“Finding a Way In”
Supernatural
Jo’s POV
Dean/Jo/Sam
Rating: PG-13
Setting: After 2x14“Born Under a Bad Sign”
Summary: “This was where she fit.”
Jo was a piece that didn’t fit.
She knew that. She accepted that.
Dean and Sam had a bond. They thought she didn’t understand it, but she did. She knew what family meant. Family came first.
You killed for family.
You died for family.
She knew that. She accepted that.
And sometimes, you were killed by family, and sometimes, you died because of family.
Her daddy knew that. So did John Winchester.
And she accepted that.
**
It was in
The
Living legends.
She walked into the same bar they were occupying. Talk about fate.
They saw her from the back booth they were sitting in. She walked over to them.
Sam’s head was lowered, but Dean--Dean grinned at her.
“We were here first,” he said.
She crossed her arms. “And?”
“I assume you’re here because of the vampire nest.”
She looked at Sam. He still wasn’t looking at her.
“How are you doing?” she asked him.
Two months had passed since he knocked her out, tied her up, and held a knife to her face.
And told her the truth.
My daddy killed your daddy.
“Good,” he said.
He didn’t want to talk. Fine with her.
“By the way,” Jo turned her head to Dean, “thanks for not calling me after I removed the bullet from your arm. Should have let you bleed.”
“Come on, Jo.” And he smiled again. “You don’t mean that.”
She didn’t.
She kept her façade and straightened her back. “Just stay out of my way, all right?”
As she turned to go to the bar, Dean called out for her.
“You can’t do this alone,” he said.
Her feet stopped moving.
Alone.
She thought about the bag in her car parked outside, the one full of wooden stakes, holy water, and crosses.
She knew she was an amateur compared to Dean and Sam--living legends--but she also knew how to take care of herself, even if that meant getting some help.
Dean slid over in the booth to make room for her. “I’ll fill you in on the plan.”
Jo glanced at Sam. “Are you okay with this?”
He gave her a look, like he was going to break any second now.
“Yeah, I’m okay with this,” he said.
Jo sat next to Dean and listened to what he had to say.
**
The moon was low in the sky tonight. Round and heavy with light. Jo could probably reach out and touch it.
If she wanted to.
No, she needed its guidance tonight. So did Dean and Sam.
They stood at the back of the Impala and loaded up in the middle of the woods. Jo strapped a crossbow across her chest. Dean picked up the rifle. Always the rifle. Sam wrapped a holster around his waist. It was filled with containers of holy water. He picked up his own rifle and turned to Dean.
“Ready?” he asked.
Dean looked at Jo. “Ready?”
She looked at both of them. “Ready.”
**
Jo landed on her side. She groaned, searching for her weapon through the piles of dead leaves.
“Watch out!” Dean’s warning made her look up. The vampire charged right at her. She kicked at his legs, sending him down. With her hands around the crossbow, she released the bow and sent it flying at the vampire’s heart.
Dust to dust.
Ashes to ashes.
“You okay?” Sam held out his hand for her.
She ignored it and got up on her own. He gave her another look. Any second now.
His eyes seemed to ask her one thing: When are you going to forgive me?
There was no time to forgive or forget. Not when a swarm of vampires wanted to take a bite from your neck.
“A little help here, guys.” Dean was on the other side of clearing, fending off a hungry vampire. He smacked the butt of his rifle into the vampire’s face. The vampire doubled over.
When the vampire stood back up, Jo loaded her bow again and released it. At the same time, Sam threw a vial of holy water at the vampire and fired his gun at it. The glass shattered, spraying the vampire with holy water. The vampire didn’t have a chance as both the bullet and the arrow met him.
She looked up at Sam, eyes wide.
“Just in case,” he said.
Just in case, he said.
More vampires appeared from the woods. The three of them backed into each. Dean and Sam with their rifles up. Jo with her bow loaded.
They knew they were outnumbered, but damn it, they were going to keep fighting.
“Now, aren’t you glad you didn’t do this alone?” Dean said to her.
She narrowed her eyes. Still a sarcastic jackass at the most inappropriate times, and that was just one of his endearing qualities.
The vampires were closing in. Jo held in her breath, her finger ready to release the arrow, prepared to make the first move. One, two--
BANG!
The gunshot blast had come from outside the circle.
“Die, you sonaofbitches!”
A group of men emerged into the clearing, wielding guns and stakes. Once Jo recovered from the visit of their last-minute rescuers, she went back to fighting.
She was a hunter. That was what she did.
**
“Looks like your plan worked.” Jo tossed her bow into the trunk of the Impala.
Next to her, Dean smiled. “I told you it would.”
A horn honked as a pair of high-beam lights met them in the pathway. Four men dressed in jeans and black attire poured out of the red truck. The driver let out a wild cry and high-fived his buddies.
“Yo, man, Dean, that was wicked.” He looked like Dean’s age, maybe a year or two older, but Jo recognized that look in his face--like finding out you just won a million bucks or you just killed off an entire nest of vampires--same difference.
“Thanks again, Ziggy,” Dean said.
“Anytime, man, anytime.” He noticed Jo and gave her a lookover, the kind she used to get at the bar when the guys had too much to drink
“What’s your name?” Ziggy asked.
“Ziggy, this is Jo,” Dean said. “Jo, Ziggy.”
“It’s a pleasure,” Ziggy said, holding out his hand.
Jo skimmed his hand with her fingertips, then pulled back. Dean snickered. Bastard.
“Hey, Ziggy.” Sam walked up to the group. “Thanks for--”
“Saving your asses.” Ziggy laughed. “Yeah, man, no problem.” He pointed to the rest of the guys. “How about we all go over to my place and celebrate?”
“We need to get going,” Dean said.
“Go where?” Ziggy put an arm around Dean’s shoulders. “Besides, when’s the next time you’re gonna be in my part of the neighborhood again, huh? Just one drink, come on.”
Dean looked at Sam. Sam shrugged.
“All right,” Dean said.
Ziggy threw a fist into the air. “Cool.”
“Hey, what about me?” Jo said.
“You can come too, sweetheart,” Ziggy said. “In fact, you have to come.”
“I mean, what if I don’t want to come?” she said.
Ziggy pouted. “Aw, now, that hurts.”
Dean jingled the car keys in his hand. “Sorry.”
It wasn’t the kind of apologize Jo was looking for, but then again, when it came to Dean and Sam and their apologizes, neither one of them was an expert.
**
Ziggy and his boys passed out an hour into the so-called party.
Great.
Jo leaned against the wall in Ziggy’s cabin. Tired, but not ready for sleep yet, she ran her hand through her hair. She needed a shower.
“Can we talk?” Sam’s voice was low in her ear.
“Sure.”
But, she wasn’t.
They stepped out into the back porch. Mountain silhouettes painted the blue-black sky. Crickets chirped from the tall grass. Jo hugged herself as autumn breeze blew by.
It took a moment for Sam to say anything.
“Jo, I--”
Don’t.
Don’t ask me to
forgive you. Don’t ask me to forget.
She cut him off before he could continue. “You don’t remember any of it, do you?”
He turned his gaze away. “Not really. My memories from that night are kind of fuzzy.”
Kind of fuzzy when hers were crisp and sharp.
“Demons tell the truth,” she said. “That’s what Dean told me.”
“What kind of things did I tell you?” he asked.
She rubbed her wrists. It had taken a week before the first bruise faded.
“I can be more for you.” She whispered the words. “You said that to me.” In the dark, Sam’s profile was as large as the mountain’s. She remembered how tall he was, how strong, how much more powerful he was compared to her.
“What does that mean?” Sam said.
Then, Jo remembered the other
“Forget it.” She sighed. “Are we through here?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled.
They walked back in together and found Dean sitting on the kitchen counter with a beer.
“Where did you two disappear to?” he asked.
“We had a talk,” Sam said.
“Really?” Dean took a long drink from his bottle. “About what?”
“Nothing.” Sam walked past him and into the other room.
Dean watched him go, his eyes narrowed.
Now, Dean was the one who didn’t fit.
**
They left a note for Ziggy and taped it to his head as he snored: THANKS, it said.
Short and simple. Dean had written it.
They dropped her off at her motel. She got out and waited for them to take off without saying good-bye.
They didn’t.
“You guys should come in,” she said. “You need to get some sleep.”
They listened to her and parked the Impala. They followed her into her motel room. She took off her coat and before she could take another step, Dean’s hands were on her waist, spinning her around to face him. He cupped her face and lowered his mouth to hers. He tasted like booze and cigarettes. Just like she thought he would.
When he pulled away, she stared at him, unsure of what was happening, but aware of it as well.
Dean’s gaze moved to Sam. It was an invitation. Sam accepted. Maybe it was because he and Dean always did everything together. Maybe it was because he wanted this too. Or maybe this was his way of making it up to her.
Sam moved behind her, brushing her hair from her neck and placing his warm mouth against her pulse.
Dean’s fingers started to undo the buttons on her sweater. Sam’s moved to the buttons on her jeans.
Then, Jo realized something.
Standing here in between them--the two Winchesters, her brothers (their little sister) her family--this was where she fit.
This was where they all did.
**
In the morning, Jo woke up in bed sandwiched in between Dean and Sam. Dean’s arms were wrapped around her from behind. Sam’s head rested against her chest.
She smiled.
“Wake up,” she said.
**
They never told her they were sorry or asked her to forgive or forget.
For anything
Because with family you never had to say you were sorry or ask for anything.
She knew that. She accepted that.
Finally.
THE END