The fog got thicker and murkier as they drove, wisps of it hovering over the road as it blanketed the surroundings with it's chilly dampness, making Jane more and more uneasy. Something that wasn't that hard to do given their current state.

Sam was hurt, her head was throbbing with a tightening headache and they were driving a beat up hot wired car.

In the fog.

At night.

With harpies out there.

She closed her eyes for the briefest of moments in an effort to push the unease she was feeling back.

Christ she wanted a drink. Badly.

Anything really to take the edge off. But knew she had to keep her mind alert. Sam needed her just as much as she needed him and she wasn't going to let him... or Dean down. Drinking wasn't the solution. No matter how much she wanted it.

She rubbed a hand back and forth across her leg in a half-hearted attempt to generate some heat but mostly to distract her thoughts from the direction they were going as she stared out the window. The streetlights, all hazy and bright, faded behind them as they headed out of town into the countryside. The fog was even thicker out here with trees looming dark in the distance only to disappear as the fog enveloped them further.

She rolled the passenger window down, leaning a little against the door, listening intently.

Nothing but silence answered back. No fluttered wings. No gleeful laughter. No sign of anything other than the stillness of a cold and misty fall night. That was a good thing at least.

No sound meant no harpies. At least for now. And now was all that mattered.

SN*SN*SN

Sam shivered slightly as cool air made its way through the window and into the car, his hands steady on the steering wheel as the headlights of the car glowed faintly ahead of them pushing through the thickening mist.

Eerie it was but for now they were safe.

Getting to Dean and Bobby was next thing. That and putting a stop to all of this. They just had to get there first.

Almost as if if had heard his thoughts the car spluttered, the spluttered again before giving what sounded like a throat clearing cough and jerking to a complete standstill.

With a frustrated sigh Sam pulled the wires apart then connected them back together but the car remained where it was, still and silent.

"Looks like we're walking" he said looking around at their surroundings, "The fog and trees will hopefully give us some cover."

If Jane was nervous at their current predicament she gave no inclination, merely giving him a curt nod as she reached for the gun resting on the dashboard.

"You know how to use that?" Sam queried.

Another curt nod was her reply.

Any other time words might have been good but Sam understood and appreciated her silence. Going outside, knowing that harpies could be out there. Somewhere. Lurking in the dark. Being as quiet as possible seemed more and more like a good thing.

He nodded back then carefully opened the door and got out with Jane copying his movements exactly. Leaving the car behind them they slowly made their way ahead as glimmers of moonlight filtered it's way through, easing back some of the pitch black darkness of the night. That and the almost unearthly like glow of the bar's neon blue sign a few hundred yards ahead were all the light they had. Still it was enough for them to see and make out the dark shadowy forms of the forest of trees that were on either side of the road.

Beyond that everything was cloaked in thick fog.

Sam just hoped it was enough to hide them from what was out there.

The sound of faint rustling whispered in the air. Halting in their tracks, they looked around. Sam placed a finger to his lips in a motion of 'be quiet' as he glanced over at Jane who stood nearby with the gun gripped tightly in her hand. Both breathing as quietly as they could, they stayed still, listening as hard as they could. Once again only the quiet of the night could be heard. Pausing for a moment longer, making sure everything was okay, they slowly and carefully moved again, keeping their steps light footed as they began to walk.

Rustling again. The sound of leaves being crunched underfoot and branches moving and then a dark shadowy form coming out of the bushes.

"Bobby," Sam gasped in relief, the wound up tension that had been building in his body fading at the sight of him.

"Do you think you two could be any louder."

Gruff the words might be but their was affection of a sorts hidden in the tone. Especially if you knew Bobby as well as Sam did.

"The car broke down," whispered Sam, lowering his voice.

"So I heard. You can explain later and it better be a good one cause you know you're brother's going to be pissed, We're meant to be setting a trap for the bloody thing not walking around with a neon bullseye on our backs saying come and get me."

Lowering the crossbow he was carrying Bobby looked down the road towards the bar, Sam and Jane following his gaze with their own.

"Dean," said Jane, her eyes widening. With that one word she dashed off, running, leaving the two men to look on in shock and surprise as she vanished in the fog.

SN*SN*SN

"Jane," Sam cried, making a move to go after her only to stop in mid step as Bobby firmly grasped his arm, yanking him back.

"Don't do it boy. She'll only get you killed."

"We can't just leave her out there." Any sign of whispering was gone as Sam spoke, unwilling to believe that Bobby of all people could be so callous.

"We can. And we must. We go after her and that's it, game over. We've got a job to do and that's kill the damn thing before it hurts anyone else."

Sam shook his head, refusing to believe that Bobby wouldn't do something, anything to help. "There's more than one."

A wave of alarm washed over Bobby's face. "You sure? Like really sure?"

Pale and mildly freaked out he might be but stare he gave Sam was grim and firm, with not a flicker of fear. This was the Bobby Sam knew. Calm, controlled and always determined. Never backing down from the hard questions or searching for the truth.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. Pretty sure."

Bobby rubbed a hand across his face, weariness leeching out in the gesture as he sighed. "Well ain't that just peachy. Two of the damn things," he paused for a few seconds, obviously thinking things through before handing Sam the crossbow, "You know how to use this?"

"Umm yeah, a little."

"Good. You take that and I'll take these."

Bobby turned away going back into the forest only to reappear moments later with a Molotov cocktail in one hand, a lighter in the other, a black bag slung over his shoulder with the tops of more Molotov's peeking out from the top.

"Right. Let's do this. You hear anything. And I mean anything. Don't hesitate to shoot. Okay?"

Sam could only nod in the affirmative, any concern for Jane pushed aside for now as he followed Bobby's lead.

SN*SN*SN

Dean felt as if he had been sitting in this bar for an eternity, beer only half drunk, eyes and mind focused on everything around him. Waiting.

He kind of hated this part of the job. Sitting. Observing. Waiting for the moment to make his move. It kind of sucked. Even when the results were worth it.

He much more preferred the straight to the point approach. Go in, rescue the girl, the kid, the regular Joe and then relax and celebrate afterwards before crashing into bed and sleeping like he was comatosed, only to do it all over again with the next hunt.

It was the life. Hard, brutal and at times mind-numbly boring but worth it in the end. Saving people, hunting things. That was the family motto. At least for him and Sam. And it was a pretty good one at that.

Of course now things had changed. He had been to Hell and back… literally. And Sam was hovering on the brink of going down a path that made him uneasy in every sense of the word. Throw in the usual demon crap plus angels who weren't exactly showing themselves to be the good guys and things were a lot more complicated than they'd ever been. One way or another though he knew that he and Sam would get through it, just like they had gotten through everything else. Lilith's plans might be big but in the end she was just another demon to stop. Of course until then there was still plenty of regular hunting to do.

Waiting though… yeah it still kinda sucked.

As a pair of denim clad legs approached his table he looked up from his beer, his gaze falling upon a pretty young brunette. All chestnut brown hair and clear blue eyes and perfect skin, dressed simply in jeans and a soft knit sweater, she was like the prom queen and the girl next door all rolled into one. Pretty, slightly tomboyish and looking just a little nervous..

"Hi. I know this might seem weird thing to ask but do you know anything about cars?"

The voice matched the girl, slightly whispery and soft with a touch of nerves.

"A little," replied Dean, giving nothing away even though her question had surprised him.

The nervous look of her face vanished, replaced with one of warm relief. "Oh thank God for that. I tried asking the guys over there but they kept trying to make me stay for a drink and I really didn't want to. My car won't start. I can't get anyone on my cell to come and help. You wouldn't mind having a look, seeing what's wrong? Would you?"

She bit nervously on her bottom lip, looking even more nervous and helpless than before.

Placing his beer back down on the table Dean casually shrugged in reply. "Sure. I can have a look."

A mixture of relief and gratitude flickered over the girl's face, "God, you're a lifesaver. Really. You don't know how much this means. It's getting really foggy out there and I just want to get home before it gets any worse. My dad tends to worry if I'm out in this kind of weather."

"It's no problem," said Dean, getting up and following the girl, who carried on chatting as if they were suddenly the best of friends.

"I keep meaning to take it in for a service but I've just been so busy what with work and studying and helping my dad out, making sure he eats right and gets some exercise. He's got high blood pressure and the doctor been on at him for ages to do something about it. And of course he just ignores It - he's so stupid sometimes - and pretends it nothing so I have to stop everything and see that he does something about it. And then there's my friend Casey, she's been having problems. She has like the worse luck with guys. So naturally I've been doing my best to cheer her up. I'm it's just never ending and now this has to happen. I mean seriously, my car just decided that tonight of all nights it would refuse to start. What's with that? And those guys back there..."

Dean wondered if the girl ever ran out of breath as they headed outside, letting the words wash over him. Thick mist floated through the air, wrapping around them as they walked towards car parked out the back of the bar, making Dean grateful he was wearing layers of warm clothing.

Nearing the car he stopped a few feet from it, the mask of friendliness of his face disappearing in an instant as he carefully pulled his gun out from behind his back as he casually spoke, his manner calm. "You know you must really think I'm stupid if you think this whole damsel in distress is going to work."

"Well I wouldn't say you're stupid exactly. Then again I'm not the one out here all alone, am I," replied the girl, turning around to face him as she tilted her head to the side and smiled.

"He's not alone."