"Hmmm..." Charlie 'hmmed' under her breath as she stared at the screen in front of her. She was sitting on top of a carefully made bed in the small guest room of the house where Reigna and Selena lived. After Reigna had calmed down, Selena had begrudgingly allowed Charlie and Cas to explain themselves. At the conclusion of their story Selena had sized them up and invited them to stay the night. After they had settled in, Selena invited them to supper, where they learned that Reigna was not the only stray adolescent nonhuman who had wandered into the sanctuary that was this town and found shelter with Selena's limitless compassion.

It was a strangely homey meal, filled with all the bustle and activity of a big family Sunday dinner. Charlie and Castiel had sat at a long table with all the other occupants of the house. They were a strange looking bunch; all different colors and shapes, and one girl kept who blowing fire out her mouth when she got too excited.

There was also another winged monkey; a male about Reigna's age. He eyed Cas and Charlie with open distrust across the dinner table.

"That's quite a tale," he had remarked sarcastically once Charlie had finished repeating it for their rapt audience. "But why should we believe you? Aside from that key, you haven't got a shred of proof to back up your story. How do we know you aren't working for the wicked witch? Maybe you're trying to trick us into going back with you so you can enslave us again. For all we know, our parents are dead!" he said viciously, glaring at Charlie as though trying to wrest the truth from her with sheer willpower.

"Simon!" Selena had scolded. When he looked at her, she gestured with her head to where Reigna was staring intensely down at her plate, tension radiating from her small form. Simon's face fell, and he placed a hand gently on Reigna's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I just don't want you to get your hopes up if this turns out to be a scam." Reigna sniffed.

"I don't think it's a scam. She had my feather. She had the key." She looked to him eagerly. "She knew my name." Simon seemed lost, staring into those eyes that wanted so much to believe. He swallowed hard.

"You don't have to decide right now," Charlie had interjected. Simon had turned back to her, still suspicious but less hostile. "We're staying the night. And I'll be here until I find the...the thing that brought you here."

Simon's lip curled with barely contained disgust.

"You mean the cap."

Reigna shivered, and silence descended upon the room. Charlie swallowed nervously, glancing around the table at the scared and curious glances of the other adolescents.

"Yes. That's the other reason I'm here. To find the cap and destroy it."

"Or find it and enslave us you mean!" he spat angrily. Charlie flinched back from the vitriol in his voice. Castiel felt his protective instincts rise but forced them back. He could recognize anger born of fear.

Charlie looked straight into Simon's eyes.

"I would never. You have my word." They stared at each other, and it was Simon who broke eye contact first.

"Psht. Gonna need more than that before I'm willing to wander into another world on your say so," he muttered sullenly.

"But Simon, you have to come back with us!" Reigna said earnestly. He looked at her, and all the stubborn bravado melted out of his posture. Castiel recognized the monkeys' dynamic for what it was. Simon was whipped, and Reigna wasn't even trying. This he could work with.

"Reigna," Castiel said, leaning forward and staring intently at Reigna while completely ignoring Simon, "If you choose not to trust us, we understand. And if you choose not to help us, we understand. You've been used and betrayed," he paused for dramatic effect, "but with or without your help, we will be leaving tomorrow to search for the cap. And we will be taking the key with us." Reigna's eyes widened, tinged with panic.

Charlie glared at Cas in irritation, getting ready to smack him in the face.

Reigna turned to Simon. "Oh please!" she begged desperately, grabbing onto his arm. "Simon, I want to go home!" Cas hid his smile at the very moment Simon's resolve crumbled into a thousand tiny little itty bitty pieces.

Simon sighed resignedly.

"Look," he directed to Charlie, "I don't know where the Cap is now. But I can tell you the name of the man who summoned us."

Charlie leaned forward eagerly.

"Listening."

Simon hesitated, but quickly made his decision.

"Andrew Wells."

That name was the reason Charlie was currently 'hmmming' at her computer screen.

"Have you managed to figure out where the cap is yet?" Cas asked impatiently. He was seated in a worn arm chair next to the window, staring out into the yard behind the house where some of the children were playing shadow tag in the lengthening twilight.

"Mmm...I'm not sure. I was looking up this Andrew Wells guy, and I sort of got side tracked." Cas let out a noise of irritation.

"Side tracked? Charlie, we only have a limited amount of time in which I will be of any use to you. If you truly need my help it would be best to act with as much haste as possible."

"Yeah yeah I know," she said distractedly. "But see, here's the thing, I started searching for him, specifically where he was a few years ago when he first used a cap. Apparently, he was in a town in California called Sunnydale, which raises SO many supernatural red flags you'd think there was an open devil's gate there. Even Sam and Dean probably would've steered clear of this place."

Cas contained a snort. He was of the opinion that Dean, especially the Dean of late, would've loved the challenge and been drawn to that place like a moth to a flame.

"So, is that where the cap is? This...Sunnydale?" Charlie did not contain a snort.

"I hope not. Place is gone. Sank underground. Nothing but a hole in the desert now. If the cap was there when it fell, we're gonna have a bitch of a time getting it."

Cas thought for a minute.

"Was Wells there when it happened? Is he still alive?"

"Mmm...I believe so. His name's come up a few times in connection to some big disasters that occurred after the town disappeared, and he's on the board of a nonprofit organization called Summer Joys. I managed to pin down a couple addresses for him – Los Angeles, New York, et cetera. It's a start, I guess, but there's no telling if he's actually at any of these addresses. Looks like we might have to do a bit of legwork on this one."

Castiel sighed. "How far is the wreckage of Sunnydale from here?" he asked warily. Charlie clickety-clacked into her keyboard for a moment.

"Oh. Hah! Not far at all. A couple of hours by car. Probably more by walking. Which brings up a significant point. We're gonna have to buy a car or bum a ride. And right now we're in the middle of nowhere."

"Selena may have some idea as to how we can get some transportation," Castiel pondered. "We should ask her about it."

"Sounds good," Charlie replied absentmindedly. Castiel watched the children running around, shrieking and laughing for the sheer joy of being children. He looked up at the darkening sky and wondered if there was a heaven in this universe.