I ran through the forest in the dark, taking a shot at the man I was after when I saw him leaning against a tree. He took off running again and I chased after him.  I found where the bullet hit the tree and a smear of blood. Hearing a rustling sound, I headed towards it, gun drawn. The man was kneeling in front of another tree.

"You people? You never learn, do you? Always trying to run," I scoffed.

The man turned to face me, the carving he made in the tree starting to glow with a purple light.

"Dearmad!" he cried.

A flash of purple light washed over me and my world went black.

⁘

I woke up with a groan, laying on the ground next to a rabbit.

"Ohh," I batted some leaves away from my face, looking down. "Hey, buddy."

I picked up the rabbit, moving it behind me and getting to my feet.

"Mm. Ah. Wow," I winced, massaging my temples.

Glancing around, I tried to figure out where I was or how I got here. I couldn't remember anything from the previous night. When I pulled out my phone to call Sam, I found that the screen was badly cracked and my phone no longer worked.

"Aw, come on. Really?"

I looked around and realized I was next to a trail where several people were walking and jogging.

"Excuse me," I stopped a woman pushing a stroller. "Do you mind if I-"

The woman stopped talking on her phone, recoiling from me slightly. Reaching into the purse hanging off the stroller, she handed me some money.

"Wh-" I furrowed my brow in confusion.

"Just don't buy a drink," she requested, hurrying off.

"Huh," I looked down at the money, then stuffed it in my pocket. "Hey. Hey, hey, hey. Excuse me."

The jogger in front of me stopped on the path, taking out his earbuds.

"Look, uh, uh, I'm not a- I'm not a bum, okay. Just someone who really needs to use a phone. Do you mind?"

After a brief moment's hesitation, the man unplugged his earbuds and handed me the phone.

"Great. Thank you."

Walking a short ways away, I dialed Sam's number.

"Hello?" Sam asked.

"Sam?"

"Ellie, where the hell have you been?"

"I'm not really sure about that," I admitted, glancing around the park.

"You- well, where are you now?"

I gave another cursory glance at my surroundings.

"I'm not real sure about that either. I, um..."

A truck blared and I looked up to see a 'Waldo's Waffles'  sign.

"Oh. Ha ha. I'm starvin'. How do you feel about waffles?"

On the other end of the phone, Sam made a confused sound.

"What?"

"Dumb question," I shrugged. "Right. What psycho doesn't love waffles? I mean, they're fluffy. You got the little pockets of syrup. You just cover 'em in whipped cream. Am I right? Anyway, meet me at Waldo's, okay?"

I hung up the phone, handing it back to the jogger. I made my way over to the restaurant, and was halfway through one plate of waffles with another one being placed in front of me when Sam and Dean walked up to the counter.

"Why'd you bring him?" I asked Sam, focusing on my food.

"Because he's your husband, and he's been worried sick," Sam retorted. "Here. Sounded like you could use these."

He held up and shook a pill bottle, which I took gratefully.

"Oh man," I popped a couple of the pills, washing it down with my coffee.

"Rough night?" Sam asked.

"Rough morning," I corrected.

"Wh-what happened? I mean, you told us you were going out to get some food."

"I don't know," I shrugged.

"What does that mean?" Dean growled at me.

I didn't respond until Sam repeated the question.

"I-I guess I blacked out. And judging from this hangover, it was epic," I gestured to my head.

I glanced briefly over at the brothers. Dean looked all kinds of pissed off while Sam was just staring at me with worry.

"Well, we tried to call you," Sam informed me.

"Um..." I pulled out my destroyed phone, holding it up for them to see.

"You kidding me?" Dean groaned.

I rolled my eyes, throwing it down on the counter.

"Not sure how that happened," I shrugged again.

"Great," Sam pulled out his own phone. "Well, I will text your mom, make sure she knows to get a hold of me or Dean in case of an emergency. And Cass, in case he tracks down anything on Kelly."

I furrowed my brow in confusion, trying to remember who Kelly was and why Cass was trying to track her down.

"The mother of Lucifer's love child?" Sam added, Dean taking a seat on the opposite side of me from Sam.

"Right. Right," I nodded. "Yes, the Devil baby mama drama."

I grinned, chuckling a little to myself.

"Try saying that five times fast. Devil baby mama drama."

Both brothers stared at me, then at the two plates of waffles in front of me.

"Alright, Ellie, you know, uh, you had a good run, but maybe let's pump the brakes a little bit," Dean suggested. "I mean, you're not twenty any more."

I finally looked over at him, staring silently for a long moment.

"Okay, one, the Rat Pack partied 'til the day they died. And B, I can still kick either of your asses."

I turned to face forward again, taking another bite of waffle. Dean scoffed at me while Sam just looked bewildered. While my mouth was full, I called for another plate of waffles.

"You can just take these," I slid the second plate over to Sam despite the fact he protested he didn't want any.

"No, Ellie, the morgue opens in, like, ten minutes."

"The morgue?" I asked, taking a sip of my coffee.

Both Sam and Dean stared at me like I'd gone insane.

"The autopsy results. Are you still drunk?"

I turned my head toward Dean, but didn't look at him again.

"I don't think so," I growled.

He leaned in, sniffing me, and I leaned away from him, offended.

"Alright, our- our case?" Sam cut in.

"Mm," I hummed.

"The dead guy, throat stuffed full of money. Any of this ring a bell?"

I nodded as it started to come back to me.

"Right, yes. Right. Um... the accountant. Barry Gilman."

"Right," Sam nodded.

"Right," I echoed. "Uh, and you think he got his ticket punched by a demon."

"Maybe."

"Okay, but we went over to his place yesterday, we got a whole bunch of jack and a little bit of squat. There were no hex bags, no EMF, no sulfur, which means no case."

"Yeah, but if it's not a case, then what is it?" Dean glared over at me.

"I don't know. Death by money? You know, maybe the guy got whacked by, uh, some mob dude with an ironic sense of humor."

I took another sip of coffee and Sam and Dean stood up.

"All right. Well, we're gonna go scope out the body. If you wanna spend some more alone time with, uh, your waffles... alright. Have fun."

"Fine, hold up," I said, wiping my mouth and standing from the counter.

"Did you pay?" Dean gestured to the abandoned waffles.

I stopped, reaching in my pocket for my wallet.

"Oops, no. Right."

"You got it?"

I pulled out some money, throwing it on the counter.

"I got it."