Dean looked down at his phone. 'Garth Calling' flashed on the screen. Great he thought to himself.
"Garth" He answered.
"Dean! I totally miss you guys. Listen, I got something you and Sam are totally gonna want to check out"
"Garth, we don't need you sending us on jobs. We got enough of our own crap here"
"Not a job. Information. Men of Letters information to be exact"
"Wait, what?"
"Seems you two aren't the only legacies"
"How can that be? I thought they were all dead, how could there be any more of us running round?"
"Seems Men of letters are like, men of secrets. Anyway, if you're interested meet at 7.30 at the Sunshine Diner"
"The Sunshine Diner? Really?"
"Best Waffles in the state"
As he hung up he turned to Sam who'd heard the entire conversation.
"We passed that place a while back, we can still make it if we turn around"
"Ok. Lets just hope Dude has some useful Intel"
Two hours later and they were outside the Sunshine Diner, which was not as cheery as it's name suggested, with a broken sun shaped sign and overflowing trash cans. As they entered, they realised that beside one random old guy drinking coffee at the bar, they were alone.
"This isn't creepy, at all" Sam commented.
A few minutes later and the bell rang, signalling another customer. They turned, expecting Garth. Instead they were met with a girl in her late twenties with pale blonde hair. She was wearing a red plaid skirt with a black v neck fitted sweater and knee high boots. She caught sight of them and headed over.
"Sam and Dean Winchester?" She questioned.
The brothers looked at one another, confused.
"Ok I'm going to take that as a yes. Garth called you, he said to meet here?"
"Wait, you're the one with the Intel on Men of Letters?"
"That's me. I'm Melanie by the way"
"Sorry, we weren't expecting…" Dean began.
"A girl?" She replied.
"Or a Brit" Sam offered.
She laughed. "What gave it away? Listen, it will all make sense once I've explained what I know, ok?"
"So, what do you know?"
"I know you boys discovered the bat cave"
Dean smiled. "That's what I call it"
"See, Its not the only one. There are several all over the world. The Men of Letters was, or is, a pretty international organisation but your base was the main one, and all the Men resided in the U.S. They just used intelligence from around the world, as I'm sure you're aware?"
"Nazi Necromancers. That was fun"
"Really, the Thull? You ran into them? Me too. Those bastards get everywhere"
"How did you run into them?"
"They know about us legacies. They'd prefer us all dead and they're not exactly shy in their attempts."
"So wait, do you Hunt?" Dean asked.
"Me? No. I just know how to defend myself. I don't go looking for trouble but somehow it always finds me"
"So why is it called the Men of Letters?" Sam asked.
"Because each man chosen was a letter, or the personification of it. Think Alpha male, where do you think the expression comes from?"
"So what each man got given a letter?"
"It's more like a birthright. Each man is born a with a particular letter but until he undergoes his initiation, he can't access any of the stuff that goes along with it"
"Stuff?"
"The Alpha male. Strong, dominant but reckless. Once initiated he has increased strength, stamina… amongst other things. An Alpha typically needs an Omega to balance him out. I'd put money on those being your letters by the way."
"Why?" Dean asked.
"I'm psycho-kinetic. I'm drowning in your Alpha male bravado right now." She smiled.
A flap of wings was heard.
"Geez Cas, you cant just fly in like that" Dean spoke.
"Sorry"
"Castiel?" Melanie began. Angels had the most amazing energy patterns, she kept staring at his. It was gold, white and silver all at the same time.
"Have we met?" he asked in his usual, formal way.
"No" She replied, bringing herself back to reality. As she did, she realised it was not his energy pattern she should have been looking at.
"You sure know how to pick a vessel…" She smiled, looking at Sam and Dean.
"Yes, I do. I asked him…."
"Not what she meant Cas" Sam offered.
"You were discussing the Men of Letters, yes?" Cas continued.
"Yeah. Turns out there's at least three of us legacies still alive"
"I thought this…organisation… excluded women?"
"No. It's just that all the children born to the founders all happened to be male. I'm the first girl born. Goodness knows what they'd have done with me back In the fifties. Typist maybe? "
"How did you find out about all this?"
"A few months ago I found out I'd inherited something from my grandfather, whom I'd never met. Turns out it was batcave number two, and it's filled with all these books on weird secret societies and what not. So, I decide to summon the guy and ask a few questions. Fortunately no one had burnt his bones and he told me all about the men of letters"
"You summoned him?"
"Yeah. Everyone In my family is kinda weird, we know all about monsters and ghosts .We're just really British and don't talk about it. My mum is a psychic but she never actually did anything with it. I'm the only one who acknowledges it."
"Huh. Does anyone have a normal family these days?"
"Sure. Just not us." She smiled.
"So, what about the initiation? Our dad was about to do it, well, before…. Y'know"
"I'm still working on that. I've had all of my stuff shipped over here. I'm due to sign for it tomorrow at the Docks. I thought it'd be safer here with all three of us around."
"So you're sticking around?" Dean asked.
"For now I guess."
"Where are you staying?"
"You're looking at it. Though I'm sure you two are used to motel life"
"Tell you what. Me and Sammy here are gonna check in and take you to the docks tomorrow and get this stuff back, ok?"
"Sounds good to me. Listen, jet lag is seriously catching up. I need to go and sleep. I'll see you guys tomorrow, say 7?"
As she left, the brothers and Cas all looked at one another.
"So, I guess we're gonna be Men of Letters after all?" Sam smiled.
"I got no clue. Lets just see what happens" Dean replied.
"Your friend. She has an unusual energy reading."
"She's psycho-kinetic"
"That explains the staring. She was observing my energy pattern"
"Yeah, that and other things" Sam smiled.
"What do you mean?"
"Dude she totally likes you- the whole vessel comment?"
"Oh. Should I go and speak with her?"
"Why?" Dean asked.
With that he took off.
She'd just finished changing when wings were heard.
"Deans right, you have to stop doing that. A second earlier and…." She began.
"…and what?"
"Never mind. Why are you here?"
"You're psycho-kinetic, yes?"
"Yes. Sorry, it was the staring wasn't it? Sorry, sometimes I don't even know I'm doing it. Its just, well it's not exactly everyday I have an angel in my presence. Your energy pattern is just so….. "
"What did you mean by your comment about my vessel?"
She could feel her cheeks burning red. Why couldn't I have just kept my mouth shut? She thought to herself.
"You picked an attractive vessel. Sorry I shouldn't have said anything….." She continued, turning away from the angel conscious of the fact she was in a short black satin nightgown In the presence of an angel of the Lord.
As she turned away, he appeared in front of her.
"You find my vessel, attractive?"
She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.
"Yes" She replied.
There was a knock at the door.
"It's open!" she answered, really not caring who was at the door so long as she could get out of this awkward situation.
"Hey is Cas….?" Dean began, not finishing when he saw the missing Angel stood next to her.
"He's here, take him!" She replied, ushering Cas out of the door.
"Gotta go!" She continued, slamming the door shut.
As she closed the door, Dean turned to Cas.
"What did you do?"
"I merely asked her some questions"
"Dude you gotta talk to him about this stuff" Sam spoke.
"Why me?"
"You two have got that 'special bond'. It should come from you" Sam replied, patting Dean playfully on the shoulder as he headed back to the room.
The next morning she woke up, and quickly remembered the events of the night before. She'd prayed it'd all been some sort of dream but it was in fact reality. She groaned a little at the thought before heading to take a shower and get dressed. No time for blow drying so she braided her hair into a French braid and pulled on another skirt and sweater combo. A few minutes later, the boys were knocking at the door.
"Hey. Nice hair Lara Croft" Dean smiled.
"Funny!" She replied, playfully hitting him In the shoulder. "Let me grab my bag"
As she headed out with just a duffel bag, Dean was impressed. No girl he'd ever known could pack that light.
"Is that an Impala?" She questioned, staring at the very beautiful all American car before her.
"Yeah, that's my baby" Dean replied.
"Love these. I only ever saw pictures before…."
"Ok if you two are done having a moment, can we go?" Sam replied impatiently.
"Alright, lets go"
As she climbed in the backseat, Cas decided to appear.
"Cas… " She began.
"I wish to apologise, for last night"
"It's fine…. Really"
"Dean tells me I have much to learn about talking to girls"
"Dude!" Dean replied.
"So, no flying? This must feel unbelievably slow to you" She replied.
"Yes but sometimes that is better"
An hour later and they were at the Docks. They parked and headed for the harbour masters office.
"Give me a second, I'll be right back with the location"
She headed inside,
"I'm here for container DS-114."
"Yeah that came in last night. Interesting stuff."
"I'm sorry, what?"
His eyes turned black, and he jumped out from behind the desk.
She bolted out of the reception. She'd left her demon blade in her duffel. Great Move! She thought to herself.
"Demon blade, now!" She shouted as she approached Dean, having spotted it in his jacket pocket the first time they'd met.
He threw it to her and stood as she knocked the demon to the ground and drove it straight through his chest.
"Bloody demons" She muttered, drawing deep breaths as she stood up from the dead body underneath her. She threw the blade back to Dean.
"So, someone's pretty good with a Demon blade!"
"I told you. Trouble has a habit of finding me." She smiled, heading back towards the boys.
"So, where is it?"
"I don't know- he sort of attacked before I could check."
"It's over there" Cas spoke, looking eastwards.
"How do you know?"
"I can feel the , angel proofing as you call it, from here"
They headed east past at least two dozen container before stumbling across it. Despite the demons earlier taunt, it was still locked. She grabbed the key from her pocket and opened it. She also rubbed off some of the angel proofing so Cas could enter.
"Gentleman. Allow me to present every available piece of literature on the Men of Letters" She smiled.
"So, this is not going to fit in the Impala" Sam commented.
"I know. I hired a truck to move it to the bunker. I just thought you might want to check it out is all. Truck won't be here for a couple of hours or so?"
Over the next two hours, they proceeded to look through almost every single book in the container. Inevitably there were some duplicates but on the whole most of it was brand new to them.
A large, bald headed man appeared at the entrance.
"Excuse me, miss? I'm here to collect this container. Sign here please"
She looked at him. No black eyes. She signed the form and they all headed back to the Impala.
"I'm starving. Can we go get some food?" She asked.
"Amen to that" Dean replied.
Twenty minutes later and they pulled in at another Diner.
"The great American tradition" She laughed.
"Not when they become your life." Sam replied.
"Tell you what when we get back to the batcave safe from black eyed demons, I will totally cook for you. "
An hour and three bacon cheeseburgers later they headed back to the bunker. The shipping container was outside.
"This place is huge, way bigger than the one back home." She smiled, admiring all the 1940's/50's posters and décor.
"Third door on the right over there is an empty room.." Dean said.
"Thanks"
She opened the door and entered the room. It felt clean and fresh despite being locked up for so long. She placed her duffel on the chair and sat down on the bed. She pulled out an old beaten leather journal and started writing. She found it therapeutic to get her thoughts out of her head and on to paper. She was a few paragraphs in when there was a knock at the door.
"Just checkin' you're Ok?" Dean smiled.
"I'm good"
"Love what you've done with the place" He joked.
"Everything I have with me right now is in that bag- not exactly a lot of room for mementos."
"Not many girls I know could pack that light"
"I'm guessing you go for the high maintenance girls. Don't feel bad… you're an alpha male, you're hardwired to go for the supermodel perfect type" She laughed.
"Really? And what type are you?"
"I don't know. All of the Men of Letters descriptions are kind of male orientated."
"Wasn't what I meant" He smiled, leaning in closer.
"No maintenance with a penchant for stabbing demons type" She replied.
"Works for me"
"You 're just dying to know about what'll happen if you're an Alpha male, right?"
"Kinda, yeah"
"Then come in, take a seat" She replied, opening the door wider to allow him in.
"So- alpha male. The prime of the species- strongest genes, etcetera etcetera."
"Uh-huh, not seeing a downside so far"
"Uncontrollable mating. Basically, when you need it, you need it and nothing will stop you. I mean nothing"
"Ok…"
"Essentially you're designed to lure us in, have your wicked way, and be gone"
"You make it sound so dirty"
"Hey, not judging- believe me." She replied, holding her hands up.
"So, If I go all alpha male and jump you, you're not gonna complain?"
"Hell No!" She replied, slapping her hand to her mouth the second she'd said it. Why couldn't she keep these thoughts to herself? What was wrong with her?
"Good to know!" He replied, a flirtatious smile on his face as he left her room.
She placed her head on the desk. What was wrong with her? She was never so forward when it came to guys. Suddenly she was the queen of flirting? Mind you, it was kind of understandable given she was currently shacked up In a bunker with three gorgeous guys. She decided to cut herself some slack and just have a little fun.
She headed out to the main living area where Dean and Sam were laughing about something, bottle of beer in hand each.
"Sammy says you promised to cook"
"Absolutely. Need to go to the store and given I have no car…."
"I'll take you, no one drives but me"
"I don't want to drive. The whole other side of the road thing freaks me out"
"So, you'll stab a demon but you won't drive on the right?"
"Pretty much"
"Wow, this is good." Sam smiled. He looked across at Dean who was quite literally shovelling food into his mouth and assumed he had to agree. Home cooked meals were rare in the life of a hunter.
"I know" She smiled, taking a swig of her beer.
"Modest. I like it" Dean replied, finishing off his meal.
"I made pie for desert"
"I think I love you" Dean joked, with Cas shooting him an awkward look. He got up and headed to the kitchen where a freshly baked cherry pie was waiting for him.
Her phone began to ring. She looked at the incoming number and rejected the call.
"So who are you avoiding?" Sam asked.
"No one" She lied.
The phone rang again, she turned it off.
"Pie. Need more pie" She spoke, heading for the kitchen avoiding all eye contact.
"This is amazing. You can totally stay if you keep em comin'" Dean spoke, devouring his second piece.
"Absolutely." She smiled, looking nervously at her phone.
"You Ok?"
"My Dad. He's not exactly best pleased with my decision to jump on the red eye from Heathrow. He keeps calling me"
"He probably just wants to know you're ok. You should call him"
"I know I just really don't want the whole conversation right now about how I should leave this well alone"
"Cant blame him."
"Fine, I'll call him "
"No need, I have him here" Cas spoke.
She turned around, really hoping she'd mis heard. She was greeted by the confused expression on her dads face.
"So, you're associating with angels now?" he began.
"Cas!" She shouted, before realising he had gone.
"What are you doing here? I told you to leave this well alone!"
"I know, I know but I can't. I found the Winchesters, there's three of us now- not just me."
"Nothing good comes from the Men of Letters. Why do you think I never told you about your grandfather?"
"I don't know, because you don't trust me? Because you refuse to acknowledge who I really am?"
"That's not true"
"Mum is a psychic and she's never talked about it a day in her life! And you, you….."
"I know, and I'm sorry. I never wanted you to get caught up in all of this. This is what got him killed and I will not allow that to happen to you"
"It won't."
"You don't know that"
"I'm not alone- I have Sam, Dean and a bloody angel watching over me. I'll be fine. I have to see this through, ok?"
He turned to Dean.
"She thinks she's invincible. Keep an eye on her, Ok?"
"Yes sir" came Deans reply.
"You call whenever you can ok?"
"Ok"
"So, how am I getting out of here?"
"Cas!" She shouted.
"Please, take my dad home."
A flap of wings was heard, and the two were gone.
"I can't believe Cas actually flew my Dad in" she began, taking another swig of her beer hoping the alcohol would kick in soon.
"Hey, at least your dad is around and he cares"
"You're right. Sorry." She replied, not really thinking about who she was talking to.
"Hey guys, I think I found something about initiation!" Sam called from the other room.
"What did you find?"
"Turns out that there is this whole ceremony that you have to perform to be initiated- it details it, right here" He replied, handing the book over.
"Says here you need an elder"
"Doesn't say they have to alive" Sam replied, looking at Mel.
"Good point. We can summon him again, if he's willing to that is"
"You might want to read this part" Sam spoke, handing the book to Mel with a slightly grimaced look on his face.
"What is it?" She questioned, taking the book and reading the part he was pointing to.
"Oh" She replied, now realising the reason for the look on his face.
"What is it?" Dean questioned.
"You should probably just read it" She began, throwing the book in his general direction.
"Oh…" He began. "So how long do we…." He continued, his face blushing.
"Now. The time is now" She replied.
She headed back to her room. Damn those Men of Letters. She recited the paragraph in her head.
"Any woman born of a Man of Letters may only be initiated during her bleeding cycle, as this is when she will experience the full power of her letter."
She paused.
Did that mean that before she was initiated, she might experience at least some of that power? And if so, was that why she had turned in to the queen of flirting?
Was she an Alpha female?
Oh god. I'm the female Dean Winchester. She thought to herself.
In that moment she felt something shift, like acknowledging the possibility had made it true somehow. If this was how she felt before initiation, she couldn't imagine what it would feel like after. The desire was there, pulsating… letting her know what she needed. She locked the door, afraid of what she might do. Her body temperature was rising.
"Something is wrong with you" Cas spoke.
"No shit Cas, you need to get out of here, now!" She practically screamed.
He left, and appeared in the living room.
"Something is wrong with her. You need to see" He repeated, grabbing Dean.
A second later, Dean was in her room. She was sat behind the door with her knees pulled in to her chest. She was not looking good.
"Whats wrong?"
"I, I'm not sure"
"Ok…"
She forced herself to look at him, and wished she hadn't. The need that was before pulsating, was now growing in intensity.
"You need to leave"
"Why?"
"The book, that's why!"
"What about the damn book?"
"Lets just say Its not wrong about, you know…"
"Wait, you're not even initiated!"
"I know, but seems that doesn't matter- seriously, you have to leave or I might…"
"Might what?" He answered, taking a step closer.
"You're not helping!" She replied, turning away.
He grabbed her arm, turning her back toward him and looking at her face. He'd know that look anywhere.
"Now whose drowning?" He smiled.
"So not the time! I had no idea it was even possible, who ever heard of an Alpha female?" She replied, desperately trying to ignore her desire to jump him.
"I can't leave you like this"
"Fine"
She couldn't resist any more. She grabbed him, and pushed him against the bedroom door.
"Don't say I didn't warn you"
With that, he switched the two of them around and began kissing her.
"Wait, what?"
"You said no complaints if I jumped you"
She looked at him. The same look that she knew she had was all over his face. She swore she could almost feel his own want for her pulsating. Somehow her being on heat was affecting him. Her logical self knew this was all kinds of wrong, that they were taking advantage of each other somehow. But right now, she didn't care.
She switched them back.
"No complaints"