A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed Chapter 1. As promised, here is Chapter 2, where the Winchesters make their appearance. This song is an awesome song by Poe. If you've never heard it, I encourage you to download it. It rocks.

Chapter Two: Through My World

well it's 3 am i'm out here ridin again
through the wicked, winding streets of my world
i make a wrong turn, break it
now i'm too far gone
i got a siren on my tail
and that ain't the fine i'm lookin for
i see a stairway so i follow it down
into the belly of a whale where my secrets echo all around
you know me now but to do better than that
you got to follow me
boy i'm tryin to show you where i'm at
hey pretty don't you wanna take a ride with me
through my world
hey pretty don't you wanna kick and slide
through my world
well i got a mind full of wicked designs
i got a non-stop hole in my head imagination
i'm in a building that has 2000 floors
and when they all fall down
i think you know it's you they're fallin for
i can't forget i am a sole architect
i built the shadows here
i built the growlin voice i fear
you add it up but to do better than that
you got to follow me
boy i'm tryin to show you where i'm at
hey pretty don't you wanna take a ride with me
through my world
hey pretty don't you wanna kick and slide
through my world
hey pretty, my pretty baby
rock it through my world
hey pretty, my pretty baby
rock it through my world

Despite Ty's earlier conviction, she'd had a long day and eventually ended up passing out on her couch. She was fast asleep when Dean Winchester picked the lock on her door and silently let himself and his brother into the dim apartment. The boys immediately scanned the room. Sam pointed out the salt lines on the windowsills and by the door. Dean said nothing but moved towards the TV which was still on. As he drew closer, his eyes alighted upon Ty, curled up against the arm of the sofa. His eyes softened for only a second as he took in her face and visually traced the line of her jaw before hardening and filling rapidly with fury. His hands curled into fists and he had to take a deep breath to calm himself before he grabbed her by the collar and shook her awake. Instead, Dean cleared his throat loudly, scowling as Ty startled awake and ignoring Sam's disapproving looks.

"Holy shit, Dean." Ty grumbled as she realized who was standing over her, "Must you loom?"

A muscle in Dean's jaw twitched. Ty noticed it even in her sleepy state, but hardly cared. If Dean was going to be an asshole for no reason, Ty had no problem pushing him. Then at least he'd have a reason for being mad at her.

Ty stretched leisurely, acting completely unconcerned with Dean's presence.

"Hey, Sam." she greeted, tilting her head back to see the younger Winchester still standing near the door.

"Hey, Ty." Sam returned cautiously, watching his brother carefully in case Dean lost it and he needed to step in.

Ty stood, turning her back on Dean and moving past Sam to her fridge. Opening the door and poking her head in to check out her options, Ty asked, "What brings you boys here?"

Ty jumped and gasped in surprise when she was yanked back and the fridge door was slammed in her face. She hadn't even heard Dean move, but suddenly he was there with his hand grasping her forearm in a bruising grip.

"Cut the crap." Dean growled, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What're you talking about?" Ty demanded, trying in vain to free herself from Dean's hold.

Dean ignored her question and her attempts to free herself. Using her arm as leverage, Dean shoved Ty back into the kitchen wall, "Did you like burning to death? Or are you just that damn stupid?"

Ty still wasn't completely sure what the heck Dean was yelling about, although she now had a pretty good idea. Still, she wasn't too thrilled about his man-handling her, whatever his reasons.

"Let go of me." Ty ordered, her voice as much of a growl as Dean's, her eyes burning with just as much anger.

"Dean..." Sam began, approaching slowly, holding his hands up as if to calm his brother.

"Take a walk, Sam." Dean snapped, gaze not wavering for a second from Ty.

"Dean, maybe you should calm..." Sam tried again.

"Sam!" Dean interrupted, furious eyes finding his brother's and demanding compliance.

Sam had seen that particular kind of fire in Dean's hazel eyes before, but it was usually reserved for the things they hunted, especially ones that dared hurt the people Dean cared about. Sam hesitated to leave Ty alone with Dean when his brother was looking at her that way, but eventually decided that knowing these two they would have some kind of explosive argument sooner or later. They might as well get it over with now. So, with a shrug that said he couldn't be held responsible, Sam backed off.

Dean's eyes followed him out the door, returning resolutely to Ty as Sam shut the door behind him. Ty met his gaze defiantly, unwilling to yield even though that look on Dean's face was pretty intimidating. Ty mentally shrugged it off. She looked down the barrel of a murderous spectral cowboy's gun mere hours earlier. She could handle a pissed-off Winchester.

"Where do you get off...?" she began to demand.

"No, where do you get off acting like some suicidal idiot?" Dean yelled, "After everything...I hear you're out here throwing yourself in harm's way like you don't even care! What the hell are you thinking? How many times do you think you can cheat death, huh? Or do you think this is some kind of game?"

Ty blinked slowly in the face of Dean's tirade. Rationally, she knew that she had this coming. Dean of all people knew exactly what kind of risks she was taking and how it easy it was to make a fatal error. And yet having Dean screaming at her like that only served to unleash her own anger, causing her to scream things back at him that she really had never planned on revealing.

"Like you even care! You already saved the day and got the girl, now it's on to the next job, the next girl!"

"What the...I don't care? You think I don't care?" Dean was shaking he was so mad and Ty wondered absently if he might hit her when he raised his fist. She froze and closed her eyes, half-expecting a blow, but none came. When Ty opened her eyes again, she found Dean's fist buried in the plaster of the wall next to her. In the back of her mind, Ty kissed her security deposit goodbye. The rest of Ty's focus was completely on Dean as she stared at him with some kind of strange fascination. There was something extremely heady in the knowledge that she instigated that degree of passion in the man.

The next thing Ty knew she was kissing him. Dean immediately kissed her back, extricating his hand from the wall and fisting it in her hair. The kisses were searing, as fiery as their argument.

"God, I've missed our fights." Dean quipped against her lips as she gasped for air.

"Shut up." Ty replied, pressing her mouth back against his.

Ty was just beginning to pull Dean by the shirt towards her room when a knock sounded on the door.

"Neither of you are dead, right?" Sam called through the door.

"That was a pretty short freaking walk!" Dean yelled back in agitation.

Ty could practically see Sam rolling his eyes through the door and it made her smile.

"Well, I figured it wouldn't take long before you moved on to the making out stage of your arguing." Sam replied.

Dean glanced at Ty in surprise, "His knowledge of our relationship is freaky."

Ty nodded mutely. She reluctantly pulled away from Dean and headed over to the door to let Sam back in. Sam took in her flushed appearance, his brother, and the new whole in the wall with a raised eyebrow, but wisely chose not to say anything.

"So..." Ty began hesitantly, wading carefully back into this dangerous territory, "you guys came all the way out here because someone said I was being reckless?"

Ty glanced at Dean, but kept her focus on Sam, knowing she could count on him for a straight answer.

"A friend asked us to check it out. She thought it might be someone she knew, but once she told us where it was, we figured it had to be you." Sam explained.

Ty nodded slowly, taking in this information. Apparently, she wasn't only being a little reckless, she was being careless enough that other hunters were talking.

"Didn't know I was that popular." Ty commented dryly with the hint of a grin.

"They were taking freaking bets on when you'd get wasted!" Dean snarled from behind her.

Ty raised an eyebrow as she glanced over her shoulder at him again, "What're my odds?"

Dean took a heavy step towards her, his eyes flashing with fury once again, but Ty stopped him with a look. Turning to face him more directly, Ty crossed her arms across her chest and adjusted her stance so that she was clearly communicating with her body language that she wasn't about to be pushed around anymore.

"Don't lecture me, Dean." Ty said evenly.

"I'll stop when you stop needing me to." Dean replied stubbornly.

"Explain to me then why it takes throwing myself in front of a few homicidal ghosts to get your attention." Ty challenged.

Damn, she really needed to get one of those filter things that allowed you to think about things before they came galloping out of your mouth. Ty watched Dean for his reaction with something akin to horror on her own face. Between that statement and her earlier comment about him moving on to another girl, it was pretty damn obvious how she felt about him still.

'So much for playing it cool.' Ty thought ruefully.

Dean glanced at Sam once as if uncomfortable with having his brother privy to this discussion, but then stepped closer to her, lowering his voice as he answered, "You could have called."

Ty glanced up at him, "No, Dean. I couldn't have. And apparently, neither could you until now."

Dean sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Do we have to talk about this now?"

Ty shook her head and moved away from him, just as glad to avoid this topic as he was, "Nope. We don't. You boys can go now. I promise I'll be more careful. Mission accomplished."

Ty ignored the hurt look she thought she saw on Dean's face at her callous dismissal. She probably just imagined it anyway. But Sam wasn't about to let her off the hook that easy. Classic Winchester double-teaming.

"Wait a minute." he protested, "Are you hunting something now?"

Ty heaved a sigh and ran her fingers through her long hair, only realizing as she pulled her hand free that she had just copied Dean's earlier behavior. Wincing at that knowledge, she abruptly dropped her hand back to her side before answering, "Yeah, I might be working on something."

"What?" Dean demanded.

"Just a cowboy ghost. No big deal." Ty replied with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Yeah?" Dean challenged, not fooled by her act at all, "You've got a name and a grave-site then?"

Ty frowned, annoyed that she'd been found out so easily, "No, not exactly."

"Did you try the local obits and track the pattern of the victims?" Sam asked.

"Of course, Sam. I'm not an idiot." Ty snapped, transferring her glare immediately to Dean as he raised his eyebrows in response to her comment.

'One word and I swear I'm gonna throw the lamp at his head.' Ty thought viciously, her fingers itching to reach out and grab the lamp on the nearby end table.

Lucky for Dean, Sam distracted her, his interest clearly piqued by the case, "So what do you have to go on? Any suspects so far? When was the last victim?"

"Woah, hold up there, sparky. One question at a time." Ty interrupted him before he could ask anything else. An amused smile tugged at her lips and she felt herself relax a little, "I've got everything I know on my laptop if you want to take a look."

"Sure." Sam nodded quickly.

It occurred to Ty as she turned from them to retrieve her laptop that she probably shouldn't be sharing her information with them. Now they would probably want to get involved, something she had just decided the night before that she didn't want. However, she had to admit, she could probably use Sam's insight on this one. Hell, maybe Dean might even have an idea of where to go from her current impasse. So with measured reluctance, Ty reentered the room and handed over her computer to Sam.

Sam wasted no time powering the computer on, holding it precariously in one hand so as to hit the power button with the other.

"Hey, careful with Cody." Ty cautioned, reaching out to steady her computer with both her hands.

Sam raised an eyebrow at her over the computer screen, "Cody? Your computer has a name?"

"Yeah." Ty answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Okay." Sam drawled, shrugging one shoulder and taking the computer in both hands. He dropped onto the spot Ty had vacated on the couch and placed the laptop on his knees. The programs quickly loaded and Ty winced as Sam took in the Spider-Man background. She leaned quickly over the back of the couch to point out the file where she'd saved the information on this hunt.

"It's that one, the one labeled 'Ty Stuff.' This hunt is the 'Wyatt Freaking Earp' document." Ty said.

"Nice." Dean threw in.

Ty turned towards Dean, placed her hands on her hips and stuck out her tongue.

"Classy." Dean added with the hint of a smirk.

"You wouldn't know class if it kicked you in the junk." Ty retorted.

"Ouch. Harsh." Dean said, hand going to his chest over his heart as if he were physically wounded.

"But true." Sam asserted, "Ty is there anything concrete on this guy at all?"

"Not really. I didn't even really buy the story until the sucker tried to put a bullet between my eyes." Ty admitted.

Sam glanced back over his shoulder at his brother, "This is about as washy as that job in Richardson with Mordecai."

"You think it's another tulpa?" Dean asked, genuinely surprised.

Sam shook his head, "I can't be sure. There's no house it's focusing on, just a general area, so I don't know. How'd you hear about this, Ty?"

"Caught wind of a couple hikers who turned up dead, shot to death by what forensics says looks like bullets from an old-fashioned six-shooter. Locals starting talk about how it was this urban legend rearing its ugly head again. That was ten days ago." Ty reported, coming to sit on the arm of the couch near Sam.

"Looks like you nailed the pattern, too." Sam said, continuing to peruse Ty's research, "Strong, independent young women, mostly blondes."

"How many?" Dean asked, wandering closer to look over Sam's shoulder.

"These last two make twenty-seven over the last century." Sam answered.

"These last two girls are also the first in over fifty years. He's apparently been dormant or something until now." Ty added with a shrug.

"But no one has any idea who he is? Not even any of the old-timers who might still remember the last victims?" Dean pressed.

"Don't know. I decided to check out the murder scene last night and see if I could find our favorite gun-slinger. Found out the son of a bitch's still hanging around, all right and apparently he's not too fond of me."

"What happened?" Dean and Sam both asked at the same time.

Ty rolled her eyes at the two boys, "Nothing. I just headed out there to look around, he turned up, didn't seem to like the looks of me and started shooting. I blasted him with an iron round and decided to back off for the night. I came home and got a call from you, growling at me through the phone."

"Apparently not soon enough to keep you from walking right into a showdown at the OK Corral." Dean scoffed.

"Like you're one to talk." Ty replied, "Don't act like you're not just as much of a shoot first, ask questions later person. Sam and I've talked."

Dean glared at Sam for a second before countering, "But I'm good at it."

Ty took a deep breath to keep from launching into another argument. Why did Dean Winchester make her feel like she needed an hour of yoga or a punching bag to keep from self-destructing?

Ty pushed Sam a little to get him to move over, then slipped off the arm of the couch onto the cushion next to him, purposefully ignoring Dean, "Well, Sam, what do you think?"

"In most cases like this, where a spirit shows up again after a long time, somebody's messed with something. Maybe there's been some recent construction at the gravesite. Let's go check out the area before nightfall and maybe we'll at least be able to narrow down where this guy's buried." Sam suggested.

"Good idea." Ty nodded, "And if that doesn't work, you guys back off and let me do things my way."

"Seeing as how 'your way' is what brought us out here in the first place, I think maybe you should take a backseat on this one." Dean advised.

"Well, I think that you can shove your opinion up your..." Ty began in a faux sweet tone.

"Hey!" Sam interrupted quickly, "Why don't we just agree to work this job together? Ty, if you've got a plan..."

"Of course I have a plan." Ty affirmed, injecting a note of affront in her voice at the suggestion that she might not.

"...then we'll do that." Sam asserted diplomatically.

Dean threw his hands up in the air and walked away from them, distancing himself from the situation. Ty nodded resolutely in agreement with Sam, all the while thinking, 'Shit, now I really need a plan.'