Summary: She got the news from a third party caller and was suddenly struck with the fear that she was an orphan
Characters: Jo and Ellen
Spoilers: All Hell Breaks Loose Part 1 and 2
Close to Home
It was a day like any other in Duluth, Minnesota. Thankfully the bar crowd hadn't begun to pour through that door as Jo set up for the night. Mid-afternoon and she couldn't be happier. It had been a few months since going off on her own, cutting all the ties that were so strong between her and her mother. The Roadhouse had been home for many years, one of the only ones she knew growing up but now Duluth had finally become a place to stay. A haunting here and there, once and a while a chupacabra or vampire but it was home. Maybe soon she would abandon what she started here and go on the road like many hunters before her. Once and a while a call came from Ellen, just a quick check-in to see if her daughter had remained out of trouble but Jo always hung up before the comments could fly. Jo be careful, you shouldn't be doing this Jo, I don't like you doing this, Jo please come home…. The pleas just kept coming to a point where Jo had to resist screaming her own plea for freedom.
She knew her mother loved her as much as she loved her mother but it was finally time that Joanna Beth Harvelle grew up to be the woman she was, the hunter she wanted to be. The hunter her father would want her to be. Maybe one day she would give Dean a call to join them on their fight, one day far from now once the memory of those hurtful words from her mother left her mind. Maybe her mother was right about one thing; maybe the Winchesters were in fact a dangerous bunch. It was clear they were willing to sacrifice so much for the fight and each other.
Jo didn't let herself think about the past as she shined another beer glass. Looking over the counter the memory of Sam pinning her down and threatening to slit her throat was still too fresh. Maybe giving it time to contact Dean was a better idea because he sure as hell didn't make any attempt to contact her himself. While the bar was a far cry from the Harvelle Roadhouse it was a breath of fresh air to not be charged with patching up yet another hunter after a hunt gone bad, with Dean being the exception of course. Reaching up and placing the glass back on the shelf with the others Jo took a quick break as she leaned back on the counter behind her. Glasses were cleaned and ready but the shelf still needed to be restocked, and a trip to the storeroom would be in order before the crowd made an entrance. Looking at all the bowls strategically spaced out on the bar counter, they were once again out of pretzels.
"Hey Jo! Need anything from the back?" her coworker and friend Jenny called out.
"Yeah, pretzels! All out again, should be three boxes to the right," Jo called back.
"We outta Jack again?" one of the other bartenders Ben asked.
"Yeah, don't worry I'll get it," Jo smiled waving off his question.
"Whatever works for you," Ben shrugged.
Grabbing the wet towel from under the counter Jo began wiping the wood of all the sticky stale alcohol and crumbs as Ben organized his end of the bar. Satisfied with the quick clean job Jo threw the towel back under the counter before departing to the back. A few bottles of Jack should last them the night unless Old Man Bill happened to show up again for a repeat performance of last night. He was the only person so far Jo had seen that reminded her of one of the old, battle-hardened hunters from the Roadhouse. Road hard and put up wet, jaded, with all the grizzly war stories to follow. Hunter or veteran of 'Nam, they were almost the same.
Coming back to the front Jo walked behind the bar placing the three bottles of whiskey on the rack. Jenny had the pretzels covered; Ben had his own responsibilities for the tables that left Jo with cleaning up the rest of the mess behind the bar. Grabbing the towel she threw underneath the counter before Jo wet it in the bucket before wiping down front of the liquor rack. The vibrating got her attention before the shrill ring, the slight buzzing tickling her leg. Who the hell would be calling her now? Rolling her eyes Jo tossed the towel on the counter before fishing her cell from her pocket. The ring wasn't as elaborate as Dean's but held that slight upbeat quality that fit her personality but something told her this call was going to be anything but happy.
"Why does she call every waking moment?" Jo mused out loud.
She loved her mother, really she did, but Ellen didn't have to call like clockwork every other day to repeat her pleas that went on Jo's deaf ears. She would be pleasant and calm repeating her earlier statements and denying any recommendation to return to Nebraska but Jo vowed to make this short. Besides didn't her mother know she was working, it wasn't as if she called the Roadhouse everyday right before the start of the bar madness. Flipping the phone over in her hand Jo took a quick inventory of the backlit screen, frowning at the unfamiliar number. There was no 'Ellen' on the screen or even 'Ash', just an ordinary yet somehow familiar ten-digit number. Flipping the phone open with her thumb Jo brought it slowly to her ear.
"Hello?" Jo answered waiting to hear that familiar voice she had grown up with.
"Jo, you there. Hello? Anybody there?" it wasn't the voice she expected a deep baritone far from it actually.
"Who is this?" Jo snapped back at the hardened male voice on the other end of the line.
"Jo, listen to me. Don't hang up," the voice ordered.
"Listen buddy, don't you go giving orders. Tell me who you are right now," something in Jo's gut told her to recognize this voice from her childhood but it just didn't compute.
"It's Rufus, Rufus Turner. Look you need to know," Rufus finally announced.
"Need to know what Rufus?" Jo's voice was shaking now as her heart dropped.
"The Roadhouse Jo, it's gone. Some kinda explosion or something, it burned…nothing left. I can't get in touch with Ellen….I'm sorry Jo…..I don't think….," Rufus trailed off.
"Are you sure? Rufus, are you sure?" Jo shook her head in denial.
"Yeah….I'm sorry….maybe she got out," Rufus's voice faded away or maybe Jo was just in denial as she closed off her ears.
"Thanks Rufus," Jo said quietly as she let the phone fall from her ear and without saying a goodbye snapped it closed.
The Roadhouse gone, fire, nothing left…..every truth plagued her mind sending Jo to back when she was six years old again. All she wanted was her mommy, that one true person to wrap her up and keep her safe. That's when the reality hit her, Joanna Beth Harvelle was an orphan. No, she wouldn't have it. Maybe something was salvaged, Ash must have gotten out and was probably in hiding as she pondered it over. Yes, she would call Ash and if all else failed Bobby Singer for the final word. Hands shaking and mouth dry Jo fell forward to lean on the counter as her knees grew weak. Behind her she could feel Ben's hand on her shoulder trying to ease her discomfort.
"Jo, what's up?" Ben asked concern lacing his voice.
"Nothing….nothing," Jo trailed off her voice quaking with fear.
"Jo? Sweetie?" Jenny came to join them.
"I'm sorry guys….I-I need to be alone for a bit," Jo absently shrugged off the gentle hand on her shoulder before walking from behind the bar.
A half hour later Jo found herself sitting on a stock box of Miller staring at her phone. Scrolling down her list of numbers there was not one she hadn't tried. One after another Jo dialed and got the same response. She was in blatant denial, too scared to call Bobby fearful of his answer. She knew Rufus was right even with his unspoken confirmation, knew in the pit of her stomach her mother was dead along with the rest of her strange family. Maybe she could call Dean but even that was out of the question because something told Jo that whatever did in the Roadhouse had a direct link to the Winchester brothers. Clicking down the 'r' group Jo hit the familiar name putting the phone slowly to her ear.
"Come on, come on….pick up. Pick up!" Jo urged sending pleas to whatever god would listen.
"I'm sorry but the number you are trying to reach is unavailable please try again later…," the mechanical voice on the other end picked up after a few rings.
"Dammit!" Jo cried out in outrage.
Gathering her emotions Jo went through her phone again calling the number she tried earlier, which yielded much of the same result. Going to 'A' she dialed the first on the list and prayed to whomever would listen that the cocky, accented voice would pick up. Come on, come on…Dammit Ash pick up! Still nothing but that didn't mean Jo didn't stop trying so dialing again not a second after hanging up she waited.
"Come on Ash, pick up….," Jo pleaded to no one.
Nothing
The number she feared dialing was her last resort. The only number she had yet to call but probably the most reliable Jo scrolled to the letter 'b' letting her fingers stop when hitting the name of the man she had grown to know well since childhood. Taking a deep breath she pushed 'call' and waited as her phone automatically dialed Bobby Singer in Sioux Falls. It only took a few rings but finally someone on the other end picked up, gruff as ever but music to Jo's ears.
"Singer Salvage…This is Bobby".
"Bobby, it's Jo….Jo Harvelle?" Jo greeted trying to hide all emotion in her voice.
"Jo, what's wrong? Oh….," It must have dawned on Bobby at that moment but of course it did because he would have been the first to know.
"I need to know Bobby. The Roadhouse? Is it?" Jo asked instantly fretting the answer.
"I'm sorry Jo, I'm so sorry…..Hold on….," she never let Bobby finish those grief filled words.
"Don't Bobby, just tell me I need to know," Jo forced out.
"I'm sorry Jo….Hold on okay….," Jo heard a clicking on the other end followed by silence and she was instantly taken aback by Bobby's detachment.
Just tell me, I need to know if I'm an orphan…..
If there was ever a time for the phone to interrupt something as important as this now was the time. Bent over the table studying the maps that revealed the location of the thing Ash was killed over Bobby, Sam, Dean, and Ellen worked as if they were at the eleventh hour. They had to stop it, avenge all the deaths this yellow-eyed son of a bitch caused on this day. Sam was still confused by it all while Bobby and Dean continued to live in denial. Ellen on the other hand had finally snapped herself from the near catatonic state she had been in since finding her home burning and hearing the dying screams of all her friends. If this was what they went down for then so be it that she, Ellen Harvelle, would fight beside the others for vengeance. Thoughts of Jo filtered through her mind, thoughts she had no luxury of thinking as the battle drew near. A war was starting, a war that may very well be their final stand.
"What the hell?" Dean grumbled in an automatic answer as the shrill ring broke them from their concentration.
"Dean?" Sam looked up his voice both questioning while holding a reprimand at the same time.
Ellen could feel the tension in the room; see the unease Dean held around his brother and Bobby. She had yet to ask what it was all about but from her position in the scrapyard she had heard enough to know that the old Winchester sacrifice rule had followed its bloodline into Dean. From what she heard from his and Bobby's conversation Dean was gladly walking in his father's legacy. Looking up from the map to Dean and Sam before her gaze fell on Bobby as the older hunter finally tossed his pencil on the table and walked to the infamous line of phones.
"Who the hell would be calling…" Bobby mused aloud as he picked up the main line.
"Singer Salvage….This is Bobby," was his usual gruff greeting.
"Bobby it's Jo….Jo Harvelle?" Bobby's heart sank at the fear in the young girls voice.
"Jo, what's wrong? Oh….," It hit him suddenly like a freight train, she hadn't been told but something in her voice told him Jo knew everything. So then who could it have been?
"I need to know Bobby. The Roadhouse? Is It?" The truth was out there and it hurt.
"I'm sorry Jo, I'm so sorry….Hold on….," she needed to know the truth and the person Jo needed was standing right in front of him but he never got the chance to finish as Jo cut him off.
"Don't Bobby, just tell me I need to know," Jo snapped in a controlled yet panicked voice.
"I'm sorry Jo….Hold on okay….," there was only one person to put her panicked mind at ease and prolonging this conversation was only prolonging her suffering. Holding his hand firmly over the receiver Bobby held the phone away from him careful to keep silence on the line.
"Bobby?" Sam asked breaking the silence.
"Ellen, it's for you. You need to take this call," Bobby ignored Sam to address Ellen.
"Bobby?" It was her turn to question.
"Ellen, it's Jo," Bobby stated firmly putting the wheels in motion.
It didn't take more than a second for Ellen to cross the few feet that was between her and the phone painfully aware of Sam and Dean's eyes burning a hole in her back. She had never thought to call, too scared and on the run Ellen had forgotten the one thing that mattered the most. Now she felt the grief and guilt in her heart magnify at the thought of putting her daughter through that hell. Stepping up to Bobby as the older hunter moved away Ellen took a deep breath before taking the phone from Bobby with a shaky hand. Bobby only nodded, moving away so Ellen could take his place as he turned back to the work at hand to give her space.
"Jo?" Ellen's voice shook with emotion.
"Mom?" Jo's heart fluttered against her ribs as she let her mother's voice wash over every fiber of her being.
"I'm here Jo, I'm alright," Ellen assured her.
"But mom, how? I mean I heard about….," Jo stopped not wanting to even say those words.
"It happened but….How did you hear?" Ellen asked suddenly.
"Rufus, Rufus called me with the news, told me that the Roadhouse burned down," Jo spat out the truth she did not ever want to speak of again.
"I know, I wasn't there. Pretzels Jo, I ran out of pretzels," Jo could hear her mother's voicing breaking with guilt, all over pretzels.
The irony that my mother's life was saved by pretzels
"Mom I tried calling the Roadhouse and it said the number was disconnected then I tried Ash. Mom Ash isn't answering his cell…..," Jo didn't like the silence that followed her revelation.
"Jo honey, Ash was inside. Ash didn't make it….he's gone," now Jo's heart had finally broken a shattering grief like the one she felt before settling down upon her.
"Oh God….I'm so sorry. Did he? Was he….," Jo wasn't quite sure what she was trying to ask but the wording made it sound all wrong, she didn't want to think of the agony he could have gone through.
"I don't think so Jo," that was her mother reading and understanding everything her daughter said even if it was mostly intangible.
"But you're safe," Jo stated firmly even with the grief she felt over her friends death. She had cared for Ash like the brother she never had, bickered with him yet shared that sibling bond that came with knowing someone for a long time. He was a good friend and tonight she would mourn his passing but now she feared what was to become of her mother whom she knew was hiding a dark secret.
"Yes Jo, I'm safe," Ellen repeated and Jo could swear she could hear a relieved sigh.
"How did you?" Jo didn't need to finish the question.
"I saw the Roadhouse burning and I ran, ran like hell to Bobby's. That's when they found me, I'm here with the Winchester's and Bobby. We're working on something big," Jo feared there was more to come with that statement.
"Mom?" Jo asked prompting more information.
"Jo I promise when all this is over I'm coming to you okay," Ellen responded.
"Why don't you come now, mom my doors open…..Wait what do you mean 'when all this is over'," Jo stopped dead in her tracks as she made the connection.
"Big fight comin' up Jo, we're going to end this but I promise to call when it's over," Ellen declared.
"Mom if there is a fight then I'm on my way, I'll…..," Jo didn't get the chance to finish.
"No! You're going to stay right where you are you hear me, this ain't your fight Jo. This is my fight not yours, this is for us to finish," Jo's heart sank at her mother's words but she understood her plight.
"Okay, I understand," Jo had to fight back the tears that threatened to leak from glistening eyes.
"I know you do Jo," Ellen's voice dropped to no more than a whisper.
Ellen stood one hand bracing against the wall while the other gripped so tight to the phone it threatened to crack. This was by far the hardest thing she had done, first with telling Jo the truth about Ash and the Roadhouse then admitting she was going out on what quite possibly may be a suicide mission in the same sentence. She could feel her daughters unease despite the distance between them, could hear the fear in Jo's voice she did nothing to hide. Jo understood, she always understood but Ellen was crazy to think of leaving her like her daddy did. This was going to be a hell of a fight but she was hell bent on not leaving Jo motherless and an orphan. She couldn't run away, her friends needed her just as much as Jo had. That wicked maternal streak in her beginning to create a rift between what was wanted and what was right.
"Mom you still there?" Jo's voice broke Ellen from her thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm here," Ellen tried so hard to keep her voice level but found herself wavering with every word.
"You come back to me mom, you promise," Jo ordered.
"I promise Jo, I'll come back. Meet you up in Duluth, got some good bars there I hope seeing as I'm outta a job," Ellen tried to joke but it all seemed wrong. It was more than a job it was her home.
"Yeah, sounds good," Ellen could almost imagine Jo nodding that little angelic smile playing across her lips.
They went silent again as Ellen turned to look at the group at the table. Dean was giving her an expectant look yet a soft one while Bobby tapped his fingers on the wood as if trying to pass the time. Her time was up; they were officially gearing up for battle. It terrified her that it all came down to this. Her daughter miles away with only a phone for communication, Dean who she feared had given his life, the Roadhouse gone, Ash gone, Bobby who seemed at the end of his rope, and Sam as lost as ever. This is what it all boiled down to, one broken family against the world. It was time to say goodbye, time to declare those final words if it were to be necessary in the future but Ellen had no intentions of dying this night. No, her only intentions were to kill this evil son of a bitch then ride off to Duluth to be with Jo.
"Jo, I have to go now," Ellen said quickly as the hand bracing against wall came up to her mouth, tears falling from her eyes.
"You be careful mom, remember you promised," she could hear Jo forcing out through her own emotions.
"I know honey, everything is going to be all right," Ellen repeated the words she had said to her daughter since she was a little girl.
"I know mom….um….I love you," Jo responded.
"I love you too Jo," Ellen cocked her head to the side as she told her with a soft but sad smile.
"I'll see you later," Jo said in preparation to hang up.
"Bye," Ellen replied simply not even wanting to say anything along the lines of a final goodbye.
Trying to keep her emotions bottled up inside and away from the public eye Ellen slowly but surely hung the phone back on its cradle. 'Bye' was all she needed to say fearing any longer on the phone and she may just break down. Ellen couldn't afford to lose it now not with what was at stake. So cutting the connection with her daughter for the time being Ellen focused back in on the fight ahead of them. But even as she sat back at the table the only thought on her mind was of Jo. Come hell or high water she would find a way back to her if it was the last thing she did. No way in hell was Ellen Harvelle leaving Jo to face the world alone.
Hearing the click on the other end Jo couldn't help the single tear that slid down her cheek as her mother hung up. She so desperately wanted to drop everything she was doing to run to South Dakota and join her mother in this fight but her heart won out over instincts. Her mother had told her to stay and while any other time Jo would be happy enough to defy orders right now was different. She was her mother's weakness and if anything were to happen neither of them would be able to live with themselves. Jo didn't want to be an orphan just as her mother would rather die than to bury her child. So shutting her phone and sliding it back into her pocket Jo sat in the silence of the storeroom. What started as an average day had spiraled out of control and for a while Jo feared her family had left her.
Ash was gone; her home in ruins, but Jo would carry on, as would her mother. In that moment Jo let herself grieve for a friend and give hope to the others. She had a feeling this was no ordinary hunt, far from it actually if whatever evil had managed to drag her mother into it. Maybe Jo Harvelle was born to be a hunter like her father, maybe she was born for other things but for right now she was just happy to still have a home. Right now she took comfort in knowing her mother, the only remnant left of her family, was alive and well. While she was scared Jo held no fear of her mother not returning for Ellen Harvelle was better than that than to be taken out by a demon when she promised her little girl. Bobby Singer and the Winchesters would keep her safe even after everything that was said. It was all water under the bridge. Today would always be the day for Joanna Beth Harvelle as being the day that evil hit too close to home for her broken yet united little family.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or plot, all credit and ownership goes to Eric Kripke. I don't own a thing.