A/N Thanks to AndiGemini for the beta!

Bobbie went to the downstairs bedroom to take a nap after making Hex bags. Sam and Hardison sat talking about dealing with demons. Basically it was simple, point and shoot. He'd done that plenty of times in video games and so on. He could kick some virtual ass but had issues with actually killing people. "So if we shoot the demon, it leaves the body but the people are dead. Dude, I don't know about that."

Sam watched him sympathetically before he nodded. "When the demon takes over their body, it's very difficult for the body to ever be the same. Most of the dispossessed die afterwards. Demons 'wear out' their bodies."

Hardison tried to absorb that fact but grasped to the small amount of hope. "Most. But not all. See? That's where I have a problem. And the angel could heal them, right?"

"Yes, of the physical damage, but not the emotional scars of having something evil wearing you."

"So they get therapy."

"That will go over well," Sam chuckled. "How would you like to be the one that had to go to a shrink saying 'doctor I was possessed by a demon'? It doesn't work like that. Once they're possessed they're goners."

"How do you and Dean keep yourselves from being possessed then? These smelly hacky sacks?"

"Hex bags are good for hiding yourselves but they will not prevent possession. That's what these are for." Sam handed him a few necklaces with charms on them.

Holding out the necklaces, Hardison shook his head. "Sophie will never wear these unless they match her outfit..." Hearing heard the loud voices, he jumped up, ran upstairs, taking two steps at a time, to find out what was going on. Dean had Nate pinned against the wall by his shirt, but before he reacted in defense of Nate, Hardison noticed that Sophie seemed very much on Dean's side of this argument.

"Where did you send them?" Sophie yelled, ignoring his arrival. Hardison heard Sam come up behind him and held out his hand to stop him.

"What's going on?" Hardison asked, warily looking around. "Where's Parker, Eliot and the angel?" He knew the thing that would have pissed Sophie off the most at Nate would be him endangering the team.

Dean's glare flew to his, as he said, "That's what I'm trying to find out."

"I didn't send Eliot or Castiel anywhere," Nate calmly said, his eyes not meeting his eyes. "And Parker went to get something. I tried to stop her but…she wouldn't listen. You know how she is."

"Yes, I do know. And I know that she wouldn't put herself at greater risk in a situation where she knows she's out of her element. Well, not like this at least. Did Castiel take her?" Hardison saw a gleam in Nate's eyes and instantly added, "Do not say yes if you do not know, man."

"I don't know."

"Cas didn't take her. He was with me until I came up here and we were talking about Parker. Besides I don't think he'd do that again," Dean replied. Glancing at Sophie, he added, "I don't think so at least. But maybe he went after her to protect her."

"And who is protecting Eliot? Where did you send him? There is something you're not telling us." Sophie's eyes narrowed and she was angrier at Nate than Hardison had seen in awhile.

"Let me deal with this," Hardison said to Dean. The hunter glared but finally nodded and reluctantly let go of Nate's shirt, taking a step back. Hardison stood before Nate and studied him closely. "You've put us all in danger before, mortal danger, and I'm sure that you'll do it again. But this ain't like before, man. This isn't like anything we've faced before. Jail isn't on the line here, Nate, we are! Our actual flesh and blood, souls and all, lives are on the line. And the thing is, after everything you've put us through, after you've endangered all of us, I still don't know if you even care. Eliot and Parker can normally take care of themselves, normally. When it comes down to it, even with all the risks you take, we trust you. Straight up man, where are they?"

"I don't know."

As soon as Nate set his jaw stubbornly, Hardison knew he was lying. Unable to resist, he punched Nate in the stomach, dropping the older man like a rock. He bent down and yelled in Nate's ear, "Eliot taught me that solar plexus trick. You want me to show you what else he taught me?"

Dean grabbed his arm. "Wait, wait. Beating him up ain't gonna help, despite how good it feels. Don't you have a tech way to track them?"

Shaking and flexing his hand, he answered, "Assuming they have their earbuds or their phones, I can try. But that's a big assumption, especially since you two crushed Eliot's in that alley last night."

"You work on that. And next time, tighter fist, less pain. I'm going to try and get Cas back here so he can possibly help," Dean ran down the stairs and straight into Cas' chest, which threw him off balance. Hardison was too close and ran into Dean.

Ignoring the two men trying to right themselves, Cas asked, "Help with what?"

oxoxo

Dean glared at Cas as he helped Hardison from the floor while the others joined them in the hallway. Seeing the blonde woman with Eliot, he cocked his head to the side. "Did you feel the need to bring a date?"

"Yeah, that's it brainiac," Eliot replied. "I had nowhere else to take her." The woman looked like she was still stunned by something and Dean's gaze slid to Cas. Not that he could read the angel's expression or anything.

Sophie walked down the stairs and put her hand on the other woman's arm. "Maggie?" It took Maggie a few moments to acknowledge her presence. Before Dean could ask another question, Sophie turned back around and ran up the stairs again. He heard some banging around and cursing before she came back down the stairs. "Nate's gone."

"Probably because he knows I'm going to kill him," Eliot growled. He led Maggie into the living room.

Sophie walked to the kitchen and came out pouring some scotch into a glass, then handed it to Maggie. Hands shaking, she drank it slowly while everyone watched her silently. When the glass was empty, she took a deep breath as Sophie poured her another shot.

"I'm fine now. Thanks for rescuing me again. I don't even…can't even explain what I saw back there. I really need to give up dating." Her eyes drifted to Dean. She held out her hand and said, "I'm Maggie."

"I'm Dean, my brother, Sam, and Bobby. I can imagine this all must be unnerving."

The woman laughed bitterly. "I was just getting adjusted to the fact my ex is a criminal. Demons might take awhile."

"A demon came after you?" Sophie asked, her eyes wide. "But how would they know how to find you?"

"They've done their research apparently better than us. We didn't even know Maggie existed," Dean muttered, glaring at Sam who held his hands up before rolling his eyes. "My question is how did Eliot know his ex-wife was in danger?"

"No…no…Eliot's not my ex-husband," Maggie replied with a laugh.

"Oh sorry, you said ex so I assumed…ex-husband. Sorry, my fault. Your ex-boyfriend?" Dean suggested with a slight grin. Sam narrowed his eyes and mouthed the words 'knock it off', causing him to smirk.

Eliot glared at him before explaining, "Maggie is Nate's ex-wife. I love how you assume I am the only criminal she knows and that I knew she was in danger, like I somehow know all this. What else are you assuming? Because I have beat up with a black-eyed demon chick who hated you, not that I blame her, with a hard-on for breaking me open for the candy surprise, I've been to hell…or somewhere…and back in the last few hours so I'm ready to beat someone senseless. Since Nate's not here, you want to volunteer, son?"

"Which demon chick? There are so many." Holding out his hand, he counted them off, "Rudy, Meg, Lilith, Casey, a few crossroads demons, those are the ones you have to watch out for, hot," he gestured in front of his chest and raised his eyebrows, "except for the fact they are demons part…I think you get the picture. I know the impotent rage you're feeling but can you not stoop to the barbarian level again? Because I've had it up to here," Dean punctuated the air with his hand, "with your crew. We're trying to help your dumbasses and you keep getting into more trouble. I'm about to have Cas knock you all into a coma until we can find that little blonde minx Parker!"

Eliot stepped forward and Cas walked in between the two of them placing his hand on their chests. "Dean, Parker is in real danger. Eliot was pulled back from the veil. Only an angel or someone more powerful than that could do it and since there is no reason for them to save him for his merits alone, they want something from these people. I think they want Parker."

"What do you mean he was pulled back from the veil?" Sophie's voice rose in alarm as she stood, her hand gripping Eliot's shoulder. "Do you mean he was dead?"

"Not quite…well, yeah, he was dead," Dean admitted with a quick glance at Eliot before mumbling. "Sorry man, I didn't know. I know how death can screw up your day."

"Not worth saving?" Eliot had been glaring at Cas but rolled his eyes. Turning to Sophie, he tried to reassure her. "Don't make a big thing about it. I mean I'm not dead now. Right?" When Cas nodded, Eliot grinned slightly. "See? I'm not dead now."

Sophie hugged Eliot tightly and Hardison interjected, "Not dead now? Not. Dead. Now. Did you come back with your brains intact? Because you're way too calm about the fact you were dead in the first place. And you were killed by a girl? Man, I told you, you got to hit back no matter how pretty they are if they start it or at least put a stop to it. Didn't you learn the last time with the roller derby team? They about killed you. I'm beginning to think you're into that kinky pain shit." Seeing Sophie's expression of annoyance, he threw out, "But seriously, glad to have you back man. Now can we go find Parker or should we group hug?"

When he walked forward, Eliot took a step back from Sophie and him and growled, warning, "Don't."

"Something is wrong." Cas' eyes closed and he took a few steps away from them.

Hardison's mouth dropped open slightly before he waved his hands around in aggravation. "What? Do you feel a disturbance in the force?"

"Dude, give him a minute," Dean said and once again Cas disappeared. He gritted his teeth and yelled at the ceiling, "That's just fucking great Castiel! Thank you for sticking around and helping out!" He stormed out of the room into the kitchen, grabbing a beer from the fridge. He needed a time out, away from people. Hopping onto the counter he leaned his head back against the cabinets and closed his eyes. After awhile he sensed he wasn't alone. "Five minutes. Seriously I need to be away from you people for five minutes."

Silence but the person didn't leave so he opened his eyes and was relieved it was Sophie, not one of the others. She got a glass from the cabinet beside him and poured some scotch from the bottle she had carried in, before looking at him. "We're normally not like this. It's just…unbelievable. I've seen lots of monsters in my life but never like this."

"I'd worry more about anyone who didn't react strangely if angels and demons appeared before you one day," Dean smiled gently. "Don't worry. I'm sure you're very good at what you do."

She watched him, her gaze lingering on his longer than was necessary. Dean didn't know if she was trying to con him or seduce him, which with Sophie could be the same thing. He wasn't sure. Her hand dropped to his thigh causing his eyebrows to rise. "You're very good at what you do, Dean."

She squeezed his thigh, trailing her fingers up the sides of his leg. He smiled and glanced down at her hand as she stepped closer. "Any other time, I would so be on board with this but now probably isn't the best time, Sophie. And I'm not a hundred percent sure this isn't a con. I mean, you're a grifter…"

Sophie moved between his legs and turned her face up to his. "Does that matter that much? I mean, we're both consenting adults here. And I know you want me." Dean started to reply and she smirked. "I know you do, Dean."

"I'm not denying that, I'm just saying the timing isn't the best," he answered and nodded towards the other room. "I don't think your friends would approve either. I don't know if this is some game to get back at Nate or…"

Sophie wrapped her hand around his neck and pulled him to her. "Do I look like I'm playing a game?" He held his breath as her tongue ran lightly over his lips. "Live dangerously Dean."

Something seemed off. He hadn't known her long but this seemed very out of character for her. He realized something and tensed, attempting to pull away from her. She gripped his leg tighter and tried to pull him closer again, her fingernails digging into his neck. "Nice American accent, sweetheart. But you're showing your true nature now." The hand around his neck quickly moved to grasping his throat as her eyes flashed black causing his heart dropping in his stomach.

"Good to see you again Dean," the demon chuckled. Tapping his chest where his tattoo was, she added, "I figured since I couldn't get inside you, you could be inside me."