Opening Notes:
This story started out as the very first piece of work I'd ever written. I created the character of Alexis Harvelle, a younger sister to Jo, and put her into the story. If you want to check out her face-claim, it's actress Erin Sanders. This story begins in season two and goes from there, for the most part following canon with some different twists and events. Along the way other original characters, both male and female, are introduced. if you're interested, check out the bit of background on Alexis provided below and happy reading!
When I began this story, I mixed up some dates and had in my mindset that season 2 was set in 07-08, not 06-07 when I was writing the first few chapters. I had to move Alexis' birthday to 1985, which according to supernaturalwiki, is the same year Jo was born. So in this story Jo's birthday will be April 7th, 1984, not 1985.
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or any of the characters in it, but I do own Alexis.
Chapter 1: Home
On a breezy September afternoon Alexis Harvelle pulls her 1974 black Camaro into the vacant lot of Harvelle's Roadhouse. As she walks towards the door a flood of memories enter her mind. Some good, some she'd rather forget entirely. Immediately Alexis is hit with the familiar scent of beer and peanuts and something else she could never but her finger on. Weird as it may be, it was the smell of home.
"Mom?" she calls out and is answered with silence.
"Jo?"
She receives the same answer.
"Ash?"
More silence.
Her eyes scan the room until they settle on a lump of a person asleep on the pool table. Ash. A smirk appears on her face as she heads to the bar to grab the air horn she'd stashed there years ago for this purpose. Alexis takes the horn and glides over to the pool table. Leaning down, her long brunette locks falling in front of her face, she puts the horn right next to Ash's ear. She sweeps her hair back and presses down on the air horn.
Ash immediately jumps up and his eyes land on Alexis standing there laughing her head off. "Jesus Alexis! How many times do I have to tell you not to do that to people!" he says, swinging his arms out in exasperation. She nearly gave him a heart attack.
Still laughing, she teases, "How many times do I have to tell you pool tables are not for sleeping? That's why beds were created! Ever heard of them?"
Ash glares at her for a moment and then pulls her into a hug. "Long time no see kiddo, what brings you back?" he asks her as she walks over to the bar. She wasn't one to just drop in.
"Who says I've got a reason?" Alexis replies.
Ash looks at her and says "Come on Lex, you've always got a reason."
"What? A girl can't just come visit her mother and sister?" she innocently asks while grabbing a beer. Then, remembering she hasn't seen her mother or sister yet, she adds, "Where are they anyway?"
Ash chuckles, "A girl can, but you never do." The girl never visited without a purpose. So needless to say, he wasn't buying that she was just visiting.
She childishly sticks out her tongue as she pops the cap off her beer. Sure she didn't visit often, but did that mean she had to be questioned about her reasons for visiting every time she did?
"Hey, aren't you a little young to be drinking that?" Ash asks.
"Come on Ash, I'll be 21 in like 2 weeks. Besides, it's not like it's the first time I've ever had a beer. I have lived here most of my life." Alexis says. "Hey, you didn't answer my question, where are my mom and Jo?"
"Oh, yeah, that. Your sister told your mother that she was going to Vegas and had me cover for her, when really she was trailing two hunters on a case she had researched. Naturally, your mom found out and was pissed, so she headed there to get Jo. They should all be back soon."
Alexis looks mildly shocked for a moment but shrugs it off, her sister has wanted to be a hunter for a while now but her mom is against it. Hell, her mom was against her hunting too, but she didn't care. Once Alexis had gotten her license, she packed her car and drove off, despite the numerous protests and pleads to stay from both her mother and Jo. "Great, now I'll have a pissed mom and sister on my hands. I picked the perfect time to visit. Maybe I should just leave before they get back. Mom's never all that happy to see me." Alexis responds, taking another pull of her beer. She really didn't want to deal with both her sister and her mother when they were pissed off, especially at each other.
"Oh come on Lex, don't leave. You just got here and none of us have seen you in months. Actually, I don't think I've seen you at all this year. If it weren't for the texts or calls every few weeks, we wouldn't even know you were alive. You know your mom is happy to see you. She just worries about you hunting." Ash tells her, eyes pleading for her to stay.
Alexis sighs and says, "Yeah, whatever. I guess I'll stick around." Then, taking the last sip of her beer, she gets up to toss the now empty bottle out.
Ash gestures to the pool table that he had been so rudely woken up on not thirty minutes earlier and asks, "Up for a game of pool Lexi? Or are you afraid I'll beat you?"
Alexis just laughs, he'd never beaten her, "Please, you know I always kick your ass at pool."
Ash gives her a challenging look and says, "Game on."
The two catch up while playing a few games of pool. Halfway through their third game, they hear a car pull up. Moments after they hear the slamming of car doors and multiple footsteps headed for the door.
Ash looks towards the door then back at Alexis and says, "Guess your mom and sister are home. Too late to leave now, they've probably already seen your car."
"I hear yelling already, I think I'm going to need another beer." Alexis states, already wishing she hadn't even come. She could've and should've just called Ash for what she needed. Now she was going to be stuck in the middle of her feuding mother and sister, exactly where she didn't want to be. Perfect.
"Joanna Beth! Don't think we're not going to talk about this!" Alexis could hear her mother yell as the roadhouse door was thrown open and her sister storms in.
Jo turns on her heels, glaring at her mother, not yet noticing Ash or her sister. "What's there to talk about Mom? It's over and we're all fine!" Jo practically spits at Ellen, clearly just as angered as the older woman.
Ellen, also not noticing Ash or her other daughter, warns, "Watch your tone with me."
Alexis watches from the pool table, mildly shocked. She was the one who was usually fighting with her mother, not Jo. Jo was typically the voice of reason among the three of them, the one who kept the other two from killing the each other. Alexis glances past her mother and sister, who were both still oblivious to her and Ash, and sees two men. One was taller with shaggy brown hair and the other was shorter with piercing green eyes and a leather jacket. She recognizes the two from somewhere, but she couldn't seem to figure out where or who exactly they even were.
Just then Ash clears his throat, letting Ellen know that she and Jo are not alone.
Both Ellen and Jo turn their attention towards the unexpected noise and their eyes land on Ash and Alexis. They stare for a minute, clearly taken aback, and then Jo asks, "Alexis?"
Alexis weakly smiles in response and then shrugs. "Guess I picked a bad time. Mom, Jo, you're both clearly in the middle of something. I'll be outside," she says and then brushes past both her family members and the two men.
As she walks out, she hears the shorter one say to the taller one, "Mom'? There's another one?"
Ellen must have asked the two men to give them some time because not a minute later both of them are walking out the same door Alexis had just exited. The shorter one looks at her and says, "So Ellen has another daughter?"
Alexis nods, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.
The taller one steps forward and says, "Well I'm Sam, and this is my brother Dean."
As soon as she hears their names she realizes why she had recognized them. They were John Winchester's boys. "As in Sam and Dean Winchester? John Winchester's sons?" Alexis asks. She couldn't believe she hadn't known at first glance. They certainly looked like Winchesters.
At the mention of John, both boys stiffen up a bit and Dean answers rather defensively, "Yeah, so?"
"So nothing, I just knew him that's all. I heard he passed, I'm sorry." she says.
Dean begins, "How did you know-"
But Sam cuts him off with a look and then turns to Alexis and says, "I'm sorry, I don't think we caught your name."
"Alexis. Alexis Harvelle. But you can call me Lex."
They both nod their heads and Dean, seemingly not able to drop the fact that Alexis knew their father, asks again, "So how did you know our father?"
Remembering that that was what Dean had been trying to say before Sam cut him off, she tells them, "Oh yeah, John. He used to come here every so often until he and my mom had a falling out. The last hunt my dad went on, the hunt where he was killed, was with your dad, John. I think my mom always blamed him, which is probably part of the reason she's so pissed at Jo."
The brothers share a look, this was clearly new information to them.
Alexis continues. "I was only 6 then and I didn't see John again for about 10 years, when I had left to hunt on my own. I had been at Bobby Singer's one day when your dad showed up. He gave me his number and told me if I was ever stuck or needed help to call him. I think he felt guilty about what happened with my father and wanted to help me out if he could. He wasn't too thrilled to see that I was 16 and hunting on my own, but I wasn't his kid and he knew he couldn't talk me out of it. From then on we kept in contact and hunted together occasionally. I don't really know why I never met you, Dean, I guess our paths just never crossed. You, Sam, had already gone off to college. Stanford was it? I only heard your dad mention it a couple dozen times."
Sam looks surprised and asks, "He did?"
"Yeah, he was proud of you."
Sam didn't seem like he quite believed her, but he let it go.
The three stood there for a moment and Alexis realizes she didn't hear shouting coming from inside any more. "So," she begins, "it sounds like they're done yelling, think it's safe to go back in there? Make sure they didn't kill each other or break anything?"
Both boys shrug and then head towards the door. It wasn't until Dean was reaching for the handle that they realized Alexis hadn't moved.
Sam turns around and asks, "Are you coming in?"
Alexis crosses her arms and says, "Actually I don't know, maybe I'll just leave. I'm not exactly my mom's favorite person."
They stare at her for a minute and Dean says, "Well she already knows you're here. Might as well get what you came for."
Alexis thinks it over for a minute, glancing from her car to the door, then shrugs and says, "Yeah, I guess. Let's go in."
Dean opens the door and Alexis takes a deep breath before once again walking inside.
Alexis walks back through the door of the roadhouse once again. This time, though, she was not greeted with the same silence she had been before. No, this silence was a much more tense silence.
The five of them stand there just staring at one another for a few minutes until Ellen breaks the silence. "I'm going to go do inventory." she throws over her shoulder as she walks to the back, not once glancing at Alexis, or even Jo for that matter.
It was Dean who speaks next, asking, "Where's Ash?"
"Dr. Badass is in his room." Jo responds, looking over at Alexis. They both crack smiles after making eye contact.
"Hopefully with pants on." Alexis adds with a laugh.
Jo walks over to Alexis and pulls her into a hug. "I've missed you, Lexi! You picked a hell of a time to show up."
"I've missed you too, Jo." Alexis says, smiling at her older sister. It had been a while since she'd last seen her sister. "And you know me, I've always got perfect timing."
Sam and Dean had already taken seats at the bar, so Alexis and Jo both walk over and stand across from them, behind the bar.
"So, little sister, what brings you by?" Jo asks.
"What is with everyone asking me that? Can't a girl just drop in to see her mom and sister?" Alexis asks with fake offense in her voice.
Jo laughs, "Yes, but you never do. Lexi, you never show up without a reason."
"Unbelievable." Alexis says, face completely serious.
Jo just continues to stare at her so she cracks a smile and says, "Alright, alright. My 21st birthday is soon and I wanted to see if my sister would like to spend it with me. Maybe even go on a hunt with me." Her smile falls a bit as she adds, "Though after today that's probably not likely."
Before Jo could say anything, Dean speaks up. "You're turning 21?" he asks, looking at Alexis and she nods. "Jo, you've got to take your sister out for her birthday! If we're nearby we'll even join you. Right Sammy?"
"Yeah," Sam says, "When's your birthday, Alexis?"
She momentarily looks shocked that either Winchester would actually want to spend her 21st birthday with her but answers Sam nonetheless. "It's October 7th, but you guys don't have to come. It's just my birthday. It comes around every year." she says with a shrug, then laughs and adds "And please, call me Lexi or Lex, not Alexis."
Sam cracks a smile and nods. Dean turns to Jo and says, "So what do you say Jo? Are we all going to take your sister out for her 21st birthday or what?"
"Yeah, yeah, I guess so." Jo says smiling. Jo then turns to Alexis and says, "And Lex, I'd love to go on a hunt with you." With a laugh she adds, "If I can leave without mom killing me."
"So, how come no one ever mentioned Alexis to Sammy and I? We had no idea there was another Harvelle." Dean asks.
"Mom probably never mentioned me because she'd rather not talk about me, and Jo, well I don't know. Probably never came up." Alexis says with a shrug and goes to grab a beer. "Anyone want a beer?"
"I do." they all respond in unison.
Alexis smiles and says, "Four beers it is then."
"Lex, you said earlier you left to hunt at 16? Why?" Sam asks.
"And what about school? Wouldn't you still have been in high school?" Dean adds.
Sam and Dean were both clearly curious about Alexis and they weren't getting much out of either her or Jo.
"I guess I liked hunting and liked the thought of saving people from the supernatural evil that is out there. I was around hunters all the time. After my dad died, I guess that's what I decided I wanted to do. So the day after I got my license I packed up my car and drove off." Alexis sighs and then continues, "And I did most of my schooling online so I was able to still do school while hunting. I finished by the time I was 17 and took some college classes too, ending up with an associate's degree even."
The boys both nod, even though it didn't look like they entirely understood it. The four sat chatting and finishing their beers until Ellen walks out, sights set on Alexis.
Jo looks between Alexis and Ellen, as if gauging what action to take. "Sam, Dean, up for a game of pool?" Jo asks, in a tone that gave them no choice but to say yes.
"Alexis." Ellen says.
"Mother." Alexis replies.
"Why are you here? What do you need?"
Alexis swings her arms out and says, "Why does everyone seem to think I have to have a reason to be here? Can't I just visit?"
"Because you always do, Alexis. You never come just to visit." Ellen replies, standing with her hands on her hips.
Alexis rolls her eyes and says, "I came to see if my sister wanted to spend my 21st birthday with me, do you have a problem with that?"
"If it involves both of my daughters hunting, yes I do have a problem with that."
Jo, Dean, and Sam, had forgotten their game of pool before they'd even started it as the three are all sitting intently listening to the heated conversation taking place between Ellen and her youngest daughter.
"So what if it involves hunting, Mom? We'll be fine! I've done perfectly fine on my own since I was 16, and we're not little kids anymore! You can't tell us what to do!" Alexis nearly yells, quickly becoming irritated with her mother.
"You may not be little anymore but you're both still my daughters and I don't want you to get hurt!" Ellen says, also beginning to raise her voice.
"You know you can't talk me out of hunting. You couldn't when I was 16, and you sure as hell can't now." Alexis says. She then turns to Jo and says, "Jo, it's up to you. If you want to go on a hunt with me for my birthday, let me know. I'm not going to stand here and argue with mom. If you want to come, come. If not, whatever." She turns towards the door and adds, "I'll be outside."