AN: Thank you for all the kind reviews! I appreciate it, especially since this is my first time posting in the SPN universe ;) I just now got all the backlog of e-mail notifications (thanks my inbox nearly exploded) so I'll get to replying to everyone soon!

Sam stared at his brother as if he'd grown a third head on his shoulders. Was he insane? Why in the world was Dean all for taking a girl with them when they left Bobby's? Okay, that sounded slightly sexist and he was well aware of it. It was just that it'd always been the Winchesters. First it was their dad and them, then it was just Dean and their dad since Sam had left to go to Stanford. Now it was just Dean and Sam. Of course he knew that Lucy could take care of herself, her father had made sure that by the time she reached school age she could shoot a gun and kick anyone's (or anything's) ass. But she was in an odd sort of place now. Sam knew the kind of revenge she was wanting, he just wasn't sure that he or Dean could really protect her if it came down to it.

He honestly figured that Dean's immediate answer would be 'no'. He knew what kind of things they ran into on a nearly daily basis as it was, adding in a third person could end up detrimental to them all. So why was Dean all for taking Lucy with them?

Sam gave him a grin before he started laughing. "I know why you want her to come with us."

Dean looked irritated and frustrated as he stared at his laughing mess of a brother. Why the hell was he laughing? This was supposed to be a serious conversation! "Yeah and why's that, geek boy?"

"Quit calling me that first of all."

"Yeah yeah, why do you think I want her to come with us?" He stood with his arms crossed in front of him.

"Because you have the hots for her," Sam said matter-of-factly.

Dean snorted and shook his head as he moved around his brother. "That is so beyond ridiculous. Look, she wants to help. Maybe she can help with research and all that. And she's good with a gun."

"And the first time something bad happens, you're going to flip out. Dean, we can't be sure that we can protect her." He turned to follow Dean, nearly running right into him.

"It's not like Bobby can keep her here forever either, he can't be sure that he can protect her. If this thing is after her then it's better she's with us." He shrugged a shoulder as if it were the most obvious answer to everything. "And I do not have the hots for her."

"It'd be the first time you weren't chasing after something that wears a a skirt."

He rolled his eyes as he moved out of the room. "Shut up Sam."

Flashback

John Winchester had always been tremendously intimidating to her. He was tall, broad shouldered and carried the memories of things Lucy couldn't even have imagined. Sure, she knew what her own father did, he'd done it all her life. But it'd never affected her or her mother. Hunting was one thing, family was another. So when the Winchesters rolled in, Lucy found herself unable to utter a single word to the larger than life eldest Winchester. Sure he was nice enough to her but he also didn't say very much either. Just introduced her to Dean and Sam and then the kids were all off playing while the adults discussed...adult things.

She'd never met anyone before that didn't have a mother. When she was little, she just figured that everyone had a mother somewhere or another. Her mother was the kind that stayed in the kitchen, cooking practically all day long. Maybe that was why she always smelled of cookies. Lucy had only seen her mother handle a gun once. Once late at night while John and Robert were out on a hunt. Something was outside and her mother had stayed near the kitchen window with a shotgun. That was the only time Anne had held a gun in front of her child.

Her and Dean had been allowed out with Robert and John as they practiced shooting. She'd been inbetween Dean and his father. Of course, Lucy had been learning about guns and knives since she was about old enough to walk. John had looked more than a little surprised when she hit the bullseye on the first try. It'd taken Dean three tries. But John had just smiled and reached down, clapping a strong hand on her shoulder. After that day, Lucy found she wasn't as intimidated by John Winchester. In fact, after that he'd become a sort of second father.

Present

Dean stopped in the doorway of the room Lucy had been staying in. She was flipping through the newspaper from that morning, glancing up when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. "Hey," She said softly. She folded the paper up and dropped it onto the floor next to the bed. "What's going on?"

He shook his head as he moved inside. "Nothing really. Just got done talking to Sam. Reading anything interesting?"

"Nope. Same old boring stuff, just a different day." Lucy smiled as she made room on the bed for him to sit. "You talked to Sam?"

"Yeah." He sat down next to her, turning towards her some. "You know we can't promise that you'll be protected. And we don't exactly stay in the best places or anything."

"I know all that. I don't expect the Hilton Hotel chain or anything and I know you two can't protect me without jeopardizing yourselves. I just want to help. And hey, three people are better than two."

He cracked a smile at that and nodded his head. "You're right in that aspect. Are you sure you want to come along? We don't shower, I'm sure we smell and we sure as hell don't get along a lot of the time."

"Do you still pick on him? He could squish you with his pinky, Dean."

He laughed, "Yeah but I'm the big brother. I could kick his ass, if I really had to."

Lucy laughed, shaking her head. "One day that'll backfire on you.."

"Hey he's already gotten a few punches and he's shot me...twice." Dean shrugged a shoulder, "I think we're pretty much even for the moment."

"He's shot you. Twice?" She turned towards him more. "And you're still riding in the car with him?"

"He's riding in the car with me. And it was rock salt the first time and well...the second time it wasn't exactly him." He didn't really want to get into semantics or detail with Lucy at the moment. Not that he didn't want to because for some reason he felt like he could spill everything to her but because, he wasn't totally ready to deal with it. Him and Sam had barely talked about his demonic possession. It was one of many unspoken things between the brothers.

She just nodded but didn't press the issue. "So is it going to be a big deal if I do come with you all? I mean, really."

"I don't know. It's always been us and our dad or...just us. So I'm not sure how this will all work. But, if you're set on coming then we won't stop you." He sat back against the headboard of the bed, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "But like I said, I can't promise we'll be able to protect you if something happens. But I also know that you can handle yourself."

A smile formed at the corner of her mouth as she nodded again. "I want to. I want to help and find this thing."

"Do you need to go by your place...wherever that is?" Dean had turned all-business suddenly. They were looking to leave in the next day or so for a stop by the roadhouse to check in with Ash. But if they were going to have to head to Lucy's place first then who knew how long that could put them behind.

She laughed softly, "Uh probably. I mean, I've got my clothes here and all that other stuff. I was living outside of Austin so I mean...we don't have to do it right away, just on the way."

Dean moved to stand from the bed. "I'll let Sam know so we can make plans. We were going to stop by the roadhouse, see this guy named Ash. He'd been doing some research on the demon."

"Where's this roadhouse at?"

"Nebraska."

"Well then, guess I need to get packing." Lucy smiled and watched as Dean left her room.