Everything was a whirlwind of darkness. The trees around the lake were dark silhouettes to a backdrop of moon soaked water. Cas walked the perimeter with harsh, quick steps. At his side strode a man in a police officer's uniform. The crunch of the gravel beneath their feet was the only sound as they made their way to the other side. Cas glanced over at the man, John. He glanced back. His lips moved, but no words came out. Cas didn't bother with a reply. There was no point. He had relived this scene so many times now. His life was a dream, a cycle of silence set to repeat.

They got to the dock and strode to the end. Soon John would fade away. They both came down to a crouch at the water's edge. John held out his hand over the water and sent little rivulets out and away. Beneath the surface was Dean, for now. He would fade away too, eventually. John was mouthing words to him again. Cas concentrated on them. The wind blew and fall leaves danced into their space in a chorus of oranges and browns that were only visible because the moonlight was strongest near the water. Cas looked down at Dean beneath the water. His eyes were closed as if he were sleeping there. He was sure that he could touch him if he just reached out to him.

It was time now for the change. John stood up speaking the same words again with no sound. Then he turned into deep dark smoke and curled off on the next gust of wind. The smoke was not gone for long. Another stream of it whirled into the space in front of him. This time it was red and reminded Cas of fire. It formed a column and then became solid. It was form in the void that was mostly just darkness all around them. It never ceased to shock him that the man before him was Crowley. He stepped back every time, and Crowley inevitably would grip his arm and keep him from toppling over into the water.

He spoke, and he had a voice that Cas could hear. "Don't fall in, Cas." Crowley's face drew close to his and his teeth seemed to be larger somehow, like he was a wolf intent on devouring Cas in a single gulp.

Cas shook his arm free. "So what will it be this time? You gonna tell me that the bad guys are getting away, and that I need to wake up?"

"Hasn't worked before, so maybe I should sing a different tune. You know, I think we need a song for just us, don't you?" Crowley managed to extend his smile even wider. It seemed unnatural. "You and I would make a great pair, Cas, old boy."

"What do you want?" Cas was impatient even in dreams with this type of dithering. "Spit it out and fade away. I'm done with you."

"I didn't know what would happen to you way back then. I couldn't know, you see. I just knew that you were getting in over your head after you had managed to," he paused a moment then continued with a chuckle, "get in over your head. M was supposed to keep things in check. She was supposed to keep things going right, but sometimes plans change. Sometimes people do unexpected things. I never could have known that A and Al would become a problem. I could never have known that Lil would be taken." Crowley looked down at Dean in the water and Cas moved down to block him from Dean. Somehow Crowley made him feel uneasy here in a way that John did not. He had more reason to hate John, but the fact that he was plenty dead, seemed to make him seem like less of a threat. Crowley felt real. Crowley felt dangerous. Yet he could not be dangerous, not here.

"Are you looking for absolution or something?" Cas gave him a piercing glare, moonlight glinting off of his eyes. "'Cause you and I both know that you won't be getting it from me. Now back away from Dean." Cas stood in front of him, and Crowley got up. He seemed to puff out his chest as he stood just in front of Cas.

"I was just going to suggest that you wake up, that you see the world, that you take a little howl at the moon. Live a little Cas." He tipped his head back and did indeed howl at the moon while Cas stared at him from too close. It all seemed familiar somehow, like a story that he had been told. Dean had talked once of an unusual conversation that he had had with Crowley. "The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to save her." He pointed down at the water and Dean was gone. In his place was Lil. Her golden blonde hair spread out around her head like a halo. She was glowing beneath the surface. She seemed to be sleeping just like Dean had been before.

This was the part that he always struggled with, the part that would make his heart race. She opened her eyes and seemed to fight to get her head above water. He moved to her, dropping down to his knees. "Lil. I'm coming." Crowley's hands were on him, holding him back. He fought the grip, but he couldn't break free. He never seemed to be strong enough.

"She needs to be saved. Time is running out."

"You let me go. Let me go!" Cas struggled harder as Lil thrashed around.

"So wake up. Wake up, Cas!" Crowley was yelling in his ear. The grip on his arms grew stronger then it turned to smoke.

He practically fell into the water. He reached for Lil. He couldn't pull her out. It was as though reaching for her made her slip farther beneath the surface. Then a familiar voice spoke near his ear. "I've got you Cas. Dip down and get her. Get our girl." He turned back to see Dean holding him so that he could pull him back up. Cas dipped into the water and got a hold on Lil. He pulled her up onto the dock. She choked out water onto the dock and rolled into Cas' arms with a sob.

"I'm here baby. I'm here. Nobody's gonna ever take you from me again. I promise. I've got you. I've got you." He rocked her back and forth. Dean curled up at his back and pulled him to his chest and the three of them held each other there on the dock, rocking and cooing out words of comfort in the dark.

Quiet like a whisper Dean said, "You have to wake up. Wake up, Cas." He turned to Dean and saw the earnestness in his eyes. "You can't save her if you stay like this. You can't save me either." Dean pressed a kiss to Cas' temple. "Save us. Wake up." Cas pressed in closer to Dean, still holding Lil in his arms. "Please wake up, Cas."

Cas opened his mouth and the word "okay" slipped out on the breeze. It would whirl around them echo back from the hills, it would pair with itself and become a chorus of okays. Cas closed his eyes and concentrated on the world beyond this place. He tried to pick up the low hum of something familiar. He endeavored to indeed wake up.

Dean sat in the Igreja Matriz. A small choir was singing at the front of the church. There was a funeral for someone that he did not know. The casket was open at the end of the aisle. A priest stood off to the side focused on the podium in front of him. Dean followed the actions of the congregation. They stood in unison, and Dean was standing just after them. The service was a mystery, and Dean was doing his best to keep up.

There was noise at the end of the aisle. A large Samoan man made his way toward him, stepping around the parishioners that stood between the end of the row and Dean. Dean tipped his head to the side to watch the man's progress. He certainly wasn't subtle. How is it possible that in all of Brazil, or even Argentina, Gabe managed to find someone to help me, and that someone is Samoan? The man wedged himself right next to Dean, bracing his arms on the pew in front of him. He had arranged to meet this man here, in a public place rather than in his apartment. It didn't matter that Gabe had recommended him, or that he would be trusting him rather extensively in the weeks to come. What mattered to him now was seeing this man first in a neutral place, a place that felt safe.

He glanced at Dean and then turned his attention to the front of the church. The people in their row turned their attention back to the front of the church as well. "You are Dean?" It was barely a question. It was also too loud for the quiet of their space at the back of the church.

Dean tipped his head to him again. He raised an eyebrow as if to question yet again Gabe's choices. "Yes." His answer was quiet. "You are Elisara."

"Eli. Call me Eli." He smiled as he said it, a big toothy grin that seemed to stretch over the entirety of his face. His eyes big and brown were wide open, vast as all the earth. "Gabe told me that you needed some muscle and a guide. I am that."

Dean turned his attention back to the front of the church with a nod. They wouldn't be able to leave yet without drawing attention. The choir's song increased in volume. Dean smiled and turned to Eli again. "We'll leave after the song."

Eli was still smiling as he said, "Sure thing, boss."

They stared off into the distance. The song played out. The song died in one of those sudden abrupt ends that sometimes happen. Dean exited the row, making his way to the back of the church. Eli followed him. They went out into the empty street in front of the church. It was Saturday, but nearly everyday was like this. Some said that it would improve in August, with the children returning to the school. For now they played, but not near the church and not near the complex that Dean had been calling home.

Dean had been living in Candido Godoi for months. It was like living in a vast ghost town. There were plenty of people to be sure, but there was just something about the place that felt empty to him. Maybe it is just me. Dean wondered about that time and again. He had landed in the dead of night. Gabe had chosen a small airstrip some miles from the town. He paid off the soldiers that came to the plane to inspect it and they left without a backwards glance.

Gabe had been his one point of contact back in the states. He didn't want to involve Sam or anyone else. He was fully aware though that Gabe would tell Sam things. They were friends after all. The long flight had filled his head with too much worry. He had told himself that after all was said and done, that he would leave them all, that he would make sure to never be a burden to them again. Once Gabe had left though something shifted for him. Dean thought about what he was fighting for and the long string of days that already existed in his life, days that were empty and pointless. He wanted to get Lil back, and he wanted to find a way to not give up.

Now with time to think, and a steady stream of information coming to him from Gabe, Dean spent much of his time thinking about not just saving Lil, but also about Cas. He knew that Cas had been moved to his parent's place in Oregon. He knew that he had not yet regained consciousness. With each month that passed, Dean felt more and more hopeless where Cas was concerned. He had thought that he would arrive in Brazil and that he would storm whatever building Mirov was in, guns blazing. He had thought that he would retrieve Lil and fly off to Cas all in a heartbeat. He had thought that all of this action would be enough to draw Cas back to them all, put things right again. The rescue efforts had proven much more difficult though.

Now he was standing in the street with Eli the giant and no clue what to do next. He tipped his head toward his temporary apartment complex and the two of them fell into step side by side. Dean cast a couple of glances Eli's way as they walked. He didn't know what to say yet, and the awkwardness of it was dragging out with each thump of their footsteps. Eli finally spoke, his voice higher in pitch than his form seemed to warn. "You're smaller than I anticipated."

This gave Dean pause. In fact, he almost tripped over his next step. "Huh?"

Eli watched him as they kept moving on. "Yeah, Gabe described you as, well, kinda big. Made you seem like a tough guy." Eli looked back to the road ahead. "You're just smaller is all. Kinda average."

"Wow, Eli. You really know how to throw down the compliments." Dean laughed a little with that. They kept walking.

"Well, I was being generous." Dean laughed again. Eli continued, "Pretty sure my sister could take you down without breaking a sweat."

"Good to know. If you don't work out, I'll give her a call."

Eli scowled a little at that suggestion. "I'll work out just fine. Rest of my family doesn't do this sort of thing."

"What? Mercenary work?"

"Yeah, that. I don't either, to be honest. Gabe said there was a kid though, and I have a bit of a soft spot for the little ones." They stopped at the corner. "I'm retired again when this job is done."

Dean heard a low growl of noise coming from Eli. "You hungry?"

"A bit. Gabe said you'd be taking care of living expenses and I'm pretty sure that includes food." The smile was back, like they were old chums and not two guys gearing up for a raid on a rather secure compound owned by one of the most well armed men in the country.

"Well, let's get you some food first then. My place is not exactly hospitable." Dean directed him down a side street. There was a small building that sold quick meals on tables set outside. The place looked more like a house than a restaurant, but it was close, so it was often Dean's place of choice.

They sat outside and a woman brought them a couple of plates of food. There was a bunch of eggs and some root vegetables that Dean had thought were potatoes the first time that he had eaten there. Turned out that they were something called yuca or cassava. Hardly mattered to Dean as it was fried and a little greasy, thus reminding him a bit of home. He picked one of the yuca up and popped it into his mouth. It was rather hot so he blew air around the thing in his mouth that was partially open.

"So tell me what the deal is. Gabe gave me some information, but it was all a little vague." Eli began scooping up big forkfuls of food and was likely going to need a second plate to add to his first.

"There was a kidnapping. My…" Dean paused not sure how to describe Cas or Lil to this virtual stranger. "Lil is family in all of the ways that really matter, we'll just leave it like that. She and her father were living in hiding back in the states. While I was away, they were attacked, and Lil was kidnapped by her grandfather." Dean took a break to scoop up a forkful of eggs.

"Yeah, Gabe told me that much. He told me that the kid's father was Cas Novak."

"He is." Dean set down his fork for a moment. "You said that like you know him."

Eli actually paused in his voracious eating. "I met him, yeah."

When he seemed like he wouldn't elaborate, Dean picked up his fork and waved it about between them. "And…"

"And, I did a job for him. Gabe set it up. It was a long time ago. Years."

"You got something better to do right now or something? Spill." Dean was stabbing at his eggs now, but he didn't eat them.

Eli shoveled the last bit of eggs onto his fork and into his mouth. He looked over at Dean's plate. Dean pushed it over to him. "Thanks. Well, it wasn't anything important, just a missing person case. Guy named Chuck, if you want to know. You trying to check my credentials here? Gabe'll vouch for me."

"No, it's not that. It's that I'm curious." Dean leaned back. He wasn't relaxed. Every muscle was tight. He was ready to snap at any moment. "Cas is…" He paused, still not certain how much to share. "Cas is important."

"Yeah, Gabe told me." Eli was nearly done with Dean's plate too. Feeding him might be quite expensive. "He's your boyfriend." Eli looked up and then continued. "The Chuck guy was his boyfriend too. He took off after he got out of jail. Cas hired me to find him, make sure he was okay. Gabe gave me an extra mission."

Dean schooled his voice so he wouldn't sound too eager. "What was that, Gabe's mission?"

"He wanted me to be sure to tell Cas exactly what I saw, with pictures if possible."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Cas was apparently having a hard time getting over the guy. Near as I could tell he was a dick. He could have broken things off with Cas, but instead he just took off and didn't engage. He could have talked to him, given him closure, but he didn't. He had a guy he was shacking up with out in...I don't remember the town. Tacoma maybe."

"Hmm, you showed Cas some pictures of Chuck and the guy I take it?"

"Yeah, Gabe said it was the right thing to do. I'm not so sure. I mean he took it well, and well, he obviously moved on." Eli motioned at Dean with his fork.

"Yes, he did." He let Eli finish his meal before he asked him anything else. He couldn't imagine someone moving on from Cas. He thought back on the time he spent in the city once Cas had left him. He thought about the time he spent sinking into darkness. There had been Anna, and he cared about her, but neither of them had felt any love for each other. They had each been filling a giant Cas shaped hole in their collective existences.

When they finished eating Dean paid their bills, and they made their way to Dean's apartment. Eating with Eli had convinced Dean that the man might be okay if not a little strange. "You have weapons?" Eli asked as they entered the apartment.

"Some, nothing to brag about."

"Gabe told me that I might be acquiring weapons for you." They moved into the room and Dean motioned to the dining room table by the window. It was covered in maps and piles of papers covered in notes.

"A few might be nice, but we will not likely be successful if we plan to go in guns blazing." Dean angled the map so that Eli could see it better. He pointed down at a space that he had circled. "This here is the compound. I've gone clear up to the gates. Took some sneakiness on my part, but I've seen what we'd be up against. We can't carry enough firepower to storm that place."

"Got pictures?"

"Yeah." Dean moved some of the notes aside and unearthed some pictures. "This one here is of the southern end of the compound. The gate has four guards on it at all times." He shuffled another photo to the top and said, "This is the southeastern corner of the compound wall. Notice the guard there." Dean showed more photos of the compound wall and the guards. "They are on every corner. That doesn't even cover the ones that are randomly scattered around the grounds inside."

Eli took each photo and scrutinized them. He stopped on one that showed a car leaving the compound. "Does she ever leave?"

"Not yet. I keep thinking that one day she will."

"Well, that would be ideal. I mean, we would be better off if she was on the outside. We could easily get her if…"

"You don't think I've thought of that? I haven't just been sitting around twiddling my thumbs here." The frustration of months was bubbling over for no other reason than that it needed to do just that.

Eli looked at Dean past a squint. "Wasn't saying you hadn't. Obviously you've been busy." Eli slapped the photos against his hand for emphasis. "We need to try to get someone on the inside, that can report out. We need to know what is happening in there, or at least get the lay of the land in there."

"I do know one useful thing." Dean pulled out one final photo. This one was of a balcony that stretched to the edge of the eastern corner of the house. "This is her room." He handed the photo to Eli. "That's her." Eli held the photo up close. Lil's tiny blonde head peeked out over the balcony railing. She was holding something that created a bright flash of light where her hand was.

"What's in her hand?"

"That is the best part. That right there is my girl. She is using a mirror to communicate with me." Dean was smiling about that like he had that day out in the trees when he spotted her.

"She know it was you she was communicating with?"

"I doubt it. How could she? I think she has hope though, and she knows that it's someone that wants to help her." Dean drummed at the table, a nervous gesture. "I'd like to think that she believes that it's Cas. I don't like thinking that after all of this time that she's sitting in there feeling abandoned."

"I'm gonna get someone in the house. Maybe they'll hire a gardener or a housekeeper that we can use." Eli pulled out his phone and tapped through some app. "The cell service here is for shit." He moved to the door then came back to Dean's side. "Give me $500 so I can get us some weapons and a prospective housekeeper for the Mirovs."

Dean stalked over to his duffle bag and pulled out a rather large stack of bills. "This should be more than you need."

"I'll say. That's more than $500."

"I've seen you eat. You'll need it." Dean laughed a slight laugh.

"I'll be back in two days." Eli moved out the door with the wad of cash tucked into his pants pocket. He turned back to Dean as he was leaving. "Don't make any moves without me."

"I'll wait. Patience is my middle name."

"Gabe never said that about you." This caused Dean to laugh again. It felt good, but it died immediately.

"Thanks, man." Eli slipped out the door and closed it. Dean moved off to the window and stared at the distant land. There was so much green, stretching out for miles and miles. There was no good reason for this town to be here. There was no good reason for Mirov's place to be here, just a few miles away. Dean looked down from the window at the nearly empty street. There were people here, sure, but it felt like it was off.

The few things that Dean had managed to pull up about the town when he got on a reliable Internet connection included a whole two articles of any consequence. The most disturbing came from an article that called the town, "a town of twins." At first when Dean walked through the streets of Candido Godoi he was struck by the many times that he passed pairs of matching faces. Everyone seemed to be a twin. It seemed apt that A and Al had spent their formative years in such a place.

It took him some weeks to find a routine. When Gabe had dropped him off at the airstrip, he had felt a moment of utter confusion. Gabe had pulled him into a hug and said, "I want you to stay in touch, Dean. If you don't, I'll fly back down here and drag your ass back to the states." Dean had laughed at him.

"I'll likely be ready to come home before you even get back," Dean had joked. The humor wasn't present for long though.

Gabe looked at him like he was about to cry, which was all kinds of uncomfortable. "Don't make this weird." Dean had shuffled away from him a little. "I expect you to keep an eye on Cas for me. If he wakes up…"

"When he wakes up," Gabe interrupted.

"When he wakes up, make him believe that I will be home soon. Make sure he knows that I'm gonna get Lil back. Don't tell him where we are though. He'll try to come down here. He'll try to take care of this himself. I can't have him risking his life anymore. Got it."

Gabe had nodded his agreement then, and Dean had been left wondering if Gabe would be able to keep his end of the bargain once Cas woke up and began pestering him for information. "You'll keep in touch then?"

"I will. I want to believe that I won't involve you in this, but I know me. I'll go crazy if I don't know how he is, how Sam is too. I'll need to know things."

"I'll keep watch over them both. Promise." Gabe gave him a final clap to the shoulder and then handed him the extra duffle bag. He had filled it with more cash than Dean had thought necessary. Gabe had said that Cas would want him to have it. It was a bit of Cas' savings, but, Gabe assured him, not much of it. It took him telling Dean that the money should be used to bring Lil home, and that Cas wouldn't begrudge that one bit.

Now Dean sat at the window, looking out over the town that had been his home for months now. He hoped that it wouldn't be his home for much longer. Eli sounded confident. It was the kind of confidence that was infectious. It was the kind of confidence that made Dean feel like maybe they had a shot.

Lil had planned and plotted as best she could. She was almost seven years old now, six and three quarters. Mr. Hernandez, her tutor, said that she would wrap up her first year of curriculum by the end of the month, then she would get a short break. Her plotting and planning had been hindered by the fact that she did not know when the school season started and stopped. Back home she could count down the days to summer, even noting it with the stark change to the seasons. When she was taken from home, it had been winter still. It was February or at least nearly so but not Valentine's Day. They hadn't yet made the cards.

It felt like it was always summer or at least spring here. It was hotter than home, and there was never any snow. Nanna B had mentioned her loneliness to Mirov. The information that Nanna B gave to him shifted their usual breakfast routine a little. Their normal routine involved her eating in silence, him trying to coax words from her, and then the inevitable abrupt departure of each of them from the room. That day had been different though. It had to be if she wanted her plan to work.

"Nanna B told me that you want to go to school." Her grandfather barely looked up from his meal, but the little glance that she took in from him was enough.

She decided to speak. "I miss school."

Mirov looked at her as if he was shocked by the sound of her. She had spoken the other day, telling him that she wanted her dad. He had countered by telling her that her father was dead, that he was her only family now. Lil knew better than to accept that though. She knew that sometimes family wasn't blood. Family was something else entirely. Dean was family too, and so were Sam and Jess. She felt certain that she had family out there because they were out there missing her.

Mirov's hand drummed at the table, then he picked up a piece of toast and slowly spread butter on it. "It would be pointless to send you to school now. It's May. Come August though, when the new term begins, I'll consider it. There is a good school not far from here. I'll still retain Mr. Hernandez in case you need homework help or added instruction."

Lil didn't know what to say. She counted off the months in her head. It's May, so nearly three more months. Her grandfather watched her like he was waiting for a reaction. She schooled her expression and said, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. August is a ways off. I have much that will need to be worked out before going to school can be a reality." He took a bite of his toast, still watching her. "I'll need to appoint a security detail to you that can hover around the school while you are there." Lil must have let her expression fall because Mirov added, "I have many enemies. I told you before that you are safe here with me. I intend to continue making that statement a truth. You are safe because I do a lot to ensure safety for you." He waved his fork at the room around them. "You see all the men with guns, the cameras, the wall, and you are probably a little scared of those things. I see them and know that they are all there to protect what is mine. You are my only granddaughter, and there is nothing in this world that is more valuable to me than you."

Lil had looked at him during this whole speech. Sometimes she thought that he did love her. In moments like this one she was certain of it, but she also knew that, like family, love had different forms to it too. She got up then and walked over to him. She stood at his side and said, "Thank you." Then she reached out to him and hugged him. It was an awkward sideways hug. Mirov stiffened at first, then he melted into it a little, reaching up one hand to pat her arm.

She moved back to her seat and continued eating her food. Mirov watched her, a little more light dancing in his eyes than before.

That had been over a month ago. Now it was too hot July and she was staring out at the vast stretches of land that surrounded her home. She had her mirror as she looked out into the trees just beyond the gate. The familiar flash of light was not there today. It had been there with some regularity after the first instance. She flashed a little light at the guards below. They had grown use to her by now and merely scowled at her a little. Some of them greeted the act with smiles and waves in her direction.

She smiled back, happy to have gotten them use to her actions so easily. It had been a few days since the light had flashed out from the trees. She was wondering what was keeping it away this time. It had become predictable. She could count down to it's arrival, and it had given her a resurgence of hope that someone out there was trying to help her. And now there was just one more month to wait, just one more month and she would see the other side of the wall.

AN: Thank you all for your patience. I have decided that the only way to truly start this part is to just start it. So I will be posting on Tuesdays unless otherwise noted. I believe that this part will be roughly the same length, maybe a little shorter. It will not end with a cliffhanger nor will it be ambiguous in its end. So thank you for reading this far and trusting my little WIP nearly 300k ago.