"You're sure he's not...?" Dean trailed off but Lisa knew what he was asking. It was the same question he had asked and implied for a long time now. Dean recognised something of the Winchester line in Ben's little quirks from his love of classic music to his rebellious streak and all the other

"I told you it was just some guy. " Lisa kept her voice down like that would make the lie better. Dean nodded, looking a little disappointed once again like he always did but instead he turned back to watch out the window as Ben continued down the block with his gang of friends.

"So what was this guy's name?"

Lisa huffed not needing to fake her annoyance. With an unnecessary amount of force she grabbed a newly rinsed plate and slammed it into the drainer. "I was drunk, I was young and that I was a long time ago Dean...do we have to get into this?...You think I'm lying to you?"

"No, forget I said anything." But she couldn't forget he had said anything because she was lying. She had been lying for a long time now. And the lie had gotten so compounded over the years that she almost feared what Dean would do if he knew the truth. Plus, both of them were safer not knowing. She wasn't a fool; she knew that whatever had happened to Sam hadn't been natural causes solely. Dean's muttered pleas during nightmares had given her some inklings...either hell was real or Sam was some place that made hell seem real. In any case violence and danger seemed to follow the Winchesters around and she feared for her son if someone found out that Ben had any connections to that lethal line.

She wasn't lying to Dean not really. She had slept with him all those years ago and in different circumstances he might have been the father, but he wasn't and she didn't know how to tell him the truth.

She had been young back then and quite naive. She swirled her fingers through the soapy dishwater remembering how it had gone done.

Years ago

"Don't look now but Mr. Hotty keeps looking at you."

Lisa ganced at the older a few stools down. It was true he did seem to have his eye on her, but she wasn't interested. He wasn't her type of guy and plus she wa just getting over her ex.

Becky, added like she was reading her mind. "I know he's not exactly the preppy snooty type you like but you gotta admit he's got the looks."

Lisa frowned in half-annoyance at her boss' comments. "Becky, you're not going to goad me into something."

"I'm just trying to help you rebound from that prick..."

"Brody was not—"

"He was, even his name reeks prick."

"Beck, I don't need you meddling in my love life"

The woman poured a shot of tequila for a patron then turned back to Lisa. "I'm just trying to help Lisa, somebody needs to screen your dates."

Lisa sighed, Becky was well meaning but essentially wrong, with two divorces and a separation under her belt she was the last person anyone should be going to for advice. She glanced at the clock. It was past midnight. "And with that offer, I'm gone."

Becky had wandered away to serve another patron so the woman missed her parting shot. Lisa glanced back down the bar grateful to see that the man who had been watching her was now gone. She snagged her purse and jacket from the back room and left. It was a short walk to her care but it was also the idle of the night.

Usually she was on top of things in terms of safety but today her mind was preoccupied. "What's a pretty little thing like you doing walking alone?"

She froze as two men emerged from the shadows of the building. Vaguely she recognised ther voices, probably patrons at the bar at some point, but right now her mind was drawing a bank and it was too dark to see their faces clearly.

She opened her mouth to scream and immediately stopped at the cold feel of metal to her neck... "I think you might want to be quiet."

The scream died in her throat as she felt the cold knife bite more into her skin. If she just craned her head she could see a tattooed man leaning in. Black lines trace down his face and neck and the arm near her throat was covered in them too.

She didn't get the chance to find a way to escape. Instead, bluish light seems to glow down the man's arms and she saw someone else move seemingly from the shadows.

She toppled to the ground, a numbing sensation falling through her body as she heard a faint crackling . Her vision dimmed but as her eyes began to close she gots a glimpse of the man who was at the bar fighting off her attackers...then it all went dark.

SpN—SpN

"Ahh—" Lisa groaned. Her head felt like it was splitting open.

"Good you're awake." The voice sounded gruff but relieved. Still Lisa's eyes flashed open at the unexpected male voice.

She immediately regretted that decision as light blasted into her eyes almost scorching her retina's. Shielding her eyes with one hand she willed her vision to focus as she stared out and finally realised that she is in her own bedroom, lying in her own bed with a strange man standing over her.

It was enough to have her scrambling back away over her bed away from him.

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you." The man held his hands up in a placating gesture. She would have found his the movement more reassuring if it wasn't for the fact that she felt like crap, could barely remember anything and had a strange man she had no memory of taking home in her bedroom.

Before she could decide to call 911 or merely figure out who the stranger was and what the hell had happened on her own a more pressing matter made itself known. The dizzy , nauseated feeling had intesified.

She leaped off the bed, nearly not making it to adjacent bathroom before she was heaving. She was vaguely aware that the man had followed her and was now standing awkwardly in the doorway fidgeting like he wanted to do something but didn't know what.

When she finally straightened up her headache was worse but the nausea in her gut was a lot better. She rinsed her mouth and glanced at the man again. This time his face was a little more familiar, flashes of what had happened—was it last night?—went through her mind.

She shuddered raising a hand to her neck as she felt a phantom blade pressed there. Her hand fell away and she looked up again as his role in the nights events also became clearer. "Who are you?"

The man seemed to hesistate then answered roughly. "John."

"John?—well my name is Lisa Braeden and if you don't mind me asking what the hell happened and why are you in my place?"

The man took a step back allowing her to step out the bathroom and still keep her space. He didn't speak for a moment and when he did it wasn't to answer her questions. "Do you remember what happened last night?"

"Some but—"

John cut her off his tones urgent. "Did you ever see any people with tattoos like those...or maybe their eyes seemed to glow?"

"No, and—"

"How about Misty Sharpill, did you happen to know her?"

"That girl who died a week or two ago? No why would—"

"Has there been any—"

"Look mister, you're the one who did some crazy ninja shit and saved me from whoever that was, but you're also the guy who I woke up to in my apartment for no reason, So I think you need to answer some questions I have first."

She though John would get mad but instead he gave a half smile instead. "Fair enough." His acquiescing tone caught her off guard. Lisa cleared her throat then glanced around the room, her eyes lit on the alarm clock it was only 0300. She hadn't been out for long...and that raised more questions why had she been out at all...was it some sort of drugs, a taser... She turned back to John. "Who were those guys and who are you and what's going on?"

Once again, John didn't answer immediately. Instead, he gave a tired sigh and muttered something that sounded vaguely like "civilians."

"How about some coffee?"

Lisa opened her mouth to argue and John added. "And I'll tell you about them."

Fifteen minutes later and two steaming cups of coffee John spoke.

His words were sketchy at best and she tried to read between the lines and figure out what he wasn't saying. "So these Djinn are some sort of gang?"

John hesitated just the barest hint of a second and then he answered. "Yeah, something like that."

What John was saying did and didn't make sense. Maybe those guys were some gang and they drugged her—tazed her—whatever—but that still doesn't explain who her supposed saviour is.

He looked a little irritated now but he fumbles in his pocket and pulls out some sort of ID. "John Win—Winston, DEA agent. I'm undercover tracking the Djinn; they've been kidnapping and probably murdering young females fitting your description."

"And what description is that?" Lisa's curious despite herself wondering just what could make someone as boring as herself so appealing to some criminals.

"Young, beautiful single female, lives alone, early twenties, family isn't close by—"John broke off and if she didn't know this guy would rather die than blush probably she would say that was what was on his cheeks. He cleared his throat and took a sip of his coffee.

Lisa used the opportunity to blurt out another question. "You can tell all that from looking at me?"

His eyes were staring into hers and she swore something tingled down her spine when he said in that gruff voice of his. "And more."

He was at least a good ten years older than her but something about him... he had feelings stirring in her that Brody never had. She kept telling herself she wasn't that kind of girl but before she could stop herself, she blurted out. "So what are your plans? Are you leaving just now...because I don't really feel safe they might come back."

John shook his head. "Probably not and I really need—"

Lisa cut him off setting her coffee cup down. Her eyes were borng into his and she usualy wasn't ever this forward but that brush with potential death or maybe even the aftereffects of some drug seemed to be giving her a little more boldness than she normally would. "How about just till morning. It would really make me feel better, there's a pretty nice couch...or...my bed is big enough for two."

He looked at her for a long moment and she could tell he was reading between the lines. "Yeah, I might take you up on that."

She noticed he didn't specify which offer but she could guess she knew. Things were a little blurred after that. The conversation got sparser and petered out until somehow she found herself leading him to her bedroom. Several hours later John Winston took her leave and she never saw him again. The kidnappings stopped too.

About a short while later she had another unplanned lay. This one was Dean...just as young as the other had been old. She had her fun, they both did and they parted ways. She wasn't expecting anything more than a good time but two weeks later found her holding a pregnancy test that was positive.

She tried to track down the DEA agent but either he was in serious deep cover or he was a liar, and Dean was just gone in the wind. She didn't really need them to raise a child and somehow doubted either would make good father.

She had thought that was the last she would ever see of the...until Dean turned up. It was shocking how similar Ben was to Dean but when Dean asked, something made her lie immediately. She wasn't sure Dean was the father but she wasn't sure he was and while he was nice enough she knew that there was more to the story he told her about what he had been up to then met the eye. It was easy enough to get a saliva sample from him and have it rush tested.

She was disappointed when the paper came back negative...but it did say Dean was a close genetic match whatever the hell that meant. Still when Dean came to live with them after something happened to his brother, he was great with Ben and she almost forgot herself that Ben wasn't his. Until she found the picture in his duffel bag

It was John Winston the DEA agent. Only the back of the picture merely listed him as Dad. The lab still had the sample of Dean's DNA and got one from Ben after making an excuse about genetic testing for some cancer risk. The lab confirmed it , Dean was related to Ben, but not as a father, Dean was his brother.

XXXX XXXX

"I—I know I said forget it...but Ben's such a cool kid I kinda wish I was his Dad."

Lisa jerked back to find Dean watching her looking a little sheepish as he dried a plate. Dean's words made her go cold. She wanted so badly to tell him, but then again this was about a lot more then telling Dean the truth. If she told Dean, he would know he had a brother. He would know that there was another Winchester. And Lisa didn't want that.

She knew Sam wasn't at some holiday resort. Sam was most likely dead and judging by the broken scarred way Dean had come to her it had been an awful death. His father was also dead as was his mother and if she heard what he said in his sleep right then pretty much every other member of his family was too. The Winchester's might save countless people but they couldn't save themselves.

Lisa would lie to Dean everyday if it meant her son could avoid the misery that was the Winchester line.

She turned to smile at Dean, letting her softened expression melt away the guilt in her face. "You'd be a great father one day Dean."

And you're a great big brother now.