Author's Note: Dorothy! New favorite band. Now, about this story: I've got a conundrum. When I started this fic I wanted to focus on Lisa in a story line that paralleled the show, eventually tying into it. I've been dragging this out in order to keep it cannon, but it feels too long. I kinda want to go off in a different direction, break away from the direction of the show, and just go with it. I feel like the show is just going to keep on going, and there is no way for this fic to keep up. I dunno. Still debating. What do you guys think?

Playlist for the Chapter: Wicked Ones by Dorothy, Gun In My Hand by Dorothy, Bang Bang Bang by Dorothy, After Midnight by Dorothy (Heck, their whole album is awesome)

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Lisa Makes the Dead Man's Gambit

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They parked in an abandoned field when the phone calls and texts began to pour in a few hours later. First it was one or two, then Lisa's phone blew up, dozens and dozens of Hunters answering the call to arms.

It kind of surprised how short a time it took her to get eyes on her targets. The Winchesters were in the Nevada desert, held by the Amazons of Hippolyta. Sitting on the end of the bed of Sarah's truck, Lisa gave terse orders to the heads of Hunter groups, pulling in as many as she could. Having relied on her for nearly a year, the Hunters followed her orders without question. While she gave them their assignments, Lisa also took the time to update them on the new lore: having a Devil's Trap tattooed on the palm could stop a demon in its tracks, so long as the Hunter kept their hand raised. Angel blades could be melted into bullets and they worked with deadly accuracy. Having weapons blessed also caused demons pain.

Finally, Lisa hung up her phone. Sarah and Kate were sitting in the dirt with Abby a short ways away near Lisa's motorcycle, making a tiny castle from mud and rocks. Lisa walked over and crouched next to them, and Abby turned big eyes on her. The little girl was pale and her small face was streaked with tears and dirt.

"I have to go away for a bit," Lisa said as gently as she could.

Abby shook her head fiercely. "The Watchers will get you, just like they got mom! Then they'll get me too."

Lisa held open her arms and Abby flew into them. Lisa hugged her fiercely. "No one is going to get you," she promised, face buried in her daughter's hair. "I won't let anyone hurt you. Never again." Carefully Lisa pulled her away and gently smoothed over the little girl's tousled hair. "But there are other people who are about to get hurt, I have to make sure that they're safe. If they die, I won't ever find my son. I have to go, but Kate will be with you. She'll keep you safe."

"The Watchers are monsters," Abby pleaded. "You don't understand! Didn't you see? They'll get Kate, then they'll get me!"

Kate bent so that her face was level with Abby's and let her eyes go briefly yellow. The little girl's eyes widened. "You've got a monster on your side, kiddo. I won't let them get you. And I guarantee my teeth are bigger than theirs."

Abby was quiet for one stunned moment as she studied Kate's yellow eyes and sharp, sharp teeth. One small finger reached out and touched a long black claw.

"My, what big eyes you have," Abby said, and then smiled a wobbly gap-toothed smile.

"Yep, the better to see bad guys with," Kate replied, and ruffled her hair. They all kind of deflated in relief. Lisa had been slightly afraid that Abby would see all Supernatural creatures like the demons that had torn apart her adoptive family, but she was glad that Abby was not afraid of Kate.

Sarah rested her hand on Lisa's shoulder as they watched the truck peel out of the rest stop, the back of Kate's blond head barely visible through the dirty window, and Abby nearly nonexistent. Lisa heaved a deep sigh. Abby would be well taken care of under Kate's watchful eye. With the werewolf's supernatural senses and strength, Lisa's daughter would be well defended.

Her phone rang, interrupting the watchful silence. On the line was Ginger, her Alabama with hints of her Cajun roots drawl a warm comfort. "Hey sugar, we doin' this or what?"

"What do you got for me?" Lisa asked, leaning her hip against her bike. Next to her, Sarah was adjusting the backpack that held all of their dangerous ordinance that wouldn't fit in the saddlebags, carefully disassembled and packed to be put back together again.

"We got about fifty Amazons," Ginger reported. "Looks like the entire clan gathered for the execution and sacrifice of the Winchesters. Includes all their elders and young pups. They're at the base of a canyon. Wide open, canyons high up and covered in scrub. I've got Hunters in the bushes and rocks waiting for the go signal."

Lisa flipped through her journal. She studied it regularly and tried to keep it updated, but she wanted to double check her Amazon Lore. "They don't have a particular Achilles heel. Normal weapons work fine. If the lunar cycle I've got on my phone is right, they're waiting to sacrifice the boys to the Goddess Artemis. They're waiting for the full moon. We're a few hours out and we'll be there by nightfall. So sniper mode with spotters, until we arrive. Do you agree?"

"Sure, sugar. Sounds good. We'll wait for you to get here, but if they move before you do, we'll light em' up. Got a plan?"

"Oh hell yeah," Lisa said, and carefully gave Ginger the rundown. Her plan was both shitty and risky, but she wasn't going to risk the lives of her Hunters if she could help it. They had both numbers and surprise on their side, but the Amazons were vicious fighters. The Hunters followed Lisa as Garth's second without question, and she didn't want to betray their confidence with needless death. None of her people would get hurt on her account, not if she could help it. Hopefully she could get the Amazons' rigid warrior society to work against them.

.x.

Abby was mostly quiet on the drive to the church. The little girl sat huddled against the window, staring out at the scenery that flashed by while she cuddled the stuffed penguin. Kate could smell the salt in her tears, hear the shaking in her ribs as she tried not to cry. She could also smell the faint scents on the girl's skin that indicated her parentage. It was faint, but it was there. Lisa was this kid's real mom. Kate could also smell the father too, an odd faintly familiar smell that she couldn't quite place. What a mess. Kate hoped that Father O'Bannon would be able to help more than she could. He was an ordained Priest, but the dude was also a counselor. Hopefully he'd be able to sort Abby out. At any rate he'd be a sure sight better than Kate at assisting damaged kids.

The churched loomed up out of the forest, a comforting sight of home. Kate gave a nearly inaudible sigh of relief. She parked the truck next to the grave yard. The night was quiet, filled with darkness, stars, and dancing fireflies. Inside the church she could smell Father O'Bannon, as well as the faint and slightly frosty ozone scent of the ghosts in the church grave yard. Lisa had said the ghosts were not a problem, that they were at peace. She certainly cleaned their gravestones regularly, and making sure the headstones all had fresh flowers. Now Kate's werewolf eyes could make out the faint flickering phosphorescence of their non-corporeal forms. They didn't have the rage and anger that tinted the reek of a ghost on the rampage, but she still gave the grave yard a wide berth. They may be placated ghosts, but once a monster always a monster. Some things never changed.

"Hey chica," Kate said, unbuckling Abby's seat belt. "We're going to go inside, make some hot coco, and talk to a nice man that will help you, okay? I'll keep you safe, we'll both take care of you."

"When's Leese coming back?" Abby asked, holding her penguin tight and following Kate out of the truck.

Father O'Bannon had heard the truck drive up, and was now standing in the open doorway of the church, illuminated by the comforting warmth of firelight.

"She will be back as soon as she can, kiddo," Kate promised, crossing her fingers just in case, "She's tough. Lisa will kill the monsters and come back for you like she said. It'll be okay."

"Mommy's gone," Abby said, and burst into tears.

"Oh my word," O'Bannon said, his priest robes flapping as he dropped to his knees in front of the crying child. "C'mere wee one, we'll make you some tea-"

Kate coughed loudly.

"-Hot chocolate," he amended quickly. "With marshmallows! Come inside, we'll sort it out."

O'Bannon lifted Abby into his arms and carried her into the church. She sniffed the wind moving through the forest. Nothing but trees, flowers, and the odd ghost. Glancing around at the dark trees surrounding them to insure all was well and that they were not followed or being watched, Kate went inside and shut the door firmly to the night.

.x.

Dean finally recognized the ceremony as a sacrifice to the goddess Artemis. The Amazons had painted their distorted bodies with chunky white clay and covered it with sharp red symbols. They'd shed their clothing and armor and wore nothing but wreathes of laurel and antlers on their heads. Around their necks were necklaces of bear claws. Combined with their red eyes, it made for a pretty eerie picture.

Despite the fact it was the dead of night; the clearing was very well lit by the torches tied to pillars surrounding it, the bonfire at the center, and the heavy full moon overhead. The Amazons shrieked and danced around them, arms and voices raised to the moon. Sammy had woken some time ago, and he watched the raucous silently, having arrived to the same sacrificial conclusions that Dean had. Unless they came up with a brilliant plan soon, their gooses were well and cooked.

Suddenly there was a gunshot. The sound tore through the clearing, echoing off the canyon walls and bringing the macabre festivities to a grinding halt. Dean turned, along with everyone else to see a pale woman standing just inside the light from the torches. In her hands she held a Mossberg shotgun that she'd fired into the air. As they all watched, she tossed the shotgun aside and drew a sword from a sheath at her back. She paced forward, boots crunching the gravel noisily in the tense silence. As she got closer, Dean realized that the ghostly pallor of her skin wasn't natural at all, that she was wearing a mask. It was a weird looking thing. A smirking face made from shattered marble. She must be a Hunter, but he couldn't place her, though everything about her was familiar. Her walk, the way she stood- they must have done a job together or something. The woman was tall, with shaggy black hair cut in a punky a-line, tight grease stained jeans, a scuffed leather jacket, and heavy motorcycle boots.

The woman strode forward, pointed the blade at Dean and Sam, then at the Amazons. "Challenge," she said, voice low and throaty.

Dean tried to keep the grin from his face. The Amazons took the whole warrior thing seriously. Whoever this was, she'd just bought him a little more time to figure out a plan to get him and Sammy out of this mess.

.x.

One of the Amazons stepped forward out of the throng, holding a short leaf shaped blade Lisa recognized as a Greek xiphos. The blade was old, notched from countless battles and stained with blood and gore.

"My name is Demeter," the Amazon snarled. "And the lives of these men are rightly mine! They murdered my offspring, and now I will give their souls to the goddess in hopes that she will allow me to be fertile once more."

Well. That was creepy.

Lisa's hand tightened on the grip of her sword. She'd been using it as a weapon almost constantly for over a year. Lisa also practiced constantly. The sword was her only chance of saving Ben so from the moment it had come into her possession Lisa had used it with an almost manic obsession. Now using it seemed like it was just an extension of her arm, easy as breathing. Hopefully it would be enough. Lisa was good, but the Amazon was probably better. The creature had had thousands of years of battles under its belt, but Lisa had a single minded determination, and knew that it had been some time since the Amazon had fought something that was capable of fighting back. Hopefully killing unsuspecting humans had dulled its skills.

"I AM GOING TO BREAK YOU!" Demeter shrieked, and flew at Lisa, sword raised.

She barely had time to parry. The blades crashed together and the shock ran up Lisa's arm and rattled her teeth. The Amazon was freaking strong. Somehow she began to rethink the brilliance of her half-assed plan. It was going to take all of her skill as well as her Hunter smarts to make it out of this one.

.x.

Dean felt his heart drop right into his stomach. He recognized the sword – this was Alice!

For some reason she was risking her hide to rescue him. They were friends, if friendship meant flirting over text during late nights on stakeouts, but Dean liked her. Alice had spunk, she was tough, and she liked classic rock. He began to struggle at his bonds in earnest. For some reason he wasn't willing to watch her die. Too many people he'd cared about had left his life in a chilling permanence. Neither Sammy nor Alice was going to die tonight. Dammit. Sammy and him were gonna be fine, and he was going to still be texting Alice at 2AM. And he'd buy her that beer. And maybe they'd hit it off.

Some psycho supernatural loon was not going to take that from him anyway. He watched the fight, working at the ropes.

Alice was good- she was light on her feet and quick. He hadn't realized just how skilled with a sword she was. But Demeter was better. The Amazon took damage and just kept coming. She didn't seem to feel pain at all. Alice had cut her on the side, a deep wound that bubbled silently with dark blood, but Demeter moved like she hadn't even noticed. Alice meanwhile had taken a glancing blow to her thigh and she was starting to limp. All the Amazons circled the pair of combatants, watching the fight with an eerie intense silence.

Alice jerked her head back and the Amazon's sword screeched across her mask in a high pitched metallic whine, cutting a shallow groove across the masks' nose. It didn't even shatter the dark lenses covering the eye holes. Dean was impressed. Metal mask with industrial safety sunglass lenses covering eye holes. That was smart. He wondered if she knew about the Holy Oil trick. If she didn't, he'd be surprised. This girl was a survivor.

The Amazon was lunging forward for another strike which Alice ducked, falling to her back and shins in a graceful limber move Dean recognized as a Turkish Drop. The only reason he knew the move was because on top of yoga, Lisa had been big into tribal belly dancing. She'd taught a class right after her Wednesday Dharma hot yoga. Alice popped right back up like a fluid jack in the box, slid under the Amazon's extended arm, driving the point of her sword into the Amazon's belly. She carved the serrated blade into the creature's guts, sawing mercilessly. The Amazon screamed, finally unable to hide the agony, and fell, ropes of shiny intestines spilling out in a steaming pile on the ground.

Alice wasted no time. She cut off the Amazon's head in a spray of blood.

Detemer's tribe watched in an almost comical stunned silence. Dean guessed that they hadn't really expected the puny human Hunter to best them in all out combat.

The Amazon's Head Priestess broke from the crowd and pointed her bone staff at Alice. "I want Gumbi Girl's head on a plate!" she snarled. "And the Winchesters die!"

Well, fuck. Dean struggled harder. His wrists had started to bleed and the blood made the rope slick. He struggled harder. The Gumbi Girl term had reminded him of Lisa, and it filled him with a sort of manic stress. He would not watch Alice die. Not after she risked everything to come save his ass.

Alice raised her sword high above her head, held it for a few moments, then brought it down to her side. That almost looked like a signal. He didn't have time to process more than that. Gunfire cracked from all around them and Amazons fell in droves. Human shapes rose from the bushes, moving forward in an almost military effectiveness, holding M16 and M4 machine guns. The Amazons didn't have time to get away- do anything. All they'd had was swords, clubs, and staffs. The Hunters' ambush cut them down like grass before a mower. Soon the clearing was full of Supernatural corpses.

Ginger Chevalier rolled up in a wheel chair next to Alice, who bent and said something to the older woman, then limped off into the night. Ginger began barking orders to the Hunters; some began piling the dead Amazons to be burned, others hurried to untie Dean and Sam. Dean searched the crowd of people, but Alice never returned

.x.

Sarah drove the motorcycle back to the church while Lisa rode pillion. Her leg hurt too bad to drive, and besides Lisa wanted to think. Her nose was bleeding again, she could feel it dripping into her mouth. Lisa had a feeling that it had nothing at all to do with the fight. Seeing Dean tied up had rattled her badly. For some reason the sight of him- God, even his smell, had seared itself into her brain. She couldn't stop thinking about him, those eyes-

Her head was aching, splitting open. She tried to remember, but something was holding her back.

Instead Lisa focused on the fight. She couldn't believe that she'd won. Killing Demeter had been hard, brutal, but the creature's death didn't borrow her like it used to. Lisa supposed that it should bother her that killing was becoming much easier than it used to. But it didn't. She'd expected that her gambit wouldn't work, that the Amazon's wouldn't respect her victory. Lisa's fight primarily served to ensure that the Amazons were all visible, all focused on her so that the Hunters could get into place and ambush effectively.

Once it was all over Lisa found herself running again. For some reason she couldn't face Dean, couldn't go down that rabbit hole when she wasn't certain what would be waiting for her at the end.

So she ran.

The meeting with Dean Winchester could wait. She had to get back to Abby, to make sure that her daughter was safe. Her kids were all that mattered. Whatever Dean made her feel- she'd deal with that later.

Back at church, her head was splitting open so bad she couldn't even focus on her friends. She muttered goodnight to a very worried and concerned O'Bannon, Kate, and Sarah, and gave Abby a hug, before stumbling to bed. Lisa drank a few shots of whiskey- which put her right under. She almost never drank the hard stuff. Between the alcohol and the headache she was unconscious in moments.

She was setting the table for dinner. She and Ben had decided to eat in the dining room for a change instead of a plate in front of the television. Lisa paused, a steaming casserole dish full of leftovers in her hand; there was a knock at the door. She set the dish down, a heavy weight in her stomach. She knew who was at the door. It would be the man with green eyes that she could not remember, the father of her kids. She even remembered this night. This was the night that she took him in, offered him a safe harbor after the death of his brother.

Lisa moved to the door, she felt like she was made of lead. The door handle turned slow under her grip. the door itself unbearably heavy. She stood there in the open doorway, unable to think, unable to really focus on anything but the man in front of her, the man that had been faceless for so long.

Dean Winchester stood at her door watching her with sad, bright green eyes.

"Hey, Leese."

To be continued...