A/N: I must give my most sincere apologies for taking this long to post a chapter. I have to admit that I lost interest in Supernatural and I have started college. Add a job onto that and it makes life a hard place to fit in writing. But, things have settled down, I've been watching the boys again, and I promise that I have started writing again and the chapters should come faster. Again, I apologize for such a long wait and will take angry comments in full. I think I deserve them.

Chapter 2

I was thankful that dad had decided not to sell his old backhoe. It would have made burying the horses close to impossible.

Traiden sat nearby, watching me as I stood over the freshly turned earth. I knelt down and patted the dirt down around a newly planted oak sapling. It probably took time that I could not afford planting it, but Brego was worth the memory.

I glanced across the pasture at the other two mounds of dirt. Sojourn and Listener had been buried together under their favorite tree. It was only right for them to be together in death as they had always been companions in life. I closed my eyes and sighed.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, standing up. Sorry that I wasn't there. Sorry that I couldn't protect them. I looked at Traiden. "C'mon boy, we need to get packed for a trip." Without even a questioning glance he stood and started to make his way to the house. I followed behind, letting Traiden lead as I thought of what I needed to do next.

I wasn't safe here anymore, though if I was being honest with myself, I wouldn't be safe anywhere in the oncoming events. And the place I was thinking of heading wasn't exactly the most peaceful place on earth. I had to go to Sam and Dean. Gabriel had made it clear that if I wanted to survive I had to stay with the brothers…which in itself sounded like an oxymoron.

I walked through the gaping hole that now constituted as a door. The hunters were gone; leaving silently with their unconscious, now demon free, leader. Then again, my gun may have had something to do with that silence.

I didn't really know what to take with me. What I said to the demon earlier wasn't a lie. I was no hunter. I may have been raised…oddly, but I didn't have the knowledge that constituted you as a bonified hunter. Grabbing a duffel bag from under my bed, I decided to go for the easier things first, like clothes.

I didn't really notice Traiden wasn't with me until I was zipping up the now stuffed duffel. I turned and called his name.

"Traiden?"

Nothing.

I clamped down on the panic that threatened to envelop me. This was Traiden I was thinking about. He was a tricked up Heaven Hound; nothing could hurt him…I hoped.

I turned and no sooner had I left my room, I saw Traiden, lying next to the doorway.

"Traiden." I sighed with relief, kneeling down to bury my face in his thick fur. That's when I noticed a black bundle curled up into Traiden's stomach. It looked up at me with amber eyes and started to purr.

Tears that had been threatening me finally spilled over as I picked up the cat. Everything was dead, I had thought. The demon had killed everything. Thank God I thought wrong.

"My dear sweet Night." Night rubbed his cheek against my face, purring furiously. I allowed myself a few moments of peace and blubbering, figuring it would be one of the last free moments in a long while. But after a few moments I realized I was just wasting time.

"Glad Sam and Dean weren't here to see that." I smiled at Traiden. "Then again maybe not."

I sighed, while leaning against the wall, the black cat still in my arms. Traiden stood up and pushed his nose in my face before heading down stairs. The message was clear. I'll always have time to mourn, but we needed to leave, and soon. Leave to a holy wolf from God to get things done.

I smiled at the thought, let Night run after Traiden, and then stood to follow them down the stairs. It came to me that I was going through my packing process all wrong. Sure, the clothes were easy, but I was a Southern girl. Weapons came to me as if they were a second nature. Not that my parents didn't help that along, but still, the certain guns and knives that I thought might do me some good started running through my brain.

A slow, wicked smile bloomed as I entered the kitchen. This would be easier than I thought. Now, there was just one more thing to take care of. Grabbing the phone I swiftly punched in some numbers.

"Hey, Teesha. I was wondering if you could look after Night for me for a few days. Why? Well, I'm going out of town for a while…yeah, that's right," I answered with a grin. "My cousin's in Kansas…yeah, they kinda need my help on a job. Oh, yeah. It's a big one."

o.O.o

"I'm sorry lady, but we don't got no free rooms for the night."

I slowly gritted my teeth to keep my anger from spilling out. The sign outside of the motel clearly had the "Vacancy" lit in a sickly, neon orange. The Hispanic innkeeper leered at me in a way I knew Sam and Dean never got, then again, Sam and Dean weren't girls.

I smiled, and it must have looked like something that belonged to a corpse, because the manager lost his leer and flinched. "Why, that's quite alright darling," I was laying on my accent thick. "I'll just look around some more."

And I walked out the gaudy pink door without a backwards glance, storming my way to the truck. I wrenched open the door and I heard more then saw Traiden scramble back as I flung myself into my seat. I sat there for a moment, fuming.

I was no more than a hundred miles from Sioux City, where I knew Bobby lived, and I knew that I could probably make it there in just under two hours, but it was midnight now. I didn't want to barge in at two o' clock in the morning, getting myself shot in the process. I sighed and started the truck. This was the only hotel that existed in this podunk-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-South Dakota-town, and I doubted I would run into anymore. At least, not ones that I would stay in voluntarily.

I reached over and rubbed Traiden between the ears. "Looks like you'll be my blanket tonight boy. We're gonna have a campout in the truck!"

Traiden laid back his ears and whined, making me laugh.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too."

I pulled out of the lot and hit the pavement, wanting to get a good ways from the town before pulling over to sleep. I let my mind relax as I leaned into the leather seat. I may not have had an Impala, but an old Chevy truck was my kind of luxury. I listened to Traiden's steady breathing and concentrated on not hitting any deer…or Bigfoot.

After about thirty minutes on the road, I decided we were far enough away from town. Spotting an old disused, gravel road, I turned into it wincing when I heard branches scraping across the truck. The grating sound stopped and judging by the headlights I was in a small clearing surrounded by trees and brush.

I turned the ignition off and shut off the lights. Sighing, I stared into the darkness. Tomorrow, I would see Sam and Dean and this whole entire mess would hopefully make sense. I lolled my head to look over at the glove department. I reached over and popped the compartment open, grabbing a red clear DVD case. I brought it close enough to see the shine of the DVD in the sparse moonlight.

"I guess good old Dad knew about the whole little project, and I have sneaking suspicion that brother Castiel had inkling of it. In all consideration, I think it all turned out all right. I mean you haven't had that bad of a life, and now you have some purpose to it."

I shoved the DVD back into the compartment and slammed it shut, Gabriel's voice ringing in my head.

"Yeah, Gabe, it turned out just swell. As to the purpose of my life, I liked being an English teacher just fine, thank you very much."

I stretched out as best as I could in the cramped cab, while Traiden waited patiently in a scrunched up position in the floor. As soon as it was clear that I was settled, he jumped up and lay across me.

"Omph!" I gasped. "I know I said I wanted a blanket, Traiden, I just wish you weren't so heavy."

He huffed and then rested his head on my chest, his golden eyes regarding me with amusement. I smiled and ruffled his ears.

"Yeah, I love you too. Now go to sleep. We're going to see your favorite people tomorrow."

I closed my eyes and tried to relax, to not think about tomorrow just yet. After listening to Traiden's deep breathing, I drifted off to sleep.

o.O.o

I woke up to the sounds of snarls.

I jerked upright, just barely registering that it was daylight outside, and saw that Traiden had somehow gotten outside and was currently circling…nothing.

"What the…?" A chill went through me as I realized what it could be.

I cursed as I reached behind the seat to grab my gun, but stopped and cursed again because I realized nothing I had would work.

I couldn't kill a hell hound.

Something rammed against the truck, throwing me into the window. I grunted as my shoulder dug into something and then yelped as I fell outside through the door.

Crap, crap, crap! My shoulder must have hit the handle and opened the door. I heard growls that I knew did not belong to Traiden and lurched to my feet. I glanced around and saw Traiden rushing to my side, his eyes trained to a spot just in front of me. A whistle of air is the only thing that alerted me that something was lunging my way. I lurched to the left but felt a pain radiate through my arm as something ripped through it.

And the hell hound screamed.

I stared in amazement as what I could only assume was a paw, burn in front of my eyes, and then Traiden was there. He hit the hound at full run, snarling. The hell hound was caught off guard and gave a yelp of surprise as Traiden wrapped his teeth around what could only be the hell hound's throat. Blood poured from between Traiden's canines, turning his pure white coat into a black crimson. The hound struggled, I could hear the snapping of its teeth and the furious snarls, but Traiden's death hold finally took effect, and the woods went still with the ensuing silence.

I don't know how long I stood there, holding my arm, as I watched Traiden. Eventually, he released his hold and slowly backed away from the dead hell hound. A large pool of blood was soaking into the ground, and that was the only indication for me that there was something there at all.

Traiden slowly turned to me and regarded me cautiously, before gradually walking over, only to stop three feet away, tense. I looked at him, confused for a moment, and then my face relaxed.

I cleared my throat, "I'd give you hug, but I don't want to ruin my shirt." Not that it wasn't already ruined, but still, the sound of my voice made him relax and he trotted over to sit by me. He looked at my arm and gave what could only be described as reproachful concern. I bristled at the look.

"It's not my fault that the hell hound came after me! It was because you slammed him against the truck that I'm out here in the first place! And what was I supposed to do? Give Lucifer a call and tell him to lay off of the minions from hell? How did you even get out of the truck in the first place?" I wrenched open the door and grabbed the first aid kit, along with a bottle of water. I made my way to the back of the truck and yanked down the tailgate, which took some effort with only one arm, and place the heavy duty medical kit on the gate. It was time to assess the damage.

I grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the ruined sleeve off, peeling the fabric away from the wounds. I winced as I poured the cold water over it, and then I gently wiped away the excess. It wasn't as bad as it looked. The scratches weren't deep and wouldn't need stitches. I sighed in relief. I quickly finished bandaging the lacerations and scrounged up a new shirt.

"All right, Traiden, let's hit the road. I want to get to Bobby's as soon as possible."

I opened the door and let Traiden jump in, but as I placed my foot in the truck to follow I stopped. Turning back to the hound, I stared at the pool of blood. Glancing down at my arm, I made a quick decision. I heard Traiden whine as I marched over to the invisible corpse, and guessing at the anatomy, placed my hand at where I thought the chest may be. I wrenched my hand away with a gasp a something burned beneath my hand. I quickly checked it over but there were no signs of a burn. I didn't feel any pain. I looked back down and slowly made myself touch it again. The hissing sound of scorching flesh followed the contact. I stared in wide eyed horror as wisps of smoke curled from beneath my palm. I jerked my hand away again and wiped it across my jeans repeatedly, turning and half running to the truck.

I slid into the seat, slammed the door, and started the engine. Gravel flew from the tires as I spinned out back onto the road, and I rode in silence, not once looking over or talking to Traiden. I hoped Castiel was with Sam and Dean, because I desperately wanted answers to unsolved problems. The only problem was is that I had a sneaking suspicion that only two individuals knew how to answer my questions, and one was dead, while the other just wasn't answering.

o.O.o

Two hours, three truck stops, and much direction gathering later, I was pulling into the salvage yard that could only belong to Bobby Singer. I sighed with relief when I realized my journey was over, and then almost choked with joy when I recognized Dean's Impala parked out front. It was a totally involuntary reaction that I experienced so much joy from the sight of that old car.

I parked the truck, and once it was shut off, stumbled out to be followed by Traiden. I was weak from exhaustion; sleeping in the truck cab and the drama this morning did not help me. I straightened my shoulders and walked up to the screen door, softly knocking…and suddenly hoping very much not to get my head shot off.

The door opened to reveal a grubby, cap wearing Bobby Singer. He looked confused, and slightly suspicious, and he was the best thing I had seen all day. Still, for all he knew I could be demon possessed.

"Is there something I could do for you, miss?"

I smiled in the most harmless way I knew how. "Yes, actually. You're Bobby Singer, right?"

Suspicion overruled confusion now. "Yes, and you might be?"

"I'm Allie Roe…and I was wandering if Sam and Dean are here?" I had tried for innocent girl, and I thought it had worked, until Bobby turned hostile. He drew a sawed off shotgun from somewhere and pointed it directly to my chest. I held my hands up quickly and took a step back. Smartly, Traiden didn't react at the sight of the gun.

"Now you look here, I don't know what game you're playing but if you're not off my property in three seconds—"

"Wait, Bobby, wait wait!"

And there was Sam. He reached over Bobby and pushed the gun down, and as he did I caught a glimpse of Dean in the back, an astonished look on his face. Sam was standing slightly in front of Bobby but he had frozen once he got a good look at me.

I slumped in relief and was gripping a fistful of Traiden's fur to keep me steady. I hadn't realized at how much I missed their faces until this moment.

Sam stammered in disbelief, "Allie?"

I grinned in stupid relief.

"Hey, Sam, long time no see."