EPOV

I sat next to Dean, the two of us looking over the newspaper as Sam walked up to our table, juggling three coffees.

I'd been with the guys for a week now. The three of us got along pretty well, and I'd actually been having an enjoyable time. Sam reminded me of the person I used to be, while Dean was more like the person I was now

"There you go." Sam nodded, placing a coffee in front of each of us.

"Anthony Giles." Dean turned the paper over to show Sam the possible case we'd found.

"Who's Anthony Giles?" Sam asked.

"A Baltimore lawyer. Working late at his office." Dean answered, gesturing to the paper. "Check it out."

Sam put his coffee to the side as he grabbed the paper and gave the article a quick read. "His throat was slit, but the room was clean. Huh... no DNA, no prints."

Dean nodded. "Keep reading. It gets better."

Sam frowned curiously as he read a quote from the article. "'Security cameras failed to capture footage of the assailant.'"

"Looks to me like we have another ghost on our hands." I grinned excitedly.

Dean shook his head, turning to me with an amused smile. "I have never met a chick who loves this job as much as you."

I shrugged, grabbing my takeaway coffee cup. "You've never met a chick like me, period." I winked before taking a drink off my coffee.

Sam chuckled lightly. "You two need a room?"

Ignoring him, Dean shrugged. "So what do you think, Velma? Check it out?"

I scoffed. "You think I'm Velma? I'm so Daphne. Hell, I'm probably Fred."

"No, I'm Fred, your Daphne, he's Velma." Dean grinned as he turned to Sam.

Sam went from amused as he listened to the two of us, to insulted by Dean's words, all in matter of seconds. But he didn't respond, because he didn't have time. Before Sam could even open his mouth, Dean was out of his seat and headed for the Impala.

Offering Sam a kind smile, I got to my feet and nodded for him to follow. "Don't worry. I always got the impression your brother was more like Shaggy."

...

Dean, Sam and I were seated at the dining table in the Giles home as we posed as investigators from an insurance company. The three of us were dressed in suits, which I thought looked good on the guys, but I hated my pencil skirt. I was very much a jeans girl.

"Insurance." Karen- the victim's wife- shook her head as she looked down at the form in front of her. "I totally forgot about the insurance."

"We're very sorry to bother you right now, but the company is required to conduct its own investigation." Sam explained to her, lying through his teeth. "You understand?"

"Sure." the look in her eyes told me she was clearly still coping with her loss, and I knew she would be sometime.

It reminded me of how I felt when I lost my family. When I lost the people I cared most about... We'd been a tight group the three of us. The day they were ripped from this world was the day I turned my back on the person I was and became the person sitting at the table pretending to be an investigator with two men I hardly knew.

Sam nodded, willing to press on now. "Okay. Now, if you could just tell us anything you remember about the night your husband died."

"Uh, Tony and I were supposed to have dinner." Karen started, looking to Sam. "He called and said that he was having computer trouble, and he had to work late. That was it."

Dean was to my right while Karen was on my left at the end of the table. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small packet of tissues which I offered her as I gave a small smile. "Do you know if there was anyone that could have done this? Anyone who had a disagreement with your husband?" I asked gently.

She took one of the tissues, shaking her head. "No. No, it's like I told the police, I have no idea." she sniffled, trying to keep herself calm.

"Did Tony mention anything unusual to you the days before his death?" Dean asked, trying to be sensitive, but coming off as odd.

"Unusual?" Karen asked, confused.

"Yeah, like strange." Dean added.

She shook her head, still very confused. "Strange?"

"You know, Karen, weird." Dean elaborated. "Weird noises, visions, anything like that?"

I kicked him under the table. He groaned at the impact but quickly turned it into a cough to cover it up as I turned back to Karen. "What he's trying to say is, if there's anything else you haven't told us. Even the smallest or oddest detail may help." I gave her a light smile.

"He had a nightmare the day before he died. Could that help?"

"Anything and everything can help." I nodded. "Can you tell us anything about the nightmare?"

"He said that he woke up in the middle of the night. And there was a woman standing at the foot of the bed. He blinked, she was gone." she explained. "But it was just a nightmare."

Dean gave a soft and short scoff of amusement before he spoke again. "Did he say what she looked like?"

Karen turned to him, her confusion back as she frowned. "What the hell difference does it make what she looked like?" the change in her tone made it clear she wasn't exactly trusting these questions and where the conversation was going.

I acted quickly, hoping to get her back to trusting us. "Our company's very thorough. We just ask the questions they give us. We don't even know why half of them matter."

Karen hesitated a moment as she looked from Dean and Sam before turning to me. It was obvious she trusted Sam and I more than Dean. But I didn't blame her really. "He said she was pale and she had dark red eyes."

Nodding, I reached over and rested a hand on hers. "Thank you for all your help and time. We'll get back to you as soon as we hear something new. Until then..." I pulled out a fake business card with my real number. "Please feel free to call me if you think of anything else that might help." I offered her one last kind smile before Dean, Sam and I stood and left the house.

We walked down the path from the front door to the road, heading for the Impala, which was parked in front of the Giles' home.

I loved the car. The first time I'd seen it hadn't been a fun time, with Ellen being so pissed and disappointed. But after a few days with the guys, and once I was feeling a little less shitty about the fact I'd upset the only family I had, I could finally appreciate the car. She was a beauty. A '67 Chevy. Sleek and black. Cream coloured leather interior. If sex was a car, she was it.

"Did you have to kick me so hard?" Dean asked once we were out of ear shot from the house.

"Did you have to sound so crazy?" I asked, turning so I was walking backwards, facing the brothers. "I thought you said you'd been doing this job for years. There's this thing called sympathy, Dean. You lost your mum and dad. You know what it feels like." I noted.

Sam had told me about how their family had become hunters. How his mother had been killed by a demon when he was a baby and now they were trying to find and kill it. He told me how they'd only lost their dad a few of months ago and that he died trying to get revenge for his wife.

It wasn't too far off of every other hunter's story, but it was different at the same time. Tragedy was always the reason why hunters became hunters.

Dean hadn't said anything about it yet. I guess he was still dealing with it more than Sam was. I understood how he felt though.

The brothers had asked what happened to me. They wanted to know why I started hunting, and I'd been willing to answer. The words had been on the tip of my tongue. But when I opened my mouth to speak, nothing came out.

There were exactly four people alive today who knew why I was the person I was. Ellen, Jo, Ash and Bobby Singer.

Bobby had taught me how to be a hunter and helped keep me alive. I lived with him on and off over the years. He fed me, clothed me, and kept me safe. He was my second dad, and I loved him. He was the first person I told my story to.

Bobby had directed me to the Roadhouse when I'd gone off to hunt one time. That's where I met Ellen. Once she found out I was Bobby's unofficial daughter, she took me under her wing. She was my second mum and helped me through the emotional pain I'd been bottling up. She was the second person I opened up to.

Jo and I hadn't clicked right away. My own sister and I had been best of friends, and it pained me to think of someone replacing her. But when she came back from school one day, clearly upset, I decided to open up to her so long as she opened up to me. She was the third person to know about my past.

Ash took a little while longer to warm up to. He was odd to say the least. But as years went by I warmed up to him. He helped me find cases, and was always willing to listen to whatever I needed to get off my chest- his crush on me did play a big part in that though. He was the fourth and last person I told my secret to.

"Look, let's just find a hotel, wait until dark and then check out Anthony's office." I suggested as I turned to face forward again, tugging on the coat I wore as we fell silent.

DPOV

Just like Liz had suggested, once it was dark the three of us headed for Anthony's office. Once Sam unlocked the door to Anthony's office, the three of us walked in, torches on as we went to started searching the place. We didn't get far before Sam stopped.

"Hey." he caught our attention, shining the light of his torch on to the blood-stained floor. "Anthony Giles' body was found right about here." he lifted the police report on the case as he read from it. "'Throat cut so deep, part of his spinal cord was visible."

I shook my head, moving further into the office. "What do you think? Vengeful spirit, underline vengeful?"

"Yeah, maybe." Sam shrugged. "I mean, he did see that woman at the foot of his bed."

I reached for a piece of paper that sat on the out tray of the printer, lifting it to read what it says. But what I found didn't make any sense to me. "Hey, look at this." I offered Sam the paper.

He took the paper. "Dana Shulps?" he asked. It was repeated over and over on the page, filling it completely. "What's that? A name?"

"It's here, too." Liz spoke up from where she stood by the printer. We turned to her as she showed us another sheet of paper that only read Dana Shulps.

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." I laughed lightly.

"Uh... Guys..." Liz and I looked to Sam as he leaned closer to the glass desk and breathed on it. As she pulled back, she revealed the words Dana Shulps written on the glass. "I'd say we've officially crossed over into weird."

"Maybe Giles knew her." I shrugged.

"Or maybe it's the name of our pale, red-eyes mystery girl." Sam suggested.

Liz sighed, moving over to a filing cabinet. "Only one way to find out." she grabbed a bunch of filed and moved over to me, shoving them in my chest. "Time to get to work, boys."

EPOV

Dean slammed the draw of one of the filing cabinets, causing me to jump slightly. "There's not a single mention of a Dana Shulps anywhere." he noted, clearly not happy. "There's not a D. Shulps, or any other kind of friggin Shulps."

I pushed a file away from where I sat on the floor by the desk- and away from the dried blood on the floor. "I've got nothing either."

"Great." Sam mumbled.

"What you got?" Dean asked him.

But Sam just shook his head. "Nothing. No Dana Shulps has ever lived or died in Baltimore in the last fifty years, at least."

Dean sighed. "So, what now?"

"Well, I think I'm pretty close to cracking Giles' password. Maybe there's something in his personal files." Sam shrugged.

Dean perked up a little. "By close you mean...?"

"Thirty minutes maybe."

Looking at his watch Dean sighed again. "Awesome. So, I guess Elizabeth and I just get to hang out here then. Awesome." he dropped on to the chair on the opposite side of the desk where Sam was sitting. It took him less than a second before he was bored and started to make noises with his mouth.

Sam turned away from the computer and to his brother. "Dude, seriously."

"All right." Dean stood from the chair. "I'm gonna talk to Karen, see if she knows anything about this Dana Shulps." he turned to me. "You coming?"

"Nope." I answered, stretching my legs out on the ground, crossing one over the other. "I think I'll keep Sam company instead."

He looked slightly offended that I declined his offer, but recovered quickly. "Well, you two behave now. No funny business until after the job is done." he grinned as he headed for the door and left.

DPOV

I knocked on the green wooden door of the Giles' home. After a moment or two of silence, I leaned closer as I called out, "Karen you in there?" but there was no answer.

Pulling out my lock-pick kit, I got to work and successfully opened the door in no time before heading into the house. The lights were out. The place was silent. I was not getting a good feeling.

Reaching over, I tried to flick the light switch on, but it didn't work. This is not good...

After checking all the rooms downstairs and coming up with nothing, I started for the second floor. All the doors were closed upstairs, except for one. One was slightly ajar, leading into what appeared to be a bedroom.

I headed in that direction, opening the door to find Karen on the floor, dead.

"Oh, God." I moved closer to the body. Her neck had been cut just like Anthony's.

As I went to turn away, I noticed a printer to my right. Reaching over, I grabbed one of the printed sheets, having a pretty good idea at what I was going to find. Sure enough, just like in Anthony's office, Dana Shulps covered the page. It covered all the printed pages.

"Seriously, what the hell?" I sighed, putting the paper back.

My eyes landed on Karen again, which is when I noticed something odd. Crouching down by the body, I reached for her arm and turned it over, seeing bruises wrapped around her wrist. Anthony's report hadn't mentioned anything like that...

"Freeze." the sound of a gun cocking behind me had me turn around. There, in the doorway, was a police woman and man. "Stay on your knees." the woman warned. "Hands where I can see them. Now!"

Having no choice but to listen, I let go of Karen and turned, lifting my hands in the air before I felt the familiar cold metal of cuffs locking on to my wrists."

EPOV

"Somethings not right..."

I looked up at Sam from where I was sitting on one of the two double beds in our hotel room, my legs crossed in front of me as I looked through some paper work. "Everything okay, Sam?"

He shook his head, getting up from where he sat at the table. "Dean should be back by now. Or he should have at least called."

"So... What are we thinking?" I asked, unfolding my legs before I climbed off the bed. "Because by the look on your face, you're thinking something serious happened."

He nodded, moving to grab his bag. "Start packing."

"What?" I frowned, confused. "You're not making much sense right now, Sam. Care to explain what's going on, or do I have to start guessing?" I asked, even as I did what I was told and started to pack.

"If Dean isn't back and hasn't called it means two things. One, he's dead. Two, he's been caught." he explained, shoving his things into a bag.

"Caught by who?"

"My guess? The cops."

I spun around to look at him then. "The cops?!"

He gave a slight shrug as he avoided looking at me. "Yeah, Dean's kinda wanted… for murder..."

"What the hell do you mean he's wanted for murder?" I snapped as I continued to pack my bag.

"It wasn't him. It was a shapeshifter, which we killed. But it was wearing Dean's face, so if he's been arrested, we have to get out of here. If the police do have him, it's only a matter of time before they come here."

Finished packing, I grabbed my bag and pulled it over my shoulder as I headed for the door. "You know it would have been nice to know this before I started hunting with the two of you." I noted, shaking my head and leaving the room. "I'll meet you at the car." I called to him.

I liked Dean and Sam, I really did. They were different from other hunters. They were fun and pretty easy going at times. They were good at the job, and knew a lot more than some other hunters. They knew when to goof around and when to be serious. It was hard not to like them.

But that did not mean I was willing to go down with them. Not to prison. Nope. Die? Yes. I'd die on the job. It was a risk I'd been taking for years. But to be locked up in a cage with no freedom or free will? Nope, that was not happening.

At the same time, I wasn't leaving the guys. I wasn't the kind of person to turn their back on friends. I stuck with the people I had until we were out of the mess we'd gotten ourselves in. If that meant I had to stick with Sam and help him get Dean free, then that's what I'd do.

Self-survival was important, sure. But I understood the need for others sometimes, and I was more than willing to help if that meant the favour would be returned later.

As I hurried down the stairs and headed for the Impala, I came to a stop at the sight of police vehicles coming down the road. The vehicles stopped at the hotel and I knew in an instant who they were here for.

"Shit." looking around, I played it cool as I headed for the nearest car- which was thankfully unlocked.

Throwing my bag in the back, I then got in the driver's seat and pretended to fix up my hair and makeup as I watched the police climb out of their vehicles. One of them- a female- headed into the head office for a moment or two before exiting and leading the rest of them to the stairs as they moved towards the room Sam, Dean and I had been staying in.

"Shit." I repeated, moving to hotwire the car and get the hell out of there.

DPOV

"Well..." Pete Sheridan- the male detective that had been questioning me since I got to the station- walked back into the interrogation room where I was sitting on a chair, cuffed to the table. "First I thought you were just stepping up your game." he took a seat across from me. "Credit card fraud, breaking and entering. Now, this one puzzled me. Grave desecration. But still, these are a long way from murder. Then we get a fax from St. Louis. Where you're suspected of torturing and murdering a young woman.

"However, no one could prove anything, of course, because, supposedly, you died there." he shook his head. "But I gotta tell you something. You look pretty healthy to me." getting up he moved to lean against the table next to me. "So now we know Karen Giles wasn't the first person you murdered. But I guarantee you, she's the last." he said before standing up and walking back out of the room.

Things weren't looking too good...

SPOV

I was in an interrogation room, standing by the window, looking out. I was worried about Dean and I was worried about Lizzie. I knew why they had Dean and me here, which is exactly why I was worried about us. But I had no idea where Lizzie was.

She'd left the room just in time. She'd gotten away. Thankfully. I just hoped she stayed away. For her own good.

Diana Ballard -the female detective that had arrested me last night- walked into the room, placing a coffee on the table. "Thought you might be thirsty." she offered a light smile.

"Okay, so you're the good cop. Where's the bad cop?"

"Oh, he's with you brother." she answered without hesitation.

"Okay. And you're holding us why?" I asked, trying to play dumb.

"He's being held on suspicion of murder. And you? We'll see."

"Murder?"

"You sound genuinely surprised. Or are you that good of an actor?"

"Who is he supposed to have murdered?" I asked, dodging her question.

"We'll get around to that."

"You can't just hold us here without formal charges." I argued.

"Well, actually, we can for forty-eight hours. But you, being a pre-law student, would know that." she pointed out. "I know all about you, Sam." she started, grabbing a file as she began to read from it. "You're twenty-three years old, no job, no home address. Your mother died when you were a baby. Your father's whereabouts are unknown. And then there's the case of your brother, Dean. Whose demise was, well, just a little bit exaggerated.

"Feel free to jump in whenever you like." when I didn't say anything, and instead continued to lean on the wall with my arms folded over my chest, she went on. "Shy? No problem, I'll keep going. Your family moved around a lot when you were a kid. Despite that, you were a straight-A student. Got into Stanford with a full ride." she closed the file and turned to me. "Then, about a year ago, there was a fire in your apartment. One fatality, Jessica Moore, your girlfriend. After she died, you fell off the grid. Left behind everything."

"I needed some time off." I explained. "To deal. So I'm taking a road trip with my brother."

"How's that going for you?"

"Great." I shrugged. "I mean, we saw the second largest ball of twine in the continental U.S." I grinned, moving to take a seat at the table- but not before turning the chair around as I sat on it backwards. "Awesome."

"We ran Dean's fingerprints through AFIS."

"Okay."

"Got over a dozen possible hits."

I shrugged. "Possible hits. Which makes them worthless."

"But makes you wonder. What are we gonna find when we run your prints?"

I laughed. "Yeah. Well, uh, you be sure to let me know, all right?" I nodded to her before pointing to the coffee. "May I?"

She gave a short nod. "Please."

"Great." I grabbed the coffee, taking a sip from it.

Walking towards me, she sat on the table as she leaned over to look in my face. "Sam, you seem like a good kid. It's not your fault Dean's your brother. We can't pick our family. Right now, detectives in St. Louis are exhuming a corpse. They're trying to figure out how your brother faked his own death after torturing all those young women. Dean's a bad guy. His life is over. Yours doesn't have to be."

Lowering the takeaway coffee cup, I turned to her. "You want me to turn against my own brother?"

"No. We already caught him cold. Red-handed at the Karen Giles murder scene." she shrugged, getting off the table and moving over to the other side. "We just need you to fill in some missing pieces."

"Why would I do that?"

Taking a seat, he answered. "Because I can talk to the DA. Make a deal for you. You can get on with your life. Dean's as good as gone."

I pretended to think it over for a moment, just to keep her hooked and keep me on her good side, before I spoke again. "My dad and Tony Giles were old friends. They were in the service together. We've known him since we were kids, you know." I lied. "So we came when we heard about his death. So, wouldn't been kinda hard for Dean to kill Tony, considering we weren't in town."

"So, tell me what happened next."

The lies spilled from my lips so easy I almost believed them myself. "That's when we went to see Karen. She was barely holding it together. We just wanted to be there for her, you know. We went over to check on her, but she wasn't doing too good. We stayed for a while, tried to help as much as we could, but eventually we had to leave." I shrugged. "So I gave Karen a hug. Told her to call me if she needed anything, and that was it. End of story."

"Sam," Diana sighed, "I am trying to help you here. But you have got to be honest with me." she stood from her chair. "Now, we have an eyewitness. Someone who saw two men, fitting your and your brother's description, with an unknown female, breaking into Giles' office."

It was the first time there was any mention of Lizzie. I'd been hoping she hadn't been seen by anyone, or that no one had taken notice of her, that way the cops wouldn't look for her.

But I knew there was no hope in hoping. It was Lizzie we were talking about, and she got the attention of everyone... Now it was only a matter of time before she'd be pulled into the station as well.

"Look, Karen called us later, said there was stuff she wanted from Tony's office, but the police weren't letting her in." I kept going with the story. "It was like a picture of the two of them in Paris, and some other stuff. Look, it was wrong to enter a crime scene, but she gave us the key. We went to Tony's office, grabbed what she asked for and then Dean went back to check up on her. I mean, you know, she'd been pretty upset earlier."

"So why didn't you go with him? And who was the woman?" she gave me a knowing look. "Keep dodging her for as long as you want, Sam. I'm not ignoring the fact that there was a third person with you and your brother."

"She's a friend. We bumped into her at the hotel. She was passing through town. The three of us had dinner. Then we went to Anthony's office. Seeing as we rarely get to see her our friend tagged along. After that, I took her to her car to say good bye, Dean went to Karen's."

"And this friend's name is?"

"Hannah. Hannah Thomas." I answered, using the alias Lizzie had used with Karren. Unlike us, she didn't go for the rock star names.

"So you sent Hannah off and then went back to the hotel?"

"Yeah." I nodded before pausing a moment as I looked up at her. "How'd you know I was there, by the way?"

"We found the motel matchbook on your brother when we arrested him." she answered, pulling the mentioned match book from the evidence bag that sat in front of the file. Let's quit fooling around. Now, you were with your brother the whole time you were in Baltimore. Why separate now? Because your brother left to go murder Karen."

"He didn't kill anyone." I told her, keeping calm.

She on the other hand was getting pissed. "I heard the 911 call. Karen was terrified. She said someone was in the house."

I just shook my head. "Dean didn't kill anyone."

EPOV

I sat in a diner, in the corner, sipping on a coffee as I tried to think through the case and how I was going to save the guys. First thing I needed to do was figure out who Dana Shulps was. Or what it was...

I pulled out a pen and grabbed a napkin as I started writing down anagrams for Dana Shulps. Maybe it's a place? Maybe it's a code? Maybe it's a thing?

Groaning I looked up at the waitress as she passed me. "Hey, could I have another coffee please?"

"Sure thing, doll." she offered a gentle smile before she walked off.

I was going to need all the caffeine I could get. I didn't get any sleep last night, not with the stress of the case and the pressure of being on my own- hopefully that would change soon. I could deal with being alone for a while, but this case was proving to be a huge pain in my ass.

Yeah... I'm gonna need lots of coffee...

DPOV

I'd been trying to figure out what Dana Shulps might mean where there was a knock on the door before a balding man poked his head into the room.

"Mr Winchester?"

"Yeah."

He smiled, stepping into the room and closing the door. "I'm Jeff Krause. I'm with the public defender's office. I'm your lawyer."

"Oh, thank God, I'm saved." This guy isn't going to be able to do jack with my case. As he sat down, I nodded to the briefcase he'd placed on the table. "Hey, can I steal a pen from you, some paper?"

"Sure." he nodded, pulling out a pen form his pocket and some a piece of paper from the briefcase. "Well, the police haven't found a weapon yet, so that's good. But, uh, they got your prints and, literally, blood on your hands." he noted as I started writing down possible anagrams for Dana Shulps. "And with your police record... Mr Winchester, what are you doing?"

"I think it's an anagram." I answered, not really paying much attention to him.

"A what?"

"An anagram. Same letters, different words." I explained. "Could you do me a favour? See if you recognize any of these words. You know, local names, places, anything like that?" I shrugged, sliding a new piece of paper I'd just written on to him.

He looked at me as if I were stupid. "Do you understand how serious these charges are?"

I chuckled lightly, lifting my hands as much as I could. "I'm handcuffed to a table. Yeah, I get it. Humour me. Take a quick look."

Sighing, he grabbed the paper and gave it a once over. "Well, S-U-P, I don't know about that, but Ashland is a street name. It's not far from here." he shrugged, handing the paper over again.

"Street?"

He nodded before getting back to business. "Let's start with where you were the night that Anthony Giles died."

Ignoring him, I wrote down a message on a new sheet of paper. "Can you get in to see my brother?"

The lawyer shook his head. "Mr Winchester, you could be facing the death penalty here."

"Hey, thanks for the law review, Matlock." I ripped off the piece of paper with the note on it. "But if you wanna help me..." I folded the note, "I need you to see my brother."

SPOV

A lawyer had come into the interrogation room I was still holed up in, handing me a note he claimed was from Dean. One look from it, and I had no doubt it was from my brother.

Hilts-

It's a street Ashland.

- McQueen

"I hope that's meaningful." the lawyer shrugged. "But I'd like to discuss your case now."

"Sure thing, Matlock." I nodded, gesturing to the chair across from me.

"You two really are brothers, aren't you?" he sighed, taking a seat. "Now, as you know, the DA might be interested in-" before he could go on, there was a knock on the door.

Diana stepped in to the room, looking to the lawyer. "We need you. With the other one." was all she said before the two of them left, and suddenly I was alone.

To be continued...

Bamby