**I do not own Supernatural or any of the characters. I simply play with them**

Chapter 1 – How I got here

I had made somewhat of a name for myself for being a lone hunter over the years. I had tried and failed more than once to have a pack. Nothing ever stuck. It was easier to detach myself from the deaths if I wasn't around long enough to care, so I never stayed in one place long.

I still made an effort to appear normal by government standards. I owned a decent sized home. I had a job that allowed me to work remotely with flexible hours. I had loving parents and two annoying siblings that I would die for. But beyond that, there was nothing. I had been widowed shortly after getting hitched in my early twenties, and it threw my perfect life into this vortex of pain and darkness.

About ten years ago, I had no ideas monsters existed. My biggest worries in life were what carpets to pick for our new home, when we would be ready to grow our family, and what was for dinner. Little did I know that that our fairly secluded home was being watched; stalked.

One day when my husband had gone out to run some errands, I had a terrible rush of anxiety flood over me. I spent hours trying to contact him and make sure that he was fine, but by nightfall, I knew he wasn't. My husband, who was on the police force, was one of three people to go missing from our town in recent months. The others hadn't returned, and I was inconsolable when they hadn't found him within a few hours of me calling.

The town itself wasn't large, but there were lots of wooded areas. As soon as word got out that he was missing, those woods became swarmed with people searching. Within a day, word reached beyond the townspeople, and a pair of FBI agents stopped by asking questions. They were tall, good looking, and honestly seemed a little off for them to actually be FBI field agents, but I was too distraught to care.

They promised me that they would find my husband. They promised me that it would all be fine. I didn't believe them, and when they excused themselves to talk in the other room the second time they stopped by, the feeling that something was off hit me stronger than before. My curiosity started to take over.

It didn't take long before I found out their true identity. A couple of days after their arrival, I followed them deep into the forest. The machete the shorter one held cast off the light of the moon as he pulled it above his head. I screamed when the head that rolled towards me represented a twisted version of the man who had been my husband.

I dropped down to my knees and screamed. When the men tried to comfort me, I punched and kicked in every direction, desperately hoping to connect with flesh. Eventually, I broke down and sobbed, gripping onto the shorter one and crying into his chest. He held me tight and tried to console me.

"Shhh. You're going to be safe now. You're safe. Sammy, take care if this will ya?" he said, addressing the other man at the end.

At some point, I fell asleep as I had been crying into his chest. I woke up to the sun shining on my face. I quickly adjusted my eyes to the space around me and realized I was in my bedroom. For a brief moment I allowed myself to believe that it had all just been a terrible dream, but when I looked down at the dirt stained jeans I still wore, I realized it wasn't.

I started to cry again, screaming out in pain at my loss. Within seconds, the taller man came running into my room, machete wielded. I instantly filled with rage.

"YOU DID THIS!" I shouted, throwing myself from the bed at him.

"Whoa!" he reacted, tossing aside the weapon and squeezing me into his chest. "Calm down, Delilah. Let's just talk."

"Talk about WHAT?!" I shouted. "You murdered my husband!"

I thrashed around, trying to break free of his strong hold so that I could beat on him, but it was useless. He just pulled me closer to him as I screamed into his chest.

"We were trying to protect you!" he replied with desperation.

I twisted myself slightly and threw my head back wailing. I threw a couple of punches at him, connecting one with his chest.

"Sammy! Let her go!" a demanding voice came from behind him.

I was instantly released and immediately wanted to be back in the comfort of his arms. My fury had been replaced with an overwhelming sadness and loneliness. I just wanted to feel connection to something. I couldn't make sense of what I had seen, and I didn't know how to ask for answers.

I dropped to my knees and sobbed into my hands. I felt a gentle hand on my back and just allowed it to calm me. I didn't know what else to do, and I wasn't going to get anywhere if I wasn't calm enough to ask for answers. As my tears started to die down, I melted into the floor, hugging my knees into my chest as I lie on my side. The man with the long hair sat close to me with his ankles crossed. He continued to rub his hand in small circles on my back, soothing me.

"Who are you?" I eventually managed to ask.

"We're hunters," a voice said from behind me.

I jumped slightly when he spoke but turned my head to see "not Sammy" sitting behind me on the edge of my bed. His face looked hard at first glance, but something about his face was gentle.

"Like… bears?" I asked, blinking tears out of my eyes.

Both men laughed.

"No," Sammy replied gently. "We hunt monsters and the like. We try to keep everyone safe from things like what happened to your husband, but sometimes we don't make it in time. I'm truly sorry for your loss. I wish it hadn't ended that way."

"What if I hadn't seen you kill him? What would you have told me? Would you have just let me think he was still missing? How do I know he couldn't be cured? Maybe he was just sick," I paused for a brief moment. "No. I saw the look in his eyes. What happened to him? What was that? He wasn't my Charlie," I quickly added.

"My brother and I, Dean and I, we typically try to keep humans in the dark about the truth as much as possible. It doesn't help you to have to live in fear of wondering if another monster is waiting around the corner. Your husband had been turned into a vampire. One came here to try and build a pack. The seclusion of the area provided for an easy target. That's where the missing people have gone from your town… plus a few from some outside towns. If you hadn't seen us killing him, we might have told you there had been some sort of accident and that his body had been burned. Or we might have just told you that we were unable to find him. It's really not easy to cover these things up, but I think most people are so distraught that they just accept what we tell them without making a big story out of it that they go and tell all of their friends. Usually, though, we opt for the truth. I think it's harder not knowing what happened to your loved ones," Sammy replied.

"Brother?" I asked, sitting up and looking between them.

Sammy laughed.

"Yes. I'm Sam Winchester. That's my older brother, Dean."

I scooted away from Sam and leaned my back against the wall as I hugged my knees. Sam frowned at me but didn't say anything. I looked between the two a few times before speaking again.

"Are there monsters everywhere?" I asked.

"Monsters. Demons. Witches. Ghosts. Angels. You name it," Dean chimed in.

"Angels?" I asked, intrigued by the idea.

"Angels are dicks," Dean said gruffly, crossing his arms.

I laughed at his response. It was a lot to take in, but it all made sense the longer I let it settle. Thinking that it was just humans and animals on earth attacking things was probably crazier than thinking magic and good and evil were all tangible things. For some reason, knowing that gave me a sense of relief. Sam had been right. Knowing what happened to Charlie instead of being left to wonder if he had left me was better no matter how much his death stung. And now I had an entirely new view of what was out there. I wanted to find a way to be a part of that world.

"Can I be a hunter?" I finally asked after a long silence.

"What? Why?" Dean snapped back, uncrossing his arms and leaning towards me.

"Delilah," Sam cut in before I could talk. "This life is not one we would wish upon anyone who has the choice. We were thrust into it, and no matter how many times we try to leave it… Well, our path is a little different than most, but sometimes I wonder what life would have been like if it was all different. I know from experience that if you get into this for revenge, you'll probably be trapped in it for a lot longer than you intend. Besides, there is no revenge to be had in your situation, and it doesn't make sense to throw away what you've got. I understand that sometimes it feels like it's the only way, but it looks like you can still build a great life. You have a beautiful home, you seem to be intelligent and put together—"

"And you're not rough on the eyes," Dean cut in with a wink causing me to blush.

"Come on, man," Sam said.

"What!" Dean innocently shouted.

"She just watched you behead her husband. Can you not?" he retorted.

"Fine. Sorry," Dean said with what seemed like a sincere apology to me.

"I want to hunt. I want to know more about your world. How can I train? Where do I find information? How can I help? Do you have a secret lair somewhere? How many of you are there?" I asked, ignoring their banter.

"Look, doll," Dean started as he stood up. "Being a hunter takes a lot of work and sacrifice. It won't just be your husband that you lose. Anyone you care about will be at risk. I wouldn't change anything that led me to where I am today, but I also wouldn't wish it up on anyone else."

I stood up quickly and took a step towards him.

"Listen, baby cakes, I don't think it's your choice. If you guys won't help me, I promise I will find my own way."

Dean looked taken aback by my sudden change in demeanor. Good. It would prove to him how little he actually knew about me. I had always been strong and independent. Charlie had respected that. He had understood what I needed. He had been so perfect for my life, and now I had lost that.

With a quick recovery, Dean stepped over to me and looked down. My breath hitched as I allowed myself to really see him for the first time. His face attempted to mask a deep pain, but he was incredibly handsome despite it all. His body commanded my attention, and I was riddled with guilt as my thoughts went down an impure path so soon after losing the love of my life.

"Get one thing straight. If we let you train with us, I'm the one in charge. We don't have time to dick around with power moves. If you do something stupid, I'll whip your ass and we'll move on. Simple as that. Got it?" Dean growled at me.

I flushed when he spoke. I knew he had a soft side from the way he held me in the woods, which was nice, but the command in his voice made me crave this opportunity even more. Knowing that there was some structure amongst the chaos of life kept me from spiraling. Charlie and I had worked that into our bedroom play, but I burned to know what type of punishment Dean would dole out.

"Fine," I replied as bratty as possible. "When do we start."