A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks to Brandibuckeye, Kissacazador, Soccerchick6 and Wincehsterlove94 for reviewing chapter 20. So glad you liked it. There's something in this chapter we don't see much of: Dean getting flustered around a girl:) Yes, I know, unnatural. Please enjoy!
Chapter 21
MJ's jaw dropped as she stared at Jenna, unable to so much as look away. Her heart jumped into her throat as one question popped into her head.
How much did she know?
Exactly fifteen minutes and thirty seconds after Jenna took MJ in Dean was at the reception desk demanding to speak to Jenna. Sam was standing behind Dean, smiling apologetically at the receptionist, who looked like she was used to hearing far worse than Dean's rant.
"Sir, I'm sure she'll be out for you shortly. Please have a seat."
"Well, isn't there someone else I could speak to, like a supervisor?"
"Dean?" Jenna called from the door. Dean turned and crossed the room to Jenna without so much as a backward glance at the young woman at the desk.
"Uh, sorry. Thanks for your help." Sam said to the receptionist with a forced smile before following after Dean.
Jenna brought them both into an empty conference room and invited them to have a seat.
"Where's MJ?" Dean asked, standing beside the door.
"She's in the room next door. I'd like to talk to you both alone before she joins us. Have a seat." Jenna repeated with a smile.
Dean and Sam obeyed, taking the seats nearest the door. Jenna sat across from them.
"I just had a nice conversation with MJ. Sounds like you guys have been busy since we last met."
Dean shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Sam and I have been working a lot. We stayed a couple weeks with a family friend. MJ seemed to really like that. And we took a vacation to the Adirondacks."
Jenna nodded. "To Tupper Lake, right?"
Dean nodded. "MJ mentioned it?" He was surprised, given what had happened there. Then again, MJ would have wanted to talk up everything they did to make it seem like things were going smoothly.
Jenna nodded. "She did, but I already knew you were there." Dean just stared at her. This was what he was waiting for. He had known in his gut that something was up since talking to Jenna the night of the dance.
Dean made no response. He thought back to that angry phone call from Jenna, that seemed like it had been a million years ago now, as he waited for her to explain. Sam sat beside Dean, still as a statue, keeping his mouth shut.
Jenna put her pen down. "Look, guys, here's the deal." She began, pulling a sheet of paper from a manila folder. She held it up. "This is a letter I got from a guy named Nolan Parsons, AKA Scotty McWhorter. He wrote to me from prison. He felt compelled to tell me all about," She held the letter up reading directly from it. "The horrible abuse and neglect that I witnessed Mary Jane suffer at the hands of her two brothers. The oldest, Dean, struck Mary Jane almost daily and called her horrible demeaning names like 'slut', 'bitch' and 'whore'. The other brother, Sam, acted very inappropriately toward Mary Jane, making comments about her body that made her very uncomfortable, and even touching her in a sexual manner." She tossed the letter down, a look of disdain on her face. "It goes on and on."
Dean was furious. He opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by Sam's loud denial. "That never happened! That's disgusting. I would never-" Sam looked away, taking a deep breath. Dean turned to his brother, seeing the hurt and anger on his face, the effort to keep his cool evident in the rigid set of his shoulders. "I would never do anything to hurt my sister."
Dean grasped Sam's shoulder, turning back toward Jenna. "This is ridiculous-"
Jenna put her hand up, signaling for Dean to stop. "Quite frankly I don't put much stock in the angry ramblings of imprisoned felons. I just need to hear from you guys what really went on here." She stared directly at Dean, a determined expression on her face. "The truth."
Dean took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. "This guy," He said gesturing toward the letter. "We ran into him at our friend Bobby's house. He offered to help me and Sam out on this freelance private investigator case we took in Tupper Lake. He got…fresh with MJ. He came onto her." Dean modified the story, knowing that the truth would raise questions about why they didn't involve the police. "When I found out I went a little crazy and got in a fight with the guy. He pulled a knife on me." Dean lifted his shirt, revealing the stitches in his abdomen. "I overtook him and knocked him out cold. That's when we found all the guns and knives he had with him. We tipped off the police, knowing they would take care of him." Dean finished, shaking his head. "The only thing I'm guilty of here is trusting that asshole." He looked down, his heart hammering in his chest. He took a deep breath in an effort to keep his voice steady. "I wouldn't call her those names, say those things to her." He lifted his gaze toward Jenna. "Never."
Jenna picked up her pen again, quickly scribbling something down in her notebook. "Sam?" She said, not looking up. "Do you have anything to add?"
Sam was quiet for a while. Dean thought he wasn't going to say anything. Then he looked up at Jenna, speaking in a quiet voice. "Only that it wasn't Dean's fault. McWhorter put on a good act. He couldn't have known what the guy was capable of." Sam turned to his brother, giving Dean a look that said he meant every word.
"Well," Jenna said, finally looking up from her notebook. Sam and Dean turned to her. "That's pretty much what MJ told me. She was adamant that neither of you had done anything to hurt her. In fact, she told me that sometimes she thinks you're both too protective of her." She smiled again. "I can see that that's true."
"Look," Sam said, leaning forward in his seat, "We may not be perfect and God knows we've screwed up a lot in the last seven months, but we love MJ and we want what's best for her."
"I know. So do I." Jenna sighed. "So, PI work? That's what all the moving around is about? Why didn't you just tell me from the start?"
Dean chuckled nervously. "Well, ya know, most of our jobs are highly sensitive, top secret. On the down low, so to speak. We never tell people about our work." Sam cringed at his brother's idiotic response, but said nothing.
"Well, as long as you make sure MJ is not placed in harm's way during any of these jobs, we don't have a problem." She looked back and forth between Sam and Dean.
Dean realized she was waiting for their response. "Of course not." Dean assured her, thinking of no less than five times in the past seven months that MJ had been in mortal peril.
"Okay." Jenna said, getting to her feet. "I have a few more things to discuss with you, Dean. Sam, why don't you wait next door with MJ for a few minutes?"
Sam was so eager to see MJ that even curiosity about what Jenna wanted to say to Dean that couldn't be said in front of him didn't keep him from immediately following Jenna from the room. Jenna returned seconds later, closing the door behind her. This time she took Sam's vacated seat next to Dean.
She sat for a moment, playing with her pen, avoiding Dean's gaze before she finally spoke. "I feel really bad about that phone call last week. I'd like the chance to explain myself."
Dean shook his head, leaning back in his chair. "Stop." He said. Jenna still didn't look at him. "You don't have to explain. I get it. You're doing your job. How could I be upset that you're concerned about MJ?" Dean was a little surprised when he realized that he wasn't just saying what he thought she wanted to hear, that he actually believed it. She clearly cared about what became of MJ and he couldn't argue with that.
Jenna was shaking her head before Dean finished speaking. "That's not it. I mean, yes of course I'm concerned about MJ. She's a great kid. But I didn't just happen upon the fact that MJ had been enrolled in school." She finally looked up at Dean. "Last Friday, just before I called you, I heard from Lance Bartol. He's Wendy's attorney. He got a copy of that ridiculous letter, too and jumped on it. He dug up the enrollment records from Valleyview and hauled me into Court for a meeting in the Judge's chambers. Then he sprung the school records on me. He made it look like I didn't have a clue. The Judge gave me two weeks to submit a written report of my findings concerning the allegations in the letter and the general appropriateness of the current custody arrangement. So, that's why I freaked on you over the phone." She finished, shifting uncomfortably in her chair.
In their few face to face meetings and numerous phone conversations, Dean had always known Jenna to be confident and direct. He had never seen her struggle like this. Was she that unaccustomed to apologies, or was there some other reason she was suddenly so out of sorts? Dean had no time to dwell on it, he had more pressing problems.
"Wait a minute." He said, turning his chair so he was facing Jenna and leaning toward her, "Wendy hired an attorney? She's back?"
Jenna shook her head. "He was appointed by the Court. Wendy hasn't…officially surfaced." She said evasively.
Dean's eyebrows shot up. "Officially? What the hell does that mean?"
Jenna scooched closer to Dean, craning her neck to look out the window pane in the closed door, checking to see if anyone was in the hallway, within hearing distance. Apparently satisfied that no one was eavesdropping, Jenna looked back at Dean. "Lance, the attorney, hinted that he has spoken to Wendy since he was assigned to her case."
Dean looked down, breathing out slowly. He had worried about this almost since the day he picked up MJ. If Wendy surfaced before Dad, how would Dean keep MJ away from her? Keep Wendy from putting MJ in harm's way, yet again? "Okay," Dean said shakily, "So she called her lawyer. What does that mean for us?"
"Nothing changes. You have temporary physical custody, Dean. Wendy would have to actually show up in Court for the Judge to even consider modifying that. And when she does show her face, there will almost certainly be criminal charges for child abandonment to be dealt with. It would likely be months before we had disposition on those charges, and then she could very well do jail time. I truly don't believe custody would be changing any time soon, even if she walked through the Courthouse door today.
Neither of them spoke for a moment while Dean absorbed this information. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"So," Dean said finally, "She's alive."
Jenna didn't miss the disappointment in Dean's tone. "It seems so."
Dean crossed his arms, and asked in a would be casual voice, "What do you think you'll put in your report?"
Jenna sat back in her chair. After a long pause she said quietly, "I'm 27 years old, Dean. I've been doing this job for over five years, which may not sound like a long time, but believe me, in this field, in five years you see more frightening, disheartening, and just plain horrifying things than anyone should have to deal with in a lifetime." She considered Dean carefully. "Something tells me you can relate." She said with half a smile. "I like to think that I'm a pretty good judge of character. I follow my gut, and when I first laid eyes on you, my gut told me that MJ would be safe with you. And in the past seven months my instincts haven't waivered." She shook her head determinedly. "I don't regret backing you up, and I intend to fight tooth and nail to keep your sister away from Wendy." It was barely more than a whisper, but there was nothing but determination on her face.
"Well," Dean said, eyes locked with Jenna's. "That makes two of us."
"I think what you're doing for your sister is amazing, Dean." She said, blush rising in her cheeks.
The two stared at each other for several moments, seemingly unaware that they were both leaning in toward one another. Then as suddenly as if she had been shocked, Jenna leaned back, cleared her throat and stood up.
"Well," She said as she began gathering up the papers, folders and her notebook. "I'm sure you're anxious to return to your brother and sister. I'll show you to them." She turned and walked to the door, Dean standing and following behind her.
"Oh," She said, hesitating with her hand on the doorknob, turning toward Dean. "I think it would be best if you don't mention what I told you to MJ. I mean, until we know for sure that Wendy's…back, I don't see any reason to make her worry any more than she already is."
Dean nodded. "Yeah, no problem. And listen, you don't know how much-I mean it means a lot-" Dean cleared his throat and tried again, "I really appreciate what you're doing for MJ and uh-" He paused, looking at his feet. It was his turn to be uncharacteristically timid and awkward, "for me." He finished.
"Well, I'll tell you what I told you the first day we met: Just don't let her down."
Dean smiled, opening the door for her. "Yes, ma'am."
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