One by one she stretched and relaxed her body, muscle by muscle. After sitting for nearly three hours in this crouched position, different parts of her body were starting to stiffen. But she didn't budge beyond tensing, eyes still flicking across the room, looking for shadows and listening for sounds.

She knew the rougarou would be back - eventually. There had been a string of weird disappearances; that was what brought her to town. It hadn't taken long to suss out the monster. In fact, more than one had popped up on the radar. After a few encouraging clues, she knew the rougarou was on scent of another kill. Whenever that meal was finished, he would come back here. He had been hiding here for months, as evidence by the state of the place.

As the details of the trap she had laid played out in her mind, her ears picked up on a sound. A slow, dragging with heavy breathing. He was back. Still she waited, hidden in the shadows until the moment was right. The rickety door to the shanty far out in the woods swung open. The breathing and the dragging was louder, more clear. Light from the moon and stars flashed through the opening before it closed again. She watched the shape move across the room to where a ratty old bed was nested in the corner.

Minutes passed as the creature fell into a false sense of security. Its breathing evened out and it stilled as it drifted off into sleep. Just as she prepared to rise and move on the monster, her ears twitched as another sound crept in from the darkness. The rougarou, nearly asleep, didn't notice the soft crunching or shuffling sounds. A shadow passed by the furthest window... and then another. Two figures were slowly circling the little shack.

Her mind raced as she tried to account for this twist. More rougarous? No, they were solitary by the nature of their hunger. Cops? She doubted they would have found his trail - he was very meticulous for a monster. That left only one other option - other hunters.

Crap.

She avoided other hunters for more reasons than she could name. Things never seemed to end well when she mixed with the world. Slowly she rose from her striking position and pulled even deeper into the shadows of the closet. Light and dark flicked between the run down boards of the walls. Shifting a little so that she could see the room, she palmed her daggers and waited.

After a few more minutes the door opened slowly, silently and two shapes crept in without a sound. She could see the small gestures between the two, she watched arms bearing weapons raise as they got closer to the filthy nest. Merely feet away, the silent, dark world flipped into chaos.

"NOW!" shouted a deep gravelly voice. Two jets of hot, licking flames shot from the torches in the hands of what she now saw were two men. Hitting the beast where it slept, they quickly consumed him as the last screams of the creature ripped through the air. After a moment or so, the fire started to dim as the flesh was consumed but suddenly, as the flames dripped onto the floor, they roared up again. The debris and filth coating this hideaway was starting to burn. The two men backed away, satisfied that their mark was dead, and headed for the door.

Her breath was ragged - she knew those hunters. She would have rather faced a dozen rougarous than the thought of running into them. In other circumstances, she would have spent the night in that little hovel to avoid attracting their attention at all. As it was, she needed to get out of there and quickly. The fire was rapidly filling the room.

Keeping her knives readied, she left the torching device she had built behind and moved as quickly and quietly as she could toward the door. Her eyes danced around her, watching for any signs or tells. Feet flying through the doors, she caught the movement a second before it was too late.

Just as she went through the open front door, from the left one of the men lunged at her from behind. Ducking rapidly, the man stumbled, wrapping his arms around thin air. As she went down, she shot her right leg out in a wide arc and felt the satisfying smack as she swiped the feet out from under the other brother. Not bothering to rise, she threw her body forward, feeling every step edge as she rolled in a controlled tumble toward freedom. Her feet hit the gravel and she hoisted herself up in a fluid motion, setting off at a break neck pace.

Feet thundered behind her as the brothers gathered their bearings and made pursuit.

"STOP!" she heard one shout.

"SERIOUSLY STOP!" the other chimed and seconds later a warning shot was fired, exploding into the tree about 15 feet to her left. Grimacing, eyes set forward, she whipped her arms behind her and clicked her long, lethal blades into their sheaths. Once secure, her hands flew to her thighs were she released two handguns. Crooking her right arm up, she fired the gun behind her three times as she ran, praying she blindly hit something.

The crashing footfalls didn't stutter and she chastised herself; no luck. Pouring on as much speed as she had strength for she focused on flight rather than fight.

Seconds after her retaliation shots, another shot cracked through the night and she sucked in painful breaths as that one met its mark. Sinking, stinging and burning into the left side of her thigh, she stumbled and went down face first. Hustling, she pulled up her arms and flung herself onto her back, determined to get in some shots of her own. Before she could bring either hand up to pull the trigger, a huge body landed on top of her, pinning her limbs down and making her gasp with the pain that ripped through her leg.

"Drop 'em!" he barked at her, clenching his hands on her wrists and squeezing until she spasmed and dropped both guns. Frustrated she flung her head back. This was the first time she left them get a good look at her face. Her smooth pale skin hid her years well. Her brown black hair was pulled back in a tight braid and her blue-white eyes were red with irritation.

"Lily?" recognition dawned on his face as he stared at her. She was surprised; it had been years since they had seen her but that hadn't been a pleasant experience so she must have made an impression.

"Sam, pat her down," the brother on her shifted his body so his knee was on her chest and his hands were still pinning her wrists. In that fraction of a second she smiled. Whipping her right leg up as fast as she could, she aimed for his temple with the metal tip of her boot. But she missed her mark as the younger brother grabbed both her ankle and wrapped his arm around her legs. Pulling even her wounded leg up unceremoniously, she choked on the sob that it ripped from her.

"Nice try," he smiled ruefully as he pulled countless knives, guns, and other defensive materials off her body. After a few minutes and two searches over, the were satisfied she was disarmed. Shoving her into a sitting position, they fastened her hands behind her with zip ties. Nodding to one another, the bigger brother scooped down and lifted her slight body easily, gripping her fastened hands tightly and keeping one big arm around her legs. They hustled with her towards the main road and after a few second she saw why - that sleek black Impala was parked in the brush just near the long, weed covered driveway that led to the smoldering house. Reaching the car, Sam dumped her into the back seat and scooted in next to her. Dean walked around to the drive side and quickly slid in. Firing up the engine, they rolled out onto the black highway.

"What's it been, Lily, seven years?" Dean asked, looking at her in the rear view mirror. Glancing at his sparkling green eyes, she set her mouth into a thin line and looked determinedly out the window. Sam had pulled out a tin box from under the seat in front of him. He pulled out tools and gauze, setting to work on her leg. The wound was shallow - the bullet had just ripped through the flesh. He cleaned and bound it.

"This will need stitches when we stop," Sam said softly. Lily didn't reply, just continued to stare out the window.

"Where's Miranda?" Sam asked, looking hard at the young woman. Her eyes stayed focused on the passing darkness.

"Dead," was all she said. Sam's face tightened at these words.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Lily turned to face the man, eyeing him with disdain. He wasn't sorry. These brothers had been nothing but trouble when they had come across Lily and Miranda all those years ago. If it hadn't been for them, she wouldn't have the scars that wrapped around half her body. If it wasn't for them then Miranda...

She flicked her eyes back out the window, blinking a few times to clear her vision.

"Why hadn't you killed that rougarou back there?" Dean ground out. She looked back up at his eyes in the mirror again, debating on whether or not she wanted to speak. She held her tongue which made Dean smirk.

"Nothing's changed with you has it... So tell me, did you know he hunted tonight?" her continued silence seemed to confirm his suspicions. "Figures."

"Dean," Sam said quietly.

"What, Sam? You know how she operates. I wouldn't be surprised if she trussed up that poor shmuck for the monster," Lily couldn't help but smirk, "You did, didn't you?! Damn it, Lily. That ain't right. You can't feed people to monsters because you think they deserve it."

"I don't decide they deserve it. They do," she spat out without looking up at the mirror this time.

"Lily..." Sam started softly.

"Don't. Just don't," she said quickly and softly, looking down at her lap. She knew full well what both these brothers thought about her and how she... worked. But to here Sam say it would hurt - even after all these years.