It had been six years now, six years since she had last seen them. They wouldn't even recognize her at this point, at least she had hoped they wouldn't when Bobby called to tell her they had got wind of her location and to fill her in on everything that had happened.

She gritted her teeth at the story of their misadventures from the last four years, it was exactly why she had been avoiding them. Her eyes glanced over at the little girl sitting at the table. Did she really want her brothers back in her life, after everything she had been through? After everything that they have done?

That wasn't an answer she could give herself at the moment, because she still hadn't decided. "How long do I have before they arrive?" She finally responded, he should have known that it was going to take her a minute to process everything.

"Couple hours at best, Dean seemed pretty antsy to get his eyes on you." That sounded accurate, her brother had always been such a mother hen.

"Thanks for letting me know Bobby, I appreciate it." Then she promptly hung up. A sigh fell from her lips, she ran her hands through strawberry blonde waves. She didn't know if this was something she was prepared to deal with mentally.

Not with everything that was going on.

"Mama? Are you okay?" She smiled at the inquiry, walking over to the table and kissing her daughter's forehead.

"I'm okay, come on or we'll both be late." The little girl hopped down from the chair and headed to the door, her mother followed soon after. Trying to push the thought of their impending arrival from her mind and just go about her day normal, well as normal as possible.

It was a long shot anyway.

..

Dean remembered Hell, vividly. It was a terrible nightmare, one he would never fully recover from at that. But it was nothing compared to the six years of silence from his baby sister. Six long years spent wondering, worrying, trying to figure out what exactly happened, to figure out why she up and vanished on them. Abandoned them.

Bobby knew, he had to have known. Because the old man never seemed worried about her, not like they were. He didn't know if he'd forgive either of them for it either.

Her for leaving, and Bobby for helping her. So he ignored it, pretended it didn't matter. That avoidance only worked for so long until his concern finally won over and the first small piece of news regarding her current location had him loading up the Impala to go and get her back.

He needed to know why she left, he had so many questions for her. Because how could she just abandon their family? Ariel had to know what they were dealing with, she was a hunter, so she just had to know.

Sam was fidgeting in the seat next to him. It pulled him from his thoughts. "You alright there?" The taller of the two nodded his head, his expression distant.

"It's been six years Dean." What if she's not the same? He could hear the unspoken question, and shook his head. Not that much could have changed. Not to her, not his baby sister.

She couldn't be that different. Six years wasn't that long of a time.

Of course it wouldn't really go the way he expected it too.

Six years was a long time, for a human at least.

..

Ariel practically fell into the seat next to him, her whole body slumped over the counter. She looked like someone who had just receive the worst news of their life. Whatever that may partake. "You okay Buffy?" She didn't even look at him as she called out her drink order.

He was half sure that she was an alcoholic at this point. All though he really didn't have any room to talk. She downed the entire glass before she turned to look at him. Everything about her was screaming off to him, she looked a mess, as if she had just spent the last thirty minutes have a major anxiety attack or something.

"My brothers are coming to town, I haven't seen them in six years." Well that explained her current emotional state easy enough.

Damon had heard a lot about the Winchester siblings over the years. He wasn't arrogant enough to think that vampires were the biggest or scariest monsters out there. The man had been alive for over a hundred years at this point, of course he had seen and heard things about the other creatures that go bump in the night. So he had of course heard a lot about the Winchester siblings, who hadn't?

They were a big deal in the supernatural hunting world and would probably become and even bigger deal as time went by. If they managed to live that is.

"And they have no idea about you or the little one." She had originally thrown him for a loop when he realized who she was, but once he knew his perspective changed.

"She's part of the reason I left Damon, so of course I never mentioned it. Let's not even get started on the other thing. What am I going to do?" He honestly didn't have an answer for her, besides the obvious one.

But he was pretty sure she was tired of running, and she had made a home for her and her child here. "Can't help you there Buffy." She buried her face in her hands, stress basically pouring out of her.

He felt sorry for the woman, because she was a good person and the situation she was now stuck in sucked. But they all had to face their demons at some point.

Not literal demons though, because he was pretty sure she'd claim that had been easier than this was going to be. She was rather predictable at times.

..

Their eyes met just as she was ducking out of the bar, she wanted to just turn around and head back inside instead of facing her current problem outright. Although she didn't want Damon anywhere them, the prick was surprisingly over protective of her for some unknown reason and she was sure he'd kill anyone who appeared to be threatening her. Which was defiantly about to be one of them.

Damon was a good friend, she'd have to get the next round.

Back to the current problem. They were leaning against her car, she wasn't even sure how they had figured out which one belong to her, but there they were. She could see the Impala parked a few spaces over, it was a fine car. Her gaze went back over to the two towering figures.

Well it was nice to know that she was officially the shortest of the three. Did she need her car? The question passed briefly through her mind as she debated what she was going to do, because she still had to pick her baby girl up from school and she did not want them there for that.

Maybe Caroline could? She'd give the blonde a call. It appeared they grew tired of her apparent stalling and had started walking towards her. Joy.

This wouldn't be a warm reunion. They stopped a few steps from her, she didn't smile or offer them any form of greeting. Instead she ignored them and walked past their frozen forms. Ariel couldn't deal with this right now.

Dean just had to stop her, he reached out grabbing her arm and forcing her to stop dead in her tracks. "Aren't you going to say hello?" She looked over her shoulder, she met his hurt look with a glare.

"No." With a strength she shouldn't have possessed she yanked her arm from his grasp and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's been six years and you don't even have the decency to say hello to your family." His tone was harsh, but she could see the hurt and pain in his eyes. Ariel needed to figure out quickly what she wanted.

"Family?" She scoffed, because that was funny. They weren't family, hadn't been for a long time.

No they were soldiers who all marched to the command of their father, a father who hadn't even noticed how much he was hurting them. Her especially.

Dean looked taken aback by her tone. What was wrong with her? She was not the little girl he remembered, regardless that she still look almost identical to her. Physically she had barely changed.

But he didn't even recognize her anymore. This was not his sister.

"Why are you guys here? I'm sure there are better things you could be doing." Her tone was knowing, as if she knew everything that had happened to them in the last four years. As if she hadn't been absent from the lives up until this point.

That made his blood boil, she knew. She had been keeping tabs on them. Of course she would, that was just so Ariel. Never allowing them to be a part of her life but making sure to keep up with theirs. Arial hadn't abandoned them, no what she had done was so much worse.

She had let him believe she had.

"Why are.. Why are we here? I think that's a bit obvious." She laughed, like she straight up laughed, as if it was funny to her. As if they hadn't spent the last six years worrying over her, wondering if she had died or not.

"You're here for me? Oh my god, you actually came all this way just for me. There's no hunt or lead you're chasing. You're actually here for me. I don't believe it." Her voice is filled with mirth, she's taunting him.

"God dammit! Ariel of course we're here for you." She just snorted at his proclamation. Her eyes turned their younger brother. Sam didn't seemed to know what to think about the situation, something was wrong.

Something with Ariel was wrong. He just couldn't place it. Her eyes were sharp as they regarded him, and then they narrowed. "You're awfully quiet Sammy." Her tone is somehow void of all its previous mirth, her whole persona had changed.

"It's been a long day." And he wasn't convinced that she was actually their sister, something was just different with her. They would find out soon enough. She then brushed past them, a have thought warning of leave me alone was thrown over her shoulder as she briskly walked away from them.

They stood on the side walk for a moment before heading into the bar she had just come out of. Dean needed a drink.

..

He often got calls from her, they did share a child. Sometimes she called just to talk, sometimes she called to let him know how their girl was doing, sometimes they were calls to let him speak to their baby girl and sometimes they were warnings. So he was by no means surprised when his cell rang and it was her number. "Hello love." Except this time was different than any of those times before.

The hitch in her breathing was obvious, she'd been crying. Not the regular crying the humans typically did either, no this was the sort of crying that happened after something awful. He'd only witnessed this type of reaction from her twice. Which could only mean one thing.

"Ariel love, I need you to breathe." It raised one question from him though, what had they expected her to do?

It takes her a minute to compose herself, he never hangs up on her in that time either. He still needs to know what exactly is going on. So instead while she works on calming down he works silently on gathering some things together, it looks like he will be making this trip earlier than expected.

He had plans for how all of this was supposed to play out, and he'd still get what he wanted from the town. But his family came first. Because if he couldn't protect his girls now, what good would all the power be. "Nik, my brothers are here." She finally speaks, her voice is small, her tone scared.

His decision is already made, it was decided when she call in hysterics. "I'm on my way."

Her relieved sigh echoes through the speaker of the phone. "Marianna will be pleased." She manages to say, he cannot help but to smile.

"Let's surprise her." She makes a noise of agreement, he suppresses a laugh.

"Ariel, get some rest, tomorrow's going to be a long day." She sighs, because she knows he is not wrong.

..

The first time she met Damon had been over ten years ago. It was coincidently right after she found Nik. They had hit it off nicely, Damon was a good friend to her. So after Marianna was born she introduced him to Nik. Ariel had always thought they'd get along, and they did.

Klaus liked the much younger vampire, he was rather amusing at time. Reminded him a bit of his brother Kol, that part he always ignored, but he was defiantly interesting. Besides he was a good friend to his girl and she did not have very many of those. It was also nice that the dark haired man would do practically anything to keep her and his daughter safe. He didn't even have to compel the younger man to do so. Which was refreshing.

Compelled loyalty was only good for so long.

So he valued the bond between Ariel and the dark haired Salvatore. Because it meant someone was looking after her when he couldn't be there. So even though getting a call from him of odd it was in no way surprising considering what Ariel had just told him on the phone.

"Did you know that apparently all hunters have plaid fetish." Damon began with much ado as soon as he answered the phone.

"Yes, I'm glad Ariel never seemed interested in the trend." He heard the other man snort from his end of the conversation. Klaus rolled his eyes.

"I assume you're coming to town then." Damon spoke with confidence, he knew where the other man stood.

"I am, keep an eye on the hunters until I get there." He didn't want them to be alone with her again. It would only hurt her more.

"I won't let them get near them." He promised. Damon liked the Winchester woman and her daughter, they were good friends. He didn't have too many of those.

..

She knew the boys had gotten a hotel to stay the night, it was apparent that they weren't going to just let her go in peace. It didn't really surprise her. But it also didn't mean she was going to go out of her way to see them. Because yesterday was almost too much for her to handle.

"Don't think too hard on it love." She is so thankful that he's here, because Ariel knows this isn't something she can handle on her own. The emotional context. Her family had never handled feelings well.

It was easier for her now that she had been gone from them for so long. But with things like this, because she knew they weren't going to take this news well. They were going to be angry. More than they were already, and that this part was going to be hard.

This town was full of people whom she cared for, and if her brother's got wind of what some of them were it wouldn't end well. Not only that if they found out what had happened to her.. Well it wasn't going to be pretty.

"I'm going to go surprise my girl." He kisses her forehead before leaving her standing in the kitchen alone. Ariel set her worries aside for the time to get breakfast prepared.

It was going to be a long day. She already needed a drink.

But that was going to have to wait.

..

They stop to get breakfast at the grill their sister had walked out of the day before. It's strange, everything this town, about how she was acting yesterday. Everything is just weird. The town seems normal, too normal. "Dean she has a life, do you really want to disrupt that?" Dean gave him a look.

"We're family." He states as if that was the obvious answer. Sam rolls his eyes in response, of course Dean doesn't see the big picture.

"Anyway, did you look into the lead?" Sam nodded his head.

"Called Bobby to ask him some questions and he told me that it wasn't anything to worry about." Dean's brow furrowed at his brother's words.

"He didn't even offer to help, told me to drop it." That didn't really sound like Bobby. His fist clenched, something wasn't right here.

"Well too bad."

..

They left his rental at the house, Marianna went on and on about some trivial thing while they drove to the school. She had been ecstatic to see him. It wasn't often that he got to see his daughter and it showed. Ariel was quiet, she had allowed him to drive, and he could see her slowly retreating into herself.

A sigh fell from his lips as he regarded her. She caused him a great deal of worry over the years. "Ariel." He spoke directly once she had returned to the car from taking their daughter to her class.

She had a hard time looking at him. He knew she did not intend to hurt him by the gesture, but it did sting. If only for a moment until she found her courage.

"I want them gone." Her mind was made. He didn't blame her, the original didn't want them anywhere near his girls either. But he also knew what that decision would cost her. She loved fiercely and her family was important to her. Even after all the years she has spent away from them.

"Are you sure love?" She nodded her head after a moment, she had to be. Her brothers bring nothing but old demons she'd rather not face. They needed to leave, so she and her daughter could have a more peaceful life.

"Very well." The mattered settled, they pulled out of the school's parking lot and turned in the direction of home.

They had much to discuss.

..

She reached out to them, it had surprised them both. With how she had been the day before, how cold her eyes seemed when she regarded them. Ariel wanted to meet them for lunch outside of the small town. Dean agreed.

He had expected her to be alone, expected so much from her, so he was blindsided when he saw her sitting with him. Dean knew a lot about him too. Seen his face from time to time, this man was a whole another breed of monster. And there was his baby sister sitting contently next to the man who had killed thousands as if this was a regular occurrence as if she hadn't a single care in the world.

Because there was no way she hadn't known. His sister had always been fascinated by the other types of monsters in there world. The ones that didn't come from hell or its demons. So there was just no way for her to be ignorant. He looked over at Sam, his brother didn't recognize the man.

Sam wouldn't though, he'd been away too. He never wanted this life. So he wouldn't know.

But she did, and there she was smiling at him like some little girl with a crush. He clenched his jaw, his eyes hard. She finally looked up, when their eyes met everything about her changed. Her smile vanished into a thin line, the laughter stopped, and her eyes become cold. All the previous life gone.

"Dean." Her voice was flat, void of any emotion. That vile man sitting next to her didn't even look at them, his attention turned to the electronic device in his hand.

"Ariel, what is going on here?" He demanded as they approached the table. She made a motion for him to sit.

"I take it you know who this is then." She had banked on it, her brother had always hovered over her shoulders as a child and even in there teen years. So there was no doubt he'd remember the stories she often read or told him about the various other types of vampires that existed in their world.

"Mikealson." Dean spat his name out as if had burned him somehow, as if saying it aloud tormented him.

The cheeky bastard looked up finally acknowledging his presence and merely gave him an amused smirk. "Of course he does, I'm infamous my love." Sam's brow rose at the three of them then, not quite understanding the tension.

"I'm sorry, but what exactly is going on here?" Ariel's eyes softened for the briefest second but it passed so quickly that perhaps he had imagined it. It felt wrong.

"Yes Dean what is going on here? You came into town looking for me, asking questions of why I left, well here I am. So take a seat." She seemed almost cruel. Time had changed her somehow. Her demons darker than theirs.

Klaus chuckled at her tone, she was an amazing actress, and he almost believe the malice in her voice. But he knew how much this hurt her, what she was about to do them was going to hurt her. Unnoticed to the boys he laid a comforting hand on her back.

"What happened to you! And what the hell are you doing with him?!" Dean all but shouted, his emotions raged. Her resolve almost broke then but she kept face.

"That's not really your business." Klaus told the boy, a dark glint in his eye. He would not allow them to raise their voice at her like that. She didn't stop him.

"I want you to leave. Both of you, you have to stop chasing me. I do not want you in my life, I have no love for you. We are not a family." And she said it with such certainty that he almost believed it. Almost. But he knew her better than most. Like he said she was a wonderful actress.

Her brothers looked taken aback, as if she had physically struck them. Ariel felt as if she had. God she had never wanted it to be like this. But all things considered she knew that this was the best choice. It wasn't just her anymore, she had a child to consider, and she knew that her daughter would be better off if she didn't have to deal with her family's form of supernatural.

"What?!" Her eyes steeled further.

"Was that not clear enough for you Dean?" She raised her brow at him, a challenge.

"No, I heard you. I'm just trying to figure what the happened to you. You've changed." Ariel did not deny this accusations, she became quiet her eyes dark.

"Leave."

Dean got up first, betrayal racked him. He didn't understand what was going on, why she had become this way. None of it made any sense to him. It probably never would. She was just so different from the little girl he remembered, so much had changed. Sam followed soon after, his dark brown eyes lost when he looked at her. Sad. Broken. All because of her. The look in his eyes at that moment would haunt her forever.

XOXOX

I'm just going to leave this here. Let me know what you think!

Sincerely, La'Rae