The second time he saw her was out in the wastes of what used to be Nevada, about eight months after that first interaction. He'd been asking around here and there, about a girl who still used blades instead of bullets. He actually went in to those safety in numbers communities to try and get answers, see if anyone had seen her or knew her or had any information. When people asked why he was looking for her (not a lot did. Enough people had been lost where sometimes you just had a poor soul looking for someone you were certain was gone. Most thought that he was just doing the same thing), he just said it was important. In truth, he didn't quite understand why he was looking for her. She saved his life, sure, and on one hand he wanted to thank her for that. But these days, when you couldn't thank a person who saved your life you kinda just… poured a beer for them.

Not a lot of people really had answers for him.

That is, until he met Bobby Singer. Someone had known someone that knew someone that knew the man, and Bobby Singer knew who he was talking about.

"I need you to help me find someone." He started, when the man finally answered his damn door. And wouldn't you believe it, you know what he did?

Said no, and slammed the door in his face. Kevin let out a huff of air, and started banging on his door again.

"Bobby Singer!" He shouted, banging on the man's door. "I'm looking for a woman, and I heard that you might know something!" More banging, but no response. "Please!" He kept banging.

"Go away!" Singer shouted through the door. Kevin stopped for a second, thinking.

"I'm not leaving until you help me!" Kevin replied. "And I'm pretty certain you're a man who enjoys your solitude! So until you tell me what I need to know, I'm not leaving!" No response. Kevin started banging on the door again. "I'll leave dents in your door before I leave!"

Eventually, Singer let him in, slightly impressed by Kevin's tenacity. "This girl must be some sort of important to you if you stuck around that long. Who is she?"

"I have no idea." Kevin replied, shaking his arms. They hurt from banging on the door for so long. Singer offered him a strange look, but still let him in.

After Kevin told him all he knew, Singer told him what he knew. "She's a wasteland ghost." He explained. Kevin nodded. Everybody knew what a wasteland ghost was. They were on their own, no connections to others, nobody really looking for them or caring for them; people that could live and die in the wastes and become a ghost, and by God nobody would know the difference.

But she wasn't a ghost, because she had angel blades in her hands. Ghosts didn't use angel blades.

"Do you know her name?"

"I've got a nickname." He said. "Kai. But that's about it."

"Are you sure you have nothing else?" Kevin asked. "Somewhere she likes to be? Where she's from? Anything?"

"Kid, you know the same as anyone else that knows about her." Singer replied. "Dark hair, small and slim build, two angel blades, and likes to disappear before someone can get anything else."

"She's quiet." Kevin added. "Quieter than anyone else. I couldn't hear her when she came up."

"Yeah, and you couldn't hear that demon either." Singer pointed out, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Her eyes are gold." Kevin stated, his voice almost rushed for some reason as they said the words. "Not gold like monster gold, but gold like… Like the way hazel eyes can look like gold." The elder man didn't say anything for a little bit, just let out a small sigh.

"Look, I'll ask around." Singer promised. "But I need a favor."

"What is it?"

"There's a type of plant out in the wastes just west of here." He explained. "Kinda buried under all the ash, but it thrives, for some reason. I'll draw you a picture of it. Bring me some, and I'll tell you what I found afterwards."

"What do you need a plant for?"

"Remember the angel blast that hit that area about five or so years back?" Bobby asked. Kevin nodded. "Changed some of the ecology there. Those plants are like a human health booster. Makes you heal a little faster. I know a few people that could use them." The man shrugged. "Look, you don't have to if you don't want to, I've got other things to do myself. I was just thinking of trading a favor for a favor here." Kevin thought for a minute on that, looking at the man.

"Alright." He agreed. "I'll go find your healing plant."

Singer drew him a picture, and Kevin shoved that in his pocket. From there he set off, starting his journey to get the magic plant.

"Fucking plant fetch quest." Kevin muttered as he hopped on his bike. It was a standard bicycle, originally. But when Kevin got a hold of it, the thing gained lights and heavier sets of wheels and the equivalent of saddlebags and a specific hold for his rifle, in case he needed to fire as he went. It had taken time and effort and learning about a lot of things he hadn't had to learn before, but damn did it work, and it faster than walking everywhere like a lot of people did now. He made it to the Nevada wastes over the course of a few days, and got to work from there.

It was in those same wastes that a group of seven or ten demons found their way to him, not nearly as quiet this time but their numbers… Kevin was certain he'd meet his end again. "Stupid fucking plant fetch quest." He swore, pulling out his assault rifle. He could probably cut them down, but they were circling, and they were fast.

What the hell? He had nothing better to do. And it was this or just lay down and die.

He started firing, and actually cut one down, but the others were moving too fast, and it was difficult for him to watch his back. Constant circling versus their speed… He could try, but it would take a miracle for him to live.

And a miracle came, just as quietly and deathly as it had the first time.

The first thing he heard was the familiar groan of a demon dying behind him. When he turned, he saw it fall forwards. There was an angel blade embedded in its back. Behind where it had stood was the same woman, her hair a tangled mess that flew out behind her as she ran, straight towards him. "BEHIND YOU!" She shouted. Kevin snapped himself out of his reverie, turning back around to shoot blindly. Somehow, the bullets met their intended targets, and two more demons fell. The others were circling more warily now, looking for any weak spots. Kevin could more feel rather than see when the girl, Kai, had his back. She slashed at any that came close, killing just as many as he shot down. In a matter of minutes, the demons were dead, and he was alive to live another day.

"Hey, thanks." He turned around, ready to thank her, but she was already sprinting away. The treeline was maybe five hundred or so feet away, and she was already halfway there. "Wait!" He shouted, sprinting after her. "WAIT! KAI, WAIT UP!"

When he shouted her name, she paused for just a second; just long enough to turn back and look at him. And in that instant, Kevin saw her, but he saw… a memory.

A little girl with brown hair and books, wearing a pink shirt and a girly plaid skirt. She looked surprised, for just a moment. Her hair shined in the sun, on a day that the apocalypse couldn't touch because it didn't exist yet. He could hear a name, just barely, being shouted by an older man… An adult. "Kai-Kai! Time to go!"

Then she was gone; both the memory and the woman itself.

Kevin made his way to his bike, and started going back to Bobby's. She'd spoken. He had a voice. And… a something else that he didn't know what to do with.

Bobby didn't have much more information. A few areas where people were certain they'd seen her, mapped out calmly and methodically. One hotspot wasn't far from where he'd grown up. Another was, coincidentally, Nevada. There were a few other places with more sightings than most, but they were strewn out all over.

"There's no way she's doing all of this on foot." Kevin commented. "She's got to have a bike like me or something."

"It could be possible." Bobby replied. "If she wasn't human."

"Everything non-human is dead." Kevin stated. They both knew that. The angels and demons had wiped everything else out, save for humans.

"That's what we think." Bobby replied. "That's what we've gathered from everything else we've experienced. But what if they're not?"

"What proof do you have?" Kevin asked. Bobby just glanced over at the map, doing the eyebrow raise thing again. "No." Kevin shook his head. "She's human."

"How do you know?" Bobby asked. Kevin took a moment to think before answering.

"She sounds human." He admitted. The elder man stopped then, looking at him.

"You heard her speak?" He asked. Kevin nodded.

"Just for a moment." He answered. "She… She shouted that there was a demon behind me. She saved my life again, I think."

"Well what happened next?" Bobby asked.

"I… After the demons were dead, she ran again." Kevin explained. Why not? This guy might actually help him find her. "I shouted for her to wait, and she looked back for a moment. I could've sworn then that I… that I knew her from somewhere. From before the whole 'valley of the shadow of death' thing became the entire freaking world. From when…" He thought hard on that memory. "From when we were kids."

"I thought you said you didn't know her."

"I don't." Kevin responded. "At least… I don't think so. If I did it would've been a long, long time ago." He stared at the map, thinking about that memory again. It could've been her. Same color hair, but more tamed and cared for. Same type of eyes, but not as hardened and alert. But everything else…

The girl in his memory looked more curious in her surprise, whereas the woman he had seen just… Looked surprised. Maybe even a little startled.

It made him wonder how long it had been since she'd heard someone say her name.

"Why're you looking for this girl?" He finally asked. "You don't know her, as far as you remember. She saved your life, sure, but these days…" Bobby shook his head. "These days it tends to be band together or get killed. Why put so much time in to a woman who doesn't seem to want to be found?"

"Because…" Kevin didn't have an answer to that question, as much as he wished he did. But when he first saw her… When he first saw her he couldn't help but want to see her again. He couldn't help but wish he could find her, could talk to her, could…

Hell, he had no idea. He just knew he wanted to find her.

"Because what else is there to do in this hellish world?" He finally said. "It's kill or be killed, band together or get destroyed, and…" He shrugged. "I just don't know, I guess. I want to find her because… Because I feel like I have to." At that, he nodded. That answer felt right. "I feel like I'm supposed to find her."

Bobby just rolled his eyes. "Sounds like a load of crap, but," he shrugged. "I'll make you a deal, kid. You seem resourceful. You keep helping me with a few things here and there and I'll do what I can to help you find this girl."