying, "It's more that I don't make a good servant… Sam, you of all people know that I prefer being the one who gives the orders instead of taking them."

Even though neither her words nor her tone were overly salacious, Sam's cheeks and neck still reddened under an embarrassed flush as she left the car. Dean caught his brothers reaction immediately and couldn't help but add in his own playful jab of, "Why am I not surprised to find out that it's Toni that usually get to be the top with you two?"

"Okay so that's… And he's going to make sure that… And then I…" Maggie Stark muttered to no one in particular as she paced slightly.

Toni gave the shaker she was holding a couple more forceful agitations and then poured its contents into two martini glasses. After she placed the finishing touches onto each of the drinks, Toni walked around the bar and passed them to Maggie softly calling out, "Mrs. Stark? You've been working so hard and this place looks absolutely amazing, how about a drink?" Maggie turned with an unimpressed look on her face to which Toni replied, "Extra dry martinis with olives."

Maggie took them with a ghost of a smile on her face and barely breathed out a 'Thank you' before turning and walking away. Toni just shook her head and bit her lip so that she wouldn't say what was on her mind right now. While Toni was growing up, her parents had been the hosts and guests of many functions similar to this and her mother had always stressed that Toni was never to talk or look down her nose to the serving staff because the McNamara's weren't snobs. Stephanie McNamara had taught her daughter that although they were paying these people to do their bidding, it was the paid staff that would be making sure that everything ran smoothly and made the people with money look good. Toni had always taken her mother's advice to heart and now she realized that that life lesson had made her somewhat bitter when she met someone who didn't heed it. Especially right now while she was on the receiving end of such snobbery.

For a brief moment she was ready to just throw in the towel, call it a night and tell off every single person who had talked down to her, but then she heard her dad's voice in the back of her mind reminding her that she had a job to do. He had become her number one cheerleader as of late and she really didn't want to do anything that would let him down. Deep down in a dark space of her mind that she tried her best to pretend didn't exist, Toni secretly feared that if she did do anything to really and truly disappoint her father that it would cause a domino effect that would end with the Colonel turning to the bottle again. Irrational as it might be, that was almost becoming a phobia for Toni, so she just took a deep breath and reminded herself that her feelings didn't matter at this particular moment and that she just needed to work the job. People were dying and her sole focus had to be to stop that from happening, so she just turned her attention back to the bar to take stock of the bottles and boxes there like Mr. Gillen had asked her to in order to ensure that they had enough of everything to get through the night without leaving anyone going home thirsty.

She was kneeling behind the bar doing a final count of the bottles of red wine when she heard a glass shatter against the floor which was followed by a woman screaming hysterically. By the time Toni was standing upright, all of the staff were backing away from the center of the room and the two women who remained standing there. To Toni's surprise, Maggie didn't look the least bit surprised by the melting paint of the artwork or by anything else weird that had happened up until this point. No, Maggie Stark didn't look scared or caught off guard, in fact if you asked Toni she would have said that Maggie looked angry… No Maggie was completely pissed off at somebody.

Most of the staff was making a slow retreat out of the room, but there were a brave few that attempted to continue on with the preparations as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Toni wanted nothing more than to join the first group that had made a hasty withdrawal from the room, but she forced herself to muster up enough courage to stick it out with the latter group. They all tried their best to eavesdrop on what Maggie Stark was saying without staring, but when a silver platter levitated in front of a server that was setting out the wine glasses on a table, all of the serving staff dropped their pretenses and openly gaped at the two best dresses women in the room.

Everyone, including Maggie and her friend, seemed to take in a collective breath and Toni just barely caught a petit blond that fainted when the platter flew across the room. Toni almost laughed when the woman beside Maggie was decapitated by the platter because in some perverse way she really wished the she had been able to see the actual reaction on the woman's face that was now laying in her arms at seeing someone be murdered. After everything, all of the losses and injuries Toni had been faced with over the years, Toni knew that she wouldn't feel anything but numb when she bore witness to tragedy. She couldn't do this job if she didn't allow herself to feel nothing about it, but that didn't stop her from feeling curious about seeing how normal people would respond to those same experiences.

Toni gently lowered her temporary coworker to the floor without taking her eyes off of the growing pool of blood on the floor. For a brief moment in time everything one in the room seemed to move in slow motion until suddenly it felt like someone had hit the "fast forward" button on the day. She hadn't noticed that she was still cradling the passed out woman's head in her lap while Emergency Services personnel from every branch filled the room to take over the scene until she felt a strong hand grip her shoulder.

Still feeling completely numb and somewhat disoriented, Toni looked up and absentmindedly whispered, "Sam?"

He help her to her feet then wrapped an arm around her shoulder to lead her to a corner while worriedly asking, "Are you okay? You weren't hurt in any way were you?"

"No… No… No…" Toni repeated as she shook her head slowly. Once they were a safe distance away from the crowd and had joined Dean, she seemed to have finally snapped out of her trance and nearly shouted, "Don!"

Sam smiled and laughed softly before smoothing down the hair on both sides of her head saying, "We know… Well after this we sort of figured that out."

Toni grabbed one of Sam's arms the frantically said, "There's… They're both… Did Bobby give you something for…? Sam… They could…"

"Hey… Hey… We've got everything we need," he replied calmly as he took both of her hands in both of his. "So let's just get out of here so we can take care of them, okay?"

"Yeah," Toni agreed with a nod before she took a large step back and away from both brothers. "But I can't leave. I was here when…" Toni swallowed hard then nodded towards the body that was now hidden under a blanket. "I don't want to draw attention to us any more than we have to… Why I don't I just meet you guys there?"

"Right, right… That makes sense," Sam replied before he took a step forward and leaned in close to her.

Toni quickly tugged her right hand out of Sam's grasp and slammed it hard against his chest. "No Sam… Not here, not now. What do you think they'd say if I'm caught making out with a FBI agent?"

He straightened up slightly and nodded in agreement, but he wasn't able to hide the concern in his eyes. Dean tried his best to use his body to block Sam and Toni from being seen by the rest of the room somewhat successfully, but he wasn't sure how much longer people's inattention to their trio would last given the gruesomeness of this current crime scene.

After quickly checking over his shoulder, Dean grabbed Toni's now free right hand and shook it firmly while saying, "Thank you for your insight. We'll call you later about getting together so that we can get your statement on tape."

Toni had anticipated that she wouldn't be leaving the banquet hall in a timely manner, but she had hoped that she would be afforded enough time to lend a hand while the Winchesters were trying to stop their two targets. She tried her best not to exceed the speed limits too much on her way to the address that Dean had written down on a business card that he had slipped to her during his 'grateful' handshake because she was finally starting to feel rattled and wasn't wanting to have to come up with any other convincing stories for the authorities tonight. She hadn't had the presence of mind to check the time, but she figured that since it was still dark out that she would still have a chance of being some actual help on this job and not just tell the boys a bunch of information that they already knew.

By the time that she made it to the Starks' estate, Sam and Dean were already limping down the driveway towards the Impala. She quickly parked her truck and ran to the brothers to check on both of their welfare. Neither of them seemed to have blood gushing from any parts of their anatomy, but at the same time neither of them seemed to look as well as they had just a few hours earlier.

"So… Dare I ask how everything went in there?" She asked as she gripped Sam's arm to stop him and give him a closer inspection.

Dean had a brief coughing fit before he straightened up and haphazardly waved his hands answering, "Don't you worry about a thing Toni, they kissed and made up so all's right with the world."

Toni offered Dean her shoulder to lean on (which he promptly rejected) while they all walked down the rest of the way toward their vehicles. After Dean finished his statement, Toni stopped dead in her tracks asking in a near enraged tone, "What? All…? ALL of those people were killed because of some stupid jealousy bullshit?"

Sam contemplated wrapping a comforting arm around his girlfriend, but she turned to face him with a scary look on her face. They both stared at each other, completely ignoring Dean, but as the younger Winchester opened his mouth to reply, Toni raised an accusatory finger towards his face saying, "See? This is why monogamy doesn't fucking work! Sooner or later one of you always strays and the other has to find some fucking way to deal with the betrayal!"

Toni's eyes remained trained on Sam as Dean waved his hands behind her back to silently tell his brother that he was retreating to the sanctuary of his car while the two of them 'worked' things out. Sam nodded (nearly imperceptibly) then he took a tentative step forward to try to comfort and reason with his girlfriend.

"Is…? Is that how you really feel?" He questioned in the same tone that a negotiator would use to talk a jumper off a ledge. "Does that…? Are you unhappy with where we are right now in our relationship?"

He reached out to her, but Toni turned her back on him and further closed herself off by hugging her arms tightly around her torso. She was shaking her head emphatically and Sam had to step so close to her that they were almost touching in order to hear what she was saying.

"No," she whispered to herself. "I still love you." Suddenly she stood upright and turned back to look at him, but she ended up with a face full of his broad chest instead. She gripped one of his forearms almost uncomfortably tight so that she wouldn't lose her footing as she took a step back and quietly added, "No… I'm happy with you… But…" She was finally able to look up at him and Sam tried his best to ignore the tears in her eyes because he knew that if he acknowledged them that she would probably shut down on him without finishing her thought. "But… If you are going to… Just… Just tell me first, okay?"

Sam watched her try to hold her tears at bay while he tried to work through his confusion to understand what she was asking of him in such a sad tone. She then quickly darted her eyes away from his gaze and would have run away were it not Sam's strong grasp on her arm.

"Toni," he stared sadly. She just shook her head hoping that she could somehow keep him from saying what she feared the most. Realization hit Sam hard and he scooped Toni into a hug and lifted her off the ground as he embraced her close to his chest. "Toni… I don't plan on giving you up any time soon. I love you."

Without struggling in his arms, Toni sniffled then said, "Everyone says that they didn't plan it and that it just happened…"

Sam put Toni down and turned her so that he could make firm eye contact with her while they had this intimate conversation. "And I don't want anything to 'just happen' with anyone but you."

A few tears escaped out of her eyes, so Sam brushed them away before holder her face gently in both of his hands. She placed a hand over each of his and turned his eyes to his face and said, "Even if I'm a total basket case who keeps freaking out about our relationship?"

"I think that despite the difficulties associated with that," Sam teased "that my feelings won't be changing easily." Toni smiled self-consciously and Sam leaned down to kiss her before saying, "I think Dean's kind of anxious to get out of here."

"Right… Of course," she replied as she dried her face on her sleeve in order to straighten herself out. "I'll follow you guys to your motel… I was planning on checking in somewhere tonight, so I'm all packed and ready to get the fuck out of here too." She took Sam by the hand and laced their finger together then brought his hand up to her lips and kissed it. "I love you too Sam. I'm sorry if I don't show you that more often."

As soon as Dean had the door to the Winchesters' room open, Toni hurried past them announcing, "I just want to quickly wash my face."

She didn't quite make it to the bathroom before she ran into a man who was a slight bit taller than herself with a lean build and buzzed cut hair. He grabbed one of her arms, turned her against his chest and clamped a hand over her mouth before she could scream or make any other sound to alert the brothers. When she struggled and tried to wriggle out of his grasp, he used his preternatural strength to easily pick her up and carry her back to the main part of the hotel room.

"It's been a long day," Dean stated with a tired, defensive tone.

The unknown male threw Toni at Sam's feet saying, "And it's not over yet."

The Winchesters spun around quickly and Dean automatically had his gun raised and pointed, ready to fire. Toni scrambled to her feet and tried her best to hide behind Sam before he was able to offer her any type of aid. When he realized what she was doing, he gently pushed her and wrapped an arm around her waist until he was confident that she was completely shielded by his body.

"Hi Sam. Hi Dean," the man said as if they were all old friends.

Toni gripped the back of Sam's jacket and peaked around his body at the intruder as Sam asked, "Do we know you?"

"Well I definitely know you. You're the dead guys… Well you will be. Oh…" He nodded at Toni as he added, "And some random chick who picked the wrong brothers to experiment with for the night. Sorry sweetheart."

Before Toni could react to what he had said, Dean shot the unwanted male in the upper portion of his left chest. When Toni saw that he bled black goo instead of a bright red like a normal human, she crawled over the bed to her right in a futile attempt to put as much space as possible between her and the thing that was blocking the door.

The bullet seemed to be rejected by the stranger's body as the three humans watched it fall to the floor with horrified fascination. "Sorry, you're a bit out matched."

The intruder stepped forward and punched Dean so hard that he not only dropped his pistol but he was also thrown over the foot of his bed and landed hard on the floor. Sam stepped forward and tried to land a punch that the shorter male easily blocked. Before he could grab Sam by the throat, Toni fell to her knees and crawled under Sam's bed to hide. She had felt the man's unnatural strength and was hoping to put any obstacles that she could between herself and him before he had a chance to kill her.

Toni had managed to curl into a tight ball with her hands cover her ears as she chanted, "No" over and over so she missed the exchange between the Winchesters and Don Stark. After Don had departed, Dean left the room to get some rope or anything else he could find to tie up their prisoner, which left his brother to coax Toni out from under the bed solo.

"Toni?" Sam called out softly once he was on all fours. "Toni?" She had started rocking gently, but didn't seem to be able to hear him at all. He maneuvered himself under the bed's frame as far as he could get to tap her on the back between her shoulder blades which caused her to jump so violently that she smacked her head on the underside of the bed as she issued a terror filled scream. "TONI!" He yelled louder over her unintelligible whimpering. "Toni! It's me! Sam!"

She still didn't seem to hear him, but he was able to grab one of her arms to pull her out from under the confines of the bed. She didn't protest, so once he had dragged her out to the open space between the two beds, Sam picked Toni up and sat on his bed with her on his lap.

Sam was rocking her gently ash she continued to absentmindedly say, "I don't want to die… Please, please don't hurt me… I don't want to die… Please, please don't hurt me…" when Dean came back into the room. He gave Sam a questioning look to which the younger Winchester shrugged and softly shook his head. Dean let his concern show in his eyes before he simply turned to give his full attention to physically binding the man that was currently laying, magically bound, on the floor.

"Toni?" Sam tried again as he forced her to sit back so that he could look at her face. She kept her eyes squeezed shut tight while she continued her two lines of protest over and over without actually hearing a word that her boyfriend was saying to her. Sam look over in his brother's direction, but Dean's attention remained laser focused on their new foe, so Sam decided to try something less conventional to get through to Toni.

Sam tangled his fingers into the hair at the back of Toni's head to move it into position and then he leaned down to place his mouth over hers. At first she didn't respond and just continued her unconscious commentary, but Sam continued to kiss and lick at her mouth until she was nearly forced to respond. He jumped slightly when her hands gripped his hair almost painfully tight so that she could force their mouths even closer together.

Once they had kissed each other breathless, Toni released Sam's lips with a loud pop. She then pet his cheek and sat up in his lap then worriedly asked, "Sam? Where…? Where's that…?"

He quickly hugged her against his chest and held her head to his shoulder saying, "Don't worry about him… Turns out that domestic bliss makes Don more than accommodating…" Toni grabbed Sam's hand off of her head so that she could look up and frown angrily at him. He kissed her forehead, turned her chin so that she could see Dean as he finished hog-tying their unwelcomed guest and then explained, "Don bound him with a spell and save us all."

Toni wrapped her arms around Sam's torso laughing sadly and said, "Sam and Dean Winchester, Marriage Counselors… Who would have thought?"

After he secured the last lock on the chains, Dean cleared his throat to get his brother's attention. "I'm happy to give you two a minute, but Sam…"

"Yeah, I know," Sam interrupted immediately. Dean nodded then turned towards the door to exit into the parking lot outside. Toni's eyes remained on the unconscious, bound man… Thing on the floor until Sam cupped her chin to force her to face him again. "So we should…"

"Get going to find out how we can fucking kill those things," Toni finished for him.

Sam nodded as Toni moved off of his lap to stand on her own once again. As soon as she was on her feet her knees buckled and Sam's hands catching her were the only things that kept her from landing hard onto the ground. Toni laughed it off nervously as Sam sat her on the bed and tried to give him a strong smile.

"Or maybe I should make that 'Dean and I' should get going," Sam said somewhat uneasily. "He didn't seem to know you at all, but he did know us… So I was thinking that it might be safe if we split up…" Toni's eyebrows knitted together and her lip quivered causing Sam to add, "Our room's paid up and I thought you might want to rest before driving…"

When he trailed off, Toni studied his face closely and rapidly changed her response to say, "Tell Bobby to call me if he needs anything that I can bring to Montana for you guys, okay?"

Sam let out a relieved sigh as he pecked her lips and said, "I'll do that. Thanks Toni."

Before Toni could tell Sam that she should be thanking him for giving her such an easy out, Dean came back into the room holding a black cloth sack. He gave both of them a questioning look as he fitted the bag over their captive's head, but it was Toni that answered, "I'm going to stay behind while you guys head out and I'll settle the bill tomorrow."

Dean stood up and looked like he was going to say something to the contrary, so she interjected, "I'm fine with it Dean. You guys have your hands full with… It, so you really shouldn't have to worry about my fragile ego on top of that."

Dean slipped his dufflebag onto his shoulder then nodded. "Alright, thanks Toni. Hopefully we'll see you sooner than later."

Sam passed her the room key, kissed her cheek and leaned in close to quietly say, "I'll call you later."

She smiled then replied, "No rush. I'm exhausted and could really use the rest."

With that Sam grabbed the unconscious man's upper body while Dean picked up his legs and the Winchesters left Toni alone in the room to have what they hoped would be a proper night's sleep.