"Marilyn..? Marilyn!" I could hear Alunni calling me and sighed, and sat up from my weight bench. I'd just been so pissed off about those Winchester boys showing up, that exercising was the only thing to keep my mind blank. I hadn't lifted weights in quite some time though, and my muscles were extremely sore.

There was a trap door in my bedroom that led to this converted basement, and that was where I emerged from when Alunni came into my room.

"Oh, I didn't know you were down there...Sam and Dean left to go get breakfast for all of us."

"All of us, sure..." Out of a corner of my closet, I dug out my 70lb heavy bag. "Help me."

Alunni helped me drag it into the main room of the roadhouse and hang it on one of the exposed rafters. Once that was done she remarked "Okay, I know something's bothering you now. You haven't even gone downstairs in a whole year, and now you're right back into an exercise routine. What is it?"

"Nothing." I readjusted my fingerless gloves and started punching. My fists quickly started to hurt but I ignored them. This was low-key compared to what I used to do, and I was determined to get back into shape. "I feel fine."

"Except you sound pissed off and you're punching that thing with spiked rings." I looked down at the silver rings on my fingers and shrugged. "It's because of Sam and Dean coming here, isn't it?"

"I spent two whole years keeping my identity secret for a reason. The fact that those two found out means I could be dead in a week, maybe less. I need to be ready for whatever will come, because believe me, something will."

"I think you're too hard on them." I glowered at Alunni until she threw up her hands and walked away.

She didn't get why I was mad. I lover her almost like a sister, I did, but she didn't need to worry about our situation like I did. Alunni could handle herself from most attackers, but the supernatural wasn't something she dealt with very often. The most Alunni had done was help me to exorcise a couple of low-level demons, right before I came here to rebuild the roadhouse.

I heard the door of the roadhouse open and didn't bother turning to see the Winchesters, instead punching the bag with such force that I punched a small hole in the hard canvas fabric.

"And here, I thought there wasn't a good side to staying here." I ignored Dean and started kicking. "By the way, doing that in heels isn't a very good idea."

"Oh really?" I took my size 11 boots and swung a high kick, and one of the chains holding the bag up snapped. I turned and went to Dean, and smirked at the fact that I was taller than him with my boots on. "You shouldn't poke fun at someone that can kick your âss, boy." Sam laughed.

"Boy?" I walked away and he stood there with a stupid look on his face. I could hear him ask Sam "Did she seriously just do that?!"

"You do act like a kid sometimes."

I took down the heavy bag, knowing I'd have to replace that chain or I wouldn't be able to use it. It probably broke because I hadn't used it in so long.

That, or because I was so infuriated at Dean that I kicked it as hard as I possibly could.

Alunni helped me heave it back to my room and I decided to stay in my exercise gear, sports bra and all.

When we came out,m Sam and Dean were eating, and Sam motioned to a breakfast bag of McDonald's for Alunni and I. I shrugged and opened the bag, picking out several hash browns and a steak, egg, and cheese bagel.

I ate by myself over by the pool table and Alunni ate with those two, and I watched them all intently. They were having a conversation, and every time someone would glance over at me I could feel my muscles tense. It was a bad, bad thing to have them here, even so casually like this.

I couldn't finish my food, instead going back into my room and into the basement. There was another room down there, one where I kept all my best weapons.

I went to my wall of swords, of which almost every one had killed some form of demon or monster. They were all made of a titanium-tunsten alloy, one of the hardest materials I could find, and they were also all plated with silver.

I heard footsteps again but they were much to hard to be Alunni's. I went into the main training room and found Sam looking around at all my equipment.

"What are you doing down here?"

"Rosina said you would be down here..." Alunni was letting them call her by her first name? That was way too personal of a motion. "What is all this stuff?"

"My training equipment, of course." I pulled Sam into the weapons room and said "And these are the things I used to hunt with..."

"Used to..? You don't hunt anymore?" I shook my head. "Why not?"

"When I left the Marines to rebuild this place, I left everything. The last time I killed anything was dâmn near two years ago, when Alunni helped me exorcise a demon that had attacked us." I chuckled. "Well, I did most of the exorcising. She stood there with a spray bottle of holy water almost peeing her pants."

"Most people are really surprised the first time they see a demon. She was in the service with you?" I nodded. "But you never took her on a hunt with you?"

"I always hunt by myself, and besides, she wasn't a hunter. I never wanted to bring anyone into this life, and I kept my 'activities' away from her as long as I could. It took her awhile to accept it, but she eventually told me she didn't want to be involved with my hunting."

"She couldn't handle it...Most people can't. Hêll, some hunters can't even handle it."

"And that's where the whiskey comes in." Sam raised an eyebrow. "I'm a hunter by nature, Sam, I've gotten smashed out of my mind more than a few times." Last night wasn't that bad, but I was still left with a lingering headache.

"Can I ask you something?" I nodded and he continued. "Why were so pissed off when Dean and I showed up?"

"What do you mean, were? I'm still pissed." He looked discouraged. "I know you two have gotten a lot of hunters killed, including yourselves on multiple occasions. Bad things follow you everywhere you go. I've had two years of peace here, and now that you're here...there's a surefire guarantee that peace isn't going to last very long."

"Sorry you feel that way...Mind if I take a look at one of these?"

Thrown off by his question, I muttered "Sure..." He picked out a blue-sheathed titanium sword and slid it out, blinking several times when the reflected light glinted in his eyes. "Try to be careful with that...It's made of some dâmn hard stuff, but it's plated with silver, and it'll chip off if you fûck with it too much."

"Okay." Sam handed me the sheath as he slowly swung the thin blade through the air. It was perfectly tailored to my style and preferences, right down to the silk cord wrapping the tsuka. "How did you get all these?"

"I had them specially made. The money came from a bank in the Caimans, which is still pretty upset after almost a decade that someone jacked an entire vault full of money." Sam looked impressed. "Don't tell me you've never stolen something before?"

"Of course I have...Just never a bank's entire cash stash. How'd you do it?"

"Trade secrets. I did enjoy rolling in quite a few million dollars, until I had to spend it. I still have a good chunk left though, enough for when the roadhouse doesn't do so good."

"If you have money to blow, why come rebuild this place? I know you were friends with Ellen and Jo..."

"No, I wasn't." Sam looked confused. "They were my family, the only ones that would take care of me. I was a pretty rowdy kid...Guess I really was born a hunter." Sam still looked confused, and I sighed and took back the sword. Re-sheathing ti and hanging it up, I said "Go upstairs before your brother starts wondering if I've chopped into little bits yet."

"He was under the impression that you would do that to him." I smirked.

"I might've thought about it once or twice." Sam turn to go and I pulled him by the arm. "Wait a second...While I have you alone, would you mind telling me why you and Dean came here?"

"We were working a case nearby, remember?" I nodded slowly.

"What case?" He looked uncomfortable. "Sam..."

"You didn't hear me say anything, but we we're still actually on the case. There were a few robberies in a nearby town, but a security guard at one of the stores got burnt to a crisp. We haven't found anything yet and got...distracted by coming here."

"Then I'll help you. If it gets you out of my bar and out of my life faster, I'll do whatever I need to."

"Thanks...I guess." I led Sam out of my basement room and was sure to lock the door tightly when we exited.

He exited my bedroom and I said "Get in your best fed suit, we're going to that crime scene where the man was incinerated."

I shut the door and went to dust off another relic from my hunting days. In my closet, hanging in a plastic bag to ensure it wasn't damaged, was the smoky black pinstripe skirt suit and blue silk blouse that I used to impersonate federal agents. The black pointy stilettos were with it as well, and I retrieved a pair of blue-tinted sunglasses to complete the look.

I looked in my mirror and patted my pocket with the fake federal ID in it, noting that I looked like a legitimate agent. Maybe in another life I could've been on that other side of the law, but things just had to go another way.

I stepped out and found both Sam and Dean in pantsuits, Dean looking rather uncomfortable and pulling at his tie.

"You know, you two would look a lot more believable if you weren't wearing $50 suits."

"Let's just get this over with." We went outside to their Impala and I walked to the driver's side. "Give me the keys."

Dean looked horrified. "Why!?"

"Because I'm a Special Agent-In-Charge to everyone we're going to meet, and the person in charge always drives."

Dean groaned as he handed his keys over and quickly yelled to Sam "I'm not sitting in the back!"

Sam laughed as he got in the passenger side, forcing Dean to sit in the back anyway. I laughed and got in as well, liking the feel of the car. I didn't have to adjust the seat at least, and I internally thanked my parents for both being incredibly tall.

The jewelry store where the man had been burned was only a few miles from the roadhouse, and I was surprised that I hadn't heard about it. I may have been out of the game for awhile, but hunters passed through every day and I hadn't heard a word.

As we pulled up I said "Let me do all the talking, okay? I'm a professional."

Dean scoffed as we exited and went up to the storefront. The crime scene was about a day and a half old, so it was still cordoned off and a guard stood at the door. I went directly to him and flawlessly said "I'm Special Agent-In-Charge Tanya Harding. These are Agents Mason and Richard. We're here to see the crime scene?" I took out my fake badge, which was made of very real gold, and showed the security guard.

"Go on in. If you're looking for the remains of the security guard that was stationed here, they've already been sent down to the morgue." I nodded and we entered.

Dean casually asked "Agent Richard? You couldn't come up with anything better than that?"

"I don't know, you tell me Agent Dîck." Sam suppressed a chuckle as I walked passed Dean to the interior of the store.

Most of the glass cases had been broken into, and it was obvious that a large number of items had been stolen. The broken glass had been cleaned up, as had the remains of the man that had been burned. There was still a large black spot almost dead-center on the store floor, and I knelt down to examine it.

Dean, who'd been looking at the busted jewelry cases, came over and said "See anything significant?"

"Besides the fact that there's still a half store full of jewelry and it looks like this guy got thrown into a kiln? No, nothing significant."

"Okay, besides that...What do you think it is?"

"There's only a number of things that could do this...The most plausible ones would be a higher level demon or possibly a witch, though they wouldn't have much of a reason to rob a jewelry store. Is Sam looking through the security tapes?"

"Nah, we looked at those before we came here and didn't find anything. Someone was smart enough to take the tape with them on it."

"Smarter than you, at least." He frowned. "I guess our next stop is to go see the remains. Get Sam." I stood up and headed for the door, but not before noticing something odd about one of the unbroken cases of jewelry.

I went to it and saw it was filled with different kinds of pearl necklaces, and a few platinum ones. That struck a chord somewhere in my brain and I examined the rest of the cases, only to be interrupted as Sam and Dean came out of the security room.

"We going?"

"Yeah...Come on." I followed them out, but I already had an inkling as to what had done this, and it wasn't at all good.

Just to be sure, I drove us to the hospital and we followed a nurse down to the basement morgue, where the blackened remains of the security guard from that night were stored.

The medical examiner, a short man in his 40's, said to us "It's the strangest thing I've ever seen...The guy was burnt to a crisp in the middle of a jewelry store, and there was nothing around to even suggest how he might've been burned. Not even a hint of accelerant."

He pulled one of the refrigerated drawers out, though there was certainly no need for it. All that was left of the man was a few blackened bones and a pile of equally black ash.

"You said there was no accelerant used?"

The M.E. nodded. "I've only had time to run a few preliminary tests, but I' haven't found a trace of gasoline, kerosine, acetone, ethanol...It was like this guy spontaneously combusted. Just went up in flames for no apparent reason."

"Well, that's why we're here...to find that reason. Can I have a copy of what you've found so far? For our records." I smiled and the squat man grinned and nodded.

"I'll be right back with that, give me a moment." He hurried away and I gave the remains another once-over before pushing the drawer shut again.

The M.E. came back and handed me a file, and I thanked him graciously. "We'll get these back to you as soon as possible."

"Oh, that's okay...I have more copies in back." I gave him another smile before leading the way out, dropping the fake smile once we were on the way out.

Dean chuckled and asked "What was that?"

"That was flirting with a middle-aged man to get files that the police probably haven't even seen yet. I feel disgusting, let's go now." I gave the keys back to Dean and got into the back of the Impala. "How about we get some food here in town, huh?"

Him and Sam briefly discussed a place to eat before speeding off, and I stared out the window as we drove. Jewelry theft, a man burned to a crisp, and no evidence of demons or witches at the crime scene. I was coming to a haunting realization about what might've done it, but I hoped dearly that I was wrong.

We arrived at a small-time restaurant, but I didn't go in immediately.

I motioned for the Winchesters to go inside and said "I want to call Alunni, make sure everything at the roadhouse is okay."

They nodded and went in, and I hurriedly dialed Alunni's number. It rang several times before the voicemail picked up, and I quickly hung up and dialed the roadhouse number next.

She picked up immediately this time, and before she could utter the standard greetings, I asked "Why didn't you answer your cell phone?"

"Marilyn? You always tell me not to answer whenever we're busy. A couple of families passing through came in for a bite, so I've been a bit busy cooking."

"Okay...Look, when you get the time, I need to to go down into my weapons room and get St. George's Sword out of the vault. The combination is 9-3-7-5-2."

"St. George's Sword..? You mean..?!"

"Yes, that one! Just get it and have it ready for when the Winchesters and I get back there. I have a feeling we're going to need it." I hung up and entered the restaurant, where Sam and Dean were already seated and choosing from a menu. I sat and said "Things are pretty busy...I've let her know we'll be back there in a little while."

"So we have to stay the night again? Yippee..." I nudged Dean hard with my elbow and picked up a menu.

"There's no need to be like that...I've offered you a free place to stay and free help with your case, so try being a little more grateful. Unless you'd rather be spending $100 a night on some dumpy little hooker motel?"

"Well, hookers are nice..."

"Yeah, if you like Herpes." Sam struggled not to laugh again and I grinned. A waitress came up and I ordered country fried steak with brown gravy and fries, and a on the side.

Sam and Dean ordered, both getting whiskey with their food, and I chuckled. "And here I thought I was a heavy drinker. It's only the middle of the day."

"5 o'clock somewhere, right?" I shook my head and groaned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When we got back to the roadhouse, Alunni was waiting outside with a heavy box made of Palo Santo laying at her feet. I knew that within that box was a long steel blade with a golden hilt, wrapped in velvet and never meant to have been removed from my vault.

Dean and Sam looked at it questioningly, but I said "Go on inside...I have to speak with her." They shrugged and went inside, and I stood several feet away from Alunni. "Why did do bring that out here? I said to have it ready, not to have it out where everyone can see it."

"Why do you need it? I've only ever seen this box once, when you brought it here, and now you're telling me to just bring it out? What exactly are you hunting?"

I looked to make sure Dean and Sam weren't listening before I stepped closer to Alunni.

In a hushed voice I said "I'm 99% sure we're looking for a dragon."

"A...dragon?" Alunni looked stupefied. "I thought those weren't real?"

"Well, they are. And that's the only thing that can kill it." She looked down at the box. "You didn't open it, did you?"

"Of course not...But next time, you better tell me what the hêll you need the sword of Excalibur for, or I will open it." Alunni turned and stormed inside, and after several seconds I heard her bedroom door slam shut.

I picked up the heavy box and carried it inside, and Dean and Sam were waiting expectantly by the bar. I sat the box down on top of it and went around to pour myself a drink and Dean asked "Mind telling us what the hêll that was about?"

"She doesn't like what we're hunting."

"What do you mean? We don't even know what we're hunting." I stared at him as I took a sip straight from the bottle, and Dean slowly said "You're holding something back...I knew it."

"I didn't know if you would figure it out in time, so I had Alunni get this out of storage...We're going to need it."

"What is it?"

"Open it up." Dean warily unlatched the box and lifted the lid, and slowly lifted the sheets of velvet covering the blade.

The light glinted off of it harshly and he and Sam shielded their eyes briefly, and when their eyes adjusted and they lowered their arms, I was holding the blade in my hands.

The gold hilt felt right in my hands, and I was glad to see my sword after so long. It took me an entire decade to track down the sword's whereabouts, and I'd only brought it out of storage once before now.

"What...is that?"

I swung the blade from side to side slowly and said "This is the Sword of Saint George...You probably know it as Excalibur." Their eyes widened. "It was forged from the blood of a dragon named Hypolyes, and is undoubtedly my most valuable possession...and I'm going to use it to kill the dragon we're hunting."