No Exit
Part One

After we'd talked to Ellen, she'd offered to let us use the beds in the back, which were in the same room, so that's where the three of us were now. Settling down for the night.

"Do you really think it was a good idea to tell them everything?" Dean asked both Sam and me. We hadn't actually told them everything. I'd left out most of my stuff. They didn't know anything about my abilities at all. He sat down on the edge of the bed and kicked his boots off.

"Dean, they can help. They deserve to know," Sam said, doing the same thing Dean was doing.

"Yeah, but what if someone else finds out?"

"Well, we'll burn that bridge when we come to it," I said. Meaning we'd take care of it. I started brushing my hair and watched as Dean pulled his shirt off. I smiled slightly. I'd never slept beside him when he didn't have his shirt on.

I laughed once, suddenly remembering the first time I'd seen his bare chest. It had been when I'd first started traveling with them and he'd come out of the bathroom, fresh from the shower, water glistening over his skin, and he'd only been wearing a towel. It had been embarrassing to me then; it was kind of sexy to me now. Okay, fully sexy.

I was snapped back to reality, literally, because Dean snapped his fingers in front of my face. He was standing in front of me now.

"Huh?" I asked, shaking my head to clear the thoughts away.

"What's up? You laughed and then you sorta zoned out."

"Oh, um…nothing. Just thinking." I was blushing now. I could feel it. "Um…not anything to worry about."

"Okay." Dean sounded like he thought I was a few fries short of a happy-meal.

Sam laughed. "She was having perverted thoughts."

Oh, wow. Was I that transparent? "What? No, I wasn't." My voice was unnaturally high, so, of course, they'd be able to tell I was lying. They could always tell when I was lying.

"Yes, you were." Sam seemed to find that fact highly amusing.

I glared at him and shook my head furiously. I didn't know why I was trying to deny it. I mean, it's not like it was a bad thing, really. Dean in a towel was a very good thing, actually. A very hot, sexy, good thing.

Dean sat down on the bed again. "They were about me, right?"

"Yes," I said distractedly, and then closed my eyes when I realized I'd answered honestly. I took a deep breath, accepting it. "Okay, so I'm a pervert. But I'm okay with that." I reopened my eyes and saw them both staring at me, so I smiled innocently and resumed brushing my hair. I'd stopped because I'd been lost in my thoughts. "You guys know you love me."

"We surely do," Dean said quietly, but I heard it loud and clear. Dean loved me. I mean, he hadn't actually said those words exactly, but it was close enough. That was one of those moments where you feel like jumping up and down in excitement because you're so happy. But you don't do it because you don't want anyone to think you're crazy. So I settled for smiling widely at Dean to let him know that I got it, and he grinned in return.

"All right, we should get to sleep so we can hit the road in the morning," Dean said after our moment was over.

After the tangles were out of my hair, I got on the bed beside him and slowly, but thoroughly kissed him before resting my head on his chest.

------------- -

When I woke up, I heard the guys talking about an evil cult in Los Angeles. But then Dean said something about Katie Holmes and I knew they were joking. Scientology and all that.

I rolled my eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but then I heard yelling. It sounded like Jo and Ellen. Uh-oh. Friction in the ranks was never good.

I sat up, giving up on going back to sleep. Sam and Dean got up to go to the door; they were going to eavesdrop. I was going to tell them that this was none of their business, but I was vaguely interested, myself, about what the two women were arguing about. I'd rarely ever fought with my mom, so I was wondering why Ellen and Jo were yelling at each other.

I sat up, saw that Dean was still shirtless, so I picked the one he'd had on the night before off the floor and threw it at him. I mean, I didn't want Jo having a heart attack from seeing that.

Sam opened the door as Dean put his shirt back on. I heard Ellen yelling, "I am your mother. I don't have to be reasonable."

"You can't keep me here," Jo shouted back.

"Don't you bet on that, sweetie."

"What are you gonna do? Are you gonna chain me up in the basement?" Jo was being sarcastic, of course, but I wouldn't have suggested that while I was arguing with someone who was trying to keep me around.

"You know what? You've had worse ideas than that recently." Ellen said. Sam, Dean, and I peaked through the crack in the door. Ellen was cleaning the tables and Jo was glaring at her. "Hey, if you don't wanna stay, don't stay. Go back to school."

"I didn't belong there," Jo exclaimed. "I was a freak with a knife collection."

"Yeah, but getting yourself killed in some dusty backroad, that's where you belong?" Ellen asked.

Oh, I got it. They were fighting mostly because Jo wanted to hunt, and Ellen was worried. As she should be. I mean, hunting was dangerous, especially if you did it by yourself.

Our door creaked and Ellen's gaze fell on us. "Guys, bad time."

I was okay with that, so I took Sam and Dean by the arm and began to pull them back into the room.

"Wait," Jo said. "I wanna know what they think about this."

"I don't care what they think," Ellen said seriously.

The phone rang and Jo stood there stubbornly, she wasn't going to answer it. Ellen sighed in frustration before going behind the bar to answer the phone.

Jo grabbed a folder from the counter and brought it over to us, holding it out for Dean to take, which he didn't. "Take it, it won't bite."

"No, but your mom might," he said, making me grin. He reluctantly took the file and started sifting through it.

"Three weeks ago, a young girl disappears from a Philadelphia apartment. And this girl wasn't the first." I looked at the file, looking around Dean to see. There was a map with black x's on it, and articles about how the missing women cases were stumping the police. Go figure. "Over the past eighty years, six women have vanished. All from the same building, all young blondes." I felt my hair, wondering whether mine counted or not. It was blond, but kinda like a dirty-blond. "Only happens every decade or two, so cops never eyeball the pattern. So, we're either dealing with one very old serial-killer or-"

"Who put this together?" Dean interrupted. "Ash?"

"I did it myself," Jo said proudly. I understood that. Dean had basically compared her work to Ash's. I'd be proud, too.

"We've hit the road for a lot less," Sam said to Dean.

Dean looked at me. "What do you think?"

I shrugged. "It could be something supernatural, something worth checking out. But I'm good with whatever you guys decide."

Ellen hung up the phone and came over to us. "Why don't you guys take the case?" Ellen asked hopefully and sort of demanding, too.

"Mom," Jo protested.

"Joanna Beth, this family has lost enough. I won't lose you, too. I just won't."

And that brought on a moment of awkward silence before Sam said softly, "okay, we'll take it."

"Well, I'm coming with you," Jo said.

"No, you're not," both Dean and Ellen said.

"Why not?" Jo asked furiously. "Alyson's a girl and she gets to hunt. And she's younger than I am."

"Hey. How about we leave me out of this conversation, okay?" I didn't want Ellen's ire to be turned to me. "And you mom is worried about you. That's a good thing. You shouldn't take that for granted." My mom wasn't around to be worried anymore. Neither was Sam and Dean's. I didn't say that out loud, but everyone got my meaning anyway. Ellen looked touched and thankful that I'd said that. Jo looked pretty much defeated, like maybe she'd thought I would've agreed with her.

Truth was, I saw both sides of the story. Jo wanted to hunt, why, I didn't know. But Ellen, like a good mother should be, was worried that she'd get hurt.

"Yeah," Jo said, disappointment coloring her voice. "Okay.

Ellen breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

Since that conversation was over Sam, Dean, and I went back in our room and started packing our stuff.

"I feel kind of bad, snaking Jo's case," Sam said, neatly folding a shirt before putting it in the overnight bag he had.

"Yeah, she did a good job with that file, picking up that pattern and all," I said, complimenting it.

"I'll give her that," Dean agreed. "But could you see her out there, working one of those things? I don't think so. I mean, she'd probably get herself killed."

"Because she's a girl?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"No," Dean said seriously. "Because she's never done it before." He mock-glared at me. "You know I'm not into that sexist crap. I mean, I'm teaching you to hunt, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but I have you and Sam there to watch out for me. Jo wouldn't have anyone."

"Exactly. Like I said, she'd probably get herself killed. Not to mention, she doesn't have your assets. Your whole healing thing."

"Okay, so," Sam said, breaking in, "we're looking at a two day drive. We better get going." So we did.

------------- -

Turns out two day drives suck. We were only three hours in and I was already bored. And stiff. We'd need to stop for gas soon, so I'd be able to stretch then.

We hadn't talked much about the case because there wasn't much to talk about. Jo had pretty much said it all.

Six blond women had disappeared from this building. It only happened every now and then, the cops hadn't seen the pattern. And then we'd learned from the articles in the file that there had been no signs of a break-in at all each time it had happened.

I absentmindedly started stroking my hair, just as I'd done the first time I'd heard about the victims hair color. "Um, guys, you do realize that my hair color is a form of blond, right? So this thing could come after me."

"The thought has crossed my mind once or twice," Dean said tensely. "Which is why you're not to leave our sight. One of us is to be with you at all times."

"Sounds okay to me," I said quickly. "Getting kidnapped isn't something I wanna do again soon. Or ever again, actually." I said it jokingly, but I was being completely serious.

"Hey, we're not gonna let that happen," Sam said firmly. "We weren't ready last time, but we won't let our guard down again."

"Good," I said quietly, having a moment of vulnerability.

The dreams had pretty much gone away, but the memories had stayed. Not everything associated with that event was bad, though.

For the first two days after I got out of the hospital, I couldn't move easily. I couldn't sit or stand up straight, because it would make my stomach hurt. Dean had been there every step of the way. He'd made it seem like my pain was his pain. That he was hurting because I was hurting. I remembered hating being helpless, I was hardly ever helpless and it sucked. I'd refused both Sam's and Dean's help at first, but after I'd let myself be vulnerable enough to accept Dean's help, it had been good. I let that memory of the first day take me over. There was nothing else to occupy my mind.

I'd been having a nightmare. I woke up, screaming in fear. The fear had changed to pain shortly after, though, because when I'd woken up, I'd sprung up from the bed, stretching my stomach fully in the process and I could practically feel the wounds open up again.

They'd been healing faster than a normal person's would, but way slower that what was normal for me. I still thought it had to do with how much blood I'd lost. I mean, yes, I'd had a blood transfusion, but that had only been to stabilize me. I didn't think my body had replenished all the blood yet.

The light was suddenly on and Dean was grabbing me by the shoulders, much like he'd done when I'd been in the hospital. Sam was standing by the bed, looking worried and maybe a little panicked. I'd probably scared both of them half to death.

After I'd calmed down enough to talk, I said I was sorry and that I was fine. I'd been lying but they let me get away with it. For now.

"I'm…I'm gonna go to the bathroom," I said, beginning to move, but freezing in place when I started hurting. It felt like they were cutting into me again, and I knew that I was bleeding.

"Here, let me help you," Dean said. It was kind of awkward, because he couldn't grab me by the waist because that was where most of my wounds were and he didn't want to irritate them. And I couldn't lift my arms too high to grab onto him because that would stretch my wounds and reopen them more than they already were.

But we got there eventually. And even then I couldn't stand up straight, so I hunched my way to the bathroom door.

"Do you need me to come in there with you?"

"I'm good to go," I said, going into the bathroom and shutting the door quietly. I leaned against the door for a minute and rubbed my hands over my face. I felt like I wanted to cry, but I knew that would do more harm than good at that point.

I breathed in deeply-even that hurt-and moved to the mirror. I needed to sit down, but I couldn't sit straight up, so it didn't matter anyway. I lifted my shirt up a little and saw all I needed to see. My bandages were getting red. Blood was seeping through. Oh, I'd really done it this time.

I put my shirt back down over it-good thing it was black-knowing I needed to change the bandages soon, but I didn't want to do it in front of the guys. They already blamed themselves enough for what had happened to me, they didn't need to see the damage again.

Not to mention, it was hard for me to let someone take care of me. When I'd been living with me mom, I'd had to be the responsible one, and it was hard to give up that control sometimes.

I mean, they knew it was easy to reopen a fresh wound, but the doctor had told me and them that I was healing fast. Well, apparently not fast enough. I'd never take my healing instantly for granted again.

"Dean," I called out and he came in immediately. He must have been right outside. "I think I should try to get a separate room. I mean, Sam needs his sleep. So do you. I think I scared you guys silly."

"Yeah. I'll go see if I can get us one."

"Us?" I questioned. "You don't have to-"

"I'm not leaving you alone," Dean said, leaving no room for argument. So I nodded once to let him know it was okay, not that it mattered. He would've done it anyway.

When he got back, he helped me get my stuff together. Well, he did it himself, actually, and I just stood there.

Turns out, the only few rooms that were left were on the other side of the motel, which made me feel bad for leaving Sam alone. But I figured he would understand.

When we got in our room Dean turned to me. "How bad are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," I said automatically.

"Yeah, sure you are." Dean wasn't convinced. "I know you, and I know that you're in more pain than you should be. Let me help you."

I sighed. "Dean, I'm fine. I can change the bandages myself. I'm good at taking care of myself. I've been doing it my whole life."

I realized how stupid that sounded, considering how I'd be dead about ten times over without him and Sam watching out for me, but I didn't take it back. I'd never been hurt like this before and I'd never had to be looked after directly speaking. Or something to that affect. I mean, it made sense in my head anyway.

That is, until I realized that Dean looked hurt, like I'd slapped him in the face. Oh, God. I hadn't meant to hurt him. Not like that. Dean needed to be needed and I'd basically told him that I didn't need him, which wasn't true at all. I needed him like I needed air to breathe. As pathetic as it sounded, he was my life force now.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"No, it's fine. You know, whatever." He tossed my bag on the bed and turned his back to me.

"No, it's not fine. I shouldn't have said that, that way. I just…I'm not good at letting people take care of me. Physically." He turned back around, confusion replacing the hurt that I'd put there. "I'm usually the one who takes care of the people around me…and not the other way around. I grew up taking care of myself and taking care of my mom." I paused. "It's sort of a hard habit to break."

"Like you take care of me?" he asked softly and I nodded. "So, let me take care of you. That's what people who are in a relationship do. Take care of each other. I mean, you've done nothing but be there for me since I met you. Let me be there for you. You don't have to be strong all the time."

My breath caught in my throat, but I said okay anyway.

"So, how bad are you hurt?" he asked again.

"I don't know. I'm bleeding again. I ripped something when I sat up. I need to change my bandages."

He blinked a few times and then led me to the bathroom. "You're bleeding and yet you wasted time arguing with me?"

"Yes, because I'm stubborn like that."

He shook his head, looking like he knew exactly how stubborn I was, but that he wouldn't change it for the world. I mean, my stubbornness was one of the reasons I was still alive.

He helped me get my shirt off without me having to lift my arms much. "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you were bleeding." He helped me up onto the counter, my feet dangling like a child's. He slowly unwrapped the bandages from around me, watching my face the whole time, probably looking for any sign of extra discomfort. But there wasn't any.

After the bandages were off, I saw Dean glance down, concerned. I didn't have to look, I could feel the blood dripping slowly down towards the pajama pants I had on. Dean threw the bandages away and then he began to repair the damage I had done, cleaning the wounds so they wouldn't get infected. I didn't know if I could get infected.

It sounded stupid even in my head, but out of all the time we'd spent together, this seemed the most intimate physically. I mean, we'd kissed, but this was me laying my vulnerability out for him to see. This was me letting him know that I wasn't perfect and yet he was still accepting me anyway

"Hey." Sam's hand waved in front of my face twice, bringing me out of my very long and vivid memory. "You're spacing again."

I grinned, swatting at his hand. "I was bored." That explained everything. I realized we were sitting still and looked around. We were at the gas station I'd known we needed to stop at. I thought about getting out to stretch, but then realized I didn't need to anymore.

Dean wasn't at the gas pump, so I assumed he was in the store. I'd assumed right, because a few minutes later, he came out holding two soda's and a water, which was mine.

When he got in the car, Dean handed us our drinks and then started the car. Surrender, by Cheap Trick came on.

My water bottle was ice cold, so I grinned mischievously and brought it up to the back of his neck and held it there, making him jump a little. I brought the bottle back down to my lap.

"Hey!" he said loudly, and Sam and I started laughing. "That was cold."

"Yes, that was the point, Dean."

"Hm." He didn't sound angry, so I knew he was just messing with me. I scooted up closer to the front seat and wrapped my arms around him from behind.

"I love you," I whispered in his ear closest to the window so that Sam wouldn't hear, kissing the nape of his neck where my bottle had touched, before settling in the backseat again and singing along to the radio.

------------- -

Sam and Dean had switched seats every now and then until we got to Philadelphia. Sam would sleep when Dean was driving and vice versa. And I slept whenever I wanted.

When we got to the apartment building, we went to the one the latest girl had gone missing from, and Sam picked the lock.

They both had EMF meters, but they weren't getting much, and I wasn't either. But I'd learned that I couldn't always tell when something was around. Like the time Dean had been in the hospital-I shuddered just thinking about that-I hadn't been able to sense the Reaper lady, Tessa. I had a pretty good theory as to why that was, and it was because death was a natural part of life, so there was nothing supernatural about it. She had a job to do it and she did it.

I'd also learned that my body reacted differently to different things. Like I'd learned demons and spirits gave me the chills, whereas that zombie chick, Angela, had made me feel like my stomach was turning.

But here, in this apartment, I wasn't getting anything. But that didn't mean there wasn't anything here.

Dean moved further into the room, and Sam turned to go towards a hallway, but his meter went off. He moved towards wherever it was pointing to.

Oh…a light socket. That was weird. There was black gooey stuff on it. "Ew." Sam went to touch it, but I grabbed his hand. "Maybe you shouldn't. We don't even know what it is."

"Yes, we do," Dean said. Now he was touching it. "That's ectoplasm." Oh, so it was a ghost.

"Holy crap," Sam said.

"Well, guys, I think I know what we're dealing with here," Dean said. Sam and I looked at him expectantly. "It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man."

I rolled my eyes, but grinned at the same time. "It's a ghost," I said. "A powerful one."

"Yeah, I've only seen this stuff, like, twice. I mean, to make this stuff, you have to be one majorly pissed off spirit." Sam looked closer at the stuff.

"All right," Dean said. "Well, let's find this badass before he snags anymore girls."

We left the room and started walking down the hallway, but then we heard voices.

"This is convenient and spacious, too. You know, my friend told me that I absolutely had to come and check it out, and I have to admit that she was right. You did a really good job with this place."

To my surprise, Jo rounded the corner. She seemed to be talking to who could only be the superintendent.

"What the hell are you doin' here?" Dean asked, caught by surprise as well.

"There you are, honey," she said, walking up to us and wrapping her arm around Dean's waist. "This is my boyfriend, Dean, and his buddy, Sam." She looked in my direction. "That's Alyson. She's the one who told me about this place."

I smiled at the superintendent, but inside I was seething. I wanted to tell her to take her hands off the merchandise, but that would definitely blow our cover.

"Good to meet you." He looked at Dean. "Quite a gal you've got here."

"Oh yeah, she's a pistol," Dean said, forcing a grin.

"So, did you already check out the apartment?" she asked, and Dean looked at her like she was crazy. "The one for rent?" she specified.

"Y-yeah," Dean answered. "Loved it. Great flow."

"How'd you get in?" the superintendent guy asked.

"It was open."

"Now, Ed," Jo started, drawing the attention back to her. "When did the last tenant move out?"

"Oh, about a month ago. Cut and run, too. Stiffed me for the rent."

Jo smiled widely. "Well, her loss, our gain. 'Cause if Dean-o loves it, then it's good enough for me."

"Oh, sweetie." He hit her on the back a little harder than was necessary, which knocked the smile off her face. But put one on mine.

Jo pulled a wad of money out of her pocket. "We'll take it."

I watched as Ed took the money, stunned, and began walking away. Dean immediately moved away from Jo.

"You know, we weren't actually planning on staying here," Dean said. He looked back and forth between Jo and me. We were both blondes, granted she was blonder than me.

We began walking to the apartment she'd just paid for and when we walked in, I had to admit, it wasn't that bad, but it looked more like an artist's studio than anything else. But it was already furnished, so that was a plus.

"Does your mother even know you're here?" Dean asked, sitting on the kitchen table.

"I told her I was going to Vegas."

"You think she's gonna buy that?" Dean was skeptical.

"I'm not an idiot. I got Ash to lay a credit card trail all the way to the casinos." I shook my head and her gaze fell on me. "What? You never lied to your mom?"

"No. I didn't. I never had anything to lie to my mom about. I always figured that if she didn't want me doing something, it was for my own good, so I usually listened, and when I didn't I was up front about it." Truth was, my mom trusted me to do what was right in the first place, so she didn't have to tell me what to do.

"You shouldn't be here," Dean said to Jo.

Jo looked at Sam and then back at Dean. "Well, I am, so untwist your boxers and deal with it."

"Hey, where'd you get all that money from, anyways?" Sam asked.

"Working at the Roadhouse," Jo said obviously.

"Hunters don't tip that well," Dean argued.

"Well, they aren't that good at poker, either." Jo smiled smartly at him.

I shook my head. Oh dear, this was going to be a long hunt if they were gonna keep this up. I looked at Sam. "Maybe we should go get the stuff out of the car. You guys are gonna need weapons in case this thing shows up."

"You know what? That's a great idea," Dean said. "I'll come with you." Or he would have if his phone hadn't started ringing. "Yeah?" he answered. "Oh, hi, Ellen."

"Don't you tell her," Jo insisted quietly.

"I'm tellin' her." Dean placed his hand over the mouthpiece so Ellen couldn't hear.

I started laughing silently. They were bickering like siblings would. I still thought it was going to be a long hunt, though. I went towards the door. "Come on, Sam. By the time we get done everything should be settled."

Sam and I went out the door and walked in companionable silence for a little while, but Sam broke it by asking whether or not I was okay with Jo being here.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Uh, maybe because she was all over Dean?"

I shrugged. "But Dean wasn't all over her. And that's what matters."

Sam smiled slightly. "You're pretty laid-back relationship-wise. Most girls would've freaked out."

Again, I shrugged. "There's nothing to freak out about. I mean, Jo doesn't even know that Dean and I are together, so…I can't be mad at her. Not really."

We got outside to the car and Sam popped the trunk and started putting stuff in a bag. "Hey, Sam?" I asked, opening the back car door and grabbing my bag of clothes.

"Yeah?"

"If I ask you a question, do you promise not to bring it up to Dean until I say it's okay?"

Sam looked at me cautiously. "Depends. Does he need to know? Are you in trouble?"

I laughed, shaking my head. "No more than normal." He grinned. "No, um, what I wanna ask you is about Dean, actually."

"Oh." He looked relieved, and he resumed packing. "Okay, shoot."

"Would he be mad if I spent money on him? Or, ya know, would he get uncomfortable or anything?"

He looked up at me suspiciously. "Why?"

"Um, I was kinda thinking about doing something special for his birthday."

He laughed. "It's the beginning of November. His birthday isn't until the end of January. Why are you worried about it now?"

"Because I want to know if both of you would agree to it." I picked up both Sam's and Dean's bags of clothes. "And I would kinda need your help with some of the stuff. Ya know, like making sure we don't have a job that week. And then, I can't buy alcohol, and you know Dean's gonna want that."

Sam finished packing and put the bag over his shoulder. "Well, what exactly are you planning?"

"Not anything huge. Just, ya know, maybe renting a place out for a week or so. So we can relax. I mean, you're totally invited. I'm not excluding you. But I know that you'd accept that. I don't wanna make things weird between Dean and me by doing something like that."

"No, I think…I think he'd like that," Sam said, closing the trunk. "I mean, with everything that's happened, it'll be nice to do something normal."

"Okay, good. So, where should we go? Where would Dean wanna go? I was thinking like maybe something in the mountains. Or maybe, I should pick somewhere warm with a lake nearby or something."

"Either would be good,' Sam answered and then grinned. "We can discuss details later, but we're gonna have to rent it under a fake name. Don't want anything to crash in."

I groaned. "Yeah, that would suck.

We walked back into the building and went to the room. Dean was pacing back and forth, and Jo was sitting at the table, which had a blueprint of the building on it, along with articles and pictures that had been in the file she'd given us. She was twirling a small knife in her hand.

"You're staying?" She nodded. I looked at Dean and then back at her. "You promise you won't try and kill each other?"

"I'll behave if he does."

"Good enough," I replied.

Sam sat down on the opposite side of Jo and started unloading the weapons from the bag onto the table. He was going to go through them and make sure all of them were ready to use if and when we needed them.

"Anyway, this place was built in 1924. It was originally a warehouse, converted into apartments a few months ago," Jo said, looking back at Dean.

"Yeah? And what was here before 1924?" Dean asked, challenging her. As I'd said before, this was going to be a long hunt. A long, fun-filled hunt. Better break out the headache medication now.

"Nothing. An empty field," Jo answered, continuing to twirl the knife.

"So, most likely scenario," Sam started, "someone died bloody in the building, and now he's back and raising hell."

"No, I already checked," Jo stated. "In the past eighty-two years, zero violent deaths. Unless you count a janitor who slipped on a wet floor." She paused and then sighed. "Would you sit down, please?"

She was talking to Dean, who stopped pacing and looked my way. I shrugged and he smirked, coming over to the table to take a seat. I had been leaning against the table, but when he'd passed by me, he'd grabbed me by the waist to bring me down on his lap.

I held my breath, waiting for Jo to go off, but she didn't. She just looked disappointed, and maybe a little hurt. I felt bad for her.

"So, have you checked the police reports? County death records?" Dean was challenging her again, which I didn't think he needed to be doing while he was within striking distance and she had a knife in her hand.

"Yes. Obituaries, mortuary reports, and seven other sources. I know what I'm doing," Jo said sharply. So, yeah, she was definitely hurt.

"I think the jury's still out on that one," Dean said. "And could you put the knife down?"

I shook my head, annoyed. "Could you two please try to get along? We're gonna be working together on this, and the longer you two keep bickering, the longer you'll have to be around each other."

Everything was silent for a minute. It was an uncomfortable silence, but things were quiet, all the same.

"Thank you," I said softly, grabbing hold of Dean's arm, which was still around my waist, and squeezing gently to let him know that I wasn't mad at him, but he needed to behave.

"Okay," Sam said loudly. "So, no violent deaths. It's something else, then. Maybe some kind of cursed object that brought the spirit with it."

"We've gotta scan the whole building. Everywhere we can get to, right?" Jo asked.

"Right," Dean agreed. "You, me, and Alyson will take the top two floors." Dean made like he was gonna stand up, so I got off his lap.

"We'd move faster if we split up," Jo said, standing up to face him.

"Oh, this isn't negotiable." Dean smirked mirthlessly. "You two are coming with me."

"You know, I should really go with Sam," I said, not wanting to hear them bicker the whole time.

"No, you should come with me, to help Jo and me get along," Dean said, and I groaned helplessly.

"Fine, just hurry up so we can get this over with," I said snappily.

Jo looked in my direction. "Am I getting that you want me to be somewhere else?"

I sighed. "No, that's not it," I replied honestly. "Really. It's just, behave, okay? Even if Dean doesn't." I looked at Dean now. "And don't you start anything."

"I wasn't doin' anything," he said indignantly. "I'm…I'll be good. Promise."

I smiled slightly, appeased. "Well, good, because I'm starting to feel like a parent here, getting between you two. And I don't like it." I mean, really, I got that they rubbed each other the wrong way, but, come on, they could at least try to get along. For the sake of my sanity.

------------- -

Dean, Jo, and I were on the top floor now, both of them had EMF meters in their hands, and I was in the middle of them.

"Ya know, if you're gonna ride me this close, it's only decent if you buy me dinner," Jo said to Dean.

I stopped walking for a second and shut my eyes. It had been too much to hope for that this scanning mission would go by in peace. Which was why I'd wanted to go with Sam.

Dean, though, didn't try to argue. He was being good like he'd promised he would. Oh, I loved him. He did state a fact, though, which I was okay with. "You know, it's bad enough I lied to your mom, but if you think I'm letting you out of my sight…I don't know if you noticed, but you're kind of the spirit's type."

"Exactly," Jo said, surprising me into opening my eyes.

I resumed walking. "Wait, you wanna be bait?"

"Quickest way to draw it out and you know it," she said, looking at me.

Dean scoffed and I shook my head. "Quickest way to get yourself hurt, you mean," I said. "Or worse."

"I know how to do this job," she said heatedly.

"Jo, you've got no experience," Dean said, and he wasn't taunting her or challenging her this time. He was telling her the truth. "What you do have is a bunch of half-baked romantic notions that some barfly put in your head."

"And now, you sound like my mother," she said.

"Oh, and that's a bad thing? 'Cause let me tell you-"

"What?" she cut him off.

Dean sighed. "Jo, you've got options, okay? Sam and Alyson and I were forced into this. No one in their right mind chooses this life. I mean, my dad started me on this when I was so young, I wish I could do something else."

"You love the job," Jo protested.

"Yeah, but I'm a little twisted."

"You don't think I'm a little twisted too?"

"He thinks you'd be safer at home," I said quietly.

Dean was quiet for a while and then he stopped walking. "Jo, you're got a mother that worries about you, who wants something more for you. Those are good things." I'd said basically the same thing Dean was saying to her, the other day, but she didn't seem to be listening to him either. There was her problem, she didn't listen. "You don't throw things like that away. They might be hard to find later."

The three of us began walking again and I got the sense that something was around. But Jo didn't know about my abilities so there was no way I could really let Dean know without having to explain how I knew. So I decided to speak half-truths.

"Dean," I said. "Um, I'm getting the chills here." I looked up at him and smiled because I knew he got it. "Maybe I'm catching a cold or something," I added mostly just for Jo's benefit.

"Yeah," she said.

Dean stopped walking again and began sniffing the air. "Do you smell that or is it just me?"

"What is that? A gas leak?" Jo asked.

"No, it's something else," I said. I could smell it too now.

Jo's EMF meter started going off like crazy. It was leading us to an air vent. "Mazel Tov. You just found your first spirit," Dean said, kneeling down in front of the vent. He pulled a flashlight out and handed it to Jo, who knelt down beside him.

Dean pulled the vent panel off and looked around without getting too near. "There's something in there."

Dean pulled the sleeve of his shirt up and began to stick his hand in the vent, but I grabbed it. "Don't do that."

Dean looked puzzled. "Why not?"

"Because, um, something could grab it," I said obviously. "And, ya know, I like your arm just where it is."

"Nothing's gonna grab me," he said, trying to reassure me. Then he stuck his arm in the vent. He felt around for a minute and then he got this look on his face and I knew he'd found something. He pulled out a clump of long blonde hair and it had a section of scalp still attached to it. "Somebody's keeping souvenirs," Dean said, disgust apparent in his voice.

"Okay, that's creepy on a level I hardly knew existed," I said. "What does a ghost need with souvenirs?"

Neither Jo nor Dean had the answer, but it didn't matter. We just needed to find out who it was and get rid of it.

Okay, another chapter, up, obviously. LOL. Anyway, let me know what you think about the whole Jo and Alyson barely there friendship. I know she kinda snapped a few times in this chapter, even at Dean, but I feel that she's the type of person that would tell you when you were doing something wrong even if she did love you. So, yeah, reviews are always welcome. Thank you!