"Alex, what is going on here?" Castiel asks with a slight pause. Sam and Dean had become used to the way the angel spoke, like he was trying out the words in his head first, but it still unsettled Alex.
"I don't really know, Castiel, but we need to get out of here. Can you help?" Alex asks, looking up into the angel's eyes.
"Of course I can."
"Wait! I'm not going anywhere until I know what is going on." Sam throws up his hands in exasperation, backing away from Dean, Castiel and Alex.
"Sam, I don't think we really have time to explain. Even Cas looks spooked." Dean tries to calm his brother down. Not knowing what was happening was making Sam start to become unhinged. Not to mention whatever had happened before he and Alex had entered the room. He thought that would make for an interesting story.
Throwing her bag over her shoulder, Alex walks up to Sam. "Sam, I know it's a lot to ask, but please trust me. As soon as we can get somewhere safe, I'll explain everything. Please?"
Looking from Alex to his brother, Sam heaves a sigh, "Fine."
Castiel motions for Sam to join him near the still knocked out Darcey, then touching both, the three disappear.
"Oh!" Alex gasps in surprise.
"Yeah, it's not a fun way to travel." Dean says with a small smirk.
Castiel pops back into the room, and moves to touch Dean. "Wait! What about my car?"
"Dean, now is not the time to worry about your car." Castiel says.
"I can't leave her here." Dean looks distraught at the thought of loosing his car, but reading the looks on Castiel and Alex's faces, he gives up. Castiel touches the two of them, and they disappear, only to reappear outside a similar looking motel.
"I'll go get us a room," Alex says, slipping around the corner and into the office.
"Cas, what's going on?"
*******
Alex sits on the bed, working on her computer, deleting credit card information, phone bills, anything that could create a trail leading to Winchesters. It was really just a "band-aid", as she liked to think about it. Anyone really interested in finding them this way would be able to see past her work, but most hunters they knew weren't as tech savvy as she and Darcey were. It would take her more time then she thought they had, to do the job that needed to be done. She looks over at her friend, knocked out across the other bed. She couldn't think about that right now, or she'd end up in a ball of tears. Why would she change her mind? And why hadn't she talked to her about it? Really talked to her, not tried to play devil's advocate.
"So, Zachariah is hiring hunters, to hunt us?" Sam asks in disbelief.
"I did warn you," Castiel replies. "But I wouldn't say he is hiring them. More like threatening them."
"And Alex and Darcey were hired by Zach. But Cas found them before they found us."
"But why would they want to help us?" asks Sam.
"Because your father was my friend," Alex answers, joining the men at the table. Castiel and Dean shift their chairs, making room for her. "And I refuse to believe that his sons could be evil, or end the world, or do any of the other things that Zachariah says you will do."
"OK, that explains how you got here. It doesn't explain the whole "make you disappear" part," Dean says.
"I'm getting to that. Darcey and I aren't just hunters. We're bounty hunters."
"Like 'Dog'?" Dean asks with a smirk.
"No. He's a joke. Scary, but a joke. We don't go around broadcasting ourselves. We're very good at what we do, but we're also pretty secretive about it. We found you, didn't we?"
"Touche'" Sam says, with a smile. He secretly enjoyed it when anyone matched wits with his brother.
"Darcey can find anyone. And I can make it so that they never existed. Delete records, change identities. Which brings me to the 'disappearing' part. I've wiped out your existing credit cards and phone records. You'll need to be careful about them from now on. Stick to cheap phones, nothing hi-tech. They all have GPS in them. And you'll need new identities."
"What's wrong with our old ones?"
"Remember how I asked you if you'd read the 'Supernatural' books?"
"Yeah."
"Well, there is always the chance that some other hunter has. Or even worse, that when Zachariah sent people after you, he said 'Here, read this. It'll tell you all you need to know about who you are after.' Guys, they list all your known aliases, places you like to frequent, favorite food. Not to mention, any hunter worth his salt knows about the Winchesters. And your car..."
"I'm not giving up my car," Dean says.
"I'm not saying you need to give it up. While it's easily recognizable, your car is safer then getting something new, when it comes down to it. There's no computer inside. Basically, you need to keep a low profile."
"OK, you've made us disappear. Why did we need to leave so fast?"
"I believe I can answer that," Castiel takes over the conversation, while Alex quietly excuses herself, slipping into the bathroom. "It is more than likely that if, as Alex believes, Darcey wished to turn you over to Zachariah, then she had some means of communicating with him. And it is all of our best interests to avoid him, at all costs."
"I'm still not giving up my car," Dean pouts under his breath.
********
Alex quietly steps away from the table, leaving the men and the angel in deep discussion. She grabs a few pieces of clothing and slips into the small bathroom. Damn, Darcey, she thinks to herself, turning the shower on. Maybe after a hot shower, she'd feel better and be able to think clearer. As the hot water steams up the bathroom, Alex finds herself relaxing, just a bit. The Winchesters were as safe from human hunters as she could make them, and she was free, for the time being, of having to worry about being found by the angels. Sure, there were a lot of things she'd have to deal with and take care of, but right now, things did not look as bad as they had a mere fifteen minutes ago.
Stepping out of the hot shower, throwing on a pair of jeans and a faded red T-shirt, Alex felt like a new person. Until she turns to the fogged up mirror, and notices the dark circles under her eyes in the fogged over glass. She sits down on the cold toilette, and lets the hot tears fall, wrapping her arms around herself, trying to silence the sobs that threaten to break out. She hated feeling weak.
