Chapter One – First meeting

Mel walked slowly from her car to the Roadhouse entrance. She hitched her duffel back up onto her shoulder, and winced slightly. Damn vampires, she thought to herself. She had just finished a hunt where she had cleared out a nest of vamps. And she'd done a pretty fine job if she could say so herself, but the last vamp had managed to dislocate her shoulder. She'd popped it back in herself, but damn, it was still sore.

She smiled to herself as she thought back over the last couple of days. She loved her job, and because of that she excelled at it.

She made her way into the bar, and smiled as she saw Ellen wiping down tables.

"Hi Ellen, need a hand?"

Ellen looked up and a huge smile lit her face.

"Mel, sweety, you're back. I'm so glad I was worried about you."

Mel smiled. Ellen had taken over the role of her mother, ever since her own mother had been killed when she was 11, along with her father. They had both been hunters and from what she'd heard people say, pretty good ones too. Mel had grown up with Jo, who she thought of as a younger sister. She smiled sadly to herself thinking of Jo. Things had been a bit strained between them the last couple of years., ever since Mel had started hunting. She knew that Jo was desperate to start hunting herself but she could understand why Ellen forbid her from actually doing it. She knew Jo had been putting together files for different cases that Ellen had been handing out to other hunters who came to her bar. She also knew that Jo was going to keep one of them for herself one day.

"Ellen, I really wished you'd stop worrying. I can look after myself. Where's Jo?"

Ellen nodded to the door to the flat above the Roadhouse, "she's up there putting together another file. We had a bit of a fight earlier, so she's sulking."

"Oh", well I'm just going to go up and say hi, see how she's doing."

"OK honey, try and get some rest too, you look tired."

"OK, Thanks Ellen. It's good ot be home."

Mel headed up the back stairs. She knew how lucky she was to have Ellen and Jo. Hell even Ash. They were her family, and she would always be grateful to them for looking out for her, and accepting them into their family.

She got to the top of the stairs and dumped her bag in her room, then headed to Jo's room. She knocked the door, and waited for an answer.

"I'm still here Mom, and I'm still not talking to you. Just leave me alone".

Mel sighed, feeling awkward. She knew what Jo and Ellen had been fighting about, and knew that she definitely would have been mentioned.

"It's just me Jo" Mel said and opened the door. Jo was sitting at her desk, laptop on looking at newspaper clippings. She turned around to look at Mel, and a smile spread across her face.

"Hey Mel. Glad you got back ok, I've missed you being around!"

"So you had another fight with your Mum, huh? She asked looking at Jo.

Jo just nodded, and Mel could tell she felt awkward, confirming Mel's suspicions. The fight would definitely have been centred around the fact that Ellen let Mel go on hunts, and not Jo. Not wanting to provoke Jo's anger Mel thought she should change the subject.

"So what have I missed while I've been away then? Any exciting news coming through on the hunting grapevine?"

Jo smiled at Mel, grateful for the change of subject and shook her head. "You haven't missed much actually. The Winchester boys came round the other day – have you met them before? Dean is so hot. I mean Sam is hot too, but got Dean! That is a fine male specimen if ever I saw one."

Mel laughed, "Jo, you think every hunter that comes through here under 30 is hot"

Jo smiled defensively, "well it's not like there are many other men I can compare to is there? I'm always stuck here, not like you!".

"OK, ok, I don't want to get into an argument. Anyone to answer your question, No I haven't met them before. Heard plenty about them though, and their Dad. Come to think of it I think I heard that he died recently?"

Jo looked sad but nodded at Mel. "Yeah, they were pretty cut up about it. They came here and spoke to Ash about some stuff then went to look into some killer clown thing."

Mel laughed "Killer clown, are you serious? Glad I missed out on that one. Creepy ass clowns. Anyway I'm going to take a shower and go down and see your Mum. Try not to be too hard on her Jo, she really is just trying to look out for you. It's what mothers do."

Jo nodded and Mel left the room. She really did need a shower, not having a chance to clean herself up properly since she killed those vamps. She headed to her room, and into the little ensuite bathroom. She always missed her little room when she was away, and was so grateful to have some place to come back to and call home. She knew most hunters didn't have that luxury. She jumped in the shower and enjoyed the feel of the hot water beating down on her, relaxing her tense muscles. She was in there longer than normal, in the mood for some relation. She loved the buzz of a hunt, but was always so tired when it was over, and she got back here. She made her way out of the bathroom and into her bedroom, quickly towel drying her long hair. She couldn't be bothered to dry it and decided to let it do so on it's own, knowing that it would end up wavy.

She grabbed a pair of Jeans, and a pale yellow tee, then quickly brushed on some make-up. She knew that Ellen would still be tidying downstairs from last night, getting ready for the rare customers that came in, in the early afternoon and Mel figured she's need a hand, seeing as how Jo was still sulking at her mother.

She ran down the stairs quickly, calling out to Ellen on her way, "Hey Ellen, Do you need me to go grab anything from the store? We were getting low on pretzels before I left to kill those vamps" She laughed to herself remembering the look on the vampires faces when they realised she wasn't actually going to be their dinner but their end.

Mel came through the door and stopped short. There were two men sitting at the bar talking to Ellen. God were they hot. Mel blushed as she realised the shorter one was looking her over. She vaguely wondered if maybe she shouldn't have been shouting about killing vampires, but then dismissed the thought. These guys were hunters if ever she'd seen any.

Ellen smiled over at Mel, and then back at the boys. "Hey boys, meet Mel Johnson. Mel this is Sam and Dean Winchester."

"Hey, I've heard a lot about you guys, nice to meet you finally."

The shorter one looked at Mel "Mel Johnson? That sounds familiar. I think I've heard of you before? Just can't think where."

Mel winked at the guys, "sure hope it was good, whatever you heard. Anyway sorry to be rude and run off, but I've got to go to the store. Hey Ellen, do you want me to pick anything up?"

Ellen shook her hear, "No I'm good thanks Sweetie. See you later"

"See ya" Mel shot back over her shoulder to Ellen and the two men.

She got to her car, and had to compose herself for a minute. That Dean Winchester really was hot, she could understand everything that Jo had been saying. It was sad to see all that pain lurking behind his eyes, even when he did smile at her. She revved the engine of her car, and didn't notice when the Winchesters came out of the door and headed to their own car.

"Hey Sam, why does that girls name sound so familiar? And Damn, did you see her? Can't believe she's a hunter with a face like that, the girl was hot."

Sam sighed, "Dean, trust you to notice how hot she was. And I know where we've heard of her before – from Bobby? Remember he was telling about a hunter he knew? Only a young girl, but had amazing skills, and could give us all a run for our money?"

Dean looked at Sam, "Dude, you must have got the names muddled. No way that girl could be the same one he was talking about. A girl couldn't hunt like Bobby described, and still look that hot".

Sam sighed and got into the passenger side of the Impala.