Sam stared at the spot where just seconds ago Hermione had been standing. Even after everything she had told them, and had demonstrated, nothing was more impressive than watching her completely vanish before his eyes.

"Well, I'll be damned." He heard Bobby say. "She really teleported."

"What the hell have we just agreed to, Bobby?" Sam asked, still staring at the spot she had just left.

"I don't know, but I'm not sure I care. It's caused you to decide to go out and start living again, and that's good enough for me."

Sam gave half a smile. "Yeah, I mean, I'm still a little leery about going out without Dean, but I have to admit, I'm pretty excited to go out and figure this out."

"And it doesn't hurt that you'll be going out with a cute girl," Bobby teased.

Sam rolled his eyes and turned red. "Really? I didn't notice," he said, standing from the couch and moving through the house. He moved toward where Bobby had his bank of phones. He picked up the directory Bobby kept there and began flipping through it.

"Oh, you didn't notice, did you?" Bobby replied, the smirk evident in his voice. "What are you doing?"

Sam shrugged. "Trying to figure out who we should reach out to first."

Bobby sighed. "Why don't you get on the computer and see if you can find anything out of the normal in the country. I'll make my way through the hunters. I'll put an APB out on these wizards, and tell anyone if they hear or see anything to call me, and I'll forward the information out to you."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, that could work." He moved over to the computer and booted it up. He immediately started searching for anything he could find on strange things going on.

Scrolling through search engines was a mindless activity that Sam was able to do while thinking back on what he just experienced. He had watched a woman disappear right before his eyes. He'd seen a lot of strange things, hell, he'd done a lot of strange things, but he had never seen anyone just poof away like that who wasn't a demon or a spirit.

He scratched his beard, and could feel his cheeks turning red again. He glanced up to make sure Bobby wasn't around. He would never hear the end of it if Bobby saw him blushing. Yeah, he thought Hermione was good looking, but there was no way he would ever act on any attraction. They were going to be working closely together, he couldn't jeopardize what they needed to do by starting something with her. And besides that, she's from London. There's no way he would risk getting close to someone who was just going to leave.

He sighed. Was he ready to go out in the field on a hunt so soon? It has only been a few weeks since…

Dean would probably slap him upside the head right now. Thinking about giving up the chance to go on a hunt with a cute girl. Driving for miles in close proximity. Staying in cheap motels. Yeah, Dean would definitely be in favor of this life choice. He would actually probably arrange for something like this to happen. If he didn't know Dean was currently being tortured in Hell, he would think Dean was up in heaven somewhere moving chess pieces to make Sam get off of Bobby's couch and go hunting with Hermione.

He laughed to himself. Yeah, this was a total Dean thing to happen. It must be a sign, if he believed in such things. He continued to scroll through the pages. Looking at all the towns around where they were. It seemed like a good place to start. Searching the whole country would be too broad.

"So," Bobby said. "Got a couple leads. Got a hunter buddy who says he's seen a couple Brits trying to negotiate with a werewolf pack outside of Wichita. Now, he's not sure that they're the ones we're looking for, but it's a start in the right direction."

Sam sat back in his chair. "So, we head down to Wichita. Did the hunter waste the werewolves?"

"Not all of them. He didn't want to risk the lives of the Brits. He says that if he knew they were fugitives, he wouldn't have hesitated."

Sam nodded. "Okay, so prepare to find some werewolves."

"Unless those assholes convinced the wolves to go with them to wherever the hell they're holed up."

Sam ran his hands down his face. "Well, maybe we'll find at least one who can tell us something of use, and then we can head in that direction. It's a lead."

"That it is. So, you going to shave that beard of yours, or are you going to keep it because the lady likes it?" Bobby asked with a grin.

Sam shook his head, laughing. "Shut up."

Bobby laughed. "C'mon. You're too easy. Besides, it's nice to see you happy for a change. It's been too long."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, it's nice to be happy but…"

"You're not betraying his memory, Sam," Bobby said, knowing where he was going.

"Are you sure? Because going out on a job? With someone else? It sure as hell feels like it."

Bobby walked over to where he is sitting, putting his hand on Sam's shoulder. "Look, Sam. It's hard. You and your brother, you were close. But he's gone. He would want you to move on, to try and figure out a way to keep living."

"Yeah, you're right," Sam said, nodding. "You're absolutely right. And this is a good first step into moving on. Getting back in the swing of things. Getting back to business as normal. Whatever normal means."

"And it will be good for you to be out with someone else. Not alone with your thoughts. Because being out on the road alone could do some real work on your head."

"Yeah. Gives me less time to plot revenge against Lilith."

"Sammy, don't be an idjit, don't you be going after Lilith on your own."

"I won't be on my own. I'll have Hermione."

"Don't you be dragging that girl into this mess with you. You two focus on getting those dirty wizards and that is it. Let her move on. And by then hopefully you'll have dropped this revenge nonsense as well," Bobby said.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I'll try to shove it away. But it'll be hard. It's been an idea that has been brewing in my mind ever since I got here."

"Sam," Bobby started, but Sam cut him off.

"Bobby," Sam said. "I said I would drop it. Now I'm going to go upstairs, take a shower and maybe get some rest before Hermione shows back up. She's going to want to get on the road sooner rather than later. Don't want to let our only lead slip away from us."

Sam didn't wait for Bobby to answer before heading up the stairs. He ran his hands down his face, scratching at his beard. He would give up thoughts of revenge, for now. He would help Hermione and then once they caught those wizards, she would go on her way, and he would pick up revenge on Lilith.

He moved into the bathroom to take a shower and freshen up a bit. It probably wasn't fair to Hermione to trap her in a car with him if he hasn't showered in at least a week. Locking the bathroom door, he turned and looked at himself in the mirror for the first time since coming here. He had deep bags under his bloodshot eyes. He was also rocking a pretty gnarly beard. He sighed. No wonder Bobby and Hermione kept looking at him the way they were. They had a right to be worried. He looked like shit. He took his shirt off and smirked at himself in the mirror. Maybe he would just trim the beard and not completely shave it off.

SUPERPOTTER

Hermione popped back onto Bobby's property. It was easier to apparate outside the house than in. She adjusted her backpack on her shoulder and tugged at the sleeves of her light long sleeved shirt to make sure they covered down to her wrist. She had ditched her robes back in New York and opted for the dark long sleeve shirt and denims so she could fit in a little more. She actually preferred muggle clothing to robes, so it wasn't hard for her to sort out enough muggle clothing so she wouldn't have to launder too often.

The backpack was new. She almost pulled out her trusty beaded bag from that year on the run. But she felt that would bring too many questions she just didn't want to answer. So she picked out this backpack, and then put the undetectable extension charm on it. And a featherlight charm. She wasn't stupid. She was still a witch, even though she was going to be living like a muggle for the foreseeable future.

Harry had reluctantly agreed to watch Crookshanks, but couldn't promise the cat would come out of it unscathed. His kids were way too enthusiastic to have the cat come to stay. She was going to have to make this all up to Crooks later. He was old and stodgy and set in his ways.

She walked up the drive to the door of the run down house. She lifted her hand and knocked on the door. After a few minutes, the door opened revealing Bobby. He smiled at her.

"Welcome back! That was pretty quick for having to travel clear across the country."

Hermione returned the smile. "Isn't magical travel amazing?"

Bobby took a step back and let her into the house. She moved in as he shut the door behind them. She sat her bag down on the couch, and turned to face Bobby.

"Did you guys find anything?" she asked.

"We did, actually," Bobby answered. "We found a very promising lead, that will hopefully pan out for y'all."

Hermione's eyebrows quirked up. "Really? That's brilliant!"

Bobby chuckled. "Your enthusiasm is refreshing."

"After years of dead ends and false leads, anything new excites me. When do we leave?"

"Whoa, slow down there, Freckles. We'll have plenty of time. Sam is upstairs laying down in an actual bed for the first time since he got here a couple weeks ago. We're going to let him just lay there and relax for as long as possible. He needs it. Especially if he's going to get behind the wheel of a car," Bobby said, gesturing to the couch.

Hermione moved and settled herself down on the couch, facing Bobby as he settled down in the chair. "What happened, Bobby? I heard his brother died, but I don't know more than that."

Bobby sighed, running his hand along the bill of his worn down hat. "It's a long story."

"Well, give me the short version. I need to know what I'm walking into. He's going to be my partner, I need to know what I'm hitching myself to. Because I have a feeling it will be a while before he opens up to me," she explained.

Bobby closed his eyes, and Hermione was sure that he wasn't going to tell her anything. After several moments of silence, he finally spoke up.

"Last year, Sam died. Like, actually died. Dean, he, uh, wouldn't accept that that happened. So he went down to a crossroads and made a deal. His soul for Sam's life. Typically when you make a deal with a demon, you get ten years. But this time he was given ten months. We tried everything to get him out of the deal, but it was a no go. A couple weeks ago Sammy watched his brother get dragged to hell by Hellhounds."

Hermione was speechless. "Sam…died?"

Bobby nodded.

"And then he came back to life? I just…I don't understand. How is that possible?"

"Like I said. Dean made a deal with a demon, and the demon brought him back. For the price of his own soul," Bobby explained again.

Hermione ran her hands through her hair, which she has let down from the tight bun she had it in earlier. "There is so much about this world that I don't understand. That I'm going to need to learn."

Bobby chuckled. "I'm sure Sam is going to feel the same about your world."

Hermione smiled. "I'm sure you're right." She sighed. "Poor Sam. Watching your brother die before your eyes, no body to bury…"

"Oh there was a body, he's buried out in Missouri," Bobby corrected her.

"But I thought you said Hellhounds dragged him to Hell?" she asked, confused.

"I should have been more clear. His soul was dragged to hell. His body was left behind. Usually we burn hunters bodies so they can't come back as spirits, or their bodies can't be used by anything for evil. But, Sam, he's convinced he'll still be able to rescue his brother, so he's been planted in the ground."

"Is there anything that can be done?" she asked.

Bobby shrugged, and gestured to a pile of books and papers in the corner by a desk. "Those are all the texts I've been through and so far I've seen nothing. But I'm not one to completely throw in the towel, but I'm also one to not give false hope. I don't want Sam to just sit around and wait for something to happen if it's not going to happen. He needs to move on, because the odds are Dean's not coming back."

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, yeah, false hope is not a good thing." She was quiet for a minute. "Will you teach me to drive?" she asked, seemingly out of the blue.

Bobby's head snapped up to look at her. "What?"

"Teach me to drive. Crash course. Right now, while Sam is sleeping. If he's as bad off as you say, I don't want to put too much pressure on him with doing all of the driving. Teach me some basics, so if he looks like he's going to pass out behind the wheel, I can at least get us off the road somewhere."

Bobby cocked his head at her, looking at her scrutinizingly. "You want me to give you a crash course in driving right now? What makes you think we even have enough time to get you good enough to drive out on the road with Sam?"

"I'm a fast learner," Hermione countered.

Bobby stared at her for about a minute more, before breaking out into a loud chuckle. "C'mon, Freckles. Let's go teach you how to drive."