A/N: So this chapter has a healthy dose of exposition, but hopefully it's not too hard to take. Again, I had to modify the cannon timeline a bit because of how things unfolded in the previous two fanfictions. Also, Ty is based not-so-loosely on me, so all the archaeology stuff is from my life. The location from the first chapter is from a site I surveyed and the Bulgarian field school is one I actually went to. Hopefully, the archaeology stuff works well with this. Lastly, this chapter's song is Can't You See by The Marshall Tucker Band.


Chapter 2: What You Been Doin' To Me


I'm gonna take a freight train

Down at the station, Lord

I don't care where it goes

Gonna climb a mountain

The highest mountain

I'll jump off, nobody gonna know

Can't you see, whoa, can't you see

What that woman, Lord, she been doin' to me

Can't you see, can't you see

What that woman, she been doin' to me

I'm gonna find me

A hole in the wall

I'm gonna crawl inside and die

'Cause my lady, now

A mean ol' woman, Lord

Never told me goodbye

Can't you see, ohh, can't you see

What that woman, Lord, she been doin' to me

Can't you see, can't you see

What that woman, Lord, she been doin' to me

I'm gonna buy a ticket, now

As far as I can

Ain't a-never comin' back

Ride me a southbound

All the way to Georgia, now

Till the train, it run out of track

Can't you see, ohh, can't you see

What that woman, Lord, she been doin' to me

Can't you see, can't you see

What that woman, she been doin' to me

Oh, Lord can't you see, whoa, can't you see

What that woman, Lord, she been doin' to me

Can't you see, whoa, can't you see

What that woman, she been doin' to me

Can't you see (oh, she's such a crazy lady), can't you see

What that woman (what that woman) she been doin' to me

Can't you see (Lord, I can't stand), can't you see

What that woman (ohh), she been doin' to me

Can't you see (I'm gonna take a freight train)

Can't you see (down at the station, Lord)

What that woman, she been doin' to me (ain't never comin' back) oh oh

Can't you see (gonna ride me a southbound, now)

Can't you see (all the way to Georgia, Lord)

What that woman, she been doin' to me (till the train run out of track), oh

It felt like it had been forever since Dean had last set eyes on Ty. And for once, that wasn't because he was avoiding his issues by avoiding her, at least not entirely. Instead, it seemed like the universe was conspiring to keep them apart.

After that fiasco with Ty's possession by the Yellow-Eyed Demon's wayward daughter, they had both tried to play things somewhat cool. They'd gone on some hunts, filling the space between with casual flirting, bickering, and the occasional adult-rated extracurricular, both dancing around the more serious emotions that had been dredged up by their previous times together. And it had felt good, real good. He'd actually been enjoying himself despite the fact that his dad still refused to let them in on whatever demon conspiracy he seemed to have caught wind of and despite the fact that something weird was still going on with Sam and his freaky abilities.

But of course, he was a Winchester so things couldn't stay even that relative amount of calm and content. After a few weeks on the road, Ty had said something about dropping out of school to hunt with them full-time and it was like a grenade had been dropped on their happy little hunting trio. Sam refused to hear one word of it. He'd insisted that she could not drop out when she was only one more semester away from graduating. She could not cut off her option for a life outside of hunting. But what had really set things off was when Dean had agreed with him. Sure, he wasn't into the whole college thing. School had always just been something he'd had to deal with, not something he enjoyed. But he knew it had been different for Sam and was different for Ty. The nerds loved to learn. You could tell by the way they'd light up when sharing some obscure bit of information that no sane person had any right to know off the top of their head. However, his motives for keeping Ty in school weren't completely about giving her other options or indulging her love of learning. For Dean, it was also a means to try and keep her out of harm's way. He knew she'd kill him if he ever said as much, probably tell him exactly where he could shove his chauvinistic over-protective opinions, but he'd already put her through so much just by being in her life. If there was some way he could keep her out of the fray for just a little longer without having to lose her completely, well there was no way he could pass that up.

The argument had lasted days. There had been enough screaming and slamming doors to nearly get them kicked out of the Nowheresville motel they'd been staying in. Finally, something of a compromise was reached. Ty would stay in school, but take classes remotely from Bobby's place. Sam and Dean would stay in touch and get her if they needed her (negotiations had almost broken down and the fight resumed when Dean had snorted over that comment about them needing her to bail them out on a hunt). Meanwhile, Ty would also be studying lore with Bobby and lending a hand with the supporting roles he played for many hunters including the Winchesters.

Dean had expected Bobby to push back about being volunteered as babysitter/landlord/mentor, but when they had showed up on his doorstep, he'd welcomed Ty with a grin. The guestroom that had unofficially been Dean's was now officially hers "for as long as she wanted to stay." Dean tried not to grumble about how quickly he'd been replaced. After a few weeks, it was like Ty was the daughter Bobby had never had and he had to admit, it was nice to see the old guy looking a bit happier, a bit less curmudgeonly. And as for the lore, well she was good at it. In fact, the anti-demon possession tattoos they now sported had been her idea. So all in all, it had seemed like the Bobby situation had worked out well for everyone involved and Dean had expected that he could now count on Ty's warm welcome in between hunts when he and Sam stopped by.

It hadn't played out that way. For the past six months or so, it seemed like every time the brothers were at Bobby's, Ty was elsewhere. Evidently you could take the girl out of the Impala, but you couldn't stop the girl from hunting. Especially not when she was still in contact with Alex Flynn. From what Dean had gleaned from Bobby, Ty had decided at some point that she wanted to go back to the Roadhouse and try to make amends with Jo and Ellen. Not a bad idea, all things considered. Dean certainly didn't need Ellen to have any more reasons to be on his case. And while she was there explaining that a demon had been the cause of her previous behavior, she'd run into Alex.

Since parting ways with Ty and the Winchesters, Alex had been searching for more information about what had happened to his parents, who the demon that had killed them and possessed Ty was, and how he could make sure to be ready for it when it manifested itself again. Ty, of course, when she learned about this, threw herself into helping any way she could. Every time Dean thought about it, he felt himself growing pissed off all over again. Part of him knew that he should be relieved that if she was hunting, she wasn't doing it alone again, but another part of him hated the thought of her on the road with that punk kid, Alex. Even knowing she'd been possessed at the time, his mind was all too quick to dredge up memories of Ty flirting with the guy, and although he would never acknowledge it, would instead insist he just didn't like the guy, it made him jealous to think about them together. So, as a result, rather than stew on his feelings about it, he'd tried to push her out of his mind and stubbornly refused to talk about her at all. And it wasn't like there hadn't been plenty of other problems to deal with in the meantime, demanding his attention, but also providing a convenient excuse not to discuss the blonde hunter.

And then six weeks ago, he'd found out that she was leaving. Okay, that was a little dramatic. She was going overseas on an archaeological dig, the last requirement left to finish her major (one of three because she really was a nerd). Apparently, she had to go off to Bulgaria to dig in the dirt looking for old dead people and their junk or something. It made no sense to him. They had plenty of dead people and old stuff to dig up right here in the good old US of A. Why did she need to get on a freakin' plane and go halfway across the world? Plus, didn't she know by now that most things were better off staying buried? She'd probably just end up getting her ass kicked by some pissed-off, ancient Bulgarian ghost.

Sam, of course, thought it was awesome. Even asked her to send them a postcard at Bobby's address. Didn't seem to bother him one bit that not only had they not been able to see her for months but that she was about to put a friggin' ocean between them. But Dean had shoved all his worries and frustrations down and clamped a lid on them. It was stupid to get upset over it. He was probably just getting worked up about it because he hadn't been able to get any and it didn't look like the dry spell was about to end anytime soon. Yeah, that was it. Besides, she was probably safer an ocean away from him, anyway.

He'd resolutely told himself that just about every day for the whole six weeks and went back to avoiding any discussion of Ty, instead throwing himself into hunting. It hadn't been too hard, either, since things had taken a drastic turn for the worse around that same time, like his life was spinning out of control.

It turned out that the demon conspiracy John Winchester had been chasing centered around Sam and the other kids that old Yellow Eyes had targeted. Even dead it seemed like there was no end to the trouble that demon kept causing them. But rather than be up front about what he knew, his dad had decided to leave him some cryptic message and make him swear not to tell Sam. All he'd said was that Dean had to promise to save his brother, and if he couldn't...he'd have to kill him. It was clear he knew something, something about what was happening to Sam, but he wasn't talking and even with Ash's help they couldn't figure out what the demons were planning. Instead, Dean just had his dad's words ringing over and over in his brain, making him feel like he was on the edge of losing it, especially after that Croatoan virus thing. So, yeah, he'd pushed Ty out of his mind because he could barely handle the things already on his plate.

Everything came to a head when Sam and other kids like him were abducted and forced to face off against each other by demon acolytes of Yellow Eyes (or as they had come to discover, Azazel, Prince of Hell), leaving only the most powerful among them to serve as leader of some kind of demon army and open a gate to Hell. Finally together again, Dean and John had done everything they could to try and track Sammy down, but they had been too late. Dean could still see it just about every time he closed his eyes: Sammy, his little brother, being stabbed with a blade and bleeding out in his arms. Frankly, it had broken him. Broken him enough that he hadn't been aware of what his father was doing until it was too late. John made a deal. And not only did he trade away his life for Sam's, but in doing so, he let the guy who had killed Sam go, free to finish the deal and open the gate to Hell, unleashing not only tons of demons but apparently also the mother of all monsters, Lilith herself.

It had been two weeks since then. Two weeks of trying to deal with losing Sam, then regaining Sam only to lose John. He hadn't even really had the capacity to wrap his head around what the opening of the Hellgate and the freeing of Lilith would mean for them. It was just too much all at once. For that reason, he hadn't tried to reach out to anyone about what happened. He'd just taken Sam back to Bobby's with him and they had both just crashed. He figured Bobby would tell anyone who needed to know what happened.

There was just one person he didn't want Bobby contacting, but all he'd said about that was "Don't tell her."

Bobby hadn't needed to ask who he meant. He'd shot Dean that disapproving look he gave him when he thought he was being a "damn idjit," but he'd abided by his wishes. Dean knew he'd have to deal with Ty eventually, but in the meantime he planned to spend as much time as possible not thinking about anything in any way he possibly could. Bobby's liquor cabinet took a drastic hit. And for once, even Sam seemed to be resigned not to push him to "talk it out" or whatever. He was uncharacteristically quiet, especially around Dean. In fact, if Dean had let himself think about it for a moment, he might have noticed that Sam was avoiding him as much as possible while still staying in the same house. If he hadn't been too busy drowning his sorrows, he might have noticed that something was up with Sam. He might have caught the guilt dogging Sam's features and surmised that Sam blamed himself for John's death and suspected that Dean did, too. And he might have noticed that Sam was hiding something.

As it was, neither Winchester had managed to find any sort of closure by the time Ty was due to return from her excavation. In fact, Dean started in surprise when Bobby told him he was headed to the airport to pick her up. He didn't say anything until Bobby was out the door and his car had left the drive, but then he swiftly put down his drink and began searching for his jacket, moving with a speed that belied the heavy drinking he'd been doing.

"Sam!" he called loudly, not pausing in his hurried movements around the room, snatching up his belongings, "Sam, damn it! We gotta roll! Come on!"

Sam entered the room from wherever he'd been hiding, scratching his head in confusion, "What's going on?"

"Tell you on the road. Come on." Dean grunted, shoving his stuff into a duffle bag and then chucking it in Sam's direction.

Sam caught the bag Dean threw but continued to follow his brother's movements with confused eyes. He was used to having to head out in a hurry and figured that some urgent hunt must have come up that demanded their attention, but he was still having a hard time believing that Dean was throwing them back into it this quickly considering he had yet to say a word about what had happened.

"Dean," Sam protested, "don't you think…"

Dean stopped and whirled to face his brother, quickly cutting him off before he could say anymore, "No, Sam. Don't. I just need to get out of here, okay? I don't want to talk about it. I just want to go."

Sam eyed his brother silently for a brief moment. As much as Dean didn't really do talking about his feelings, they sometimes showed in his eyes as clearly as if he'd said them out loud. Right now, his brother's eyes said he was in pain and he needed this, needed Sam's cooperation, and after what he'd just cost him how could Sam say no?

"Okay, Dean." Sam nodded, finally.

"Great," Dean said, quickly turning back to the task of getting back on the road, "Grab your stuff and shag ass."

Sam sighed under his breath and turned to get his own bag. It didn't take long before the brothers were settling into the front seat of the Impala, the engine roaring to life. They were practically at the state line before Bobby pulled back into his drive.

Ty, meanwhile, had been practically bursting at the seams to see the Winchesters again after only a few weeks at Bobby's. She'd missed geeking out with Sam over some interesting research article she'd found or ganging up with him against his older brother when Dean was being particularly obnoxious. And Dean, well, it was hard to put into words the longing she'd felt to see Dean again. Nothing against Bobby, who she practically worshipped as something like the coolest uncle she could ever imagine having, but when she'd taken off with the Winchesters she'd expected they would be a permanent fixture in her life. She'd imagined they would be there when she woke up and when she went to sleep. In fact, it made her blush to think of it, but she had pretty much imagined that she would be doing both those activities in Dean's arms, not in Bobby Singer's guest room.

And yet, it was like the powers that be had decided that her relationship with Dean needed to be put on the back burner for awhile. She'd tried not to let it bother her and instead had thrown herself into other things. After her initial anger over not getting her way, she eventually grew to feel glad that the boys had convinced her to stay in school. She liked the research, the discovery of things lost and forgotten right underneath their feet or hidden away in some ancient text. And she found that, in a lot of ways, it tied directly into hunting. Folklore was just a type of history and uncovering the truth from the old stories was just like finding snippets of fact within a work like the Iliad and matching it to actual artifacts. So, in addition to her homework, she devoured any and all information Bobby passed her way, from his collection of old texts to the wealth of knowledge he kept stored inside his brain but was willing to parcel out over a good meal and a cold beer.

So, as much as she'd missed Dean and Sam, she'd been content with what she was doing. At least for a while. But then one day, she'd come back in the house from the salvage yard and caught the tail end of a conversation Bobby was having on the phone. She didn't get the whole story, but from the little bit she'd heard she could tell that it had something to do with the Winchesters and it was something very big and very bad. Bobby had ended the call as soon as he saw her and the look on his face said that he would not be discussing it with her in no uncertain terms. It pissed her off that he was keeping something important from her, but it pissed her off more that the boys hadn't called her directly. They'd had a deal! Well, if they didn't want to tell her, she would figure it out on her own. There were other people who would probably know if something was up in the supernatural world, people who didn't particularly care for her because of the way she'd acted while possessed, but she figured it was probably for the best that she try and mend those fences while she was at it.

Ty had given it until the next day before she fed Bobby the half-truth about wanting to apologize to Jo and Ellen over what had happened. She wasn't sure if he bought it or not, but he didn't say anything to her, just lent her the keys to one of the vehicles he had gotten running again. She wouldn't be surprised, though, if he'd seen right through her. In fact, she figured he'd probably be calling Sam and Dean as soon as she hit the road to tell them what she was doing. It didn't matter, she'd decided firmly with a frown while she pressed down harder on the gas pedal and flipped the radio up louder. She would do what she had to and if they didn't like it, tough.

Ty had been so distracted by her anger that she hadn't really considered what she would actually say to Jo and Ellen until the Roadhouse was in view. Socially awkward as she was, this was not something she really felt comfortable or competent doing. So she'd sat in the car, staring at the bar for a while, racking her brain for what to do, even debating whether she ought to just turn around and drive back and confront Bobby after all. With a sigh, she'd shaken her head and forced herself to get out of the vehicle. There was no use in trying to get anything out of Bobby. She hadn't known him all that long, but she knew the old codger was as tough and obstinate as they came. She'd have better luck arguing with a wall.

Walking in the bar had felt like a scene from an old western flick. She could have sworn that all activity stopped and all eyes turned towards her. She hadn't made it two steps past the threshold before Ellen's steely gaze fixed on her from behind the bar.

"Out." She'd commanded, pointing at the door, "You're banned from here."

Ty held her hands up in front of her, "I'm not here to cause any trouble."

Ellen was already shaking her head before the words had fully left her mouth. She had her hands out of view, under the bar, and it had crossed Ty's mind that she probably had a weapon down there. She swallowed hard past a lump that had suddenly formed in her throat.

But before Ellen could say anything else, another voice rang out from the other side of the room.

"No, let her stay. I've got a few things to say to her."

Ty had dragged her eyes away from Ellen to find Jo stomping across the room towards her. She dropped the tray she was holding on a table as she passed and pushed her sleeves up her arms as she approached. There was a vicious smile on her face and her hands were already balled into fists. Ty had wondered fleetingly if she'd rather Ellen just shoot her.

"Hang on, hang on!" Ty had yelped, automatically trying to back up and finding that the door had already closed behind her, "That wasn't me!"

Jo paused for a moment. She had looked skeptical, but she clearly knew enough about the supernatural to know that cases of mistaken identity could occur. Crossing her arms angrily over her chest, she'd continued to glare at Ty, raising one eyebrow to indicate that she better have a good excuse.

Ty's mind had raced as she tried to think of the right thing to say, but all that eventually came out of her mouth was, "I was possessed by a demon."

Ty's eyes had flicked between Jo and Ellen. Both had just stared back at her. Ty had squirmed uncomfortably and found more words tumbling unbidden out of her mouth.

"I don't know all of what it made me do, but I know I was a bitch while I was here and I probably should have tried to apologize sooner, but things were kinda crazy for awhile and, I don't know, I guess that makes normal me kind of a bitch, too, but…

"Woah." Jo had interrupted, holding her hands up to halt the flood, eyes wide in surprise at this turn of events, "You were possessed by a demon?"

"Uh...yeah." Ty had nodded, feeling about two inches tall and wishing there was something she could just fight instead.

"A pretty bad one, too." another voice had called out from further in the dim interior of the bar.

Ty and Jo had both turned to find Alex Flynn walking over. He'd shot Ty a quick smile of greeting, but it had faded quickly and a haunted look returned to his face as he addressed Jo, "The one I've been looking for."

"Well, shit." Ellen had said, drawing their attention back to the bar. She began lining up shot glasses in front of her and then filled each to the brim. She took one herself before she'd gestured for the other three to take the others.

With a sigh of relief, Ty had followed Jo and Alex over to the bar and swiftly downed her drink. Without a word, Ellen had poured her another. After that, Ty had spilled her story about the possession as succinctly as she could with Alex occasionally chiming in. Ellen and Jo had both listened without comment and when it was over, Ellen had poured them a final round before making her pronouncement.

"Well, ain't that some shit." she'd declared with finality.

"So...uh...no hard feelings?" Ty had ventured uncertainly, holding her hand out to Jo.

Jo had only hesitated a moment before shaking her hand, "We're good."

That hurdle behind her, Ty had been about to ask about the Winchesters, when Alex enfolded her in a hug, "It's good to see you."

"You, too." Ty had immediately agreed. She mentally hit pause on the Winchester problem to focus on her friend, "What have you been up to since you dropped me in Arizona?"

Another pained look had flashed across the hunter's young features. Ty knew he was a year older than her but sometimes he struck her as younger somehow. She'd snagged a bar stool and slid it towards him before grabbing another for herself. He'd glanced at his empty shot glass like he wished he had another before setting it down with a sigh and pushing it away.

"I've been looking for...it. You know…" he'd trailed off.

"The demon that was in me." Ty had finished for him. She'd shifted uncomfortably, also wishing she'd had another drink.

"Yeah." Alex had agreed, "I know it's probably still stuck in the pit for now, but it won't be forever. I thought...well, I figured I would pick up where I left off before I ran into you, trying to figure out who it is and how to kill it."

"And?" Ty had asked, almost afraid of his answer, whatever it might be.

On the one hand, she'd wanted to know more about the thing that had controlled her, but on the other, she'd been trying hard not to think about it, too.

Alex had shaken his head again, "A few leads. Mostly dead-ends. Caught a couple of other hunts in the meantime."

Ty had sighed, but wasn't sure if it was more relief or aggravation. Still, even if her feelings about the demon weren't clear, one thing certainly was. She'd already made the vow to herself once, and seeing Alex again had made her feel even more resolute about it: she was going to help him take care of that demon, whatever it took.

That had been the start of their partnership. Unfortunately, she hadn't gotten much out of anyone at the Roadhouse about the Winchesters. All she'd been able to gather was something about a rumor going around about Sam, that he had some kind of dark destiny tied in with demons, but since they had killed the Yellow-Eyed Demon, Ty wasn't sure why the rumor was persisting or why it would be the source of the boys' current problems. There was something more going on, she was sure. But since she'd been shut out, she had focused her energy instead on helping Alex. In her time at Bobby's, she'd delved hard into learning more about demons, specifically. And in between, Alex had started dropping by regularly to pick her up for other hunts.

And as time had passed, she'd grown to believe that Dean's vanishing act and complete radio silence was about more than just some half-assed, idiotic attempt to keep her out of harm's way. As the weeks had stretched into months it had become clear. She'd spooked him with her stupid declaration of love. She'd known she had at the time and the following weeks in which they had acted like it had never happened, had been no surprise to her. It had been okay, actually more than okay. She'd thought maybe they could take things slow, hold on loosely and all that, and she'd been happy. She should have known she was reading too much into it. He'd just been having some fun, biding his time until the opportunity to ditch her presented itself. That must have been the real reason why he'd agreed with Sam about her staying in school. Leaving her with Bobby had given him an out. And, like an absolute coward, he'd taken it. Rather than just telling her he didn't want what she did, being straight with her, he'd disappeared. Well, if that's what he wanted, fine. She wouldn't feel bad then about taking off with Alex every chance she got, or about taking the opportunity to do her field school in Bulgaria. Out of respect for Sam, she'd given him a call to let him know about her going overseas, figured Dean didn't want to talk to her, anway. And the field school had been pretty great, actually, had given her something else to focus on. But now it was time to come home. Bobby was meeting her at the airport to pick her up.

Ty shouldered her pack and scanned the people in arrivals. Bobby stuck out like a sore thumb, sitting impatiently in a chair by the door. Ty smiled to herself at the sight of him sitting there, crumpling his already beat-to-hell trucker hat between his hands. She really did love the surly, old grump.

"Bobby!" she called, striding through the crowd of arrivals and their family members to join him.

Bobby looked up, standing when he saw her approaching and jamming his hat back on his head. The look on his face made Ty freeze in her tracks, even though he tried to cover it immediately with a small smile.

"Hey, welcome back." he said, closing the distance between them and clapping her affectionately on the forearms, "How was the dig?"

"Cut the shit, Bobby." Ty replied with a frown, "What's wrong?"

Bobby's gaze slid away from hers and he grumbled mostly to himself, "Ah hell. Damn idjit didn't want me to say anything to you, but I gotta."

He looked back at her again and Ty's breath caught in her throat at the look of sorrow in his eyes.

"It's John." he said finally, "He...he's gone."

Ty felt like someone had socked her in the gut. She couldn't seem to catch her breath. John Winchester, dead? It didn't make any sense. How could this have happened? She'd never really known him, but in her short time with him, he'd seemed invincible. The only way she could imagine something getting to him was through…

"Sam? Dean?" she questioned quickly.

"They're okay." Bobby reassured her. She felt finally able to take a deep breath again as the relief of that statement washed over her, but then Bobby continued, "They're both okay...now."

"Bobby," Ty said, grabbing the old man's wrist, her voice and the force of her grip demanding that he level with her, "I have to know what happened."

Bobby eyed her for just a moment before he nodded, "Alright. But not here. Come on. I'll tell you in the car."

The drive to Bobby's was probably the worst time Ty had ever spent in a car, and that included the time she'd been possessed by a ghost that had tried to force her to crash the Impala. As the story unfolded, the pressure inside her kept building until she felt like she was going to scream. Why hadn't they told her? Why had they left her in the dark? Why had he?

When they pulled up at the Singer Garage, Ty nearly flung herself out of the car before it even stopped moving. Bobby had said they were here and she had to see them. She sprinted into the house, eyes scouring the place for any sign of the Winchesters. But it only took a moment for her to realize the place was empty. They were gone, had ditched her again.

Ty didn't say another word about it, leaving the room every time Bobby got that questioning look in his eye. Over the next few weeks, she threw herself even more into her work. She'd stay up most of the night, researching demons or writing her undergraduate thesis. If she got too antsy to stay inside, she'd call Alex, demanding a hunt. And if he couldn't find one, she took to what she'd dubbed "training," something that usually involved her experimenting with new weapons and new ways to deal out a satisfying dose of destruction. Bobby bitched about it, claimed she was trying to give him a coronary, but she ignored him. Besides, who knew when something like archery might come in handy? Yeah, she'd managed to take out that chupacabra with a crossbow, but if she was honest it had been a lucky shot (not that she had told Alex that when he'd dragged the story out of her).

Ty was just about to have another go at target practice when her phone rang. Barely bothering to glance at the caller ID, she answered and put it up to her ear.

"Got good news for me?" she asked.

"Easy, tiger. You sure you want another hunt this soon after the last one? I mean, I can ask Ellen to pass this along to…" Alex began, using his favorite nickname for her.

"Alex Flynn, if you have a hunt, spill it or I will track you down and shoot your ass." Ty threatened.

"Fine, fine." Alex grumbled. "I got something. Some weird deaths in Minnesota. I'll be there to get you by six and we can be there by nightfall."

"Perfect." Ty replied and hung up before her partner could say another word.