Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural nor do I own Sam or Dean. I am, however, addicted to their show.

Beta: Wingedteen

Defiance

Reunion. After an aging spook hunter falls prey to the vampires he thought he had long ago destroyed, John Winchester joins his sons (meeting Alex) to battle the bloodsuckers- and retrieve an unearthly gun they possess.

Departed Human's Juice

Alex woke again at one. Sighing, she stretched, trying to get rid of all the kinks that she'd gotten from sleeping in the back seat of the car. Apparently, the boys had made a pit stop while she'd been out for the count. Alex took the offered packet of chips from Dean, eating them slowly, trying to keep down her measly breakfast. She grabbed the plastic bag she'd learnt to keep in the back seat and threw the rubbish from Sam and Dean's lunch in. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Alex noticed with surprise that Sam was still driving. With another soft sigh, she picked up the two journals that had slipped onto the floor and began once again began to look for the information to copy.

As the sun began to set, Alex fished around for the torch she left in the back seat for that reason. Clicking it on, she cursed that Sam refused to let Dean put on one of his tapes. Hell, she was fairly sure that Dean would have preferred to listen to Rihanna then this silence. The only noise she heard was the turning of the pages in the journal and the monotonous rumbling of the engine. The sudden burst of classical rock, signalling a call to Dean's phone, made her jump. Dean picked up, and from the change in his expression, Alex could tell who he was talking to.

"Yeah, Dad. All right, got it." Dean answered the order that John had obviously given him before hanging up. "Pull off at the next exit." Dean told Sam. Alex crossed her fingers and prayed he wouldn't-

"Why?" Sam asked. His voice was quiet and deadly. So much for that. Apparently, he was still pissed off, even after a few hours of Dean and Alex trying to let him cool down.

"Because Dad thinks we've got the vampires' trail."

"How?"

"I don't know, he didn't say." At Dean's answered, Sam's face twisted in malice, and he pushed the peddle down as far as it would go, overtaking John's truck. With a practiced twist of the wheel and press on the brake, Sam spun the 38 year old car around, blocking the road and forcing John's truck to come to a stop. Alex watched the brothers get out of the Impala, Sam confronting his father, Dean hoping to stop it from coming to blows.

"What the hell was that?" John demanded of his youngest son. Alex could hear them perfectly from the car. She looked at the road, hoping that she wouldn't see the headlights of another car, knowing it was night and both the Impala and John's truck were black.

"We need to talk." Sam growled at his dad, the person who taught him how to live this life, the person who doomed him to be a freak.

"About what?"

"About everything. Where we goin', Dad? What's the big deal about this gun?" like father, like son. Sam's fury matched John's, spike for spike, flame for flame. Alex shook her head at their idiocy. She knew Sam still remembered what she'd told him, what she'd seen, but she also knew he understood that she wasn't sure if she was right.

"Sammy, come on, we can Q and A after we kill all the vampires." Dean tried to defuse the situation; an effort Alex knew was way too late.

"Your brother's right, we don't have time for this." John seemed just as calm as Alex, who was nsitting in the back seat of the car, watching through an open window. But, Alex knew that he was also about as calm as she was. And about every inch of her was tense, ready for action, and her extra supernatural advantage was itching to be used, damn the consequences.

"Last time we saw you, you said it was too dangerous to be together. Now, out of the blue, you need our help. Now, obviously, something big is goin' down, and we wanna know what!" Alex thought that was a reasonable demand, but now was so not the time for it. Not while everyone was at each other's throats, anyway.

"Get back in the car." John's voice was dangerously low.

"No." Sam didn't back down. Knowing that if they didn't stop it soon, it would turn into a fistfight, Alex moved to the door, ready to open it if she needed to. She trusted Dean though. If he really needed her help, he'd let her know

"I said get back in the damn car." John took a threatening step towards Sam, trying to get him to back down, once again.

"Yeah. And I said no." instead of backing down, Sam took another step forward, so he and his dad where centimetres apart.

"All right, you made your point, tough guy. Look, we're all tired. We can talk about this later." Seeing immediately that it wasn't going to work, Dean grabbed Sam's shirt and turned him away. "Sammy, I mean it, come on." Sam began to walk back to the car, Dean beside him, trying to make sure that he didn't turn around again.

"This is why I left in the first place." Sam muttered, close enough to the car Alex heard it. She had to hand it to Sam, she'd have done the same thing.

"What'd you say?"

"You heard me." John had built the fire up again, and Alex shook her head. Why couldn't these Winchesters just leave things well enough alone?

"Yeah. You left. Your brother and me, we needed you. You walked away, Sam, you walked away!" John grabbed Sam's shirt, probably intending to shake him.

"Stop it, both of you!" once again, Dean tried to cover the fire in sand, but this time, it was like chucking a handful of the stuff onto a bonfire.

"You were the one who said 'Don't come back', Dad. You're the one who closed that door, not me! You were just pissed off you couldn't control me anymore!" the sound of the car door closing called Sam's attention to Alex, standing by the door. Her eyes spoke her fury at them, and Sam hurried to calm her before someone got hurt, or ended up dead. "Alex, calm down. Easy."

Alex smirked at Sam, shaking her head. "Oh, I need to calm down." She laughed without mirth. "Oh, that's rich. Sam, remind me again, who was just in a fight?"

"Alex, just calm down, deep breath-"

"Get the fuck back in the car Sam." Sam complied quickly. Alex flicked her eyes to John, and she raised her brows at him. "I'd suggest you get into your car as well." she growled. Not understanding his youngest son's reaction, John climbed back into his seat. Dean threw his arms up in defeat.

"Terrific." He growled.

"Perfect." Alex agreed sarcastically.

Alex watched from behind the trees as an old car drove to the vampire's nest. It was early morning, and she was still blinking sleep from her eyes. The car was obviously run down, and she wasn't sure how well it ran. Someone got out of the car- a vampire, if John was right. It was a man, in gothic looking clothes, a black shirt and jeans, under a dark denim vest. Another man opened the door to greet him, shading his eyes from the rising sun. The Goth vampire walked past the other, while he looked around, watching for signs of pursuit. Seeing nothing, he closed the door. Alex turned to John for behind their chosen spot.

"Son of a bitch. So, they're really not afraid of the sun?" Dean asked. Alex shook her head at him, rolling her eyes. She'd told him that once she'd found it in Elkins' diary, copying it into her own.

"No, direct sunlight hurts like a nasty sunburn." John answered his oldest, wondering what Alex's reaction to the question was. He didn't really like her hanging round his boys. "The only way to kill them is by beheading. And, yeah, they sleep during the day. It doesn't mean they won't wake up." John finished. Sam grinned behind them, laughing at Alex's reaction.

"So I guess walking right in's not our best option." Dean observed, thinking about these things. They sounded literally like super-humans, only they needed human blood.

"Actually, that's the plan." John responded. Alex looked back at him, surprised by his answer. He hadn't seemed suicidal or crazy. Until now. Never the less, she sat back and watched the house without a word. Once the sun had reached a point only he could see, John got up, followed by Sam, Dean and Alex. They walked silently to where they'd parked their cars, a kilometre away. Dean handed out the machetes and Alex looped hers on, copying Sam. She still hadn't let the eldest Winchester in on her belt full of weapons, and, as far as she knew, neither had Sam or Dean.

As they were arming themselves, John sighed, leaning on his truck.

"So….you really wanna know about this Colt?" John asked. Alex froze what she'd been doing, sharing a glance with Sam and Dean. Apparently they were as surprised about this as she was.

"Yes, sir." Sam answered for all of them.

"It's just a story- a legend, really. Well, I thought it was. Never really believed it until I read Daniel's letter. Back in 1835, when Halley's Comet was overhead, the same night those men died at the Alamo, they say Samuel Colt made a gun- a special gun. He made it for a hunter, a man like us, only on horseback. The story goes he made thirteen bullets. This hunter used the gun a half dozen times before he disappeared, the gun along with him. Somehow, Daniel got his hands on it. They say- they say this gun can kill anything." John finished his tale.

"Kill anything, like, supernatural anything?" Dean asked.

"Like the demon." Alex and Sam said at the same time; Sam disbelievingly, Alex with as much hate as they'd ever heard in her voice. John shook off Sam and Alex's twin reaction, answering their questioning gaze.

"Yeah, the demon. Ever since I picked up its trail, I've been lookin' for a way to destroy that thing. Find the gun… we may have it." with an anticipating smile, Alex continued to buckle the machete around her waist.

They made the walk back to the house in better spirits. Finding a way in was hard: the door would be too loud and it would let in a lot of light. Eventually John found a window that he thought would work. At his signal, Dean gave his father a leg up, holding him high enough so that he could get in. John opened the window, stepping onto a hay bail, and silently moving off. Sam moved to Dean's side, helping him up. Alex was the last up, after helping Sam. He'd lifted her in through the window, getting her into the clear. He moved off, leaving it to Alex to close it in such a way that it wouldn't make any noise. She winced as Dean kicked a bottle, causing it to fall. As the tinkering of the glass died away, Alex watched, making sure none of the vampires woke up.

Once the window was closed, Alex scouted the area around the door, making sure that it was clear. She silently unlatched it, giving them a quick get-away if they needed it.

When she got back, Sam was untying a woman on a pole. She tapped Sam to get his attention, and held her arms out, asking where Dean was. Sam nodded his head in Dean's direction. He was opening the door to another human holding chamber, this one a cell with and dozen or so people all in the same place. Alex grabbed Sam's wrist, noticing that one important detail.

"Sam, why's she different?" she asked. Sam looked at her in confusion, but she couldn't explain herself. The woman Sam was untying shifted, slipping back into consciousness.

"Hey, hey, shh, I'm here to help you." Sam assured her. Alex took a step back, pulling Sam with her as the woman woke. She let out a scream, and her second teeth descended to cover her first ones. Sam looked at her in disbelief. Alex whirled, just as John's order reached her ears.

"Run!" Alex threw the door open when she reached it, racing in the direction of the cars at first, slowing when she realised that there wasn't anything following her apart from Sam and Dean. She seemed to come to the conclusion at the same time the boys did.

"Dad?" Dean yelled. When there was no response, Dean tried again. He looked desperately at Sam and Alex before they heard movement. Alex's hand moved to the machete on her hip, next to the hidden gun and nun-chucks. It fell as she recognised the figure to be John, and waited until he reached them.

"They won't follow. They'll wait 'til tonight. Once a vampire gets your scent, it's for life." John told them. Alex brows shot up, not sure what he meant, except that they didn't need to run for now. They would have until sundown to work something out, or high-tail it out of there.

"What the hell do we do now?" Dean asked, voicing the question that was racing through Alex's head.

"You got to find the nearest funeral home, that's what." Alex nodded. As her panic died down, she was starting to remember what the journal had told her. Dean and Sam exchanged confused glances, and Alex explained.

"We need to get some dead man's blood." John looked at her in surprise, and she shrugged, knowing that wouldn't be the only thing that she'd be able to surprise him with. She was fairly sure that he didn't know how well she could fight, and, until she trusted him, that was how it was going to stay. No need to give up the element of surprise. "Elkins's journal is one hell of a gold mine for killing those suckers." She answered. John nodded, giving her the point. John explained his plan, and Alex, Sam and Dean nodded, agreeing to it.

"Sam, you're with me. Dean, Alex, get the blood." Alex smiled at Sam before slipping into shotgun for the first time. Sam sighed and joined his father in the truck. He wasn't really sure if this was a good idea, but there was nothing he could do about it. He rested his head on the window the whole way to the next town, watching the Impala in front of them until John peeled off to get a motel. Once there, John left Dean a message about where they were and started researching, leaving Sam with nothing to do. After a few minutes, Sam got up and began to pace, unable to take it.

"It shouldn't be taking this long. I should go help." He declared. He walked to the door, determined to get in his dad's truck and drive it to where ever Dean and Alex were. True, his link to Alex wasn't letting off any alarm bells. Actually, it seemed strangely quiet. He hadn't been too far away from her since it had been forged, but now, he realised that distance might affect it, something he'd never thought of before.

"Dean's got it." Sam turned, and paced back the other way. "Sammy…" Half way to the point where he normally turned around, John called him. He stopped, turning to face his father.

"Yeah?"

"I don't think I ever told you this, but… the day you were born, you know what I did?"

"No." John was right, he'd never heard about his before, and he didn't think Dean had either. John smiled softly at his son.

"I put a hundred bucks into a savings account for you. I did the same thing for your brother. It was a college fund. And every month, I'd put in another hundred dollars, until… Anyway, my point is, Sam, that… this is never the life that I wanted for you." Sam suppressed a smile, knowing this conversation was starting to stray into the borders of violating one of Dean's biggest rules: No chick flick moments.

"Then why'd you get so mad when I left?" he remembered the argument that night. That had been one of the arguments that Dean hadn't been able to stop. He'd been too stunned at the time to do anything.

"You got to understand something. After your mother passed, all I saw was evil, everywhere. And all I cared about was keeping you boys alive. I wanted you prepared, ready. So, somewhere along the line, I, uh… I stopped being your father. And I- I became your drill sergeant. So, when you said that you wanted to go away to school, all I could think about- my only thought was that you were gonna be alone… vulnerable. Sammy, it just- it never occurred to me what you wanted. I just couldn't accept the fact that you and me… we're just different." While he'd been speaking, Sam had sat opposite his dad, listening to the thing that was the closest to an apology he was ever going to get. He laughed in spite of himself. "What?" John didn't quite understand quite what was funny about that.

"We're not different. Not anymore. With what happened to Mom and Jess….we probably have a lot more in common than just about anyone."

"I guess you're right, son."

"Hey, Dad? Whatever happened to that college fund?"

"I spent it on ammo." Sam nodded, laughing. Of corse he did. "Sammy." Sam turned to his dad, not used to that tone of voice. "I need you to do me a favour." John handed a card across the table between them. Sam twisted it over. Under it was a piece of paper holding an address to a post office box. He turned back to the card, recognising it as a driver's licence. The picture was enough to tell him whose it was. The words printed across the top proclaimed it was Alexandra W. Bashter's. "Sammy, I need you to get her birth certificate. Don't let anyone know and… keep her with you." Sam frowned at John's words, but he found himself wanting to do this one thing. After all, it'd be a favour to Alex as well. He knew she was looking for her real family.

"Whew! Man, there's some heavy security to protect a bunch of dead guys." Dean cried as he walked in, Alex behind him. Sam slipped the paper and card into his pocket, hiding it from sight.

"Did you get it?" John asked. Alex took a jar out of her pocket, revealing the red, sticky liquid. John smiled, nodding. Alex handed it to Dean, and he threw the keys to the impala to Alex. "You know what to do." John nodded at Sam and Dean.

"You sure about this?" Alex asked Dean. Dean looked, smiling at Alex.

"Yeah. But if you so much as scratch my car, I'll kill you."

A few hours later, the Impala was on the side of the road, hood up. As Alex didn't know much about cars, she was afraid to touch it, incase she made whatever had happened worse.

"Fuck! Dean's gonna kill me." she declared, pulling away from the car to come face to face with two of the vampires from the nest.

"Car trouble? Let me give you a lift. I'll take you back to my place." A female vampire, one that Alex hadn't seen, smiled. She was a brunette, and she was just plainly and simply… creepy. Stepping back, Alex summoned up her courage, the evil glint entering her eyes.

"I'm sorry. Dead just isn't my type." Alex answered with a grin.

"Ooh." The vampire backhanded her, and Alex fell to the ground, hissing at the surprising impact. She shook her head, trying to collect her concentration when the women bent down, grabbing her cheeks. Without breaking a sweat, the vampire lifted her up and Alex twisted, trying to break the vice-like grip on her.

"What's a girl gotta do to get her message across? Darlin', I'm not into ladies." Alex asked, feeling bruises beginning to form around her mouth.

"You know, you look interesting. I think Luther might like you." The woman smiled. The vampire behind her mirrored the grin. Narrowing her eyes, Alex smirked down at the vampire holding her.

"Well, I'd hate to disappoint Luther, but I'm not 'interested'." An arrowhead appeared in the vampire's stomach, and she dropped Alex to the road again. Blinking away her daze, the vampire turned, noticing the three Winchesters emerging from the woods, bows in hand.

"Barely even stings." The vampire told them. Alex got to her feet, wincing slightly at the pain in her head. She'd been though worse, though. Hell, she'd put herself though worse. She got up as John responded to the taunt the vampire had thrown his way.

"Give it time, sweetheart. That arrow's soaked in dead man's blood. It's like poison to you, isn't it?" the vampire's smile faded and she seemed to faint, falling onto Alex, who just had enough warning to brace herself. She staggered under the weight for a second before getting the vampire in a better position to carry. "Load her up. I'll take care of this one." Alex turned to put the vampire in the back seat, covered in old newspapers under Dean's orders. If I've gotta have a dead thing in my car, it's not touching my baby. Alex shook her head at the memory.

Once getting the vampire into the car so it wasn't touching anything but paper, Alex got in with it. To Dean, her job was to make sure that it didn't touch anything else. Dean pulled the hood down, and walked to his side of the car. They where heading to a prearranged spot, though Alex didn't know where. That way, if something hadn't gone to plan and the vampires got her, she wouldn't have been able to sell them out.

The fire was down to coals when Dean pulled the car up. Alex tied the vampire to a hidden tree near it and helped Sam and Dean get the fire going with a bit more enthusiasm. John went to his waiting truck, pulling out a bag and throwing in a few different odds and ends. Once the younger hunters had the fire cracking merrily –who ever thought of that phrase had had too much Christmas spirit in their eggnog- John handed the bag to her.

"Toss this on the fire." Was his order. Alex raised a brow at John –half as a challenge- and he answered the question, seeming to not notice the dare. "Saffron, skunks, cabbage, and trillium: it'll block our scent and hers until we're ready."

"Stuff stinks." Dean commented, and Alex rolled her eyes at him.

"It's got skunks in it Dean." She muttered as she started to put the stuff on the fire.

"Well, that's the idea. Dust your clothes with the ashes, and you'll stand a chance of not being detected." Once done with the bag of stuff, Alex slipped into the shadows. Every so often, Sam would send a glance her way, as though checking to see if she was still there.

"You sure they'll come after her?" Sam asked. Alex nodded, although no one saw her. She considered moving closer to the fire, but decided that she liked where she was. After all, if something unfriendly showed up, she might have the element of surprise.

"Yeah. Vampires mate for life. She means more to the leader than the gun. But the blood sickness is gonna wear off soon. So you don't have a lot of time." John looked over at the vampire they'd tied up. She was starting to move about, waking from the coma-like state the blood had put her in.

"Half-hour ought to do it." Sam answered, thinking of the next step in their plan. Alex shifted, and the boys spun to look at her, pulling the machetes out as they went. Alex pulled her hands up, letting them figure out who she was as she pulled the universal sign for peace.

"I want you out of the area as fast as you can." John turned back to Sam and Dean once they where sure that Alex wasn't a vampire.

"Dad, you can't take care of them all yourself." Dean argued

"I'll have her and the Colt." John responded. Alex's hand crept towards her nun-chucks, but she stilled the movement, knowing that it wouldn't accomplish anything apart from losing the trust she'd gained from Sam and Dean.

"But after—we're gonna meet up, right? Use the gun together, right?" Sam shook his head as his dad stayed silent, giving him his answer. "You're leaving again, aren't you? You still want to go after the demon alone? You know, I don't get you. You can't treat us like this."

"Like what?" John asked, knowing what Sam was about to say.

"Like children."

"You are my children."

"I'm not." Alex responded. She stepped into the light. Annoyed as she was with John, she forgot about staying hidden.

"I'm trying to keep you safe." John

"Dad, all due respect, but , uh, that's a bunch of crap." The others turned to Dean, surprised at his response. Alex recovered first, smiling at Dean, showing him she was with him all the way.

"'Bout time you jumped on in." Alex smiled at Dean, and Sam swallowed his astonishment, grinning at his brother.

"You know what Sammy and I have been huntin'. Hell, you sent us on a few huntin' trips yourself. You can't be that worried about keeping us safe." Dean pushed, annoyed at his father's thinking. Yes, he'd told Sam he was willing to sit back and follow orders, but this was beyond annoying. This was complete and utter lack of regard for their thoughts and cares.

"It's not the same thing, Dean."

"Not at all, no. It's not like we haven't been up against something that you can only kill in about a three minute opportunity window. Tell me, how exactly is this different?" Alex growled. She was just so damn sick of him thinking that they had no mind of their own. She'd been able to earn his sons' respect and trust. He hadn't given even his sons that, let alone giving it to anyone else. She didn't understand it, and wasn't about to take it lightly.

"This demon? It's a bad son of a bitch. I can't make the same moves if I'm worried about keeping you alive." John tried to reason with them, but Alex knew that he was the one that had lost his sense in this case. She rolled her eyes as Dean answered.

"You mean you can't be as reckless."

"Look… I don't expect to make it out of this fight in one piece. Your mother's death—it almost killed me. I can't watch my children die, too. I won't." Alex clenched her teeth, stopping herself from attacking John in any way.

"What happens if you die? Dad, what happens if you die and we could have done somethin' about it? You know, I've been thinkin'—I think maybe Sammy's right about this one. I think we should do this together. We're stronger as a family, Dad. We just are. You know it." Alex knew what John would have seen. His two sons and a girl, standing united, not budging. She thought he'd give in, see some kind of sense, rather than the blind panic he seemed to have over keeping his kids alive. She thought that the man would at least trust his own sons to look out for him. Instead, he changed the subject completely.

"We're running out of time. You do your job, and you get out of the area. That's an order." As John walked off to his truck, Alex couldn't stop herself. With a flick of her eyes in his direction, she made him stumble, catch a rock and fall down.

"That installs so much confidence that you'll survive." She called to him. He got back up and kept walking, untying the vampire and putting her into the passenger seat of the truck. He climbed into his seat and drove off, ending the argument.

Alex rolled her eyes at the stupidity of the man. As one, Alex, Sam and Dean rubbed the ashes from the fire onto their clothes, covering their scent as well as they could. Alex carefully slipped into the back, staying on the newspaper, trying to keep her area as clean as she could. About a kilometre out from the building they'd seen the vampires in, Dean stopped the engine and they jumped out of the shiny car, slipping into the plant's shadows like they were trees themselves.

Alex froze as she saw most of the vampires still hanging around. Too far away to hear their conversation, the trio watched them, hyper-aware of everything around them, knowing one wrong move could be their last. Eventually they heard the truck's rumbling as John drove it past the nest to get the leader's attention. Most of them quickly jumped into cars and gave chase, leaving few a vampires behind for the other hunters to deal with.

Quickly, they stole into the barn, each knowing they wanted to get back to John, try to make him see some kind of sense. Alex knew she wasn't going to be left behind like the luggage that John saw her as. She'd put tracers in Sam and Dean's pockets if she had to. Alex landed lightly on her feet beside Sam. They took a quick look around, before disappearing. They all knew the plan, who was doing what. Sam and Dean went to deal with the few vampires that where there while Alex moved off to the cages holding the vampire's food source. She heard the soft sound of Dean's voice and decided it was safe enough to break the locks. With the clang of metal, the doors where open, and Alex was getting rid of the bonds that still held the civillians in place.

There where about ten people there, and Alex had gotten through half of them by the time Sam and Dean came to help. Alex quickly decided on the person who was in the best condition. Sam handed her a discarded phone he'd found and rambled off the address they were at before they moved off, feeling the need to get to John, knowing that even as good of a hunter as he was, something could still go wrong.

They found John quickly, not too far up the road. Alex checked the wind and stayed upwind to the creatures, moving quickly and silently into position. As they watched, the lead vampire, the one Alex thought to be Luther, moved forward and put the gun on the ground. Sam and Dean pulled the cross bows back, ready for action. Alex didn't have one, as she didn't know how to aim properly and they didn't want her to kill John by accident.

As the lead vampire moved back, John moved forward, holding the vampire they'd caught, knife to her throat, ready to decapitate her if needed be. Alex saw what John hadn't as he bent down to grab the gun, and nudged Sam and Dean, letting them know to be ready. The female vampire he held had gotten the restraints loose. She grabbed the gun before John could, and spun, throwing him back, landing heavily on the front of the truck. Dean aimed, his arrow cutting straight through the stomach of the vampire, slamming though the bullseye. The vampires turned as they rushed down to attack, pulling out the blades by their sides.

Alex got there first, battling the first vampire she got to. By the time she managed to deal the death blow she had taken a few good blows despite being light on her feet and her martial arts training. Just as the vampire's head hit the ground, however, one of the vampire's voices from behind her caused her to freeze.

"Stop!" spinning, she saw Sam hadn't been as successful with his fight. The leader of the nest had gotten the best of Sam, keeping him in a choke hold. Sam's face was turning red, changing rapidly to purple as she and Dean moved to help Sam, blades held ready to kill. "Don't! I'll break his neck." As one Alex and Dean froze again, knowing the vampire was serious. "Put the blades down."

Dean shot a glance over at Alex, and she knew what he was asking. Uncurling the energy in her head, she channelled it though her arm and down to her hand, having learnt that it got easier to guide it with her hands. She twitched her fingers, using all her strength to pry the arm from Sam's throat. She didn't get far, but Sam did manage to get a good breath of air. Flicking her eyes back to Dean she twitched her head, motioning to him that it was beyond her abilities. Slowly, carefully, they moved, dropping the machetes to the floor, trying to keep the peace between themselves and the vampires long enough to keep Sam alive.

"You people—why can't you just leave us alone? We have as much right to live as you do." The vampire holding Sam demanded. Out of the corner of her eye, Alex saw someone move, but didn't pay it much heed, concentrating on Sam as she was.

"I don't think so." John responded as he pulled the trigger to the gun. As it entered the vampire's skull, he let go of Sam, who stumbled into Dean, deprived of oxygen as he was. Dean grabbed his little brother, holding him up as he watched the vampire sink to his knees.

"Luther!" the previously captured vampire yelled, calling out to the man as he died. Alex watched as a flash of light pulled out from the man before he fell face first into the bitumen. The captured vampire began to walk over, livid and hungry for revenge. One of the other vampires grabbed her and pulled her off, back towards the car. Alex knew that if they ever ran into these vampires again, they'd have to kill them. She watched as they disappeared down the road, falling to the back of Alex's mind as they did so.

"Well, at least we know it works." She smiled as the men turned to her, shock still etched on the brothers' faces while John's was lit with satisfaction.

"Allright, come on." Dean cried walking back the way they'd come. Alex jogged to catch up, walking with the brothers, her fellow hunters. John watched, not sure what they where doing, but he didn't follow. Instead, he heaved the vampire that he'd just shot onto this back, dumping the carcass in the back of the truck, and doing the same for the others that had been killed. He needed to get rid of them before anyone found the bodies. They may have been vampires, but, to the rest of the world, they still looked like humans.

Alex climbed into the back seat of the Impala, fuming at John's stupidity.

"So, we're just gonna head back to the motel like nothing happened?" she questioned Sam and Dean, knowing that was what Dean at least had in mind. They sighed, and Dean started the engine as a response. "You've got to be kidding me." Alex muttered as she pressed back into the seat.

As the car pulled up at the motel, she jumped out and began to pack the little she'd pulled out, throwing it angrily into her duffle bag. Sam and Dean packed as well, their actions showing they didn't like the prospect much more then she did. They turned as the door opened, admitting John. They'd known it was him as the rumble of the truck had given him away. He sighed as he looked in, leaning on the wall next to the door.

"So, guys…"

"Yes, sir?" Sam questioned what their dad was doing back that the motel. His stuff had already been cleaned out, and he'd practically already said his goodbyes by the fire.

"You ignored a direct order back there." John accused them.

"Yes, sir." Sam seemed to be ashamed, a dog lowering its self before its owner, knowing it was going to be punished.

"Saved your sorry ass." Alex muttered. She glared at the man as John looked her way, seeing the defiant streak in her as clearly as if it was blond in her hair. Her father would have had a hell of a job rasing her, being challenged at every corner, every turn: having even the simplest things questioned.

"You're right." John agreed.

"She is?" Dean seemed slightly surprised, the emotion getting passed his mask of indifference.

"It scares the hell out of me. You boys are all I've got. But I guess we are stronger as a family. So… we go after this damn thing- together."

"Yes sir!" Sam and Dean responded at the Sam time. With a sigh, Alex zipped the bag closed and flung it over her shoulder, calling the location of the nearest bus stop to mind. She wasn't part of the family: she hadn't really expected anything different. She pulled her head down, shaking it to keep her unshed tears of hurt and betrayal from showing. However, she couldn't stop Sam from getting them when he searched her for her emotions. She felt his hand on her shoulder, spinning her before she could reach the door.

"And where do you think you're going?" he demanded. Alex looked up, praying they wouldn't notice the tears and hoping her voice wouldn't give her away.

"You're going as a family. I'm not really part of it." she muttered, trying to pull out of Sam's grip. Sam gave her a soft smile and pulled her into a hug instead. Looking over his shoulder, Alex saw Dean and John's confused faces.

"You're my sister-in-arms. That makes you family." Sam replied as he pulled out of the one sided hug. Alex turned to Dean and John, seeing the same smile copied onto their faces. She managed to give them a weak one back, surprised as she was. John stepped forward and held his hand out for Alex to shake. She dropped the bag, and firmly took it, meeting his eyes, without the challenge or defiance that she usually carried with it.

"So, that bet you made with Dean… what was it?" John questioned. Alex's smile went from grateful to smug as her eyes flickered to Dean's pleading ones for a moment.

"He didn't realise I was in twelve different martial arts at the time. I hold five black-belts and six senior." Alex grinned over at Dean as he rolled his eyes at her. John nodded at her.

"So that's where you got the fancy fighting from." John nodded and moved away to talk with Sam. Dean picked up Alex's discarded bag before she could recover.

"Come on, lesbian. Lets go put you stuff away." Dean threw Alex a trade-mark smile over his shoulder as he said that.

"Who ever said I was a lesbian?" she growled at him. Dean turned, throwing his bag and Alex's to the floor, fairly sure what was coming next.

"Well, you and that vamp where gettin' pretty cozy."

"Do not make me whoop your ass again." Alex threatened.

"Alex, only straight girls do that to guys." Dean answered, stepping back into a better stance to survive what he knew was coming. Sure enough, Alex threw herself at him, Sam and John laughing, watching them wrestle on the motel floor.

A/N: So, how well does Alex fit in with the Winchesters?

Ok, ok, ok. Yes, I know it took ages for me to update, but both my Beta and I had homework piles the size of Everest, and I've just finished this chapter and gotten it checked. I am so very, very sorry, and please be assured that, no, I'm not loosing interest in this story. Quite the opposite, actually. I'm still getting about a million different ideas and thoughts running through my head, and about a thousand different ways to do them all.

I hope you can all find it in your hearts to forgive my slow update.

-Jasper's Imaginary Friend