Chapter One: Jody, Where Art Thou?

Claire turned off the engine of her 1998 black Toyota Camry and sat with her hands gripped tightly on the steering wheel beneath her forehead. Sighing in frustration, she came to the conclusion that she could no longer do this alone. But at the same time, she knew she shouldn't be here. Alex was very clear that she wanted out of the hunting business and she made it even clearer that Claire had to schedule a demon-less appointment with her if she ever wanted to talk. Under any other circumstances, Claire would have left well enough alone but she couldn't—not this time.

Pulling the key out of the ignition, Claire opened her car door and stepped out into the crisp November air. The cold wrapped around her, turning her cheeks red, making her pull her jacket closer to her while she hoped that Alex was home…because if she wasn't, Claire didn't know where else she'd find her. At the moment, Alex wasn't answering her cell phone, nor was she calling Claire back. This was Claire's last option.

Claire walked the few feet up to Alex's apartment building that was off her college campus but still close enough so that Alex could walk to school. Claire came around often, just to make sure that Alex was okay—whether or not Alex knew she was in town. When she got to the front door, Claire looked through the names, searching for Alex's name which was, of course, just Alex. Hesitantly, Claire rang her bell and hoped for the best.

At first, she thought that Alex wasn't going to answer but she was relieved when she heard static on the other end of the intercom followed by, "Who is it?"

Claire let out the breath she was holding before she pressed the intercom and said, "Claire, Alex. You have to let me in. Please, it's important." Claire made sure to sound desperate and urgent when she urged Alex to open the door for her.

"Is this about another one of your stupid jobs?"

Stupid jobs, Claire thought, I saved your ass countless times in the past and you're calling this a stupid job. "No, this isn't about one of my stu—" Claire began to say before stopping herself so that she wouldn't regret anything. "Well…okay, yes it's about one of my jobs…" Claire sighed, almost defeated. "But this one isn't stupid."

After a short pause, she heard Alex speak again. "Good-bye, Claire. Next time, make an appointment. And, as always, leave your demons at home."

Claire growled at Alex, who was being completely unreasonable at the moment. Of course she wasn't listening to Claire…as always. But this one time, she desperately needed Alex to listen to her.

Out of impulse and urgency, Claire pressed the intercom button once more and said, "I don't know if you've already walked away…but this time it isn't about me or you or any kind of demon. This is something bigger. Jody is missing and I don't know where she is. In fact, I had no idea she was missing until the Winchesters called and for the Winchesters to call, this is something big, Alex. And I desperately need your help."

Claire waited for what seemed like months before Alex finally spoke again. "I'll be down in a minute."

Claire took her hand off of the intercom button and stood with her arms wrapped around herself, trying to stop the chills from running up and down her body. She could now see her breath, thick smoke out in front of her. For a second she thought that it was something other than the frosty November air but when a couple walked past her and even their breaths were smoking the same way, she knew that it was just the casual drop in temperature and she really hoped that Alex would come down soon.

Just as that thought left her mind, she heard the apartment door open from behind her and watched as Alex emerged from the heavy dark green door. "Can we talk in the car?" Alex asked. "It's quite cold out here. It's a wonder you can stand the cold."

Claire gave the brunette a droll stare. "Being a hunter comes with braving everything. If I can get past a vengeful spirit that's out to break all my bones and toss me off a bridge, I'm quite sure that I can brave a natural thing such as cold weather."

"Well, I'm glad to see that your sarcasm hasn't changed since I talked to you last month," Alex grumbled as they walked to the car.

Once inside, Claire turned the car on and took a deep breath. She wasn't sure how to tell Alex everything that was going on, especially since Alex rarely cared to hear the whole story. But she also knew how important to her Jody was and she knew that Alex would go to the end of the earth to find out what happened to Jody.

"Alright, so what's going on?" Alex asked, staring straight ahead at the car parked in front of them, so Claire did too.

"I've been trying to get in touch with Jody for a couple of weeks now. There have been several weird disappearances in Sioux Falls again lately, like the ones that happened when the vampires came back, and I wanted to inform her of my hunch because I wasn't in the region. By the end of the first week, I called Dean and asked him if he heard from Jody but he told me that he hadn't and would place a phone call to her, and if not he'd pay her a visit since they weren't far from Sioux Falls. When they got there they said that messy plates were left in the sink, an overflowing pot was left on the stove…it looked like no one had been there in weeks, that's how bad that stench and filth of the house was." Claire had goosebumps on her arms just talking about it. She didn't think that something like this would ever happen to Jody again but she also knew that these things were common. Especially for Sam and Dean. She knew that every so often one of them would go missing just for the other to break down the doors of hell to find his brother. What was really worrying her was that none of these things ever happened to Jody. The last time Jody had gone missing it was with Claire by her side and it was less than hour before the Winchesters found them and slaughtered the vampires.

Claire looked over to Alex and could see the disappointment on her face but she wasn't sure who she was disappointed in. Was Alex disappointed in Claire or was she disappointed by the fact that Jody was missing? Either way, Claire didn't want to push Alex to speak, knowing that Alex would talk when she was done processing everything that Claire told her.

"What do you think is going on?" Alex asked, looking over at Claire.

Claire could see tears forming in Alex's brown eyes, although Alex would never admit it. "I think the clan is back to take revenge," Claire said matter-of-factly. "And if it is them, you're the only one I can think of to help me track and kill them."

"Why me?" Alex asked, defensively. "Do you think they'll just believe everything I say because I used to be a vampire?" Alex whispered the last word as if she were afraid to say it aloud, even though there was no one around who could possibly hear her so late at night.

Claire wasn't sure why she wanted Alex to join on her this, honestly. Part of her thought it was the right thing to do, especially since Alex was much closer to Jody than she could ever hope to be. But then there was a part of her—a slither of her heart—that missed being in Alex's presence. It got lonely being on the road. She met different people in different places but she couldn't ever hope to find a friend in those circumstances. In fact, many times she tried not to remember the faces of those who had fallen victims to demons, angels, or any other supernatural creatures, because they would haunt her late at night. She also missed listening to Alex's reasoning and the way Alex would keep her grounded when she got in over her head, but she didn't dare to admit any of this to Alex. Instead she said, "You and Jody understand each other in ways that me and Jody don't. If there's any reason why this may not be a vampire attack and just one of Jody's spontaneous vacations, you would be the one to figure that out right away."

Alex nodded and Claire could tell that she was buying her lame excuse. "Well, you are one for crying wolf when there aren't any." A smile crept across Alex's lips and she spoke again. "So, what are you waiting for? Let's go to Sioux Falls…Just don't make a habit out of this. I will not be helping you every time you want me to. I'm only doing this for Jody."

Claire nodded, able to take that over not having Alex next to her at all. "I'll let the Winchesters know that we're on our way."

It was a long eight hours and four switch overs before Claire and Alex finally got to Sioux Falls with nothing but four cups of coffee, each, in their stomachs. When they pulled up to the house they used to share with Jody, both of their hearts stopped. It seemed like a long time, now, since they both lived in that house with Jody…and sex the awkward sex talk Claire initiated in front of the brothers, who were like protective uncles to both her and Alex. Luckily, the Winchesters were there before Claire and Alex, letting Claire know that there wasn't any time for heavy emotions.

Turning the car off, both Claire and Alex stepped out of the car and met the brothers inside of the house where they smelled a fresh pot of coffee and bacon and eggs. Claire's stomach growled and pained at the smell of such delicious food that she hadn't had in a while.

"Look who decided to join us," Dean, the oldest of the Winchester brothers, stated with his mouth full of bacon.

Sam, the youngest—and tallest—of the two, cleared his throat and welcomed the girls, letting them know that the eggs and bacon left on the stove were for them. Grateful at the gesture, Claire and Alex thanked them and immediately grabbed plates to join the brothers for a breakfast they longed to have.

Over breakfast, they discussed the details of Jody's case and Sam presented them with everything he and Dean found out, while Dean stuffed his face full of food and nodded, seemingly agreeing with everything that Sam said. And while Claire found it repulsive that Dean could eat with grease dripping down his face, she completely understood his hunger because even she hadn't a hot, homemade meal in weeks.

"Definitely vampires," Sam stated. "A couple of bodies turned up this morning—"

"Yeah, probably because they heard we were in town," Dean joked as he took a bite out of his egg and bacon—mostly bacon—sandwich.

Sam gave Dean a pointed look and began talking again. "They all had their throats ripped out."

"Classic vampire." Alex's voice was hushed and monotone as if she had said it to herself rather than saying it to everyone around her. "But much too easy."

"I was thinking the same thing," Sam said. "It's almost like the vampires are here to distract us from the real reason Jody is missing."

Alex nodded and Claire could tell, by the way she used the fork to push around her food, that she was thinking long and hard about their situation. "The bodies were dumped to lure Jody out," Alex said. "They don't know that she's already gone."

"But who has her?" Claire asked.

Sam and Dean exchanged looks and by those looks, Claire knew that they thought of someone or something that might have Jody. "Toni," Dean stated, putting down his sandwich.

"Who's Toni?" Claire asked, letting her fork slide out of her hand, clinking against the plate.

"She's a bitch," Dean stated, matter-of-factly. Claire could tell that he was just going to sit there and curse the woman, so she looked at Sam.

"Toni is Lady Antonia Bevell, a member of the Men of Letters in England," Sam replied.

"She's an evil son of a bitch," Dean stated, contempt and hatred in his voice. "If you asked me, I don't think she knows the first thing about demons or the humans they possess."

"She's kill first, ask questions never," Sam added.

"At least I ask questions," Dean smirked.

"Now's not the time for fun and games, Dean," Claire chided. "What does she want with Jody?"

"Well, she couldn't break Sammy. She knows that by taking Jody, she'll find us and will be able to use Jody against us to get us to give her a list of every hunter we know so she can train them on how to brutally murder those who can be saved."

"You're not going to give her a list are you?" Alex asked.

"Hell no," Dean stated, taking another bite of his food. "Like we know every hunter in the freakin' country…" He let his voice trail off and left Sam shaking his head.

Sam cleared his throat and said, "Right. Well, I think we should start back at the place where she held me captive. Maybe something there can lead us to her."

"We'll follow you," Claire and Alex responded at the same time.

"Uh-uh. No chance in hell. You're coming with us. Same car," Dean ordered.

"Dean, we're not child—"

"I never said you were," Dean reprimanded. "But I'm not taking the chance of you getting lost and having to find three people we care about."

Claire rolled her eyes, frustrated with Dean for not understanding that she and Alex were perfectly capable of staying with them. In fact, Claire drove faster than Dean on most days. "Alright," she stated. "Can I at least drive the impala?"

Sam's eyes widened, no doubt in shock at Claire's brazen request.

"Did I just—No! Like hell, you can!" Dean exclaimed. "No one, and I mean no one drives baby."

Claire smirked, proud of herself for getting Dean all worked up about the car he valued more than his life. A 1967 Chevy Impala, Dean had a crush on the car and kept it more intact than his love life. "Don't get your boxers in a twist. Can I at least ride shotgun."

Claire could see a tick work in Sam's jaw and she smiled even broader. "No," Sam stated, grabbing his coat. "No one rides shotgun but me. Not even Cas."

"It's true. I usually ride in the backseat like a child," Cas stated, appearing in the room out of thin air.

"Cas!" Dean exclaimed, standing up from his seat, walking over to the man to give him a hug. "Where the hell have you been?" If Claire didn't know better, she would have thought that there was something going on between Dean and the angel who used her father's body to roam around in. It had taken her a couple of years to think of Cas as just Cas...especially since her father had died while tucked inside of Cas.

"Uh…trying to find the woman who tortured your brother," Cas said. "But no such luck."

"Well, we figured we start out at the place she had Sam trapped. Maybe we can find something there."

"Now, why didn't I think of that?" Cas asked.

"Maybe because you're so hell-bent on thinking about Dean every minute of the day," Claire smirked at the man who used her father for his angel duties. While she never wanted to forgive Cas for taking her father away from her at such a young age, she knew that her father complied to being used as a meat suit for an angel and she also knew that there was no reason to continue holding a grudge against Cas. After all, he, Dean, and Sam saved her ass on multiple accounts. Still, she didn't let him off easily, she always felt the need to joke about Cas and Dean's relationship.

Dean, visibly uncomfortable with the situation presented, grabbed his car keys off the cable and headed outside, calling behind him, "Lock up when you're done playing catch-up."

When they reached Toni's hideout where she kept Sam hidden, they all got out of the car to grab weapons and head inside. After Dean, Sam, and Cas made sure that the place was cleared of traps and any hex bags, Claire and Alex sauntered in. Claire couldn't believe how the place was still clean when she stepped in. If the woman had ditched the hideout, there'd be cobwebs, dishes left in the sink, some sign of dirty floors and dust particles but everything was spotless. Someone had to be staying here.

"Alright, what's the plan?" Alex asked. "We can't just stay here and hope that she's going to come back sometime soon."

"Oh, she's definitely going to come back," Sam stated, emerging from a room while holding a book in his hand. "Here's a list of all the hunters in America and everyone associated with them. Our names, Jody's and even Garth's are circled. If she doesn't want us to find this, she is definitely going to come back for it and when she does…"

Sam didn't have to finish his thought for everyone to catch on to what he was saying. "Alright, so what do we do in the meantime?"

"Get in the Impala and hide."

"Where?" Claire asked, gesturing to the air. "There is nothing around this house where we can conceal ourselves."

"You may be right but there is a highway that does. It's the only highway here and she'll have to take it to reach here. We'll stake out the highway for tonight. She'll come back eventually."

Nighttime fell before a car drove down the highway and everyone was on high alert. When Dean confirmed that it was Tony driving the car, he waited for her to get far enough away, keeping his headlights off, and began to follow her at a pace slow enough so that he kept her in site on the straight road so that she wouldn't be able to tell anyone was following her. It was the dead of the night and his black car blended in perfectly.

They pulled up down the block from her hideout and surrounded the house, entering from every door that they could. They caught Toni in her living room, casually sipping wine in a black business suit with her legs crossed as if she were waiting for them. "You boys took long enough," she said, turning around. She smiled upon seeing the girls and Cas. "And look, you've brought some friends. What happened? Did you leave mommy at home?"

Dean pointed his gun at her and snarled. "Where's Jody?"

"Straight to the point," she smirked in her English accent. "Just the way I like it. Really, if you weren't my enemies, I could see us working together and fighting the demons that walk this earth. Why don't you comply and I'll release your friend."

"Or, we could just kill you," Sam threatened. "And we can find our friend other ways." Sam pointedly looked at Cas who got close enough to Toni and grabbed her head to sift through her thoughts to find Jody. When he found Jody's location, he immediately disappeared. In panic, Toni grabbed her phone from the table and Claire lunged at her, knocking her down to the ground, sending the phone sliding across the room to Alex who smashed it with her foot.

With her hands wrapped around Toni's throat, Claire banged her head against the floor. "If you so much as hurt a hair on Jody's head, I will kill you myself."

With Dean's hand on her shoulder, Claire stood up and pulled Toni up by her shirt, pushing her into Dean who immediately handcuffed her and brought her back to his car.

"That was too easy," Alex stated. "Cas is going to run into a trap."

"Maybe," Claire stated. "But we aren't far from Jody. Cas just texted us the address."

Dean shoved Toni into his Impala between Claire and Alex who kept their guns pointed at her head. "One wrong move and I will blow your head to bits," Alex snarled at her.

Claire smirked, hearing Alex's threatening words, words that she never thought would leave Alex's lips. Since Dean and Sam saved Alex when she was a vampire and they murdered her entire clan, Alex lived with a human life with Jody, who was the only mother she really knew. Even as a vampire Alex had been sweet, able to talk to anyone and seduce them to get her feed. But this was a different side of Alex that Claire could definitely get used to.

As they pulled up outside of the hideout where Toni had Jody, they found many bodies on their floor, their eye sockets empty and burning and Claire knew that Cas had done his job. He was, no doubt, trying to get Jody out of the house. Dean didn't even give the signal to surround the place, he just kicked down the door and everyone followed him, their weapons out in front of them ready to strike at anyone—or anything—that came near them. And there were many who wanted to rip their throats apart but even Alex wasn't opposed to digging her dagger deep inside of their sides or arms just so they could get to Jody. And once they did, Claire wasn't the least surprised to see that Jody had someone in a headlock, begging her for mercy.

"Didn't think I could handle my own, boys?" Jody asked, looking pointedly at Sam and Dean.

Dean concealed his gun and smiled. "Just wanted to be sure you didn't need us," he quipped. "Glad to see you're okay."

"Well, I could've done with some backup earlier. But Cas here came just in time." As she said that, Jody looked over to Claire and Alex. "Weren't you hunting some vengeful spirit?" Jody asked Claire. Then to Alex she said, "And weren't you in college?"

Alex nodded and replied, "I was but when Claire said you were missing, I couldn't ignore it. I dropped everything and came to you."

Jody dropped the guy, leaving him to Cas and went over to give Claire and Alex a hug. "Whatever the reason, I am so glad to see you! Let's go back up to my place and settle in for a bit? I think we could all use a break from everything that has happened."

When everyone, except Cas to told them he'd meet them at Jodi's so he could handle Toni, piled into Dean's car, Dean blasted his favorite band and Claire watched as he looked at them in the rearview mirror. For the first time, she saw the exhaustion in his deep green eyes but she knew that he'd dismiss it if she ever brought it up. So instead, she closed her eyes and listened to the music serenading her to sleep.

Author's Note: I was re-watching Season 11 and when I re-watched 11.12 "Don't You Forget About Me," I couldn't help but think about what it would be like if there was a spin off starring Claire Novak and Alex Jones. So I decided to write about it! I hope you all liked what you read! Reviews are encouraged, even if you don't like it! :-) Thank you! ~ Sapphire.