It had been almost two weeks since New York. We were sitting in a cafe in Nebraska. I was flipping through newspapers from surrounding states, Dean was looking through local newspapers and Sam was searching for any leads on his computer. I folded my newspaper and tossed onto the table,

"Two freaking weeks. Two weeks and nothing freaky happens? What is this world coming too?"

Dean laid his paper down and shrugged, "I don't have a decent lead in the state. Sam?"

"Well, I've been scanning Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota. Here. A woman in Iowa fell 10,000 feet from an airplane and survived."

Dean took a sip of coffee, "Sounds more like 'That's Incredible' than, uh, 'Twilight Zone'."

Sam shrugged and nodded.

I was frusturated, crazy shit did not just stop happening, "Are either of you as bothered by the fact that it has been radio silence for this long? Not to bitch, but not working kinda sucks"

Dean playfully put his arm around my shoulder, "Aw Jen, it is so cute when you get all homicidal."

"Ass. I'm not homicidal , I just don't like when stuff doesn't work the way we know it works. Crazy shit does not stop being crazy."

I pushed him back over. I knew he was joking around, but two weeks without a decent shower or a bed was starting to get to me. Honestly, I loved being with the boys, but spending this much time with them was ridiculous. I just wanted to lay in a bed, clean like a human. I mean I have lived like a animal for weeks before but I just wanted to chill. But Sam was especially determined to find something and we wouldn't stop until he found something.

"You got anything else Sam?" I asked

"Ahh, man in Colorado, local man named Daniel Elkins, was found mauled in his home. "

Dean sat up straight, "Elkins? I know that name."

Sam ignored him, "Doesn't ring a bell."

Dean kept talking under his breath, " Elkins...Elkins...Elkins."

I just drank my coffee and listened to Sam give the rundown, "Sounds like the police don't know what to think. At first they said it was some sort of bear attack and now, they've found some signs of robbery."

Dean ignored him and pulled John's journal out of his jacket, "Guys, check this out."

He flipped the journal so that we could see the writing, I read outloud, ". 'D Elkins 970-555-0158' "

"You think it is the same guy?" I asked

Dean shrugged and nodded, "It's a Colorado area code. "

We cruised into Manning, Colorado later that night. By the time we made it to Elkins house is was after three in the morning. When we got out I stashed my gun in my pants.

"You really think you are gonna need that?" Dean asked.

"Dude, you're a hunter, but we are in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the woods. What do you think runs around at night?"

He shrugged, and then as if to illustrate my point a pack of wolves howled in the distance. Dean looked around but I saw him reach into the car and grab his gun as well. We walked up to the door and Sam bent down and picked the lock open, the door swung easily. The place was a total mess. Stuff was laying everywhere, it definitely looked like a robbery

"Looks like the maid didn't come today." Dean joked.

I kept looking around, everywhere there were signs of salt, warding symbols, charms, amulets. Though not obvious, they were there. I picked up a journal and started going through it.

Sam called from another room, "Hey, there's salt over here. Right beside the door.

Dean yelled back, "You mean protection against demon salt, or 'oops I spilled the popcorn' salt."

"It's clearly a ring."

"Guys..." I was still flipping through the journal, "This guy was definitely a player. You need to see some of this shit."

Dean came up behind me and looked over my shoulder, "That looks a hell of a lot like Dad's. "

"Yeah, well this one dates back to the early '60s. And there is some strange stuff in here. It might take me awhile to make heads or tails of it."

I kept flipping through it. The guy was a genius with this stuff, but he had transcended into madness. I closed it and walked into another room, flashilight drawn, Sam and Dean were kicking through papers. I looked out the window toward the valley, something moved quickly behind some trees. I wouldn't have noticed but the thing never reappeared . I drew the curtain.

There was a hole where the skylight had been shattered inward, there was blood everywhere, signs of a struggle. In the papers there was an old box that looked like it had cased an antique gun.

Sam spoke from a corner, "Whatever attacked him, it looks like there was more than one."

Dean liffted up some more papers, "Looks like he put up a hell of a fight too."

When Dean moved the light I saw indentations on the floor. Scratches, right below Dean's feet.

"Hey. Dean" He looked over and I shined the flashlight to his feet, he looked down, crouching to see it more clearly.

"You guys got something?" Sam came over.

Dean looked at the scratches absentmindedly, "I dunno. Some scratches on the floor."

I grabbbed a peice of blank paper on the floor and a pencil from the desk and handed it to Dean, he handed me his flashlight and put the paper over the marks, rubbing the pencil against it.

"Death throes maybe?" Sam said.

I shook my head, "Message. There are numbers."

Dean peeled up the paper, there was blood on the back. But where he had rubbed the pencil against the paper there were three letters and six digits.

"Look familiar?" Dean asked.

"The location and combination of a post office box. It's a mail drop." Sam replied.

Dean nodded, "Just the way Dad does it."

I pointed, "That drop would be in town with those letters."

Dean nodded, "Well lets go."

We walked back out to the car and I had a funny feeling in my gut, "Dean." I said under my breath. He turned and looked at me. I looked up and whispered

"We are being watched."

He became serious, "Get in the car. Sam , jump in the back."

Once we were in he turned to me, "How do you know?"

"I can feel it, plus I'm pretty sure I saw someone move in the woods."

He sat there for a moment, "Sam, you know the drill."

Sam got out of the car and started jogging to the house, Dean yelled out,

"Where you goin'?"

"I forgot something."

Dean waited until he was almost to the door and then nodded at me. I rolled down my window and we slipped out of it and into the woods. I pointed out and then to myself, Dean nodded and started backtracking , trying to cut off the thing's escape. I moved through the woods around the house silently. Quickly I came across a trail through the woods, definitely boot prints. I followed them, the person hadn't tried to cover their tracks and was not good through the woods. There were snapped twigs and branches, easy to follow, even in the dark. Eventually I was where I thought I had seen the movement. Sure enough there were signs of someone waiting, the prints were over each other. He had been shifting his weight, watching us. I looked up and I could see where I had pulled the curtain. I could see into the house in other places.

Suddenly there was a snap. I whipped around, kneeling, gun drawn.

"Shit, Jen, it is just me!" Dean was coming through a bunch of brambles and thorns. I uncocked the hammer.

"Sorry. Anything?"

Prints heading down the valley, whoever it was, they are long gone. They started hauling ass down the hill."

"Shit."

"Yeah." He pulled out his phone, "Sam...head back."

We walked directly back up to the car. Sam was sitting on the hood, "Anything?"

I shook my head, "He was watching us for awhile, there was only one set of prints through the woods."

Dean opened his door, "He hightailed it through the woods, probably when he figured out we were on to him."

Sam nodded and got in the car, "We just have to be careful. Watch our backs."

It was almost dawn when we made it to the post office. It was easy enough to find the box. I went in alone and put in the code, pulling out a single envelope. As I looked at the address my stomach dropped. Shit. I ran back out and hopped in the passenger seat.

"You guys want to see this." I tossed Dean the envelope.

"No way." He showed it to Sam. On the outside of the envelope were two letters, 'J.W.'.

Sam looked at it for a moment, "'J.W.' You think? John Winchester?"

Dean shrugged, "I don't know. Should we open it?"

"Well it isn't exactly like your dad is the easiest person to find..." I said.

I caught the movement out of the corner of my eye, I pull and draw my gun. Dean is confused and looks terrified, thinking that I am drawing on him, but then hears the knock from the outside and about jumps out of his skin. The man outside smiles and puts his hands up, it is John Winchester.

Dean looks around, "Dad?"

John got into the backseat, Sam scooted over. I uncocked my gun and laid it on the seat.

"Dad, what are you doing here? Are you all right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm ok. I read the news about Daniel, I got here as fast as I could. I saw you three at his place."

I nodded, made sense, "It was you watching us."

John nodded, "And you are jumpy as hell. How did you know?"

"Saw you move, animals don't hide, they run."

"Smart."

"Why didn't you come in Dad?" Sam asked softly

"You know why. Because I had to make sure you weren't followed... by anyone or anything. Nice job of covering your tracks by the way."

Dean looked proud, "Yeah, well, we learned from the best."

Something was weird about this, "John? You came all the way out here for this Elkins guy?"

"Yeah. He was... he was a good man. He taught me a hell of a lot about hunting."

Sam looked confused, "Well you never mentioned him to us."

"We had a... we had kind of a falling out. I hadn't seen him in years."

He pointed at the envelope, " I should look at that." John opened it and read, " 'If you're reading this, I'm already dead'... that son of a bitch."

Dean jumped at the anger in his dad's voice, I just sat calmly hoping that this wasn't going to get out of hand.

"What is it?" Dean asked meakly.

"He had it the whole time. "

"Dad, what?" Sam asked.

John was angry, "When you searched the place, did you, did you see a gun? An antique, a Colt revolver, did you see it?"

I shook my head, "There was an empty case on the floor, totally empty, bullets and everything."

"They have it." John said to himself, starting to focus on other things.

I could see on Dean's face that he was confused, "You mean whatever killed Elkins?" he asked.

John jumped out of the car, "We gotta pick up the trail."

Sam jumped out too, "Wait. You want us to come with you?"

"If Elkins was telling the truth, we gotta find this gun."

Sam was starting to yell, Dean was getting nervous, "The gun - why?"

"Because it's important, that's why." John snapped back.

"Dad, we don't even know what these things are yet." Sam said, aspirated .

John looked back in the car and pointed at me, "She does."

Dean looked over at me confused, I had an idea after looking at the journal but I hadn't heard of one being hunted since I started.

"Jen?" Dean spoke firmly.

I sighed, "When I was flipping through the journal, Elkins had a specialty. He hunted everything, but he really had a thing for vampires."

John nodded, "They were what Daniel Elkins killed best."

Dean scoffed, "Vampires? I thought there was no such thing."

Sam looked over at John, "You never even mentioned them, Dad."

John shrugged, "I thought they were extinct. I thought Elkins and - and others had wiped them out. I was wrong. Let's go get a room and figure this out."

John tailed us the entire way to the motel.

"Why didn't you say anything ?" Dean asked me.

"I wasn't sure. I haven't heard of an attack since I've been hunting. I heard about them, sure, but I never ran across one. I honestly didn't think there were any left."

Dean pulled into a motel on the outskirts of town. John jumped out of his truck and went into the office. The sun was just starting to peer over the horizon. John came over,

"Room twenty."

I smirked but Dean voiced it, "What about Jen?"

"The rooms have a couch and I don't think any of us are going to be getting a lot of sleep."

Fine then. I guess I wasn't going to get the break that I wanted. We entered the room with our crap, the décor was kinda dark but was okay for how bad the exterior looked. John started going through papers immediately ,

"Most vampire lore is crap. A cross won't repel them, sunlight won't kill them, and neither will a stake to the heart. But the bloodlust, that part's true. They need fresh human blood to survive. They were once people, so you won't know it's a vampire until it's too late."

I nodded, "You need to chop off the head, right?"

"Yep."

Dean looked at me, "How do you even know that?"

"Educated guess. Stuff has a hard time ripping you apart if they don't have a head."

John continued, "There haven't been any recent attacks that I can find near here so we are going to have to wait unil they hunt again to find them. We can't just walk around and check people's teeth."

I sat on the bed and kicked my shoes off, laying back. I still had Elkins' journal, I flipped through it. There was a ton of stuff about nests, how to cover your scent. Monsters I had never even heard of. John turned a police radio on. Sam went to the bathroom and started a shower. Dean sat down on the bed I was on and grabbed the journal out of my hands.

"Really?"

"That's for not telling me vampires are real."

"Fine then."

I just crossed my arms over my chest and dozed off.

"Dean, Sam, Jen! Let's go." I felt someone hit me in the leg.

I groaned.

"Mm-hmm." Dean groaned from beside me. He had fallen asleep reading the journal. I opened one eye and saw Sam sitting up on the other bed. John was grabbing stuff and heading for the door.

"C'mon, I picked up a police call."

"What happened?" Sam said, yawing.

"A couple called 911, found a body in the street. Cops got there and everyone was missing. It's the vampires. "

Sam stood up, "How do you know?"

John walked out the door, "Just follow me, ok?"

I rolled out of the bed and onto my feet, grabbing my coat and giving Dean a shove, he was still half asleep,

"Huh, vampires. Get's funnier every time I hear it."

I stumbled outside, it was still before noon, and it was chilly. I zipped my jacket up and heard Dean stumble out of the room after me. We got in the Impala and followed John to the crime scene. Once there John got out of his truck and turned to his boys,

"You guys stay here."

I stepped up, "Are you serious?"

He shot me a particuarly nasty look and walked off to the cops. This wasn't fair, me and the boys had hunted for months together without him and been fine. Hell, I hunted for years by myself and was good at the job. Sam thought the same thing I did because he got sulky,

"I don't see why we couldn't have gone over with him."

Dean huffed, "Oh don't tell me it's already starting."

Sam looked offended, "What's starting?"

John turned and started heading back to us, "Guys, cool it. He is heading back." I said quietly.

Dean approached his dad, "What have you got?"

"It was them all right. Looks like they're heading west. We'll have to double back to get around that detour. "

"How can you be so sure?" Sam asked.

"Sam..." Dean warned.

Sam turned on Dean and spoke sharply, "I just wanna know we're going in the right direction."

Great, you know, saving people, hunting things, the Winchester drama. John just walked off,

"We are. "

"How do you know?" Sam asked and was ignored.

John turned and handed something to Dean, "I found this."

I walked over and snatched it out of his hand, holding it up.

"It's a...a vampire fang." Dean said.

I shook my head, "Not with the way it is shaped. John? Are these retractable?"

I looked over and he nodded, "Not fangs, teeth. The second set decends when they attack."

John looked over at Sam, "Any more questions?"

Sam stayed silent and looked away, I felt bad for the guy.

John walked toward the cars, "All right, let's get out of here, we're losing daylight...Hey Dean why don't you touch up your car before you get rust? I wouldn't have given you the damn thing if I thought you were going to ruin it."

Dean looked down at his car, forlorn. Sam gave Dean an 'I told you so' look to which Dean grimanced. That was it and I turned,

"Are you fucking serious John?"

He turned to me and I started walking toward him, "What did you say?"

"I asked if you were fucking serious? Dean takes better care of that car than he does of himself. That's his freaking baby."

John was getting pissed and I was in his face now, "Go get in the car Jen."

"You may get away with treating your sons like that. But you don't order me around."

"Get-in-the-car" He took a step toward me. I wasn't backing down. I remembered the tangle we had had in Chicago, I smirked. John looked like he was going to start swinging. I kept staring , daring him to with this many people around.

"Whoa, whoa...Jen?" Dean came up behind and started dragging me toward the Impala.

"Dad, we will follow you." He said over his shoulder and shoved me into the car, climbing in the front, Sam was driving.

"What the hell was that Jen?"

"He can't treat you two like that! I will not be treated like that." I crossed my arms and stared out the window.

"Just cool it..." Dean changed the subject, "That journal said that vampires nest in groups and bleed their victims dry over a few days. I wonder if that's what happened to that 911 couple."

Sam grumpily replied, "That's probably what Dad's thinking. Course it would be nice if he just told us what he thinks."

Dean sighed, "So it is starting...Now I got to worry about you too. It was bad enough Jen was trying to get him to swing..."

I looked up from the back, "You should have let me."

Dean ignored me, "Sam, we've been looking for Dad all year. Now we're not with him for more than a couple of hours and there's static already?"

" No. Look, I'm happy he's ok, all right? And I'm happy that we're all working together again. "

"Well good."

"It's just the way he treats us, like we're children."

"Amen." I said dryly.

Dean exhaled sharply, "Oh God."

Sam was unable to help himself now, "He barks orders at us Dean, he expects us to follow 'em without question. He keeps us on some crap need-to-know deal."

"He does what he does for a reason."

"What reason?" Sam was yelling now.

"Our job! There's no time to argue, there's no margin for error, all right? That's just the way the old man runs things. "

"Yeah well maybe that worked when we were kids but not anymore, all right. Not after everything you and I have been through, Dean. I mean, are you telling me you're cool with just falling into line, and letting him run the whole show?"

Dean swallowed, "If that's what it takes."

I laughed, unamused , "You are so full of shit, Dean. The three of us work together and it works because we tell each other what the hell is going on. We don't keep each other in the dark. You are a freaking leader Dean, I don't know why you let him push you like that."

"Thanks for the support Jen." Dean looked back at me.

I gave him an annoyed look, "Anytime."

We continued to drive for hours behind John. Little spats kept starting up between the three of us but nothing too major. Dean's phone rang,

"Yeah Dad. All right, got it." He hung up, "Pull off at the next exit. "

"Why?" Sam asked angrily.

"Cause Dad thinks we've got the vampire's trail."

Sam's voice began to raise, "How?"

"I don't know; he didn't say. "

Great, I thought, this was gonna end well. Then Sam gunned the engine, Dean braced against the door as Sam pulled the Impala infront of John's truck and then slammed the breaks. The car swerved sideways, forcing the truck to stop, Sam jumped out.

Dean rolled his eyes, "Oh crap. Here we go."

He climbed out, "Sam!"

I followed. I couldn't see Sam's face but John looked pissed as hell,

"What the hell was that?" John yelled.

"We need to talk."

"About what?"

"About everything. Where we going Dad. What's the big deal about this gun."

Dean grabbed his brother's shoulder, "Sammy, come on, we can Q and A after we kill all the vampires."

"Your brother's right, we don't have time for this." John said flatly, eyes blazing.

"Last time we saw you, you said it was too dangerous for us to be together. Now out of the blue you need our help. Now obviously something big is going down, and we wanna know what!"

It dawned on me and I spoke quietly, "It is the gun."

They all turned on me, "What?" I shrugged, " The only reason someone would want any gun that bad means it is special. Considering what drives you John, I would say it has something to do with that demon."

He turned fully toward me, "I said get back in the damn car."

Sam stepped infront of his father, "Yeah. And I said no."

Dean grabbed and shoved Sam with one hand and the back of my collar with the other pulling me to the car, " Ok you made your point tough guy. Look we're all tired, we can talk about this later. Sammy, I mean it, come on."

"This is why I left in the first place." Sam mumbled.

Shit, I knew that was a bad move.

John jumped back at Sam, "What'd you say?"

Sam swung around, "You heard me."

"Yeah. You left. Your brother and me, we needed you. You walked away, Sam."

"Sam.." Dean warned.

John got into Sam's face and was yelling, "You walked away!"

Dean and I got between them, pushing them apart.

"Stop it, both of you." Dean said.

"You're the one who said don't come back Dad, you closed that door not me. You were just pissed off that you couldn't control me anymore!"

I forced Sam back and Dean had ahold of his dad.

I looked between them, "You need to stop. That's enough."

John kept staring down Sam, Dean looked at him, "That means you too."

Sam put his hands up and walked to the Impala, slamming the door. John walked stiffly back to his truck, doing the same. Dean looked over at me,

"Terrific."

"Dean, it is going to be fine. They will cool off."

"You're on my shit list too, Jen. I don't know why you and dad are like that, but I haven't forgotten that spat in Chicago."

I rolled my eyes. John would probably knife me if he knew how far it had gone in New York. And Dean would be upset if he found out that was why John didn't like me so much. It wasn't worth the fight that would break out.

It was just after daybreak when John pulled his truck onto the side of the highway. Apparently it was on foot from here. I grabbed a machete from the back of the Impala, strapped it to my hip. I put my bowie knife in my boot, and slung a long serated knife over my shoulder. Dean and Sam had similar ensembles , John only had one weapon. Dumbass. We headed through the woods. Even though they were hunters, they definitely weren't hunters. They made quite a lot of noise going through the woods, twigs snapped, leaves crunched, and every time I flinched. Those damn things would probably hear us coming mile away.

We came to a clearing with a large barn. Ducking down on the tree line we saw an old beat up car pull in, a guy in a t-shirt comes out. They talk and then go inside.

Dean scoffed, "Son of a bitch. So they're really not afraid of the sun?"

John whispered back, "Ahh, direct sunlight hurts like a nasty sunburn. The only way to kill 'em is by beheading. And yeah, they sleep during the day - doesn't mean they won't wake up."

I made a face, "So I guess that means we are walking right in? Because that is totally the rational and sane thing to do."

John nodded, "That's the plan."

"Apparently you missed the class in sarcasim." I replied.

John thought for a moment, "So, you really wanna know about this Colt?"

"Yes sir." Sam replied.

John cast his eyes down and then started talking, "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. Story goes he made thirteen bullets, and this hunter used the gun a half dozen times before he disappeared, the gun along with him. And somehow Daniel got his hands on say... they say this gun can kill anything. "

I was surprised, and I hadn't been that far off the mark either. A gun that could kill anything? That would sure come in handy.

Dean was the first to speak, "Kill anything like, supernatural anything? Jen was right, this is about the demon."

John nodded, "Yeah, the demon. Ever since I picked up its trail I've been looking for a way to destroy that thing. Find the gun - we may have it."

They approached the outside of the barn, looking for a way in. Jen ran around to the back, the hayloft entrance. She let out a low whistle. Dean, Sam and John jogged around. She pushed open a window. They all clambered in, searching. When they enter they see the vampires sleeping, snoring in hammocks, it is totally quiet. John seperates, checking different stalls. The other three work their way down the aisle. Dean accidently kicks a bottle across the floor that clinks down the wooden boards. They all stop. None of the vamps stir. Jen bitchfaces Dean, mouthing 'really'. He mouths 'what' back. They continue through the barn. When Dean came up beside her she couldn't help herself, in her best Transylvannian impersonation she whispered,

"I 'vant to suck your blood. 'No?"

Dean about lost his shit right there, he turned to her and she raised her eyebrows and was biting her lip to keep from laughing. Dean just shook his head and kept looking around, moving through the hammocks. At the back of the barn John finds two vampires asleep on a bed in an office. He spots the gun hanging in a holster beside them. Sam finds a woman tied to a post,

"Dean! Jen!" He hisses. They move up beside him, Sam begins to untie her when they hear small crashes and movement. They freeze. Jen points,

"There are more." Behind a metal mesh there are six or seven people tied up. There is a padlock on the door. Dean looked around and saw a piece of rebar. He handed it to Jen who shoved it under and broke the lock. At the snap, they cringed, looking over at the hammocks. There was no movement.

John was trying to snag the gun from the back. The woman that Sam was untying began to stir. Sam whispered to her,,

"Hey. Hey hey, shh, I'm here to help you."

The woman screamed, but the scream came out as a blood curdling roar. She was a vampire. Sam backed up into Jen and Dean. The vampires all jumped awake. John turned for a split second to the roar, when he turned back the two vamps were up. The male hurrled him against the wall. John grabbed a curtain and let the sunlight in, the vampires flinched away.

In the main barn Jen, Dean and Sam where huddled back to back, "Umm..boys? I think it is time we skedaddle ."

Dean nodded, "I second that motion."

John came hauling through the barn, "Run!" He yells and they all scramble for the exit. In the aisle there is one vamp in their way. Jen pulled the machete from her hip and brought her arm back. Whe the vamp tried to grab her, she swung hard, and the head rolled from the neck. Sam, Dean, and Jen burst through the door and run up the hill to the woodline,

"Stop." Dean say and then yells, "Dad!"

There is no answer, "Dad!"

After a moment John comes running up the slope. As soon as they see he is alright they all turned and sprinted through the woods back to the cars. Right before they got in John spoke, breathing heavily,

"They won't follow. They'll wait till tonight. Once a vampire has your scent, it's for life."

"That's fantastic John, so let's go burn some reefer and hope to God they can't smell us over the stench."

John shook his head at Jen, "Smart ass. We gotta find the nearest funeral home."

The boys and Jen looked between each other, confused. John slams his hand on the hood of his truck.

" I will explain back at the motel. Let's get the hell outta here."

Once we were back at the motel John sent Dean to a funeral home to get something or other, he hadn't said it loud enough for me to hear. I was sitting near a window, switching between looking outside and watching Sam pace a hole in the floor. I ran a hand through my hair and scanned the parking lot again.

John spoke, "You've changed."

At first I thought he was talking to Sam, but when I looked around he was watching me. I laughed dryly.

"Since when? Wisconsin or Chicago?"

He thought for a moment, "Both."

The corners of my mouth twitched and I went back to looking out the window. He continued,

"You are always a pain in the ass but you're harder now, you are more focused..."

"That's what the life does to you John, it strips away your ability to care about the mundane little by little. You see past all the bullshit and zone in on what you need to do to get the job done."

"No..." He trailed off in thought.

I was done playing his riddles, I didn't have time for this bullshit. I should have just gone with Dean.

Sam finally talked, "It shouldn't be taking this long. I should go help."

"Dean's got it. " John said gruffly. Moments later his face softened, "Sammy."

Sam finally stopped walking, "Yeah."

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

"No. "

"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, this is never the life that I wanted for you."

"Then why'd you get so mad when I left?"

"You gotta 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. Except somewhere along the line I ... uh ... I stopped being your father and I ... I became your, 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. "

Sam laughed dryly, John looked confused.

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

"I guess you're right, son." John smiles slowly.

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

"Spent it on ammo."

They looked at each other and then Sam cracked up and John laughed with him. I saw the Impala pull into the lot. Good, cause this father-son bonding BS was making me nauscious. Dean came bursting into the room.

"Whew. Man, some heavy security to protect a bunch of dead guys. "

"Get it?" John asked.

Dean fumbled around in his pocket and pulled out a jar. I got up and took it from him, holding it up to the light. It was the blood from a corpse, I could see that it was dark and starting to clot up.

John took it from me, "We have to wait until tonight."

Great, it was only early afternoon. I would have to spend at least five or six more hours twiddling my thumbs in the room listening to Winchester drama.

I went over and laid on the bed, being up all night and only sleeping like two hours yesterday was kicking my ass. I dozed off, listening to the silence between them. A few hours later I heard the door slam and stirred to consciousness. The Impala and the truck started and pulled out.

"Where'd they go?" I asked groggily, not even sure who was still in the room.

"Sam went to get us food. And Dad said he needed to pick up some stuff."

I felt the matress move as he laid down on the bed, his arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me flush against him,

"What does that give us...fifteen maybe twenty tops?"

"Mm-hm." Dean mumered as he burried his head into my hair. " I think ten would put us more on the safe side."

He started kissing the back of my neck and moved down to my shoulder. The two weeks without anything like this had sucked ass. Sam had never left us alone for more than three minutes and there wasn't anywhere to hide out in the car. And with John only getting us one room it had just made it harder. He just put his forehead agianst my shoulder,

"Jen, what are we doing?"

I rolled over so that I was nose to nose with him and studied his face. His green eyes looked into mine, I sighed. I knew this was hard on him, hell it was hard on me spending all day together and never getting to do anything normal.

"Dean, I don't really know what. All I know is I really like you, and yeah it sucks ass with the way we live, but I'm cool with it."

He half smiled, "I'm cool with it too."

I didn't know why, but I voiced what was going throught my head, "For how long?"

"How long what?"

I felt out of contol, " You don't live like this,"

"So?"

"So, how long until this isn't enough?"

He laughed, I was surprised. It wasn't the reaction that I expected.

"Jen, I'm not an animal. I can control myself, you know. Is that seriously what you are worried about?"

I blushed, "Kinda."

"Jesus Christ, Jen. I thought you were worried about something serious, like that I kill things for fun and live in a car. " He pushed his lips against mine softly. His arm slid down my side and pulled my waist agianst his stomach. I put my hand on his face and pulled it closer to mine, I felt him smile. Dean pushed his face into where my neck met my jaw. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of the Impala engine.

"Looks like our fifteen is up." I spoke quietly

Dean got up, and looked out the window. I moved and sat crosslegged on the bed. Sam came in carrying bags of fast food. He set them on the table and started digging.

"A couple double cheeseburgers for you." He tossed some at Dean.

"Jen, got you the same thing. Extra onions." He threw two cheesburgers across the room at me. As I started eating I realized that none of us had eaten in two days. I scarffed down the two burgers without coming up for air. Swallowing the last bite,

"You, got any more?"

Sam laughed and tossed me another burger, "Thanks."

Dean was finishing off his fourth burger when John's truck pulled up. It was just starting to get dark.

"You three ready to go?"

On the highway at night Dean leaned over the open hood on the Impala. He started at a voice behind him,

"Car trouble?" Dean turned to see the female vampire that had been in the back room. She smiled and then continued,

"Let me give you a lift. I'll take you back to my place."

Dean grinned, "Nah I'll pass. I usually draw the line at necrophilia."

She gave a cocky smile, "Oooh."

She walked up and backhanded him, another vampire flanked her. She grabbed his face and lifted him off of the ground. Dean reached and grabbed her wrist,

"I don't usually get this friendly until the second date but..."

She laughed, "You know, we could have some fun. I always like to make new friends."

She lowered him to her level and kissed him, crushing his face with her hand. She pulled away and Dean being the smartass that he was replied,

"Oh. Whuf. Sorry. I don't usually stay with a chick that long. Definitely not eternity."

While this was going down Sam and John were on one side of the road in the woods and Jen was on the other side. The second that the vampire bitch grabbed ahold of Dean, she was on the move. Jen was armed with a basic recurve bow, a quiver and a machete. She ran out into the center of the street, hitting the flanking vamp with an arrow to the throat while she was on the run. Reloading, she aimed for the bitch's back, straight to the heart. Breath in, out, release. The arrow went all the way through her chest. Jen stood up and smiled.

"AHHHHHH." The other vamp charged. In one fluid movement Jen spun, kneeled, reloaded and released another arrow. It went through the windpipe. The vampire holding Dean spoke,

"It barely even stings."

John and Sam came out of the woods, they were both carrying crossbows, John winked at her, "Give it time sweetheart. That arrow's soaked in dead man's blood. It's like poison to you isn't it?"

The vamp looked shocked and then fainted, crumbling to the ground. John turned to Jen,

"You were supposed to wait."

"Wait until the thing was sucking on Dean's throat? No thanks."

John just shook his head, walked over to the vampire that was gasping on the ground. His machete raised and lowered, removing the head from the body.

Dean looked at Jen's bow, "Thing is kinda out of date."

"Well out of date just saved your ass. It has better reload time than a cross or compound."

"Well, why don't you and your relic help me load the body?"

Dean grabbed the arms of the unconcious vampire and Jen grabbed her feet. They tossed her up into the bed of John's truck and then secured her to reinforced sidebars. All of them loaded up and followed John's truck for about fifteen miles where he pulled off and started a fire. Sam paced, patrolling while John threw bags of stuff on the fire.

Jen jutted her chin towards it, "What is that stuff? It smells like ass."

" Saffron, skunk's cabbage and trillium. It'll block our scent and hers, until we're ready."

Dean starte choking on the smell, "Stuff stinks!"

John laughed, "That's the idea. Dust your clothes with the ashes, and you stand a chance of not being detected. "

Jen sighed, watching the flames, "You sure they will come after her?"

John nodded, "Yeah. Vampires mate for life. She means more to the leader than the gun. But the blood sickness is going to wear off soon, so you don't have a lot of time."

Sam stopped beside them, "A half hour oughta do it."

"Good," John replied, "And then I want you out of the area as fast as you can."

Sam looked confused and Dean spoke, "Well, Dad you can't take care of them all yourself."

"I'll have the vamp. And the Colt."

Sam smelt that John had something else going on, "But after. We're gonna meet up, right? Use the gun together. Right?"

There was a long pause. Jen understood what was going on. John had used his boys and her to get the gun.

Sam raised his voice, "You're leaving again ,aren't you. You still wanna go after the demon alone. You know, I don't get you. You can't treat us like this."

John was appauled, "Like what?"

Sam looked down at the ground, "Like children."

"You are my children. I'm trying to keep you safe. And Jen is barely older than a child..."

Jen's face turned dark, "Hey..."

Dean cut her off, "Dad, all due respect but, uh, that's a bunch of crap."

They all looked at Dean, totally in shock.

John raised his eyebrows, "Excuse me?"

Dean swallowed, "You know what Sammy, Jen and I have been hunting. Hell you sent us on a few hunting trips yourself. You can't be that worried about keeping us safe."

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

Dean was starting to get pissed at his dad, "Then what is it? Why do you want us out of the big fight? "

"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. "

Jen's face fell, she knew where this was going, "You can't be as stupid and reckless."

"Look... I don't expect to make it out of this fight in one piece. My wife's death" He looked at Sam and Dean,

Your mother's death ... it almost killed me. I can't watch my children die too. I won't."

Dean was yelling, "What happens if you die? Dad, what happens if you die, and we coulda done something about it? You know I been thinking. I ...think maybe Sammy's right about this one. We should do this together. "

Sam nodded. Hell Jen was always in for a hunt. Dean grabbed his father's shoulder, "We're stronger as a family, Dad. We just are. You know it. Add Jen in the mix and we are unstoppable. No monster, no demon stands a chance."

"We're running out of time. You do your job and you get out of the area. That's an order."

Dean looked down, Sam clenched his jaw. Jen wanted to hit something but just walked away instead. She wasn't about to get in the middle of this.

We were sitting outside of the vampires' nest. With the cool night air we could here them speaking. The leader was out front,

"Is there any sign of those four?"

"No. Something else."

"What."

"Luther, they cut off Frank's head!"

"And Kate?"

"I don't know. She wasn't there. What are we gonna do?"

There was the rumbling of an engine in the distance, I could tell it was John's truck. They both looked up and the one called Luther looked down the road, forlorn and spoke,

"Kate. She's in that truck."

Moments later they were getting into cars, squealing tires and racing down the road. When they were out of sight, I touched Dean's shoulder and pointed to the barn. He nodded. The people that we had released before had never made it out becasue half of them had been unconscious when I broke the lock. We were here to finish the job and clear out what was left of the nest.

The three of us ran silently to the barn. We went around back to the window I had found before and slipped into it. I looked down the aisle and only saw three vamps left. I hold up three fingers to the boys and they nod. We move downward. One of the vampires swig from a bottle and heads toward the barn doors. He stops, shrugs, takes another swig and turns. Dean was righ there,

"Boo!" Dean swung the machete and hit the mark cleanly. The other two vampires hear the thud from the head, but Sam and I have it covered before either of them can make a move. We run to the cage and I break the new lock.

"You guys need to run." I tell them. "Get to the highway."

Dean comes up behind me, "Jen, we gotta help my dad. There are too many vamps."

I nod. Dean yells, "Sam! Let's go."

We all sprint back to the woodline where we stashed the bows incase we had needed them. Turns out we did.

"Dean!" I yelled as we ran, "Where is he gonna be?"

"Sounded like he was near where we parked yesterday."

Running through the woods in the dark is no picnic. I watched Sam and Dean both wipe out a few time. I did the same. My face was torn apart by the thorns, my hands were raw and clothes torn. I slowed to a jog when I saw lights in the distance. We moved to the where the woods met the road so we could see what was going down. John was holding Kate upright, a knife to her throat. Luther had the Colt.

John was yelling, "Put the colt down, or she goes first."

Luther put his hands up, "All right. Just don't hurt her. " He placed the colt on the ground and backed up.

John drug Kate foward and leaned to pick up the gun. I see her working at the ties around her wrists, the dead man's blood had worn off. I started moving as Kate swung around, knocking John back against his truck. Luther ran over, backhanding John against his windshield. He crumpled to the ground. I let my first arrow fly into the back of the nearest vamp. Two more arrows whooshed by me, stricking two others. I drop my bow and pull the machete. I see Sam head for Luther as I chop the first head off. Another one with an arrow in him charges me and I swing again.

"Drop them!" I turn quickly as does Dean. Luther has his arm around Sam's throat. Dean moves forward and Luther pulls up.

"Don't! I'll break his neck. Put the blade down." For a moment we stand there. Dean let's his machete slip though his fingers. Luther looks at me and tightens his hold on Sam. I drop mine in response.

"You people. Why can't you leave us alone. We have as much right to live as you do."

Then I heard John's voice, "I don't think so."

Luther turns and is met by a bullet between his eyes. As he falls he lets go of Sam who stumbles away, gasping for air. Dean and I run forward , trying to keep him on his feet, watching. A bright light shows under Luther's skin, his skeleton visable. He falls to his knees.

"Luther!" Kate screetches. A quick flash of light flows through his body before he completly slumps to the ground. Kate started towards John. I reached down and grabbed my machete, running for her. She was so focused on John that she didn't hear me as I ran at her, tackling her to the ground. We struggled, her with her inhuman strength and me with all the experience. I shoved the blade through her chest and then pulled up. Cutting through her windpipe and up into her jaw. She faltered, I gained the advantage and finished the job. Standing up, I was covered in blood.

"Thanks." John said.

I nodded in response. And turned back to the boys. I looked Dean in the eyes, and he nodded. Everyone was okay.

In the motel I was packing up my shit as were the boys. It had been a quiet drive back and we were getting out of this two goat town before the human survivors in the barn had any chance to track us down. John entered the room,

"So..."

We turned to face him and he continued, "You ignored a direct order back there."

"Yes sir." Sam said

Dean shook his head, "Yeah but we saved your ass."

Sam looked sideways at Dean. I pursed my lips and shrugged, Dean swallowed nervously. Finally John nodded,

"You're right."

Dean about fell over, "I am?"

"It scares the hell out of me. You two are all I've got. But you were right, the four of us are unstoppable. So...we go after this damn thing. Together."

Sam and Dean smile at each other. Dean looks over at me and I half smile,

"Well let the ass-kicking begin."