A Hunter's Promise

by: Liv-x-Case-Benson

Jo Harvelle staggered into The Roadhouse after hours, knowing where her mother, Ellen, never failed to hide the spare key. After hours in a saloon is a pipe dream. Other than rest, stock and cleanup, Jo knew her mother would rather keep the place open for the money. And it was good money. How else could she have afforded to go off on her own hunting?

People didn't pay for a hunter's services. Services, ha! It was much more of a way of life than anything else. Just ask either of them about her father, Bill, who had been killed on a hunt while he was with John Winchester, father of the infamous, always knee-deep in demon plans boys, Dean and Sam Winchester. Sure, her mother had forgiven John for what had happened, but it had taken a little while fo Jo to believe her mother's words about things.

It wasn't like she wasn't exposed to supernatural things even before she began hunting. Hell, between her mother and the Winchester's, she knew a lot anymore.

A few minutes later, she heard the click of a gun – a pistol, more specifically, her mother's pistol - against her skull. Because, hell, who else would come from their room in the middle of the night with a pistol?

"Don't move."

Jo sighed, though it ended in a wince. "Easy, Mom."

Ellen raised a brow through the darkness. "Joanna Beth?" she asked.

"Mhm. Hit a light,"she said, clutching her injured side.

Slowly, Ellen Harvelle lowered her gun, putting it in her jacket pocket, walked over behind the bar, flipping a switch. Her shock came through in a gasp rather than a raised voice. She wasn't new to this. Ever since Joanna had been going on hunts, she'd send her postcards to communicate. It wasn't very efficient, but it was Jo's chosen way of communication. The last postcard she'd gotten was around a month ago, saying she was on the trail of a skinwalker in... Well, quite frankly, the location escaped her upon seeing her baby girl injured and bloody.

Slowly, she walked back over to her daughter, helping her sit at the bar as she grabbed the First Aid kit behind it. "Tell me you're not infected..."

Jo smirked. "I'm too quick for that."

Ellen sat beside her, peeling her jacket from her body slowly, realizing she was hurt very badly, but it wasn't anything she couldn't stitch up. Standing, she grabbed her daughter on the side that wasn't saturated in blood. "Come on, let's get you into bed so I can clean and stitch ya up."

Jo nodded, leaning against her for support as they walked back. "Are you...mad at me?"

"Mad? Why? It's how hunters lives are. Used to be your father's and mine before you came along," she said with a ghost of a smile. "The truth? I'm just happy to know you're alive, kid."

"But it was never a life you wanted for me," Jo said.

Ellen nodded, going into Jo's room and sitting her on the bed. "Only because too much is left to chance, Joanna. One wrong move and that could be it," she said, coming back from the bathroom with towels and a sewing kit. "I've already burned your father," she said with a sigh, stripping her top gently. "That's the last thing I ever want to do for you." Once the cloth was peeled away, Ellen took to cleaning the wound. "I don't think I could live with myself. I sure as hell wouldn't want to."

"But I'm not helpless in hunting!" Jo protested. "Ow!"

Ellen sighed. "I realize that, but there's still so much you don't know about monsters, demons and lore about them," she said, threading a needle.

"I have technology on my side, Mom, just like Sam and Dean. Not to mention Sam, Dean or Bobby if I need them," she said, tensing up each time the needle entered and exited her tender flesh.

"True, but they have their own problems. And please don't tell me you came back here to rush off again..."

Jo remembered being about three waking up on a cold night with her teeth chattering, though with her flannel pajamas, she wasn't chilly. Her dreams were what awoke the young child. She had dreamed of a person with black eyes hurting her and her mommy. Red sticky goo had oozed from a knife like the ones her mommy told her not to play with.

Tears streaming down her cheeks, she slid out of bed, down onto the floor slowly making her way to her bedroom door to pull it open. Jo opened it a crack and a strip of light fell on her face. Loud voices and noise filled her ears.

She knew where her mommy was, but she wasn't supposed to go out into the bar. Her mommy said she could get hurt, said people might not see her. Usually, Jo never went out into the rowdiness, but the nightmare had terrified the young girl and she needed to find her mommy. Mommy always made things better.

Opening the door wider, she walked out into the hall, going toward the noise. People were everywhere. At the bar, filled the tables, crowding everything. Slowly, she walked toward the table at the far end of the saloon where her mommy was placing drinks down, avoiding people's feet so she wasn't stepped on.

Jo stood behind her, tugging on her apron. "Mommy?" she whispered, tears making her little face shine in the bright lights.

Ellen looked down, seeing her very frightened little girl. She was surprised. Joanna usually was in bed asleep the whole night unless she was sick and even when she was, Ellen was usually alerted of the fact by a passerby hearing someone getting sick. Though the saloon was packed and she was very busy, Ellen knew, by the look in Jo's eyes, even if she put her to bed again, she wouldn't sleep.

Biting her lip, she picked her up, resting her on her hip. "Wanna hep Mommy, baby?" she asked.

Jo nodded, wiping her cheeks and placing a few napkins on the table, smiling softly.

"Well, aren't you just a cute little helper?" the woman asked.

The child smiled again, holding tightly to her mother. "No sleep," she whispered, "monsters."

The woman smiled again. "Don't worry. Your mommy knows what to do."

Ellen smiled, raising a brow as the hunter showed her a picture of her two sons.

"Mommy? Thirsty," Jo said.

"Ok. Just a minute. Hang on tight," she said, going to another table and collecting the empty beer mugs and taking them to put behind the bar, grabbing Jo a small cup of juice, holding it to her lips which she drank half of before Ellen put it back.

Over the course of the night, Ellen continued to bus tables with the toddler glued to her hip. It wasn't too hard really, if she balanced the trays just right. Though, she had to admit, having Jo with her evidently appealed to the softer side of more than a few customers because the ones who didn't usually tip well suddenly were.

It wasn't like Ellen had planned it. Hell, most regular customers were more than a little surprised to see her with Jo. But the drunken rowdiness of ones who only cared about their next drink was what worried her. It was why she ordered Jo to stay in bed.

When the sun was cresting, her daughter having been asleep for a good few hours before, Ellen finally finishing wiping up and turned the sign on the door. She pulled Jo into her arms and walked back to her own room with her. She knew that these monsters Jo had spoken of were very real, but it wasn't healthy to trouble such a young child about them.

"Mommy?" Jo asked sleepily. When she received no reply, her voice became higher in fright. "Mommy!"

Ellen walked back from the bathroom dressed warmly in a nightgown and slipped in beside her. "Shh. I'm right here."

She snuggled into her mommy. "Don't go!"

Ellen nodded, hugging her close. "Never Joanna."

"Joanna? Joanna Beth?" Ellen asked after stictching her up and placing a guaze pad over the wound, taping it.

"Huh... What?"

"I said I hoped you weren't going to run off so soon. Are you?"

Jo shook her head. "No. Think I'll stick around for a while. Besides, I'm about broke anyway."

Ellen sighed, shaking her head. "I told you not to take every bit of money with you."

"What's the point of doing that when I can just stay here for a while and make more?"

"Well, I suppose that makes sense. Are you hungry?"

"Starving," Jo said.

"Come on then. I'll fix us both a late-night snack."

"Sounds good to me."

THE END

Just a little fluff. Hope you enjoyed it.