New week, new chapter 3 Thank you for reading this fanfiction and thank you for your kind reviews!

In this chapter another character we love makes an appearance.

Enjoy!

Chapter 03

The road so far…

"Killing spree. Nationwide. Targets probably hunters."

"I hurried into the kitchen. That was when that woman showed up. Her eyes were all black. She took my son."

"Could you give us a description of the mysterious woman?"

He looked at the portrait of the mysterious demon woman. He was staring at a perfect portrait of Joanna Beth Harvelle.

"What do you want to do? Ignore it? If it really is Jo-"

"It's not Jo! She's dead. "

"There're so many ways," Sam insisted. "Maybe someone's using her body. Maybe the hellhounds got to her after all and now she's back as a demon – "

"Whatever this is, I don't want anything to do with it. We're heading off to Colorado first thing in the morning, going after that Wendigo, got it?"

"Fine. Whatever."

Joliet, IL

Sam kept his mouth shut when he heard his brother wake up from an intense nightmare in the middle of the night, gasping and cursing. He also kept his mouth shut while Dean snapped at the owner of the motel when they returned their keys and paid for the night.

In a way he was glad when his phone rang on the way to the car. The caller was Bobby.

"Hey, Bobby, what's up?" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dean's quick glance. "Well, actually we already have plans…" What followed was a nasty remark that made Sam squirm. "Alright, alright. We're on our way." He hung up and sighed. "Geez, someone's grumpy this morning."

"What did he say?" Dean asked as they got into the Impala.

"To get our asses to Sioux Falls - pronto," Sam quoted the man who was close to a father figure to them.

Dean just nodded and started the engine.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

"Alright, Bobby, we're here. What's the big emergency? You kinda pulled us out of something," Dean said when they arrived at Bobby's place.

"Yeah? What exactly?" Bobby inquired skeptically. "Hunting the monster of the week to avoid the big elephant in the uh… universe?"

"Bobby," Dean warned.

"Why did you order us here?" Sam asked, sensing the thick tension in the room. Nobody wanted to talk about the big elephant.

"We've got a problem," their mentor informed them, leaning against his desk.

"That can't be good," Dean muttered.

"You bet," Bobby agreed and reached behind him to pick something up from his desk and show it to the boys.

Sam groaned. Dean swore. They were looking at another portrait of Jo.

"What is this?" Dean demanded.

"What do you think it is, idgit?" Bobby shot back.

"No, I mean, what is this? You just tell us to come here and now you show us a picture of Jo. Why?"

"I lied to you," Bobby admitted. "When I sent you to investigate Joliet I did some digging around here. We had our own case not too far from here. Drove there with Jodie –"

"Jodie, huh?" Dean grinned and glanced at his brother to see him do the same.

"So you and Sherriff Mills are teaming up now?" Sam asked amused.

"That's none of your damn business," Bobby replied harshly and blushed a little.

The delighted expression on Dean's face froze.

"So it's a case now?" He turned to glare at Sam. "Did you plan this behind my back? Did you tell him?"

Sam shook his head. "No, I swear I didn't."

"Tell me what?" Bobby demanded suspiciously.

The younger Winchester sighed and reached into his pocket. "I guess now might be a good time," he said and pulled out Mrs. Jones portrait to show it to Bobby.

"Balls."

Dean rolled his eyes. So much for keeping it from the old man. Now there was no chance that they would ignore the matter. Bobby would set their butts right on it.

"How long have you known about this?"

Guilt was written all over Sam's face, causing Bobby to curse again. " And when were you gonna tell me?"

"Never," came it from Dean.

Bobby stared incredulously at him. "Excuse me?"

"We were never gonna tell you," the older Winchester repeated. "Because we're not gonna investigate it."

"And which one of you two idgits came up with that?"

"Me," Dean replied dryly, lazily raising his hand.

Sam pursed his lips. On the one hand he was glad that they wouldn't ignore Jo's shocking return (in whatever form) but on the other hand it would inevitably lead to a nasty argument between them. The last thing he wanted to do right now was fight.

"We didn't make too much of it," he explained and caught Dean's surprised look. He obviously didn't expect him to back him up.

Bobby stared at him as if he had lost his mind.

"Didn't make too much of it? Boys, this could be anything – "

"Exactly," Dean quickly cut him off. "Anything except Jo. So we don't care."

"I thought you wanted your monster of the week. There you go!" Bobby replied and pointed at the drawing.

"It's probably just a shape shifter," Dean shrugged.

"Your specialty. One more reason to go after it."

"We already have something in mind," Dean told him curtly.

"You don't sound very convinced that this is only a small fish," Sam realized, fixating Bobby.

Dean groaned. At times like these he wished Soulless Sam back. Why didn't he just let it go? He just had to play Dr. Phil again.

"Because I'm not," Bobby stated plainly. "I told you before, I'm a paranoid bastard. Knowing people saw her face even though she's supposed to be dead is enough to alert me."

Dean shrugged again. "Everyone's got a doppelganger."

Bobby's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Alright, enough with the false excuses. Why do you really not want to check it out?"

"I just told you. I just don't think it's worth checking out," Dean explained calmly. His expression was unreadable. "Compared to that Wendigo in Colorado that I really want to gank. So you two, wrap it up. I'll wait in the car," he added, turned around and left.

Bobby shook his head and Sam sighed. There were obviously some unresolved issues that needed to be taken care of.

"So, what's the real deal?" Bobby asked.

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me," Sam answered and threw his hands up in a helpless gesture. "He's as freaked as we are."

"But why wouldn't he just admit it?"

"Dean hates talking about his feelings," was Sam's response. Then he thought about it. "Jo and Ellen's death hit him pretty hard."

"Yeah, I know. I was there."

"Yes, but not the days after that. You should have seen him. He wasn't himself." And then there were the nightmares, Sam thought. But he wouldn't tell Bobby about them. Those weren't his business. And neither were they his. He only knew about them because he woke up whenever Dean woke up from a nightmare. He wished he didn't know that Dean was having nightmares again. It was a sign of weakness. He didn't like it because he needed Dean to be strong so he could keep looking up to his big brother.

"I think Dean is blaming himself a little for what happened in Carthage," Sam said slowly.

"He shouldn't," Bobby replied. "It wasn't his fault. Besides, it was their call to back you up. They wanted to. You couldn't have stopped them, not even if you had tied them up."

"True…"

They fell silent, thinking about what to do next and how to get Dean on board. They silently agreed that they shouldn't ignore this matter. The simple fact that Jo's face was involved was enough reason for them to deal with it…

"You hear that?" Bobby suddenly asked and pointed outside.

Sam listened. Music came flowing in from the yard where the Impala was parked. Another sigh escaped him.

"Metallica," he said. "Calms him down."

"I don't like this," Bobby told him. "The hunter I talked to – he and his family managed to get away, but barely – he said she was a demon. Had the eyes."

"The people I talked to said the same," Sam said. "So what's your theory?"

"Nothing you'd like," Bobby muttered, walked around his desk and took a seat. "Honestly? I'm preparing myself for the worst."

"Me, too," the younger Winchester agreed. "So much for avoiding the big drama."

"At least he's leaving us alone."

"He's probably killing his frenemies," Sam emphasized, employing quotation marks.

"Crazy bastard," muttered Bobby.

His opponent didn't have anything to add to that. Another round of silence passed between them while they listened to the faint music coming from outside.

"What are we gonna do with him?" Bobby asked after a while.

"Let him be," Sam advised. "If he doesn't want to deal with it, he won't. You have any idea what that demon could be after?"

"Gerry – that's the hunter who saw her – he said she went straight for the kid. No idea why, though."

"We need to get ahead of her so we can meet her face to face. Somehow predict where she'll try next," Sam mused aloud.

"And how do we do that?"

"When was the last attack?"

"Two days ago here in South Dakota."

"No attacks since then?" inquired Sam.

"Not that I know of."

"We need a list of hunters who live in the area and in the neighboring states," Sam said. "You know some hunters with family who do?"

"Two," answered Bobby. "I'll give them a call," he added and reached for the phone.

So Bobby and Sam make plans to get to the bottom of it. I think the inevitable encounter between the Winchesters and the woman who looks like Jo will happen very soon.

A little hint for the next chapter: they will not go after the Wendigo.

Somehow I found it incredibly difficult to write Bobby. I hope he didn't become too ooc or something.

So I'd really appreciate it if you dropped me a line about how you liked this chapter. Feedback keeps me going :)