Chapter one. Back in the game

The night was dark, but the city was still very much alive. The full moon hung over it, menacing.

That threat wasn't real, though. Not anymore. The werewolf was dead, and now the mood was cheerful in the bar where the hunters had gathered to celebrate a happy end to a few days of hard work.

They were five. Three men and two women. The table around which they sat was next to the entrance, just in case they needed to leave in a hurry. One could never be too careful.

They weren't the only clients, far from it – but they were the loudest, by far.

The first man's name was Joseph Mason. In his mid forties – an old age, for a hunter – he was the quietest one at the table. His strength wasn't the same as ten years earlier, but his experience was a clear advantage on the job. He didn't talk or drink much; however, he watched, with a glint of humor in his green eyes, everything his younger partners did. He wasn't going to stop them from getting drunk; but if they did anything stupid, he intended to later tease them without mercy.

The second man was Hugh Walker. Short, skinny, he was in his early twenties. The youngest in the group. He hadn't been in the business for long, and seemed harmless, with his goofy smile and dirty blonde curls, in terrible need of a haircut, which constantly fell in front of his eyes; but Hugh was actually quite deadly if you put a knife in his hands. He was smart, too, very smart. He would probably live until his thirties, at least.

The last man was huge. He towered over the other hunters, and his frame made him seem capable of smashing them to bits without much of an effort. He was thirty five, his name was John Carpenter. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed – but not stupid, though. His rough, gravelly voice was the loudest in the group, as was his contagious laughter.

The two women, in their early thirties, were friends.

The first one was Kira Johnson. Tall, long-legged, she was undeniably pretty. Her long, curly blonde hair flowed down to her hips, her wide eyes made her seem oddly innocent, and everything about her face was adorable, from her full lips to her freckles. Kira was social, fun to be around, and always seemed ready to laugh, make a joke, or lighten up the mood in any other way. She looked so delicate… of course, delicate hunters didn't exist. She had been raised in the life, and was as dangerous as it got.

The other woman was a lot less adorable. Attractive, but in a much darker way. She had a tanned skin, an athletic silhouette; her jet black hair barely fell lower than her chin. Her features were sharp and her eyes were a bright, piercing blue.

Shae Robinson didn't play well with others. Except from the occasional case in Kira's company, she always worked alone. This job had been one of the few exceptions. It was Kira's idea, of course; Shae didn't know or trust any of those hunters, and she had been quite impatient to wrap up the case and leave.

She didn't actually dislike those people, though. After John had already ordered two rounds of shots, she was starting to let herself relax a little. Shae laughed just as loud as the others as they each told a funny story of a ridiculous hunt, or simply an interesting one. Hugh had the most hilarious stories to tell – perhaps the alcohol made them even funnier – and John had the most hilariously loud voice, although he did try to keep it down so that the regular folks wouldn't hear anything suspicious. Joseph stayed mostly silent, so did Shae. However, at some point she did decide to join in, between two laughing fits.

"Hey guys, you know what?" she giggled. "I hunted with the Winchesters once!"

That got everybody's attention, even Joseph's. As for Kira, she chuckled quietly since she'd already heard the whole story quite a few times.

"Seriously?" cried Hugh in an excited voice – he was new to the job, but all through his training, he'd heard stories about the legendary Winchester brothers. "How'd you meet? What kind of case? How long ago?"

Shae cut him off before he could ask any more answers.

"Six months ago. We were investigating the same case, so we figured we'd better work together." She spoke in a friendly, amused yet very calm voice, as if working with the boys had been just as any other job. Which was technically true, but Shae couldn't deny she wasn't going to forget the details of that hunt any time soon; and that fact didn't have much to do with the monster they'd killed. "It was a wendigo. A clean kill, job done in a week or so, almost no casualties."

She drank what little was left in her glass. John ordered a new round. Shae vaguely thought she should leave soon, before the shots scrambled her brains. But she decided that since she wasn't the one paying the bill, she might as well stay a little longer and enjoy herself.

"Is it true that one of them is huge?" asked John.

Shae nodded, and couldn't hold back a smile. "Yeah, Sam's pretty big," she said. "Nowhere near as gigantic as you, though."

John grinned, and she knew that was the information he was hoping for. She rolled her eyes.

Joseph spoke for the first time since they'd started drinking. "We all heard about those Winchester boys. But what are they really like?"

His eyes were lit up with an interest he wasn't even trying to hide. Joseph had been a hunter for a very long time, but never had he worked with a Winchester. That was something he almost regretted.

Shae shrugged, trying very hard to seem indifferent. "Oh, pretty much what you'd expect. Competent, rough, lethal. They're a hell of a good team, those two. They live up to their reputation." She thought for a moment. "Dean's incredibly unpleasant, if you ask me. Then again, he didn't like me, and if one thing's sure, it's that he's really good at being unpleasant with people he doesn't like. Sam…" She cleared her throat and couldn't help a little smile. "Sam's the social one. Smart, too. A nice guy, weirdly enough."

Then Kira started laughing. She received a glare from her friend, and inquisitive looks from the men. When she'd calmed down a little, she rubbed her eyes which had started to water, and chuckled: "Sam sure was social with her! They slept together!" Shae cleared her throat again, but decided she wasn't embarrassed. The reactions of the men were funny to watch; Joseph gaped, Hugh chocked on was he was drinking, and John burst into laughter. Shae was pretty sure she saw other clients staring at the group, but she didn't mind.

Joseph fell silent again. Hugh, once he regained the capacity to talk, started asking a question, but Shae interrupted him with amusement: "Dude, I'm not going to start talking to you about my sex life."

He opened and shut his mouth in silence a couple of times. "Fair enough," he finally said. "No action since then, though?"

Shae shrugged, and Kira laughed again. "Poor man," she declared, "who would come after the great Sam Winchester!"

Jokes fused around the table, John and Hugh shamelessly teased Shae, who replied with humor since she was in no way ashamed or even embarrassed.

The topic of conversation slowly took another direction. Then Hugh whistled appreciatively while watching a girl who was sitting alone, two tables from theirs. She seemed pretty.

"You know what?" decided Hugh. "Let's make a bet."

"Yeah?" smirked John. "Which one?"

"We all need to get the number of one person in here," said Hugh. He was usually shy, but alcohol could work miracles. "And more than a number," he added after a heartbeat, "if possible…"

"That's stupid," commented Shae.

"That seems like fun," decided Kira, earning a betrayed look from her friend.

John, Hugh and Kira got up, and dragged Shae along with them. Joseph gave them a little smile. "That's the point where I get off, kids," he decided. A minute later he was gone, Hugh was already talking to the girl he'd seen and John was headed towards the target he'd just picked. Kira stayed with Shae just a moment longer, time enough to look around the bar. "There," she said, pointing towards a man sitting next to the counter. "Go talk to him."

"Oh, come on…"

Kira didn't let her complain. "Girl, it's been six months. You've got to get back in the game." She squeezed her friend's shoulder, then took off with one last mocking laugh.

At least the guy wasn't bad looking, thought Shae as she sat next to him without asking for permission.

He didn't seem to notice her at first, but she figured she could wait a little. When he looked up from his half-empty glass, he would see her. Shae sighed, wishing she was somewhere else, and called out to the waiter who wasn't busy at the moment: "I'll have what he's having." The waiter nodded, and the guy, hearing her, looked up with a frown. As she met his eyes with a teasing smile, she saw they were a beautiful hazel. It reminded her of someone, and she decided that Kira had picked well. Maybe she would really have fun after all.

"Hi," she said cheerfully.

"Hi," he replied with hesitation.

She let him look at her with scrutinizing eyes while he tried to decide what to do. She looked him over, too. He wasn't dazzling, but he was alright. He had beautiful eyes. Nice hair, too.

As they started talking, she found out he was a couple years younger than her. His name was Tom, and he lived a few streets away from the bar. He was a regular here. He was single. He was a P.E. teacher in a high school not far away.

Tom seemed nice enough, so when he suggested going back to his place, Shae followed him. They were the last ones to leave, the other hunters had been gone for a while.

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The next morning, Shae woke up with a terrible headache. Like every time, she promised herself she would never drink again, knowing perfectly well that, being a hunter, that wouldn't happen.

She quickly took in her surroundings. She was lying naked in a bed, sheets in a mess. Turning her head against the pillow, she saw the man lying next to her. If his loud snores meant anything, he was still very much asleep. Good.

Shae grunted as she slowly sat up. Sunlight streamed through two large windows. This bedroom could be nice, she thought, if it wasn't so terribly messy…

At first she didn't remember how she got here. But she didn't panic, she was used to this. Shae searched her mind, and it all came back to her in pieces. She caught a new glimpse of the man in the bed – Tom, his name was Tom, she remembered now. Shae sighed. She kind of liked him, and the night had been fun, but there was just something wrong in this picture. She shrugged, not wanting to think about it, and got up clumsily.

She kept quiet as she went in search of her clothes, spread out here and there. It didn't take her long. She slipped into them without a noise, keeping a cautious eye on Tom. He didn't move.

Shae stopped for a moment, looking at him, before sneaking away in true hunter fashion. She wondered what would happen if she stayed. She wondered if she wanted to. She wondered if he would want her to. She wondered if she still wanted normal.

But then, she stopped wondering, because she knew normal didn't want her, and she did not want to stay. She liked Tom. But she had no wish to see him again. Men had a tendency to bore her very quickly.

How would Tom react to her sneaky exit? Would he be surprised, would he be upset? Maybe. But it wasn't her problem.

She had a motel room to get back to. The hunters had probably all gone their separate ways by now, except Kira, whom it was likely Shae would find waiting for her.

Shae closed the door to the small house, and walked away in the streets that the late morning sun lit up. Her heels hit the ground in a steady rhythm.

She didn't look back.

…..

Not much happened in this chapter, but it's just a beginning where I introduce characters, and I hope you guys liked anyway! Team Free Will will step into the story soon, but for now I'm just sticking to Shae. The plot will be better defined in the next chapters; I have a general idea of where the story is headed, but I'm kind of improvising along the way, so feel free to tell me what you'd like to see.

Thank you for taking the time to read! I'll try to update regularly!

Alice