Notes: This is my first ever Supernatural fic so any constructive criticism would be appreciated. Originally this was going to be a one-off, but it's somehow morphed itself into a five part fic. Hopefully the next part will be up soon.

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Jo was breaking a promise, a big promise, as her palm touched the door of the roadhouse.

She hadn't been here in weeks and she'd promised she wouldn't come back. Her mom would know she wasn't dead if she sent a postcard every now and again, and Jo would be free to learn how to hunt. She would save people so no more people would lose their parents, their siblings or their lovers.

She'd been driving to clear her head when she'd found herself parked outside. It was weird how she couldn't remember a moment of the journey and yet her body had automatically taken her home and she wasn't sure why.

After everything that'd happened; hunting alone, being alone, being tortured and nearly raped and killed by Sam, maybe going home to see her mom didn't seem like such a bad thing after all. She couldn't count how many showers she'd taken as soon as Dean had left; red, raw marks were still visible along her legs and hips where she'd felt him pressing against her and needed to scrub away the memory.

The roadhouse was completely empty as she walked in. Business always got a little light around this time of year; she'd never really figured out why, so she slid into a seat at the bar and waited for her mom or Ash to appear. Ellen appeared a few moments later and Jo felt her chest tighten at how tired she looked.

Their eyes met, Ellen's widening slightly, and Jo offered a half smile. "Hey, mom."

"You're home?"

"Just visiting," Jo said quietly, not enjoying the expression that settled on her mother's face. "I guess I missed you."

Ellen raised an eyebrow. "Well, imagine that."

"Don't."

"I'm not gonna make a big deal out of it, Jo. Can't a mother be glad to see her kid?" Ellen walked behind the bar, fussing around for a moment before placing a beer in front of her daughter. "On the house."

"Are you serious?" Jo eyed it warily before taking a swig, wincing only a little at the bitterness. She may have been raised in a bar, but she hadn't gotten used to beer yet. "You're being too nice. I was expecting another argument and more reasons why I can't do this."

"I'm gonna cut a deal with you," her mother responded casually, making her stomach drop.

"Oh god."

"Don't take that tone with me, it's a damn good deal and you're gonna like it. Drink up."

Jo swallowed half the bottle to prepare herself, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Tell me."

"I'll let you hunt," she started slowly, cleaning along the bar with a rag, "but only for nine months."

"Nine months?"

Ellen nodded, looking up at her daughter with soft eyes. "I carried you for nine months, Jo. For nine months we were inseparable, so I owe you nine months of independence. But after that it's back to school."

"I've already made my decision and there is nothing you can do about it. I'm a hunter."

"No," Ellen told her firmly. She cupped her daughter's cheek, forcing her head to be still so they could make eye contact. "You're my baby girl, and I will die before I see you get hurt. There is nothing in this world that means as much to me as your safety and your health does."

Jo closed her eyes, feeling anger and guilt pouring through her body in equal measures. "Nine months."

Ellen pulled her into a quick hug and went back to her task of cleaning the bar, relief evident in her face. "He would've wanted it this way."

She wordlessly downed the rest of her beer and placed the empty bottle in front of her. The label was beginning to peel and she ran her thumb along the corner, pushing it away and feeling the stickiness against her skin.

"You feel like clearing up some of these bottles?" Ellen looked at her silent daughter and found a glare returning her way, the familiar sight lifting her lips into a smirk. "Didn't think so. Want another drink?"

"Am I paying for this one?"

Ellen laughed. "You bet your ass you are, little lady. You've got twenty-one years to pay me for, might as well start now."

Jo grudgingly put some money on the table and was handed a bottle, her fingers wrapping around the neck as the door to the roadhouse opened. All she had to do was look at her mother's face to know who it was and she felt herself tensing automatically.

"How goes it, boys?"

"It's business as usual," a familiar voice responded. The voice. She could still hear it singing her father's death to her, the memory so vivid she barely wanted to turn her head.

But she turned in her seat anyway, smirking at the looks of surprise on their faces as they recognised her. "Hey."

Dean recovered quickly, offering her a smirk back. "Thought you were trying that whole rebelling thing. You know, staying away from your mom?"

"I missed Ash," she shot back, eyeing Sam. He was being quiet, so quiet she guessed that he remembered everything. It physically hurt to look at him but she couldn't let what had happened make her hate Sam when it hadn't been him. "Hey, Sam."

He smiled, surprised at the attention. "You okay?"

"I will be," she lied easily. "You?"

"I will be."

They exchanged small smiles and Ellen, who'd noticed the exchange but didn't say anything, slammed down two beers onto the bar. "You boys on a case?"

"Yeah." Sam held up a manila file. "Is Ash out back? We need to track down a couple of guys."

"You wanna be careful," Ellen told him, coming around from behind the bar. "He ain't been outta his room in a couple of days, and that usually means he ain't wearing pants."

Both boys made a face and Jo hid her smile behind her beer, earning a wink from her mother. Dean sat next to her and took one of the beers while Sam walked towards the back of the bar, her eyes leaving his back when it was no longer in sight.

"You get homesick?" Dean asked, taking a swig from his beer. Automatically her eyes began to drift towards his lips and she tore her gaze away, annoyed.

"No. I needed help on a case."

It was an outright lie, one that made Ellen pause, but she didn't want him to know the truth; she was weak. Ellen carried on walking but her hand brushed Jo's shoulder and Jo appreciated it. She and Ellen hadn't always seen eye to eye, but on the rare occasion her mother was strangely understanding.

Dean looked at her, curious. "You're really serious about this whole hunting thing?"

"Why, you think I can't do it?" She shot him a challenging look, daring him to list a couple of reasons so she could fight him, but he just shook his head and looked down at his beer.

"You talk tough," he said after a few moments. "But when it comes down to it you're just not strong enough."

Ellen joined the conversation, nodding. "He's right, Jo."

She rolled her eyes. "Mom, I've already heard your argument a thousand times."

"And you'll hear it again just as often until the day I die," she said fiercely, claiming her daughter's half drunk beer bottle and smirking at her cry of indignation. "You gotta drive; I'm not letting you have anymore."

"Mom!"

"It ain't just the demons you gotta worry about, girl. It's that damn old car of yours. It's so rusted over, you can't tell what colour it's supposed to be!"

Dean grinned, looking over at Jo. "That beast is yours?"

"Hey, my beast's never let me down once in my life," she snapped. "It hasn't broken down in all the eight years I've had it."

"That poor guy," Ellen interjected. "Never did live down getting hustled out of his car by a thirteen year old."

"Damn, you must actually be pretty good."

Jo looked over at Dean, annoyed but not surprised at his assumption that she didn't have the skills to back herself up. "Getting kidnapped and being tied up isn't the only thing I'm good for," she told him, looking up just in time to see Sam returning from his trip to Ash's room.

He was frozen in place, guilt and pain so etched into his features that she could almost feel the same emotions transferring into her. She'd learned from the last time that it didn't do anyone any kind of good if she blamed someone who hadn't been entirely responsible. It hadn't been Sam who'd done those awful things to her.

"I'm sorry," they both said in unison, and Ellen looked between the two confused.

Dean drained the rest of his beer and stood up, trying to relieve the awkwardness the only way he knew how; leaving. "We should head out. Thanks for the beer, Ellen."

"Anytime."

Sensing some time to patch things up, Jo got out of her seat. "I should go too."

Ellen smiled sadly. "Come back soon. And remember what we talked about."

She nodded, the earlier conversation weighing heavy in the back of her mind. "A whole year starting from today?"

"Don't push your luck, Joanna Beth. You got nine months."

Jo smiled wearily, leaning over the bar to give her mother one last hug. "Say bye to Ash for me."

Sam was already out the door but Dean stayed behind, a curious expression telling her he wanted to know what nine months meant. She said her goodbyes with Ellen and walked towards Dean, raising an eyebrow when he held the door open for her.

"What, I can't be a gentleman every once in a while?"

"You can't," she said pointedly, walking out. "What happened to my phone call?"

"I was gonna call, but-"

"It's okay, I wasn't expecting you to."

Dean ran a hand through his hair, looking over at her. "I'll call you this time."

It sounded genuine enough and she let herself pretend it'd happen, smiling slightly. A girl could dream, couldn't she? She didn't respond, just inclining her head in a slight nod which he caught and returned. They stopped when they got near her car and a strange awkwardness descended upon them. Jo realised she hadn't used this time to apologise to Sam, but she hoped he wouldn't think anything bad of her.

"I'll see you around, Dean."

"Take care, Jo."

He started to walk away but she grabbed his arm, not sure why until he turned back with questioning eyes. She gazed at his lips a second too long and leaned in, pressing her own against them. He tensed and his hand was on her shoulder, gently pushing her away from him. Pain began to shoot through her chest and she stepped away from him quickly.

"I should go," she whispered, feeling tears sting the corners of her eyes at his rejection.

Jo hurried the last few feet to her car and dug her keys out of her pocket to open her door, desperate to get away and forget anything had happened. She'd messed up for just a second of selfishness and now he definitely wouldn't call. He was Dean Winchester; getting him to talk about his feelings would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

And then he spoke.

"Jo, wait."

She paused, her hand gripping the edge of the door a little harder than usual. "What?"

There was nothing; a thick silence filled with words that wanted to be said but wouldn't. Jo didn't look back as she got in the car and closed the door behind her, the car keys pressed so deeply into her palm that the serrated edges were begin to scratch into her skin.

Sam, or whatever the hell had been in Sam, was right. Dean would never see her as anything but an annoying little sister; someone to protect and to get annoyed at when they didn't do something right. She was tired of everyone seeing her as a little girl or a damsel in distress.

Was it so wrong to have flaws like every other person on the planet?

The slam of his car door brought her back to reality and she found her car keys were already inserted in the ignition. Her hands were on the wheel and she could feel the soft thrum of the engine reverberating through her, but still she couldn't seem to drive.

Her eyes drifted over to their car, a small blossom of hope forming in her chest, but it'd already gone. It was enough to make her hit the gas and speed away, too fast to see the shadow quickly flit across her rear-view mirror.

The drive home was long and torturous. Not many cars on the road meant she could let her mind drift, still troubled by her actions at the roadhouse. She'd always harboured a crush on Dean but never enough to do anything without a solid sign that he wanted it too. Everything she'd been doing recently had felt so automatic and she was scared that her brain would automatically need to kiss Dean.

She'd heard sometimes that rape victims would try to reclaim their sexuality, but she thought it was stupid to count herself in that category when the demon in Sam had stopped before it could go too far. And she'd always liked Dean; maybe it was just a natural way of saying thanks. Saying thanks for what, she had no idea.

Her attention was swayed suddenly when a long, curved set of claws came out of nowhere towards her neck. "Holy mother of God!" She yelled, swerving the car and crashing it into a tree. The attacker was flung backwards and she ducked her head just in the time, the claws embedding themselves in her seat where her head had been just seconds earlier.

Jo quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and shoved open the door, falling forwards and crawling away, screaming when something touched her foot. She was prepared for demon hunts, she could do them no problem, but supernatural beings hanging out in her backseat like an urban legend? That was so not fair. The large being lumbered after her foot again and she threw her hand back to grab her gun from the waistband of her jeans. The thing twisted her onto her back and she gasped when she saw it; it was a wolf walking on its hind legs like a human.

"Oh my god," she breathed, too distracted to stop it when it grabbed her legs and began to drag her into the woods. She kicked at it but nothing happened and she lifted her gun, shooting it with rocksalt. It let go of her and howled, its large head whipping around and deep yellow eyes narrowing as they focused on her.

For one long moment they stared at each other until, without warning, the beast was gone. She gaped at the empty space. How the hell could it do that? It looked like it'd just vanished, but the slight rustling of far away trees told her that the thing ran faster than she could possibly imagine. A wendigo? No. This had been different than the stories she'd heard. That thing had been...

"A werewolf?" She asked aloud, stunned at her conclusion.

Quickly she scrambled to her feet and ignored the dull aches of the car crash, the burning of her knees from falling to them, and the throb of a headache from that damn loud howl. The front of her car was now flat thanks to the tree and she sighed, nervously checking her entire car out before fishing in the backseat for her cell. There was a ring on the backseat and she took hold of it, looking it over and flipping open her phone to dial the roadhouse.

She'd rather deal with an overprotective mom than the Winchesters right now.

"Harvelle's."

"Mom?" She slid down to sit against the side of her car, wincing a little. "I had a little trouble and now I'm stuck on the outskirts of these woods. I don't even-"

"What in the hell do you mean by a little trouble? Jesus, did you go out hunting in the woods by yourself?"

"No! There was this thing in my backseat, I don't know hot it got there, but now my car's busted." Jo sighed, looking at her surroundings. "You remember where dad used to take us on those picnics?" She asked, softly.

There was a pause and then: "Hold tight, sweetie, I know where you are."

"Thanks, I-"

"Nine months!" Ellen yelled before hanging up.

Jo sighed again and put her cell in her pocket, looking down at the ring she'd found in her backseat. It was a thick, silver band which looked way too big to fit on any of her fingers. Part of her brain told her that the ring belonged to the human form of that thing, but how could she not notice it changing in her own backseat?

Whatever it was, she'd find it. She knew along the way she might need help, and that would be awkward and annoying, but this was her case now.

This was her fight.