Hello hello hello there! Quick note: this isn't set in or after any particular season of Supernatural, so I guess you could say it was just after the series? I dunno, but I suppose it's set in a universe set about 17 years after season two (yes, that's a lot of years, but it's also been a few years since season two, and not much changed in those seventeen years)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything about the actual Supernatural show or characters, just the plotlines, and the aforementioned characters: Scarlet, Andy, Victoria, James, Cassie and Lola + any other characters that are not in the show. Obviously. Anyways, enjoy!

"Are you sure she died of a heart attack?" James asked, curiously watching the shaking twelve-year-old brunette. Interestingly enough, her first thought had been to find him when she found her mother dead, not the police or the fire department. It'd been about an hour since she'd arrived, but the most he'd managed to get out of her was that she wanted a blanket, despite the 80 degree temperature.

Scarlet nodded slowly. She almost seemed unsure, like she was debating on if what she saw was just a freak-of-nature sort-of thing. And that was because she was, and James knew it. She was wondering whether or not the stranger that her mother had let in had anything to do with it – whether or not the outstretched arm that had happened right before her mother had started convulsing was relevant or not. It was. But James didn't want to freak her out by knowing the story before she even told him her mother had had someone over.

"Why did you come here, anyway? Shouldn't you have called the police?" No she shouldn't've. The police would just turn her over to CPS, seeing as there was no logical explanation other than natural causes on a heart attack – at least, none that could be linked to the supernatural. James knew that, and he knew that Scarlet's subconscious had only told her to come to him first because his house gave off the sort of feeling that it wasn't natural. Like an abandoned gas station in the desert.

Scarlet's shoulder's shook more intensely, her hair covering her face as she looked to the ground. Despite having gone through this situation about a hundred times it felt, James still didn't quite know hoe he was supposed to comfort people. Everyone was different. And usually people felt at least amused that a thirteen-year-old was trying to comfort them, but Scarlet was twelve and she was completely different from everyone else James had met.

"Okay...How about this: you don't have to tell me what happened, and I won't call the police or anything, if, and only if, you decide you can come with me to where me and my friend's stay. But we'll have to go back to your house to get some clothes for you, alright?"

Scarlet's gaze snapped up at James's offer. Obviously she thought that this stupid house was where James always lived, with his 'uncle', but usually stayed with friends and that was why most of his stuff wasn't there. Of course she thought that. That's what James had told her - and she trusted him, and he didn't plan to break that by pressuring her (and sounding like a kidnapper), so he stood quietly in front of her as she assessed her options.

And then the faint "okay" slipped out of her lips, making James frown to grow into a smile. Great. That would make protecting her a Hell of a lot easier, rather than if she had decided that social services were going to do her a favor.

"C'mon, then - but I'll warn you. Some people may say it does, but it never gets better. The pain only gets farther and farther away from your mind, okay?"

That had been what had started the long, long road, anyways. A lip-shaking "okay" and a warning. It'd been three years since that had happened, and Scarlet had to say that the memory was still fresh on her mind. It always was when she had a bit of spare time on her hands. Besides, what else did she have to think about? The '79 Camaro that she had bought (see: stolen), didn't need any work on it, and everyone else in the motel room James had gotten them was perfectly okay and not-bored.

So Scarlet figured she could sit back for a moment and assess that stupid, stupid decision she'd made years ago, while everyone else decided what their next case would be and how they were travelling there. Yeah, she thought her decision to go with James back then was stupid. Why wouldn't she? It had only given her more and more pain than CPS ever could've given her. But it had given her the element she'd always thought she lacked in her life - adventure. The reflexes she had since she was a kid that her mother had always said her father had taught her before he left for good had come in handy as well. Yet it wasn't enough to make her want to be where she was now.

"-rlet? Scarlet? Are you even listening to me?" Someone snapped, literally and figuratively, in Scarlet's face ,and she was just about ready to skin them alive when she realized that it was just Victoria. Victoria as in 6' ft. Victoria of whom knew the best ways to 1) punch, and 2) embarrass Scarlet. It was hard not to hiss at her, but Scarlet settled for scowling and crossing her arms. But she didn't respond. Since she hadn't even realized that Victoria was talking to everyone.

"That's what I thought." Victoria sounded so matter-of-fat. Scarlet would've found it punchable had she not had to live with Victoria - slowly it had become more endearing than I-will-punch-you-into-a-brick-wall-and-not-regret-it annoying. "Anyways, I think we might have a case in Ohio. An entire group of campers went missing about two days ago. Park rangers have only been able to find one - well, parts of one. And they were twenty-eight feet up a tree."

"...That definitely sounds like our type of case," James commented off offhandedly, which broke the silence that had lasted a whole minute after Victoria had finished explaining her findings. Man, the magic that girl could do with a laptop was something that Scarlet had never been able to explain. And yet, even as James was saying it, he was grabbing his backpack, stuffing clothes and weapons back to where they belonged. That boy always did want to leave as soon as possible.

"A'ight, so who am I taking with me?" Scarlet asked as she herself started shoving clothes back into her duffel bag. With six of them - James, Victoria, Scarlet herself, Andy (who was off in La La Land again), Cassie (who was staying oddly silent), and Lola (who was busy sucking on a lollipop) -, and two vehicles - Scarlet's Camaro and James's old pick-up truck, usually they split everyone up half-and-half. No one usually commented on the fact that Scarlet was even legally old enough to drive and James had never gotten his license. It was just one of those things they really liked ignoring.

James looked to Cassie, seeing as the trench-coat-wearing girl had her pick of who she was going with this time. Yeah, usually being in Scarlet's Camaro in the back seat felt better than being crammed in between James and somebody else in the truck. It took a minute for her to respond, as always. "Uh...I'll go with Lola and Scarlet. Andy and Victoria can go with you, James. Please don't drive either of them off a cliff."

"Okay, fine - I'll try," James laughed, throwing one of Andy's shirts at him to get his attention, and nodding at Andy's ridiculously empty backpack to tell him it was time to leave. Andy only gave a large sigh and an indignant huff before getting up and complying. "But sometimes it's just so tempting!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Scarlet smirked, smugness written all over her expression as she slung her duffel over her shoulder and crossed her arms, waiting for everyone else to hurry the Hell up. She was always the one who kept the least amount of clothing out of her bag. It certainly came in handy when they had to leave in a hurry - that was why Andy had lost about half of his clothes once. Good memories, those were. "Aren't I lucky to get the unannoying ones?"

A glare was shot at her by the thee people not in question. Andy was still huffing, and the black bangs that fell into his face when he glared made him look like a thirteen-year-old emo coming out of the closet. "Oh shut up, Scarlet. I wouldn't say that Cassie and Victoria have it completely off the hook either - they have to deal with you, right?"

"Just shut up and pack your shit."

Scarlet just wished she would've, at the time, knew how much more complicated her life would get after this.