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 sheclashes 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?


Dead Man's Blood

"Is this really a breakfast meal?"

"It's a healthy breakfast meal, Dean. Not like that greasy stuff sitting on your plate there."

"Yeah, but it's good and it's flavorful."

"Granola is good and flavorful too."

"Whatever you say. Just have a bit." I gave Dean a glare as he held a fork full of eggs and sausage toward me. We were sitting in a small diner somewhere in Nebraska eating breakfast as we looked for something new to hunt down. So far we really didn't have anything.

"No. It's really greasy. And probably unhealthy," I said as I shook my head before putting a spoonful of granola into my mouth.

"One bite is not going to hurt you. Come on," Dean said as Kiki chuckled and Sam shook his head at our antics.

"Only if you make a deal," I said, causing him to raise an eyebrow. When it came to me, he was always up for a challenge. I really don't know why, but I guess it was for entertainment or something.

"What's the deal?" he asked as he shoved what he had been trying to feed me into his mouth. I gave him a look of disgust before shaking my head and giving him a look.

"If I have to take a bite of that, you have to have some of this. It's a fair trade," I replied, causing him to give me a look of disgust as he gave a shudder at the thought.

"You know you're evil, right?" he asked, causing me to shrug.

"You eat it or no deal," I replied, causing him to roll his eyes before nodding.

"Fine. But you're first. Open up," he said as he forked up some more eggs and sausage.

"Why do I have to go first?" I asked.

"Because I said so. Now eat up," he said, causing me to give him a dirty look before taking the food into my mouth with a grimance. It really didn't taste as bad as I thought it would, but it was still terrible with all the grease I could taste alongside it.

"See. Not bad at all. Now let's get this over with," he said, causing me to roll my eyes before giving him some of the granola. He sat chewing it for a minute before giving a shrug and going back to his own breakfast.

"It's not that bad. But it's still horrible because it's healthy," he said, causing me to roll my eyes yet again before going back to my own breakfast and looking over at Kiki, who was giving me a look of confusion.

"What?" I asked.

"Is there something you'd like to share with Sam and I?" she asked, causing me to give her a look before looking over at Dean. He merely gave me a shrug and began to flip through the newspaper.

"Not really. Why?" I asked as I turned back to my best friend.

"Because the two of you just fed each other. Is something going on?" she asked, causing me to roll my eyes.

"No. And so what? I eat off of Sam's fork when he's trying to get me to eat something new. It's not like we're dating or anything," I replied, causing her to shake her head.

"You're something else, Artemis. You really are," she said, causing me to roll my eyes before turning my attention over to the newspaper that Dean was shifting through. Nothing really seemed to catch my eye, so I assumed it would probably be an easy day or something along those lines.

"Alright dude. Not a decent lead since all of Nebraska. What do you got?" he asked, looking over at Sam as Sam surfed through the internet on his laptop.

"Well, I've been skimming Wyoming, Colorado, and South Dakota. Nothing really is there. Wait. Here. A woman in Iowa fell 10,000 feet from an airplane and survived," Sam replied as he looked up at us.

"That sounds more like it's incredible than twilight zone. Hey. We can just keep it at an ease," he said.

"Like that's going to happen," I said with a snort of laughter.

"Artemis is right. That's never going to happen with us. So in the meantime, we've got a lot of work to do, Dean, and you know that," Sam said, causing Dean to look between the three of us before sighing.

"Yeah, you're right. What else do you got?" he asked.

"Uh….Manning, Colorado. Local man by the name of Daniel Elkins was found mauled in his home," Sam replied.

"Elkins? I know that name," he said as he pulled his dad's journal out of his bag and started to leaf through it.

"Doesn't ring a bell for Artemis and I," Kiki said as I nodded in agreement. I had never heard that name before, so it was a big mystery to me.

"Doesn't ring a bell for me either. Sounds like the police don't know what to think. At first they said it was some kind of bear attack and now they've found signs of robbery," Sam said as he continued reading to us.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I looked over at Dean.

"Check it out," he replied as he flipped the journal over so that Sam could see where he was pointing to. He was pointing to a name, D. Elkins, in the phone section of his dad's journal.

"You think it's the same Elkins?" Sam asked.

"It's a Colorado area code," he replied.

"So what do we do? Should we go check it out?" Kiki asked.

"Might as well. Sounds right up our alley. Let's go, princess," Dean said as he tossed me my jacket and stood up. I gave him a glare but merely tossed on my jacket and followed him out. This sounded like it was going to be another great escapade, sarcasm dripping through every word of that sentence.


"This is fucking creepy. Why the bloody fuck do we always get stuck checking out the creepy places?"

"It just comes with the job. Stop whining." I smacked Dean against the head, causing him to give me a glare as Sam picked the lock and swung the door open. I stuck my tongue out at him before stepping inside and swinging my flashlight around the cabin, the mess immediately jumping out at me.

"Looks like the maid didn't come today."

"You think?" I asked as I joined Dean in one of the room's he had stepped into and surveyed the mess before us.

"Hey. There's salt over here. Right inside the door," I heard Sam say.

"You mean like "protection against demons" salt or "oops I stilled the popcorn" salt?" Dean asked.

"It's clearly a ring," Kiki replied as she and Sam joined us in the room.

"You think this guy Elkins was a player?" Sam asked as I made my further into the room while Dean started leafing through a book of some sort.

"That looks a hell of a lot like your dad's," Kiki said.

"Yeah. Except this dates back to the '60s," Dean said as we made our way through the rest of the house. Walking into another room, I winced as I felt some small pieces of glass fall into my hair, causing me to look up to see the busted sky window.

"Whatever attacked him, it looks like there were more than one," Sam said as he observed the window as well.

"Looks like he put up a bloody hell of a fight too," I said, tearing my eyes away from the window and to the rest of the room as Sam nodded in complete agreement. Flashing my light around and carefully stepping through the room, I discovered a box on the floor that seemed like a gun was in it or something. Gesturing toward Dean, I showed him what I had found, causing him to look carefully around the area I was kneeling in and knelt down not far from me.

"You got something?" Kiki asked as she noticed his actions.

"I don't know. There are some scratches on the floor," he replied as he grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and stuck it down on the floor.

"Death throlls maybe?" Sam asked.

"Maybe. Or maybe a message. Look familiar?" he asked as he held up the paper to his brother, causing Sam to take it and look at it in interest as Kiki peered over his arm to get a look at it too.

"Three letters and six digits. The location and combination of a post office box. It's a mail drop," Sam replied as he looked at us.

"It's just the way dad does it. Come on," Dean said as he headed for the door. About a half hour later, Kiki was typing away on her laptop while I leaned over the front seat and looked at the letter Sam and Dean had retrieved from the mail box indicated by the message we had picked up from the cabin.

"J.W.. You think? John Winchester?" Sam asked as he looked at Dean.

"I don't know. Should we open it?" Dean asked, causing me to shrug. Sam was about to say something when I jumped slightly out of my skin at the knocking on the driver's window, causing the four of us to turn and look at the man standing outside the Impala.

"Dad?" Dean asked as the guy got into the car and I turned my head just slightly to see that it was in fact John Winchester once again.

"Dad, what are you doing here? You alright?" Sam asked as I moved out of Sam's vision so that he could see his dad properly.

"Yeah. I'm ok. Look, I read the news about Daniel. I got here as fast as I could. I saw the four of you up at his place," he replied.

"Why didn't you come in, dad?" Sam asked.

"You know why. Because I had to make sure you weren't followed by anyone or anything. Nice job of covering your tracks, by the way," he replied, causing me to snort with laughter as Kiki shook her head.

"Yeah, well we learned from the best," Dean said, ignoring the two of us as he looked back at his dad.

"Wait. You came all the way out here for this Elkins guy?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. He was a good man. He taught me a hell of a lot about hunting," John replied.

"You never mentioned him to us," he said as Dean nodded.

"We had a…kind of a falling out. I hadn't seen him in years. I should look at that," John said as he motioned to the letter in Dean's hand. He handed it over to his father and John skimmed it over before swearing.

"What?" Sam asked.

"When you searched the place, did you see a gun? An antique? A colt revolver? Did you see it?" he asked.

"There was an old case that I saw that looked like it could of held a gun, but it was completely empty," I replied.

"Damn it," he said, shaking his head.

"You mean whatever killed Elkins?" Dean asked.

"We got to pick up their trail," he replied as he got out of the car.

"Wait. You want us to come with you?" Sam asked, causing John to stop and lean in the driver's window.

"If Elkins was telling the truth, we've got to find this gun," he replied.

"The gun? Why?" Kiki asked as we gave each other looks before looking back at John.

"Because it's important. That's why," he replied, causing my eyes to narrow at his tone of voice. Who the bloody hell did he think he was talking to? His kids?

"Dad, we don't even know what these things are yet," Sam said.

"They're what Daniel Elkins killed best. Vampires," he said, causing Dean and I to look at each other in confusion. Vampires?

"Vampires? I thought there was no such thing," Dean said as I nodded in agreement. I knew that vampires were not real, but after everything we had been through, I was open to new ideas as of right now.

"You never mentioned them, dad," Sam said.

"I thought they were extinct. I thought Elkins and others had wiped them out," John said.

"Well you obviously thought wrong. Look at what we do for bloody fucking christ," I said, causing Dean to turn to look at me with a glare.

"Artemis, shut up," he said.

"Fuck off," I said, eyes narrowing into a glare as well.

"Enough you two. Most vampire lore is shit. A cross won't propel them and sunlight won't kill them. And neither will a stake to the heart. But the blood lust? That part is true. They need fresh human blood to survive. They were once people, so you won't know it's a vampire until it's too late," John said.

"So what do we do?" Kiki asked.

"We pick up their trail," he replied before he went back to his truck. Looking at each other, the four of us didn't know what to do. I could tell that this was going to be a long fucking case. Or something like that.


Dean's POV

"Sam, Dean, let's go. Wake the girls. Picked up a police call." I gave a groan as I felt a slap to my foot and opened my eyes to see my dad grabbing his coat.

"What happened?" Sam asked as he sat up with a yawn.

"Couple called 9-1-1. Found a body in the street. Cops got there and everyone was missing. It's the vampires," he replied as he headed for the door.

"Ugh…How do you know?" Sam asked.

"Just follow me, ok? Dean, get her up," he replied, pointing to a still sleeping Artemis before he left the motel room, Sam and Kiki grudgingly following behind. I sighed as I sat up and ran a hand over my face before looking over at Artemis. She was out for the count as she lay stretch out on her stomach beside me sleeping.

"Vampires. Heh. Gets funnier every time I hear it. Come on, princess. We've got to work," I said as I shook her slightly. She gave a groan and let her eyes flicker open before looking at me tiredly.

"Say what?" she asked.

"Dad's got a trail. Come on," I replied as I got up and offered her my hand. She gave me a look before sighing and allowing me to help her up. Putting on her converses and grabbing her jacket, she followed me out to the car where Sam and Kiki were waiting for us. We threw ourselves into the car and I began to follow my dad to the place where the couple had disappeared. About twenty minutes later, we found ourselves leaning against the Impala as our dad gave us orders to stay put while he went to talk to the cops.

"I don't see why we couldn't of gone over with him," Sam said, causing me to sigh and give him a look.

"Oh no. Don't tell me it's already starting," I said, causing him to give me a look.

"What's starting?" he asked, causing me to roll my eyes before I noticed that dad was starting to head back toward us.

"What do you got?" I asked.

"It was them alright. I think they're heading west. We're going to have to double back to get around the detour," dad replied.

"How can you be so sure?" Sam asked.

"Sam," I warned, causing my brother to roll his eyes before looking back at our dad.

"I just want to know we're going in the right direction," he said.

"We are," dad said.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"I found this," dad replied as he handed something to me, causing Artemis to peer over my arm to take a look as well.

"It's a vampire fang," she said as she gave our dad a look.

"Not a fang. Teeth. The second set descends when they attack. Any more questions? Good. Let's get going. We're losing daylight. And Dean? Why don't you touch up your car before it gets rust. I wouldn't of given you the damn thing if I thought you were going to ruin it," he said as he headed back toward his truck. The girls and Sam gave me a look of bewilderment, causing me to merely shrug and get into the passenger side of the car. Sam starting up the car and following our dad, I pulled out some papers and began to look through them, Artemis peering over my shoulder to take a look as well.

"Vampires nest been 8 and 10. Smaller packs are sent out to hunt for food. They take their victims to the nest where they keep them alive, bleeding them for days or weeks," I said as I read off one paper.

"9-1-1 couple maybe?" she asked, causing me to nod.

"Maybe," I replied.

"Probably what dad is thinking. Of course it would be nice if he just told us what he thinks," Sam said, causing me to look over at him and scoff.

"So it is starting," I said, causing him to give me a look.

"What?" he asked.

"Sam, we've been looking for dad all year. Now we're not with him for more than a couple of hours and there's static starting already?" I asked.

"No. Look, I'm happy he's ok. Alright? And I'm happy we're working together. It's just the way he treats us as if we're children. He barks orders at us, Dean, and he expects us to follow them without question. He keeps us on some shit "need to know" deal," he replied.

"He does what he does for a reason," I said.

"What reason?" he asked.

"Our jobs. There is no time to argue. There is no margin for error. It's just the way the old man runs things," I replied, shaking my head.

"Yeah, well maybe that worked when we were kids, but not anymore. Alright? Not after everything the four of us, especially me and you, have been through, Dean. I mean, are you telling me you're cool with just falling into line and letting him run the whole show?" he asked. I stared at him for a second before answering.

"If that's what it takes," I said with a nod.

"Not me. Forget it. Your father doesn't tell us what to do," Artemis said, causing me to look back at her and Kiki.

"Artemis…."

"Artemis is right, Dean. You may follow orders from your father, but not us. We're not his kids," Kiki said, causing me to sigh and shake my head.

"Whatever you say," I said before turning back to the papers at hand. A while later, my cell phone began to ring, causing me to pick up.

"Yeah dad?" I asked.

"I want you guys to pull off at the next exit. I think I've got the vampires' trail," he replied.

"Alright. Got it. Pull off at the next exit," I said to Sam as I shut my cell phone and put it back in my pocket.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because dad thinks we got the vampires' trail," I replied.

"How?" he asked.

"I don't know. He didn't say," I replied, causing him to give me a look before I felt the car start to rev up and begin to speed up, passing dad's truck in the process before pulling to a stop in front of it and getting out.

"Oh shit. Here we go. Sam!" I yelled as I got out of the car, Artemis and Kiki following.

"What the hell is that?" dad asked.

"We need to talk," Sam replied.

"About what?" he asked.

"About everything. Where are we going, dad? What's the big deal about this gun?" Sam asked.

"Sammy, come on. We can do this later after we kill all the vampires," I said as I tried to keep them from fighting, although I knew it was going to be a losing cause.

"Your brother is right. We don't have time for this," dad said.

"Last time we saw you, you said it was too dangerous to be together. Now, out of the blue, you need our help. Now something big is obviously going down and we want to know what," he said.

"Get back in the car," dad said.

"No," he said.

"I said get back in the damn car," dad said once again.

"Yeah. And I said no," he said as he set forward toward dad, causing Artemis to step between them and push Sam slightly back.

"Alright Sam. Artemis has go the right idea. You've made your point, tough guy. Look, we're all tired and we can talk about this later. Girls, get back in the car. Sammy, come on," I said as I made my way toward the passenger side of the Impala.

"This is why I left in the first place," Sam muttered, causing dad to stop and turn around to look at him.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"You heard me," Sam replied as he too turned around and walked back toward dad.

"Yeah. You left. Your brother and me needed you. You walked away, Sam. You walked away," he said.

"You were the one that said "don't come back," dad. You were the one that closed the door. Not me. You were just pissed off that you couldn't control me anymore," Sam snapped.

"Sam! Stop it!" Artemis exclaimed as she step between them again and shoved Sam backwards.

"She's right. Stop it. That's enough. It means you too," I said as I gave my dad a look. Both Sam and dad looked at me before stalking off to their respectful vehicles. I groaned as Artemis shook her head.

"My thoughts exactly. Terrific," I said, shaking my head as well before the both of us got into the car. I was beginning to think like Artemis with this case. This was going to be a fucking long ass case.


Artemis's POV

"Son of a bitch. So they're really not afraid of the sun?"

"They're just walking in the sunlight for the fucking fun of it. Geez Dean. Don't you learn anything?"

"Don't start you two." Dean and I threw a glare at Sam before glaring at each other. We had just spotted a vampire coming back to the nest and going inside as we watched from the bushes surrounding what I think was a barn.

"Sam's right. Don't start. And yes. Direct sunlight hurts like a nasty sunburn. The only way to kill them is by beheading. And yeah. They sleep during the day, but that doesn't mean they won't wake up," John said as he gave us a look.

"So I guess walking right in is not our best option," Dean said.

"Actually, that's the plan," he said, causing me to give Dean a look before looking at his father crazily.

"What?" I asked.

"Artemis," Dean warned as we followed John back to the vehicles to load up. I gave him a glare as he opened up the trunk of the Impala, but kept my mouth shut as I put one of my guns on safety and stuck into the back of my jeans before cocking the other one and placing it on the inside of my jacket for now.

"So you boys really want to know about this colt?" John asked, causing the four of us to look over at him.

"You do know that we're not boys, right?" I asked, causing Dean to smack me in the head and me elbow him in the stomach before looking over at John.

"I see that," he replied, causing Sam to shake his head.

"Yes sir," Sam said as he answered his father's question. Looking around at the four of us, John sighed before speaking.

"It's just a story. A legend really. Well, I thought it was. Never really believe it until I read Daniel's letter. Back in 1835, when Haley's comet was over head and the same night those men died at the Alamo, they say Samuel Colt made a gun. A special guun. He made it for a hunter. A man like us, only on horseback. Story goes that he made 13 bullets. This hunter used the gun a half dozen times before he disappeared, the gun along with him. Still don't know how Daniel got his hands on it. They say that this gun can kill anything," he said.

"Kill anything like supernatural anything?" Dean asked.

"Like the demon," Sam said as he looked at his dad for the answer.

"Yeah. The demon. Ever since I picked up its trail, I've been looking for a way to destroy that thing. Find the gun…."

"And you kill the demon," I said as I cut John off.

"Yeah. Kill the demon. I want you boys to be careful. Look after the girls. Get out of there if there is the slightest trouble. Understand?" he asked as he looked around at all of us. Dean, Sam, and Kiki nodded, but I spoke up.

"You may be able to order your sons around, but Kiki and I are not your children. We don't follow orders from nobody. Especially me. So you can give your orders, but it doesn't mean I'm going to listen to you. I don't even listen to your prick of a son," I said as I cocked my gun again and giving him a dirty look before I made my way toward the barn. It wasn't even a minute before the four of them caught up to me.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Dean hissed as he yanked me back by my waist as John hoisted himself up along the side of the barn and opened a window like thing.

"What do you care? I don't follow orders from anyone, Dean. And you know this," I snapped as I moved out of his grasp and hoisted myself up and into the barn. Looking around, I saw several hammocks that held some of the vampires as they slept. I made a face at Kiki as she did the same thing over one of the girls sleeping. She was dressed really slutty and gave us girls really bad names for dressing like that.

"Keep close," Sam whispered, causing me to give him a look before moving farther into the room. I noticed that John had disappeared, probably to see where the head vampire had it, and made my way toward a nearby corridor as the other three checked around the room. I knew I probably should of stayed with them, but I was too pissed off with everyone to even think clearly about what I was doing. I was just about to round the corner when I heard a screech coming from the room I had left and I whirled around quickly as John quickly made his way out of a room adjacent for me.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he spotted me. I was about to answer him when I heard the rustling of vampires near by and one of them emerge from the same room as John had earlier.

"Shit," I said as I backed away and made my way quickly down the hall opposite of the way John was going. I knew I was in trouble when I heard the leader shouting something and I could sense someone behind. However, I came to a dead end and quickly turned around to find another girl standing there with a smirk.

"Where do you think you're going, sweetie?" she asked as she stalked toward me.

"Out of here and far away from you," I replied as I drew my gun.

"You really think that it's going to harm me?" she asked with a chuckle.

"I'm not really that stupid," I said before I aimed at the ceiling and shot the light down, causing the vampire to duck as it came crashing down on her, giving me the chance to dash past her in hopes to get out of here alive. However, my luck was drawn short once again as I crashed right into someone, causing them to grasp a tight hold on me.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?." My head snapped up to the guy holding me and gulped back some fear as he smirked at me.

"It's just so sad that I have to have a pretty one like you not conscious," he said before slamming me against the wall hard. The last thing I saw was him smirking at me before everything went dark.

Dean's POV

"Well that was a bust."

"Yeah. But we're missing dad and Artemis. Dad! Artemis!" I yelled as I turned around in the bushes and realized that my father and Artemis were not with Sam, Kiki, and I. Artemis had seemingly wandered off by herself as did my dad, and I was really worried when neither of them followed behind us. I was about to head back when I saw my dad's figure quickly making his way toward us, making me give a sigh of relief.

"Where's Artemis?" Kiki asked, causing me to realize that Artemis was indeed not with him.

"I saw her and she went in the opposite direction that I had been going in," he replied, causing me to give him a look.

"What? She's still in there?" I asked.

"Dean, we can't do anything about it right now. We have to get out of here," Sam replied as he stopped me from going back toward the barn.

"She could die, Sam," I said.

"I doubt it. They'll keep her alive. But you're brother is right. We need to get out of here. They won't follow though. They'll wait until tonight. Once a vampire has your scent, it's for life," dad said.

"Well what the hell do we do know?" I asked.

"We've got to find the nearest funeral home, that's what," he replied, causing me to nod as I realized what he wanted me to get. Several hours later, I walked back into the motel room with Kiki after having been at the funeral home with a bunch of dead guys.

"Did you get it?"

"Yeah. Man there's heavy security protecting a bunch of dead guys," I replied as I placed a bottle filled with liquid in front of my dad before looking at him.

"You know what to do," he said as I gave him a nod. If it meant getting Artemis back, I would do anything at this point.


"Car trouble?" I looked up slightly as I saw a female, no doubt one of the vampires that had been at the barn earlier, approach me.

"Let me give you a lift. Take you back to my place," she said as she tried flirting with me, which I must say was rather bad for any type of girl I had ever been in contact with. That included Artemis, although her flirting skills were not exactly there. I don't think.

"Nah. I'll pass. I usually draw the line at necrophilia," I said with a cocky smirk forming on my lips. She gave me a look and a slight nod before smacking me quite hard against the face, causing me to fall to the ground. She grabbed my face with one of her hands and hauled me up so that I was eye level with her.

"I don't normally get this friendly until the second date, but heh," I said with a slightly chuckle despite the slight pain I was in.

"You know something? We could have some fun. I always like to make new friends, especially the girl you left behind for us to have fun with," she said before she kissed me. I really wanted to gag because I was really not feeling this, but I merely gave her a look as she pulled back.

"Hmph. Sorry. I don't normally stay with a chick that long. Definitely not for eternity," I said before slightly moving as I heard an arrow whiz through the air and the girl to look at me before she moved back away from me, her friend falling to his knees as another air whizzed through the air.

"Damn it," she said as she looked toward Sam, Kiki, and dad coming out from the wooded area surrounding us. She gave them a cocky smirk as she looked down at the arrow and then back up at us.

"Barely even stings," she said.

"Give it time, sweetheart. The arrow is soaked in dead man's blood. It's like a poison to you, isn't it?" dad asked as the smirk dropped from her face. She swayed just slightly before passing out, causing me to catch her as she fell.

"Load her up. We'll take care of this one," dad said, causing me to nod and drag her toward dad's truck. I tossed her inside before heading for the Impala and following my dad toward an area he deemed for us to do what we needed to do before we raided the vampires' nest. Tying her to a nearby tree, I helped Sam and Kiki start a fire before going back toward my dad as he brought out a bag of stuff for us to use.

"Toss this on the fire. Sapphrane, skunk cabbage, and trilium will block our scent and hers until we're ready," he said as he handed me some stuff to put on the fire.

"This stuff stinks," I said as I gagged slightly before starting to throw it into the fire.

"Well that's the idea. Dust your clothes with the ashes, you'll stand a change of not being detected," he said.

"You sure they'll come after her?" Kiki asked.

"Yeah. Vampires mate for life. She means more to the leader than the gun. But the blood sickness is going to wear off soon, so you don't have a lot of time," he replied as I looked over to the girl and knew what my dad was talking about just by looking at her.

"Half an hour should do it," Sam said.

"Then I want you out of the area as fast as you can," he said, causing the three of us to look at him in surprise.

"But…."

"Dad, you can't take care of them all by yourself," I said as I cut my brother off.

"I'll have her. And the colt. Artemis will probably need tending to, so you've got to worry about her," he said, causing me to sigh. I knew he was right about Artemis. I had been worrying about her since she was captured by the vampires earlier in the day, which was surprising and confusing to me since I really didn't care about what Artemis did, but I was worried for her safety and well-being. Especially with everything that had been going on with her. I guess she had grown on me. Or something. But I also knew that my dad doing this by himself was a big mistake.

"But after, we're going to meet up, right? We're going to use the gun together, right?" Sam asked as he brought me out of my thoughts. I looked to my dad for an answer and was kind of confused when he didn't answer.

"You're leaving again, aren't you? You still want to go after the demon alone. You know something? I don't get you. You can't treat us like this," he said.

"Like what?" dad asked.

"Like children," he replied.

"You are my children. I'm trying to keep you safe," dad said, causing me to scoff and finally speak up.

"Dad, with all due respect, it's a bunch of shit," I said, causing him to look at me.

"Excuse me?" he asked as if he didn't hear me right.

"You know what Sammy, the girls, and I have been hunting. Thought you sent us on a few hunting trips yourself. But you can't be that worried about keeping us safe," I replied.

"It's not the same thing, Dean," he said.

"Like hell it is," Kiki said.

"Kiki's right. Like hell it is. What is it? Why do you want us out of the big fight?" I asked.

"This demon? It's a bad son of a bitch. I can't make the same moves with me worrying about keeping you alive," he replied, causing me to scoff.

"You mean you can't be as reckless," I said.

"Look, I don't expect to make it out of this fight in one piece. Your mother's death? It almost killed me. I can't watch my children die too. I won't," he said.

"What happens when you die? Dad, what happens if you die? We could have done something about it. You know I've been thinking. I think Sammy might be right about this. I think we should do this together. With the girls. You know how Artemis got the last time we thought we had the demon. She has just as much right as you do to this fight. We're stronger together as one. We just are. You know it," I said, causing him to give the three of us a look before sighing.

"We're running out of time. You do your job and you get out of the area. Artemis is more important to you at the moment, Dean, and you know it. That's an order," he said, causing me to scoff but nod my head as I realized that he was right to a certain extent. We couldn't just abandoned Artemis like this.

"Dean…"

"He's right, Sammy. Artemis is more important at the moment and I'm not going to let the poor girl suffer anymore than what those damn bastards have put her through. Get in the car," I said as dusted my jacket and such with the ashes of the fire before heading toward the Impala. I knew Sam and Kiki were not sure of what was going on, but they didn't argue with me and followed my example. It was quiet for a while as I tore down the street toward the vampire nest, but Kiki broke it a short while into.

"Dean, what is wrong with you?" she asked, causing me to look in the rearview mirror at her as she gave me a look.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You're being very protective of Artemis. You'd rather go after Artemis than help your father out," she replied.

"Would you rather me leave her to suffer at the hands of those bastards and have her die?" I asked.

"No, but this is not like you at all, Dean," she replied.

"Kiki's right. You're acting strange," Sam said, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Nothing is going on. Sam, you're just as protective of Artemis as I am. So shut up," I said as I shut the car off and got out, grabbing the machete in the back of the trunk before heading quietly toward the barn. Making my way into the place, I saw one of the vampires that had been left behind to man the nest get up as if he heard something. Looking around, I watched as he walked near the entrance of the door, which had blown slightly open and then shut. Quietly making my way up behind him, I watched carefully as he took a swig of the alcohol he was carrying before turning around. He gave a surprised look as I smirked.

"Boo," I said before swinging the machete and watching his head fly across the room. Staring at it for a slight second, I made my way further into the barn to the crate of people I had seen earlier that were still alive. Sam and Kiki were searching the place more while I rescued these people by braking off the plate holding the gate shut.

"I told you I would be back," I said as I successfully swung the door open.

"Dean!" I whirled around at Sam's shout and gave him a questionable look as he hurried into the room.

"Artemis isn't here," he said, causing me to give him a look.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked.

"She's not in any of the rooms and there's nobody else here," he replied.

"Then where the hell is she?" I asked before I realized those sons of bitches took her with them when they probably took off after dad. This was not going to go well at all.


Artemis's POV

"Come on, princess. Rise and shine. Don't want you missing all the fun."

"Dean?"

"Sorry, princess. I'm not your lover." I groaned as I shifted my eyes open to see the leader of the vampires staring at me with a smirk before giving an order to someone. Feeling movement around me, I realized that I was in a car or something flying down the road. Shifting myself slightly, I winced as the throbbing in my head pounded against my skull hard from where this idiot had slammed me into the wall.

"Come on. We're going to have a little fun," he said as I felt the vehicle come to a stop and the two of them get out. I yelped slightly as he forcefully dragged me out of the and into the road where two more of the vampires stood waiting. What in hell were they waiting for? My answer came when I winced at the bright lights that were sudden shown upon us as another vehicle came to a stop right in front of us.

"Get out!" the leader said as I heard the vehicle shut off and a door open. Looking up, despite the pain in my head and the slight blurriness I was having even with my contacts in, I could make out John Winchester.

"Who are you?" the leader asked.

"Names Winchester," John replied.

"Where are your friends?" he asked.

"Cleaning out your nest," John replied.

"Where's Kate?" he asked.

"Come here, sweetheart," John said as he tugged on a rope in his hands that was inside the truck. I watched the facial expression of the leader change when John dragged his girlfriend, the same vampire chick I had first run into before being knocked unconscious by him, out of the truck and placed a knife at her neck.

"Kate, you alright?" he asked.

"Dead man's blood," she replied, causing the leader to frown.

"You son of a bitch," he said.

"I want the colt. Elkins gun. And the girl. Trade," John said.

"Is that what this is all about? I mean, you can't shoot us all, right? We'll kill you. As for the girl, who says I'm willing to give this pretty little thing up as well?" he asked, a smirk forming on his face despite the position his girlfriend was in.

"Oh I don't need it for you. I'm saving it for something else. As for the girl, there's not a damn thing you need with her. So put the colt down and send the girl my way or she goes first," John replied as he tightened his grip on Kate.

"Alright. Just don't hurt her," he said as he shoved me forward toward John. When we had taken a few steps, he placed the gun down onto the pavement and let go of me, but kept a hold of the back loop of my jeans as if to keep me from running, which is probably what he thought I was going to do once he let me go.

"Back up. Further," John said, causing the vampire to let go of the back of my jeans but grasp onto my hand as he moved his way back from the gun and from me. I so badly wanted to run for it, but I knew that it would result in chaos that I knew John just did not need at all. I watched as he slowly bent down to retrieve the colt, but my eyes shifted to the girl as I noticed her starting to move her hands and the bonds starting to become undone.

"It was a nice move. You almost made it," the leader said just as I yelled for him to watch out. I let out a shriek as the leader yanked me back and shoved me toward one of the other vampires, causing me to try and break myself away from him. I was expecting his teeth to sink into me, but I found myself being thrown to the pavement as I heard arrows whiz through the air and into the vampires. Looking up, I made out the figures of Sam, Dean, and Kiki coming up through the wooded area with bows and arrows and machetes and quickly got to my feet. However, I found myself being thrown back to the ground as the leader knocked Sam into me. I let out a shriek and a gasp as I felt myself being pulled up and against the leader.

"Don't. I'll break her neck," he said as he tightened his grip around my neck, causing me to gasp for air. I watched as Dean held a machete in his hand and was glaring at the leader as he held me against him.

"Put the blade down," he said, causing Dean to look between me and the leader.

"Dean, please," I gasped out as tears started to fall down my face. Dean gave me a look as I pleaded with him, causing him to slowly put the blade down.

"You people. Why can't you just leave us alone? We have just as much right to live as you do," he said, shaking his head.

"I don't think so." I let out a shriek as I heard a bullet go off and the leader let go of me, causing me to fall to the ground as he just stood there like nothing had happened. A familiar set of arms wrapped around my waist and tugged me up, causing me to turn and bury my face into Dean's chest as I heard Kate screaming for her boyfriend as he started to disintegrate from the bullet that John had shot in his head. Hearing a car start up and leave, screeching the tires as it did so, I let out a sob as I clung to Dean.

"It's alright. No more," he said as he held me tight against him, running a hand up and down my back in a soothing manner.

"She alright?" I heard Kiki asked, causing Dean to grunt in response before scooping me up in his arms and walking toward the Impala hidden in the wooded area. As he opened the door to put me inside, I whimpered and clutched tighter to his jacket, not wanting to let go for any reason.

"Artemis, it's alright. I'm not going anywhere," he said as I buried my face into the crook of his neck. I could hear Sam and Kiki coming up from behind, but I completely ignored them as I clung to Dean. I knew he was confused as to what was going on, which wasn't a surprise to me since sometimes he never knew what was going on with things, but he didn't say anything but keep that tight hold on me.

"Is she going to be ok?" Sam asked, causing Dean to nod.

"She'll be fine," he replied, although there was that uncertainty in his voice. The same uncertainty that was starting to run through my mind. I knew something was wrong with me and for the first time in the few months that we knew the guys, I needed Dean and Sam in my life. I needed Dean in my life and I didn't understand why or what I was feeling this way for. Something was wrong with me and I wasn't sure how to fix it.


"You know you two can help us, right?"

"Why would we want to help you pack up your bags for? You should of not thrown your shit everywhere and have to dig around for it when you know we have to be leaving."

"Hey Art. How about you take that fluffy pink bunny and stuff your mouth with it." I clutched Mr. Hoppy to my chest and gave Dean a glare as I sat on the bed watching him and Sam packing up their bags to leave. Kiki and I had already done ours and Dean was trying to coax us into helping him and Sam pack their bags.

"Watch it, Dean. She might attack you," Sam said with a chuckle, causing me to throw a pillow at him. He merely ducked it and continued packing his bag and having a conversation with Kiki. Looking back over at Dean, he sensed that I was looking at him and raised an eyebrow as he looked at me.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," I replied, shaking my head.

"Well it has to be something. You never stare at me like that," he said, causing me to shrug.

"Were you really worried about me when I had been captured by those vampires?" I asked, causing him to raise that eyebrow again before shaking his head.

"That's what the look was about? Artemis, you know I worry about you, Kiki, and Sam all the same," he replied.

"But not like Sam and Kiki were saying. They said you were willing to overlook your dad for me. Is that true?" she asked, causing him to sigh and stop packing to look at me.

"I was worried, Artemis. You've grown on me just like Kiki has. It's like me worrying about Sam all the time. If something happens to you, I would never be able to forgive myself. You're not like other girls, Artemis," he said. I looked at him for a moment and was about to speak when I was interrupted by John walking into the room.

"So boys….."

"And girls," Kiki said.

"And girls. You ignored a direct order back there," he said as he looked around at all of us.

"Yes sir," Sam said.

"We saved your ass back there. Not to mention saving Artemis's life. Who knows what could of happened if we hadn't," Dean added, causing me to nod in agreement. I really didn't want to think about what could of happened if Dean hadn't come to my rescue.

"You're right," John said, causing the four of us to look at one another in surprise before looking back at him.

"I am?" Dean asked.

"It scares the hell out of me. You two are all I got. And the girls….well the girls are part of you boys and they're all you got besides me. But I guess we are stronger together. So, we go after this demon thing. Together," he replied, looking at each one of us before letting his eyes fall on me. I stared at him for a second before nodding my agreement.

"So let's get going," he said as Dean zipped up his bag and followed his dad out the motel door, Kiki following right behind. I stared after him for a second before looking over at Sam as Sam gave me a look.

"When are you just going to admit that you like him? I know Dean likes you. Even if he's not straight out saying it, his jokes and teases to you are perfectly clear. And I know you like him. You're heart knows it, but you're not allowing yourself to admit it," he said, causing me to shake my head.

"I can't," I said.

"You mean you won't. You won't admit it because you're too stubborn. Too proud and too ignorant to admit it," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Sam, even if I liked Dean, which I don't, I can't like him. Let alone love him," I said.

"Why not? It's not that hard to do once you say it," he said, causing me to sigh and shake my head.

"No Sam. I can't love him even if I did like or love him. Everyone that I've loved has died on me," I said.

"So you have a string of bad luck with that. But those are not your fault," he said.

"Yes they are. They've died because of me," I said, causing him to look at me for a second before speaking.

"I don't understand," he said.

"Sam, everyone that I have ever loved since my father got married to my step-mother has died. My father died and the dog I had died and my last boyfriend died. Sam, they're all linked to one another and I'm at fault," I said.

"Artemis…."

"I can't love anyone or let anyone get close to me, Sam, because they will die if they do. It's because of the curse," I said, causing him to stop what he was doing completely and look at me in shock.

"What?" he asked.

"The curse kills loved ones, Sam," I said, causing him to just stare at me in shock. The big secret I had been carrying around with me all these years was finally out. Finally off my chest. The only thing is keeping it from everyone else. With Sam knowing, I wasn't so sure about that anymore. I was completely screwed.