No rights to Supernatural.
Killing a super-mutated, mentally gifted pseudo-person was actually kind of challenging. Or maybe it wasn't. Bobby, huddled among the boys over his desk, couldn't find any information on how to do it, since the Odi research material was pretty thin. The group assumed the Colt and Ruby's knife, both of which were altered or retrieved by Ruby in some way or another.
Dean twirled the knife in his hands. "You don't think this is magical, do you?"
"I doubt Ruby would allow it to exist if it was," a new voice chimed in. "She's quite anti-magic nowadays." The boys turned to see Jo enter the room sporting a fresh, well-fitting, white t-shirt and, as Dean happily noticed, form-fitting jeans.
Sam did not take her entrance so appreciatively, even with the new clothing selection. "Hi, Jo," he greeted monotonously.
"Um . . . hey."
"Ignore Jolly Ol' Sam over here," Dean advised. "What's the deal with knife and the gun if Ruby isn't into the mojo anymore?"
Jo shrugged. "Maybe it's the type of metal. Or the proper thrusting motion. But it's not magic, or anything else deemed controversial."
"Ruby never struck me as conservative," Dean noted.
"I know," another new voice chimed in, her voice carrying as she strutted past the group into the kitchen, "I'm just way too sexy for it to make sense."
"Hey, Ruby," Sam greeted much more warmly then he greeted Jo.
Hypocrite, Dean noted.
"What's everybody up to?" Jo asked, seeing the huddled men.
"You'd be informed if you were involved," Sam said gruffly.
Jo shot him a cold stare.
Ruby returned from the kitchen with a soda in hand. "What's going on?" she asked, popping the top with a satisfying fizz.
"Research on how to kill the Odi," Sam informed her.
Well, Jo thought sourly.
"What happened to being the nice brother?" Jo puckered.
Sam gave her a frustrated look that rarely crossed Sam's face, at least, not in the time Jo had been with him.
Jo groaned inwardly as a possible reason occurred to her.
Odi hate, obviously.
Jo looked to Dean for further signs of the hate epidemic, but he seemed rather placid as he regarded her. Nothing too evil seemed to be lacing up his feelers at the moment.
Dean noticed her pensive expression.
"Something wrong?" he asked concernedly.
"I'm not sure," Jo answered honestly. Before anyone could ask any more questions, she had turned and ambled back to the bedroom she and Ruby shared. She closed the door quietly behind her, and then put a finger to her lips thoughtfully.
A moment later, she heard the door open behind her. Good, she thought. Talking things out with Ruby should help her make sense of things.
When she turned, however, it was Dean looking down at her.
"Uh, hey," she acknowledged him in surprise.
"Hey," he nodded back, shutting the door behind his back like she had just done.
"You're not going to pull out R—"
"No, I'm not here to knife you," Dean assured her. "Have you noticed Sam behaving strangely in the past few hours?"
"He's been considerably less sweet," Jo agreed.
"So he's being meaner, whereas I . . . you know, kissed you."
Jo nodded. "Yes."
"That's kind of funky, don't you think?"
"Absolutely," Jo concurred, "but if I thought I could do something about Odi issues, don't you think I would have done so already?"
Dean sighed. "You think Bobby's starting to hate you again?"
"I don't know. I didn't really gauge him while I was out there."
"This isn't making much sense," Dean pondered, rubbing the back of his neck. "How could Sam hate you again when I don't?"
"Maybe you pushed past enough when you," she made her voice low and mocking, "you know, kissed me. Like Sleeping Beauty, except you're the Beauty and the Prince at the same time."
"Does that make you the Beast?"
"Wrong fairytale, Dean," Jo shook her head. "You disgrace the name of childhood."
"Hey, I was being trained to hunt as a child," he defended. "You started, what, three years ago?"
As Dean announced the timestamp, something behind his eyes seemed to clarify itself. The thought of Jo's first hunt seemed to clamber its way into his brain.
"Whoa," Dean said breathily, "you were so annoying."
Jo's face fell.
"Clear out all that negativity from the memory, and I think you'll find I was a sweetheart."
"You know what's weird," Dean said wistfully, "I'm not holding it against you. I like you too much."
Jo let out a small smile. "Well, thanks for that."
"Me getting over it," he began, "you really think it's because I kissed you?"
Jo shrugged. "I don't know what to think. Do you still hate me?"
Dean hesitated, as if psychoanalyzing his feelings. "Yeah. Some. But I like you, too."
"But still, hate?"
Dean nodded.
"Well, let's see what I can do about that."
"What do you—"
Dean could hate her again in the morning. In ten minutes. But he kinda-sorta didn't now, and after the thrift store display, she felt now was a decent time seize by the neck with both arms and pull his face down to hers.
At first, Dean didn't respond very noticeably. He didn't even go stock still or pull back an inch. He was just there, a prop in the situation. After a quick assessment of the situation, however, he got into it nicely.
His rigid body relaxed a bit, as if melting into her. He placed his hands gingerly on the small of her back, drawing deeper into her.
A small smile was able to spread on Jo's already occupied lips as she slid her hands around Dean's waist. A second later, Dean's lips formed one, too, as if the two were silently exchanging a clever inside joke.
Then the door burst open.
It bumped roughly against Dean's back, bopping him into Jo and abruptly putting a stop to their make out session. She stumbled back a bit on the impact, and Dean, a hand still on her back, was able to steady her before she could fall onto the bed.
Dean angled his head at the door to see the intruder.
"Hey, Dean," Sam greeted brusquely, giving the human entanglement a cold stare.
Dean dropped his arms, much to Jo's dissatisfaction, and started brushing off his shirt as if he'd gotten Jo germs on him. He didn't seem very upset about it, Jo noted happily.
"What do you want, Sam?" he asked just as brusquely.
"You left pretty suddenly," Sam pointed out, and Jo could feel the tension mounting. "I came to see what was up. Clearly you're alright."
"Yeah, I'm fine, Sammy," he assured him, defensiveness lacing his words. "Don't worry about me."
Sam's hard expression didn't falter. He pursed his lip once, then said, "Okay, then." He reached back for the door and closed it too politely for it not to mean something.
Jo stood there sheepishly once Sam had gone. She wanted to apologize profusely now. Getting in the way of Sam and Dean's relationship was a major mark against anyone who entered Sam and Dean's life. By her fault or not, it seemed that was exactly what she was doing.
Dean suddenly turned back to her, "Now, where were we?"
And the apologetic thoughts dissolved in her brain as she opted to just make out some more.
I mean, even if it's criticism, you can seriously feel free to review...please? :)
But thanks for the reviews you've already left! Quite lovely, you are.