"Are we really not going to address-"

"So, what, you just happen to know he likes the cosmos at this place?"

I gave a huff of annoyance, sitting back with a scowl.

"This place is a nexus of human reproduction," Cass explained, watching Dean put ketchup on his cheeseburger. "It's exactly the kind of- of garden the Cupid will come to- to pollinate."

Dean put his cheeseburger back down on his plate without taking a bite.

"Wait a minute," Sam said around a bite of salad. "You're not hungry?"

"No. What?" Dean looked over at his brother. "I'm not hungry."

"Then you're not gonna finish that?"

Cass didn't wait for a response, reaching over and taking the untouched cheeseburger.

"He's here," he said, taking a bite as he stared at a couple across the room.

"Where? I don't see anything," Sam said.

"There," Castiel nodded toward the couple, continuing to eat the burger.

"You mean the same-side-of-the-booth couple over there?" Dean asked.

"Meet me in the back."

Cass didn't wait for a response again, just vanishing from our table. We all hurried to the back room to find Cass by himself.

"Cass, where is he?" I asked.

"I have him tethered," the angel replied. "Zoda kama mahrana. Manifest yourself."

"So where is he?" Dean demanded, suddenly getting hugged from behind. "Oof!"

"Here I am!" the Cupid said cheerfully.

"Help!" Dean yelped.

"Oh, help is on the way," the Cupid continued. "Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Hello you!"

Dropping Dean, the cherub made his way over to me, giving me the same treatment.

"Ugh," I grunted.

"And you!"

I was dropped as well, the angel going over to give Cass a hug as well.

"Ooh. Mmm," Cass hummed.

"This is Cupid?" Dean asked.

"Yes," Cass gasped out.

"And look at you, huh?"

"No."

The Cupid's attention zoned in on Sam, who turned to try and get away, but found himself also wrapped in the arms of the naked angel.

"Yes!" the angel corrected Sam. "Yes, yes, yes!"

"Is this a fight?" Dean asked. "Are we in a fight?"

"This is... their handshake," Cass explained slowly.

"I don't like it."

"No one likes it."

"Mm," the Cupid hummed, setting down Sam. "What can I do for you?"

"Why are you doing this?" Cass demanded.

"Doing what?"

"Your targets- the ones you've marked- they're slaughtering each other."

"What? They are?"

"Listen, birthday suit, we know, okay?" Dean addressed the cherub. "We know you've been flittin' around, popping people with your poison arrow, making them murder each other!"

"What we don't know is why," I added.

"You think that I- Well, uh... I don't know what to say."

The Cupid started bawling, turning away from us.

"Should... should somebody maybe... go talk to him?" Sam stammered.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Give 'em hell, Cass."

Dean slapped the angel on the shoulder, pushing him toward the cherub.

"Um... look," Cass began. "We didn't mean to, um... hurt your feelings."

The Cupid turned, hugging Cass again.

"Ugh!"

"Love is more than a word to me, you know!" the Cupid said. "I love love. I love it! And if that's wrong, I don't want to be right!"

"Yes, yes. Of course," Cass responded. "I, uh... I have no idea what you're saying."

"I was just on my appointed rounds," the cherub continued, setting Cass down. "Whatever my targets do after that that's nothing to do with me. I- I was following my orders. Please brother. Read my mind. Read my mind, you'll see."

The two angels had what looked like an intense staring contest for a few moments, and then Cass nodded.

"He's telling the truth," he informed us.

"Jiminy Christmas. Thank you!" the Cupid grinned.

"Wait, wait, you said- you said you were just following orders?" Dean asked.

"Mm-hm."

"Whose orders?"

"Whose?" the cherub giggled. "Heaven's silly. Heaven."

His eyes moved to the ceiling and I had to fight to refrain from rolling my own.

"Why does Heaven care if Harry met Sally?"

"Oh, mostly they don't. You know, certain bloodlines, certain destinies. Like yours."

"What?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, the unions of John and Mary Winchester, James and Emilie Dawson and you two," the Cupid gestured to Dean and I. "Very big deal upstairs- top priority arrangements. Mm."

"Are you saying you fixed up our parents?" Dean demanded.

"Well, not me, but... Yeah. Well, it wasn't easy, either. Ooh, John and Mary couldn't stand each other at first. James and Emilie were better. But, anyway, when we were done with them- Perfect couple."

"Perfect?" Dean repeated.

"Yeah," the Cupid nodded.

"They're dead!"

"I'm sorry, but... the orders were very clear. You and Sam needed to be born. As did Eleanor. Your parents were just, uh... meant to be." He took on a sing-song voice. "A match made in Heaven- Heaven!"

Dean punched him in the face.

"Son of a bitch!"

The Cupid vanished, Dean whirling in a circle to try and locate him.

"Where is he? Where'd he go?!"

"I believe you upset him," I smirked.

"Upset him?!"

"Dean. Enough!" Sam yelled.

"What?"

"You just punched a Cupid!"

"I punched a dick!"

"Um... Are we gonna talk about what's been going on with you lately or not?"

"Or not!"

⁘

I stared at the rush of cars going in both directions on the street. If I just took a few more steps forward, no more than three max, I could just-

"Ellie, come on."

I sighed, turning to follow Dean to the Impala so we could head back to the motel.

"You realize we have to talk about what's going on with you at some point, correct?"

I ignored him, staring out the window and wondering if I could get away with jumping out while we were moving... Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you looked at it, we weren't going fast enough for jumping out to have the desired effect at the moment, so I remained safely seated inside the car.

About an hour later, Sam showed up with a briefcase he'd snagged from some demon he'd run into. When we opened it, a bright light escaped.

"Whoa!" Sam cried.

"What the hell was that?" Dean demanded.

"It's a human soul," Cass replied, appearing at the table. "It's starting to make sense."

The angel took a big bite from the burger in his hand, a bag of them beside him on the table.

"Now, what about that makes sense?" I asked.

"And when did you start eating?" Dean added.

"Exactly," Cass said through a mouth full of food, brandishing the burger. "My hunger- it's a clue, actually."

"For what?" we all chorused.

"This town is not suffering from some love-gone-wrong effect. It's suffering from hunger. Starvation, to be exact. Specifically... famine."