Hey everyone! This is my return to fanfic, and I decided to it on my absolute favourite show, Supernatural! I've loved the show forever but was never really sure about a fanfic, but I thought now was the time. Note: This fic was written before 5x10 so it is AU. Hope you enjoy!!
CHAPTER ONE: REUNIONS
She sat at the small table in the motel room, twirling her father's knife in her hand. She waited for them to get back, tell them what was going on, what had happened. She hadn't seen them since they had dealt with the fake demon phenomenon, realizing everyone was hallucinating. She didn't know where else she could go, and lord knows it wasn't easy to track those boys down, but she was better than Dean gave her credit for. She sighed heavily and stood up, throwing the knife full force at the wall, where it stuck dead center of the circle Sam had drawn around Indianapolis. They had been tracking a shape shifter in the area and were having little luck. She pulled the knife out of the wall as the front door opened.
"Jo?"
"Dean, Sam," she said sitting back down.
"How the hell did you find us? How'd you get in here?" Dean asked throwing his duffle onto the bed.
"You don't give me nearly enough credit Winchester, I'm a damn good tracker and a damn good hunter. That's not why I came so just sit down the both of you and listen." The two brothers looked at each other and sat down at the table.
"So why exactly are you here? You run off from mom again or did she send you after us?" Dean's words made her flinch. She turned her back on them and took a deep breath.
"Mom's... Mom's dead." Well now Dean felt like crap.
"Jo, I'm sor-"
"You didn't know, but thanks anyways. Look, Bobby's in the wind, I don't know if they have him or if he's dead too, but I've got nowhere else to go and I know that you can help me kill these sons of bitches that did this," she said, a stony expression on her face.
"Do you know what it was?" Sam asked her.
"Demon, I don't what one though. We were out getting food and it ambushed us heading back to the car. Smoked out of the body before I could get to it, busted some of my ribs throwing me into a tree. Still don't know what he wanted, he... He said something to her before," she paused to catch herself. She slouched down onto the bed and rested her elbows on her knees, "I couldn't help her, couldn't move... Look can I stay with you guys for a while?"
"Absolutely Jo, we'll help you out," Sam said instantly. Dean was going to argue the point, but he knew Jo really had no other place right now, and they needed to find Bobby and find Ellen's killer. Jo could help them out; she'd more than proved herself in the past. He shrugged his jacket off and tossed it onto the chair. He looked at Jo and gave her a look up and down, he knew exactly what was going through her head right now, he and Sam have gone through it all. Dean had Sam, but Jo had no one to go to, except them, and that was a stretch as it was. She tried to give them an appreciative smile, got up and went to the bathroom shutting the door behind her. Dean turned to his brother and gave him a look of confusion.
"So what are we supposed to do? How are we gonna track this demon down? What about Lucifer?" Dean said quietly.
"I don't know, but tracking this demon could help find Lucifer, and it's one less around. We should go back, search Ellen's stuff see if we can find what the demon wanted to know, for a start?" Sam suggested. Jo came back out of the bathroom and silence fell. It was a moment before Sam broke it.
"I think we should go back, see if we can find anything that would suddenly send demons on you, were you working on anything particularly high brow?"
"I wasn't working on much of anything right now, it's been oddly quiet. Mom was doing something with Bobby, wouldn't talk about it much with me. She's always been so careful, what could she have been working on that would have demons on her so fast?" Jo didn't know what to think, was her mom keeping this big a secret from her? She played with the knife again, the movement kept her busy and oddly enough seemed to soothe her. She looked to Dean with worried eyes, "What if they do have Bobby?"
"I don't know Jo, but we're finding Bobby. Grab your stuff, Sam pack up we're heading out now," Dean told them grabbing his duffle once again.
"Wait, where?" Jo asked.
"We're going back to Duluth."
......
It was a long drive back to the former roadhouse. Jo lay in the back seat, a pillow against the door cushioning her back. She had fallen asleep quickly, likely not having slept much on the way to find them. Sam was looking over maps and records from the past few days and calling contacts to see if any word of Bobby had surfaced. Occasionally Jo would stir, a sharp moment or whimper, they knew she couldn't be sleeping well. Sam remembered back to all of the dreams he'd had after Jessica's death.
"Maybe Ellen and Bobby had a lead on the colt, or something to slow Lucifer down. The demons have been much more direct since... After Ellen's we should go to Bobby's, who knows, he might even be locked up in there," Sam suggested, "There's been a lot of activity around Duluth the past week, more than usual, something's going down there and I think Ellen got it the middle."
"Not that it's a bad thing, but why didn't they kill Jo? It seems strange that they'd just leave her to come and find us," Dean wondered out loud.
"Do you think they're waiting for us to come and look around? Could be a trap?"
"We'll be ready for 'em Sammy, no one else is getting killed by these bastards," Dean said, intense concentration in his eyes and they roamed the road ahead. All he could think about now was protecting everyone. Sam, Bobby, Jo. Especially Jo, she wasn't the same, he saw it the moment he saw her. Jo was still in there, but she would always carry this with her. He knew it would get better for her in time, but not now. He looked back at her in the rear view mirror as she slept. She was having a nightmare, he could tell, her body was tense and her movements were sharp. He looked back to the road and continued driving silently.
.....
Ellen set the groceries in the back of the truck as Jo opened her passenger door. She turned back to her mom and saw a man walking by them with a paper bag in his arms. Suddenly, he dropped it, stumbling. Ellen turned to the man and helped him pick up the bag, replacing its contents.
"You alright there?" she asked setting the full bag down between where they had both knelt.
"Sure, I'm alright," the man said looking down. He raised his head to reveal oily black eyes, and then quickly grabbed Ellen by the throat.
"MOM!" Jo yelled, reaching for her knife.
Before she could get her hand to her pocket the demon flicked his free hand in her direction and she was sent flying across the parking lot. She could hear several loud cracks as she collided with the large tree behind her. She fell several feet to the ground where she landed on the protruding roots, more cracks sounding out. Trying to pull herself up as she clutched her ribs and looked up at her mother. He now had her pinned up against the truck and was taunting her. She watched as her mother struggled to reach for one of her knives but she couldn't move, she was struggling for air against the demon's grip. Jo tried to stand but as soon as she got her footing she felt her body push back against the tree, this time she was pinned against the tree, unable to move at all. She could only watch as she struggled against the demon as he spoke. His lips moved but she couldn't understand what he was saying. Her mom spat something back at him, some form of swear word. That's when the demon pulled the knife from inside her mother's jacket. Jo began to scream, yelling to her mother, yelling for help. In a swift moment the demon plunged the long blade into Ellen Harvelle's chest, slowly twisting it around inside her. He yanked it out. The demon stood over her for a moment before beginning to walk away. Jo struggled against her invisible bonds but wasn't released until the man was far out of sight. She fell back to the ground and got up as quickly as she could, running over to her mother. She fell to her side, and turned her onto her back, holding her in her arms.
"Mom? Mom come on, wake up! Please don't...Mom please! Don't leave me, don't go..."
...
Jo gasped loudly, bolting up in the back seat, drenched in a cold sweat. She clutched her ribs that still caused her intense pain. She looked up at Sam who was looking back at her with concern.
"Sorry. Just a dream, sorry if I startled you," she said quietly.
"You don't need to apologize Jo. Anyways, we're almost in Duluth," Sam told her. Her stomach lurched at his words, she wasn't sure if she could handle coming back so soon. In another 20 minutes they were in front of the new Roadhouse. Dean turned off the ignition and got out of the car. Sam followed suit, but Jo just sat there staring at the bar. What would happen to the Roadhouse now? Dean opened her door and she reluctantly got out. She straightened up slightly before a sharp pain encased her body and she stumbled back against the car.
"Whoa, you alright Jo? What's wrong?" Dean asked catching her before she completely fell to the ground.
"Nothing, just still a bit sore from..." Dean knew what she was talking about. He simply nodded and helped her back to her feet. The three of them walked into the bar and took a look around. There were a few patrons inside and Louie and Ernie were working the bar. Their faces grew long at the sight of Jo and they walked over to her.
"Jo-jo... I'm so sorry," Ernie said hugging her.
"Thanks Ernie. You two holding up okay with the bar?" she asked quietly.
"Don't you worry. We'll take care of this. Every hunter in this bar is trying to track it down hope you know, we'll find it," he assured her.
"I know, and I'm going to get to it first," she told him, a strength and anger in her tone different than from what she's been like since they left the motel. Ernie nodded and let Louie in to talk to Jo for a moment. Dean and Sam both turned to Ernie.
"Any news yet? Where to start?" Dean asked.
"Nothing yet, you can ask around the bar, see if they've got anything new," he explained, "I gotta get back to the bar, but you boys find this son of a bitch and put an extra ounce of holy water down it's throat for me."
"We will. We're just here to check out some things, see if we can find a straight reason it came after her so suddenly. We'll keep it touch," Sam explained. Ernie nodded and turned back to the bar. After Jo had talked to a few of the hunters, she walked back over to Sam and Dean.
"Let's go upstairs, see if there's anything in her stashes," she said turning up the staircase. They walked upstairs to Ellen's room where Jo paused in the doorframe. She hesitated before walking into the room, the bed was still unmade, a couple jackets and shirts thrown over the small chair. The room smelled of her mother, comforting Jo but making her want to cry at the same time. She walked over to the dresser where several charms and necklaces lay. She picked up one in particular her mother wore all the time, she must have not put it back on after cleaning it that day, noticing all the jewellery and charms looked polished. She held the small cross charm and placed it around her neck, dropping the long chain down into her shirt. She then turned to her mother's closet and pushed it open, moving all of the clothes out of the way to reveal a small desk with papers scattered everywhere and images plastered all over the wall. One in particular caught her eye, an image looking from medieval or renaissance eras, of the devil standing over a woman who held a sword. Behind her a man who looked to be an angel held a great sword towards the devil. In the next image it was the woman who held her own dagger and was plunging it into the devil. There was what looked to be an ancient form of Latin beneath the image that Jo couldn't translate off hand. She noticed something on the woman's arm in the picture. It looked to be a scar, or a birthmark that looked to be in the shape of... a knife? A cross maybe? It looked like a small dagger on her right arm. She turned away from it and looked back at the room. She quickly left and fell back against the wall outside the room. Sam was looking at the images trying to translate and Dean was looking around the room for anything else helpful.
"Dean," Sam said calling him back to the wall, "This picture, it looks to be from the gospel of Thomas."
"You mean one of the ones that didn't make the editors cut?"
"Exactly, something the church didn't want getting out. A woman defeating Lucifer. The angel is St. Michael, but the woman isn't identified here. It says that though Michael had been foretold to defeat Lucifer, in truth a woman would rise by the hand of God and defeat evil. I don't think anybody knows about this Dean," Sam explained. This could be exactly what the demons were after, this information, who the girl was.
"Where's Jo?" Dean asked looking around the room. He walked back into the hallway to see Jo sitting on the floor, head buried, arms around her legs. She looked up to Dean who she heard approach and quickly wiped her eyes.
"Sorry, I just... I just can't stay here, I need to get out," she said. She tried to stand up but felt the wave of pain again and stumbled back to the floor letting out a small whine. Dean knelt beside and looked at the way she clutched her chest.
"Wanna let me take a look? I can tell it's worse than you're willing to admit," Dean asked.
"Dean, really it's fine, I've had worse," she said looking in his eyes. He wasn't buying it one bit. She sighed in defeat and raised her shirt. Her entire rib cage was black and blue, she must have multiple cracks and breaks.
"Jesus Jo! Why didn't you say anything, go to the hospital?" Dean asked in shock looking at the bruises and the shadows her ribs cast. It was clear that at least two were not setting after they'd been broken.
"I haven't exactly had the time now have I? Between getting my mom back to the roadhouse, salting and burning her, then finding you where have I had a minute!" she yelled back. He paused for a moment, taken back by her sudden burst of emotion. It was better than none at all, he thought.
"Look, I'm not trying to push, but we really need to take you to a doctor now Jo," Dean explained. He rested his hand on her shoulder and she saw the genuine concern in his face. Dean was worried about her, and she knew she had to start taking care of herself. She started to get up and Dean helped her slowly to her feet and helped her downstairs.
"Sam! Grab what you need, we gotta go for a little while," Dean called into the room. Sam grabbed the images and Ellen's notes and shoved them in his bag.
"Where are we going now?"
"We're taking Jo to the hospital," Dean explained.
"Sam it's not that bad just a quick in and out," Jo said.
"My ass it is," Dean muttered.
"Why are you so worried about it anyway Dean?" Jo retorted.
"Because Jo! You can barely stand, your body's more black and blue that anything, and I'm not dragging your ass around the country until you can stand on your own two feet," Dean told her helping her into the car. Sam closed his door as Dean got in and they drove off to the nearest hospital, a frustrated Jo mad that this was the one time Dean was actually using his head.
...
While Jo was being looked over by the doctor, Sam and Dean waited in the hall. They went over the text and images from Ellen's room trying to figure out their exact meaning.
"Ellen Harvelle stumbled across the true prophecy of Lucifer's defeat." Castiel has instantly appeared in front of them startling the brothers.
"Subtlety Cas, seriously," Dean sighed.
"The gospel of St. Thomas was rejected by the pope of the time and locked away. They did not like the idea of a woman helping save mankind and therefore thought it false," Cas explained.
"So wait, what's with me and Dean being vessels then? Why does Dean have to say yes to Michael if this woman is supposed to kill Lucifer?" Sam asked.
"Although this woman is to kill Lucifer, he is not aware of this truth. The demons were after Ellen because they heard she may have found another way to destroy Lucifer, not knowing what it could be. The other Angels want you to say yes to Michael so Lucifer will focus on you, leaving him vulnerable to attack he does not know to be possible. I am still searching for the Father, when I find him he shall put an end to this. If the time comes that I cannot find him in time, you must accept Michael into you and allow for distraction so the true Michael's sword shall defeat Lucifer."
"So this woman is the Michael's sword?" Dean asked.
"In a sense yes," Cas explained.
"Who is she?"
"We do not know yet. It will be a woman raised by the hand of God who fell once to evil, as of yet, no one fits the description," Cas elaborated.
"Great, so we're sitting around waiting for someone to die and pull a me before this can be over," Dean huffed, running his hand though his hair. He looked up to see Jo approaching them.
"Took some sweet talking but doc let me go without observation, let's get out of here. Hey Cas," Jo said looking to the Angel.
"Joanna," he acknowledged.
"So you all good to go?" Dean asked.
"Four cracked and two more bruised ribs, but I'm a big girl, I can handle it," Jo said smiling slightly. She turned and headed for the door then realized the boys weren't following her.
"You gonna sit there all night or are we gonna find this son of a bitch?" she asked before turning again and walking off. Sam looked at Dean who was staring towards Jo as she walked away.
"Gee Dean, wanna roll your tongue back into your mouth?" Dean looked at his brother who was giving him a look of mocking.
"Shut up Sam," he said punching him in the arm.
"Jo's not a little girl anymore, she's grown up, and she's a badass hunter at that. Never seen you get so weird about a girl before Dean Winchester," Sam joked.
"I'm not weird Sam. It's just... Weird to see her so rough and tough, I mean she's Jo!"
"Well Jo is gonna shoot us both if we don't hurry up and get out of here," Sam said getting up and following her out.
"I will return soon, if I hear anything new you will be the first I tell," Castiel said following them outside before disappearing again. They had gotten what they needed from the Roadhouse, now they were off to Bobby's place. Hopefully he was there in his bunker, but he hadn't made contact with anyone in almost a week which was strange considering he tried to call Sam and Dean whenever he could. Until they got to Bobby's, nothing was certain.
SO What did you think? I have the next chapter almost ready to go it should be up in a little bit, but until then, how about some lovely reviews???? Much appreciated everyone! Until next time xoxoxo JESS
