Dean walked out of the pizza parlor, somewhat dazed with his heart still hammering in his chest. He numbly felt around for his phone and found it was already ringing. He tore his gaze away from the ring in his hand long enough to look at the screen, and he answered the second he saw it was Sam.

"Sam, you are not gonna bel—"

"I can't find Liam."

Dean stopped, and suddenly Death's ring seemed like the most unimportant thing in the universe. "What do you mean you can't find him?" Then, knowing how tightly they had been watching Liam ever since they found out Heaven was in his head, Dean continued. "What was he even doing outside the motel?"

"He was just taking Calypso out, but I was getting suspicious because of how long he was gone, and I came out, and Calypso is here, but Liam's not."

Dean cursed just as Sam let out a sharp, hard breath, each of them expressing their panic in their own way. Dean started walking again—a fast walk, an urgent walk—and moved down the sidewalk in the direction of the parked Impala.

"Calypso is looking around like she doesn't know where he is," Sam continued. "If something took him, she should have seen it, right?"

"Geeze, Sam, I don't know." Dean swore again, running his hand over his head. "Would it be demons? I mean, we killed the one that knew we were coming to Chicago, but if they know Death is here—"

Sam exhaled again. "I don't know. I just—I don't know." He paused. "I was also thinking it could be the angels. I mean, we know they've been in Liam's head, so maybe—"

"Did you call Cas yet?"

"No, I called Liam's phone first—three times—and now I'm calling you." Sam struggled for a moment. "Just get back here."

Dean nodded, grabbing the driver's side door and jerking it open. "I'm on my way. Call Cas. I'll break every speed limit between here and the motel."

"Alright. Bye."

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

Dean turned the keys in the ignition. "Don't panic."

Sam snorted. "Too late."

And the line went dead.

Muttering under his breath, Dean hung up the phone and pulled onto the road, ignoring the horn that blared as a result. He didn't floor it, but he went as fast as he could without cementing the need for a cop to pull him over. Still, it took twenty minutes to get back to the motel, and the entire time, Dean's mind was racing.

Who could have taken him? We know Death had nothing to do with it because he wants us to beat Lucifer. Could the demons have tracked us down? We've been in Chicago for weeks, and during that time, we haven't been out there, traveling across the country, leaving a trail of demon bodies for Hell to follow. They might have just figured it out based on what we're not doing…

Dean swerved into the motel parking lot and tore the keys from the ignition, getting out of the car and approaching the circle where Sam, Castiel, Balthazar, Amane, and Calypso stood.

"There's a lot of buildings in the immediate vicinity," Sam was saying. "Should we start looking for witnesses?"

Castiel gave the ground a solemn stare. "If we do that, we might find out if he was taken, but we won't know what took him."

"And we might alert the cops," Dean said as he walked up to the gathering. "Of course, it's not like we can't get him back if they take him away, but…"

Sam ran a hand through his hair. "I know it might not get us the result we want right away, but I still think it's our best starting point." He wet his lips and then nodded in Dean's direction. "You were following a lead on Death. Did you find anything that might tell you if he's involved in Liam's disappearance?"

Reaching into his pocket, Dean grabbed the ring and held it up. "He, uh… he wants us to get rid of Lucifer. So. I don't think he would take Liam to try and get to us."

"He—?" Sam's eyes widened, but then he waved it off. "Never mind. I'll ask my questions later." He took a deep breath, putting his gaze back on the circle. "Okay, so we should split into teams and start investigating."

Amane, who Dean was still suspicious of, put her hands on her hips and frowned. "I wonder if Kaori could help."

"Who?" Balthazar asked, standing back a bit, like he wasn't sure he wanted to be involved.

"My vessel." Amane kept her dark eyes on the blacktop, expression thoughtful. "She's a pretty powerful psychic, and she's around Liam's age, so that might give them a connection of some kind. She might be able to sense something."

Dean squinted. "Yeah, and when did you take that vessel? You've been on the run for a long time, so I doubt Kaori is used to massive cities and technology and—"

"Kaori and I share this body," Amane said sharply, giving Dean a look that said she didn't appreciate his assumptions. "She sees and experiences what I do unless she chooses to metaphorically close her eyes or I force her down into our subconscious." She went silent then, gaze drifting upward as her face started to change, as if she were having a conversation.

Dean looked at Sam and mouthed, 'What is going on?'

Sam looked back and helplessly shrugged, but from the expression on his face, he didn't really care what it was if it helped him find Liam.

"Oof." Amane leaned forward slightly, putting a hand to her head, and then she shook herself. "I'm fine." She cleared her throat and clasped her hands in front of herself, bending at the waist. "Kon'nichiwa. My name is Gushiken Kaori."

Sam glanced at Dean but then put his attention on the teenager in front of him as she straightened up. "Um, I'm Sam Winchester. This is my brother, Dean, and you should already know Balthazar and Castiel if you've been seeing what Amane sees."

"I know all of you." Kaori smiled briefly, but then she lifted her hands to her mouth and pressed her knuckles to her lips. "I understand Liam is missing. I don't know if I'll be able to help, but…" She started looking around, slowly lowering her hands with her palms to the ground. "I only met Liam that one time, when Amane came to help you kill the demons, so I don't know his signature that well…" She took a few steps, looking around carefully, and then she turned back around to face them. "I don't sense any demonic powers. Now, that doesn't mean demons weren't here, but it does mean things like telekinesis weren't used."

Dean took a discreet breath, trying to hide his frustration, but he didn't see what good it would do to know how Liam was taken. They needed to know what took him, how to find it, and how to kill it.

"Come here, little one." Kaori knelt down, summoning the black cat across the circle from her. "What can you tell me?"

Calypso walked up to her and sat down, meowing quietly.

"She didn't sense any threats…" Kaori reached her hands out, hovering them around the familiar's head. "She's not trying to warn me of anything…"

Dean let out a frustrated groan. "Look, it's great that you're trying to be helpful, and we really appreciate it, but—" he looked at Sam, "—we shouldn't be sitting around waiting for her to do all the work. We know he was last seen in this area, so let's go around to the nearby buildings and investigate."

Nodding in agreement, Sam stepped toward the Impala. "Let's get our suits, and we'll go as FBI. We can ask them questions without having to reveal too much, and it might keep them from calling the cops."

Kaori looked up from where she knelt on the ground, and even though Dean had just met her, he could tell from the light in her eyes that she was serious. "I'll keep looking. I might go into the city… try to find a unique signature and lock onto it."

"Thank you," Sam said emphatically.

Dean gave her a two-fingered salute and moved toward the back end of the Impala. Liam wouldn't go without a fight, but she said she didn't sense demonic powers. So, what? They just grabbed him and dragged him off? He pushed some of Liam's books aside and dug down until he got to their suits. But it might not be demons at all. We know the angels are in Liam's head; maybe they got in deep enough to figure out where he was. But Lucifer himself was in Sam's head, and he never got our location, and he's an archangel.

His brain kept running, tumbling over itself at times, and he could only imagine what the inside of Sam's head looked like. Liam had been taken before, after all, and Dean had seen enough of Sam's meltdowns to know how his brother was feeling.

What a great way to spend Christmas.

Dean slammed the trunk lid.

"And you didn't notice any suspicious activity outside?" Sam was going through the motions, trying not to show up or leave too suddenly, but he was certain the stressed-out mother of three didn't have anything for them. "No loud noises or bright lights?"

Pursing her lips, the dark-skinned woman gave it another moment of thought, and then she shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I've been wrapped up in the kids and cleaning all day. Christmas is almost here, after all, and the family's coming over, so…" She shifted the toddler on her hip. "Can I ask what this is about?"

Sam gave her a tight smile. "We'll reach out if we have any more questions." He backed out of the doorway and turned down the hall, immediately seeing Dean at the next apartment. He approached quietly, waiting for the door to close to ask his question. "Get anything?"

"No." Dean put a hand to his forehead. "I take it you didn't get anything, either."

Sam shook his head and pulled his phone from his pocket. "I keep calling him, but there's no answer. But the call isn't being rejected. I don't know what that means because last time he was taken, he didn't have a phone. Don't you think a kidnapper would reject the calls or turn the phone off?"

"Geeze, Sam, I don't know." Dean let out a long and heavy stream of air. "Let's just keep calling and talking to people until we get something."

Sam laughed bitterly, slipping his phone back into his pocket and walking past Dean down the hall. "Believe me, I wasn't gonna suggest we stop." He started toward the stairwell, ready to go to the next level.

"Have you heard from Cas and Balthazar?" Dean pulled his phone from his pocket even as he said it. "You know what, I'll just give them a call."

Nodding, Sam let himself into the stairwell and started climbing, knowing Dean would follow as soon as he was done. Sam didn't want to waste any time, and there was no point in standing around listening to half a conversation and trying to work out what was being said. So, he went to the next apartment and knocked on the door.

"Special Agent Robert Plant," he said when the door was opened. "We're investigating a suspicious disappearance in the area. Have you seen anything strange within the last twelve hours?"

Kaori jogged—she wished she could run, but trails weren't that easy to follow—with a curious angel in her head the entire time, asking her what she was doing. Only she wasn't really sure herself, she just knew she was looking for some kind of distress signal.

Do you sense him?

Kaori let out a mental sigh. I don't know, Amane, and you talking every other minute really isn't helping. She came to an intersection and slowed to a stop, looking around, putting out her feelers for any sign of something unusual coming through that area. I'm not trying to be mean, just… give me a moment. Please.

Amane said nothing.

Taking a deep breath, Kaori turned where she stood, hoping her obvious cluelessness wouldn't attract any unwanted attention. Although… maybe some of these people have seen Liam. Or something else suspicious. Maybe they know which way he was taken. She took a few steps toward the road on her right, and after a moment spent investigating the energies around her, she started down the sidewalk.

Finding anything in all this busyness will be a miracle. She looked up at the graffiti-plastered walls on either side of the street, and she couldn't help but think they perfectly expressed the way individual energies mingled together in a city. Everything blending together and yet distinct, all the colors and shapes clambering over each other, every little piece coming together to create a big picture. It was beautiful, but finding and following an individual strand in such insurmountable chaos was difficult, to say the least.

And somehow, she had to do exactly that.

I don't sense anything strong enough to be an angel. I sense demons, but they've been coming to Chicago for Death, so that doesn't really tell me which ones have Liam and where they've gone. Kaori bit her lip and started jogging again, black ponytail flying out behind her. Of course, it could be another monster. From what I understand, the Winchesters have a lot of enemies. Maybe…

And she just kept looking.

Castiel let out another sigh, fingers curling slightly as he fought the urge to have a weapon in his hand. He knew he was supposed to be working with Balthazar, questioning people and trying to find leads, but he had never been very good at interacting with humans. Instead, he kept wandering back to the parking lot where Liam was last seen.

I may not be a psychic, but I can still sense energies. Probably better than the girl can. It was immensely difficult to do because of the large presence of demons in Chicago, but he tried anyway. I sense distress, which makes sense if he was taken, but… it's as Amane—or rather, it's as Kaori said. There isn't any sign that demonic powers were used in this area recently. He looked around the lot, blue eyes scanning the road and nearby buildings. If one of my brethren had been here, I would sense it, wouldn't I?

"No luck in the café. No one saw anything."

Castiel barely reacted to Balthazar's sudden presence, slowly turning to face the direction Kaori had gone in search of signatures. "What if…" He squinted, hand flexing again. "What if the reason no one saw anything… is not because the kidnappers were extremely good… but because there was no kidnapping?"

Balthazar didn't respond right away, and when he did, he was confused. "You mean he just left on his own?"

"Liam hasn't been sleeping. I may not know much about humans, but I know they need sleep. Perhaps he's not in his right mind." Castiel turned to look at Balthazar, words coming faster as the idea formulated in his head. "It would explain why there's no sign of violent activity but there is a sign of distress. It would explain why there's no trail for Kaori to follow. If he didn't tell any of us he was running away, it could be because he doesn't trust us—maybe that he's running from us, which would explain why he hasn't been answering his phone. If he doesn't want us to know where he is, he might have waited until Calypso was out of sight to disappear, which would explain why she isn't warning us of anything but also doesn't know how to find him."

Cocking his head to the side, Balthazar pursed his lips. "It's definitely a theory." He thought about it for a moment, eyes narrowing. "So, if the little ankle biter ran off, how are we going to find him? We don't know if he's stationary or moving, we don't know where he's trying to go, we don't—"

"Amane said her vessel is a psychic who might have a connection with Liam because of their ages. If she knows she's not supposed to be looking for conflict or danger but some kind of fear… perhaps she'll have more luck." Castiel pulled his phone from his pocket. "I'll call her. You update the Winchesters."

"Aye aye, Captain."

Castiel dialed his sister—he had been getting phones for all the angels since they were suppressing their Grace to hide from Heaven—and put the phone to his ear, waiting as it rang.

"Did you find him?"

"No." Castiel glanced to the right and noticed Calypso, who had been prowling around the parking lot ever since Liam disappeared. "I have a theory. If you experience what Amane does, you know about Liam not sleeping, and I'm wondering if he's losing control of his faculties and running of his own volition."

Kaori didn't say anything for a moment. "I can see that. If he hasn't been sleeping… and if he knows Heaven is in his head…" She paused. "Okay, I can try and look for something I would expect to see in the essence of someone who's running."

"I don't know exactly how your powers work, but perhaps looking for fear or anger rather than danger or violence is the best course of action." Castiel heard Balthazar on the phone in the background, but he didn't give it any attention. "He's very determined. I have seen it in him many times, and if he thinks he's running from something—either to keep us safe or because he thinks we're the danger—then he won't be easy to find."

Kaori mumbled in an ancient dialect of Japanese, weighing her options. "I have some ideas. Let me look around for a while, and I'll get back to you."

"Thank you." Castiel pulled the phone away from his ear and hung up, turning just as Balthazar finished his own call, and he gave his subordinate a hard look. "Even though we know Liam might have run away, it's still possible he didn't. Let's leave the more human methods of investigation to Sam and Dean. We have the ability to sense the supernatural, so we should be looking into that aspect."

Nodding, Balthazar slipped his phone into his pocket. "Sounds good, mate. We didn't sense anything in the immediate surroundings. Where do you want to start?"

Castiel lifted his chin slightly, looking around, and he eventually pointed down the street in the opposite direction from where Kaori had gone. "Let's start by going this way. We can take the main thoroughfare and then split off in different directions."

Balthazar gave a mock salute, and they started walking.

What could his brain have shown him that would make him run? Did Zachariah—or another angel—come to him in a dream and say they were using him to locate us? If Liam thought his presence was going to help the angels hunt us down, he would absolutely run away. He also might have seen something that wasn't real, but… if that were the case, wouldn't he come to us for help? If my theory is correct, and Liam did run away, then there has to be something keeping him from coming to us. It's possible the angels have…

"Okay, I think we can come to the definite conclusion that no one saw anything."

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh. "Yeah." He screwed his eyes shut for a moment, shook his head, and then tried to make himself look like he wasn't having a complete meltdown. "We've talked to everyone in the area. Whatever happened, there were no witnesses."

Dean slipped his hands into his suit pockets, looking down the street to their right. "So, now what? I mean, should we get the cops involved?"

"I don't know." Sam tried to keep his brain in a cold, calculating logic mode. "If Cas is right about Liam running off, then maybe we should. Maybe having more numbers out there looking is what we need, and if he wasn't taken by something supernatural, cops might be able to find him."

"I can agree with that, but I'm worried about why he ran in the first place. If he thinks something is after him or after us, what's he gonna do when he sees cops approaching him?" Dean glanced over his shoulder at the apartment building they had just finished with, and then he looked down the road toward the motel. "And Liam knows cops will take him away from us, so he might actually run from them and do his best to stay hidden."

Sam looked left and right, body stuttering for a moment before he started walking back toward the lot where Liam was last seen. "But even if he runs from them, if they can spot him, we would have a general location we could look at instead of just running all over Chicago."

"But how are we going to know where they see him?" Falling in step beside Sam, Dean tried to help his brother find the best course of action. "If we go to the police, they're going to arrest us for kidnapping, and then we won't have any idea who's seen what and where."

"Maybe they won't arrest us right away." Sam ran a hand through his hair, slowing to a stop at the edge of the parking lot. "I mean, Liam was taken from Maryland. We're in a completely different state, so—"

Dean shook his head. "Yeah, but what about the national database? If we give them his name and description, they're going to figure out it's him."

"But how long will that take? Maybe we can find him before they put two and two together." Sam reached up and buried his face in his hands, letting out a groan. "Dean, what do we do?"

Dean exhaled hard. "I don't know, maybe—"

"What about Gabriel?" Sam pulled his phone from his pocket. "I mean, if he told Amane about that angel fight so she could go help, he has to be keeping up with what we're doing. I know we've only been contacting him when we convert angels, because that's what he told us to do, but… this is serious." Then, without waiting for Dean to respond, he pulled up his contacts. "He can get mad if he wants. I'm calling him."

Dean didn't say anything.

Pressing the name he wanted, Sam hit the button that would put it on speaker and waited, brain still scrambling for a solid plan or idea of what to do.

"I swear, if you're calling me about your kid's bad dreams, I will—"

"Liam's missing." Sam wet his lips. "We don't know if he was taken, or if he thinks something is after us and he ran away, or what. We just know he's gone, and no one saw anything, and we can't find him anywhere." He tilted his head back when he felt a drop hit him, and another one hit his face shortly after. "Please, you have to help."

Gabriel snorted. "I don't have to do anything." He paused, his tone reluctant when he spoke again. "So, you're trying to find him in Chicago. It's a big city. What are you doing to track him down?"

"Castiel and Balthazar are trying to use their powers to sense any supernatural activity, and Amane's vessel, Kaori, is a psychic who's trying to locate Liam's signature. None of them have found any sign of demonic or angelic powers being used. Dean and I just finished asking the locals if they've seen anything, which they haven't." Sam looked at Dean, a hesitantly hopeful expression on his face, and he was vaguely aware that more raindrops were hitting him. "You're an archangel. There has to be some way you can—"

"Hey, Enochian sigils keep you hidden from archangels just as much as regular angels. That's how Michael and Raphael and Lucifer haven't found you already." Gabriel stopped, letting out a cross between a groan and a sigh. "Okay, okay, let's think. I'll be able to sense what's going on in the surroundings better than anyone else involved, but you didn't say they sensed something they couldn't identify. You said they didn't sense anything. That most likely means there truly was no activity, and I can take a look, but my guess here is that your kid ran away. With the angels in his head, you have no idea what kind of lies they've been feeding him, and sleep deprivation and delusions go hand in hand." He barely took a breath. "I'm gonna call Amane—or Kaori, whatever—and the two of us are going to find Liam."

Sam squinted, but Dean voiced his confusion before Sam could even form words.

"Why you two? We should all be looking for him. We're his family."

"Exactly. He knows me and Kaori the least. If he thinks something is after you guys, and you find him, he's going to try and run again to keep you safe. If he thinks you're the enemy, and you find him, he's going to try and run again to keep himself safe. But two angels he barely knows? Two angels Heaven hasn't even seen in centuries? We're the least likely to trigger some kind of response, because it's least likely Heaven used us in their manipulation of him."

Sam and Dean exchanged a look, something like panic passing between them, but Sam quickly saw the logic in the argument. He inhaled, shifting his weight slightly, and tried to comply, knowing it was his best chance of finding Liam.

"Okay. You and Kaori can look for him, but we're still going to investigate." Because Sam wasn't about to sit back and let someone else find his kid. "And you need to call me if you find anything. Immediately."

"Sure. I'll keep you posted."

And the line went dead.

"I'm calling Bobby." Dean reached into his pocket. "He has no idea what's been going on because we've been hyper-focused on finding Liam." He pointed to Sam. "You need to get on your laptop and start looking at the places we've been seeing supernatural activity. We've been here almost a month, and we've been looking for Death that whole time, and that means there's all kinds of supernatural stuff we've been seeing. Maybe there's a pattern we missed."

Nodding affirmatively, Sam started toward the motel, feeling the water soak into his suit. "I'll call Castiel and update him, and then I'll get on my laptop."

"Cool. I'll be right in." Dean put his attention on his phone, scrolling through his contacts.

Sam let out a soft sigh, continuing across the parking lot. Where are you, Liam? He reached up and brushed his hair back, wiping the rain from his forehead. It's so cold out, and now it's raining. What if he's outside? And this sleep deprivation… what if he passed out somewhere? Shaking the thoughts away, he pulled up Castiel's name on his phone and dialed.

Because what else could he do?

"You don't think it's going to attract attention if you're walking around in a downpour completely dry?" Kaori asked a bit wryly, arching her brow at Gabriel.

Gabriel returned the look, walking along with his hands in his jacket pockets. "If you think I'm going to get soaked to the bone for this little brat, you've got another thing coming." He sighed as they came to an intersection, slowing to a stop as they had at every intersection leading up to that one. "Let's see…"

Kaori looked to the right and then the left, making out what little she could in the dark, and then she pointed ahead of them. "I think we should go straight. I can sense something, and I don't know if it's Liam, but it's the essence of someone running away. It's similar to the essence that comes off a battered woman or deserting soldier."

"I can feel something, too." Gabriel checked for traffic and started walking despite the light dictating they weren't supposed to cross. "I typically use my ability to dig up dark and dirty secrets so I can bring down a little bit of justice, but I haven't completely forgotten how to sense other things."

Wrapping her arms around herself, Kaori tried to stay warm. Usually, Amane was in control of their body, and Amane was immune to temperature, so she dressed Kaori in whatever she wanted. Like, for example, a black miniskirt and a fishnet top. But now Kaori was in control, and she was freezing.

"Here." Gabriel shed his jacket and handed it over. "Abigail always did have a… unique sense of style. She's kind of weird, if you ask me."

"Thank you." Kaori gratefully took the coat and pulled it on, savoring the dryness and warmth it provided. "You know she prefers to be called Amane."

"Right, right." Gabriel waved it off. "It's not like we're best friends. I've only seen her a couple times since she defected. And she was Abigail for thousands of years." He slipped his hands into his pants pockets, gaze traveling over the stores and offices around them. "Why change her name, anyway? I know she favored humans, but it's not like Abigail isn't a human name."

Shrugging, Kaori zipped up the jacket and once again hugged herself. "She felt she changed into something new. You don't keep calling a butterfly a caterpillar just because that's where it started."

"Fair enough." Gabriel slowed as they came to another intersection.

Kaori looked around for a moment, and then she closed her eyes. She breathed in, trying to pull on the strands of chaos around her, and she caught another glimpse of the aura they had been tailing. Opening her eyes, she pointed down the sidewalk to their right. "I feel it going this way. What do you feel?"

"Same thing." Gabriel started walking, squinting slightly. "It's getting stronger, isn't it? More consistent, more definable."

Kaori nodded in agreement, and they lapsed into silence. They walked down the sidewalk, went straight, went straight again, went left, went straight, went right, and then went straight again, getting farther and farther away from the motel.

It's like he's trying to leave the city, which… I guess that makes sense. If he thinks the danger is in the city somewhere… but why wouldn't he hitch a ride? Unless he just doesn't want to endanger any bystanders. I can understand that.

"It's definitely him."

Kaori looked up in surprise. "You're sure?"

Gabriel nodded, crossing the street again. "It's hard to sense with all those Enochian sigils, but I can tell that what we're following is coming from Liam."

"I still can't sense anything but the desire to run away," Kaori admitted, slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah, well, I'm an archangel. You're just a psychic." Gabriel pursed his lips. "You're a pretty incredible psychic, though, if you can keep up with me."

Kaori wet her lips. "I, uh… I'll take that as a compliment?"

"You should." Gabriel opened his mouth to continue, but instead, they both screeched to a halt. He looked down a narrow alley to their right, a dead end just barely wide enough to get a car into. "Found him."

Of course, they couldn't actually see him, so Kaori crept closer, leaning to the left to look around the dumpster pushed up against the brick wall. She found Liam curled up on the ground, clutching an angel blade in his very fitful sleep.

"Liam?" she called softly, taking another step before she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Better stay back, kid. We don't want him killing you." Gabriel walked past her, crouching down next to the sleeping runaway. "Hey, Winchester III." He reached out, nudging Liam on the arm.

Liam startled and gasped loudly, throwing his arms out to defend himself against whatever attack he thought was coming.

"Easy, easy!" Gabriel held up his hands. "Relax, kid. It's just me."

"Gabriel?" Liam pushed himself back against the wall, still gripping his weapon. "You can't fool me. I know what's really going on, and I'm not going back."

Gabriel propped his elbows on his thighs, letting his hands dangle. "You wanna tell me what's 'really going on,' because I don't think we're on the same page."

"I know this is Heaven!" Liam struggled to his feet, eyes unfocused. "I know you captured me, and I know you're not really Gabriel."

Standing up, Gabriel put his hands on his hips and dismissed the idea. "Kid, Heaven doesn't even know I'm working with you guys. Why would they pretend to be me?"

Liam swallowed. "I don't know, but—"

"And look at her." Gabriel pointed over at Kaori, who lifted her hand in a nervous wave. "Heaven thinks Amane deserted over a thousand years ago. They probably think she's dead. Why would they imitate her?"

Taking a step to the right, trying to get distance in between them, Liam struggled to process what Gabriel was saying. It wasn't even that he was disagreeing with what Gabriel said, it was just that he couldn't understand the logic of it. His brain couldn't follow the thoughts from one place to the next.

"Liam," Kaori started softly, clasping her hands together in front of herself. "You're not in Heaven. I know… I know you've been having a hard time sleeping lately, and I think your lack of sleep is making you not think clearly."

"That's exactly what an angel would say to get me to stop fighting back!" Liam looked between the two of them, retreating another step. "You're—you're angels, and that means—" He shook his head, dragging his arm over his eyes to clear away the rain and stepping back again as he uttered a broken, "I'm so tired."

Gabriel exhaled softly. "I know. You're gonna get some sleep soon. I'm gonna try and put myself in your dreams, and hopefully, when Heaven enters your mind to show you something, I'll be waiting for them." He shrugged. "It's not a permanent fix, but if we could get you off the brink of insanity, that would be great. I just gotta figure out how to get rid of them without revealing myself."

Liam panted, a shudder tearing through him. "I… I don't…"

Kaori approached a little more, still wary of the blade in Liam's hand. "You're safe, Liam." She laughed softly. "I'm not even an angel. I mean, I share a body with an angel, but she's not in control right now. I know you have no reason to believe that, but—"

"You can go back and forth with your angel?" Liam had the awareness to recognize that her statement was unusual, but he was so disoriented she had no idea what conclusions his brain was drawing from it.

"Yeah, we… we've worked something out over the centuries." Stealing a glance at Gabriel, she tried to figure out what to do. "We're actually good friends. She rescued me, and I gave her a body to inhabit." She wet her lips. "I could tell you about it, but… but please come with us first. We need to get you somewhere warm and dry, and we need to try and get your body some rest."

Liam's head bobbed, like he was falling asleep on his feet, and he jerked himself back into a state of alertness. "I don't… you…"

"Liam, you're not well." Gabriel reached out, closing the distance between them and gently taking the angel blade from Liam's hand. "Just come with us."

Eyes fluttering, Liam tried to grab his weapon back, but he wound up grasping at air. "I… I know what you're doing."

"No, you really don't." Gabriel reached a hand toward Kaori. "Grab on. I'm flying us back to the motel."

Kaori grabbed Gabriel's hand just as Liam started to pull back, as if the word 'motel' had triggered some kind of response. She watched as Gabriel took Liam's wrist in hand, and the second he made contact, they were standing in the middle of the motel room.

"Liam!" It came from all three of the room's occupants.

Pulling away again, Liam tried to get free, his incoherency turning to panic as he processed that he was back amongst those he thought to be angels.

"Liam, it's okay," Kaori said, walking closer to him and cautiously reaching out her hands. "Everything's fine. You're safe."

"He thinks he's in Heaven," Gabriel explained, reaching out and tapping the boy on the forehead to dry him. "Relax, kid. Even if we were Heaven's cronies, you can't overpower us, so there's no reason to fight back."

Kaori placed her palm on his chest. "Just lay down and go to sleep, okay?"

Liam jerked his head. "I can't… the dreams…"

"I'm gonna try and fight them off." It was unclear if Gabriel was explaining to Liam or his family. "It's not ideal, but if I can overpower the angel, I might be able to stop the dream, too. Even if we could just get him a few solid hours—"

"Yes, please. If you can do anything to help…" Sam took a step like he was going to approach Liam, but it seemed he realized what a bad idea that was, and he stayed standing right next to the motel table. "Please."

Kaori looked over at the far wall, where Castiel and Dean appeared to have been in the middle of a conversation, both of them hovering the same way Sam was. She glanced at Sam, who looked so incredibly relieved and heartbroken at the same time, and then she looked back at the boy she was touching.

"Why don't you lay down?" Kaori gave him a gentle push, and as he stumbled toward the bed closest to the back of the room, she followed him. She may have been soaking wet, but she didn't really care, and she crawled onto the bed, sitting cross-legged near the head. "I'll stay here with you."

Liam looked over at her, sprawled out on the mattress and still struggling to keep his eyes open. "But you're an angel…"

"Not always." Kaori smiled, placing her hands on her knees. "You should close your eyes."

Liam shook his head. "No, I can't… I can't…" He stared up at the ceiling, dazed and confused. "I have to… get out of Heaven…"

Biting her lip for a moment, Kaori tried to figure out how to talk to a brain that wouldn't see reason. Maybe the best thing was distraction rather than discussion. "Do you like Japanese food? Because I know the best foods to eat, and with Amane's help, I could fly to Japan and get the good stuff."

Liam blinked slowly.

"I could teach you how to use chopsticks, if you want. I had to teach Amane how to use them, and let me tell you, it's really hard teaching a skill to someone who shares a body with you. I had to, like, speak into her mind and take control of just one limb and… it was nuts."

Liam shifted, eyes closing for a moment, and he took a deep breath.

"But she got the hang of it. She doesn't really eat—you know, being an angel and all—but she likes to suppress her Grace and taste things from time to time. She couldn't use anything else—it was ancient Japan—so she had to learn to use the chopsticks."

Fingers twitching, Liam exhaled, and it was like the life went out of him.

"I think he's asleep." Kaori got off the bed and looked at the four men. "Gabriel, can you really get rid of his dreams for a little while?"

Gabriel held up his hands in a helpless gesture as he approached. "We're about to find out."

"Thank you."

Blinking, Kaori put her attention on Sam.

"Both of you. Thank you for finding him. I… I don't know what we would have done without you." Sam wet his lips, glancing at his son just as Gabriel crouched down by the bed. "Where was he?"

Kaori tugged on her sleeves, which reminded her she was wearing Gabriel's jacket, and she started to unzip it. "He was in an alley, curled up behind a dumpster. I honestly don't know what the street name was, but… it was a long way away from here. We were almost out of the city."

Sam nodded, swallowing, and Dean reached up to rub his face. Castiel stepped away from the group, walking up to Gabriel and murmuring something Kaori couldn't hear.

"Well, it looks like you've got everything under control," she started, glancing over her shoulder at Liam and then turning a small smile to the brothers. "I'll give Amane control again, and she can get back to working with the angels. If you need anything, just call us, okay?"

"How old are you?" Dean asked, squinting slightly.

"Fourteen." Kaori gave a sideways sort of nod. "More like fourteen hundred, but, y'know, fourteen." She smiled. "Don't worry about me. I was considered an adult before I even met Amane. It was a different time."

Dean and Sam didn't seem necessarily convinced, but Sam just forced his lips into a small smile and repeated, "Well, thank you."

Kaori bent at the waist. "Glad to be of help." She straightened up and looked at Liam one more time before handing control over to Amane, who immediately flew across the country. "They've got Death's ring," the angel said out loud, landing on a cliffside overlooking a valley. "We've got to continue increasing our numbers, and then… then it's time to finally end this."

Kaori looked out at the scenery, and even though it was dark out, it was still beautiful. Do you really think we can do it?

"I have no idea." Amane walked a little closer to the edge, and then she tilted her head back to look up at the stars. "But we have to try."

Duh. Kaori felt her spirit dampen slightly. I hope Liam will be okay.

Smirking, Amane watched a light streak across the navy blue expanse. "You seem to like Liam. And I know you think he's cute."

I don't even know him, Amane. Kaori mentally rolled her eyes, expressing her annoyance. I just don't want to see him suffering. That's basic human decency, nothing more.

"Yuh-huh." Amane let out a sigh and rolled her shoulders. "Alright! Castiel is going to be busy with his family, so we've got to pick up the slack and get back to recruiting angels. I didn't see Balthazar in the motel, so he's probably out doing something with the other angels. Our first order of business is to call him." She turned away from the cliffside and started walking. "Let's see who we can draw out here."

While you do that, I'm going to take a nap. It would, of course, be a mental nap. I really wore myself out looking for Liam, and you don't need me to do your job. Wake me up if anything interesting happens.

"Will do!"

Kaori closed her metaphorical eyes and let her consciousness drift, still able to feel her body moving in a way that almost felt like she was being rocked back and forth. It was soothing, and it didn't take long for her to fall under.

The entire time, she felt bad for Liam. She was getting what he couldn't—what he needed so desperately—and it was easy for her. She could only hope Gabriel would be able to give some respite, and of course, she could only hope the archangel was able to keep his identity a secret. Not only for the sake of the upcoming battle, but because she knew Liam would never forgive himself if he thought he was to blame for them losing an advantage.

She kept thinking about him, right up to the moment she lost consciousness.

"Okay, so, Gabriel's giving him one night of sleep. He needs more than that. We can't do this again." Sam paced, running his hands through his hair as his gaze flickered between where Gabriel sat on the bed and where Dean and Castiel hovered off to the left. "He's delusional. He's going to hurt himself. We need—"

"I can attempt to do what Gabriel is doing," Castiel offered, blue eyes focused on his brother. "I would be able to be here more readily than Gabriel, and though it's true I was never involved in Heaven's missions to manipulate minds, I'm still an angel. My mental prowess is somewhat lacking, but that doesn't mean I can't do this." He inhaled, his expression cautious. "I may need to transfer my position to Balthazar. Spending several hours every night guarding Liam's mind will be exhausting. I'm not sure I'll be any good to our forces in that state."

Dean spoke from where he leaned against the radiator. "Gabriel already agreed to give the angels some of his Grace to fight Lucifer and Michael. Maybe he can give you an extra dose to help you keep Liam safe."

Sam finally stopped pacing, letting out a huge sigh, as if he were physically exhaling the stress he was under. "What if we do defeat Lucifer and Michael and end things, and they stay in Liam's head to, like, punish us or something?" He shook his head, the panic he had been trying to expel coming rushing back. "He can't do this for the rest of his life. I don't even know if he can do it for the rest of this month."

"There's gotta be something we can do." Dean rubbed his face, letting out a muffled, screaming noise with his palms digging into his eyes. "What about finding some witches? Human magic is pretty powerful. Maybe they've got a way around this."

Castiel tilted his head to the side, lips pursing slightly. "It's… certainly possible. I don't know how they would fare against the power of Heaven, but… we know they can be incredibly powerful. It only took two witches to resurrect Samhain, after all. Though…" he tilted his head back the other way, "…he was just a demon, albeit a powerful one. He couldn't be killed by Ruby's knife, but he could be exorcised by Sam, who didn't have very much demon blood at the time, so…"

Sam brushed off the bitter memory of using his powers, even if it had been for good, and he started to think about Dean's suggestion. "Okay, so… witches. How long is it gonna take us to find some witches, and what are the chances they'll be willing to help us?"

"Well…" Dean sighed, dropping his hands from his face. "I don't know, I've always been suspicious of using the supernatural—you know how I felt about you drinking the demon blood and us summoning Calypso and trusting the angels—but… maybe we don't even need a witch. Maybe we can do this ourselves." He took a breath. "I mean, with those books Cas stole from Heaven, we figured out a way to summon an archangel, and think about how crazy powerful they are."

Sam glanced over at Gabriel, who was still sitting on the bed with his hand on Liam's forehead, and then he looked back at his companions. "Would Heaven have more books that we could steal? Something on dreams and visions and… I mean, would they? Or is there somewhere else we can—"

They all stopped at the sound of a cellphone ringing.

Dean pushed off the radiator and dug his phone out of his pocket. "It's Bobby." He swiped the screen and put the device to his ear. "Hey, Bobby, we've got good news. We found Liam, and right now—" He stopped, brow creasing. "Men of Letters?"

Wetting his lips, Sam turned toward the bed and took a few steps closer, wanting desperately to be close to Liam but also feeling a profound need to stay away. He didn't want to disrupt Gabriel, and he didn't want Liam to wake up and see him and panic because he thought Sam was a hallucination or an angel in disguise.

"Okay, hold on, Bobby, let me put you on speaker." He pulled the phone away from his ear, touching the screen a few times and holding it out.

"I've been trying to think of ways to protect Liam's brain, and I think I might be getting somewhere. It lines up with the research I was already doing, but—" Bobby cut himself off. "I found records of something called the Men of Letters, and it was some kind of global monster hunter group. I don't have much yet, but I found some information on them really coming down hard on witches. They stole all the lore and spell books from the witches they killed, and if we can find where they stashed them, we might be able to find something keep Heaven out of Liam's dreams."

Wishing the words brought him some kind of hope, Sam turned back toward Dean and Castiel, approaching the phone. "It's funny you should say that. We were just talking about witches or maybe stealing books from Heaven to try and find a way to protect him."

"Even more reason to find one of these Men of Letters locations. Even if we can't find a way to keep Heaven out, maybe we can find some way to put Liam into a deep sleep or coma until this is all over." Bobby took a breath, and it sounded like something was rustling in the background. "I don't know if witches—especially witches that were around when the Men of Letters were—would've had anything that could help us, but that doesn't mean we can't tweak what we find."

Castiel cast his eyes downward, a thoughtful crease in his brow. "I am trying to remember… if we ever heard anything about the Men of Letters in Heaven. It doesn't sound familiar to me."

"Hey, it's a lead." Dean gave Sam a look that was somehow both hopeful and hopeless. "Once Liam gets a full night of sleep, we'll head back to Bobby's and start doing some serious research together."

"Ain't you looking for Death?" Bobby asked.

"Oh, yeah, we gotta update you on that." Dean rubbed his forehead. "Hold on, Bobby. I'm taking you off speaker, and I'll fill you in on what happened before Liam disappeared."

Sam gave a quick thumbs up and turned, making his way over to the beds again. Just like last time, he kept his distance, and he had to fight the overwhelming urge to grab Gabriel and ask what the archangel was seeing in Liam's head. He reached up occasionally, pushing his hair back or rubbing his forehead, and then he would go back to watching Liam.

"You shoulda let it finish."

Sam bit his lip, eyes burning, and he was glad no one was looking at him. He breathed slowly through his nose, trying to calm himself, and his throat started to tighten as he gradually sat down on the bed next to Liam's.

"I dunno what it is. But it looked like it was gonna put me to sleep."

He went back to that night, to the shtriga's body on the floor, to the little redhead with bright blue eyes and cigarette burns. Small hands in the pale green sheets, body leaning closer to the edge of the bed, unafraid and almost curious about the dead monster.

"I don't like sleeping, 'cause there's so many bad dreams, and I used to like being awake, but I don't like being awake here, so… I don't really wanna die, 'cause that's forever, y'know? But I don't wanna be awake or asleep anymore, so… What else is there?"

Pressing his hand to his face, Sam felt a tear slip down his cheek, and he grit his teeth as his shoulders started to shudder. I can't regret what I did. He remembered what Dean had said when Liam was kidnapped by the angels; something about how Liam didn't want to be alive before, but now he did because of Sam. But I put him in the crossfire. He sucked air through his teeth, and it burst back out as a sob. I can't fix this. I can't undo it. I can't put him anywhere or do anything to get him out of this. He bit down on his lip. Would it really be worse if he had stayed in the group home? Maybe I should regret what I did. Maybe—

"Hey."

Sam jolted, but he kept his face in his hand. He didn't say anything, and Dean didn't continue. They just sat there. Sam kept breathing, somehow pulling himself back from the edge of a meltdown, and Dean shifted his position on the mattress from time to time. In the background, he could hear Castiel talking to Bobby, and Gabriel cleared his throat at one point. Sam felt a hand come down on his shoulder, and he struggled not to break.

What have I done?

Author's Note: I hope you all liked this chapter! I got the inspiration for Kaori and Amane from Greedling from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

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