Knocking. She registered knocking. "Ugh." Jude tried to roll, trapped under a masculine arm. "Mm." She nudged the arm.

"Huh?" Bleary and weary, Timothy popped up in the bed. "What? What happened?"

"I think Eunice is here." Jude wrapped a sheet around herself. The bed was a total wreck. "Wait here. And be quiet." She skittered over the hotel carpet to the door, opening it with the chain still on.

"Morning!" The angel was very chipper in a bright pink sweatshirt and white jeans. There was a pair of headphones on her head, and a purple Walkman on her waist.

"It is. It is morning." Jude rubbed her eyes. "Is it time to go?"

"Nope." Eunice frowned. "All flights out are canceled. Because of the snowstorm last night."

"Snowstorm?"

"You...didn't see the giant snowstorm that buried most of the city?"

"No." Jude touched at what she knew was a matted mess of hair. "I was...dead asleep."

"Travel can be so exhausting."

"Absolutely."

"Well. I thought we could get some breakfast and plan for worst case scenarios."

"Breakfast!" Jude said it as if it was an alien language. "Right. I'll um...I'll get dressed and...meet you downstairs."

"Sounds good." Eunice cast eyes at Timothy's door. Jude didn't miss the glance.

"I'll wake Timothy, too," she offered quickly. "Bring him down with me."

"Oh, I already tried to wake him." Eunice toed the hideous hallway carpet innocently. "He didn't answer."

"Maybe he's already downstairs."

"Didn't see him." Eunice leaned against the door jamb, blinking expectantly.

"Well, maybe he went to breakfast without us."

"Desk clerk didn't see him leave. I asked."

"He's a very mysterious man, Eunice!" Jude hissed through the door crack. "I don't know where he is! I'll be down in a few minutes, though."

Eunice's white high top sneaker stopped the door. "Don't fuck with me, Judy. I got money riding on this. Is he in there?"

"Eunice! What the hell are you -"

"I'm here, Eunice." The calm voice came from behind her and Jude turned to see Timothy already dressed.

"Yes!" The bushy blonde ponytail swung triumphantly. "I knew it!" She barely contained her excitement in the hallway. "See ya at breakfast, cash cows!" She slipped the headphones back onto her ears and danced backwards out of view.

The door shut loudly and Jude growled frustration. "Why didn't you just keep yar mouth shut?" She asked, leaning against the door.

"She knows everything, Jude." Timothy sat on the foot of the bed, buttoning his cuffs. "And if she doesn't know something, she'll figure it out. Incessantly."

Jude sighed. Sat beside him. "You don't think she really bet -"

"Would not surprise me."

"Oh." She frowned. "That little bitch."

"Come on." He patted her bare thigh. "Get dressed. I'm starving. And if flights are canceled, we can um..." He gestured to the bed.

Jude's brow rose. "...take a day of rest?"

"Yes. Rest." He kissed her forehead, stepping into his shoes. "In between sweaty rounds of not resting."

"I can't decide if I created a monstah or a masterpiece." She sighed. "Fine. Breakfast. But this hair is gonna take a minute."

In the elevator, she admonished him. "It doesn't help that yar grinning like an ass eating thistles."

"I'm not grinning."

"Yes, you are." She tisked. "This is going to be embarrassing enough."

"It's quite compelling, is all."

"What is?" The elevator came to a halt.

"You. On top."

She blushed brightly. "Well. I'm glad I can be...compelling."

Eunice was waiting against the wall directly in front of the elevator. When the doors opened, she gave the couple two thumbs up. "Alright! Rad. Bet you two are hungry, huh?" Jude rolled her eyes. "I figured we'd hit up that diner outside? The restaurant in this joint is hella fancy. And I'm not dressed for that kinda lame."

Obviously, the street sweeper had been through. A bank of snow piled high against the building they passed, and still crunched underfoot. Jude was glad she'd opted for high boots. The diner was bright and warm, though, bastioning the group against the weather.

Eunice wiggled obnoxiously into the middle of the long vinyl seat, forcing Timothy and Jude into the bench across from her. She grinned at them over laminated menus. "So. Sleep well?"

Jude squinted at the angel. "Very." Timothy studied the menu. "Tell me about this bet, Eunice."

"What bet?"

"Oh, don't bullshit me," Jude snapped. "Who was it?"

"Who what?"

"Stop playing innocent angel. Who made the bet?" The waitress made a momentary distraction. They ordered. A carafe of coffee clunked onto the table. When Eunice reached for it, Jude snatched it. "Who. Made. The bet, Eunice?"

"The Reverend Mother." Eunice snatched the coffee back. "Happy?"

"Unbelievable." Jude threw up her hands. Timothy chuckled. "It's not funny!" Jude insisted.

"No, it's hilarious! Jude, honestly. What's your damage?" Eunice leveled with the nun. "We all know how you work. And Timothy?" Her gaze turned to the still grinning priest. "You are so totes predictable."

His grin turned quickly to frown. "Hey!"

"Look." Eunice went business. "There are more important things to discuss right now than the fact that you two totally boned. We all saw it coming - pardon the pun - so let's just move on. Right? Right. Now. Logistics. The airport is closed. Even if it reopens soon, there's Fargo to think about. This is a rough winter. If Boston is snowed in, North Dakota is going to be fully wastoid."

"So how do we get there?" Jude asked. "We can't delay this work, Eunice. This is too serious for us to be late."

"Righteous, sister!" Eunice raised her hand for a high five. Jude was lost to the gesture, so she lowered it awkwardly. "I have a solution. I already checked in with the Reverend Mother when I collected my winnings and she's approved a rental vehicle."

"You intend us to drive there?" Timothy asked. "To North Dakota. From Boston."

"It's the only guarantee, bro!" The angel sat back when their plates were delivered. "Besides. Who doesn't love a road trip?"

"Me, Eunice. I do not love a road trip." Jude snapped open her napkin. "Especially not one that's this long. We'll...kill each othah!"

"You two?" Eunice gestured to the couple with her fork. "Highly unlikely at this point. Plus, neither of you will be driving. I will. And God is my co-pilot, so...solid."

"How long will this take?" Timothy asked.

"Three days."

"That's impossible."

"All things are possible through Christ, Judy." Eunice deadpanned.

"We have seen the way she drives," Timothy pointed out.

"Exactly! It's suicide!"

"Suicide is a sin. Right, Tim?" Eunice winked. Timothy put his head in his hand. "Have a little faith, Jude. You still have faith in me, right?"

Jude sighed. Closed her eyes in a silent prayer. "Yes, Eunice. I'll always have faith in you."

"Cool beans!" Eunice smiled big. "Plus, we get to listen to some tubular tunes all the way. And we leave first thing in the morning, so you two get to be all secretly filthy together for a whole nother night before you have to don collars and habits and pretend you haven't peeled yourselves apart like an envelope flap of amalgamated bodily fluids." The couple's mouths dropped. "Man! These pancakes are wicked sweet!"

Jude nudged Timothy. "Let me out befar I kill her." He slid from the booth. "I'm going to the girl's room. I'll be back."

"Deuces!" Eunice called after her. "Drop one off at the pool for me!" She cackled.

The bathroom was the restaurant's antithesis. Cramped and dark, it sported two stalls and a tiny sink beneath one swinging 40 watt bulb. Jude washed her hands in a sad trickle of frigid water, wondering at the stain in the porcelain sink. When she looked up to check her hair in the splotchy mirror, she gasped at the reflection and spun to face the woman behind her.

"Jude." Shachath slid across the broken tiled floor, a gliding vision in black. "Long time no see."

"What - what are you doing here?" A momentary panic. This angel rarely brought less than death.

The ethereal white face softened. "I'm a harbinger."

"Wonderful."

"You are already encountering the resistance of this particular case."

"How do you mean?" Jude relaxed against the sink, fingers curling over the cool rim.

"It is no coincidence that the airports are closed."

"Yar not tryin' ta tell me this demon can control the weathah." It was inconceivable.

"Demons." Shachath corrected. "Control? No. Utilize? Yes. You are anticipated. You must be very wary."

"You said demons." Jude pointed. "More than one?"

"Yes."

"Oh, God." The nun rubbed at her temples, turning away. "How many, Shachath? How many demons in the same woman?"

"Uncertain." The dark angel shook her head. "Honestly, Jude that's the least of your worries. You've made yourselves vulnerable now."

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think I mean?" The tone suggested Jude might be feeble minded. "You couldn't control your libido this one time?"

Jude gaped. "How - how do you -"

"Oh, please. We know everything, Judy. And even if we didn't you're painfully easy to read."

"I can't help how I am!"

"No, you can't. And the Dominion should have done their homework before assigning you and Timothy Howard to a case together." Shachath sighed heavily. "But it's too late now. All I can do is warn you."

"You said...we've made ourselves vulnerable?"

"You must recognize he has feelings for you, Jude."

She blinked. "He does?"

"Playing dumb doesn't become you."

"He nevah had feelings befar." Jude whispered, leaned against the bathroom stall. "How could he..."

"Don't underestimate the power of your vagina, Jude." Shachath smirked at the blonde's gasp - overrode her protests. "Death changes people. It changed you. It changed him."

"I'm no different than -"

"Oh, bullshit!" Shachath hissed. "You went from a woman being in love with love to a woman being so terrified of love that she controls it like a trained lion."

"I'm not terrified of anything!"

"You are." Shachath argued bitterly. "And you should be. Especially of what you're about to face."

Jude reached for Shachath's elbow, a pleading gesture. "Tell me. Tell me what we're about to face."

"I can only give you a hint of the horrors to come, Sister. This is not a simple darkness, but a conglomerate. It is a cooperative of evil housed inside one singular entity. It possesses knowledge similar to yours and Timothy's...and beyond. It can see the past and the hidden parts of the present."

"And the future?" Jude whispered urgently.

"Only the future it desires the most." Shachath's hand curled over Jude's, eased its grip. "And then it creates that future."

"I see." Jude slumped against the sink, crossed her arms protectively. "I have put us in danger. It will know everything we've done. Everything we feel and think." Her eyes were wet when the met Shachath's. "What can I do?"

"What is done cannot be undone, Jude." The angel's heels clicked on the tile. She paused at the door. "Forge strength together. Perhaps...perhaps you have not made a mistake, but...a prospect."

"Wait!" But the angel opened the door, and by the time Jude made to follow, she was gone.

Eunice appeared from around the corner, slowing when she took in Jude's expression. "Hey. You okay?"

"No." Jude leveled a steely gaze at Eunice. "No, I'm not okay, Mary Eunice. And I need you to tell me everything you know about this mission we're on."

"Jude. I've told you everything I know!" A woman brushed past them on the way to the lavatory. Jude took Eunice's shoulder, steering her back to their table. "What's the matter with you?"

"A friend of ours just visited me in the ladies room. Yar co-worker. Shachath. She had some interesting infarmation that leads me ta believe there's more ta this than the Vatican has shared with us." She seated Eunice as she spoke, and Timothy heard their conversation.

"You saw Shachath?" He glanced about. "What information?"

"I assure you both I know only what the Reverend Mother shared with me." Eunice insisted. She tapped the table. "Shachath is of an order far different from mine. An entirely different class of angels. I don't doubt my dark cousin knows things I don't, but I would never intentionally lie or withhold information from either of you! Sister. You know that, right? Timothy?" She looked between them both pleadingly.

"I trust you, Eunice." Timothy spoke softly. "For years now, you've been an advisor to me. A confidante."

Jude sighed, frustrated. She sat back in the booth beside Timothy. "I have no reason to distrust you, Eunice. I don't want to. But I hate feeling like I've been kept in the dark."

"What did she say?" Eunice and Timothy asked together.

Calmly, Jude cut into a sausage patty on her plate. Calmly, she told them everything about the confrontation in the bathroom. Well...almost everything.

Worry clouded their features. Timothy and Eunice lapsed into silence while they ate the rest of their meals. A heaviness settled over the table - the heaviness of the mission ahead. It was a path of danger, lit only by uncertainty.