Disclaimer: In no way do I own Supernatural's characters or story lines.
Note: Thank you JbethH for making me realize Jo's character is one that I continued from my earlier fics, stemming from Hunter's Playlist and The Jo Collection. I added a bit to this chapter serving as a small summary if you haven't read them.
And yes, the title of this story is a reference to Metallica's song of the same title, in the album ...And Justice for All
Part I: Take Her Breath Away
The Black Spur.
She was there, parked in front of bar and motel.
Crowley had appeared to her a week ago and told her where she might find Dean. There was, as always, a condition; she wasn't allowed to bring Sam, or Cas, or anyone.
He had warned that if he saw either in her company (of course he would be watching), he would warn his new favorite buddy and the two of them would ride off again without a trace.
Jo didn't argue that much.
She and Sam had become less and less talkative over the last couple of weeks. She felt he was becoming too intense to work with.
He was impulsive, and maybe just a little insane.
All of the above really, she thought.
Last job they worked together he was acting altogether insane. Almost got the both of them killed. He ended up with damaged arm, and Jo with plenty of hefty bruises. After that, they kept a vaguely tense distance, the bunker was big enough that she only really saw him in the library or kitchen.
It's not like the two of them really got along that well anymore anyway, not after their adventures together without his soul.
And it wasn't like Castiel and she ever really had much of a special relationship either. From what she understood, he was back on Angel duty, not to be disturbed with anything unconnected to Heaven.
Jo decided to keep hunting. Since both Winchesters were off, consumed by their own problems once agin, there was a lot backed up, and she decided to make it her mission to try to return the supernatural order to some kinda normalcy.
A lot of hunters died over the last few years, but the chaos was far from over. And once again, she drew the short straw for backup.
It's why she tried her hand in practicing white magic a couple years back, for the extra firepower in desperate times.
When Kevin was still alive and on the run, Dean in Purgatory, and Sam living the romantic veterinary life, Jo had to promote herself in the business. And the pay was not without cool magical perks.
She and Garth became the frontrunners against Crowley's burning desire for the Demon Tablet and all the power it possessed for his kingdom. Jo had responded with a cleaner kind of power, and became a self-taught witch to fight back with a little of the same supernatural muscle he had flexed around her constantly.
And now, years later, the King of Hell was still the center of her troubles, even when she didn't particularly know it yet.
He reminded her of this after a typical salt n' burn, a mischievous twinkle in his eye and the offer on his lips.
Everything that he'd put her through in the gap year of the Winchesters should have made Jo stab him with the angel blade right when he appeared.
She nearly did, until he mentioned Dean and his current condition.
It crossed Jo's mind when Crowley told her; why does he want me to find Dean?
That took some time for her to riddle out.
It was The Mark; it needed to be fed.
And Crowley needed confirmation that his new best friend would choose to stay a demon over seeing a face he used to love.
Jo guessed he was working his way up the latter. Maybe he would appear to Sam after this, get even more proof that Dean was choosing a life in the black over his old life in green.
It was pathetic, she thought, the way Crowley's been suffering from the feels for quite some time now. His demented need to be loved was just a terrible fit for a ruler of Hell.
Jo wasn't exactly sure how Dean was now, or exactly where he was on the richter scale of evil. But it was Dean, so she had to show.
Old habits die-hard, and the days get stranger still.
And here she was, surely with Crowley's goons somewhere in the shadows, making sure Sam and Cas weren't in the picture.
She got out of the car.
Armed with only her new found witchyness based in stones strapped to her fingers, an angel blade, and Dean's old pearl-gripped colt loaded with bullets engraved; trap on them.
Joanna walked up to the room that Crowley graciously supplied her with during their little secret meeting.
She pressed her ear to the crack.
His voice definitely was grumbling, rough, exchanging with another, lighter one.
A woman.
She blinked, and vaguely felt the familiar drop of heart weigh down on her stomach. It wasn't that surprising, but still, it picked at a strange, former wound of hers.
Jo kept her ear there, hearing no clear words, and going over her options in her head;
Kick in now, or wait until she leaves?
She looked down at the doorknob, as if to guess if it was unlocked or not.
I never was a patient woman.
Fastening her palm around the doorknob, she twisted it determinedly.
It was locked.
The talking inside quieted.
Tapping into the Bloodstone on her right forefinger, she easily pulled the metal bars magically back into their wooden holes.
Joanna twisted open the door.