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Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and who has been so patient with me. I love you all and I am so grateful. I hope that this chapter, though rather short, will jumpstart my muse and get me going.

Chapter Title: Grow - Rae Morris

You can find Elena's outfits for the chapter on tvdcrossvers on tumblr under the navigation tab on the left side under Chapter 2 of this fic

Elena let the coffee cup she held warm her hands, staring blankly out the window of the diner. The street outside was nearly deserted, most people long since asleep. But she was wide awake, replaying the scene in Sam's room again and again. Jess's face had been terrified as the flames overtook her. Elena knew that it had to be a demon of some sort. Anything else didn't make sense. She shuddered at the thought that it might have been hanging around the house for days. But even worse, she felt tears burning her eyes at how terrified Jess must have been.

"Elena," Sam said softly.

She broke from her trance, looking across the booth that she sat in. Sam and Dean were sitting side-by-side, both watching her warily.

"We have to call her parents," Elena said hoarsely, setting her cup down.

Sam looked away from her, a mixture of guilt and devastation flickering across his face. Dean glanced between them both before speaking.

"The police probably already," he said.

"But they should hear from us," Sam said.

Elena nodded in agreement, running her fingers around the rim of her coffee cup.

"How did you know about the woman in white?"

"Dean," Sam huffed, shaking his head.

She looked up at them, narrowing her eyes slightly at the older brother.

"She know something, Sam," Dean said defensively.

"My best friend just died," Elena hissed, curling her hands into fists. "Why the hell does it matter how I know?"

"Because either you're a part of the one percent of the human population that isn't ignorant or you're something different. If it's the first, we'll probably get along. If it's the second, I think we'll have a few things to discuss."

She knew that he was right, that they had to talk about this. But she thought maybe her grief might have been clouding her mind because all she wanted was to punch him in the face.

"I was a hunter," Elena finally said.

"Your family?" Sam said, his eyes widening with surprise.

She nodded slowly, meeting his gaze.

"Yours too, I assume?"

"Yeah," he said, glancing to Dean before looking back at her.

"Where's your family from?" Dean questioned.

"Virginia."

"Well what about-"

"Dean stop," Sam cut him off.

Dean wisely fell silent but Elena shook her head, her anger fading away.

"It's okay," she said, rubbing at a smudge of dirt on her hand. "I would be lying if I didn't say I want to ask all these questions of you."

Sam nodded, looking at her with painful understanding.

"We're hunters, our dad too," he told her.

"But you already knew that," Dean said.

"You two aren't exactly subtle," Elena replied.

The brothers exchanged a look before turning to her.

"Our mom died when we were young," Sam explained to her, leaning forward. "The way she died … it was the same as Jess."

"The same thing killed her," Elena realized.

They both nodded and she sat back, looking out of the window again.

"I'm sorry," Sam said, his voice broken.

She looked at him again and reached out, taking his hand.

"It's not your fault," Elena told him honestly. "Just like your mom's death isn't your fault and …" she hesitated, swallowing hard. "Just like my parents' death wasn't my fault or my brother's fault. We didn't ask for it to happen."

"Your parents died?" Dean asked.

She nodded, picking up her coffee to finally take a long drink.

"Demon," she finally said.

"Like…"

She shook her head before Sam could say the rest.

"It was different," she said, thinking about their bodies that were found on Wickery Bridge instead of burning on a ceiling. "My uncle was a hunter too. He taught me and my brother everything."

"But you don't do it anymore," Dean said.

"My uncle was killed two months before my high school graduation. I couldn't stomach the life anymore. Me and my brother both stopped."

Sam looked like he understood, nodding his head.

"And now?" he asked.

"I don't know," Elena said, pulling absentmindedly at the necklace she wore. "I thought that leaving would help me stop losing people but now…"

"Now it's different," Sam finished for her.

She nodded her head.

"We'll stick around town for a week or so, try to find anything about what killed Jess," Dean said.

"You're leaving?" Elena asked, looking at Sam with wide eyes.

He hesitated before nodding once.

"You can come," he offered.

"Sam," Dean protested, looking over at him.

"She's a hunter," Sam said, staring back.

"So she says."

Elena's anger returned quickly.

"I don't have to prove myself to you," she said, grabbing her jacket and purse.

She felt their eyes on her as she stood up and walked straight out the door. There was a chill in the night air, causing her to shiver before she shrugged on her jacket and took a deep breath. She didn't even really know where to go, considering that she rode to the diner with Sam and Dean. As she pulled her phone out to call Alaric, she heard the door opening behind her and turned to see Sam walking out, looking sheepish with his hands in his pockets and his head ducked.

"Sorry about my brother," he said.

"He's a real dick," Elena told him.

Sam almost smiled, shaking his head before sighing and looking down at the ground again.

"He thinks it's his fault," Sam said.

She frowned at him.

"What?"

"Jess. He thinks that … because he showed up…" Sam trailed off with a shrug.

"That's bullshit. The demonic omens were happening days before he came into town," Elena said.

"Yeah," he agreed with a nod.

She stepped towards him, putting her hand on his cheek.

"It's no one's fault, Sam," she reiterated.

He looked at her, sorrow in his eyes. When she pulled him into a hug, he went willingly. They embraced for a long few minutes, their tears falling silently. As Sam pulled away, wiping at his cheeks, she turned around and took a deep breath.

"Are you going to come with us?" Sam asked.

She looked back at him, shrugging once.

"I don't know."

Sam nodded, looking at her with understanding.

"I don't know what to do either."

They fell into silence, trying to wrap their heads around everything that had happened.

"Let's go find a motel to check into," Elena finally told him, watching over his shoulder as Dean walked out.

She didn't say a word to the older brother, walking to the car to climb into the back once more.

A week went by and Elena had the bare minimum of contact with either of the Winchesters. Now she was sitting in a folding chair amidst rows and rows of graves, listening to a preacher drone on about how Jess was in a better place. Sam was at her side, his hand linked with hers, with Jess's parents sitting on his other side. When it was finally over, she felt bad about how relieved she was that it was over. It took several days for the coroner to release Jess's body and now that she was finally being laid to rest, it was like she could think clearly for the first time in a while.

"She loved you both so much," Jess's mom said, putting a one hand on Elena and Sam's cheeks. "You were the best parts of her life."

They both smiled as best they could, unable to bear the sight of tears on Karen Moore's cheeks.

"We loved her too," Elena said, her voice breaking.

Jess's mom nodded and her dad gave them a pained smile before they turned to walk off, huddled close together. Elena wiped at her cheeks furiously before turning away from the gravesite. At the edge of the cemetery, she saw a familiar car.

"Come on," Elena said, hooking her arm through his.

They began walking towards Dean, who was leaning against the driver's door of the Impala. He looked at Elena warily, clearly not wanting to rehash the animosity they felt the night that Jess died. When they reached him, Sam turned to look at her.

"Come with us," he said.

Elena sighed, hitching her purse up higher on her shoulder.

"Sam I…"

"I need you with me, Elena. I can't lose you now too," Sam said, looking at her pleadingly.

She glanced at Dean, who was very pointedly looking at the ground. When he felt her gaze and looked up, he shrugged and tried to look unbothered.

"I could use someone smarter than him around sometimes," he said.

Elena knew that was as close to approval as she was going to get from the older brother.

"We're going to find my dad and we're going to find Jess's killer," Sam said confidently. "We could use your help to do it."

She looked at him, knowing already that he was convincing her.

"I guess I could put my studies on hold for a few months," Elena finally said.

His shoulders relaxed instantly and he looked like he was moments away from hugging her.

"I have one condition."

Both brothers looked at her with interest, waiting to hear what she had to say

"If we go anywhere near Virginia, I want to go see my brother. I need to talk to him about all this and I don't really want to do it over the phone."

Dean and Sam both nodded.

"Sounds like a deal," Sam said.

She nodded as well, glancing back at the cemetery. As she watched Jess's coffin be covered with dirt, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, silently promising her friend, her sister, that she would find out who did this to her no matter what.

"Let's go," Elena said, turning back towards the Winchesters. "We have work to do."

Next up - Elena goes on her first hunt with the brothers.

Please review and let me know what you think! I know this chapter wasn't much but y'all will really keep me going on this if you talk to me about it.