AN:

Greetings Reader,

This time we're going to get a look at Meli's life before she began her work with earth-bound spirits. I hope it isn't too angsty. Meli is a teenager and so reserves the right to be a little bundle of angst if she chooses. I promise next time we'll get back to the plot, but for now, I hope you enjoy another chapter from Meli's perspective as she explains to Sam about what happened one year ago.

5. Histories

When Meli opened her eyes it was to a pitch black hotel room. She had fallen asleep and the sun had set nearly an hour ago. She swung her legs off the couch and stood to stretch her tired muscles. The only light in the room came through the open window and she stepped to it to look down on the parking lot. The Impala hadn't returned.

Good, she thought, its better they're not in my way.

She may not have been sorry to see the Winchesters go, but she wasn't particularly pleased with herself for parting with them on such a bitter note. They had, after all, shown her a respect that no other hunter ever had. Meli shrugged into her jacket and pulled her boots on, she needed air.

The November night was crisped with a sharp chill, and people thought Florida couldn't get cold. Meli, bag thrown over her shoulder, began aimlessly wandering up a random street. It didn't matter where she ended up, she knew most of the town by heart so it wouldn't be difficult to find her way back. She circled round the block across from the hotel and found herself standing under the clock tower in Town Center, the musical bonging of it bringing her out of her fog as it struck seven pm.

There were still plenty of people on Main Street, most moving in and out of the few restaurants in sight. She continued the rest of the way up the street and across a wide parking lot to the lake and the pavilion. The bar across the lawn was buzzing, music blaring and people shouting. The pavilion was a large concrete structure made to look like a Grecian stage. Steps led down to the first stair that led up to the stage floor. Five wide cylindrical pillars held up the domed roof and Meli took a seat at the base of one to look out at the glassy lake beyond. She closed her eyes and focused on the splashing of the fountain in the distance, there was something nagging at her about the ghost in the tenement that she couldn't place. It felt like there was something so obvious that she was missing, but what?

"Hey."

Meli sat up, startled by the voice that greeted her where she thought she was alone. She got to her feet and turned to see Sam Winchester giving her an apologetic smile.

"You scared me!" she hissed.

Sam gave a laugh "And you hunt ghosts."

Meli rolled her eyes, she didn't mind his teasing. He was much easier to tolerate than his brother. She was about to ask where he'd come from, but the beer in his hand answered that question. She breathed a resigned sigh and leaned her shoulder against the cold stone of the pillar.

"You know, I'm not really as stupid as Dean thinks." She told herself she didn't care if Sam knew this or not, but she said it anyway.

Sam shook his head "He didn't mean it like that."

"Yes he did." Meli pushed back, a hint of aggression in her voice where she knew it was unwarranted, the same feeling of defensiveness creeping up on her.

"Dean is…" he didn't seem to know how to finish that statement.

"An ass." Meli quipped.

Sam huffed a laugh "He can be, but," there was a pause and Sam's gaze seemed to turn inward for a moment "he means well."

"I don't know him, we've only just met." She tried to be an adult about it. "Maybe I just put him off. I know I can have that effect on people."

When her voice trailed off and she closed her eyes against the unpleasant feeling that settled in her stomach at her own words, Sam seemed to notice. She was aware of his concerned eyes watching her as she nervously pulled at the hem of her knit beanie.

He spared her from having to elaborate by saying "Dean isn't as horrible as he can seem. He's sarcastic and reactionary, sure. But he's a good person."

"He's your big brother, of course you'd say that." Meli muttered, biting back her resentment.

"It's more than that. Dean and I spent our whole lives on the road with our dad. He was a hunter before us and raised us in the life. It was always Dean's job to look after me, you know, to protect his little brother. That protectiveness is so much a part of who he is that he can't separate from it. Even when it comes to stubborn teenage ghost whisperer he only just met. Do you understand?"

His voice was so earnest and sincere it made Meli feel guilty for being so bitter. As Sam's words set in she felt the uncomfortable prick of tears behind her eyes again and bit her lip to hold them back.

"So you're saying that he's everything a brother is supposed to be. So much so, it even extends to someone like me— a spoiled brat from the suburbs." She shook her head slightly and forced a tiny smile "You're lucky to have a brother that cares so much, Sam."

Sam nodded and even though he stood further in the shadows than she did, Meli could still make out the smile that came to his lips. "Yeah, I am."

"It must be nice to have someone you can count on." The words came without a hint of irony or resentment, much to Meli's surprise.

He must have picked up on the change in her, or maybe the implication of the statement because he asked gently "Didn't you say you have a brother?"

"I don't think you can really call him my brother," Meli said, the bitterness rushing back "especially not compared to you and Dean. Even if he is my twin."

"But we're a, um… unique case. Most siblings don't have to grow up the way we did."

"Yeah, but you love each other."

Same tilted his head, obviously a little confused "You don't care for your brother?"

Meli bit her lip so hard she was sure she'd break the skin. "No, Sam," she sighed "I loved my brother more than anyone in the world for as long as I could."

"What do you mean?"

"All siblings fight, that's what all the grown-ups told me when we were kids. As if the way he treated me was normal." Her voice trailed away again as she unwillingly retreated into her own mind for a long moment, recalling against her will the way even the idea of her brother made her feel.

"I take it you weren't close." Sam said simply.

"It was more than that. He wasn't just unkind, he was cruel. He cut me down every chance he got; he said such horrible things and took every opportunity to tell me I shouldn't have been born. Can you imagine what that's like?"

Meli looked from the lake to Sam's face, a burning heat rising to her face when she realized all she had said. Sam just watched her with, not pity, but sympathy in his eyes.

"Oh, god," she laughed nervously, fussing with her hair "I think I said too much."

"What about your parents?" Sam asked after a long silence.

Meli didn't know what to say, so she just gave an almost unperceivable shake of her head.

"You wanna talk about it?"

An unexpected wave of emotion swelled in her at his offer. It blocked her throat and brought tears to her eyes. How wonderful it was to have a sympathetic ear after all the crap she'd dealt with.

"Our mom died before we were even two years old and our dad never really recovered. He later married a woman that tore the family apart. My stepmom, though I hesitate to use the word 'mom' in regard to her, came between my brother and I and I think she broke my dad. I guess she somehow convinced my brother that Dad loved me more and it set off this horrible cycle in him, you know?"

Sam nodded that he was following.

"I never knew if he really hated me from the start like he said, or if it started with her, I can't remember a time when we got along. And the way she was with my dad, it was like she took his backbone. He was the only one that was ever on my side, but he'd never let her know. So when they were both using me like a punching bag he would just walk away. He loved me, I know he did, but it wasn't enough. And she held all the power." Meli didn't bother to stop the tears now.

"They sent your brother to college and left you behind. It's because of the things you can do, right?"

"I always knew I was a little different. I could sense and do things that I couldn't explain. I kept it hidden as long as I could. Over the years, spirits would pass through the house, as they do through most places, and I never understood why no one else ever knew they were there."

"Meli," Sam prodded gently "what happened last year?"

She wrapped her arms around herself, digging her fingers into the sleeves of her jacket. "I couldn't hide it anymore."

"Something evil got into your house, right?"

"Yeah, I put up subtle protection around the place over the years. Everything from magic to crosses, but this thing didn't even seem to notice." She paused for a moment gather herself. "It got a hold of my brother."

From the spot on the ground where she had fixed her eyes, Meli saw Sam's feet shift.

"And you pulled it out and what?"

"I destroyed it. It had been human once, but it was too far gone. Totally unrecognizable… and beyond saving." Meli was sort of proud that she could tell him this with a sense of professionalism.

"You're stronger than I gave you credit for." Another voice, a gruff voice hoarse from the cold, chimed in from the pavilion steps. Dean, hands in his pockets, strolled across the vast stage floor to stand beside his brother. "They saw you do it, didn't they? Your dad and step-bitch saw you yank the bastard outta your brother."

Meli didn't bother to answer.

"It scared them, and that's why you stayed behind when they left town." Sam said.

She pulled in a steadying breath. "It didn't surprise me to figure out that there was actually something about me that could make my brother and his mom dislike me even more. But when my dad started looking at me like… that, I just couldn't take it."

Meli saw Dean's emerald eyes soften and the tenseness in his shoulders relaxed as he sighed. "He looked at you like you were some kind of freak."

"Don't push her" Sam implored.

"Suddenly it was like all the years you'd been a family didn't matter anymore. He saw the kid he'd raised do something he never thought them capable of, and it scared the ever-loving crap outta him." Dean turned to Sam as he said this, and Meli watched them share a silent moment of what looked to her like understanding.

"Worst part is," Sam continued for him "you can't even comfort yourself with the knowledge that even though he was afraid of you— afraid for you, he never stopped caring about you."

Meli finished their though privatly, because he left anyway. They all did.

A long and weighted silence passed between the three of them.

"See, Dean," Meli said, a sardonic smile on her small mouth "just because I grew up in the suburbs doesn't mean my life hasn't been just as painful as anyone else's. But I get up in the morning, same as I always have, and I put myself in the path of hunters and evil son-of-bitches like I never would have believed could have existed—"

"Because, god damn it, your life is gonna mean something, even if it's cut short."

The relief of being understood was not one Meli was very familiar with, as childish as it made her feel to admit that. But moreover, there was something about being finally understood by someone like Dean Winchester that brought such a sense of calm to Meli. The wetness on her face was beginning to sting, no matter how many times she wiped her eyes it kept coming back.

"Something like that." She hadn't realized she had been smiling. She lifted her hand in a lazy wave. "I think I've embarrassed myself enough for one night," she laughed at herself. "I'm going to head back."

As she crossed the pavilion floor to begin the walk back to the hotel, Dean called after her. "Hold up! I was gonna tell Sammy I'd been thinking about your case."

Meli sniffed a laugh "Well, don't strain yourself."

"Bite me. I think you've been goin' about it wrong. You've— we've only been looking at deaths and obits in the area, but—"

Something in Meli's mind seemed to click into place "What if the ginger man is featured in another kind of ad?"

Sam made a noise of agreement. "Yeah, we could check town functions, political staff lists, and public service awards. Broaden the search until something shakes loose."

"That's brilliant!" Meli exclaimed, her sense of mission sparking back to life.

"It's a plan, anyway." Dean said "We'll pick you up first thing in the morning and go back to the records office."

AN: