When Sam went out to get dinner, I grabbed a blanket and a pillow out of the closet in the room and went to the bathroom. I tried to ignore Dean's questions as I set my things down. I bundled the blanket and put it into the bathtub and set the pillow in the curve opposite of the spout.

Dean came in behind me, making me tense slightly. "What are you doing?"

I fluffed the pillow and sat my duffle bag down. "I'm setting up my bed."

He stared at the bathtub. "Huh?"

"If I'm going to be staying in a room with the two best hunters in the world, I'm going to be sleeping in here and locking myself in at night," I told him. "Nowadays I can usually tell a few minutes prior to when the Need will hit, but I can't tell when I'm asleep." I gave him a smile. "A lady has to use precaution."

He smirked at me. "They should, anyway."

I shrugged away his little innuendo and went back into the main room. I flopped down at the table, putting my feet up on the chair next to me. I sighed, closed my eyes and rubbed my scalp to try and massage away the last remains of my stress headache. When I opened my eyes, Dean was staring at me.

"So, uh, don't know if this is your curse talking, but you look really good when you sorta bend like that-"

I threw a wad of paper at him. "Shut it, Winchester. No being within ten feet of me." I grinned at him. "Until after the curse is lifted anyway."

He jerked his head to the side and laughed guiltily. "Well, ah, okay…"

I looked Dean over. He definitely wasn't a bad guy to look at. Close cut brown hair, tanned weathered skin, those green eyes…

I smacked myself internally. Get it together, Thea, I told myself. Anything could happen at any moment. You have to be ready for it!

Sam came in then and I was thankful for the distraction. He gave me my bag of food and I wolfed it down quickly. I hadn't eaten in hours and that burger tasted awesome. It must've been the hope that these guys gave me. I hadn't felt this optimistic in a really long time.

We spent the evening going over books and lore about Aphrodite. I knew almost everything there was to know about the bitch, but the boys had to brush up. They were starting to see as we learned more and more about what a heartless whore this goddess really was. She would curse girls prettier than her, bring whole cities to their knees. Aphrodite was also one of the most feared gods in the Greek pantheon. Love is a powerful weapon and people knew that.

Sam cleared his throat and we both looked at him. Sam looked back to the computer screen. "After reading about some of the omens that give people an idea that Aphrodite's in town, it looks right now like she is in," he squinted at the screen. "New York City."

I groaned. "We're in Indiana! It'll take forever to get there and come up with a plan and-"

"Actually, Thea, we may be able to get some help in this situation." Sam looked at Dean. "We could summon Cas and ask him for some help. Maybe he'll know something that we don't."

Dean looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, we could I guess." He turned to me. "What do you think?"

I hesitated. "Well, Dean, my only thing is that luckily I haven't had to really fend off supernatural beings since the curse started. I fought off a demon once and managed to get out of that by the skin of my teeth, but an angel? If this angel knows where I am when the Need hits then I am royally screwed."

"There's a symbol that Cas could give you. He burned it into our ribs. It makes it so that angels can't just pop in on you."

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. "Okay, yeah. I guess it's okay."

Minutes later, a man in a trench coat poofed into the room, scaring me half to death.

Sam came running out of the bathroom, trying to buckle his pants while Dean laughed at both of us. I threw a bottle at him. "You didn't tell me he just literally pops in!"

The angel called Castiel looked at me, but not with confusion or that look you give people when you don't know them. No, I could tell that he knew me and that he knew what was wrong.

He soon confirmed my suspicions. "You have been cursed."

I looked at the brothers. "He doesn't waste any time, does he?"

"Nah," Dean replied. "That isn't really his thing."

I looked to the angel. "Yes, Castiel. I've been cursed by the goddess Aphrodite."

His eyebrows came together, thinking. "She hasn't surfaced in years. We would've known if she had."

"We?"

"Heaven." He said the name offhandedly, like it didn't really matter or that it was an afterthought.

"Wait, Heaven? Heaven knows when pagans surface or not?" I couldn't believe it. I was giddy at the thought. This could be our chance to get the bitch, and I could finally walk around without being constantly on guard.

"Of course we know," Castiel said. He actually sounded mildly offended. "We are the ones who brought them down and set the rules upon them."

"Well, this is great." Sam grabbed a beer and popped the top. "Cas, you can help us find her and kill her to lift the curse-"

"Sam, I am telling you, Aphrodite has not surfaced once in almost two hundred years." Castiel started to pace. "Surely there is no way that she could slip by unnoticed…"

"Well apparently there is." I stepped forward and drew the pendent out from beneath my shirt. "This can't come off. I looked it up. It's what used to be called the Eye of Aphrodite." I looked down at it, hating it and marveling at it all at once. "Her followers and her prisoners used to wear it so that whatever hold she had on them would stay as long as she wanted."

Castiel grabbed it and turned it over in his palm. He didn't seem to notice how I tensed at his closeness. Dean did, however, and pulled him away. "Cas, personal space."

The angel blinked. "Oh. My apologies."

He looked around at the three of us. "She's right. That's Aphrodite's mark. There isn't anything that can get it off unless Aphrodite wants it off."

"So tell us where she is, Cas. We have a very limited amount of time to work on this!" Dean pointed at me. "She's a time bomb and we don't want to be around when she goes off." When he noticed my glare, he shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry."

"I'm sorry, Dean. I don't know where she is." Castiel did have the decency to look apologetic. "If I hadn't met, uh,"

"Thea."

"Thea. If I hadn't met her, I would still say that Aphrodite is gone, but apparently she isn't." Cas stepped back. "I'm sorry, there isn't much that I can do for you."

"Wait!" Before thinking, I reached out and grabbed his hand. When we both looked at it, I dropped it. "Please, Castiel. Just…just try to put out some feelers or something. My luck is going to run out at some point and I don't want to be stuck with someone terrible for the rest of my life!"

He looked away as he thought briefly and nodded. "Alright. I will see if anyone has heard anything, but I cannot promise you any information."

I nodded. "Thank you."

He moved to leave and I jumped again. "Hold on. Cas?"

The boys all looked at me, wondering what I would say now. "Could you please mark me so that you can't find me?"

They all three looked confused. "What?"

I sighed. "If the Need comes on me and Castiel happens to look over my way, I'll be tied to an angel in a trench coat for the rest of my days, and that's not really something that I want happening."

Castiel reached over without a word and placed his hand on my sternum. I almost asked what he was doing, but then white hot pain shot through my body. I cried out in surprise and slumped to the floor. Sam caught me before I could hit and set me down gently.

"What the fuck, Cas?" he yelled.

"You were both asleep when I marked you, you didn't feel it." Cas replied monotonously. "I'm going now. I'll keep my ears open."

And with that, he was gone.

I spent the next few days with the boys. We would drive a little bit then stop for a while and repeat the process. They were extremely understanding about my condition, but occasionally I could tell that it annoyed Dean not being able to go and do whenever he wanted.

One night, as we were driving back from a diner, I started to feel the warm and fuzzy feeling that I got whenever the Need started.

"Stop the car!" I screamed. The boys jumped and Dean slammed on the breaks. I didn't wait to explain. I jumped out of the car and ran full speed to the motel we were staying at. I opened the door, thankful they hadn't driven ahead, and ran into the bathroom. I closed the door and locked it, panting wildly. I heard the boys come in only moments later.

"Thea, what the hell?" yelled Dean.

"I'm sorry, but you can't see me right now. I'm having trouble."

I could almost see the look of confusion on Dean's face. "What do you mean 'having trouble'?"

"Dean, please, just trust me. Maybe you guys should stay in a different room for tonight."

I heard Sam and Dean talking quietly, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. After a few minutes, I heard someone approach the door.

"Hey Thea," It was Sam. "I think we're gonna stay here for the night, because neither of us feel anything that we can't handle right now, but we're gonna stay away from the bathroom for the night. Actually, until you say we're allowed to see you."

I mulled it over for a minute. "Alright, that's fine." I smirked a little. "I did however notice that there's a strip club down in town if you start feeling real frisky."

I heard them chuckle slightly, but I knew that they were worried. A few minutes later, the main door opened and closed, letting me know that they had left the room. I dead bolted the door and put my bag down in front of it. I sighed and went over to the bathtub where I had set up shop earlier that day. I laid down in it and grabbed a book from my bag.

As I read, I was still tense and nervous. I had heard them leave, but even now I was worried. What if they weren't able to resist? What if the call of the Need was too strong for them? I knew that both of the Winchesters had ridiculously strong wills. I had heard all about how Sam forced Lucifer from his mind just in time to save the world, and Dean was always doing stuff to challenge fate, and what's more, he actually won most of the time. People tried all the time to change their fates, but they usually give up or die trying.

As the night progressed, fatigue pressed on me and soon enough, it felt like the Need was gone. I didn't feel the warmth it gives my body and I didn't feel light headed either. I got up to shut the light off and checked the door to make sure it was locked securely. You could never be too sure.

Once I was satisfied that everything was in place, I settled back down into the tub and pulled a small blanket over me, drifting off into a deep and dreamless