Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Supernatural characters as they are the property of the CW. I do, however, own any characters introduced within the story as they are sole property of my mind.

Summary: Hot tempered. Stubborn. Strong headed. Smartass. Dean Winchester has met his match in the form of a female out on a hunt. Supernatural hunters themselves, 21 year old Artemis Flora Summers and her best friend find themselves tangled within the Winchester web as they join the boys on their hunt for their father. Hiding a dark secret that only her best friend knows, Artemis begins to find it hard to keep it a secret as she clashes head on with the eldest of the Winchester boys. What happens when she realizes that she may be falling head over heels for him? Is the past about to repeat itself once again with her?


Shadow

"He slipped the shoe on and then he…."

"Asked her to marry him and they lived happily ever after!"

"Artemis, if you want to be read a story every night before bed, I suggest you pick one that you have not heard a million times before."

"But it's my favorite, mummy." A young girl looked up at her mother with icy blue-green eyes sparkling with happiness, causing the woman to laugh lightly and kiss the top of her daughter's head.

"Someone is ready to say good night and be off to bed."

"Daddy!" The man entering the room quickly passed the baby in his arms over to his wife before scooping up the energetic five year old girl up into his arms and blowing kisses against his face.

"Daddy!" The little girl let out a string of giggles as she tried to shield her face from the attack.

"Danny, I think that is enough. Don't get her riled up or she will never go to sleep. She has a long day tomorrow. Mrs. Anderson is taking her to the zoo. Now bring her over here to say good night to her brother."

"Annabelle, do not worry. She may have the energy of a bouncing ball, but we both know that she'll be out like a light once she's tucked into bed and snuggled against Mr. Hoppy," he said as he gently kissed his wife on her cheek.

"I know. Ok Miss Artemis. It is time for bed. Say good night to your brother," she said as she looked at her daughter in her husband's arms.

"Good night, Bryce," the young girl said as she leant as far as her father would allow her to kiss her baby brother's cheek. The wrinkling of the baby's noise caused her to giggle before she clung to her father as he carried her out of the nursery and down to her bedroom.

"Ok princess. Time for bed," he said as he set her down onto her bed.

"Check for monsters," she said as she hugged a large pink bunny to her chest. Her father merely chuckled before ducking beneath her bed and checking the closet before returning to the bed where his oldest sat hugging the large pink rabbit he had won for her at the county fair just weeks prior.

"No monsters in the closet or under the bed," he said, causing his daughter to give a thinking look before speaking.

"They must all be on vacation," she said, causing him to let out a hearty laugh before kissing the top of her head.

"Must be. Now let's get you tucked in before mommy comes in here and yells at us both. Good night, princess," he said as he tucked her into bed and kissed the top of her head once again.

"Good night, daddy," she said with a yawn before drifting off to sleep. He gave a chuckle and shut off the light before exiting the room, leaving the door cracked just slightly to allow light from the nightlight in the hallway into her room. The wind was blowing seemed to be blowing quite harshly outside, but no notice was taken by the young girl as she seemed for gone in her dreams to notice. Or even to notice the shadows along the wall.

"No!!" Screams from her mother caused the young girl to sit up out of her dreams and strain her ears to see if she had heard the screams. Her curiosity was only confirmed when she heard her father's yells and his footsteps in the hall way. Clutching Mr. Hoppy to her chest, she made her way quickly out of bed and down the hallway where she could hear her father.

"Daddy?" But the words no sooner left her mouth when the ceiling caught on fire, causing her to scream as she saw her mother on the ceiling. Burning.

"No! Annabelle!" But it was too late as her father grabbed onto her brother and scooped her up into his arms as he raced from the room. His wife too far gone to save.

"No! Mummy!"


I gasped for air as I bolted upward out of a dead sleep, sweat covering my entire body from the nightmare I had been dreaming. Swallowing hard, I refocused my blurry vision as I looked around the motel room at each of my companions, who were dead to the world at this point. Kiki was sound asleep in the bed next to me as she lay curled in Sam's arms as he shifted silently before sighing in content. I merely shook my head at his actions before turning my attention to my bed companion. How I ended up sleeping in the same bed with Dean Winchester I will never know. Oh wait. It's because of those two love birds in the bed next to me.

"Sickening," I muttered as I threw myself backwards, letting my head hit the pillow with a soft thud.

"You know something? For someone as tiny as you, you sure know how to make movement. It gets rather annoying when someone is trying to sleep."

"Fuck off, Winchester," I snapped as I turned my head slightly, Dean's green eyes locking with mine as he dug his head out from beneath the pillows.

"I'd be glad to, but you're just not a willing participant," he said with a smirk, causing me to smash the pillow into his face before throwing it at the couple in the bed next to ours. It didn't even faze them as they continued to sleep away. Groaning, I flipped myself onto my stomach and buried my head into my arms as I tried to go back to sleep. It was damn near impossible as a headache began to form as well as Dean shifting next to me was getting on my nerves.

"Can you never just lay still?" I asked as I pushed myself up on my elbows and looked over at him. He lifted his head and gave me a dirty look before he too pushed himself up on his elbows.

"I told Sammy this was a bad idea. Sticking me with you in the same bed. You move too much," he said, causing me to roll my eyes and give him a glare.

"I move too much? You shouldn't be the one to talk. You move too much for your own good. And on top of that, you snore. I'm surprised any of us can sleep with you snoring away like a bloody truck," I said. He stared at me for a second and before I knew it, I had let out a short scream as I fell off the bed trying to duck the pillow he had swung at me. The crash and scream caused both Kiki and Sam to shoot up in their bed, looking frantically around for the source before Kiki leaned over the side of the bed and peered down at me.

"Artemis?" she asked, causing me to give her the wave of the hand.

"Winchester, I swear that if you don't help me off the floor, you're going to be in for a nasty surprise later," I said as I stared up at his blurry, smirking figure.

"Your threats have no meaning, princess," he said, causing me to scoff.

"Fine then. Sam, if you could be a doll and get me the keys to the Impala," I said as I tilted my head so that Sam's figure was in my blurry sight. He let out a chuckle and held out his hand, which I took without question, causing him to pull me up into a sitting position and hand me my glasses so that I could see everyone properly.

"Sammy, if you give her the keys to the Impala, you'll be dead meat," Dean said, causing me to roll my eyes before getting back on the bed, punching Dean in the arm as I did so. He gave me a glare and I merely stuck my tongue out at him before I looked over to Sam and Kiki, who were looking at one another and then at us.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," she replied, causing my eyes to narrow since I knew she was lying. I knew she was lying because she was looking at her fingers and biting on her lip. She always did that when she was hiding something or lying.

"You know I know you're lying, right?" I asked, causing her to groan as she buried her face in the sleeve of Sam's shirt. Dean rolled his eyes and threw himself back into his spot as Sam shook his head.

"What?" I asked as I looked over at him. He merely stared at me for a minute before speaking.

"It's nothing. But…"

"But what?" I asked.

"You and Dean make a cute couple," Kiki replied, causing my jaw to drop and Dean to shoot up quickly from bed to stare at the couple in the bed next to ours. Kiki had her face hidden in her hands and Sam was smiling sheepishly as we both gave them a murderous look for even suggesting that.

"Which one of you do I kill first for even suggesting that?" Dean asked, causing me to, for once in the time we had spent with the guys, nod in agreement.

"Neither. We were just making a mere observation. You guys look good together despite you two really hate one another. Which I don't think you guys really do," she replied, causing me to roll my eyes and get out of the bed.

"Ok. Who are you and what have you done with my brother and Kiki?" Dean asked as I threw myself into one of the chairs at the table and pulled Kiki's laptop toward me.

"Shut up, Dean. I was being serious. But whatever. Artemis Flora Summers, what the fuck are you doing?" I peered over the top of the laptop to my best friend as she stared at me with a questionable look.

"Ignoring you," I replied before I turned my attention back to what I was doing. I could hear Kiki beginning to talk to Sam, but I immediately ignored them as I slipped my ear pieces in and put on "Velvet Touch" by the 69 Eyes. Typing away on the keyboard, I was aware that the lights had been turned out once again and my companions were turning in to sleep once again, but I was unaware of Dean watching me. I was so unaware that he was watching me that I almost jumped out of my skin when his green eyes pierced through the darkness at me as he leaned over the table with the computer screen illuminating his face just slightly.

"Fuck! Don't do that," I hissed as he threw himself into a chair next to me with that cocky smile of his.

"Why not? It's fun," he said, causing me to roll my eyes and turn my attention back to the screen. I knew he was watching me and I was trying my best to ignore him, but it was just impossible as I could feel his eyes just burning into my skin.

"Ok. What is your problem?" I asked as I looked over at him.

"You. What the hell are you always listening to with this fucking thing?" he asked as he reached over the laptop and grabbed my iPod to start flipping through it. I merely rolled my eyes and handed him one of my ear pieces, causing him to take it and put it in his own ear. Watching his reactions, I merely chuckled and shook my head as he gave me a look.

"Who are these dudes?" he asked.

"The 69 Eyes. They're a Finnish rock group that believe they're vampires," I replied, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"Real vampires?" he asked.

"Yup. Although I probably wouldn't disagree since we see everything so unnatural. Anyways, they're hot. I like they're music. So much better than what you listen to," I replied, causing him to give me a glare.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"You heard me. Why do you think I just put my ear pieces into my ears when we're in the car? One, music puts me to sleep when I'm tired. Two, I don't want to listen to you, Sam, and Kiki run your mouths about what we've hunted or argue about what we're going to be hunting next. That's why you never hear me getting in the middle of it unless I really need to. And third, you're singing is absolutely horrible. I don't know how Sam has put up with you for so long with you singing so horribly to the music you play. It amazes me," I replied, shaking my head.

"And you think you can do better?" he asked.

"I can do ten times better than you can. Kiki would testify to it," I replied, causing him to snort with laughter as he skimmed through my iPod more.

"I'm sure she would. Well if you think you can do so much better than me, let's hear you," he said, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Dean, it's 2:30 in the morning and both Kiki and Sam are asleep. Again. I don't think so," I said, causing him to roll his eyes and smirk.

"Come on, princess. What are you? Scared? Am I really going to have a laugh at your expense?" he asked, causing me to scoff.

"At my expense? Winchester, you better be taking that back. Nobody is laughing at my expense," I replied.

"So sing. Who cares about those two anyways? They're too wrapped up in one another to even notice what the hell we're doing," he said, causing me to roll my eyes again.

"Are you sure about that? I'm pretty sure that you shot up in bed quite quickly when Kiki said what she said. And if I remember correctly, you asked them which one you should kill first. So apparently they're not quite wrapped up in themselves as we think they are. Or well you think they are," I said.

"You're stalling, Summers," he said.

"You're asking these questions. Or well stating what you think is so obvious and it really isn't obvious," I said, causing him to roll his eyes as he swore. I merely smirked and leant back into my chair as I began hitting the keys.

"I always knew you were chicken," he said, causing my movements to stop as my eyes narrowed and turned toward him. He merely smirked and leant back in his chair as he continued to scroll through my list of songs.

"What did you just call me, you prick?" I asked.

"I called you a chicken because you won't do just one simple thing. So it also proves that you can't sing," he replied, causing me to scoff.

"So what? You just want me to sing at 2:30 in the fucking morning? Wake up Kiki and Sam? Have you lost your mind?" I asked.

"We're not doing anything but sitting here since we can't sleep because of those two. So it would be like payback. If you can't sing that is," he replied, causing me to roll my eyes and make a grab for my iPod. However, he held it out of reach and shook his head.

"I'll choose. It amazes me about some of the music you have on this thing. There's a lot of everything, which doesn't make any sense since you're like this rocker like chick," he said as he gave me a look. I merely shrugged in response.

"Alright. So a verse and a chorus. Prove me wrong and we'll make Sammy make sure that the coffee you're thinking about spilling on me in the morning is extra hot. Prove me right and let's just say you'll hate me even more at the next bar we go to," he said with as I rolled my eyes and took my iPod away from him to see what he had chosen.

"Danity Kane? You want me to sing "Poetry?" What makes you think that I'll have trouble with this?" I asked as I looked up at him.

"It seems like a pretty romantic song just by looking at the title. And you don't have one romantic bone in your body. So stop stalling and sing. One verse and one chorus," he replied, causing me to roll my eyes and press the play button on my iPod. Listening to the beat of the song, I shut my eyes and just let the words slip out softly.

When I stand in a crowded room
I feel alone like nobody's there
And when you speak so cold to me
I can see your breath in the air
It's taking its toll on me
In the bathroom taking showers
So you don't see me cry
Baby it's such a crime

I've tried to feel confident
I'm bitter, you're not making sense
I missed you till you almost took
My sanity, I'm starting a new verse

Like poetry
Hiding behind the words you speak
Changing the words of the story
You say you don't love me
Then say that you love me
I'm fighting
You're hiding behind the words you speak
You're speaking
Changing the words
I'm lost in the verse
You say you don't love me
Then say that you love me
Why are you hiding?

Shifting my eyes open as I softly sang the last word, I saw that Dean was sitting there with just a shocked expression. Glad that it was dark, I blushed slightly and turned my attention back to the computer screen as I set my iPod on the table. I don't know why I blushed, but the look he was giving me just made me blush for absolutely no reason. I just didn't know.

"Where did you learn to sing like that?" I blinked in surprise when his hand gently turned my face toward his and I saw how serious he was asking that question.

"My mom," I replied, causing him to give me a look of confusion.

"Your mom? And you're doing this shit? What Sammy and I do?" he asked, causing me to pull away from him and stare at the screen of the computer. I really didn't want to talk about my family, especially with Dean.

"Your parents don't know you're doing this, do they?" he asked, causing me to sigh.

"My parents are dead, Dean. They've been dead since I was 5 and 8. So no they don't know that I hunt the supernatural," I replied, causing his expression to soften just a bit as he gave me a look of surprise.

"And you've been on your own since?" he asked.

"I'd really not like to discuss this with you, Dean. I'm going to bed," I replied as I shut the computer lid before standing up and walking over to the bed. I heard Dean stand up and shuffle toward the bed, but I completely ignored him as I set my glasses on the side table and curled up beneath the blankets.

"Artemis…"

"Dean, I just want to go to sleep. I'll harass you in the morning or you can harass me. Or whatever the hell. Good night," I said as I cut him off before shutting my eyes. Feeling the bed shift from his weight, I sighed as I looked over at Sam and Kiki, who were peacefully sleeping like there nothing wrong on the outside world. I knew Dean was staring at me, but I just couldn't bring myself to say anything to him. Something was happening to me and I really wasn't sure what it was. All I knew was that it had to do with Dean. But what?


"Tell me why we're stuck at a bar in Chicago while Sammy and Dean are out having all the real fun?"

"Because they were going to check out the apartment where the one chick died at. Something about the alarm still being on and the killer just escaping. Only takes one or two people to do that job. Not four. Besides, they would probably pull it off a lot better than us. I think we need another beer." I let out a laugh at Kiki as she motioned to the bartender to bring us another set of beers before shaking my head and pocketing a stripe at the pool table. We had a fair amount of guys watching us as we laughed and played several games of pool, which really didn't bother me like it normally would if we were out with the guys. I just wanted to have a good time and relax even though I knew we were once again on a case. Having searched the internet a few days prior, I happened to come across some girl being maliciously murdered without any trace of the murderer in sight. Having talked to Sam, we knew we had to come to Chicago to check it out. And so here Kiki and I were. Hanging out at the local bar and waiting for Dean and Sammy to show up from their last "job." Apparently they were the alarm company this time. Don't ask.

"So I never got to ask you about Dean," Kiki said, bringing me out of my thoughts as I pocketed another stripe and walked around the table to take another shot.

"What about Dean?" I asked.

"Well obviously you two were up after the one night when the both of you woke Sammy and I up," she replied, causing me to roll my eyes.

"But it doesn't mean anything. We were just talking and I sang for him because….."

"Wait a minute. You sang? For him? In front of him? Like vocally sang?" she asked as she gave me a surprised look.

"Yes. He called me a chicken because I wouldn't sing since you and Sammy were sleeping and I wasn't having any of it. He was surprised that I could sing and that's why he got an extra hot cup of coffee dumped on him the morning after. Other than that, nothing was said or done because he wanted to know about my parents and I just went to bed," I replied, shrugging as she gave me a look.

"Artemis…"

"Look. I know what you're going to say. That I should open up to someone. Well you know what? I have. Sam. And that's it. I don't need anyone else to talk to about what's going on," I said, causing her to give me a look.

"Artemis…"

"Kiki, I tell you a lot of things. But some things you would never understand. Things that I've been talking to with Sam are only because Sam understands what I'm telling him. Understands why I'm feeling the way I do. Something you and Dean just wouldn't understand," I said.

"Yeah. Because every time we turn around he's hitting on some girl," she said, causing me to turn around to find Dean at the bar flirting with one of the other bartenders. I rolled my eyes and pocketed the 8-ball, causing cheers to erupt from the guys watching us. Kiki laughed at the gesture, but her expression suddenly turned serious, causing me to give her a look before turning around to see Sam walking through the door and running a hand through his hair like something was wrong. Giving Kiki a look, I set the cue stick down and grabbed my beer before following her over to where Sam had taken a seat. I gave him a nod and sat down as Kiki gave him a slight kiss and looked over his shoulder as he pulled out some papers.

"Talked to the bartender."

"Like we didn't know that one," I said as Dean came up and sat down beside me. He gave me a look and rolled his eyes before turning his attention to his brother.

"Did you get anything? Besides her number?" Sam asked.

"Dude! I'm a professional. I'm offended that you would think that," he replied, causing me to roll my eyes and looked over at Kiki. She merely shook her head and sighed.

"Alright! Heh-heh," he said, causing me to shake my head in mere annoyance. Could he never take this job seriously without thinking about a female?

"You mind doing a little bit of thinking with your upstairs brain, Dean?" Sam asked.

"Huh? Look. There's nothing to find out. Meredith worked here. She waited tables. Everyone here's her friends. Everybody says she was normal. She didn't do or say anything weird before she died. So…."

"So nothing? We've got nothing?" I asked.

"Nothing. What about that symbol? Anything?" he asked, causing me and Kiki to shake our heads.

"We tried to find it after Sam sent it to my laptop, but we had no luck," Kiki replied as I nodded in agreement.

"So we just came here and have been drinking and playing pool. Waiting for you two to show up," I added as I sipped at my beer.

"I see," he said, shaking his head.

"I got nothing too. It wasn't in dad's journal or any of the usual books. So that means I'll just have to dig a little deeper, I guess," Sam said.

"Well, there was a first victim, right, before Meredith?" he asked, causing Sam to nod as we showed us the papers he had pulled out of the journal when he had first sat down. Looking at them, I saw that one was of the girl Meredith that the boys had checked out in her apartment for the alarm and the other was of an older man.

"Right, yeah. His name was, uh….his name was Ben Swardstrom. Last month he was found mutilated in his townhouse. Same deal. The door was locked. The alarm was on," Sam replied.

"Is there any kind of connection that you could make of it? Anything that happened maybe centuries ago or years ago that just started up again?" I asked.

"Nope. Not that I can tell. I mean, not yet at least. Ben was a banker. Meredith was a waitress. They never met or never knew anyone in common. They were pretty much practically from different worlds," Sam replied.

"So to recap, the only successful intel we've scored so far is the bartender's phone number?" Dean asked, causing me to roll my eyes and take another sip of my beer. I swear that one of these days I was just going to bang his head against the wall for good measure.

"What?" I snapped out of my thoughts as Sam got up out of his seat and walked away from us. Looking at Dean, I saw that he had a look of confusion on his face just as much as Kiki did. Turning my head, I saw Sam approach what I think was a blonde and begin to converse with her.

"Who is he talking to?" I asked as I looked at my remaining companions.

"Meg," Kiki replied before she walked toward Sam and the girl, leaving Dean and I to look at one another in confusion. What was going on and why was Sam just up and walking over to some random chick in a Chicago bar? Especially when he had Kiki? Was I going to have to seriously do some damage control to his brain?

"Kiki doesn't look to happy. Am I going to do some damage control to your brother?" I asked as I looked at Dean, causing him to shake his head.

"I doubt it. You coming, princess?" he asked, grabbing his father's journal and papers before heading over toward Sam and Kiki. Grabbing my beer, I maneuvered my way around a bunch of guys trying to talk to me and stood next to Dean as he cleared his throat, trying to get the attention of his brother as both Sam and Kiki talked to this chick.

"Dude, cover your mouth," she said, causing me to nearly choke on the mouthful of beer I was drinking. Did she just….yeah she did.

"Yeah. Uh…I'm sorry, Meg. This is, um….heh. This is my brother, Dean," Sam said as he kind of introduced the pair since she seemingly knew Kiki already. If this was the girl I think Kiki had told me about, since Sam seemed to know her kind of well, back when Sam was heading to California, she definitely knew Kiki and didn't need an introduction.

"So this is Dean?" she asked.

"Yeah," Sam replied with a nod.

"So you've heard of me?" Dean asked.

"Oh yeah. I've heard of you. Nice, the way you treat your brother like luggage," she said, causing me to spit out the beer in my mouth as I looked at her in shock. Excuse me?

"Sorry?" he asked as he too looked at her in shock.

"Why don't you let him do what he wants to do? Stop dragging him over God's green earth," she replied, causing Sam to shake his head and sigh. He wasn't going to say anything? Oh my evening just keeps getting better.

"How about you shut your fucking mouth," I said, causing her to look over at me. Her eyes swept over me before shaking her head.

"You must be the psycho girl that is friend's with Kiki over her. I wouldn't be surprised if the two of you were dating. You two seem just so perfect for each other," she said, causing my eyes to narrow.

"Excuse me? Who the fuck do you think you are?" I asked as I took a step toward her, only to be stopped by Dean. Looking at him, he merely shook his head to indicate that she really wasn't worth it at this point.

"Okay. Awkward. I'm going to pull Artemis over for another drink. Come on, princess," he said, tugging on my arm and pulling me toward the bar. I was fuming. Who the fuck did that girl think she was talking to Dean that way? Talking to me that way and calling me a psycho or whatnot?

"Calm yourself down, princess. We'll grill my brother and your girlfriend once they're done talking to her. Although I must say that Kiki doesn't have a happy look on her face," he said as he handed me another beer.

"No shit, Dean. Ugh! That girl pisses me off. Who the fuck does she think she is talking to you and me like that? Ugh! She's got some nerve," I snapped, causing Dean to raise an eyebrow and shake his head. I knew he understood I was pissed off, but I knew he knew not to say anything while I was on a rant. He didn't want to be on the end of my wrath if he did. A short while later, Sam and Kiki met back up with us and the four of us headed outside.

"Who the hell was that?" Dean asked as we headed toward the Impala.

"Meg," Kiki replied as she walked ahead, leaving Sam to sigh. I gave a look to Sam that said "We'll talk later" and hurried across the street to catch up to Kiki.

"Hey," I said as I caught up to her.

"Something is so not right about her being her, Artemis," she said, causing me to raise an eyebrow and give her the look of confusion.

"Come again?" I asked.

"Meg. Remember the whole fight thing between Sam and Dean in Indiana and Sam decided to go to Sacramento?" she asked as she stopped and looked at me. I merely nodded because that was an escapade with Dean I could never forget in my entire life. Creepy fucking scarecrows coming to life and trying to kill you for your skin. Ugh!

"Well she's the girl I was telling you about on the phone. Meg is her name. We met her along side a road and then again at the Indiana bus spot. Sam got to talking to her and I don't know. Something just doesn't seem right about her. Didn't then when I met her and still doesn't now. Especially since she was hitting on him even though he distinctively told her I was his girlfriend. Even gave him her phone number," she said, causing my eyes to narrow.

"I'm going to kill him," I said as I spun myself around to walk over to where Dean and Sam were talking. However, Kiki grabbed a hold of my arm hard and spun me around to face her once again.

"Don't. I'll take care of Sam myself. You just watch over Dean. You kill Sam and you won't have anyone to talk to properly," she said, causing me to sigh and rub a hand over my face.

"Kiki…."

"I can take care of Sam myself. Promise me you won't say anything and let me take care of it?" she asked, causing me to sigh again.

"Alright. Fine. But once you've taken care of him, I want a word with him. You understand?" I asked, causing her to shake her head and roll her eyes. I gave her a grin and motioned her to follow me as I made my way back to the boys. Seeing as Dean was starting to walk away from Sam, I gave Sam a look and by the look in his eyes, I could tell he was dreading having to deal with me when Kiki got done with him. I merely gave him a look and hurried to catch up with Dean. It was going to be a long couple of days.


Dean's POV

"So this symbol thingy is something no one has seen before? How the fuck are we going to figure this murdering thing out if we don't know what the symbol stands for that's attached to it?"

"How the fuck am I suppose to know, Artemis? You're not helping with your mouth running like it is. And tell me why I got stuck with you again?" I asked as I looked up from Sam's computer to look over at the brightly colored pigtails that were visible over the top of Kiki's laptop. As usual, Artemis had decided to wear one of her brightly colored outfits that made her stand out like a sore thumb. A really cute sore thumb though. She was wearing a bright green spaghetti strapped dress that came down just slightly above her knees, white knee high heeled boots, and her hair pulled back into two pigtails with little green pom-poms on them. Where she had come up with that sexy little number I would never know.

"Wait. What?" I thought, shaking my head as she looked up from the computer.

"Because Kiki wanted to tear Sam apart for what happened at the bar last night. Says Meg is a bad character or something like that. I would believe Kiki on that after what happened at the bar last night. I still want to tear her to shreds," she said as she got up and got us both a beer.

"Think you can take her, princess?" I asked with a smirk, causing her to roll her eyes and hit me in the back of the head.

"Shut up. I can take anyone. And that includes you," she replied as she sat back down and began typing away on the computer. I merely shook my head and turned my attention back to Sam's computer as I continued to look up what we needed. About half an hour later, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Sam's number.

"Hey," he said as he picked up.

"Let me guess. You're lurking outside that girl's apartment?" I asked, causing Artemis to snicker as she got up and started to make herself a sandwich to eat.

"And Kiki's probably not happy. Want one?" she asked, causing me to nod before turning my attention back to my brother.

"Yes I am outside her apartment with Kiki. And yes to Artemis's observation. Even though she's not here," he said, causing me to snicker.

"You got a funny way of showing your affection. Especially since you're girlfriend is sitting right there," I said, causing him to groan in frustration.

"Will you two stop that? It's bad enough I'm getting chewed out here enough by Kiki. I know I'm going to be chewed out by Artemis whenever Kiki's done with me, so I don't need it from you with whatever you're doing. Did you find anything out on her?" he asked, causing me to snicker and give Artemis a nod of thanks as she sat back down with two sandwiches and handed me one.

"Sorry man. She checks out. There's a Meg Masters in the Andover phone book. I even pulled up her high school photo. Now, look, why don't you go knock on her door and, uh, invite her to a poetry reading or whatever it is you do. Huh? Oh wait. You've got your girlfriend sitting right there with you, who is probably upset that you're checking this girl out. Man I hate to be you when Artemis gets a hold of you," I said, causing him to swear as I heard Kiki smack him.

"Will you stop doing that, Dean? I'm going to have bruises on my body by the time Kiki gets through with me. What about the symbol? I'm assuming that you and Artemis are getting along with one another since I don't hear any bitching from you about her. Any luck on that symbol?" he asked.

"Yeah. That I did have some luck with. It's uh…it turns out it's Zoroastrian. Very, very old school, like 2000 years before Christ. It's a sigil for a Daeva," I replied.

"What's a Daeva?" Artemis asked as she got up and leaned over my shoulder to read in the book I had open in front of me.

"Translates to "demon of darkness." Zoroastrian demons. And they're savage and animalistic. You know, kind of nasty attitudes. Kind of like, uh, demonic pit bulls," I replied.

"How'd you figure that one out?" he asked, causing me to scoff.

"Give me some credit, man. I can chase paper too," I replied, causing Artemis to snort with laughter as she sat back down.

"Oh yeah. Name the last book you read," he said, causing me to go kind of silent. Artemis looked at me with a questionable look, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Uh, I called dad's friend Caleb. He told me, alright?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Here's the thing. These Daevas have to be summoned or conjured," I said.

"So someone's controlling it?" he asked.

"Yeah. That's what I'm saying. And from what I gather, it's pretty risky business too. These suckers tend to bite the hand that feeds them. And the, uh…the arms and torsos," I replied, causing Artemis to look at me for a second before pushing her plate away with disgust. I merely smirked, causing her to flip me off before I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to my brother.

"So what do they look like?" he asked.

"Nobody's seen them for a couple of millennia. I mean, summoning a demon that ancient, someone really knows their stuff. I think we got a major player in town. Now, why don't you give that girl a private strip-o-gram," I replied, causing Artemis to roll her eyes. I merely chuckled as I heard Sam swear again from the smack I heard from Kiki.

"I'm so going to kill you later. Way before Artemis even gets the chance," he said, causing me to just chuckle. He hung up on me before I could even say anything else, causing me to shake my head and put my phone in my pocket before turning my gaze toward Artemis. She was staring at me with a look of disbelief.

"What?" I asked.

"Are you trying to ruin a perfectly good relationship between your brother and my best friend?" she asked, causing me to roll my eyes.

"It's just all in good fun, Summers," I replied as I got up and went over toward our bags.

"Well, it's not to Kiki. She got screwed over really bad the last time she dated a "nice" guy and doesn't want to be hurt again. I don't want to see my best friend heart broken again, Dean. I'm being bloody dead fucking serious about this. If your brother hurts my friend, I'm going to fucking bury his bloody fucking body so far under ground that you won't even be able to get to him," she said, causing me to turn around quite quickly.

"Are you threatening my little brother?" I asked, causing her to scoff.

"Are you really this bloody stupid, Dean? Are you seriously saying that it's bloody ok for you to make jokes around someone who has been seriously hurt by a guy just like Sam in the past. Not saying that your brother isn't a good guy because he is probably one of the most bloodiest brilliant guys I have met myself. He's sweet and charming and has total respect for people. Unless you piss him off to an extent. But I don't want to see my best friend hurt. I've seen enough people in my life, Dean, hurt because of something like this. I just don't want it to happen to Kiki," she replied.

"And you think that Sam is going to be just like the guy that screwed her over the last time? What is wrong with you, Summers? Haven't you spent enough time with Sam to know that Sam is not exactly the normal type of nice guy?" I asked.

"I know what kind of guy Sam is, Dean. I'm just saying that if your brother screws her over for any reason, you're going to have a problem on your hands. Let's just keep it at that," she replied before going toward the bathroom. I merely shook my head and went back over toward our things to get something. However, something pink between the girls' bags caught my eye and I grabbed it, pulling up on it to reveal a fluffy pink rabbit. Or well what was once a fluffy pink rabbit. It was kind of raggedy now, like it was a child's stuffed animal years ago, with it's beady little eyes staring up at me. I couldn't tell which girl it belonged to since it wasn't in either one of their bags, but I had an idea that it probably belonged to Kiki since Artemis just wasn't that girly.

"Hey Dean. Do you think….what are you doing?" I stood up with the rabbit in my hands and looked at Artemis as she stood in the doorway of the bathroom looking at me in confusion.

"This was on the floor with our bags. Obviously it belongs to one of you two girls. I'm thinking Kiki since you're not girly enough. But seriously. Why would she want to carry a rabbit around with her? She's what? 22?" I asked as she came toward me.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask her when Sam and her come back here? I'm sure she can explain it to you," she replied as she reached out to take the rabbit from me. I was about to say something, but I stopped when I felt a sudden pain shoot through my head and a vision pass through my mind.

Flashback

"Ferris wheel?"

"Too high."

"Bumper cars?"

"Too fast."

"Cotton candy?"

"Too sticky."

"Artemis Flora Summers, you need to pick something or we will go home. We've come to the fair to have fun and you're not being any fun." A young couple stared down at their five year old daughter, who merely rolled her eyes.

"I want to play games. I want to win a goldfish," she said as she pointed toward an area where about 20 or more games were set up to be played.

"Alright. Come on. We'll play some games. We'll bring home a million goldfish," her father said as he hoisted her up into her arms and headed toward the games. She let out a giggle as he pressed a kiss to her cheek, causing a deep laugh to erupt from the man as they made their way toward the game with the goldfish. However, a tug on the shirt caused him to look at his daughter as she pointed toward another game where stuffed animals were hanging along a wall.

"Look! A bunny!" she squealed as she pointed to a pink rabbit hanging along the wall.

"Artemis, I thought you wanted a goldfish," her mother asked as she gave her daughter a look.

"I want the bunny. Please daddy?" she asked as she looked at her father. The looks exchanged between the couple became a smile as he started walking in the direction of the pink rabbit, causing the little girl to squeal in delight.

"Step right up! 5 dollars for 6 darts! Nail 6 balloons and win any prize along the wall!" Handing his daughter to his wife, the man stepped up to the game and placed five dollars on the bench before proceeding to throw the six darts at the balloons. Hit, hit, hit, hit, miss, hit.

"Oh. Nice try. Would you like to try again?" the carnie asked, causing the man to look at his wife as she nodded. Placing another five dollars down, he proceeded to throw the darts. Hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, miss.

"Oh. Nice try once again. Would you like to try again?" the carnie asked once again.

"Danny, I think we should maybe move on to another game," the woman said as her husband looked at her.

"Once more. Third time is always a charm," he said as he placed another five dollars onto the bench. Hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, and hit.

"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! Any prize, sir. Any prize from the back wall," the carnie said as he faced the young man.

"The pink rabbit, please," he replied, causing the carnie to unlatch the rabbit and hand it over to the man. He turned to his daughter, who took it with a squeal as she hugged it to her chest.

"Mr. Hoppy says thank you," she said, causing her father to reach over and tickle her sides.

"Mr. Hoppy huh?" he asked as giggles erupted from his daughter. He stared at his daughter and then his wife, causing her to give him a smile. Both bright eyed and a speck of twinkle staring back at him as he wrapped a arm around his wife's waist and placing a kiss on his daughter's forehead before walking away toward another game, the pink rabbit snug in his daughter's arm and never to be let go.

End of flashback

My eyes snapped open in surprise and confusion before turning my gaze toward Artemis. I couldn't find anything to say as I watched a tear escape from her closed eyes. Something was seriously wrong, especially because Artemis never cried. Minus the whole event with the Benders a few weeks prior, I don't think I had ever seen her cry.

"Artemis," I said, causing her whole body to go stiff suddenly before her eyes opened and stared at me. I seriously wanted to step back at the icy look that was just sending chills down my spine. Never had I seen them so icy in the entire time I had known her and Kiki.

"Artemis…" But her name has only left my mouth when she yanked the rabbit from my grip and held it tight against her chest before turning around and slamming the door shut. I heard the lock click into place and I sighed as I banged my fist on the door.

"Artemis, what the hell was that?" I asked as I spoke of the vision I had just endured. No doubt that the rabbit belonged to her as I had noticed how possessive she had become over the rabbit.

"Artemis, come out here," I said.

"Go away, Dean," she said, causing me to sigh in frustration. I hated when this girl was this fucking stubborn. Well, if she wasn't going to come out, I wasn't going to make her. But I knew she knew that she would have to come out some time because I knew that Sam would have none of her nonsense. Just because I fought with her didn't mean I didn't notice some of the things going on with her and Sam. Deciding it would be best to wait for Sam, I stalked away from the bathroom and picked up my cell phone. If I had to wait for Miss Bitch, I might as well do something useful.


Hearing the door open and slam shut, I stalked out of the bathroom just in time to see Sam cast a concerned look toward the beds where Artemis was sitting before turning to look at me.

"Dude, I gotta talk to you," we said at the same time, causing both Artemis and Kiki to look up at us. I gave them a glare and then turned back to my brother.

"I'm going to ask about Artemis in a few minutes because I want to know why she's holding that pink rabbit, but I've got to tell you this. Meg's behind it," he said, causing me to give him a look of shock as he launched himself into whatever it was that he and Kiki had seen.

"So hot little Meg is summoning the Daeva?" I asked as my brother finished, causing him to nod.

"Looks like she as using that black altar to control the thing," he replied.

"So Sammy's got himself a bad girl that seems to be crushing on him. Interesting," I said, causing him to roll his eyes. I gave him a look, but it turned into a glare as I felt a pillow hit the side of my face. Turning toward the girls, I realized that it had been Kiki that threw it as Artemis still remained curled up against the headboard of the bed with the rabbit close to her chest. Sighing and running my hand over my face, I turned toward my brother again.

"And what's the deal with that bowl again?" I asked, causing my brother to sigh.

"She was talking into it. Kind of like the way witches used to scry into crystal balls or entrails. She was communicating," he replied.

"With the Daeva?" I asked.

"No. You said those were savages. No, this was someone different. Someone who's giving her orders. Someone who's coming to that warehouse," he replied, causing me to give him a look before sitting down at the table and looking through the papers I had acquired earlier.

"Holy shit," I said as I looked up at my brother.

"What?" he asked.

"What I was going to tell you earlier. I, uh…I pulled a favor with my, ahem, friend Amy over at the police department after Artemis over there kind of had a melt down. I got the complete records of the two victims. We missed something the first time," I replied, causing him to give me a look.

"What?" he asked as he came toward me and looked at the papers.

"The, uh, first victim, the old man? Spent his life in Chicago, but he wasn't born here. Look," I said as I pointed to something on the paper. Sam looked at it and gave me a look.

"Lawrence, Kansas," he said as I nodded.

"Yeah. And Meredith, the second victim? Turns out she was adopted. And guess where she's from," I said.

"Let me guess. Lawrence, Kansas?" I looked up as Kiki stood next to Sam and looked at me. I gave her a nod and looked over at my brother.

"Holy shit," he said, shaking his head.

"Yeah," I said as I knew what he was getting at.

"I mean, it is where the demon killed mom. So you think Meg's tied up with the demon?" he asked.

"It's a definite possibility after hearing about this," Kiki replied as I nodded.

"But I don't understand. What's the significance of Lawrence? And how do these Daeva things fit in?" he asked, causing me to shrug.

"Beats me. But I saw we trash that black altar, grab Meg, and have ourselves an interrogation," I replied.

"No. We can't We shouldn't tip her off. We got to stake out that warehouse. We have to see who, or what, is showing up to meet her," he said, causing me to sigh.

"I'll tell you one thing. I don't think we should do this alone. I've got enough problems on my hands right now with Artemis," I said, causing both Sam and Kiki to look over at Artemis and then back at me.

"Ok. What happened and why is she holding her rabbit?" Kiki asked, causing me to give her a look.

"So it is hers? It isn't yours?" I asked, causing her to shake her head.

"Dude, what's going on? I've never seen Artemis like this before. I warned her about that rabbit and what would happen with you if you found it when I saw it a few days ago sticking out of her bag," Sam said, causing me to give him a look.

"Warned her? About what?" I asked.

"That you probably wouldn't let her live it down since she really isn't girly," he replied, causing me to shake my head.

"I haven't got time for that. I picked that thing up and as I was talking to Artemis about it, thinking it belonged to Kiki, I had a vision when Artemis touched the fucking thing," I said, causing both my brother and Kiki to give me a look of confusion.

"You what?" he asked.

"I had a vision. Or a memory when both Artemis and I touched that rabbit. Perhaps a memory from her past," I replied.

"What did you see?" he asked.

"Her as a little girl and probably her parents. Something to do with winning that pink rabbit over there at a fair or carnival. Or something like that," I replied, causing Kiki to shake her head and sigh.

"What?" Sam asked as he looked at her.

"That's probably the last thing Artemis has, besides a couple of pictures, to remind her of her dad. She told me that her dad won that for her at a fair just a few weeks prior to her mother's death and that's the last thing she has of him. He died when she was 8," she replied, causing me to swear as I ran a hand through my hair.

"Hey Kiki. Do me a favor and watch over Artemis for a short while I talk with Dean outside," Sam said as he stood up and motioned for me to follow him. Watching Kiki sit down on the edge of the bed and begin talking to Artemis, I sighed and followed my brother outside toward the Impala.

"Dean, I'm not suppose to tell you this, but I think maybe now might be a good time," he said, causing me to look at my brother.

"What?" I asked.

"Artemis is looking for the same demon that killed mom," he replied, causing me to look at him in shock.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"She told you that her mom died when she was 5 and her father when she was 8, right?" he asked.

"Yeah. She didn't want to talk about it at the time and completely avoided me for a while," I replied with a nod.

"Dean, her mother died in a fire. The same way mom died the night the demon came for me," he said, causing me to look at him for a second before my eyes widened.

"What? It went after her?" I asked, causing him to shake his head.

"Her brother. It went after her brother. He died when she was 8 too. But that's not the point. The point is, she's been looking for this demon since she was 14. She was only 5 when it took her mother, so she didn't quite understand anything until she was about 14. When she got into this whole supernatural thing," he replied.

"So wait. You're telling me that you've known this entire time and you didn't tell me?" I asked, causing him to sigh.

"She made me promise not to say anything to either you or Kiki. She told me back when I was having those nightmares or whatever about Max killing off his family members. Remember how she was having those headaches and such whenever I had a vision?" he asked, causing me to nod. How could I forget that?

"Well it's because we share a connection. Something to do with the fact that both of our mothers were killed the exact same way. Pinned to the ceiling, stomach slit open, and burned. Dude, Kiki doesn't even know and Kiki's her best friend. Kiki doesn't truly know what Artemis's agenda is," he replied.

"And her father and her brother?" I asked, causing him to shake his head.

"She won't tell me. All I know is they died when she was 8. She got sent to live with some of her mother's relatives in England and then left when she was 14 to start looking for this demon. Dean, Artemis is just like us," he replied.

"So what do we do? She's not fucking moving and she keeps clutching that thing to her chest like it might disappear from her. She's been like this since the vision," I said, causing him to sigh.

"I don't know, Dean. But I know one thing. She is harmless when she's in one of these states. She…."

"Turns to you when she needs that comfort," I said, causing him to nod.

"I don't know why though. I just don't know what we're going to do. That hard exterior Artemis has around her is breaking with every single escapade we do and it's only a matter of time before something happens that causes Artemis to completely unravel. She's hiding something else, Dean. She keeps saying she's cursed," he said, causing me to give him a look of confusion.

"Cursed? What kind of curse?" I asked.

"I don't know. That's just it. She unraveling little by little but that she won't discuss. No matter what I say to her to get it out, she won't budge. All I know is that she's not only looking for this demon that killed her mother. She's looking…."

"For a way to get out of the curse," I finished for him as he nodded.

"And it bugs me that we can't help since we don't know what it is that she's cursed from," he said, causing me to sigh.

"So let me get this straight. Not only do we have to go to this warehouse and possibly stop Meg from doing something unthinkable that probably has to do with the demon that killed mom, but we also have to figure out what's wrong with Artemis before something happens to her?" I asked. He merely nodded, causing me to swear and run my hand through my hair.

"Dean, I know you don't get along with Artemis, but I know you are not that cold-hearted to let some innocent girl be destroyed by something like this. She doesn't want any help, but I know for a fact that it's eating her alive. Dean, we have to help her without Kiki knowing," he said, causing me to give him a look.

"Keep something like this from her best friend? Sam, Kiki is going to have a cow when she finds out. And it'll probably be a lot worse than what she's putting you through now because of Meg," I said.

"I understand, Dean. But I made a promise to Artemis that I had to break with you because of what happened. Kiki is only here because she likes adventure. She wanted to get away from all of the craziness of her family and Artemis offered her that. Kiki is smart, Dean, because she loves hunting the supernatural probably more than you do. But this is a totally different game to Artemis. She's hunting but it's not for the same reasons as Kiki. And I really don't think Kiki would understand at all. Kiki's got family. Dean, Artemis hasn't got anyone. No one," he said.

"She's not alone, Sam. She has us and Kiki," I said, causing him to shake his head.

"That's not enough to her, Dean. I tried to tell her that, but she won't have any of it. She feels so alone in this world. She lost everything, Dean, the night her mom died and the night her brother died and the night her dad died. The only reason she hasn't taken her own life is because she wants whatever it is that killed her family to suffer. Suffer the way that she has for 16 years," he said.

"So why did I have that vision? Why did I share a memory with her?" I asked.

"Maybe something is happening between you two. You two don't get along, but you're both there when the other needs help. I saw the way you were with her when she was sick and what happened with the Benders. You have heart, Dean, and for once I think you're not seeing Artemis as the cold hearted, icy bitch you really think she is," he replied.

"Sam…"

"Dean, just don't say anything to her about it. Just act like you normally act and she'll be ok. I'll try to talk to her, but the best thing for us to do right now is to maybe just leave her alone. Let her sort herself out. God knows what she has turning up in that brain of hers," he said, causing me to sigh.

"Sam, she's going to want to go after that demon if it is who Meg is communicating with," I said, causing him to shake his head.

"No she's not. You shared that memory with her and now she doesn't know what is going on. You saw her yourself, Dean. She's just staring off into space and clutching that rabbit to her like today is her last day to live. She's in no shape or form to go hunting and you know it. Kiki will look after her. I'll make sure of it," he said, causing me to scoff.

"You really think Artemis is just going to sit back and let us handle this? You said so yourself, Sam. She wants this demon to suffer. She wants a hell of a lot more revenge on this thing than we do. I know for a fact that she's not just going to sit back and let us take it out," I said.

"Since when do you care about what she does, Dean?" he asked, causing my eyes to narrow.

"Just because my heart doesn't bleed every time she seems upset doesn't mean I don't have a heart, Sam. She's an annoying, cold hearted, icy bitch that doesn't give a damn to anything or anyone half the time. She could go burn in hell for all I care. But I do know that when it comes to hunting, I know her better than you do. You may seem to understand her with all this emotional shit, but I know her when it comes to hunting. She's fucking fearless until something happens to her or Kiki. Kiki went missing and what did she do? She wouldn't let me take her to the hospital until Kiki was found. Until you were found. She puts everything on hold for herself for someone else. Just because I don't show it, I've got a fucking huge amount of respect for that girl," I snapped, causing him to give me a look.

"Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" he asked, causing me to roll my eyes and start walking away from him.

"Talk to Artemis. I can guarantee you that she's coming," I replied as I threw open the trunk of the Impala. If there was one thing I knew about Artemis it was that she was a stubborn bitch when it came to hunting. And now with the new information given to me by Sam, I knew there was no way the Miss Bitch was going to back away from this if told. I knew something was going on past all of this, but for now, it was sufficient for me to know exactly what was making Artemis the way she was. If we could only help her the rest of the way.


Artemis's POV

"I'm totally going to kill him. Who does he think he is telling me that I have to stay here and watch over you while he and Dean go after Meg? I should be the one to rip her to shreds since she was trying everything in the god damn book to put moves on Sam even though he told her I was his girlfriend. And what does he do? Not a god damn fucking thing. Are you going to be alright for a little bit while I go outside to sit and think?" I looked up from my spaced out daze to Kiki and looked at her for a second before giving her a nod. Swearing underneath her breath, she slipped on her shoes and made her way out the door, shutting and locking it behind her. Shaking my head, I rested my head back on the pillow on the bed and clutched the pink rabbit in my arms tightly. I was so confused on what had happened with Dean. Why he had seen such a wonderful memory when he had touch the rabbit. I knew he was confused and didn't seem to understand, but that wasn't what got me. Why? Why had he seen it?

"I'm so not going to live this down though," I muttered as I tilted my head to look at the beady eyes of Mr. Hoppy staring at me. I felt tears start coming to my eyes and I quickly got up off the bed to head toward the bathroom. I had done enough crying for the day and I didn't need to cry anymore. Especially almost in front of Dean. Splashing water on my face, I began to feel a bit better and just as I reached for a towel, I heard the door open and close.

"I'm in the bathroom washing my face. I'll be right out and then we can talk, Kiki," I said as I began to dry my face. A few minutes later, I walked out of the bathroom and looked around to find Kiki, only to find that there was no one there.

"That's strange. I didn't hear the door open or close again," I thought as I walked toward the door. Opening the door, I looked left and right and saw nothing. Shaking my head, I shut the door and turned around, only ducking just in time as something slammed above my head. Eyes wide at the man standing before me, I kicked him in the leg and moved out of the way just as he made a grab for me. Quickly flipping myself up, I blocked a hit and knocked him slightly backwards, but that didn't do me any good when I found myself slamming against the wall across the room. Trying to stand up, I found myself suddenly sunk into darkness with a heavy hit to the back of the head. I don't know how long I was out, but a couple of light hits to my cheeks seemed to bring me out of that state.

"Come on, princess. Time to wake up."

"Dean?" I whispered in confusion as my eye sight tried to focus itself back right.

"That a girl. You seem to be getting just a bit rusty, princess," he replied as I felt his hands slide across my arms and to my hands, which I realized were tied behind my back. Blinking, my eye sight seemed to be alright as I took in the sight of him while he was crouched in front of me trying to untie my hands from behind me. He had blood along the side of his face and he kind of looked like somebody put him through the wringer.

"I am not rusty. Although my head does hurt. I was attacked. And you look like hell," I said, causing him to blink for a second as he stared at me before shaking his head and standing up, offering me his hand as he did so. I grabbed it and allowed him to pull me up, straightening my dress as I he did so. As I lifted my head, I caught sight of the man standing near and my eyes narrowed. Sensing what I was about to do, Dean grabbed me around the waist and pushed me toward Sam, who held a very confused Kiki by the waist as well.

"Artemis, our dad didn't mean to attack you," Sam said as he gave me an apologetic look.

"Didn't mean to? I have a fucking bloody headache thanks to him. What the fuck is he thinking?" I asked as I threw a glare over to where the man was standing. You could really tell that this was Sam and Dean's dad just by one look. No explanation about it.

"He thought maybe you two were involved in whatever we were doing when we left the two of you here. He saw Meg take the swan dive out the window and thought maybe you two were spies or something," Dean replied, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Do I look like a fucking bloody spy, Dean? Did you even tell your father you had two female hunters with you? That we've been with you for several weeks?" I asked as I threw Sam's hand off of me and stalked toward Dean. He merely stared at me, causing me to scoff and turn to the man now known as their father.

"So I'm left to understand they didn't tell you about us. Attack forgotten since it was your bloody fucking sons' fault. I'm Artemis and that there is Kiki. We're hunters ourselves and we've been traveling with your boys for a few weeks now. Since the asylum incident," I said, causing him to stare at me for a second before nodding.

"Attack forgotten. I'm John Winchester, Sam and Dean's father," he said, causing me to nod and walk toward Dean again.

"You and Sam both look like hell. What happened?" I asked, causing him to roll his eyes.

"We went after Meg," he replied, causing me to give him a look of confusion.

"Meg? Why?" I asked.

"You must of really been out of it, princess. Don't worry about it. It was a trap anyways. You probably would have gotten hurt," he replied, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Gee. Thanks for being so concerned," I said before walking toward the bed and picking up the rabbit that had laid forgotten earlier on. Staring at it for a second, I turned my attention back to the rest of them.

"So what became of Meg?" I asked.

"Dad saw her take the swan dive about seven stories or so out of the warehouse," Sam replied, causing me to nod and walk back over to Dean.

"I had a feeling she was the bad guy. It didn't surprise me. It's tried stopping me before," John said, causing both of his sons to look at him in surprise.

"The demon has?" Sam asked, causing me to look over at him. Say what?

"It knows I'm close. It knows I'm going to kill it. Not just exorcise it or send it back to hell. Actually kill it," he replied as he looked between his sons. Kill it? Wait a minute.

"Wait. You were going after a demon?" I asked, causing both boys to look over at me.

"Artemis…."

"You two went after Meg because you thought she was having contact with the demon? You two went after it and left the two of us behind?" I asked as my eyes narrowed.

"Art…."

"Sam!" I exclaimed as I looked at him with an expression that I couldn't even tell myself. I was just so upset at this point.

"I told you she wasn't going to be happy, Sam. How?" he asked as he turned his attention back to his father, who gave me a strange look before looking at his son.

"I'm working on that," John replied with a small chuckle.

"Well, let us come with you. We'll help," Sam said.

"No Sam. Not yet. Listen, try to understand. This demon is a scary son o f a bitch. I don't want you caught in the crossfire. I don't want you to get hurt," he said, shaking his head.

"Dad, you don't have to worry about us. You're not the only one looking for that demon," Sam said as his eyes shifted over to me before looking back at his father. John gave me another look before shaking his head.

"Of course I have to worry about you. I'm your father. Listen, Sammy, uh….last time we were together, we had one hell of a fight," he said, causing Sam to nod.

"Yes sir," Sam said.

"It's good to see you again. It's been a long time," he said.

"Too long," Sam said, causing me to sigh and run a hand over my face. As much as I loved Sam like a brother, I really wasn't in the mood for this whole chick flick thing or whatever the hell you wanted to call it. The fact of the matter was, the demon they had gone after was still out there and I wanted to go out and find it. Not sit around here listening to the Winchester family reunite or whatever the hell they were doing at this moment.

"Hey guys. Not meaning to break up this happy reunion or whatever the hell is going on, but…." I didn't even finish my sentence as I was sent sailing across the room with a quick fluid motion. I barely had time to put air into my lungs when I let out a scream as I felt something just rip across my chest.

"Artemis!" I let out another scream as I felt whatever it was scratch my cheek. What was happening? Why were they after us now?

"Shut your eyes! They're shadow demons! Let's light them up!" I quickly shielded my eyes as a sudden bright light lit up the room and whatever was attacking me, the Daevas I think, moved away with a scream. I felt myself being hauled up and an arm lock securely around my waist before hurriedly moving along. I knew it was Dean just by his handling and I buried my face into his chest as he helped his dad as well try to get out of the building.

"Alright. Come on. We don't have much time. Soon as the flare is out, they'll be back." I groaned as I heard Sam's voice as we came to a stop, but I didn't let go of Dean as he began to speak.

"No, wait. Wait. Sam, wait. Dad, you can't come with us," he said as I turned my head just slightly as Sam looked between his father and his brother.

"What? What are you talking about?" Sam asked as he gave his brother a crazy look.

"You boys….You're beat to hell. The girls, especially Artemis, are as well," John said.

"We'll be alright," Dean said.

"Dean, we should stick together. We'll go after this demon together," Sam said.

"Sam, listen. We almost got dad killed in there. Don't you understand? They're not gonna stop. They're going to try again. They'll use us to get to him. I mean, Meg was right. Dad's vulnerable when he's with us. He…he's stronger without us around," Dean said, causing Sam to shake his head.

"Dad. No. Not after everything. After all the time we've spent looking for you….please. I gotta be part of this fight," Sam said as he looked at his father. I was beginning to get kind of dizzy and my grip tightened on Dean as I watched the exchange between father and son.

"Sammy, this fight is just starting. And we are all going to have a part to play. For now, got to trust me, son. Okay? You got to let me go. You need to put your focus on the girls right now. You're putting them into danger as well by being with me. Especially her," John said as he motioned to me. I watched as he eyes locked with mine and I immediately knew that their father knew what was happening. He knew I was looking for that demon too.

"Come on, princess," Dean said as he opened to the door to the Impala and gently set me down inside. I gave him a look before letting it shift to their father as he gave me a look. He stared at me for about a minute before giving me a small smile and a nod before walking away from the car. I sighed and shook my head before leaning my head against the backseat and shutting my eyes. It wasn't long before I heard the car doors opening and the car moving backwards. Opening my eyes, I saw buildings starting to move backwards before the car suddenly lurched forward and began peeling down the street. Looking at the front, I caught Dean's look in the rearview mirror and for a split second I thought I saw a flicker of worry or concern in his eyes.

"Are you alright, princess?" he asked, causing me to nod. He gave me another look before his attention turned back toward the road. It wasn't long before he was pulling the car over at some gas station.

"Sam, take care of Kiki. I'll look after Artemis," he said, causing Sam to nod and both Sam and Kiki get out of the Impala and head toward the store while Dean got out and opened the back door to the Impala to look me over. I flinched slightly as he pressed a cloth to my cheek, causing him to shake his head as he moved me backwards so he could sit down.

"Those suckers got you pretty good. Ruined a pretty cute number too," he said, causing me to roll my eyes and hit him in the chest as he let out a laugh.

"Fucking prick," I said, shaking my head. There was a few minutes of silence before he spoke.

"Are you going to be ok?" he asked, causing me to look up at him as he looked at me with much concern. I stared at him before sighing.

"I know you know, Dean. I know Sam told you," I replied, causing him to look at me before nodding.

"It would have been nice to know that you were looking for the same demon we were," he said, causing me to shake my head.

"I thought it might be easier not having anyone know," I said, causing him to shake his head this time.

"You were wrong. You got hurt tonight, Artemis. That demon that killed our mothers is not stupid. Why won't you tell Kiki what it is that you're really looking for?" he asked, causing me to sigh.

"I just think it would be better to let her not know. There is so much you or your brother understand and I think it would just best be left that you don't know or Kiki know for that matter. She's better off not knowing," I replied, causing him to shake his head.

"And what are you going to do if she finds out, Artemis?" he asked.

"I'll deal with it if it comes to that. But you nor Sam can tell her. It would be best if she was left in the dark," I replied, causing him to sigh.

"Artemis…"

"Please Dean. I never ask you to do anything for me," I said as I looked at him. He stared at me for a second before sighing.

"You're so fucking stubborn," he said, causing me to chuckle before sighing. He gave me a questionable look and I shrugged.

"I can't believe that Mr. Hoppy is gone for good," I said, causing him to look at me in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"My rabbit. I dropped him when the Daeva slammed me against the wall. I've dragged him everywhere since my dad won him for me when I was five. I'm sure Sam told you the story," I said, causing him to nod before reaching across the front of the seats and pulling up a thing of pink fur. My eyes widened when I realized it was Mr. Hoppy.

"Sam told me that it was the last link you have to your dad besides a couple of pictures. I figured you would be really miserable if it was completely lost forever," he said as he handed it to me. I stared at it for a second before crushing it to my chest and trying hard not to cry. Looking up at Dean, I could feel the tears threatening to spill.

"Artemis…." But I cut him off as I threw my arms around him and buried my face into his chest just as the tears started to fall. I was so grateful to him for doing what he did by giving me my rabbit back. I was surprised that he had such a heart like that, but I guess seeing his dad for the first time in a couple of months made him realize what exactly I was feeling with having lost both of my parents. Feeling his arms lock around me in a bit of a protective manner, I let out a sob as I finally felt some of my world come crashing down. My shield. My barrier I had put up when I was younger.

"We're going to get through this, Artemis. I promise," Dean said, stroking my back as I nodded. I could feel something happening to me and it was happening fast. I couldn't quite put my finger on it and for the first time in my life, I was afraid. What the hell was happening to me?