Author's Notes: Be warned, this crossover takes place a little while before vampires have become known to the general public. No one in this story knows of their existence except Sam and Dean Winchester, and possibly Sam Merlotte. It also takes place sometime after Sam's girlfriend Jessica is killed and Sam has once again began hunting.

Also, please forgive any mistakes you come across!

o.O.o

An Interlude
written on June 11, 2009

o.O.o

"My my my, look what just walked in," Lafayette said from the kitchen window, eyes trained at the door. "Mm-mmm."

"What?" Tara asked, scanning the room. She had been leaning against the window talking to her cousin, filling him in on her mother's latest drunken escapades.

"Just walked in, Tara. Honestly, girl, don't you ever open your eyes. They are certainly hard to miss."

"I don't know what you're getting on about, Lafayette, but-"

And they she saw them, and instantly she knew what just Lafayette had been getting on about. Two strangers had just walked into the bar. Barely two feet in the door and they already had nearly the entire rooms attention.

The one walking in front was tall and walked confidently, almost strutting to the bar. It was like he knew he could have any woman in the bar he wanted, and he was probably right. Broad shoulders and a devilish smile, this one was certainly easy on the eyes.

The other man was taller yet, towering over everyone else in the bar. Tara's eyes ran down his body and she made the mental note that his legs seemed to go on forever. This one didn't seem nearly as openly flirtatious at his companion. In fact, he seemed rather cautious, on guard in the unfamiliar setting.

Tara watched the two men each take a seat at the bar, the taller one's eyes taking in the entire room before folding his long legs up on the bar stool. She moved to get closer.

Sam's back had been to the two stranger's as they walked in, but now he was facing them. The shorter man's demeanor changed immediately, his eyes clashing with Sam's. Oh, he was obviously practiced at hiding it, but Tara was also practiced at reading people. There was a slightly stiffer set to his shoulders now, almost nearly reflecting his companion's massive shoulders which were also stiff and alert.

Sam frowned slight at the strangers, before looking up and locking eyes with Tara. "Tara, would you mind watching the bar for a minute. I need to take care of something."

Tara was far more interested in sizing up these two strangers than bartending. "Geez, Sam," she began, both men's eyes snapping to her from where she stood to the left of the bar, "why don't you just hire me here if you want me making drinks all the time?"

Sam sent her a pleading look before backing out of the room, presumably heading off toward his office. Sighing, Tara walked around the bar and up to the strangers who were both still watching her.

"What can I get for you guys?" she asked, eyes shifting between the two. She noted that they both appeared to have very similar green eyes and silently wondered if they may be related.

Clearing his throat, the taller man smiled at her. "Just a couple of beers please, Miss." The shorter man continued to watch her closely while trying to appear as if he wasn't.

"A couple of beers I can get you, but that 'miss' crap has got to stop. My name is Tara."

"Tara then," he replied, smile widening. "I'm Sam and this is my brother Dean."

"Hi Sam," she said and, almost as an afterthought, she looked to Sam's brother. "Hi Dean."

"Nice to meet you, Tara," Dean replied, smiling at her, albeit, it was a little forced. She nodded at him.

Learning their names, she now knew why they had been eyeing her since Sam Merlotte asked to her watch the bar. They had thought it strange that she should know one of the two's names. After Sam introduced himself, it made a lot more sense to her.

She turned around to grab a couple of brewskis, slamming them down in front of the two men. Sam pulled a few bucks from his pocket and slid them to her. Tara took them, and moved to the register.

Looking up at the two men, she said, "You two aren't from around here. Where's that accent from?"

"From all over," Dean replied quickly, almost snapping at her.

It took everything in her not to snap back at the man, but for once, her judgment won out. She figured it wouldn't look so good to Sam if she yelled at his brother right in front of him. And Sam had such a nice smile.

"What Dean means is that we moved around a lot as kids," Sam's soothing voice said, tossing his brother a somewhat exasperated look. "Originally, though, we're from Kansas. And tonight, we're just passing through."

o.O.o

Sam sat at the bar while she worked. More than an hour ago, his brother had headed off to the pool tables and seemed to hustling a few of the locals for all they are worth. Sookie, during her break, had introduced herself to the newcomers, warmly welcoming them to ­­­Bon Temps. Sookie had then looked around, asking where Sam Merlotte was, before setting off to look for him.

Tara found talking to him extremely, surprisingly, easy. Within less than half an hour of talking, she had told him all about the problems she had with her mom. What was more surprising was listening to Sam speak of how he had never known his mother and how he and his dad fought constantly until, one day, he just left.

"You could too, you know," Sam said. "You could leave and travel, maybe go on some kind of vacation with your friend. There's nothing keeping you here."

"Maybe," Tara agreed, although she knew she would never follow through with it. "But what about you Sam? You got away, and yet here you are. Clearly, you should be in school this time of year."

"You're right, Tara," Sam said. "I should be in school right now. But I haven't been, not for a few years now."

"So what happened?" she asked, intrigued.

Just as she had been able to read Dean's change in demeanor earlier, she watched Sam's eyes grow sad. He seemed to struggle for the words to say. "Well, my…my girlfriend died. It was lucky Dean had been visiting or I probably would have too. After that…I just couldn't stay any more. I left school and went back to my family."

Her elbows on the table, Tara stared at him intently. "And after that, did you and your dad get along?"

Again, Sam's smile was sad, but this one was laced more this nostalgia than outright sorrow. "Actually, we fought right up to the day he died."

"I'm really sorry, Sam," Tara replied, truly moved by this man she had just met.

Just as she was getting ready to ask him something, Dean tapped Sam on the shoulder. Sam turned to his brother.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I think we should probably get going now, Sam. We have a lot of miles to cover." With that, Dean turned and headed toward the door.

"Leaving so soon?" Tara asked him as he stood, for the first time noticing just how large a man he was.

He smiled down at her. "Road trip."

"I see," she replied. "Well, can't keep the road waiting."

"No, actually we can't."

Suddenly, she felt really sad to see him go. Turning around, she heard Sam say softly, "Tara?"

"Yeah?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at him. Meeting his green eyes, she turned to face him fully, taking a step toward the bar.

Sam smiled at her, handing her a small sheet of paper. As she moved to take it, his hand held hers for several moments longer than what was considered suitable for two people who had just met. Tara felt her heart begin to speed up and her pulse quicken at his hot, almost scalding skin. Just as she was about to say something stupid, he pulled his hand away, pausing before following his brother to the door.

Taking the hint, she opened the slip up paper and read:

Sam Winchester
419-555-7269

"What's this for," Tara asked, mentally kicking herself as she opened her mouth. "I don't even know you."

"I know," Sam replied. "Just give me a call if you ever have any…unusual problems around here. I can help." Flashing her one last smile, Sam leaned down across the bar and kissed her on the forehead before heading to the door where Dean was waiting for him.

o.O.o

As Sam and Dean made their way to the Impala, a man stepped out from the trees.

"I thought it was kind of strange that you left your bar for so long," Dean said without turning around.

"I know a hunter when I see one," Sam Merlotte replied evenly.

Sam and Dean faced him, each eyeing the weapon in Sam Merlotte's hand.

"My God," Dean said, "this is starting to turn into a game of Clue. Sam the Shapeshifter, in the bar, with the revolver."

"Dean," Sam said in warning to his brother, "stop it. Look," he said, facing Merlotte with his hands up in front of him even as the gun was pointed at his head, "we heard some rumors and we came to check it out. We've been asking around town and there haven't been any curious deaths or disappearances or anything. Like I said, we're just checking things out."

"I'm sure that's what you tell everyone that is just a little out of the ordinary. Right before you put bullets in their heads."

"Not true," Dean said quickly. "We know the difference between good and evil."

"Dean's right," Sammy said. "Just a little while ago we met a nest of vampires who only drank animal blood. They just wanted to live in peace, and we let them go. We didn't follow them."

"Vampires are real?" Merlotte asked them, surprised and not at the same time. After all, if he, a shapeshifter, and Sookie, a mind reader, existed in Small Town, USA, then who rightly knew what else could be out there.

"You have know idea what else is out there," Dean said. "And for your sake, I hope you never need to know."

"Look, Mr. Merlotte, we came to town because we heard rumors, that's all. We didn't even know the rumors were true or who they pertained to until we met you. We checked things out and found nothing wrong. Now we'd just like to hit the road. We have reason to believe that there may be PMSing ghost in Atlanta and we'd like to send it to the afterlife before noon tomorrow."

Staring at the two brothers, Sam lowered the gun. He had known they were hunters the second they had walked into the bar. He had had a few run-ins with hunters in the past and, most of the time, he escaped by the skin of his teeth. There had, however, been one man who had been compassionate. And these two boys, especially the taller one, reminded him of that man.

Sam tucked the gun into the back of his pants, carefully pulling his shirt down over it. "You two know other hunters?"

"We've met a few," Dean replied suspiciously.

"Every heard of a man named John Winchester?" Sam asked, watching as the boys quickly looked at each other.

"We've heard of him," Dean admitted, swallowing uncomfortably.

"He's our dad," Sam replied.

And for the first time all night, Sam Merlotte smiled. "I met John when I was just a teenager. I was on my own and he taught me how to take care of myself. He even showed me how to make a new identity for myself. He saved my life."

Sam and Dean grew silent, simply staring at the man before them who had, only moments before, been waving a gun in their faces.

Smiling slightly, Sam Merlotte said, "Tell John I said hello," before heading back inside his bar.

The brothers stood in stunned silence for a full fifteen seconds before Dean yelled, "Don't make us need to come back here. Or you'll be saying hi to Dad for yourself before we will."

With that, they got in the Impala and hulled ass out of Bon Temps and never looked back.

o.O.o

As Tara set in front of the television, listening to a pretty blond woman tell the world of her kind, she thought back to that day several years ago when she had met the Winchesters. And as she watched, her horror growing by the second, she wondered if this was the unusual trouble Sam had been talking about all along.

End.

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A/N: Be a dear and leave a review!