The interior of the room was...well...one way to describe it would have been cliché. Another way to describe it would have been every goth kid's wet-dream. Essentially, it was an office, but it took a minute to identify it as such. The entire room was dramatically illuminated with recessed lighting and strategically placed candles. The walls were lined with shelves filled with ancient and foreboding looking tomes, jars of random body parts, herbs, and other equally occult items. At the far end of the room was an almost comically giant oak desk with all manner of skulls and jars and mystical accouterments on it. There were two ornate (if uncomfortable) looking chairs facing the desk, and one giant leather swivel chair facing away from the entrance.

Dean shot Sam yet another look which Sam responded to with a little shrug.

"Gentlemen." A soft voice floated out from the chair, "please, sit down. I assure you there's no cause for alarm."

The chair swiveled around and the brothers caught their first glimpse of Andrew HanVelsing, Vampire Hunter extraordinaire. He was wearing an aristocratic black velvet suit with a dramatic collar and silver accents. He was petting a spotted cat who looked extremely disinterested in their presence.

Andrew smiled at them beatifically, gesturing to the empty chairs.

"Please, sit."

Sam and Dean exchanged a glance, and Andrew waited patiently through their silent communication.

"I assure you gentlemen, you have nothing to fear from me. I am neither a con man nor a preying beast. I am merely a guide of the mystical; a guardian of wonder; a -"

" master of bullshitting, we got it," Dean snapped. Andrew's hand stilled its movements and his eyes narrowed minutely. Sam glanced quickly between the two, uncomfortably aware of the fact that they were on this guy's home turf with no real conception of what powers he possessed. Making a snap judgment, he put up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Ok, look, sorry. We're just a little on edge." He put his gun away and eased towards the desk as Andrew and Dean continued to glare at each other. "We're still really freaked out from last night, and we're a little...intimidated by everything you've got going on here." Andrew's gaze passed to him, almost preening at the admission. Dean glared at him but reluctantly put his gun away at Sam's look. "Please," he entreated, "we just want some answers."

"I am only too happy to enlighten you to the ways of the world of the dangerous and the macabre," he intoned regally. "All I ask is a modicum of respect," he added with a glance at Dean. Dean rolled his eyes and heaved himself into one of the chairs before the desk with more oomph than was strictly necessary.

"Fine," he gritted out. Sam seemed to take this as acquiescence and gingerly alighted in the chair next to him. He and Andrew studied each other curiously.

"So," Andrew continued, addressing his speech to Sam, "What is it you wish to know?"

Xander pulled up to the curb outside Andrew's building in his rental car. The drive had been fairly uneventful, but Xander was already feeling mildly better about life in general. Cruising down the road by himself, singing along with country and classic punk, stopping for the occasional greasy burger and fries, he had felt more at ease with himself than he had in a long time. Doing something as normal as taking a road trip, and not having to worry about anything other than the odd asshole changing lanes without signaling was a balm to his frazzled soul.

So it was with a song in his heart and a spring in his step that Xander pulled up outside of the building Andrew was currently occupying. He frowned as he noticed another battered looking vehicle parked not too far away. Xander couldn't remember if this was one of the buildings that had a "pass on by" spell on it or not, which would make the vehicle's presence suspicious, but just to be safe he snapped a quick photo with his phone.

He walked up to the door, grinning mischievously. He had opted to go with the element of surprise and not phoned ahead. Partly because he liked surprising Andrew, and partly so that Andrew couldn't attempt some sort of misguided welcoming party.

Xander was about to knock on the door when he noticed that it was already open. He looked down and saw a piece of wood wedged in the door. When he bent down to inspect it, he noticed it was crudely carved but undeniably a stake. Xander peaked inside at the darkened corridor. As far as he could see, the door was intact and there was no evidence of foul play. But Andrew would never be so careless as to leave his door unlocked. Not after what had happened the last time...

Xander resolutely shook off thoughts of prior Andrew schemes gone awry and made his way back to the car. His days of rushing into blindly into danger were long over.

"Which," he thought stubbornly, "has nothing to do with the fact that there is no pretty girl around to impress."

Andrew spent over an hour having a question and answer session with Sam and Dean. He was only too happy to play the role of Master Watcher and answer all their questions. After a certain point Dean stopped participating and just listened as Sam subtly directed the conversation to questions about angels and god.

Dean snorted softly, not that either geek in the room noticed. He'd gotten all he really needed to know fairly early on in the discussion. Movie monsters got killed in the movie monster way; everything else you needed to research and Andrew had given Sam a rundown of where to look. It grated on him-playing the part of idiot civilian when he'd spent his whole life fighting. Having to sit there and be talked down to by the nerd boy.

Going by what he'd said, it seemed like this world was different in that the demons were more like monsters, except for some of them who were harmless and more like weird looking people than supernatural fiends. "More shades of grey. That'll be fun to figure out," he thought sarcastically. Andy hadn't said much about alternate dimensions, but based on the little he'd let slip, it seemed like they were damn hard to get too. Meaning he really would never see Cas again...

Dean shook himself from his melancholia and tried to focus back in on the conversation. It sounded like they were wrapping up the love fest.

"Thank you so much for being willing to talk to us," Sam was saying, "I had no idea that witches weren't all evil." Andrew smiled indulgently while he petted the cat.

"Of course there are some who taste the godlike power of the beyond and become swept away by it's seductive siren song of...seduction." Dean rolled his eyes. "However, many are champions of goodness and light, children of the moon and protectors of the earth...guardians of-"

"OK!" Dean interrupted clapping his hands. They both started and stared at him, seemingly having forgotten his presence. He plastered a fake grin on his face. "Witches not evil, don't invite vampires inside, research anything else. We have any questions, we'll call you." Andrew looked miffed at being interrupted. Seeking to smooth things over, Sam jumped in.

"Again, thank you so much for talking to us. I know we must have seemed a bit suspicious, especially the way we burst in here." Andrew focused in on Sam again, dismissing Dean entirely.

"It's part of what I do. You're not the first innocents to fall beneath the candy-coated icing of reality and find yourselves lost in the dark wilderness of the harsh reality below." Dean fought not to roll his eyes a second time. "But those with ill intentions, feigning ignorance of the true reality of this world with deceitful tongues would be incapable of hiding their true nature from one such as me," he said with just a hint of smug confidence. Dean and Sam exchanged a look, pondering the meaning behind his words. After a moment of awkward silence, Dean gave it a mental shrug and stood to leave. Sam followed suit and stuck out his hand to Andrew.

"Well, anyway, thanks again." Andrew stood as well, unceremoniously dumping the tiny cat from his lap. She released a grumpy yowl and bounded away. Andrew shook Sam's hand with gracious ceremony.

"Of course. Feel free to call back with any questions. Either I or one of my associates will be happy to assist you during this your time of crisis." Andrew pulled a card from his pocket, waving it about with a charming smile. "Let me give you my card," he said amicably. Sam reach out to take the card, only to be flabbergasted when, with a flourish, Andrew quickly reached down and slowly slid the card into Sam's front pocket. Sam looked down at where Andrew's hand was slowly brushing against the front of his pants, a confused and panicked smile frozen on his lips.

Dean watched with a mixture of shock and amusement at Sam's expense .

After a long, loooooooooooooooooooooong awkward moment, Andrew pulled his hand back.

"Thanks." Sam said tightly. "I don't actually have a card, but you've got our number,"

"Yes, it was passed to me through our net of informants. Although I never got your last names...?" he trailed off. Dean and Sam exchanged a look. They had used their real first names because they didn't expect anyone to know them in this universe. By the same logic, it was probably safe to use their last names. Still, years of habit made Sam hesitate. Andrew noticed his hesitation and his countenance cooled fractionally. Dean noticed and, wanting to get out of there, quickly stepped forward.

"Don't mind him, it's just been a weird day. Our names are Sam and Dean Winchester, it was nice to meet you, and we'll be in touch." Dean patted him patronizingly on the back and started to walk away. Sam flashed another uncomfortable smile and started to pull away, only to stop short when Andrew's hand shot out and grabbed his shoulder, his face gone stiff and rigid.

"Sam and Dean...Winchester," he murmured, staring at them both. Dean didn't need to look at Sam to know he was just as on edge. They could both feel it; this meeting was about to take a drastic turn. Dean's hand drifted subtly down to his weapon.