A/N: Here is part 3! If Austin were to meet someone close to the Winchesters and learn a bit more about them.

Thank you to everyone who took a moment to review! It really makes my day. I definitely started writing stories I wanted to read, but I also want to write stories that others get excited about, and reviews help me know if I'm on the tight track.

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or its characters.

Real Life Legends: part 3

By ThornsHaveRoses

Austin looked down at the number he had saved in his phone almost two years ago. He'd never called it. It was a gift from a hunter named Donna. She had given him the number. "Jody's a good hunter. She'll help ya out if yer ever in a jam." Donna had drawled.

It certainly wasn't the first number Austin had got in a similar manner. He almost dropped the phone as another wave of pain washed over him. He was in South Dakota, and this Jody was the closest hunter he knew of - probably the only one in the state, and he needed a med kit, and pair of steady hands, and no questions asked.

Gritting his teeth, he hit the call button. The phone was answered after a couple rings.

"Hello?" A pleasent female voice answered.

"Jody?" Austin didn't even know her last name, but a hunter was a hunter .

"Who is this? " now a tinge of suspicion.

"My name is Austin Grant. Donna gave me your number a ways back, and I was hoping for a bit of help."

"Donna's too nice for her own good. " Jody mumbled, then louder. "What do you need?"

"Just a patch job, actually."

A couple hours later, exhausted and filthy (being covered in his own dried blood was irratating) Austin pulled up infront of a surprising normal looking house. Most hunters had cabins in the woods, or real cheap dumps, but Jody's was a medium sized, well-kept one story in a small community. It was dusk, but he still took minute to make sure no one was out to see his blood-covered body limp into her house.

She must have heard him pull up, because she opened the door for him, and ushered gim into the kitchen. He dropped unceremoniously into a chair in her kitchen, stifling a groan when he did.

For a second she stared at him and he stared at her, both taking a second to assess. Jody was about his age - maybe a couple years older. She was attractive, that's for damn sure. Trim and confident, with short brown hair and a gun holstered at her waist.

"Austin." He said breathlessly.

"Jody." She returned. "No tell me what I'm looking at."

Austin liked her. She was a no-nonsense women, that he could tell when she ordered him out of his shirt, berated him for tangling with a wood nymph alone (those things were vicious), and sewed, cleaned and bandaged a good portion of his back and shoulder.

They made small talk, and Austin appreciated her keeping his mind off his pain. He couldn't believe it when she said she was a sheriff. Hunters didn't often have 'real jobs'. Austin himself mostly paid the bills for his hovel by scoring around the poker or pool table, and doing summer jobs for construction companies. It barely kept the lights on.

When Jody finished, she washed up and moved straight to food, heating up leftover lasagna. After they devoured that, she moved him to the living room. "Don't have a spare room." Jody said with a shrug.

"It's great, Jody. Anythings more comfy then my truck."

"Let me get you some blankets." Jody left the room.

Austin moved to sit, but the photos on the shelf caught his eye. He moved over, saddened but not surprised to see ones of a young boy with the sheriff, who evidently was not here anyone. But he knew the facts - you don't start hunting without a reason. That little boy was Jody's reason.

There were a couple other pictures. That one was defiantly Bobby Singr. Austin had got to met the man once before he died, and he was memorable. There were some of a couple teenage girls, not really smiling for the camera, ones pose saying very clearly, are you serious? then there was one with a super tall guy, his arm around Jody, both of them genuinely smiling. Austin frowned. He looked familiar.

There was another in a frame in the end -the tall guy again, and another man. What a second. .. were those them? He'd only seen them once, more then four years ago, but-

"Here you go." Jody announced.

Austin turned, the photo still in his hand. "Jody - are these The Winchesters?"

A small, unconscious smile flitted across her face. "You know the boys?"

"I... met them once. They saved my skin a couple years back." He admitted.

Jody chuckled. "Yeah. They're good at that."

Austin glanced down at the photo. The two men were sitting on Jody's couch, the tall one, Sam, looking at the camera. Dean was looking off, but you still see a bit of a grin on his face. They looked much the same as when Austin had seen them in that church- maybe a bit older. Austin replaced the photo and sunk onto the couch. "Everyone talks about them - all the stuff, you know, the apocalypse -"

She cut him off, her face darkening. "They don't know what they're talking about. Those boys are good. All they ever do is help, and sacrifice, and fight. Damn good hunters." She concluded, rather gruffly.

"What about Lucifer? There are rumors that The Winchesters let him out."

He could see the indecision on Jody's face - like she didn't want to gossip about the boys she obviously cared about, but also wanted to set the record straight. "They also put him back."she reminded him softly. "Those boys gave gotten dealt a shit-hand, Austin. And all they ever tried to do is help. But... everyone makes mistakes. Like Lucifer. But Sam and Dean... they always own up to them."

"Most hunters don't have very nice things to say about them." Austin said neutrally.

Jody frowned. "Sam and dean - they've been hunting longer then most. Seen a lot of ugly - of the variety you and I never tangle with. People can't understand."

"Don't sell us too short."

Jody gave a half laugh. "The truth, Austin? The truth is that Sam and Dean Winchester are not average hunters. Never have been, never will be. They were raised in the life, which is pretty damn rare in itself. I never met their father, but Bobby Singer never had a whole lot of good to say about him. Their mother was murdered, and John Winchester became obsessed with hunting."

She paused, and Austin figured she was thinking about how quick this life pulled you in, how tight the noose got. He was still a bit amazed that she managed to straddle the line, half in, and half on dry land.

"When you get two boys raised on the road, in shitty motels and knowing what's out there, really out there... well, there was never much normal for Sam and Dean. All they've ever really had was each other." She glanced at the photo. "Hell, they're practically one person in two bodies. They don't do well alone. If you knew them at all, then you'd you know people don't talk about Sam or Dean. They talk about the Winchesters." She gave him a knowing smile, and he remembered he'd referred to them as such not ten minutes ago.

""And all that shit people talk about? Lucifer, and the Darkness, and the Leviathans, and the Horsemen? None of that happened because of those boys. It happened because of the monsters. And dammit, but if the Winchesters were not around, weren't back from the dead, weren't still fighting, the world would be a hell of a lot darker. Hunters - we save people. And I'm damn proud of what we do. But Winchesters - they save the world, Austin."

"They've tangled with Death himself, Knights of Hell, God. They've lost so many people, and suffered so much. But they keep swinging. And sure they do it for us, but they're also fighting for each other. The bond between them.." She trailed off, shaking her head in wonder. "Sam and Dean are heros, and give it a generation or two. They'll he legends. "

Austin sat back, a little shocked by Jody's outburst. Yes, half of what she said was ridiculous. But she was the first hunter he'd met to know The Winchesters. She even had pictures of them. Could it be true? All of it? Yeah, some if what she said defiantly matched what heard around dingy bar tables and bottles of scotch, the difference was she said these things in a positive light. Heros, huh? He mused.

Jody turned to leave the room, but Austin had one more quick question. "Jody?"

"Mm?"

"The man with them - in the trench coat. People say that... that he's a monster. "

Jody laughed. A good honest laugh. "That - is Castiel. He's an Angel if the Lord."

Jody closed the door, laughing even harder at the expression on Austins face.

A/N: Apologies! This took way longer then I wanted it too, but it's here now. Please review!