"Just so you know, if we go down into the sewers and we don't find a shifter, I'm never talking to any of you again."

James sighs. "You're the one that made us come to Rhode Island. Now you have to deal with the consequences."

"Had I known the consequences would involve hanging out in the sewers, I never would have mentioned it," Emma mutters.

Seeing that neither of them are very eager to go down there, Castiel makes the sacrifice and climbs down first. The thin layer of water coating the floor splashes up when he lands, soaking the bottoms of his pants. He doesn't even want to think about what must be in that water.

James climbs down next. He knows James holds his breath the whole way down not because of his loud exhale when he reaches the bottom, but by the coughing fit that follows when he breathes in the smell. Castiel gently leads him out of the way to leave room for Emma, but, unfortunately, there's nothing he can do about the smell. His coughing clears up after a few moments, though, and he's back to normal.

"Do I have to?" Emma whines.

"Unfortunately, you do," Castiel replies.

James cups his hands around his mouth and calls up, "Come on in, the water's fine!"

"And a great big 'fuck you' to you, too," she mutters.

She slowly steps down the ladder, descending the final step slowly enough that the water doesn't splash up the way it did with Castiel and James. As soon as she steps down, she pinches her nose, blocking out the smell.

"Fuck this," she mutters. "Fuck this very much."

"I know that this isn't a very pleasant place," Castiel says, "but we do have a job to do. The sooner we find and kill the shifter, the sooner you can breathe the fresh air again."

"Then let's go," Emma says. "I propose we split up to cover more ground, because it's easily the worst thing you could possibly do with hunting a shifter, but I really don't want to be stuck down here any longer than necessary."

"Do we even have to dignify that with a response, or is the 'no' implied?" James asks.

Emma groans dramatically but doesn't argue. That's the last sound any of them make for a while, with the exception of the soft splashing of the water as they walk. They're all listening for something approaching, though realistically, Castiel knows he'll hear it long before they do.

After what has to be at least 10 minutes, Emma asks, "Is this when we give up and go back?"

"Nope," James says. "This is when we suffer in silence and keep walking."

"Can we not?" Emma whines. "It's obvious not down here. Why are we still looking for it?"

"We have no idea where it would be down here," James reminds her. "It could literally be anywhere."

"So we're basically looking for a needle in a miles-long haystack," Emma surmises. "Great."

"Welcome to the hunting life," James says. "You've only been doing it half your —"

Castiel puts an arm out, stopping them. "Shh."

"What?" Emma and James ask at once.

"Shh!"

"What?" they ask again, this time in a whisper.

Castiel holds up a finger, silently telling them to wait to. He hears some type of noise from farther up the sewer, but it almost sounds like talking. In his personal experience, at least, shifters don't usually talk to themselves. Are there two of them? Or does it have a victim?

Castiel pulls his blade from the inside of his jacket. Silver should do the trick. He holds it at the ready, and, with a glance back, he sees Emma and James taking that as their cue to do the same. They follow the noise, long enough for the other two to hear it, too.

"Does anyone else hear two voices, or am I just crazy?" Emma asks.

"No, there's definitely two voices," James agrees.

And it takes a moment, but Castiel soon realizes that they're not just two voices — they're two very familiar voices. Two voices he really doesn't want to hear again.

"Let's go," Castiel says, gesturing for them to go back.

"What?" Emma gapes at him. "We've been here for ages, and the second we find the shifter — shifters? — you wanna turn around?"

"They're not shifters," Castiel says.

"Then what are they?"

"I'll explain later," Castiel says, ushering them away.

Unfortunately, neither hunter wants to leave with no explanation, and he can't think of a lie until it's too late.

They step around a corner so far away, Castiel can barely make out their faces. The only thing he can make out is that one of the distant figures is holding a gun. He barely has time to process it before they shoot.