She woke up early the next morning. Normally, getting up at 7am didn't really faze her, but last night she hadn't slept well. She knew the reason why. She was looking at it right now as she stood at the door to her lounge room. The sofa bed had been pulled out and the entire room was now a makeshift bedroom where her cousins were sleeping. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. The sofa bed was big enough for two people and still Dean had taken the floor.

She frowned as she watched them sleep. How the hell had they managed to talk her into staying? Why did she always fall for Sam's puppy dog face, even after eight years? Eight years ago, in the midst of her anger, she had promised herself she didn't need them and she would never talk to them again, let alone allow them into her life. And now here they were, not only back in her life, but in her own house. She felt conflicted. Part of her was happy to see them again, part of her was angry at seeing them again. She started to get frustrated and decided to get on with her morning run to clear her thoughts and relax her. It always worked.

She ran for about an hour before walking back into her house. It was quiet and she walked straight into the kitchen and headed to the fridge, pouring herself a glass of cold water.

"Where were you?"

She spat out her water and narrowly avoided dropping the glass onto the tiled floor. She turned to Sam, who was sitting at the kitchen table "Did I by any chance die from a heart attack in your dream?" She asked clutching her chest.

"Sorry" He said sheepishly "I was worried…and bored. Mostly bored"

"I went for a run" She said, finishing her water and leaning back against the kitchen bench and facing him "I needed to clear my head"

"Did it work?"

Hmm, good question, she thought. It had worked wonders until she came back to reality "Somewhat"

"What are your plans for today?" He asked her.

"I have some errands to run. Some grocery shopping. Gotta pop into work and show some client a couple of houses. Then I'm going out with Jack tonight"

"Boyfriend?"

She nodded "Yeah. What are your plans? Apart from leaving?"

He looked at her resignedly and decided to let the comment slide for now "I think we might head into town and check into these girls and how they went missing. See if there's anything unusual, or any connection"

"You mean, if the boogyman is taking them?" She asked taunting him.

"I know it's not easy to accept, but trust me Isabel, I have dreams and quite often they come true. They're almost like premonitions. There's something going on here"

"Oh, I believe you" She said "But I still think you being here is ridiculous and unnecessary. You've warned me, thankyou"

"We're not leaving" He said evenly.

"Look, Sam" She said "I live alone. I've lived alone for years. I like it. You can't come into my life after eight years of not hearing one word from either you or Dean and expect me to welcome you back with open arms. I'm trying to be as polite as I can when I tell you that I don't want you here"

Sam smiled weakly "That's not very polite"

"I'm not kidding Sam!" She yelled feeling herself getting riled up "What will it take to get you to leave me alone?"

"Do you really want us to go?" He asked sounding a little wounded "Really? Aren't you even a little happy to see us?"

"I'm happy to see you, but I'd be happier to see you go" She said somewhat truthfully.

Sam let out a defeated breath "Why is it so hard for you to meet me halfway?"

"Are you trying to make me out to be the bad guy?" She asked incredulously "I'm the one who got left behind eight years ago! I'm the one who had to pick up the million and one pieces of a shattered life and put them together again, by myself! You lost your mom…I lost my entire family! Do you have any idea what that was like for a sixteen year old girl?"

"No" He said quietly knowing that she would always be able to throw that in his face.

"That's right, you don't" She yelled "Where were you when my world fell apart? And why do you even care what happens to me? Why now?"

"How can you ask me that?" He argued back, angry that he was letting her get to him "You're my cousin! Do you really think I want something to happen to you?"

"You didn't care then!"

"I was fourteen Isabel! What was I supposed to do?"

They were yelling now and Dean's figure appeared through the door. He stood at the doorway in sweatpants, his feet bare and he crossed his arms over his bare chest as he frowned at Sam and Isabel.

"What the hell's going on?" He asked grumpily. The fighting had woken him up.

Isabel was seething as she glared at Sam across the room.

"We were just talking" Sam said, calming down.

"It sounded a lot like yelling" Dean said "What time is it?"

"It's ten past eight" Isabel said.

"In the morning? On a Saturday?"

"Yeah Dean, Saturday has a morning too" Isabel said sarcastically.

Dean closed his eyes and sighed dramatically "For Christ's sake Isabel, don't start this crap again. It's too early and I can't deal with you right now"

"Do you see me doing cartwheels? I'm less than thrilled about this too, but I do have a solution"

"We are not leaving" He said firmly, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"Are you going to take into consideration what I want, or would that be terribly naïve of me?"

"Not until you stop acting like a child" He yelled at her.

"I will stop acting like a child when you stop acting like the last eight years never happened!"

"I don't want to have this argument" Dean warned her in a harsh tone.

But she wasn't going to back down that easily "I don't want to have to have this argument but it's not as easy for me to forget Dean! Now, Sam tells me he was only fourteen and could do nothing. I hope you have a better excuse than that!"

"What did you want me to do Isabel?" He snapped back.

"Anything! Anything at all would have been better than nothing! How dare you be angry with me! You have no right to be angry with me"

Sam watched from his seat at the table as Isabel and Dean argued on the other side of the room. They were unconsciously moving towards each other and their voices were getting louder and louder. It reminded Sam of two storms, two cyclones hurdling towards each other until they merged into one huge angry tempest. He was more tired than alarmed. As long as he could remember, Dean and Isabel could not be in the same room for more than ten minutes without ending up at each other's throats. He had thought eight years might have changed things, but it seemed to be just wishful thinking. He knew he would have to interfere as soon as things got too heated and the thought pissed him off. He always had to end up being the peacemaker.

"You started this fight!" Dean countered childishly.

"No, you walked into it and took over, because everything always has to be about the almighty Dean! Why are you here? Can't you just go?"

"We're not leaving and that's final. We're not gonna argue about it any more!" He barked at her, trying to intimidate her, which he remembered worked ten years ago when they were younger, but watching her stand her ground made him realise that apparently, it didn't anymore.

The only thing standing between Isabel and him was the island counter. He considered walking around it and moving to her, using his imposing physique to his advantage.

"Why? Because you said so? I want you to leave!"

"Make me!"

Sam's patience wore out and he reached with his fists and pounded on the wooden kitchen table "Enough!" He bellowed.

The arguing couple froze, Isabel gasped and jumped slightly. The whole table shook and a couple of oranges on the fruit-bowl rolled out of place and fell onto the floor. He stood up from his seat and walked over to Isabel and Dean.

They both turned to Sam in surprise "That's enough!" He yelled angrily again.

Dean watched him in shock, never having seen an outburst like this from his generally mild mannered brother. Isabel was also startled but in addition a little fearful and she took a step back, watching Sam warily.

Sam faced his brother first "Put yourself in her place Dean and try to be little more understanding. She's right, this is not about you!"

Sam turned to face Isabel and she swallowed hard at his stern look "And you" He pointed a finger at her and moved forward. She instinctively took another step back, her back making contact with the bench behind her and she realised there was no where for her to go. She glanced at Dean unsurely, but he was still watching his brother "Look at me!"

She turned back to Sam, her eyes wide "What?" She asked tentatively.

"I can't even begin to say how sorry I am about what happened to you Isabel. But this is not about that" His voice softened and she relaxed slightly "We are here because no matter what has happened in the past, we are family. I think you might be in trouble and regardless of how you feel about us, I'm not going to let anything happen to you if I can help it. So here's what we're going to do. We are going to start trying to get along like adults, and you are going to give us a chance to make amends. How does that sound?"

"Sam, I don't…"

He looked at her pleadingly and she realised that he was right "Please Isabel. I know there's lot to work out between us, but please can we start over. Don't let you anger cloud you. Don't you want a fresh start?"

She watched him thoughtfully before looking at Dean. He was watching her closely too. It seemed Sam's little speech had struck a cord with him as well. He had that little twinkle in his eye, the one that seemed to say 'How about it? I'm game if you are'. She crumbled.

"Yeah, I guess" She said finally "I do want to start over, but I can't guarantee that I can let everything go"

"I'm not asking you to. Just don't let it be something you can't see past. We've all grown into different people now"

She nodded in agreement "OK. I'm willing to try" She looked at Dean. Sam turned also and both were now facing him.

"Me too" Dean said.