Shailene is Dean's twin sister and she's been doing some hunting on her own for about two and a half to three years before the start of the series. She's kept up fairly inconsistent contact up with Dean, basically checking in to let him know she's still alive, but not so much with their father considering she never told him she was going to leave to begin with. Some word-for-word bits from 1x11 "Scarecrow".

Supernatural and its characters are the property of Eric Kripke, if I actually owned them, I wouldn't be writing fan fiction about them... Lol jk, I would probably still be write fanfics. Shailene's name was inspired by Shailene Woodley, who plays Tris Prior in the Divergent movies. Enjoy the fic.

"To what do I owe this once-in-a-lifetime pleasure, dear twin brother of mine?" Shailene Winchester answered her phone sarcastically, "lemme guess; you and Sammy finally had a blowout?"

"Nice to hear your voice too, Shay," Dean responded just as sarcastically, "and no, we haven't had a blowout."

"Oh, really?" Shay hummed, unconvinced, "then give Sam the phone so I can say hi." She snorted at the muffled curse on the other end of the line and smiled wryly, "what was it this time, Deano?"

"Dad called," the eldest Winchester twin began, and Shay snapped to attention, "he called to give us some info on a case and let us know that he's closing in on the demon. Sam wanted to know where he was, but he didn't tell him, secretive bastard that he is. Sammy tracked down the area code he was calling from and decided that, instead of going to Indiana to solve this case, we were gonna head to California and find Dad."

"And then the two of you started to argue, you wanting to go ahead with the case and follow Dad's orders and Sam wanting to do his own thing and head down to California," the female huntress rolled her eyes towards the roof of her car, "I knew there was a reason I stopped hunting with you two. Where's Sam now?"

"Hitchhiking to California."

"Dean!"

"What?" the eldest Winchester snapped, "he's been trained just as well as you and I have; he can handle himself."

"You know exactly what. I can't stand you two idiots," Shay grumbled, "It's always something with you two. Why can't you and Sammy just get along for once instead of storming off to pout like a bunch of girls? What, are you guys syphoning off of my estrogen or something?"

"Dammit Shay, shut up—"

"I will, as soon as you explain to me why you thought it was a good idea to let our little brother find his way to California alone," the petite huntress raked a hand through her shoulder-length blonde waves, "God, I can hear Dad's voice in my head right now and I bet you can too. What part of Indiana are you headed to anyway?"

"Why do you wanna know?"

"Because I'm in the area and you need a good slap upside your head, dumbass."

"And here I thought you were too good to hunt with your brothers anymore."

"Who said anything about hunting with you, Dean?" Shailene retorted, "I said I was gonna hit you in the head, not help you solve your case. Is it the one with the disappearing couple during the second week of April each year?"

"How in the hell—"

"I hear things, that's how." The female Winchester chuckled, "I'm not hunting at the moment, and it's been a while since we had a family reunion. I'll meet you in Burkitsville."

"Fine. See you then, Shay."

*Burkitsville, Indiana*

Dean sighed and flipped the phone closed before a knock on the window startled him slightly. He looked out into the softly falling rain. Shailene's familiar face peered out at him from beneath the hood of a dark purple pull-over. He rolled his eyes and pushed the door open.

"Nice to see you too, Deano," Shay shoved her hands into her jacket pockets, "you ready to work the case?"

"I thought you were too good to work with me, Shay." Dean responded blithely, nonetheless throwing a casual arm over his twin's shoulders, "what changed your mind?"

"Eh, I've got nothing better to do," she shrugged as they crossed the street, "don't worry, you're still the lead. It'll be nice to play backup for a change."

The two Winchesters stepped up onto the damp wooden porch and slowly approached the older man sitting under the overhang of the roof, watching the cars go by. Dean hazarded a glance at the sign above him before addressing the man.

"Let me guess; Scotty?"

"Yep," the man responded, looking up at the sign himself.

"Hi, my name's John Bonham, this is my sister, Deb." Shay blinked at the alias but otherwise didn't react to it.

(A/N: Did some digging and, as it turns out, John Bonham had a younger sister named Deborah.)

"Isn't that the name of the drummer for Led Zeppelin?" Scotty queried, and the female hunter inwardly rolled her eyes as her brother complimented the man on his taste in music.

"What can I do for you, John?" Scotty asked, seemingly unconvinced by the aliases. Dean pulled two folded up slips of paper from his pocket and unfolded them before handing them to him.

"We were wondering if you'd seen these people, by chance," the eldest Winchester sibling explained, watching as Scotty examined the pictures.

"Nope," the older man responded, "who are they?"

"Friends of the family," Shay kept her tone neutral, eyeing Scotty's face and mannerisms for tells, "they went missing about a year ago, passed through somewhere around here."

"We've already asked around Scottsburg and Salem—"

"Sorry," Scotty handed the flyers back to Dean and Shay hummed under her breath, "we don't get many strangers around here." She smiled without showing her teeth and turned to walk away, rolling her eyes at Dean's parting comment, "Scotty, you've got a smile that lights up a room, anybody ever tell you that?"

*later*

"You kinda get the feeling they were trying to get rid of us?" Shay inquired as the Impala cruised smoothly down the road.

"Little bit," Dean admitted, and then frowned, "what the hell?" Shay strained her ears and heard a muffled beeping noise coming from the backseat. She reached over the seat and dug a highly reactive EMF meter out of her brother's bag.

"Looks like we got something. Pull over up here."

Dean pulled off the road and brought Baby to a halt. Shay pointed the EMF meter at the apple orchard across the way and hummed tersely as all five red lights glowed intermittently, "Red line. Thinking it's a vengeful?"

"Or some backcountry pagan," Dean responded, "let's take a walk, sis."

The twin hunters climbed out of the car and crossed the blacktop to reach the orchard. An eerie layer of fog hovered amongst the apple trees, giving the place a moderately creepy feel. The green eyed hunters exchanged a quick glance before heading deeper into the orchard.

"Creepy fog. Check." Shay mumbled sarcastically, "you'd think that apple orchards would be a place least likely to be possibly haunted."

"Maybe some poor schmuck fell out of a tree and broke his neck during harvest season," Dean muttered, "who the hell knows?"

"Unless they really hated picking apples while they were alive, I highly doubt somebody went vengeful over falling out of a damn tree." Shailene rolled her eyes skywards, "I think you were more on point with the pagan thing, especially with the super specific timing."

Dean hummed as they moved deeper into the orchard, "such a fixed point, it's probably a sacrificial thing."

"Eugh," Shay's eyes locked on something a few yards ahead, "that's one ugly ass scarecrow." The two Winchesters advanced on the scarecrow, hung up on a post in a small clearing, and stopped a few feet away, looking up at it curiously.

"Dude," Dean remarked, "you're fugly."

Shailene rolled her eyes and made to turn away, but her eyes locked on the ugly thing's right arm, "Dean," she uttered, moving away to grab a nearby ladder, "check this out."

Shay set the ladder against the post and climbed up so she was eye-level with the incredibly creepy scarecrow, "what's with the sickle?" she paused and gingerly moved the thing's arm, pushing the sleeve of the overcoat up so she could see its forearm.

"What is it, Shay?" Dean stood at the bottom of the ladder, one hand holding the side to keep it steady for her. Shay nibbled at her bottom lip and glanced down at him, "this thing's got a friggin tatt, but that's not the strange part. The ink looks really familiar."

"Familiar how?"

"Pull out that missing flyer for me please."

Dean fished the flyer out of his jacket and unfolded it, and Shay turned the arm so he could see the ink on the scarecrow, "these guys must've been pretty close butt buddies to get the same tatts."

"Well… ain't that a bitch?"

"And the strange part I mentioned," the green-eyed huntress rubbed a thumb gingerly against the faded surface the tattoo was on, "this feels like actual human skin. Whatever's making these couples disappear, I'll bet you a whole cherry pie it has something to do with this guy."

"That's a bet I'm not about to take." Dean mumbled, "I'm not givin' you pie. Back to town?"

"Well of course, I left my ride back there to come out here with you. That and we need to solve this case."

"We?" the elder twin queried, "we, eh? That's funny, I could've sworn you said that you weren't gonna help—"

"Oh shut up, Dean." Shay hopped off of the ladder, landing lithely on the balls of her feet. She tossed her blonde ponytail over one shoulder and started back the way they came, earnestly ignoring the deep chuckles following behind her.

*Burkitsville*

While Dean was at the gas station, getting Baby's tanked filled up, Shay ambled over to the side street she'd parked her car on and pulled the passenger door open. The huntress plopped down on the seat and pulled her phone out of her jeans and dialed a number. Placing the phone at her ear, she waited two and a half rings before the person answered.

"Shay?"

"Hey babe," a warm smile formed on her lips, "how're you holding up?"

"Fine," the woman mumbled, "missin' you though."

"I'll be back in Ithaca soon," Shay chuckled, "gimme… about four more days, maybe less."

"Not counting the drive?"

"Not counting the drive. I'll call you before I start heading back up north." The huntress promised, "I just gotta wrap up this case Dean and I are working and then I'm headed home."

"Dean? You're working a case with Dean? Shay, I thought you said—"

"I know what I said, you're not the first one to remind me, Bex." Shailene rolled her eyes, "I might not have been as serious as I thought I'd be about that."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I would not be impartial to working with my brothers again in the near future."

"Which would mean you being out on the road a lot more…" Bex mumbled quietly, "babe, don't get me wrong, I'm not mad that you're over whatever it was you were holding against your brothers, but I'm not looking forward to less face time."

"Hey, if they call for back-up, then I'm game," Shay whispered, "other than that and any jobs near Ithaca, I'm all yours."

"Uh… Shay?"

The sound of Dean's voice made Shailene jump, thumping her head on the roof of her deep red '70 Mustang. She swore colorfully under her breath as Dean moved to stand by the passenger side, peering down at her.

"Didn't know you had a girlfriend."

"Is that Dean? Tell him hi from me."

"Yeah, it's Dean," Shay grumbled, looking up at her twin, "Rebekah says hi, by the way. And of course you didn't know, we barely talk on the phone these days."

"And whose fault is that again? She sounds hot, by the way."

"Bex, I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you too."

Shay said her goodbyes and hung up the phone before turning to Dean, "of course my girlfriend is hot… and you… wait," she looked down at her booted feet, unsure, "you don't mind?"

"Mind what?"

"That I'm dating a girl." Shay mumbled, fiddling her thumbs together.

"Hell no, why would I?" Dean scoffed, "I'm not dad. So you're a lesbian, 's not the end of the world."

"I'm bi," She corrected softly and, louder, "so what'd you find out at the gas station?" she closed the car door and leaned against the car, crossing her arms self-consciously over her chest.

"Hey," Dean placed his hands on her upper arms and smiled sincerely, "kiddo, I don't care. Anyways," he swiftly changed the subject back to the case, "at the gas station tells me that the fugly scarecrow doesn't belong to anyone, it's always been there and she's been here since she was 13. Her aunt and uncle own the garage in town."

"Alright, so the scarecrow's of unknown origin and, with you and Sammy on the outs, we don't have our resident gangly nerd boy to help with research. This could take a while."

"He's not so gangly anymore," Dean responded with a smirk, "Sammy finally grew into those long ass legs and big feet of his. C'mon," he draped an arm over his sister's shoulders, "I'll buy us some pie. Another thing," his brow furrowed, "there's a couple in town. They stopped at the station to fill up."

"It's the second week of April." Shay uttered, "You think…"

"That the good people of Burkitsville are knowingly sending clueless couples to their deaths? Sure, why not."

"So crazy humans who still praise a pagan god?"

"Sounds about right."

"Why couldn't it just be a pagan? Humans are all kinds of crazy, I swear."

"Preachin' to the choir on that one, sis."

*at the diner*

Dean held the door open for his sister to walk into the diner ahead of him, just as Scotty laid two plates of warm apple pie in front the couple seated at a table, "it's on the house."

"Oh, hey, Scotty," Dean waved, "can I get two coffees, one black and one with cream? And two slices of that pie while you're at it."

Shay deliberately chose a table close to the couple and smiled politely at them as she sank down into the chair, "Hey there, what brings ya to town?" Dean sat across from her and smiled in greeting as well, "passing through or visiting?"

"Road trip." The woman responded brightly, "you?"

"Yeah, me and my brother here," Shay smiled good naturedly at Dean, "not so much a road trip though. We're looking for some family friends that went missing somewhere around here."

"I'm sure these people would like to eat in peace." Scotty came by to refill the couples' drinks, and Shay rolled her eyes, "ever heard of the concept of making polite conversation, Scotty? It's called being a civil human being."

"Touchy, Deb," Dean teased, adopting the aliases they used earlier, "can we get our coffee, Scotty?"

"We stopped to get gas and the guy at the station saved our lives." The woman gushed, and her husband continued, "One of our brake lines was leaking, but he offered to fix for us. Everyone's just so nice here."

"How long till you're up and running?" Dean queried.

"Sundown."

"Sundown? For a brake line?" he screwed his nose up, "That's a while off. I do all of my own repairs on my car, and a brake line wouldn't take me long. I can have you back on the road in an hour, maybe less. No charge."

"Thanks so much, but we'd rather have a mechanic do it." The woman responded, smile beginning to droop.

"No problem," Dean shrugged, "it's just that these roads. They're pretty unsafe at night."

"You sure you want to wait till nightfall to keep driving?" Shay murmured, "I'd stick with the daylight as long as possible if I were you."

"What?" The guy questioned, "what do you mean?"

"It sounds strange, I know, but you guys might be in danger." The hunter responded.

"We're trying to eat, alright?" the guy turned away, annoyed. Shay snorted, "Our baby brother, he's got this look, this puppy-dog-eye thing that he does. If he were here, you'd buy right into it."

Before anyone could say anything else, the bell over the door jingled as someone new walked in. The Winchesters rolled their eyes towards the ceiling as the sheriff walked in and Scotty came out from the back, smiling gratefully.

"Thanks for coming, Sheriff."

"Probably shouldn't have gotten so invasive." Shay whispered to Dean, watching Scotty and the Sheriff converse quietly before the policeman walked up to their table.

"Can I have a word, please?"

"I dunno, can you?" Dean coughed to hide his laughter, "aw c'mon, I'm already havin' a bad day."

"You know what would make it worse?"

*about fifteen minutes later*

Shay grumbled under her breath as the Sheriff trailed her and Dean outside of town and, once they were a suitable distance away, hit a U-turn to head back to Burkitsville. Up ahead of her, the moment the Sheriff rounded the curve headed back to the town, Dean signaled that he was pulling over and drove up onto the shoulder. Furrowing her brow, Shay pulled up behind him and put her brake on before climbing out.

"So," she snorted derisively, "no motel, then?"

"Ain't nothing like a good old slumber party in the car." Dean responded.

"That stopped being fun when Sammy finally started growing, and his gas… whew." Shay shook her head, "but all jokes aside, you know we can't leave, not with that couple headed straight to that orchard tonight."

"Yeah, we'll save 'em and see what we can see. Until then," Dean smirked playfully, "tell me how you and Bex met." Shay's cheeks flooded with deep pink, and her twin brother chuckled heartily.

"Tell me, do you honestly care how we met?"

"Nah, not really," he laughed, "does she make you happy?"

"Very."

"That's all I need to know."

Shay walked over to where he leaned against the impala, a small smile on her lips, "that was a chick flick moment and you know damn well there's only one way to end it." Dean rolled his eyes and opened his arms, "bring it in and make it quick, I've got an image to protect."

Shay sighed and rolled her eyes, curling into his warm embrace, "I love you too, De."

*that night*

Shay popped the trunk of the Impala and tossed Dean his sawed off, filled with rock salt shells, keeping her ears sharp for any abnormal noises. She took a pump-action shotgun for herself, checking the contents to make sure it was a salt gun. The two hunters shared a quick glance, and then Dean gestured for her to take his flank as he headed into the trees. The siblings moved quickly and silently, and picked up speed when they heard some hurried footsteps headed their way.

Not even five seconds later, Shay and Dean stepped out into the path of the couple from earlier, startling them. Shay gestures roughly in the direction they came from, "get back to your car," eyeing the scarecrow coming through the trees behind them, "go, go!"

The shocked couple hazards a glance back at the creature coming towards them and finally starts running. Shay follows at once, allowing Dean to take up the rear and fire a round of salt into the scarecrow's chest. The thing stumbles slightly, but continues lumbering after them.

Definitely not a spirit… Shay decides, "Keep moving!" she shouted to the couple just ahead of her. Behind her, there's a second report from Dean's shotgun, followed by a colorful curse. Up ahead, the Impala and the van loom through the fog, and there's a third report from behind.

The couple stops running at the edge of the asphalt and Shay whirls around to take up a protective stance in front of them, shotgun at the ready and eyes sharp. Dean turns to examine the trees, a deep frown marring his features at the lack of fugly scarecrow lumbering through the tree line after them.

After a few moments, the hunters relax, and Dean turns to give the harried, weary couple an over-exaggerated grin. The man, Steve, was hardly eased by it, "what the hell was that?"

The twins trade a quick glance and a headshake before chorusing, "Don't ask."

*the next morning*

Shay slowly roused from consciousness to the sound of her brother softly conversing on the phone with someone. She grumbled softly as she propped herself up in the Impala's backseat, taking a moment to savor being in the place where she basically grew up. In the front seat, Dean glanced over the seatback at her and smiled.

"Hey, Sammy, you'll never guess who I'm working this case with."

"Sammy?" Shay asked sleepily, "so you two made up, huh?" On the phone, she heard Sam's faint, "who is that?" and held her hand out for the phone. Her twin chuckled and handed the device over to her and she grinned as she put it to her ear, "long time no see, Sammy Long Legs."

"Shay?!"

"Nah, it's Dad," Shay laughed softly, "of course it's me. Hey Sammy."

"What'd Dean have to do to convince you to work this thing with him?"

"Nothing much," the huntress murmured, "but he does owe me a slice of pie. But really, I was in the area and feeling lenient. How's Cali?"

"Haven't made it that far."

"Mmhm… so what were you guys talking about? The case or your feelings?" Shay giggled softly. Dean huffed indignantly, "the case, numbskull. I already told Sam that I'd head over to the community college to ask a few questions and figure out what's making the scarecrow walk at midnight."

"I'll stay out of town near the orchard until you figure out how to kill it." Shailene decided, "You can drop me off at the orchard on your way to the community college."

"You're just gonna leave your ride sitting on the shoulder? What if some dumbass clips it on their way around the curve?" Dean raised a brow.

"I'm not even parked that close to the damn road, Dean," Shay responded, "Big Red'll be fine until I get back."

"Lemme have the phone back, I gotta ask Sam something else."

Shailene passed the phone back and sat up fully before climbing out of the Impala to stretch. She raised her arms up over her head and groaned appreciatively as the tension in her body began to ease. Nibbling gently at her bottom lip, she weighed the pros and cons of changing clothes. In the end, the huntress decided to stick with her current ensemble and finished her morning stretch with gusto.

*later*

While Dean was off at the community college, talking to a professor about their mystery pagan, Shay stayed on the outskirts of the orchard, close enough to the tree line to not be seen from the road, but far enough that she'd be able to see Dean when he got back. In the meantime, the Winchester made herself comfortable at the foot of one of the many apple trees and pulled a book she'd been reading from the duffle of weapons she'd packed. Her booted feet tapped along to a song in her head as she lost herself in the literature…

Shailene, having lost track of time, didn't realize how long she'd been sitting by the tree until she noticed that the sunlight, dimmed by the grey clouds, was beginning to wane. A quickly glance at her watch told her it was close to half past six and Dean had yet to come back. This fact alone made warning bells go off in her head.

Shay shoved the book back into the duffle and shouldered the bag as the cop car that'd chased them from town the previous day pulled up, followed by a second car. The sheriff climbed out of the cop car, holding a shotgun and, to her surprise, pulled the back door open and gestured for someone in the back to get out with the muzzle of the gun. The couple that owned the garage, Stacy and Harley, and Scotty got out of the second car, with both of the men brandishing shotguns of their own.

"What in the…" Shay shut her mouth and ducked further behind the tree as Dean climbed out of the car, hands held up in surrender. Behind him was Emily, the sweet girl from the garage who'd filled Baby up the previous day.

The sheriff, Scotty, and Harley kept their guns trained on Dean's back, and Shay could only watch as her brother and Emily were forced to march into the orchard. The huntress bit her lip, unsure of how to proceed.

'Pretty sure this means that the whole town's in on this sacrifice thing,' she rationed, 'which means that those three might not be the only gun-toting morons out here in the orchard. Dammit Dean,' her green eyes rolled skywards, 'couldn't make it easy on me, could you? I don't even know how to kill the damn thing.'

In the end, Shay decided to wait until the sunlight was mostly gone, and then use the darkness to her advantage. She could remember where the scarecrow was, and planned to use that to orient herself. Thanking her lucky stars that she decided to wear dark clothing, the younger Winchester twin settled in for the wait.

*sundown*

Shailene began picking her way through the orchard in the dark, easily spotting the gunmen scattered within by the flashlights they carried. As she expected, there were more than three of them. To her great relief, the scarecrow was still on its post when she passed, but with this realization came another… she wasn't the only one making their way through the orchard in the dark. She could hear the very light breathing of someone tailing her, and the huntress wasted no time in drawing her pistol from the back of her waistband and whipping around to aim at…

"Sam?" Shay questioned, voice barely above a whisper. Her eyes were wide as she took in the handsome, matured features of her not-so kid brother, "holy shit, you did grow into your big feet."

"Hey Shay," Sam whispered back, and Shay rolled her eyes, "why aren't you in Cali? Answer that later, we gotta find Dean before that fugly thing wakes up." She then tucked her gun back into her waistband and began to follow the rustling she could now pick up not too far in the distance.

Shay and Sam wandered a row or two further, and then came upon Dean and Emily, each of them tied tightly to different trees.

"Maybe I should've gone with you to the professor's, eh Dean?" Shay teased lightly, "and look, I brought someone with me." Sam poked his head around the tree from where he'd been cutting the ropes, and Dean's eyes widened.

"Oh man, dude I'm so happy to see you," the eldest Winchester gushed, "you too, Shay, but damn… how'd you get here?"

"I stole a car."

Shay's eyebrows shot up as she untied Emily and helped her to her feet. A surge of pride in the criminal act, because it was Sam for crying out loud, ran through her. Dean laughed and remarked, "That's my boy! Keep an eye on the scarecrow will ya?"

Shay turned to look back at the post, "… fuck." The post stood empty, save for two loose ropes swinging in a light breeze.

"We… we just walked past it on our way to you guys…" Sam murmured, looking between his older sister and the empty post, "couldn't have been five minutes ago."

"We gotta move," Dean responded, "that thing, there's this tree we gotta find. It's an old tree and the source of its power. If we burn it—"

"Fugly's got no juice," Shay finished, "and they can kiss that apple pie goodbye."

"Eh, probably wasn't all that good to begin with." Dean shrugged, "We'll take a torch to it in the morning when ol' Leatherface is sleepin'. Right now, let's just shag ass before he catches us."

The three Winchesters and Emily entered a clearing and found a group of the older townspeople waiting on them. Multiple guns went up to track their moments as they turned, trying to find another way out. At least three different firearms awaited them in every direction they turned.

"Shit," Dean muttered, "they're really not gonna let us go."

"If they want to make a fucking sacrifice, then one of them's gonna have to step up to the damn plate cos I'm not going," Shay snorted quietly, "what the hell do we look like, with our track records, gettin' ganked by a garden variety pagan?" Dean coughed to hide his laughter at her remark as Emily pleaded for her aunt and uncle to let them leave.

As Harley tried to make them see things his way, his words cut off with a sickening gurgle as the tip of a sickle drove through his back to jut out of his gut, sending rivulets of blood pouring down the front of his sweater. Shay grimaced at the sight of the scarecrow as it grabbed a screaming Stacy by the throat and began dragging her and her gutted fish of a husband further into the foggy orchard. The rest of the townspeople scattered, all thoughts of sacrifice far from their minds in that moment.

Emily turned away and hid her face in Dean's chest as the scarecrow got further away. Sam and Shay shared a sympathetic look as Stacy's screaming, now far off in the distance, cut out with the faint, slick sound of a blade slicing through skin and cartilage like butter. With gentle prodding from Dean, Emily pulled away from him, and the four of them ran back towards the road, leaving the carnage behind.

*morning*

After taking a torch to the so-called sacred tree, the three Winchester siblings found themselves at the nearest bus station, seeing Emily off as she left Burkitsville behind for good. Shay let her brothers do the talking and perched herself on the hood of her 'Stang, anxious to get on the road back to Ithaca. However, it would be in bad taste for her to just take off without saying a proper goodbye to her brothers after not having seen them in so long.

Sam and Dean meandered over to the deep red mustang and looked at their sister wryly, waiting for her to climb off of the hood. Shay slid primly down the slant of the bonnet and stood in front of them, feeling like a dwarf as they towered over her.

"You headed off?" Dean asked wryly. Shay nodded once, "I gotta head back to Ithaca, Bex's waiting for me."

"Ah yeah, the mysterious girlfriend Rebekah," the eldest Winchester sibling remarked, "are we ever gonna get to meet her?"

"Not on your life," Shay retorted teasingly, and then smiled up at Sam, "Maybe Sammy can, but not you, you'll just flirt with her."

"Well, you're not wrong," Sam smiled back, ever the sweet puppy dog, "this kinda sucks, ya know. Not even a day gone by and you're already leaving."

"I'd stay a little longer, but I'm sure Dad's gonna send you guys some more coordinates and I already told Bex I'd be headed back today," she shrugged her shoulders, "I don't plan on being a stranger, so if you need me for anything just give me a ring. Let me know when Dad turns up too."

"We will," Dean promised, "as long as you stop being a stranger."

"I will, jeeze," Shay whined opening her arms to Sam, "gimme my hug, Sammy Long Legs." The youngest Winchester laughed and went eagerly into his older sister's arms, pulling her small, soft form in close and breathing in her scent.

"'m so sorry about Jess, honey," Shay murmured in his ear, "you'll get your guy, I know you will." She pressed a soft kiss to his temple and ruffled his hair as she pulled away, "you've gotten so big and tall, but you're still my sweet puppy baby brother."

Dean looked at his twin sister skeptically as she looked over at him expectantly, "what? I already gave you a hug."

"Yeah, like two days ago, jack ass," Shay spat, rolling her eyes, "you're not gonna get your so-called 'man card' revoked just because you gave your sister a hug before she left. Give me a hug or I'll kick your ass all over this parking lot."

"You can't even reach my ass, shorty."

"Shorty?" The blonde huntress scoffed, "I'm 5 foot 8 and you're like 6 foot 1, not that much of a difference, De."

Dean snorted derisively before begrudgingly opening his arms, "make it quick, chuckles."

"You've got a reputation to uphold, we know." Shay hurried into his arms and rested her cheek against his collarbone, "love you, De."

"Yeah, me too," he responded quietly, kissing the top of her head, "be safe driving back to Ithaca and call when you get there."

"I will," she kissed his cheek and pulled away, twirling her keys around one finger, "this is where I take my leave, boys."

Sam moved around Shay and opened the driver's side door for her. The huntress popped up on her tiptoes to give her younger brother a quick peck on the cheek as thanks and climbed into the car. Once she was settled, Sam shut the door and backed away as his sister started the engine.

Standing together, shoulder to shoulder, Sam and Dean watched as the cherry red mustang coupe backed out of the parking space, drove out of the lot, and pulled into traffic. Little did they know, it would be the last time they saw their sister for a fairly long time…

*Ithaca*

"Hey Dean, I'm calling to let you know I made it back to Ithaca in one piece," Shay rolled her eyes as she spoke into the phone, "I'm guessing you and Sammy are on a hunt right now or knocked out in a motel room… or in Baby, so I'm stuck leaving a message. Anyway, I'm home and I swear… the hell?"

The last line was whispered as Shay climbed out of her 'Stang and really took in her surroundings. The small one-story cottage she and Rebekah were living in stood eerily dark in the wee hours of the morning, windows staring out like sightless eyes, and the front door stood open like an ajar mouth.

Something began niggling at the bottom of her stomach, something cold and sharp that leached up into her skull and had her instincts screaming and clamoring in her hind brain. Her right hand itched to wrap around the grip of the pistol tucked into the back of her waistband.

Something's wrong… where the hell is Bex?

"Dean, I gotta call you back. Something's not—"

A solid, heavy object collided with the back of the huntress's head and she slumped to the ground like dead weight, landing face-first on the cement driveway. A nondescript young blonde man that had been standing behind her slowly lowered a metal baseball bat. Allowing the weapon to slip from his hand and clatter against the asphalt, he knelt down to pick up the discarded cell phone and studied it for a moment. As his thumb moved to disconnect the call, his blue-green eyes flickered black and a lethal smile spread over his face.

I'm not killing her, so don't worry. Maybe, where she's headed, she'll wish she was dead, but I'm not gonna kill her. We'll see her again… hmmm… I don't know how long I want her out of the picture just yet so we'll see. Maybe she'll stay gone until the beginning of season 3, after they kill Azazel. I got a research paper to finish, and then I've got a massive workload coming when Fall semester starts, so I haven't the slightest clue if I'll post another fic with Shay anytime soon. I really want to do a prequel about her leaving John and Dean.

Honestly, I feel like I could've did more with this fic, and maybe I'll come back to it and spruce it up when I have some free time because I'm getting slammed with crap from all sides right now. Hope you enjoyed it.

*~*CloudSpires1295*~*