"What I don't get is why you saved us. What does an 'angel of the Lord' want with some hunters?" Dean addressed Castiel with his arms crossed.

"I do what I'm told. God told me to find the Winchesters and protect them at all costs. He won't tell me what's going on. He only says that you are all very important." Castiel unconsciously crossed his arms like Dean.

"Why should we trust anything you say?"

"I'm sorry, Castiel. My brother has problems with authority." Sam turned to Dean, trying to reason with him. "What ulterior motive could he have, Dean? Why else would he save us?"

"Maybe he's working for the other side. We can't prove who he's working for. Maybe he's trying to get insider information."

"I assure I'm not," Castiel said.

"And I'm supposed to take your word for it, Cas? I don't trust you. You shouldn't either, Sam." With that, he left.

"For what it's worth, I trust you, Castiel," Ruby said. She had to if she wanted to stay sane.

"Thank you." Castiel smiled almost imperceptibly. "So, what happens now?"

"We look for cases online and in newspapers," Mary spoke up. "Do you know what hunters do?"

"Yes. You look for monsters and you kill them. I admire your work. I'd love to help."

"Go ahead," Ruby handed him a newspaper. "I'm just going to go to the library. Sam?" She was jittery. She felt like her spirit wanted to jump out of her skin. Sam stood up, grabbed her hand and squeezed it

Sam took his mother's keys off the counter. They had rented a hotel room. It was so much better than squatting in an old house.

Ruby drove much faster than was necessary to the library. Sam stayed quiet. He never knew how to help her when she got like this - her manic phases.

At the local library, Ruby sat at a table next to Sam. She was flipped through newspapers, scanning the articles. Her eyes moving back and forth quickly.

"So, get this," Sam said. "Black Water Ridge, Colorado. It seems like an animal attack on a campsite, but look at the footage." Somehow, Sam had footage from a camera that should only be accessible by the police. It was a video of a man in a tent. Sam slowed down the video. A shadow went by in three of the frames.

"That's impossible," he said, pointing at the shadow. "No animal can move that fast." He closed the laptop. "Let's go."

"Wait. I think I found a case too. Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Three people drowned in the lake. None of their bodies were recovered even though it's a relatively small lake. The last victim was a skilled swimmer."

"Good job." Sam held up his hand for a high five. Ruby shook her head, but high fived him.

• • •

Sam, Dean, and Ruby were in the Impala on the way to Colorado when Sam decided to ask Dean why he hated Cas.

"I don't hate him. I just don't think we should trust him yet. I mean, Heaven, angels, God? I just don't believe in any of that stuff."

"Dean. We've seen things that other people think are just fairy tales-"

"Exactly!" Dean cut him off. "We've seen them. We know they're real. We've killed them. We don't have any proof of what this Castiel is saying. I just don't trust him."

"Well, you know what I think, Dean? I think you like him and you're just too afraid to admit it." Sam had a look in his eyes that hinted that there was more to what he was saying.

"Sam." Dean didn't say anything else.

Why did they always have to argue on long car rides?

• • •

"Could I, uh, see your badges again?" Haley Collins asked, looking at Sam and Ruby suspiciously through her screen door.

They were pretending to be park rangers this time. They held up the badges and she let them in. Walking in behind her, Sam asked "How do you know Tommy's missing?" Tommy was her brother.

She was putting spaghetti on her younger brother's plate as she spoke. "He sends in a video everyday. He has a satellite phone too. He hasn't contacted us in three days."

"You don't have to worry, Haley. We're going out to Black Water Ridge tomorrow."

"Good. Maybe I'll see you there." Sam was about to protest, but Haley continued. "I couldn't sit around waiting, so I hired a guide. We're leaving in the morning."

• • •

They met back at the hotel that night. "Did you find anything?" Ruby asked Dean.

"Multiple people have vanished in those woods. Happens every twenty-three years, like clockwork. In 1959, one kid survived an attack out there. I went to go see him."

"Don't leave us in suspense, Dean."

"He had claw marks on his chest that couldn't have been caused by an animal. He said he didn't see anything. It moved too fast. It got inside the family's locked cabin."

"Damn. What do you think it is?" Ruby had no idea in all honesty.

Sam spoke up. "Well, since it couldn't just go through the door, it must have been corporeal. So, I'm guessing skin walker or black dog. Just in case, when we go out tomorrow, we should bring everything." Dean mouthed the word "corporeal" after Sam said it and smiled, looking somewhat impressed.

"This will be interesting. What about Haley?" Ruby understood why Haley wanted to go after her brother, but they couldn't let her.

"We can't exactly stop her. We can try to protect her. That's all we can do," Dean said. "If I were in her situation, no one could stop me from finding Sam." To make it seem lighter, Dean slapped Sam on the shoulder as he walked into his room.

Ruby was reminded again of how great it was to be a part of this. To help save people and be part of this family. She already felt like anyone of them would die for her and she would do the same.