Part four: trust

Old story told anew

'You shouldn't interfere with that family. They are crazy like hell,' the Sheriff told Aliza.

Aliza gave the older man a genuine smile. She adored the way this nearly retired man tried to save her. Little did he know she searched for the monsters.

'Thank you for the advice Sheriff, but I know what I'm doing. Would you mind giving me the address?'

He gave her a long look. She felt like her father looked at her because she asked to play outside, and he was at the brim of agreeing. Only she didn't have a lot of those memories.

'Alright. Who am I to question a fed anyway. Here you go miss Collins,' he replied as he handed her the file she needed.

She smiled down at the document. 'I really appreciate the fuss, but I am dealing with this lot at a daily base. Don't you worry.'

The man didn't seem satisfied, but he continued his work anyway. Aliza walked out of the police station, back to her car. Her 1971 dodge challenger stood along the road. Once again she made a mental note that Dean and Bobby made her obsess over old classic cars. Or maybe they reminded her of the old place in front of Bobby's house. The good old days. Over too soon.

She sighed her frustration away when she sat behind the wheel. She removed the clasp that held her hair up, letting her light locks fall in all directions. The rearview mirror reminded her she had overdone her make-up today. She always ended up putting too much of the stuff on her face. Partly to cover her weird eyes, partly because it felt like a mask she wore.

As she sat there, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The last two years had been rough. Dealing with what she was hadn't been easy. After the accident at the cage fight, she fled town. She took little belongings and needed to start anew. She hadn't told anyone where she was going. The only person crazy enough to keep contact with her had been Harry, but since that day she hadn't talked to him either. She didn't blame him, after all the things she said.

When she was all alone in the world, her search began. Her search for peace. Accidentally, she had found an American-Indian monastery, where they were cut off from the world. She learned to control her anger and to accept what she was. It had taken her a long time to accomplish those things, but in the end she walked out as a new person.

That was when reality hit her again. She was dropped back in the world of judging people and hungry monsters. Luckily demons left her alone, thanks to her deal. She had run into one or two demons, but when they saw her they tucked tail and ran back to daddy. Angels luckily didn't know she was alive. Yet. She knew nothing could be long hidden from them. But that was, when she would show up on their radar. As long as she lived like a human, maybe she could go unnoticed.

But none of that implied that things were easy on her. Last year there was a serious problem with a bunch of Leviathans, trying to eat humanity. She knew too little about them to kill them, but she did hear a trick with Borax from some other hunters. And then one day, they all just disappeared.

The year after that was quieter. No big invasions, or at least nothing she knew off. The apocalypse had passed her without even knowing. Sure, there were strange things going on, but somehow she didn't seem involved. Luckily someone else took care of that. And that someone, were Sam and Dean Winchester. Not a single hunter in America – or pretty much the world – hadn't heard the story of how the Winchesters stopped the end of times. Aliza had felt a sparkle of proudness when she heard it first, together with a painful shot of hurt. Sam had jumped in the pit to stop Lucifer. Dean was still alive though, but it still hurt like a bitch. She only knew Sam as an innocent child, and the next thing she knew, he jumped into hell itself.

She cleared her mind from the memories haunting her brain. She needed to focus on the case at hand. It was pretty clear that she was after a vampire nest. Only going out at night, people going missing, weird family bonds…not hard to guess. She drove away, finding a quiet spot to change clothes and gear up.

'Shit!' Aliza cursed silently.

The sounds coming from the old barn grew louder as she approached. It sounded like a big fight in there. Someone beat her to it.

Aliza walked around the barn to the entrance. The huge doors stood open, revealing an odd scene. Three vampires were on their legs, trying to embed their fangs in the throats of the two hunters fighting them. Four more vamps laid dead on the floor, heads in other places. Aliza clutched onto her machete. Soundlessly, she moved around, staying close to the walls.

The hunters managed to slay the two vamps they were battling. They tried to catch theirs breaths for a moment when the last vamp launched himself at one's back.

'Dean!' the other screamed, but was too late to act.

Aliza on the other hand, had watched the vamp and was in time to swing her knife, to separate the head from the shoulders. Dean ducked to avoid the head landing in his face. A soft thud was heard as the body collapsed with the ground. The two parties finally noticed each other.

Aliza tried to slow her breath. 'Saved your life there, didn't I?' she said as she pushed her hair out of her face.

Dean looked her over. Then twice. Then a grin appeared on his face.

'Yes, yes you did. But tell me, what is a pretty lady like yourself doing out here?' he said with a suggestive wink.

Aliza rolled her eyes. 'Don't even start. Heard that one enough. Women can be hunter too.'

Dean wiped some blood from his face. 'They sure can. I'm a big supporter. Definitely the hot ones. Hi, I'm Dean,' he said while holding out his hand.

Aliza blinked a couple of times. She looked Dean deep in his eyes and saw the truth. 'Dean?' she whispered. Instead of shaking his hand, she moved her hand to his cheek, feeling whether he was real.

'O-kay…you okay miss?' Dean asked awkwardly.

'Dean,' the other started. He took a protective step forward, as if announcing she better watched her actions.

Then she turned to him. The other was a lot taller than Dean. His slick dark hair hung to his shoulders. But those eyes, they were the same. Tears started to shimmer in her eyes.

'Sam?' she choked out.

Sam pushed his eyebrows together in confusion. 'You know us?'

Aliza took her hand away from Dean's cheek when she realized it was still there. 'Knew. Once.'

Dean gave her another intense look. Slowly on he started to recognize the two-colored eyes.

'Aliza?' he said, partly shocked, partly disgusted. Once she was like a sister, and now he had flirted with her.

The recognition didn't seem to reach Sam. He just stood there, hopelessly watching. 'Who?'

Dean turned around to his brother. 'Aliza stayed over at Bobby's when you were eight. It wasn't for long, because she…ran,' Dean suddenly realized. He turned back to Aliza. 'You ran.'

Aliza still wasn't over the shock herself. She stared at Sam, who finally seemed to remember her.

'And you were in hell with Satan, or so I heard.'

Sam diverted his gaze. He looked ashamed. Dean seemed just as awkward on the topic.

'So did I. But apparently he is fine. He decided to tell me after a year,' Dean told her while avoiding Sam's look. 'And after that, when I was sent to purgatory, my lovely little brother didn't even bother looking for me.'

Aliza switched her attention between the boys she once knew. After the shock had settled, Aliza realized they had grown up exactly like you would expect: two hunting brothers taking over the family business. Only from time to time the fate of the world would land in their hands.

Sam had started a little argument, silently defending himself from Dean's accusations. Without thinking, Aliza grabbed both of them in her arms, hugging the Winchesters. They were both silenced.

'Aliza?' Dean asked, a little uncomfortable.

'Shush,' she replied, 'it's just good to see you guys again.'

Both of them relaxed a bit and started to hug back. 'Good to see you too, little one,' Dean replied teasingly.

She let go of them to face them again. They both smiled at her, and it made her feel warm. A warmth she hadn't known in a long time.

'So what happened to you? Since you ran?' Sam asked.

The smile on her face faded. She didn't like talking about her past. As she looked around, she became aware of their surroundings.

'Why don't we drink on our victory and chat a little, ey?' she suggested, faking a smile.

They nodded and all three left the barn.

After a clean-up from the vampire blood, they walked into a nearby bar. Dean ordered beers all around. Once the waitress brought their order, Sam started back up where they left off.

'So, you were going to tell about your life so far,' he pressed.

The lines in the beaten-up wooden table suddenly became very interesting. Aliza stared down to avoid eye-contact. 'It ain't no happily-ever-after story.'

Dean placed the drink on the table, so he had all attention turned to her. 'Didn't ask for one.'

Aliza leaned back in her seat with a big sigh. She looked out the window when she started telling.

'Got in the foster system. Raised pretty okay, for an orphan with my kind of past. But a kid my age back then couldn't let go of the things I knew and saw. So I started to pick up on some good lore books and read the newspaper articles under the 'mysterious deaths' section. Didn't make me too popular amongst the girls who played with Barbie's. Honestly, all kind of dolls scare the shit out of me. Anyway, after that it was pretty much the same. High school, college…,' Aliza gave a little smirk as she stared in the distance. Dean and Sam shared a look, wondering what she was thinking about.

'What happened in collage?' Dean asked, too curious to contain himself.

Aliza didn't stop smirking. 'Had a good fling.'

Dean snorted. 'One? Why would you even remember…'

'With my teacher.'

Dean stopped talking and grew awkwardly quiet. He managed a small 'oh' together with a 'not bad' look. Aliza continued her story, growing a little serious.

'And then the real life. Once I was old enough I started to hunt occasionally. Kept on doing it. Tried to write, didn't work out. Now I'm back to full-time hunting. Last year was pretty busy with all these Leviathans walking around. But hey, at least there was plenty to do.'

The brothers exchanged another look. This time Aliza noticed.

'Would be stupid to ask whether you were involved with the Levi's, right?'

They both kind of nodded. 'Ever hunted with others?' Sam asked.

She took another sip from her beer. 'Nope.'

'Always alone?'

'Like I said,' she held her hands out dramatically, 'wasn't the popular chick.'

Dean gave an approving look. 'Respect for that. Not easy without someone having your back.'

Another absent smile played on her lips. This time though, she wasn't going to explain.

'Well,' Dean started after a long silence, then he finished his drink and put some bills on the table 'It's getting late and I still have a long drive to go.'

The statement made her body go freezing cold again. That moment of comfort was gone. However, Dean asked: 'got anywhere to be tonight?'

Confused, she looked up. She scrunched her eyebrows together. 'No. Why'd you ask?'

He gestured towards the exit. 'Wanna join us for a bit?'

She looked from Dean to Sam. He had an approving smile on his face.

'For real?'

'Yup.'

'You trust me, after not seeing me for years? I'm not the innocent child anymore.'

'Never thought you were. Come on. Love to hit my bed before sunrise.'

Aliza finally allowed herself to feel happy again. A smile grew on her face. 'I'm coming.'

Who's ready?

You ready? Next part...he will come