Sam had asked Castiel and me to meet him, Charlie and the Witch Rowena in a warehouse basement.

Rowena was chained with iron, no-magic shackles.

Charlie looked at us in confusion. "Cas. Ava. Are you two in on this, too?"

"Hell's bells," Rowena told us. "More distractions? What are the two of you? Witches or nerds?"

"Angels," I answered.

Rowena raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Beg pardon?"

"Octavia has, uh, powers," Sam told her. "Spiritual muscle that'll help safeguard the work."

"Safeguard it from what?" Rowena asked.

"You," Sam answered. "I can't be here full time to referee."

"Whoa, whoa," I told him. "And I can?"

"Please," Sam told me. "Please do this for me."

I sighed, closing my eyes. "I don't like it when you play dirty."

"Well, what are the rules?" Castiel asked. "If she's gonna referee, she should at least know them."

"Quite literal, aren't you?" Rowena asked. She looked at Sam, pretending to whisper. "Do they know that the first rule is don't tell your brother what we're doing?"

Castiel looked at Sam. "Wait. Dean doesn't know? Sam, this never ends well."

"That's exactly what I said," Charlie told us.

"Okay, everyone take a breath," Sam told us. "Look, we're up against it, okay? And we've all been up against it before, and we know there are times when every choice sucks. Now, us... lying to Dean... is the choice that sucks the least. We have to make this work. Please. For Dean."

"Okay, yeah," Charlie told us. "For Dean."

"Cas?" Sam asked.

"Okay," Castiel told us. "For Dean."

"Ava?" Sam asked.

"For Dean," I told them.

Charlie, Sam, Castiel and I looked at Rowena.

Rowena looked away in annoyance. "I barely know the man."

*     *

Sam and Cas had been out talking.

I was still with Charlie and Rowena.

Charlie was working hard on her computer trying to break the codex to translate 'The Book of the Damned'.

Rowena was sitting at her table, throwing chicken bones.

Charlie sighed. "Damn it."

"That miraculous machine of yours hasn't solved everything by now?" Rowena asked. She gave a fake cough. "Overrated, I'd say."

"I'm using the computer to find some pattern in the book's coding or an synchronicity with the symbols in Nayda's codex," Charlie told us.

"Oh, I'm more old-school," Rowena told us. "I read the signs nature shows me... the forces that ruled before there was man."

"Wow," I told her sarcastically. "Why didn't we think of that? What do you know about the woman who wrote 'The Book of the Damned'?"

"Agnes was a hermit nun, and as mad as a hatter," Rowena told us. "Made it her business to undo curses."

"Like the one that caused the Mark of Cain," I told her.

Rowena nodded. "As in any struggle between good and evil, balance is required. To cure one curse, Agnes had to know how to inflict another. They live side-by-side in the magic world. One cannot be without the other."

"Sure, sure," Charlie told her. "Like, uh, a binary system. So, I got to think like a hermit nun."

"Did I mention they burned her alive?" Rowena asked.

"'They'?" Charlie repeated.

"A cornucopia of curses and Satanic visions did not go unnoticed by the church hierarchy," Rowena told us. "These men would not abide a rogue nun."

"Poor Agnes," Charlie told us. "Ahead of her time."

"Much like the three of us," Rowena told us.

"Well..." Charlie trailed off.

"I actually don't see our similarities all that much," I told her.

Rowena twirled a piece of her red hair, looking from Charlie's red hair to mine. "Because you're from before man was created and an Angel? Because she's young and good? Because I'm ancient and evil? Is that it?"

Charlie shook her head in confusion. "Wha..."

"Let me tell you about the two of you," Rowena told us. "The similarities, at least. A difficult and lonely time growing into yourselves. Tragedy, absent parents, or the father figure of God. Always outside the mainstream. Sexually progressive. Living in your own heads for solace and direction."

"Yeah, but, still, we are pretty different," Charlie told us.

"I read the two of you the minute I saw you," Rowena told us. "And I'm sure you're aware that the line between good and evil is quite flexible. But we part company when it comes to blind devotion. Case in point, the Winchesters. You are blindly loyal and devoted to them. Foolish."

"Sam and Dean are like my brothers," Charlie told her. "Ava loves them."

"I know," Rowena told us. "And that steadfast will be your undoing, girls." She looked at me. "From what I've heard about you, Octavia, it's already led to your demise once." She looked at Charlie. "Let's hope you're luckier than she was."

I rolled my eyes, sighing, looking away.

  *******     

Rowena was filing her nails in the other room.

Charlie and I were talking in another room.

"I am doing my best, but with her criticizing, breathing down my neck, trying to sign me up for Team Witch..." Charlie trailed off. "Oh, oh, and moaning how the one good year for music was 1723... I... I am going crazy. I know. No, I mean, she is evil."

"She is a wicked Witch, so by definition..." I trailed off.

"No, no, no, I mean something bad is gonna happen here," Charlie told me. "Ava, just spring me for two hours, one hour... anyplace quiet. Dean is my buddy, and I cannot screw this up, but... but my mind is... is... it's a wad of gummy worms. Please."

I shook my head. "Charlie, no. With the Steins out there looking for this book, it's not safe. And they're not just looking for the book. They're looking for you, because they know you're one of the last people who's had it. You have to stay here. Pick a different room. Pick anywhere else that's not close to Rowena, but I'd rather you stay here where I can protect you."

  *******     

Charlie and Rowena were fighting.

"Let me focus," Charlie told her.

"The greatest Witches of history have sought my counseling," Rowena told her. "Yet you spurn me when I offer myself as collaborator."

"Oh, my God," Charlie told her in annoyance. "This is..." She turned to me. "You have to let me go."

"Charlie, there's no way you can go off by yourself," I told her. "There are dangerous people looking for you."

"Fine," Charlie told me. "You can come with me."

I shook my head. "No, I..." I sighed. "I can't leave Rowena alone, either." I sighed, shaking my head. "You know what? Time for a little separation."

  *     *

I pushed Rowena into a different room.

"Alone time?" Rowena asked. "Why does she need alone time? Bit of a prima Donna, if you ask me. The girl is simply out of her league. Without me, the work grinds to a halt."

I was beyond annoyed, exasperated. "Rowena. She needs quiet. She's under a lot of pressure, and it doesn't help that she feels like she's betraying her friends."

"Oh, betrayal?" Rowena repeated. "She'll get over it. Once she has children of her own, she'll know all about betrayal."

"You have a child?" I asked skeptically.

"Do I have a child?" Rowena repeated. "The King of Hell. That's all. The King."

"Crowley is your son?" I asked. "Well, that explains a lot. I'm sure that was quite a challenge."

"Well, back to it, eh?" Rowena asked. "We're wasting time here."

"I'm gonna... see how she's doing," I told her, walking out into the main room. Charlie and her computer were gone. I looked around, all trace of Charlie and her things gone. "Charlie?"

  *     *

I called Sam.

"Hey."

  "Sam, she's gone."

"Who's gone?"

"I've looked everywhere. Charlie is gone."

The Steins had found Charlie.

They had killed her.