Chapter 1

Driving down the empty highway just after midnight, both Sam and Dean were exhausted after their challenging encounter with a nest of vampires. Suddenly a phone began to ring in the glove box of the Impala, filling the otherwise silent car with noise.

"Sammy, quick, find which phone it is", shouted Dean as Sam woke suddenly. Sam felt his way through the handful of phones to find the one which had suddenly sprung to life. Just as he flipped a silver handset open, it stopped in his hand. "Whose phone is this? It's not one of dad's old ones" Sam asked, unable to recognise the handset. Dean looked uncomfortable and admitted, "Its Bobby's old one, I keep in charged up just in case one of his old contacts rings. I thought it might come in handy". As Sam shrugged he went to return the phone back in its place, but a text came through stating that 1 new voicemail was available to listen too.

"Should we listen to it?" Sam asked, "it feels kind of like we're invading his space". Dean stared into the wide open road and thought about it. "It's probably just an old hunter with a case", he replied. Sam quickly challenged this however, claiming "we went through all his old contacts that we could find to tell everyone that he had died", now feeling awkward about the whole situation. Dean shrugged, it wasn't a number he recognised but if it was one of Bobby's friends that needed help, it was the least they could do. "Let's just listen to the voicemail and see who it was and what they wanted" Dean ordered, hoping that Sam didn't challenge him on it. Sam flipped the handset open, and dialling voicemail, put it on loudspeaker.

"Hi Uncle Bobby", a female voice filled the car as the two brothers looked at each other confused. As far as they were aware, Bobby didn't have any family left alive. "I know you still aren't talking to me, but I'm coming to see you. I'm catching a flight in an hour and I should be at yours by 11am tomorrow. I don't know if you're on a case or just ignoring my calls, but I really want to see you." The mystery woman paused, sighed, and then continued. "I love you Uncle Bobby, I'll see you soon, okay?" The call then cut out.

Trying to make sense of it, Sam replayed the call three times, until Dean, frustrated with yet another secret that appeared from beyond the grave, took the cell and flung it towards the back of the car. "What was that for!" exclaimed Sam, confused as much by the look on Dean's face as he was the mystery woman. "We are going to go to Bobby's to meet her right?" he asked. Dean considered the idea and its possibilities before giving his response. "No, we're not. We're going to go back to the bunker and look for another case. For all we know this person isn't even Bobby's niece. For all we know this person isn't even a person!"

Sam stared at his brother is disbelief. "We have to go", he told Dean. "If this really is Bobby's niece then no one has even told her that he died. The two of us were the only family he had left, we owe it to him to do this." Dean sighed. He knew his little brother was right, part of him just didn't want to venture back to Bobby's place. They were meant to sell it but they couldn't bring themselves too, instead the pair convinced themselves that they would split their time between the Men of Letters Headquarters and Bobby's, saving money on motels. Dean had never set foot back into the house, however when they were really stuck, Sam sometimes went and looked through Bobby's library to try and find alternatives. Dean was not aware of this.

Making a sudden U-turn, they began to travel back on themselves to the place Dean swore he would never go back too. For the rest of the journey, the car was filled with silence, doubt and apprehension as both brothers contemplated what would be waiting for them.

Chapter 2

It was just approaching 10am when the boys passed under the Singer Auto-Parts sign at the entrance of Bobby's land. The mystery woman was due here in almost an hour and the boys still had no idea who she was, or if indeed she was Bobby's niece at all.

"Did you notice her accent?" Sam asked. It was the first conversation they'd have since Dean had changed his mind and turned the car around. "What, you mean the three thousand times you played the message? No, I didn't notice", Dean replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "She was British, at first I thought it could have been Bella, but since she got dragged to hell by the hounds, I'm guessing he has family over there that he didn't mention." Sam paused, wondering what could have made Bobby fail to mention the fact that he still had a niece alive somewhere. "I wonder what could have happened, I mean something must have gone down, she doesn't even know he's dead and it's been almost two years."

Slowing the car down to an eventual standstill outside the vacant house, Dean stopped and looked at Sam. "Right we're here. You can stay and talk to whatever monster turns up looking for revenge. I'm going to get breakfast. I'll come back for you in two hours." Shocked, Sam stared at Dean, whose face was stubborn and hard. "Dude, you can't just leave me here," he proclaimed, "what if it is some psycho, or some sort of monster. You can't just leave me!" Dean rolled his eyes and looked out of the window into the distance. "Look, you were the one who wanted to come. I don't want to be a part of this. If Bobby didn't mention her then there must have been a reason. Like you said, it's been almost two years since he …," he stopped, feeling the emotion in his voice. "There's no excuse for what she's done, not trying to contact him before now."

Sam opened his mouth to argue, but he could tell from Dean's stance that he wasn't going to budge. "What am I meant to say to her? Sorry but your uncle's been dead for two years. What if she asks questions? What if she doesn't even know he was a hunter, I'm just meant to make something up? I need you there man, for moral support if nothing else. You don't have to speak to her, just come with me." Before Dean could answer, a taxi pulled through the gates and made its way to the house. "I thought she said she wouldn't be here until 11!" Dean exclaimed, feeling more and more uncomfortable with the situation. He sunk lower in his seat as if he was trying to make himself invisible, and Sam tried to stifle back a laugh at how childish he looked.

The taxi came to a halt, and after a few seconds the passenger door opened as a young woman stepped out of the car and made her way to the trunk to collect her bags. From the position of the Impala the boys couldn't see her face, but from the back they could tell that she was tall and slim, with long brown hair. It shimmered red in the sunlight. She didn't bare any familiarity to Bobby so far, and both boys silently thought to themselves that this was a trick, that Bobby's niece was a ruse. Turning round, she made her way to the door. After testing the handle, she began to walk away, and the boys glanced at each other, confused. She suddenly stopped, and kneeling on the floor she lifted up a discarded plant pot. Standing upright, she finally turned and noticed Impala, with the two brothers sitting awkwardly observing her. She made her way up to the car, her face recognisable but unfamiliar to both Sam and Dean at the same time. Her hazel eyes were filled with caution as she approached the vehicle, and as she reached for the door handle they exchanged a worried glance before deciding what to do.

"Are you John Winchester's boys?" she asked, a guarded tone in her voice. Sam nodded while Dean just stared at her, still doubtful. "I only met him once, when I was younger, but you look just like him. Is he here too?" she asked, looking around for their father. Sam stared at her in disbelief, "sorry to break it to you but our father died a long time ago." A look of worry fell upon her face, as she began to search for Bobby with her eyes. "And Uncle Bobby, did he send you here because he's busy on a case?" Panic took over her voice, and her face was mixed with both sorrow and grief, as if she already knew the answer. "Why don't we all go inside? I'm Sam by the way, and this is my brother Dean", Sam informed her as he opened his door and began to step out of the car. Dean however sat still, failing to even acknowledge that the conversation was taking place. "Dean!" Sam exclaimed, "Come on, lets go inside".

To Sam's surprise Dean began to get out of the car, albeit reluctantly, and began to make his way to the front door. He paused, but didn't turn back to look at Sam, who was helping with the mystery woman's bags, and let himself in by picking the lock.

He made his way to the library, and observed the woman closely. He definitely recognised her face from somewhere, but he couldn't place where. She had no real resemblance to Bobby though, that he knew for sure!

Sam followed her in, also wondering why it was that he recognised her face. Subtly trying, and failing to check the name on the luggage label on her suitcase, Sam was also trying to scrutinise her face but found no similarities to Bobby.

Dumping her bags in the library, the three inhabitants all stood uncomfortably and stared at each other. Sam cleared his throat as the mystery woman realised she had forgotten to introduce herself. "Erm, I'm Ashley by the way, I don't know if Uncle Bobby mentioned me" she stated, looking uncomfortably from Sam to Dean. Rolling his eyes, Dean replied "can you just can it with all this Uncle Bobby crap please, who are you really?" Sam looked at his older brother impatiently, and glancing back towards Ashley he apologised, telling her "what my brother means to say is that no, he never mentioned you. He just puts things a bit more bluntly." His tone turned softer as he asked "when was the last time you spoke to him?"

Her face filled with regret as she explained to the brothers. "It was about 7 years ago. We had a huge fight." The two brothers simply stared at her, but she noticed the one called Dean had hatred in his eyes. "Uncle Bobby and my dad were brothers, and when my dad went to college he met my mum. She moved to England and he followed, I never even met my Aunt Karen." She stopped, wondering why she had to explain all this to two strangers. "My parents died when I was around 6, car crash, Uncle Bobby was the only family I had left, he was my only guardian so I got sent to him and he brought me up as his own. It wasn't until I was around 18 and wanted to go home to study that we fell out. He found my applications and we had a huge fight about it, he didn't want to me leave him, said it wasn't safe. He said if I went he would kick me out and I wouldn't be allowed to come back, and I left. That was the last time I saw him."

Dean's voice filled with sarcasm, "well that's just great; we've found the female version Sam! Hard done too because they walked away from their family to go to school. And I guess you think that Bobby was some evil father figure do you?" hardly hiding the disgust in his voice.

"Don't pretend that you know me Dean Winchester! You know nothing about me or my relationship with Uncle Bobby. Who are you to judge anyone" Ashley almost shouted across the room. Sam, speechless at both the revelations about Bobby and his brothers reaction, didn't have any words to participate in this conversation. "Listen, just can it with the Uncle Bobby act sister. He never mentioned you, we're the only family he had and he said it to us every day" Dean spat at her, hatred in his eyes. Sam had very rarely seen him like this before, especially towards somebody he'd just met, and never to a strange but attractive woman like Ashley.

As soon as Dean had said 'had', Ashley began to slump against the wall she was standing next to. "You said had, why did you say had", she muttered looking between the two brothers frantically, desperate for answers. "Why are you two here and not Uncle Bobby?" Dean stormed out of the room, and as Sam walked slowly towards Ashley he heard the tyres of the Impala screech on the gravel outside. "Ashley I'm so sorry" he muttered as he awkwardly put one arm around the woman he didn't even knew existed until 12 hours ago. Trying, and failing miserably to console her, she finally started to sob. Heavy at first, but finally it turned into muted silent tears.

She straightened up, and wiping away the leftover tears, her face hardened and became steely. "Tell me what happened to him". And so Sam explained, about what happened in the years after she left. How he helped them find the demon that killed his mother, how helpful he was to the boys over the years, how many sticky and dangerous situations he got them out of, and eventually how he died. "He died almost two years ago now" he explained, as her eyes filled with tears again. "He got shot, we cremated him but Dean kept his flask. He was attached to it and eventually he became a vengeful spirit. Once we stopped him, his soul got taken to hell, but we managed to get him out. Hopefully he's at peace now." Although he knew deep down that this wouldn't really make her feel better, he hoped that it would give her some peace of mind.

The house was once again filled with a loud silence, and after what felt like hours of sitting side by side but feeling alone. Sam was plunged back into the memories of the house, of all the times they were in here together looking for cases, or just helping each other to survive. Ashley was also plunged back into her memories, hers of both much happier and much sadder times during her childhood. Many hateful things were said during that last argument, and he must have never truly forgiven her if he never mentioned her to the boys. The echo of Dean's hurtful words cut into her once more. "He never mentioned you, we're the only family he had and he said it to us every day." She had never gotten to make amends and she knew now that this would be the biggest regret of her life.