I do not own Supernatural

Chapter 2: Leaving Home

Six months later: 22 April 2005

AJ POV:

I have been training everyday for the past six months and even went on a couple of hunts with Eric Jones a friend of my grandfather. Eric is a good hunter, as far as I could find out his a legend in this business.

"I can't believe you haven't done this your whole live Kiddo. Your a natural."

Eric seems very impressed with the my hunting abilities. In the four months since we have been hunting together I have salted and burned six corpses, killed a wendigo and took down two werewolves. It i about 8 o'clock in the morning right now and we are just returning from a salt and burn case in Victorville California. My grandfather says the reason I take to this job so easily, is because of my military training.

"Come on Eric, I've had more than my fair share of survival, weapons and hand to hand combat training in the Marines and you put a lot of training into getting me this good."

"Well I hate to say this Kiddo but your ready."

I can see in his face that he hates saying this to me. Eric has been a part of my family for as long as I could remember. He helped raise me and my brother and himself being an ex-marine was the one to encourage me to go to Annapolis when I got accepted at seventeen. His opinion means everything to me, because at the moment I barely speak to Adrian.

"You mean I can actually hunt on my own?"

Eric looks at me and smile.

"Yeah, you can. I would prefer that you go on the road with me, but I know you need to hunt that thing down. You've got all the tools to do this job, use them well."

The car comes to a stop in front of Adrian 's house in Malibu, Eric hand me a journal.

"You are going to need all the help you can get out there. In that book, I wrote down everything I know about every evil son of a bitch out there. I also put down the numbers of some of my contacts. Guys you can trust. Watch your back out there AJ, not all hunters are good guys."

I have been told many times in the last six months that some hunter where dangerous, even fanatical and that I should keep my being a hunter to my self until I was sure the person in front of me could be trusted.

"Thanks Eric, I'll call if I find something I can't deal with."

"You better Kiddo. One other thing don't be to hard on Adrian, he was trying to protect you and Drew."

"I know, its just gonna take some time Eric."

I get out of the green truck, turn at the front door and wave to Eric. I walk through the front door I yelled towards the back of the house:

"I'm back!"

There is no answer and I head to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee since I have been awake all night, I need the caffeine before I got debriefed in Adrian's study. Ten minutes later I,m ready to give Adrian all the details of the hunt and stand at the study door I hear him talking on the phone and I can't resist the urge to eavesdrop when I realized it is Eric on the other end.

"Eric, how could you tell her she was ready? You know I don't want her out there. I thought by seeing what was really out there she would be running to the hills by now."

There is a moment of silence before Adrian continues.

"I know she doesn't scare easily Eric, but thats not the point. I don't want her doing this. I need to find a way to keep her from going after this son of a bitch. I lost to much to this bastard, I can't lose her too."

The next silence is longer and I realize that Adrian is done on the phone. Anger boiled in my blood and I know my instinct six months ago to get out of Adrian's house was right. He is never gonna let me hunt down the thing that destroyed my family. His only training me to keep me here and make sure I don't go and hunt on my own. I walk up to my room slowly and feel betrayed by my grandfather.

The anger I feel towards Adrian nearly reaches breaking point when I walked out of my bedroom with the last of my bags. It took less than an hour to pack and get everything I need into my car. The weapons are the most important. The rest I can buy along the way. My parents has left me and Drew a fortune when they died. After all my father was Jason Steward, action movie star. With Drew's death I get everything. I figure I might as well use the money to hunt. Adrian change the our last name to our mothers maiden name when he became our legal guardian, to spare us the attention that came with being the children of Jason Steward. The Steward family agreed so that the me and Drew could have a normal live in Malibu.

In the time it takes me to packed my car, Adrian never comes out of his office. I am quite because I know Adrian thinks I'm sleeping and would not suspect that I'm leaving. I would normally go straight to bed after the debriefing, but I also know that Eric would have told Adrian that I had not slept during the night and that I was probably tired. He knows that I deal with what I saw during the time I am resting and when I get up I would be my normal self, at least as normal as I can be with out my brother. I give the house one more look before I walk to my car. I love this car and had it since my seventeenth birthday. The black 1967 Chevrolet Impala four-door hardtop is in mint condition and I make sure it is kept like that. I get in and drive off without looking back towards the house I'd grownup in.

ADRIAN POV

AJ does not look back as she drives off and I know this could be the last time I see her. She must have overheard my conversation with Eric. Right now I am fighting the urge to go after her. I know that she needs to get away from this house with all its memories. She needs time, but I am afraid for my little girl, I am afraid that her quest for revenge will kill her. I hate admitting to myself that she is a natural hunter with unparalleled instincts. I turn away from the window and picked up the phone to call the one man who know just as much as me about the thing that killed my daughter and grandson. The phone rings twice before it's answered.

"John, its Adrian."

"Adrian you got new information for me?"

I can hear the hope in John's voice.

"No John, but I need a favor."

"If I can help I will, Adrian"

"AJ just left and she's hell bend on finding this thing John. She as hardheaded about this as you are Winchester. All I'm asking is that you keep an eye out for her while your out there."

I'm prepared for the outburst that is bound to come.

"What? Are you insane Adrian. You let her go hunting alone! What is wrong with you Smith?"

"It wasn't my choice, she left without a word, but she's a good hunter John. Even if I say so myself. Her instincts are unparalleled. I'll tell you another thing she sure as hell impressed Eric enough for him to give her his blessing."

I know that Eric giving AJ his blessing will calm John down.

"Getting a blessing from a legend like Eric must mean she's better than good. I'll watch her out for her as best I can."

"Thats all I'm asking John. I'll give you a call with anything I find on that bastard like always."

"We've been a team on this for 22 years Adrian, you do the research and I go after the bastard."

"Thanks John. Talk to you soon."

I hang up and feel a little better about my baby girl being out in the hunting world. I have equipped her with everything I can think of. I've placed as many books on the supernatural as I could fit in the hidden compartment in the trunk of her Impala along with all the weapons she already had in there. I also left a copy of my journal in there. I know she was physically and mentally strong enough to deal with this world and she has all the equipment to deal with anything out there. For the past six months she's trained and studied for twenty-one hours a day and she is as ready as she'll ever be. All that is left for me to do is pray for her safety. I regret not wishing her a happy birthday. Today my baby turns 26 and it would be a hard day for her. Her first birthday without her twin brother.