I've received a disturbing number of reviews and pm's saying Sam Winchester is a whiny douchebag and other such things and that I'm being too easy on him. I would like to alert reviewers to the fact that while I'm not exactly a Sam fangirl I don't hate him either. I won't mischaracterize him simply because defamation is popular. He has his faults as a character just as Dean does. So let's play nice, yeah?

Episodes: None this time folks. Just enjoy.

"Bobby's pretty sure he's got a case." Sam said flipping his phone shut and turning to Dean who was currently gorging on a cheeseburger.

Dean raised an eyebrow in question, not bothering to stop eating.

Sam sighed. "Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Bobby says there have been a series of strange deaths."

"Strange how?" Dean asked wiping some sauce from his chin with his finger.

"Well, two people have been struck by lightning in the past week. Another victim's sister says the girl claimed to be 'stalked by cats' all day before she was found dead in an alley looking to have been mauled by a 'large cat'. My favorite though is the guy who swears he was nearly beat to death by his grade school teacher wearing a tutu."

"That is strange." Dean agreed taking the last bite of his sandwich. "Let's go."

Sam rolled his eyes but followed.

"How many of them were broken into?" Harry asked irately as he paced back and forth in his office.

"Just one." The man on the other end said nervously.

"I expect better service if something like this happens again. I have valuable things kept those storage rooms."

"Yes sir."

Harry hung up rubbing his head. He could feel a massive headache forming again.

"A bit harsh." Gabriel pointed out.

"You seem to have taken up the habit of popping into my office whenever you feel like it." Harry noted sourly. "I wish you'd break it."

"Oh come on." Gabriel pleaded leaning forward. "You're interesting. I'm interesting. What's not to like about this partnership?"

Harry rolled his eyes.

"So what was stolen?"

"Only a few objects from the sound of it." Harry said not looking at the angel. "But it could be…problematic."

"How so?" Gabriel asked curiously.

"Why are you here instead of tricking people. Isn't that your normal MO?"

"With all the angels swarming Earth these days?" Gabriel asked disbelievingly. "I have to keep a low profile for a while."

"And you decided to do that in my office? Brilliant." Harry muttered.

"So, any idea where your stolen valuables are?" Gabriel said leaning back and propping his feet up on the small table in front of his chair and effectively diverting the conversation from himself.

Harry glared at the man's feet for a second. "One." He said waving his hand and a sheet of paper flew from his desk to Gabriel.

"Rolling Meadows, Illinois…man severely bludgeoned says it was long dead school teacher?" Gabriel read out loud then snickered. "You think this is where whatever it is that was stolen is?"

Harry nodded with a sigh. "I got a lead from someone about two days ago. I called around to the storage facilities where I keep some of my items, and one of them has had a break in."

"So what's the problem?" Gabriel asked placing the paper on the table. "Just go get the stuff back."

Harry shot him a glare. "Walking into a ticking time bomb isn't my idea of a good time. I've been trying to figure out what was stolen so I can deal with it properly."

"Did you?"

Harry rubbed his face. "I might have." He admitted.

"And?"

"Speculations later." Harry said pushing his glass away. "I need to get on the road."

"Can't you just…you know…zap your way over or something?" Gabriel asked curiously.

"I'd rather not set off the alarms on my way into town if there are any. It's a good way to get yourself ambushed." Harry heading for the exit he paused at the door. "Not coming along I take it?"

Gabriel shrugged. "I might pop in later."

"Don't do anything untoward to my office." Harry said narrowing his eyes. "You will regret it if you do."

Gabriel shivered but didn't object.

"I've already told the police everything." The swollen gym teacher in front of Dean complained. He certainly looked worse for wear.

"I'm sorry, but we're going to have to ask you to tell us one more time." Sam said giving the man his puppy eyes seemingly without even realizing. The man sighed.

"I was walking home from work. My car broke down. When I got about halfway there I started hearing something behind me so I walked faster. Then she was just there." He said with a shiver.

"Who?"

"That lady from the cooking shows." The man insisted. "The one with the really bad Southern accent."

"Paula Deen?" Sam asked confused.

"That's the one." The man said moving to nod and then obviously regretting it when he jarred his injuries. "I tried to get past her but she had this rolling pin and she just kept hitting me with it. She was really strong for a lady you know? And Tom came out of his house when he heard me yelling and chased her off or something. I'm not sure. I was unconscious by then."

"Is there anything else you remember that might have happened before the accident?"

"No."

"And you didn't have any sort…issue with…Paula Deen."

The man gave him an incredulous look. "No. I'd never met the woman before."

"Right. Thank you Mr. Wilding." Sam said standing and motioning for Dean to follow him. They took a few steps away. "This is weird." He put out there immediately.

"Super weird." Dean agreed glancing over his shoulder at the battered man.

"No signs of demonic possessions. No hex bags. No sulfur. The only thing that links the victims is this." Sam pulled out two small neatly folded pieces of fabric with a strange character sewn into them.

"Maybe we can send a picture to Bobby and see what he can make of them." Dean suggested pulling out his phone and snapping a picture of the cloth. He dialed Bobby's number after he hit send.

"What do you idjits want now?" The irritated voice of Bobby answered seconds later.

Was it just Dean's mind playing tricks or did Bobby sound more annoyed than usual? "We're working that case you sent us on and we found something, but we don't know what it means." Dean replied. "I sent you a picture."

There was a shuffling on the other side of the line, probably Bobby wheeling his way to the computer. "Well it's Japanese. I can tell you that much." Bobby said gruffly. "Give me a bit and I'll see what I can dig up."

The line went dead and Dean blinked at his phone before returning it to his pocket. "Bobby's going to look into it."

"Great." Sam said pocketing the cloth. "So what do we do for now?"

Dean started to shrug before spotting a familiar head bobbing amongst the doctors. Sam raised his eyes unsure why Dean was quiet then followed his gaze before freezing as well. "Is that…?"

"I think so." Dean replied.

Making his way in their direction and talking animatedly with the doctor they'd been interviewing themselves earlier was none other than Harry. He seemed immersed in whatever the doctor was telling him, and the doctor himself seemed to be spilling a lot more information than he had to the Winchesters. The doctor glanced up and caught sight of them. "Agent Bonham, Agent Copeland." He said making in their direction with a suddenly irked looking Harry trailing behind. "This is Agent Cole."

"Agents." Harry said nodding. "We've met."

"Perhaps they can fill you in on what's been happening?" The doctor said hopefully. "I really need to get back. I have surgery in twenty minutes."

"Of course doctor." Harry said with a smile handing the man a card. "Call me if anything else turns up."

The man took the card and excused himself hastily.

"Good afternoon agents." Harry said with a smirk.

"Why're you here?" Dean hissed out.

Harry's eyes flashed a small hint of anger. "I don't really think I owe you that explanation Winchester. And even if I did, do you really think this is the best place to discuss it agent?" He stressed the word again.

Sam put a calming hand on Dean's shoulder. "He's right." Sam said nodding to the side where nurses, patients and doctors all milled about them, all way too close to go around having a conversation about the supernatural.

Harry sighed turning on his heel and motioning for the Winchesters to follow. Dean and Sam shared a glance before doing so. They figured he'd stop in the parking lot, but he continued on the sidewalk until they were standing outside of a quaint little coffee shop. Dean raised an eyebrow as Harry entered, not asking their opinion. Sam shrugged, following. Harry was inside situated at the table furthest to the left and staring in their direction expectantly. Sam hesitated for half a second before walking over and taking the seat opposite Harry leaving the outermost seat open for Dean. Dean plopped into the seat seconds later leaning forward.

"So now you want to answer my question?"

Harry raised a brow. "You know I've shown quite a bit of patience with you Winchesters." He began examining his nail. "But you're really starting to get on my nerves." A harsh glare was directed Dean's way then.

A tense silence reigned between them before Harry let out a sigh.

"I'm here because of the strange occurrences in this town."

"What? Suddenly decided to start carrying the torch for humanity?"

Harry's eyes narrowed. "I don't know how I could dislike humanity with such fine examples of humility like you running around."

Sam shook his head. "No offense-"

"Oh you're terrible at offending people. Always so polite." Harry snapped.

Sam bit back an argument instead continuing his question. "But you don't seem the type to get caught in a normal hunt."

"Indeed." Harry said with a fake smile.

"So what's special about this one?"

"A stolen artifact." Harry said leaning back.

"Stolen? From who?"

"Me." Harry seethed.

"Did you forget to double lock your cereal cabinet?" Dean quipped.

Harry turned a disinterested look in his direction. It was weird to Sam how quickly he could go from being angry to completely calm and distant. "No, my wards fell. Apparently when I disappeared after saving your asses my magic didn't exactly hold. Now seven or eight powerful magical instruments are being paraded about the world like trinkets at a day fair."

"How powerful are we talking?" Dean asked growing serious.

"Varying levels, but the worst of them can turn a man to stone with a touch." Harry said with a shrug. "It's not exactly low level soothing charms applied to those objects. They were locked up for a reason."

"So what are we dealing with here?" Sam asked concern written on his face.

Harry tilted his head to the side. "Let me see the thing in your pocket."

Dean's cell phone went off as Sam reached into his pocket wide eyed. He was surprised Harry knew the cloth was there, and it was obvious he meant the cloth as he was staring at the exact pocket Sam had placed it in. "Yeah Bobby? What ya got?"

Sam hesitantly handed the cloth over to Harry who unfolded it gently and seemed amused the whole time. "Well, that's odd." Harry said placing the cloth on the table and examining the character on it. "I assume Mr. Singer has been looking into its meaning?"

Sam nodded.

"Mr. Winchester, if you'd put your phone on speaker I'd appreciate it." Harry said politely.

Dean glared from his phone. "Why would I do that?" A rumbling came from the other end of the line as Harry leveled him with a piercing stare.

"I could always make you." Harry threatened subtly.

"Harry showed up." Dean answered to Bobby who'd probably asked who he was talking to. "He wants me to put you on speaker…yeah…" Dean let out a petulant sigh but placed the phone on the table and hit the button that would make the output louder.

"Good afternoon Mr. Singer."

"Yeah, whatever. Look I'll tell you what I was telling Dean." Bobby said grumpily. "The character is kanji for 'baku'. It's the symbol for a Japanese god by the same name, or-"

"Bakugashira?" Harry interrupted.

"Yeah…" Bobby confirmed. "Legend goes it swallows nightmares, and it can only get into your room if you invite it using that symbol you boys found."

"So all of these people are inviting it?" Sam asked bewildered. "And then, what? It brings their nightmares to life instead of getting rid of them?"

"Whoa…the means someone's nightmare was getting beat to death by Paula Deen."

"Dean? Focus." Sam reminded him.

Dean sent his brother a mildly offended glare. "Is it some kind of town custom? Didn't really get the Asian vibe from this town." Dean mused out loud. "So how do we gank it?"

"I'm looking into lore, but so far-"

"There's no need." Harry interrupted.

"Meaning?" Bobby said irritated.

"I have a fair notion of what's probably happening in this town, and it has little to do with the god himself."

"Then what?" Sam asked curious and a little irked the Harry was, as usual, one step ahead of them.

"Well from the list of stolen items, the only thing I could think that would be able to do something like this is a compulsion charm, and it just so happens that there was a charmed talisman on the list."

"A compulsion charm?"

"Is there an echo in here?"

Dean opened his mouth looking ready to start another argument, but Harry cut him off.

"It's a high level compulsion charm. Unfortunately any measly witch that got their greedy little hands on it would be able to use it, and it's strong enough to compel a high level demon or low level god to do their bidding." Harry with a frown.

"So…what? Some witch breaks into you storage container and skips off with a high level talisman and now we have to clean up the mess?" Dean said snottily.

"I'm here to 'clean up the mess' as you've so quaintly put it. I could care less what you do." Harry said with a snort of derision. "Honestly, witches have gone downhill. Having to use a charmed object instead their own magic, it's pathetic."

"How does it work? Does the god have to do everything it's told…or does it have some free will?"

"It's under the witch's complete control until the spell ends. Then I'd have to assume it goes back to doing whatever the hell it wants."

"Where'd you get the talisman?" Sam asked curiously.

"I didn't 'get' it anywhere. It's not like they sell them at Walmart." He said pulling out his phone. "I made it."

"You made something that dangerous?" Sam asked eyes wide.

"There's a reason it was in a warded room sealed away forever." Harry reminded him flipping through his contacts.

"Couldn't you just destroy it?" Dean cut in.

"No." Harry answered simply not bothering to glance up.

"Fun as this has been. I'm gonna hang up now." Bobby's voice rang forth from Dean's phone reminding everyone he was still on the line.

Dean picked up the phone. "Right. We'll keep you updated." He said as they heard the click signaling Bobby disconnection.

"Konnichiwa." Harry said phone pressed to his ear. "Ah, yes. Of course."

"He speaks Japanese?" Dean muttered to Sam. Sam shrugged.

Nigh on two hours passed in which Harry talked back and forth with whoever he'd called. Sometimes it was in English, sometimes it wasn't. Just enough of it was in Japanese that neither brother could really follow what was going on. Dean had his arms crossed against his chest and his face scrunched into an annoyed frown while Sam simply leaned against the table in boredom. Finally, after what seemed forever, Harry hung up and sent them a mildly surprised look.

"You're still here." He said with a smirk. "I'd expected your attention span to snap an hour ago at the most."

"Yeah, whatever. What was the phone call about?" Dean snapped.

"A friend of mine from Japan. I was asking her a few more key details regarding the Bakugashira. I've never dealt with him personally. Apparently he's usually pretty mild mannered."

"What, no sacrificing virgins or eating the innocent to keep up on protein?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "According to Yuuko the Baku eat mostly copper, iron, and…well nightmares. Seeing as our friendly neighborhood witch isn't making him eat the nightmares..."

"He has to be getting food somewhere else." Sam said catching on.

"Someone want to fill me in on the little group connection going on here?" Dean said irritably.

"Illinois was one of the biggest iron producers of the country in civil war days." Sam supplied, always happy to spout out random tidbits of information for his brother. "There's even an iron works building here in Rolling Meadows."

"You think that's the place?" Dean asked Harry.

Harry shrugged. "It's worth a try, and it's a good starting point. It'll take a while for me to pinpoint the location of whoever has the talisman without any leads."

"Alright." Dean said standing. "Let's go then."

The ironworks turned out to be a rather large lot sub composed of gatherings of buildings. Both cars pulled into the parking lot. Harry was rather surprised by the lack of cars on a weekday. He popped open his door meeting Dean and Sam at the Impala.

Dean was shaking his head staring over Harry's shoulder at his car. "You drive a '69 Camaro?"

"Your brother's right. You do tend to focus on insignificant details." Harry said shaking his head. "I'll take over asking the owner questions. You two skirt around and see if you can find anything." Harry said pulling his badge. "If anyone stops you, you're just doing your job." He said with a smirk turning from them.

They watched him trail along into what seemed to be the main office building.

"Did he strike you as a classic muscle car type?" Dean asked once Sam turned to him.

Sam let out an exasperated sigh. "Dean." He said shaking his head and moving past his older brother.

"What?!" Dean called after unsure what he'd said.

A two and a half hour search of the facility turned up absolutely nothing on the Winchester end. They checked every building and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. So eventually they called it quits and headed back to the Impala to see Harry standing there talking to a man. When he spotted them he wrapped up his conversation with an amiable smile and a polite dismissal.

"Well I hope you got something, because we've got nada." Dean said with a huff.

Harry smiled as if he'd been expecting that. "In fact I do." He said pulling out a small notepad and flaunting a hastily scribbled address.

"What's this?" Sam asked taking the paper curiously.

"An address." Harry dead panned.

"To where smartass." Dean quipped realized Harry was just leading Sam on.

"Our lead suspects house of course." Harry said plucking the notepad back. "She's been stealing from the company for a few years now. At first just small things went missing every couple of months. Last week they caught her trying to haul off scrap metal."

"Okaaaay."

"An entire truck load of iron, copper, and steel." Harry said with a disapproving frown. He hated how he had to explain every detail to Dean for him to see the bigger picture.

"So you think this woman-"

"Amy Saito." Harry corrected.

"Japanese." Sam muttered.

"Ding, we have a winner."

"She's throwing out clues left and right. She's not exactly covering her tracks." Dean said with a contemplative frown. "It smells like a trap."

Harry shrugged. "There's only one way to be sure."

A twenty minute drive later had them outside of town and pulling up to a midsized two story house with a wrap-around porch. No car was parked in the drive way. No lights were one in the house. In fact the whole scene had a feel of desolation and general abandonment. Harry watched the area with suspicion in his eyes.

The Winchesters didn't seem to have caught Harry's hesitation as they both piled out of the Impala and moved around to the back to pick out which weapons they'd be taking while they explored. Harry sighed and shook his head, but opened his door and stepped out. His eyes scanned the quiet house. A hand tapped his shoulder and he sent an annoyed glare Sam's way.

"We're gonna head into the house." Sam motioned toward the building.

"Have fun kiddo." Harry said shutting his car door. "It's not like you need my permission. Just make sure you have your signed permission slip from a parent."

Sam frowned but moved away from Harry towards the waiting Dean.

Harry had his eyes set on the disconnected garage. It was a large stand alone building that could have fit an army of cars inside of it. Hell, it was large enough to be a second house. He quickly flicked his wrist and heard the lock click. The door swung inward revealing the dim expanse of floor in front of him. Harry frowned casting a lighting charm that floated slightly in front of him as a flashlight would, but illuminated much more of the room. Walls were thrown into contrast and the garage was shown to be surprisingly, and unnervingly, empty. Blank floor stretched to either side of him for a good twenty yards on each side.

"Well that's disappointing." He said sauntering to the right most wall and placing a hand on it. He was about ready to leave when something caught his eye. Just the smallest of glimmers on the North facing wall. Curious, he made his way over to it.

He knelt next a small ring hanging near the bottom of the large wall. It looked like a handle of some sort. With a shrug he grabbed the small thing and tugged. With the barest amount of resistance a section of the wall began to swing outwards. When he had the thing open as far as it would go he released the latch, dusting his hands. Inside was a skew of random objects; bowls, some half filled with ubiquitous liquids, daggers, swatches of cloth, a sewing machine, what Harry sincerely thought looked like an infant's skull, and many other identifiable and unidentifiable paraphernalia. Harry grimaced nudging aside one of the filled bowls with his shoe. "Place could do with a good dusting." He muttered making his way to the center of the hidden room.

He knelt next to a large, intricate circle which seemed to be drawn in blood. In the center stood two skulls, one human, one animal; a chunk of iron; and a bag of some sort.

"Harry?!" Harry could hear Sam call from outside of the room.

He sighed standing. "In here." He called.

"The house is empty, and I mean completely empty." Sam started rambling on his way back. "There wasn't even any furn-" he paused as he reached the doorway and saw the room. "Holy crap."

"Jackpot." Dean muttered from beside him.

"I'd say we found the summoning center." Harry said wrinkling his nose as he nudged aside another bowl. "But it looks abandoned."

Dean wandered around poking at things and moving others. He picked up the small skull Harry had noticed earlier. "It's like Witches-R-Us in here. There's a little bit of everything."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You realize you're holding a child's skull right?"

Dean dropped the thing like it was on fire wiping his hand on his jacket.

"So why tuck tail and run?" Sam mused. "This place looks like it's been abandoned for weeks. We only got into town a few days ago so it couldn't be that she caught wind of us."

"Perhaps we're not the only ones on her trail." Harry said examining a picture stapled to the back wall.

"Who else would be?"

Harry shrugged.

A terrible screeching reached their ears then. It was the sound of metal on metal and shattering glass. Sam and Dean shared a look before bolting. Harry pulled down the picture he'd found and followed at more sedate, if quickened pace. What greeted them outside wasn't pretty. Sam was staring slack jawed at half of a car. More specifically he was staring at half of Harry's car. The other half was gone as if something hadn't taken a giant bite out of it.

Harry hissed in a breath when he spotted the damage. "I liked that car." He said through gritted teeth.

"Dude, something just ate half your car and that's all you have to say?" Dean asked incredulously. He knew he'd be throwing a bitch fit if the same had happened to the Impala.

"Trust me." Harry said eyes flashing as he glanced over. "I'm livid."

"So now what?" Sam asked breaking the silence as Harry made his way over to sift through the ruined car for anything personal. "Where do we go?"

"What did all the victims have in common?" Harry asked rifling through the glove compartment.

"As far as I could tell, nothing." Sam replied.

"Wrong." Harry said standing and placing a small book in his jacket. "They're all connected to a single person."

"Who?" Sam asked brows scrunching together.

"Sarah Saito."

"A sister?"

"A daughter." Harry said holding up the photo he'd taken from the back room.

"The records I was searching didn't turn anything up about a dependant." Sam was visibly annoyed that he'd missed something.

"That's because she's been dead for nigh on five years now. Recent records wouldn't tell you anything. Brownie points for trying though."

"You knew this the whole time?" Dean said angrily snapping the picture away.

"Most of it." Harry said with a shrug.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Never reveal your hand until the betting's done Mr. Winchester." Harry said with a smirk.

"So why are you telling us now?" Sam asked his voice laced with suspicion.

"Well if my assumptions are correct, and they usually are, you're invested in the situation. Consider it mutual benefit that you're now brought up to speed. Well, that and I need a ride now. There seem to be anti apparition wards laced all over this god forsaken town."

"Great." Dean said heading over to his car. "A joy filled car ride with the queen. Where to your majesty?"

"Well now that I have something personal of Amy's…" Harry said plucking the picture form Dean's hand. "I can do a tracking spell."

About an hour of driving around following Harry's directions, which sometimes included rather sharp and sudden turns, they found themselves on a forest preserve. They all piled out of the car and Harry led the two brothers through the wooded area with ease, especially for someone who was keeping their eyes shut the whole time.

Sam nearly bumped into Harry as he stopped abruptly eyes snapping open.

"What is it?"

"She's about thirty yards ahead of us in a small cabin." Harry said with a frown.

"Okay." Dean said standing level with him. "So why did you stop?"

"Remember the anti apparition wards? Yeah, apparently she knew I was coming and elicited a bit of help keeping me away." Harry said shrugging. "Looks like you boys are on your own for now."

"Fantastic." Dean said sarcastically motioning for Sam to follow.

"Sam." Harry said drawing the attention of the two again and tossing Sam a bag. "If you find the talisman put it in there. Do try not to touch it, yeah? I'll try to find a way in."

As they trudged on out of sight Harry began to circle to the right just the slightest bit. He could feel a presence in the trees watching him, and he was pretty sure he knew who it was. Moving away from where he and the Winchesters had parted ways was mostly so that they didn't stumble in on what he assumed was about to be an interesting chat, and considering the person hadn't simply approached him while he'd been with the boys meant they weren't keen on revealing themselves to the hunters. Hence Harry's little lie about a ward blocking him from entry.

"You can come out now." He said with a smirk. "I know you're there."

"Well, imagine that."

Harry tried not to roll his eyes at the demon standing before him. "Crowley. I thought I smelled two bit has been. What do you want?"

Crowley put a hand over his chest as if moderately offended. "Hardly a has been." Crowley said with a frown. "I'm making plans to move up in the world after all."

"Funny thing that." Harry scoffed. "You've been 'making plans' since we met. It's hardly a reassuring statement at this point. Why are you here?"

"I want to make a deal." A hard glint entering his eyes. Harry knew it was his serious face.

"Sorry, love." Harry said caustically. "My soul doesn't hold much value to your kind."

"Not for your soul."Crowley said rolling his eyes, apparently he lacked the restraint Harry did on the matter. Honestly the two could stand around scoffing at each other all day and find themselves more than entertained it was one of the bonuses of being old and sarcastic. "For the gun."

Harry blinked. "The colt?" he raised an eyebrow. "Looking to save yourself from a messy encounter with fate?"

"I'm looking to save myself from a lot of things." Crowley replied nonchalantly.

"What's your bargaining chip?" Harry asked crossing his arms. He didn't like the situation. Crowley knew Harry didn't want anything he had so really he was just risking pissing Harry off at this point, and Harry wasn't someone you wanted to piss off if you had your best interests in mind. Crowley always had his best interests in mind.

"How about four of the items that were stolen from you?" Crowley asked lowly.

The air seemed to grow immediately more tense. "Have you been taking things that don't belong to you again?"

"Of course not." Crowley said "I simply…reacquired your missing goods."

"I'm sure." Harry said through narrowed eyes. He didn't buy Crowley's claim to innocence for a moment.

"So…deal?"

"Well I suppose that depends." Harry said crossing his arms. "Where are the items? Here?"

"What do you think I am?" Crowley said, an indignant scowl on his face. "Of course not. They're nice and secure at the moment. Although, they do have shipment orders if you say no."

Harry suppressed the urge to growl at the man.

"So, deal?" Crowley said again a self satisfied smirk gracing his lips.

"Remove the anti apparition wards and it's a deal."

"Oh." Crowley clicked his tongue. "No can do. You see, I'm not the one doing this." He gestured at the sky.

"The witch?" Harry said with some shock filtering through. He hadn't met a witch capable of holding a ward this strong in a long time.

"Witch?" Crowley said with amusement. "Sure, whatever you want to call the pagan gods these days." He shrugged.

Harry suppressed a groan. The Winchesters were misinformed and outgunned, and he'd sent them in alone. Fantastic. "Deal." He said turning his back to Crowley. "I assume you know where my office is? Next time you want to have a heart to heart meet me there instead of some secluded forest in the middle of nowhere, Illinois."

Harry heard an amused half laugh as he made his way toward the cabin where he knew the Winchesters were probably having their asses handed to them.

Harry had, as usual, guessed right. Both Winchesters were beat to hell and pinned to the walls of the large cabin while the woman on the floor paced back and forth monologing about how she was in the right and they simply didn't understand her quest. Harry couldn't suppress the eye roll that brought on.

Harry stepped out from his corner. "Good afternoon." He said taking in the full layout of the room now that he could see it. "I do believe you have something of mine."

The woman froze for half a second as she took in his voice before she emphatically threw her hand in one direction assuming Harry would follow. To her surprise the man stayed firmly in place with a slight smirk tugging at his lips.

"You're going to have to catch me on a bad day for that to work." Harry said. "Now then, we were discussing my property?"

"I need it!" she hissed, worry and anger flitting through her eyes.

"Oh, well, by all means then." Harry said waving a hand dismissively.

She looked startled. "Really?"

"No." Harry said disdainfully.

"Please." She pleaded. "My daughter. They killed my daughter."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "The gym teacher killed your daughter?"

"He didn't stop them!" she yelled, enraged by his flippancy.

Harry shook his head. "Give me back the talisman and I won't kill you." He said icily.

Harry could feel Dean's eyes turn to him incredulously. Harry saw Amy's hand inch toward her pocket almost as if she wanted to check if the small stone was still there. It was obvious she didn't want to return it from the scowl on her face.

Harry shrugged snapping his fingers. Amy collapsed unmoving to the ground. Sam and Dean landed on their feet each taking deep breaths as if they hadn't been able to breathe properly for a while.

"Is she dead?" Sam asked stepping closer.

"No." Harry answered kneeling and going through the woman's pocket until he found a small stone. "I incapacitated her."

"Well let's finish this then." Dean said retrieving his gun and pointing it at the woman's head.

Harry stood taking the small stone with him. "You can't."

"Why shouldn't I?" Dean said angrily. "She nearly killed Sam and me."

"No, I mean you literally can't. It's beyond you at the moment. You don't have the proper tools. She not a witch."

"But you said she was a witch."

Harry shrugged. "I thought she was. Someone wanted me to be believe she was and I'd hate to disappoint."

"If she's not a witch what is she?"

"Hand me the bag." Harry said holding his hand out to Sam who immediately placed the small bag Harry had given him earlier there. "From what I can tell she's the goddess Kuan Yin."

Sam blinked. "I thought she was supposed to be all about mercy and forgiveness."

Dean scowled in his brother's direction. "Nerd."

"There's a reason I don't let these artifacts drift about you know." Harry said flourishing the bag before pocketing it. "This talisman alters personality over time. It can turn even the kindest of individuals in revenge obsessed lunatics."

Dean's cell phone chimed letting them know he had an incoming message. He flipped open the phone and read the message twice.

"So what do we do with her?" Sam asked motioning to the passed out woman.

"Normally I'd apparate her to my office and we'd have a nice long chat." Harry said with a frown. "But the apparition wards are still up so…"

He knelt beside her and placed two fingers on her forehead. There was a slight rosy glow and then he pulled back.

"That will have to suffice." Harry said standing back up.

"What did you do?"

"A memory charm. Without the negative attachment to this place she'll probably wander away and leave the people in peace."

"Was that…did she really have a daughter?"

Harry shrugged. "Probably. There's no telling if her daughter actually died here or not though, and it's not like an entire town killed her. So we can't just let her kill them off…well I suppose we could technically but I'm sure your morals would stand in the way of that."

"So now what?" Sam said crossing his arms.

"Now we have to go." Dean supplied starting to move past Sam and Harry.

"Dean? Where's the fire?" Sam asked walking after his brother.

Dean just tossed his phone to Sam.

"You know, a tinge of compassion would be appreciated." Harry said hotly. "My car was eaten and I can't exactly apparate. A ride out of town wouldn't be amiss."

The look on Dean's face said he really would rather argue the fact, but Sam had just gotten done reading the text Dean had tossed his way and he barreled between the two of them. Dean let out a sigh. "Let's go." he said sounding defeated.

My first personalized case. More than a few holes I know. I kept changing what I wanted to do in my mind and then the story would take a 180 to accommodate. Still, I don't think it turned out terribly for the amount of research I put in. Tell me what you guys think. ^^

Well, I haven't slept in nearly 36 hours so I think I'll end the author's note here. 'Til next time!

~Kanathia