And For The Faithless In Me:

Toni let out a heavy sigh as she touched her fingertips to the left side of Sam's neck. He shivered under her gentle touch and closed his eyes to help him to maintain is composure as he said, "It's really no big deal Toni."

She continued to pet the side of his neck replying, "It almost looks the same as a vampire bite. How did you know that you weren't actually hunting a vampire?"

Sam grabbed a hold of Toni's hand to force eye contact between them as he shifted on the couch to face her more comfortably. "At first I thought it was, but then I checked the victims at the morgue and noticed that the bite pattern didn't fit, so I pulled out my dad's journal. He had a write up about them and everything else about the case matched up from there… Well more or less."

"Everything else? Like what?"

Even though he tried his best to suppress it, a proud smile spread across Sam's face. When Toni had first gotten back to the cabin, she couldn't stop touching Sam to make sure that he as in fact still alive and well because he had already given her all of the graphic details of his abduction. But true to form Toni's concern quickly turned into curiosity when she realized that she had the chance to learn about a new creature that she had never encountered before either in person or in text. She had curled up onto the couch with her right arm on the back of the couch to support her head while she listened intently to every word Sam spoke. Sam had to resist the urge to lean over to kiss her or to call her 'cute' because he knew that that would set him on the fast track to being sent to the doghouse with Toni.

Instead he just smiled as he mirrored Toni's position on the couch and answered, "Firstly, they went exclusively after men. Vampires aren't usually all that picky… And that vamp in New York… Dixon or whatever his name was notwithstanding. (He added the last part when he saw Toni open her mouth to interrupt. This explanation caused her to blush profusely with a sheepish look on her face when she closed her mouth.) And the time lines were off too." Sam paused there in anticipation of Toni asking him to clarify that statement, but she just sat there with an expectant look on her face. Sam couldn't resist this time and he did lean in to place a quick kiss on her lips. Toni frowned at him in confusion before he finally added, "Every single one of the victims had been missing for at least four days before they turned up freshly drained. Vampires don't usually prolong the deaths of their prey, they either drain someone or they turn them, no in between… Well not usually, but there are always exceptions to the rule."

"Huh." Toni reached out to touch his bite mark again and looked like she was deep in her own thoughts when she asked, "And these Vet…? Vet…? These things, their…?"

"Vetala," Dean announced over the rest of Toni's question as he entered the room.

Toni jumped at the sound of his voice then turned to watch him close the front door of the cabin. She and Sam remained silent thinking that Dean was going to add more to his commentary, but Dean practically ignored them as he unloaded the bag he was carrying into the fridge. Dean then pulled a cold beer out of the fridge before sitting down at the desk to go over a pile of information he had brought to the cabin that Frank Devereaux had given him.

When it became glaringly apparent that Dean wasn't going to be an active participant in their conversation, Toni turned back to Sam and shrugged as she asked just barely over a whisper, "Their saliva…? You said something about it being venom that knocks the victim out?"

Sam nodded then moved closer to her so he could keep the level of his voice as low as hers while also making it so that neither of them had to strain to hear the other, "Exactly. Dad thought that they were loaners, but they actually seem to prefer to hunt in pairs."

"Easier to carry their bounty home to snack on them that way."

Sam opened his mouth to reply but they both froze when they heard Dean let out a loud scoff. "Good logic there Toni. I think your boyfriend over there could have used your help on this last one just for your deductive reasoning alone."

Toni twisted around in her seat to face the elder Winchester to light heartedly reply, "But lucky for him he had his big brother to swoop in and save the day when I couldn't be there."

Dean turned in his seat to give Toni an unfriendly look, but he couldn't help but crack a smile at the doe eyed, innocent expression she was wearing, "Yeah, I guess it is… But having to leave Frank when we were in the middle of our research wasn't really part of the plan for me."

Sam swallowed hard looking guilty as he shrunk back in his seat. Toni reached over to squeeze his hand to try to reassure him. "Speaking of…" Both of the Winchesters gave her a questioning look causing her to smile at the fact that she had been able to capture their attention so easily. She settled in her seat and tried to look between the two brothers as she explained, "As you already know dad's think tank didn't really come up with anything useful but when I mentioned Devereaux's name, a few interesting things came up."

"Things…?" Dean started as he got up and moved closer to where Sam and Toni were seated. Once he was settled on the coffee table in front of where the other two were seated he finished his thought asking, "What kind of things Toni?"

"Well for starters they knew him. I mean you hear about all kinds of whack jobs that think the government is monitoring their every move and in this instance he's totally right." The Winchesters shared a look that Toni couldn't decipher and caused her to slump down in her spot as she continued in a more timid tone, "So one of the guys was saying that Frank is the kind of nutcase that has proven to be really useful at times which has kept him from being eliminated."

"Eliminated?" Sam questioned quietly. "Do you mean…?"

"Yeah, I do. Apparently 'back in the day' it was a popular method of maintaining the status quo. But like I said, Frank isn't just a nut job; he's actually kind of a genius. You know that whole genius bordering on insanity? Well Devereaux is it, so instead of getting rid of him, they just stole some of his ideas over the years. Everyone was really impressed that you were able to convince him to help you and no one was at all surprised that he figured out a solid lead."

"Shit…" The brothers sighed out at the same time. Dean then sat back, clapped his hands together and said with a chuckle, "So crazy old Frank Devereaux isn't so paranoid after all." He reached over and clamped a hand on Toni's shoulder. "Thanks again for doing that by the way."

Toni shrugged then said, "It's no big deal. I still wish that they could have come up with something more important than just helping to get information on the land."

It was Dean's turn to shrug as he stood up and replied, "Well now we know where the numbers lead and that's all that matters. So, who's hungry?"

Toni and Sam let out a quick laugh in response to Dean's change of subject. Toni then stood up and offered, "Why don't I get the burgers started?"

For the next little while, the trio left Frank Devereaux to monitor the 'Wisconsin Property' (as Dean had dubbed it) while they alternated between looking for new jobs and further researching Richard Roman Enterprises and its subsidiaries. Toni felt mildly guilty that she was feeling so content about prolonging their stay at the cabin. This way she was actually able to spend some quality time with her boyfriend (not nearly as intimately as she would have liked to since they weren't staying there alone and neither of them wanted to rub Dean's nose in that aspect of their relationship). But more importantly by the three of them being under one roof, Toni had the peace of mind of knowing that both Sam and Dean were safe.

But Toni wasn't delusional, she understood that this job that they were doing came with risks, however with everything they had been through as of late she was even more concerned about the guys. Dean barely stayed sober enough to drive anywhere most days and he seemed to be single-mindedly focused on Dick Roman that she worried about him being distracted on the job. Sam… Well he wouldn't admit it to Toni, but she could tell that something was going on with him and that it had nothing to do with watching out for his brother (although his concern for Dean did preoccupy his thoughts). His sleeping pattern had become very erratic again and even though he hadn't disclosed any information to her, Toni knew that he was one again having nightmares that were interrupting his sleep. She was pretty sure that she knew who was playing a starring role in Sam's nightmares, but she couldn't find the courage to bring up the subject of Satan. She recalled all too vividly how angry Sam had gotten with one of his hallucinations and she really didn't want to relive that experience any time soon.

Even with the feelings of contentment, Toni knew that she was going to be experiencing the effects of cabin fever sooner or later. She didn't know the area surrounding the cabin well enough to go out for a proper run to help expel some of her nervous energy. The last time she had tried to, she had nearly broken her leg and ankle when the path she was running on suddenly disappeared and became a mess of exposed roots and heavy underbrush. The perfect cure for her restlessness would be working a job so she threw herself into finding one with a new sense of purpose.

"Huh," Sam grunted out forcing Toni's attention away from her laptop.

When Sam didn't elaborate, Toni nudged his thigh softly with her fist. Sam continued to read whatever was on his computer's screen, so she gave his leg another insistent shove. This seemed to actually work because Sam finally turned his head to be met with Toni giving his a quirked eyebrow and a facial expression that asked 'What the hell?'.

"Oh… Sorry, sorry. I think I found something," he finally explained as he turned his laptop towards his companion.

Toni slid closer to Sam and invaded his space in such a way that he was practically forced to wrap his arm around her shoulders. She made a couple of thought filled noises as she read through the article when she got to the end she scrolled back up to the top and went totally rigid against Sam's side.

"Hey… You okay?" Sam questioned quietly against her hair as he squeezed her against his side with the arm he still had wrapped around her shoulders.

Toni nodded softly against his chest then answered in an unsure voice, "This is from the Seattle P.I."

"Yeah," Sam agreed without sounding like he understood the reason for her trepidation.

Toni remained tucked under Sam's arm with her eyes fixed on the laptop's screen saying, "That's awfully close to Everett…"

When she trailed off, Sam pushed her out of his embrace and held Toni at arm's length by the shoulders, "Yeah I know… But Toni…? You've worked jobs out that way since then, so why is this freaking you out so much right now?"

"Look at the date," she stated in a bland, vacant tone.

Sam let go of her to lean in closer to the coffee table to check that specific piece of information. After he had read it for a third time he sat back to give Toni another questioning look, but she missed it because she kept her eyes turned down to stare at her hands in her lap.

Sam reached over to place his right hand over both of hers and held them gently. Toni waited for him to speak and when he didn't she quietly explained to their hands, "The anniversary is in a couple of days. I've always tried to avoid being up there when it comes up because a lot of his friends still live up there and I can't not go up there without calling them. Hell a few of them even work for the police all over the Pacific Northwest, so the chances of running into them are pretty inevitable… Anyway… The last time I was in the area around this time of year, all they wanted to do was reminisce about old times and that led to them talking about a weird grave desecration that happened a few months after Will passed and I…"

Toni got really quiet near the end of her explanation and then Sam felt a couple of tears hit the back of his hand. She sniffled quietly a couple of times but refused to look up at Sam's face, so he pulled her against his chest to give her a tight hug. Toni shuddered against his chest and then she seemed to relax somewhat against him instead of continuing to cry like Sam had anticipated.

After a few minutes, Toni took a deep breath and pushed out of Sam's hold to calmly explain, "I know I had to do it, just like we do any time we have to vanquish an angry spirit but he had been a naval officer. He… He fought for our country and… I don't know but seeing the anger on Will's friends faces when they talk about it… Well it made me sick to my stomach to see that I could put that look on another person's face."

Sam reached out and cupped Toni's cheek as he lovingly said, "I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that alone."

Toni shrugged then quietly replied, "It's all part of the job right? We have to do weird shit that the general public would never dream of doing to save lives and then we have to lie about it. It's nothing to be ashamed about, right?"

"No it isn't really, but still… I know how much you respect what your family and their friends do and have done, so I know how hard it is on you to lie to all of them about this." Sam pulled her in for another hug then said against her hair, "And if you don't want to come with us on this job then you're more than welcome to sit this one out. I'm sure you'll still be able to help us with research from here while we're there."

"Really? I mean… Are you sure?" Toni questioned with her cheek pressed against Sam's chest so that she could feel his heart beating steadily.

Sam started to pet the length of her hair and smiled against the top of her head. "Of course it's alright." He felt her squeeze his torso tightly and mumble something into his chest before he added, "Plus whatever it is, it seems to be going after men, so you wouldn't really be helpful as bait anyways."

"Sam," Toni quietly whined at his joke as she slapped his chest weakly. "Thanks for understanding. I… I wish I could go, but you really don't need to be worrying about me freaking out while you're working a job either."

In preparation for this latest job, Toni helped Sam sift through the books that the Winchesters had managed to salvage form the wreckage of Bobby's house. Much to Toni's chagrin, the Winchesters had packed the boxes with the same care as Bobby had stocked the shelves of his library, which meant that there was absolutely no rhyme or reason for where books on any particular topic would be found. Sam had given Toni some of the details about the case so she was trying her best to find anything that could potentially be helpful to the guys, but without knowing what specific creature they were going to be taking on, Toni felt like she was just moving the books from one box to another.

At least the boxes will be more neatly packed now Toni thought to herself as she carefully placed two boxes into the box beside her.

"Alright, soup's on kids," Dean announced triumphantly as he came through the front door. "Whoa… What'd I miss while I was on a food run?"

Sam and Toni looked up from where they were sitting on the couch by a pile of books. Sam squeezed Toni's knee and whispered something in her ear that Dean couldn't quite hear. Toni nodded then turned her attention back to the pile of books while Sam got up and moved towards his brother's side in the kitchen area.

Anticipating the worst, Dean pulled a fresh bottle of cold beer out of the fridge. Sam shook his head and had a small smile tugging at his lips when he said, "It isn't anything bad… Well I guess it really depends on your perspective… Anyway, I found a job for us over in Seattle."

Dean swallowed his mouthful of beer and gave his brother a look of contempt saying, "Sounds good, but what's up with Debbie Downer over there?"

"Dean!" Sam huffed out with a decidedly annoyed tone. He quickly checked over his shoulder to see if Toni had heard his brother's insensitive question and when it appeared she hadn't he turned back to Dean and explained in a very hushed tone, "Given the time of year Toni doesn't feel comfortable hunting in the Puget Sound area, alright?" Sam hoped that his brother would catch onto his meaning form the look in his eye but contrary to the norm, Sam's brother seemed more interested in the bottle in he was holding than his brother's non-verbal communication.

"Given the time of year?" Dean questioned indignantly at full volume. "What the hell does that mean Sam? Because… Honestly I've never met a serious hunter who would avoid an area because the time of year didn't suit them. We go where the job takes us, no matter where, no matter when."

Toni let out a quiet shudder that bordered on a full out sob before Sam could answer his brother's accusation. He then remained silent and frozen in his place when he saw Toni stand up and say, "No Sam, he's right." Both Winchesters stared at her with a surprised look on their face as she turned to face them with her tears blatantly falling from her eyes explaining in a fairly clam tone, "Normally I would think the same way as you Dean and any excuse they threw at me would feel like nothing but a cop out, but here's the truth…"

Before she spoke again Toni took in a few quick breaths, much like a swimmer trying to saturate their lungs with oxygen before a significant dive and the Winchesters remained silent while they watched her apprehensively. Once her breathing evened out Toni finally faced the elder Winchester straight on saying, "The anniversary of my brother's death falls on the day after tomorrow. His birthday would have been the day after that. Tara's… Will's almost fiancée was born two days after him and by brother's greatest wish was for their wedding anniversary to be on the day that fell between their birthdays… He even wanted to propose to her on that day but he waited for months and put off asking her so that he could have the perfect ring made and to have me be up there to celebrate right after he proposed… Anyways… It was this time of year that 'someone' showed up in Everett and vandalized a naval officer's grave, so I like to avoid the area as much as I can since that person hasn't been found yet." When Dean stared at her in silently looking like he didn't understand her meaning, Toni more insistently added, "Is that okay with you Dean? Because it took me a couple of months before I figured out who the spirit was that killed my brother and by then it created a new anniversary near Will's birthday that I wish I never had to remember… The anniversary I wish I could whitewash from my memory forever but can't!" By this time Toni was screeching at near Banshee levels and encroaching on Dean's personal space. "I wish I never remembered having to burn my brother's bones because vanquishing the spirit that killed him didn't lay my brother's soul to rest and William… My Will… By then he had risen up as an angry ghost even though I had everything figured out and had destroyed the ghost that… That killed him and destroyed my family… So…"

"So maybe we can have some compassion," Sam offered keeping his calm eyes trained on Toni's face as much as possible.

Dean started to nod, but Toni sobbed in defeat causing Sam to run to her side. She continued to try to be comforted by Sam's presence and she tried to let his words calm her but right now she was too distraught to let anything penetrate her pain. Toni hadn't been able to tell anyone of Will's eventual fate and had no idea that reliving it would hurt as much as it did that day.

Dean continued to watch the other two in complete silence while his guilt started to mount in the pit of his stomach. Sam's efforts seemed to be paying off because Toni's tears finally started to subside once he had her seated on the couch once again while being held tightly in his arms. When Sam heard his brother pour a glass of whiskey he couldn't help but roll his eyes, but that quickly turned into a look of surprise when Dean sat down on the coffee table in front of the couple and held the glass out to Toni. She stared at him for a moment and didn't move so Dean shook his hand slightly to make his offer even clearer to her. Toni then took the glass from him, but she still had an unsure, apprehensive look on her face.

"Look Toni I… I had no idea that you went through all of that with your brother," Dean apologized in a soft, careful tone. He then turned and gave his brother an unfriendly look and added, "I never would have said anything like that if I had of been told that part of your history. I'm really sorry."

Sam opened his mouth to reply while mirroring his brother's expression but stopped himself from speaking when Toni reached out and squeezed Dean's knee. "He didn't know about everything that happened with Will… And especially not that last little bit about me having to hunt him." She then turned to look at Sam with new tears welling up in her eyes. "I didn't tell anyone about it. I was afraid that if the Colonel found out, which he would have if I breathed a word to anyone in the Service, that he would do something drastic, so I just kept it to myself. I didn't mean to keep it from you. I'm…"

"Hey… Hey don't apologize," Sam interrupted as he cupped her cheek and wiped away a tear. "I understand why it isn't something that you want to advertise to the world, but… Umm… Did you want to talk about all of it now?"

Toni bit her bottom lip then shook her head. "No I… I didn't even mean to bring it up or blurt it out like that, I just… I don't know I guess I was just trying…"

"To shut me up?" Dean finished with a soft chuckle. Toni turned to face him and just shrugged as her cheeks turned a bright shad of pink. "Hey don't feel embarrassed, I was being a jackass and more than deserved to be put in my place, okay? Seriously from where I stand we're good."

"Okay," Toni agreed in a small, almost inaudible voice.

Dean gently removed the now empty glass from Toni's white knuckle grasp and then got up to take it to the sink saying, "Alright I'm gonna head out on a supply run and then we hit the road for the Emerald City, so be packed and ready Sam."

"But Dean…" Sam started in protest. Once he had turned to look at his brother, Dean gave him a pointed look and then jutted his chin in Toni's direction.

It took a couple of seconds, but once Sam caught on to his brother's reasoning, Sam blushed slightly then said, "Alright… Yeah that sounds like a good plan… I'll be ready."

When Toni heard the quiet thud of the door closing, she laughed self-consciously then asked, "Did Dean really just make himself scarce so that you could have the chance of getting lucky?"

Sam hugged Toni against his chest then laughed as he replied, "Yeah he did… But hey, stranger things have happened, right?"

"True," Toni replied with her cheek against Sam's heart. "But…" She started slowly as she crawled into Sam's lap. She moved until she was tucked into his side with her legs resting over his lap. As she snuggled in even closer into his side she meekly asked, "But… Could you just hold me for a bit and then I'll help you get everything packed that you'll need?"

Sam kissed the top of her head then answered, "Sounds perfect to me."