The motel itself didn't look like much from the outside, and the inside wasn't much more noteworthy. The hallways had mice and cracks in every wall, and the woman's room was poorly lit and ever-smoky.

She sprinkled a bit of holy water on both of them as a precaution before their conversation.

"So, who the hell are you two?" She questioned, pacing back and forth in front of the boys, arms crossed and lips pulled into a taut line.

Dean sighed, and leaned back uncomfortably in his chair, his ankles bound to the chair legs with thick rope. "Who the hell are you?"

"Do I look like the Riddler?" Came her biting response.

Sam's eyebrows shot up.

"You answer me first, and if what you say is true, then I'll tell you who I am."

The brothers shot one another a look, silently agreeing to tell her the truth.

"I'm Sam, and this is my brother Dean. We're here to investigate the missing teenager."

A look of disbelief crossed her face, but it passed quickly. She took out a cigarette, offered one to each of her guests, both of whom declined, and lit up. She took a long drag before speaking.

"My name's Kalila. Kalila Saab. I'm a hunter, same as you two, and I'm investigating the same case." Another long drag as she peered out of the window shade. "I've been here for a day, and I haven't found anything." Kalila chuckled and eyed Dean. "Now I understand why you seemed shaky and insincere that night in Cincinnati. You're bad at this."

"C'mon, I couldn't've been that bad. I think I speak for both of us when I say that was the best night of our goddamn lives."

"I didn't say our little workout was bad. I said you were bad. I saw through your every lie. Transparent as glass." Another drag, then she pointed a long black nail at him. "A word of advice: don't ever assume that you speak for me."

The three sat in silence for a moment as Kalila smoked and leafed through a stack of files laid out on her table before Dean cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Well. My mistake. You know, any other time I would've killed to be tied up by you, but do you think you could, I don't know, untie us sometime soon? We kind of have a, uh, case to get back to."

Kalila didn't even glance in his direction. "You can untie yourselves. Didn't you realize your hands are free?"

Dean looked at Sam and raised his eyebrows. "Well, sure. But... You're not gonna kill us, are you?"

"Do I have a reason to?"

Neither of the brothers had an answer.

"Will I have a reason to?"

"No. No, ma'am," Sam answered nervously. "We really just, uh, need to get back to our place, so we can find out what happened to this kid."

She tossed her papers down and leaned against the table. "You really are the good guys, huh?" She laughed before taking a short drag. "You'd better be going, then. But expect to see me around."

Soon after, Sam sat in the Impala, which was parked neatly just outside of Kalila's room; Dean walked around the outside of the car, checking every inch for scratches, a tracker, stolen items from the trunk, anything out of place.

"She's okay," he muttered as he got in the driver's seat.

"Okay?" Sam asked incredulously. "She's a master negotiator and tough as hell. She made you drive a fifteen-year-old Toyota, Dean. She's more than okay. She's really, really good."

This was met with an are-you-stupid stare from his brother.

"The car, Sam. The car's okay; I was talking about the car. I don't give a rat's ass about how good the girl is."

Sam scratched his head, uneasy at being wrong. "Alright, whatever. But I'm right, and you know it. I bet she's just as good of a hunter."

The older of the pair gave the younger a meaningful look. "You can't be serious."

"What?"

Dean sat back in his seat, arm resting on the open windowframe. "You want to ask her to join us, don't you? That's exactly what you're hinting at, aren't you? You might be smart, but I'm not as dumb as you think, Sammy. Your subliminal messages are comin' through crystal friggin' clear."

"Well, it's not like we've got anything, Dean! We have a national newspaper article and a line of salt! That's all!"

"She said she didn't have anything, either! What good is that to us?"

Sam sighed wearily. "Look, man, I'm sick of arguing with you. All I'm suggesting is that we join forces just for this one hunt. We find this kid together, then we split. We could use her help."

"What makes you so sure that she's gonna want our help, huh? She's not exactly the friendliest girl I've ever met."

"No, but she's the most kickass girl you've ever slept with." He bit his lower lip in slight frustration. "All I'm saying is, maybe we were meant to meet her. We didn't get anywhere on our own, and with her help, maybe we can save the teenager."

Dean, pursing his lips, looked out the windshield at the drawn drapes on Kalila's front window.

"We need to save this kid, no matter how we do it. Please, Dean. It's what Dad would've wanted us to do."

Dean whipped his head around to eye his brother. "Don't you use that shit on me."

"But it works, though, right? Besides, you know it's true. All he ever wanted was for us to save lives."

Sam grimaced as Dean let out a soft damn it through his gritted teeth.

"Fine. Tomorrow, if we see her around, we'll ask. But no guarantees that she says yes."