Chapter Thirteen

"So this is the bar that we hang out at when we're in town," Sam explained as they sat down at a table at a place called C-Bar.

"So, is this more of my cultural education?"

"It's no Roadhouse, but we make due with what we've got," Dean said, flagging down a waitress and ordering a beer. "You guys want anything?"

Liz shook her head. "I'm fine."

"I'll have whatever's on tap," Sam told the waitress when she looked at him.

"What's the Roadhouse?" Liz asked, looking between the brothers.

"Ellen's bar. It burnt a few months ago," Dean answered. "It was kind of a gathering place for hunters."

"Ellen owned a bar? I can totally see that."

"Totally," Dean said mockingly, faking a valley-girl accent.

"Shut up," Liz said crossly.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, the boys sipping their beers and Liz looking around.

"I like this place," she declared finally. "It has character. I can almost feel the hepatitis C trying to infect me. Oh, I get it. Is that why it's called C-Bar?"

Dean cocked an eyebrow at her. "If you're gonna keep saying things like that, I'm gonna have to ask you to sit somewhere else."

Silence fell over the table again.

"So," Sam finally said, "did Bobby tell you what he has lined up for us next?"

"You know, we used to do things without him having to tell us to," Dean pointed out.

Sam shrugged. "We did. I kind of like it with him doing the research."

"I guess. It's just, hunting didn't used to feel so much like a job."

"So why doesn't Ellen open up another bar?" Liz asked, interjecting herself into the conversation.

"Why don't you ask her?" Dean replied irritably.

"Maybe I will."

"Great. You do that. I'm sure she'll be glad to talk to you about it. But you see, Sam and I were having a conversation, so I'm gonna go back to that," he explained in frustration.

"You were having a conversation, true, but you were thinking about that girl over there's ass. It was giving me a headache. Maybe you could stop being a pig. Just for a minute."

Liz got the picture of bare breasts in her head and her lip curled. "You're doing that on purpose now," she complained. She stood up. "Where's the bathroom in this place?"

"Down the hall to the left," Sam answered. "But I wouldn't touch anything if I were you."

Liz scoffed. "This bar is named after hepatitis C. Like I would touch anything."

XXX

When Liz emerged from the bathroom, the table she, Sam, and Dean had been sitting at was being cleared. She looked around and saw Sam playing pool with some guys he seemed to know and Dean talking at the bar with a pretty blonde.

"Are you kidding me?" she said to herself and stomped to the bar. She stopped behind Dean and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Can you not go one night without getting laid?" Liz asked when he turned around. "I mean, I went to the bathroom. I was gone like five minutes is all."

"Liz…" Dean said in a warning voice.

"No," she cut him off indignantly, "It's bad enough that I have to come along for the ride every time you decide to screw one of these bimbos, I shouldn't have to actually watch you pick them up. I'm just asking you for one night. I really need some sleep." Her angry tone had faded to pleading by the end of her rant.

Dean started to speak again but was cut off by the blonde.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" she asked.

Liz swung her gaze around to meet hers. "I'm his wife, so why don't you go scamper off to someone…" Liz trailed off at the stunned look on the girl's face.

"You're his what?" she asked, disbelief evident in her voice. "She's your what, Dean?"

Liz looked at Dean and then back at the girl she now recognized as Jo. "I…" she began.

"I think you've said enough, Liz," Dean cut her off, barely reigning in his anger. "Why don't you call it a night and head back to Bobby's?"

Liz glared at him defiantly but stepped back anyway. "I'm sorry I was such a bitch," she told Jo. "I didn't realize who you were."

Jo looked at Liz. "Who am I?" she asked challengingly.

Liz gave her a sad smile. "You're Jo, obviously. I should have known it right away."

"Why is that?" Jo asked, confusion clouding her eyes. "Why should you have known me right away?"

"Because," Liz replied. "Dean thinks of you…"

Dean interrupted then, grabbing Liz's arm and forcibly moving her towards the door. "I thought I told you to leave."

Liz dug her heels in the floor and wrenched her arm away from Dean's grasp. She took a deep breath before locking gazes with Dean. "Well, technically, you phrased it as a question, but…"

Dean did not let her finish. He grabbed her and jerked her to him, causing her to squeak in surprise. He leaned down and growled in her ear, "Technically, I don't care. I am done playing with you, Liz. If you are not out of this bar in five seconds I am going to drag you out of it, hog-tie you, and throw you in the backseat of my car. Don't think that I won't."

He let her go then, and she stepped back to glare at him. There was a hint of uncertainty in her stare, though, and she clenched her jaw and left the bar before he had a chance to prove how serious he was.

Dean took a breath to help get his anger under control before walking back to Jo. "Jo, I…" he began but was cut off by Jo's right hook. He stumbled back and rubbed his jaw.

"That's just great, Dean. You're married? Well, congratulations."

"Jo…"

"No, Dean," Jo said, tears appearing in the corners of her eyes. "You don't get to say anything." She fumbled in her pocket and pulled out some folded bills. She slapped them on the bar and turned back to Dean. "Have a nice night," she said angrily as she stood and followed Liz out of the bar.

Dean followed her with his eyes until she left the bar. "Women," he mumbled to himself. He got the bartender's attention. "Keep 'em coming, buddy."

XXX

The lack of noise when Jo stepped outside of the bar was a bit disorienting. She looked around and saw, what was it Dean called her? Oh, yeah, Liz. She saw Liz leaning against the Impala seemingly warring with herself.

Liz noticed Jo and waved tentatively. "I rode with Sam and Dean," she explained. "I'm trying to decide whether I should suck it up and go back inside or just hang out here. Was he really mad?"

Jo continued to stare at Liz blankly. "You can ride with me if you want," she offered finally.

"Thanks, that's nice of you."

"I don't like you."

"Okay."

"I just thought you should know that so that you don't try to make small talk on the way to Bobby's."

Liz saluted her mockingly. "Duly noted."

XXX

Ellen leaned up against the railing where Liz was perched. "I think it is time that we had a talk," she said.

"My parents covered the birds and the bees with me quite some time ago, but thanks for your concern," Liz replied without turning to face her.

Ellen's tone became severe. "Don't think I won't smack your smart mouth," she told her. "I heard enough of it raising Jo, and I don't feel like sitting here and listening to it from you."

"Whatever."

"I wouldn't test me if I were you, Liz."

Liz smiled a slow, taunting smile. "Ellen there's nothing you could threaten me with that would scare me."

"Do you really want to test that theory?"

"I want you to get to the point."

"Alright, I will. I want to know why we should trust you."

"Excuse me?"

"Your loyalties and motivations are murky at best. I've known you for several weeks now, and I still don't understand why you actually care about Dean and Sam, so I can't trust that you are truly looking out for them. So tell me why I should trust you."

Liz considered Ellen for a moment. "You're right to be wary. I have no real ties to you other than the fact that I can't escape Dean. I can't go home, but I have nothing for me here. I look out for Dean and Sam to the extent that it suits me. Otherwise, I look out for myself because there is no one else doing it." She shrugged uncaringly. "You shouldn't trust me."

Ellen looked out thoughtfully at the space in front of her for a moment. "How are you and Dean handling everything?" she asked finally.

Liz collapsed in on herself. "I don't know. I'm trying to deal, but I don't know how we are going to do this for an extended amount of time without killing one another. We drive one another crazy. I'm supposed to live for the rest of my life with him? I don't know how to do that. I want to leave because I don't know how to be here and you all hate me, but I don't have anywhere else to go." Tears came to Liz's eyes as she finished.

"People never wanted out of these arrangements before?" Ellen asked softly.

Liz laughed bitterly. "Of course people wanted out of them. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as running down to the courthouse and filing some papers. The way out is just unacceptable as far as I am concerned."

Ellen raised an eyebrow. "Why don't I be the judge of that?"

"You're not his mother, you know."

"I'm the closest thing he's got."

"I guess that's true," Liz acknowledged. "And the answer is death."

"What answer is death?"

"Dean can get out of our marriage by killing me. It doesn't really matter how he does it, though throwing the woman off a cliff has been in vogue lately."

Ellen looked at her in horrified silence. "Your village needs to enter the modern world."

"Tell me something I don't know," Liz responded resentfully.

"Does Dean know about this?"

"No. I didn't know what he would do about it, so I didn't want to give him the option. I kinda like being alive."

"Dean wouldn't find killing you an acceptable means of getting what he wants."

"Yeah, well…you'll have to forgive my caution. I grew up surrounded by men who had few such qualms."

"They did a number on you."

"Yes, they did."

Ellen put up a hand to halt any further conversation. "Josephine Harvelle, I know you're listening. Why don't you come join the conversation?"

There was nothing but silence for a moment then Jo stepped onto the porch sheepishly. "Hi, Mom."

Ellen took a moment to size up Jo. "You look good," she commented. "How have you been?"

Jo shifted awkwardly. "Good. I've been good."

"I'm glad. You've met Liz?"

Jo nodded. "I have."

"Why don't I let you two catch up?" Liz suggested, pushing away from the railing and heading toward the door.

"Don't be silly," Jo insisted. "Your conversation was much more interesting than anything Mom and I could have to talk about. You're untrustworthy, unhappy, and trying to resist Dean. Fascinating stuff. Continue."

"That's about the gist of it, actually," Liz said with a wry smile.

"Is she why you called me here, Mom?" Jo asked Ellen. "Did you want me to come here and see her so that I would move on from Dean? That's not gonna happen. Their marriage is not real, Mom."

Ellen rolled her eyes. "There's no need to be so melodramatic, Jo," she replied. "I called you because Bobby wanted your help on a job."

"Oh, please, Mom, you're not fooling me. Bobby did not want my help on a job."

"Well, I may have had to convince him that he wanted your help on a job," Ellen hedged, "but he still agreed to let you go."

Jo got a hopeful look on her face. "You really trust me to go hunting?" she asked.

Ellen sighed. "Don't get me wrong; I'm not happy about it. I'd rather you be with Bobby than out on your own, though."

"I can't believe you called me here for a job!" Jo exclaimed happily. "I'm gonna go put my stuff up and decide what I'm gonna need. Do you know what we'll be hunting?"

Ellen shook her head. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Jo was too happy to care. "It doesn't matter. I'll figure out something."

She left, and Liz and Ellen watched her go. Liz turned to Ellen when Jo was out of sight. "Does Bobby really have a job for her?" she asked curiously.

Ellen met Liz's questioning gaze. "There's always a job. Bobby can come up with something."

"If you were trying to make her move on from Dean, I don't think your plan worked."

"She's seen you now. It'll sink in that he's no longer an option."

Liz shrugged noncommittally. "For your sake, I hope you're right. It could get messy if you're not."

"It's not like I'm trying to break them up. Dean's a crush, nothing more. I don't even think he likes her."

"Oh, he likes her; he just likes being alive more. He's scared of you and won't push it."

Ellen smiled a pleased smile. "Good."