AN: This is actually coming along more easily than I thought. I had some doubts at the start. I wanted to give a special thanks to all who've reviewed so far, HYPERLITE.HO, hiddenwritings, hotforjensen101. You guys are awesome! Thanks. AT

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Ankeny, Iowa

Sam and Dean were looking at Isabel, waiting for her to stop laughing hysterically as they stood outside the library. Dean looked at his watch then back at her, expectantly.

"I'm sorry… I…" She panted out, doubling over as her laughter slowly subsided "Did…You…Ha ha….The hook man?" She asked wiping tears from her eyes.

"Every legend has a source Isabel" Sam explained patiently "A place where it all began"

"I'm sorry, I know you are being serious, but…The Hook Man?" Isabel said clutching her abdomen as she fought another bout of the giggles "Oh, my ribs hurt"

Dean was about to point out that two weeks ago he and Sam had rescued her from a incubus demon that had raped, tortured and almost killed her along with a group of innocent girls, even though she had laughed at them when they first came to warn her about it, and was it funny now? But he didn't have the heart. By pointing out her previous misplaced scepticism of the supernatural he would only remind her of what she'd suffered through, and although he wanted her to take this seriously, he didn't want to hurt her by throwing something like that in her face.

"What about the phantom scratches and the tire punctures and the invisible killer?" Dean asked Sam, deciding it was probably best to ignore Isabel until she got a hold of herself.

"Maybe the hook man isn't a man at all. What if it's some kind of spirit?" Sam said as the three of them stepped into the library.

They decided to research this, and asked the librarian to bring the arrest records for the town. She came back to where the three of them were sitting about fifteen minutes later and placed two large boxes covered in dust in front of them. They began searching through the papers.

"So, this is how you spent four good years of your life, huh? " Dean asked Sam and Isabel.

"Welcome to higher education" Sam said sarcastically.

Three hours later and they were still looking through records. Isabel closed a file she was reading and threw it on the table loudly. Sam and Dean turned to her.

"I would just really like to point out, how much fun I'm not having" She said, looking at her watch.

"You know Isabel, you should never miss a good chance to shut up" Dean said, matching her sour tone.

"Hey, check this out" Sam said. He'd found a record from 1863. A preacher named Jacob Carnes that had been arrested for the murder of over a dozen prostitutes. The way they had died, the fact that Carnes had a hook for a hand and the location of all these events, all fit together.

"Let's check it out" Dean said.

They drove to 9 mile road and the boys got out of the car. Dean opened the trunk and handed Sam a rifle. Isabel opened the door and moved to step out.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sam asked her with raised eyebrows.

"What do you mean? I'm going with you" She said looking up at them.

Dean walked over to her and shut the door "No you're not. You're staying in the car"

"By myself?" She asked worriedly as she wound the window down "In the dark? No, I'll get scared"

"We're going after a vicious ghost!" Dean pointed out "That doesn't scare you?"

She thought about it for a second. Actually, she thought to herself, maybe it was a good idea to skip the ghost hunting part.

"What if something bad happens?" She asked weakly.

In spite of all her bravado and caustic quips she was now beginning to get the feeling that this was the part where something could go terribly wrong and splitting up might not be all that smart, even if her cousins were leaving her in the car thinking it was the safest alternative.

"Nothing will happen to you. Stay in the car, lock the doors and honk if you see anything or anyone come towards you" Dean said.

"I meant to you? What if something happens to you?" She looked at him worriedly, her furrowed brow showing her concern

"Tell you what" Dean gave her a slight smile, always appreciating the moments when Isabel let her true feelings show "Anything happens and the car's all yours"

She knew he was trying to lighten the mood and make her feel at ease, but his choice of words were anything but comforting at this particular moment. Isabel looked at Dean horrified.

"Dean, that's not funny" She choked out.

He sighed and leaned down, resting his forearms on the open car window, now eye level with Isabel.

"Sorry kitten" He said ruffling her hair gently "We'll be fine, we've done this before. Don't worry OK?"

"We'll be back before you know it, Bel" Sam said with a reassuring smile.

She nodded and locked all the doors. Watching nervously through the windows as Sam and Dean walked away from her and deeper into the woods. She frowned as she looked around the car nervously. When she had suggested and practically begged her cousins to go on this road trip, she had not anticipated that it would involve long hours of research in the library and midnight drives out to the middle of nowhere to catch ghosts. She had always had a vague idea of what her cousins and uncle did, but she had never had first-hand experience.

She knew now that this was the kind of life Sam and Dean had had growing up. This is what her life would have been like if John Winchester had agreed to take her in like she'd asked him when her parents died and for the first time ever she felt a small amount of gladness and relief that he hadn't. She'd never felt sorry for either of her cousins or her uncle, reserving that kind of indulgence only for herself. But now, for the first time placing herself in their shoes, she realized that while her life had been far from perfect in the eight years since her parents died, Sam and Dean's lives had been even further from perfect and for much longer.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard the sound of an engine through the bushes. A few moments later she saw some headlights through the trees. It stopped a few yards away from her and she lowered her head as she watched him through the two front seats of the Impala. He didn't seem to have noticed there was anyone in the car. Her heart started pounding as an officer got out, heading off in the same direction Sam and Dean had.

"Oh, crap" She cursed out loud for no one to hear.