A/N: Hey, guys. I did say that it takes me a while to update, but it normally doesn't take me this long ... Oh, well. Sorry for the wait. Here is Charlie's appearance. I mainly threw Krissy and her into the same story because they're my favorite examples of strong females in Supernatural. I think SPN needs a regular female who isn't a love interest, and, really, I'd be fine with either of these two. They're definitely two of my favorites.

I had a lot of fun with the Star Wars & Trek references in this chapter. Don't own those, either.

If I owned Supernatural, there would be a woman as a regular, so don't look at me. Also, slight language in this chapter.

II : To Boldly Go Where Another Hunter Has Gone Before

Josephine was trying to act like everything was normal.

It was her turn to make breakfast, and she did it like she always did. Methodically. All they had left was eggs, and so she fried them. A normal breakfast, though they'd need to get shopping soon.

Krissy and Aiden weren't up yet. Though neither of them weren't morning people, eleven o' clock was still a little late for them. Josephine knew why; they'd stayed up late last night, planning their hunt.

Just that knowledge made Josephine angry. No - anger wasn't the first emotion that sprung up inside of her when she thought of their hunt. The first was longing, the second hunger, and then an odd sort of desperation. But she knew that, no matter what, she could not hunt. She couldn't get sucked into that world again. She was going to college, she was going to get out of this life ... Garth had told her that no one had before. And Josephine was determined to be the first.

The anger that she felt came out of the fact that she couldn't fill that hunger, stop that longing.

She knew exactly what Krissy was talking about when she said she needed to hunt. Hell, she felt that, too.

She was just smarter than Krissy, in a way. She wouldn't let that get to her. She'd killed a newly-made vampire, an innocent one, out of a thirst for revenge. She hadn't even been looking at the logic, the facts ... how many innocent things had she killed? Though it went against the grain to think of any monster as innocent, she knew that she shouldn't have killed them. And if she hunted once again, that deep-seated rage would accompany it. Along with her chances of ever going to college, living a normal life, kids, taxes, a job ... all those would go down to nothing.

When Krissy asks again, because she will, you tell her you don't want to go.

Josephine knew it was wrong to lie, but it was even more wrong to kill innocents. So she told herself it was all right.

She slid the eggs onto two plates. For Krissy and Aiden. She'd woken up at seven and had already eaten. Just a piece of toast; when she cooked, she made sure Krissy and Aiden got the best, so that they could never accuse her of being a bad cook. Her cooking was always immaculate to them, because she hid all the slip-ups and burnt edges and undercooked pieces on her plate. She didn't do it because she was selfless; she did it because if she gave Aiden a burnt piece of anything, he would bitch and she couldn't stand his bitching. Of course, it would be all good-natured - they all loved each other - but, even so, Josephine had a short fuse. She didn't test her limits.

She put the plates on the table and went to wake her siblings up. Yes, they were her siblings. They'd become them. At first, it had felt traitorous to her little sister, who'd been murdered by the vampire, to think of them as siblings. But being the older sister was something that came naturally to Josephine, and so she just was. Now, with Victor gone, she was the oldest. And the most responsible. That was from years and years of taking care of her little sister while her parents worked. Krissy and Aiden were not too much younger than her, but they were still immature, still her little siblings, and she would act accordingly.

One sharp knock on each of their doors. That was all it took to wake them up, and then she was downstairs again before she had to listen to all their tired grumbling.

She'd have to listen to enough of it when they came downstairs.

Josephine steeled herself for the oncoming storm. She wanted to go on the hunt, but she couldn't. She wanted them not to go on the hunt, but she couldn't stop them. She wanted hunting to not exist altogether, but that wasn't possible. So she had to deal as best as she could.

xxxxxx

Krissy woke to Josephine banging on her door, and she remembered. It was time to hunt.

Though part of her still wished Josephine would come, the rest of her was just excited. It almost didn't matter anymore who was coming. Because she would be going on a hunt, and it would feel great. She'd kill some monster, release some of this tension, and stop fighting her instincts. All in all, it sounded like a good day to her.

If Josephine wanted to miss out on it all, then, well, that was Josephine for you. The girl who stayed home and studied while Krissy and Aiden went to some other person's party, since there was no adult to stop them.

Krissy dressed herself in non-assuming attire. Clothes that a middle-aged landlady would trust. Most adults saw a teenager and immediately didn't trust them, but, as Krissy had figured out, just the right look could work wonders. Appearance really did matter at some points in time. And, while she didn't care too much about what she looked like, she knew what to wear when it mattered.

Aiden was coming down the stairs at the same time as she was. She glanced over him to make sure he was acceptable, too; like always, he was. He was much more capable than she gave him credit for, but, secretly she was just hoping for a chance to one-up him. They had an ongoing competition, who was better. She didn't know why it had started, just that, early on, they had decided that one of them had to be better.

Josephine, per usual, kept well away from all of that.

And that was just as well, because somebody actually had to be responsible, and Krissy didn't fancy that, though she could if she had to.

She could do anything if she had to.

Her father, Dean, and even Victor had trained her for that.

Just like she'd gotten Dean to admit, she was a good actress.

"Hey," she said brightly to Aiden. Much happier than usual, because today she was going to hunt.

He laughed at her. "Calm down."

She shoved him down the stairs, not too hard, and they both stumbled into the kitchen. Josephine was nowhere to be seen, but there were two plates of eggs, still steaming a bit, on the table.

"Leave it to Josie to be this reliable," Aiden said, sliding unceremoniously into his chair. "Thanks, Jos!" He let the second part carry, and from across the hall, they heard a muffled, "You're welcome."

Maybe Josephine was angry at them, but, Krissy realized, that wouldn't change anything else. Maybe that was why Josephine could hold out on hunting - she didn't let her feelings, her grudges take control of her life. Krissy knew that would be a useful skill, but she also knew it was one at which she would never be proficient.

Emotions ruled her, and she had no trouble admitting it.

And the eggs were good.

When Krissy was done eating, she went to clean herself up. A nondescript, innocent hairstyle. No make-up. And then she tucked a ziploc bag of salt, a silver knife, and an iron chain into her jacket. None of the weapons were of the magnitude that could actually help too much — she'd definitely need more salt and a longer, stronger piece of iron. But, if they ran into the ghost, it would be enough to buy them a little time. Putting anything larger inside a woman's jacket, without even inside pockets, would start to bulge and draw attention.

And that defeated the purpose.

Krissy glanced at herself in the mirror, checking whether or not she looked the part. She decided she did, but she didn't really know. Before Victor had died, and even when her father had been alive, it was the adults that did the research most of the time. Of course, Victor had them set up and research an entire hunt, just for the experience, but that was a while ago and only once. Krissy was afraid she'd do something wrong. She had to be thorough.

You're worrying too much, she told herself, and went downstairs before she could get indecisive again.

And Josephine was waiting.

That surprised Krissy. She hadn't expected Josie to say goodbye to her. In fact, she'd expected her to become a hermit for the morning, refusing to have any interaction with them.

"Jos," she said. "Hey."

"You still going on that hunt?"

Krissy laughed, almost rueful. "Yeah, we are. And you can't stop us."

"I know. Just, stay safe, okay? Because if you die and turn into ghosts, you're going to force me to hunt. And you don't want that, do you?"

"The hunting would be good for you," Krissy said, laughing for true this time. "And before you ask, yes, I've got salt, iron, and silver."

"Holy water?"

"I don't think it's a demon—"

Josephine snorted. "Be prepared! My God, Krissy, did Vic — did your dad teach you anything?"

Krissy noted the slip-up in her friend's words but decided not to say anything about it. "You're right," she allowed. "HEY AIDEN, bring a bottle of holy water!"

"Don't yell at him; go up the stairs and talk to him."

"Don't mother me."

"Well, seeing as you won't do the mothering yourself, someone—"

Aiden came down the stairs loudly, then, a metal bottle of holy water rattling in his bag. A messenger bag. "Ladies, ladies," he said. "Let's all just take a deep breath..."

Krissy wanted to shoot back a nasty retort, but she knew that, though he was not going about it the right way, he was right. She breathed in deeply, and so did Josephine.

"If Krissy dies out there, Josephine, you can't let your last words to her be 'someone has to do the mothering.' What sort of farewell is that?"

"Get out of here before I accidentally kill both of you," Josephine said. "And stay safe. I have an essay to write."

They both laughed at that and obliged, Krissy nearly running out the door because of her excitement. There was so much energy inside of her, the rush that came with hunting. Even if today was only research, she was still back in the game. And that felt great.

She hopped in the driver's seat of Victor's old car before Aiden could claim it and pulled out of the driveway.

"Did you bring an EMF? I forgot," she said to Aiden as they were heading to what had been the victim's place. It was a two-story house that the owner was renting out.

"Yeah, and it's a good thing, too, Ms. Forgetful."

Krissy ignored his comments. She didn't want to mess with their sense of team when they were hunting. She needed backup that she could trust completely. And while she did trust Aiden with her life, no matter what, she didn't want to be hunting with him right after a heated argument. Neither of them would be functioning at their best.

They parked at the empty house. Crime scene tape surrounded the front yard. Krissy checked to make sure there wasn't a police car in sight, and then that no one else was watching.

"Clear."

Aiden followed her under the tape and to the door. He picked the lock within seconds (He'd practiced over the past month, Krissy observed) and opened the door slowly.

"Vic got stabbed in the dining room," he said, gesturing in that direction. Krissy headed to said room.

"EMF?"

He pulled it out of his pocket and held it up. Krissy waited in anticipation ... and nothing.

Nothing.

Aiden walked around the room and into the hallway. Nothing. Krissy followed him, and they went up the stairs and down that hall. Nothing.

Aiden shrugged at her apologetically. He seemed hesitant to say anything; he knew she'd be pissed. "Maybe there wasn't anything here. I mean, I don't smell any sulfur, either." He put the EMF back in his bag.

It sure looked like it.

But damn! Krissy was hoping for a hunt. So bad. And this was a bust. There was nothing here. She wanted to scream or to punch something.

"But we should still go talk to the landlady. Better to be safe than sorry, right?" Aiden was just trying to placate her; she saw that much. He wanted this to be a real hunt because she wanted it and he was her friend.

So she nodded. "Okay. We'll do that."

But if there were no EMF readings in the whole place, it wasn't looking up.

You're losing your mind, Krissy thought. No sane person wants ghosts to exist.

But she'd come to terms with the fact that she was probably crazy ages ago.

xxxxxx

The landlady lived even nicer than the house that she was renting. It just spoke of someone with too much money. The lawn was impeccably kept, and there was a three-car garage. The only thing that didn't seem to fit was a not-very-fancy yellow car in the driveway.

Yellow.

Huh, Krissy thought.

Aiden seemed to notice it, too. But Krissy brushed it off. Dean treasured his precious Impala; maybe this rich woman treasured an old yellow car. If she believed in the supernatural, she had seen much odder things, so she could accept this.

"Who's knocking? Not it," Aiden rushed out when they were near the door. "I am not risking summoning the wrath of some rich old lady."

Krissy sighed and knocked on the tall, ornate door, holding back a laugh at him.

The sound of voices carried from inside, and then light footsteps. A few moments later, a highly manicured woman answered the door. She was probably fifty, but her skin had the carefully cultured look of someone fifteen or twenty years younger. Lipstick stood out against the paleness of her foundation.

"I don't want any. Can't you read? I have a sign. No Soliciting."

"What?" Krissy said, confused. Then she recovered. Right. Soliciting. She had brilliant hunting reflexes, but she needed to work on her acting ones. "No, we're not selling anything. We just came because we're really confused about our cousin's death. You were his landlady. Maybe you have answers for us."

The woman frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Another cousin? How big is your family? Your cousin Leia is here."

Other cousin?

They had not thought of this. Not enough planning ahead.

(And, Leia? What sort of name was Leia? At least, in this universe. Apparently some parents went ultra-nerd on their daughter. Oh, Krissy pitied that poor girl.)

The victim could have a real cousin looking for answers ... and that cousin could be here. Leia or no.

"Oh, yeah," Aiden said. "Leia. Haven't seen her in ages."

The woman gave them both suspicious looks, but she opened the door a little wider to let them in. "Take off your shoes, please."

Krissy slipped off her sneakers and kicked them into the corner of the foyer. Then she and Aiden followed the woman down the hardwood hall. When the landlady wasn't looking, she slid around a bit for fun. For the most part, she, Aiden, and Josephine kept their shoes on at home, as long as they weren't too muddy. And this hardwood floor looked like it had been shined recently - prime conditions for sliding.

Krissy called herself mature sometimes. And she could certainly carry herself as such. But she was just sixteen, and often she was very aware of the fact.

The landlady led them into a wide, open living room. No, technically, it would be a parlor, but Krissy wasn't one for technicalities. The couches were white, as were the walls, and a redheaded woman in jeans perched awkwardly on the edge of one of those couches.

"Hi, Leia," Aiden said.

Krissy had no idea what he was doing. But then she remembered - they were supposed to know this woman. "Hi," she said.

Leia had a moment's worth of surprise, but then she covered it quickly. "Jim and Nyota! It's so nice to see you guys! But - are you here about Susan?"

"Why else would we be?" Krissy said. She was beginning to get into this. Acting. She had proved Dean wrong a thousand times over by now. In fact, she was feeling quite proud of herself.

She and Aiden sat down, but as soon as they had, he whispered to her, "Dude, something's up. Jim and Nyota."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Star Trek. My God, Krissy."

"Oh."

"Don't trust this chick."

After the rushed, quiet exchange, they both straightened up, and Krissy got back to the acting. "Sorry, we're just really shaken up about Susan, you know, and we wanted some closure. She was saying some really weird stuff. About the house, so we figured you could help us."

The landlady nodded. "Yes, Leia mentioned that. Weird noises, cold spots, lights flickering ... I wasn't aware of the first few, but I don't see how I'm responsible for those. However, Susan did have me call the electrical company. She said something was wrong with her lamps. Is that what you mean?"

"Wrong how?"

"Flashing, buzzing, you know."

Since Krissy, Aiden, and Leia were all on the couch, they were stuffed close together, and Krissy could feel when Aiden straightened up a little at the landlady's words.

"Wow. It must have been scary," she said.

The old woman shrugged. "I don't see how an electrical problem is scary."

"Um, I don't know, Susan was rambling about a ghost..."

Leia looked over at her, then, brow furrowed.

There was no other explanation - this woman was a hunter.

"A ghost. Interesting. Have you investigated the possibility of your cousin's suicide, then? It sounds as if she may have been ill."

Aiden bristled at that. "Ill? You mean crazy? Susan was not crazy, and she didn't kill herself! Geez."

The landlady made a dismissive gesture. "I apologize if I offended you, but ghosts just don't exist. It has to be a symptom of mental instability." When she saw the way that Aiden looked, still a little angry, she said, "Maybe you should leave. I don't think I can help you."

Krissy nudged Aiden, telling him that they would do as she said. They both stood, and Leia followed. "Thanks for your time, ma'am," Krissy said.

"You're welcome." The woman didn't seem very welcoming as she shepherded them out her door. Once they were all out on the front step, it shut abruptly behind them.

"Well then," Aiden said.

Leia started laughing.

Krissy took a moment to calculate her next move. If this woman really was a hunter, what was she supposed to say? Leia didn't look like a hunter. She was thin, bright, and a little bit too enthusiastic. Just the way she carried herself didn't have the rugged, pessimistic hunter vibe.

"Well, Leia, have you heard any news on Susan's funeral?" she asked carefully. Gaging this so-called 'Leia's' reaction.

"Please. My name isn't Leia - though I wish it was, that would be awesome - it's Charlie. And I know you're a hunter, so you can stop beating around the bush."

"What?"

Krissy was completely taken aback. She could only hope Aiden was, too, because she didn't want to look like an idiot. But she had not expected this woman, if she was a hunter, to open up. Hunters didn't do that. Hunters didn't trust anyone. Hunters were rough and hard and wary of every movement, driven for revenge and blood and death. Yeah, even Krissy. She knew she had plenty of her own bloodlust.

"I'm a hunter. You are, too, right? Otherwise this is really awkward, sorry, just forget I said anything. Oh, my God, if you really are Susan's cousins - crap. Sorry. Wrong person. I thought you were someone else. Why'd you let me call you Star Trek names, though, and-"

"Whoa, wait," Aiden said, holding up his hands. "We're hunters. And I think the Star Trek was a nice touch."

Charlie smiled wide, then. "Awesome. I haven't found another hunter who likes Star Trek yet." She made a symbol with her hands, splitting her fingers in a way Krissy thought looked painful and impossible. "Live long and prosper?"

"Thanks?" Krissy said, watching Charlie's hands.

But when she looked at Aiden, he was doing the same thing as the other hunter.

"For God's sake, Krissy, now will you watch Star Trek with me?"

"Do it," Charlie interjected. "It's amazing."

Krissy sighed. "Guys, what about the ghost?"

Aiden rolled his eyes at her. "Dude, don't be such a downer. You know, Star Trek spoke of a utopia in which-"

"Yeah, well, this ain't gonna turn into a utopia if you let this freaking ghost live, so let's gank it." Gank it. She was talking like Dean now, she noted. And she liked that. Dean wasn't a bad role model.

Charlie had an odd look on her face. "You sound like someone I know."

Krissy almost smiled. "Yeah, I sound like someone I know, too. I guess those sort of people just are memorable."

"No, not necessarily. Do you know Dean Winchester? If you're a hunter, you've got to at least know of him."

Her eyes went huge, and she stared at the older -though still quite young- hunter. Dean. Charlie knew Dean. Suddenly, she felt more compelled to trust her. Dean was a suspicious, hard man. The epitome of that twisted, pessimistic hunter type. The people he chose to know and trust were few and far apart, even among hunters. Dean was just a private guy.

"Yeah, I know Dean," Krissy said.

She hadn't seen him in a month, but she knew him. She missed him, even though she hated to admit it. As many time's as she'd called him lame and old, well ... she missed him. She missed her dad. She even missed Victor - no, she missed having Victor when he was just a nice guy, before she knew what an evil person he was.

She missed having someone steady.

"What's your name?" Charlie asked, breaking her out of her trance. Which was good, because Krissy new it was never healthy to wallow in regret and self-absorption.

"Krissy Chambers."

"I might've heard your name before."

"Maybe. But ... but that doesn't matter. The hunt. It sounds like there's a ghost at work, because of the lights, but when we checked over the house with an EMF, we got nothing."

Charlie shook her head. "You just didn't look right. The EMF was going haywire in the upstairs bathroom. There's definitely a ghost."

Krissy glared at Aiden. "You didn't go into any of the rooms!"

"You didn't tell me to," he shot back, "and you were right there."

"Guys," Charlie said, "maybe we should get off this lady's driveway. She's kinda watching us. Don't want her to call the police or anything."

"Oh, right."

"There's a park up the street. We can talk there. Did you see it?"

Aiden nodded. "Yeah, I know where that is."

Charlie went and got into her yellow car. (Yes, Krissy could see her in that car. It fit far too well. For a Trekkie and a Star Wars fan, yes. Absolutely. She was surprised Aiden didn't want one of those.)

She and Aiden climbed into Victor's car, and she let Aiden drive this time.

It was better, too, that way. Her mind was on other things.

Dean. Somebody else knew Dean - she had a link to him. She wondered where he was. He and Sam were saving the world, they said. Like they'd done before. They both had died many times, and maybe they had again. Maybe the other one was out there, wandering around aimlessly until maybe his brother got resurrected...

It was the same hope that Krissy had clung onto when her dad died. She knew that resurrection was possible. Even among normal people, didn't even have to be Messiah, or even a saint. Dean had risen - couldn't her father? Wouldn't some angel come and raise him? But, no, her dad stayed dead ... so Krissy was no stranger to that aching hope.

She couldn't change any of it. And even if Dean or Sam were dead, she couldn't change that, either.

Worry about now, she told herself.

Now, as in she now knew two Star Trek fans, and she was going to have to watch that movie. No excuses anymore.

Yes, she had big enough problems at hand.

But she was hunting, so all was good.