As always, thanks to A-LionGleek for all your help - although this chapter didn't quite go the way you suggested, I already had certain parts written in my head.
If John Winchester made one more 'Twilight' crack, Jessica was going to deck him, Sam's father or not.
Quite aside from the fact that only an idiot would use a fictional book as a vampire hunting tool, his apparent insistence on reducing her to a ditzy teenage girl was demeaning, sexist and was, quite frankly, driving her round the bend.
He seemed to have forgotten that his own sons had been surprised to hear that vampires existed, so his jumping on her lack of knowledge was a little rankling.
The worst part was that if she did retaliate, he would consider himself proved right.
In any case, Jess had bigger things to worry about – namely the missing people that had apparently been taken by vampires.
John was more concerned about what may or may not have been stolen from his hunter buddy, but since he wouldn't actually tell them why it was so important, Jess was focussing on the human element.
Sam and Dean had stepped out to grab some food, but Jess had stayed behind to continue her research. In hindsight, it was not the smartest idea she had ever had, since it left her alone with John.
She had tried to make civil conversation, but he had made it abundantly clear that he wasn't interested in a chat, so she gave up and concentrated on cross-referencing missing person cases with anywhere that a vampire might use as a lair.
"No offence, Jessica," John began suddenly.
"You know," Jess interrupted without looking up. "Most sentences that begin with those words are, in fact, intended to cause offence."
John scowled. "We might work a bit faster if you weren't here. You don't have the experience."
"You mean the experience Dean and Sam have hunting something they didn't know existed two hours ago?" Jess asked sweetly. "If you were concerned about that, you'd have told them to leave. Not that it would work."
John sighed. "Alright, what's it going to take?"
Now Jess looked up, confused. "What do you mean?"
"What's it going to take to get you to leave?" John asked bluntly.
Something began to burn in her chest and she set her laptop to one side. "Nothing."
"Then why are you …?"
"I'm sorry, maybe I wasn't clear enough." Jess said sharply, standing up. "There is nothing in this world or the next one that would make me leave them."
"If you cared about them at all …" John began.
Jess didn't move consciously. Later, she would find that the next few seconds were a blur. She definitely slapped him though, judging by the stinging in her hand and the redness of his face.
John glared at her. "I ain't never hit a woman, Jessica, don't make me start now."
"Don't you dare," Jess said in a low voice, righteous fury burning in her chest. "Don't you dare accuse me of not caring about them. One of us was there when we went back to Lawrence, one of us picked up the pieces after they saw their mother's spirit, one of us was there when Dean was dying, one of us was there when he walked away from the woman he loved again, one of us has sorted through each and every emotional landmine that their childhood left them with and it wasn't you."
"They don't need a damn babysitter," John argued. "You do not have the experience or the drive to …"
"Did you hear anything I just said? They don't need a babysitter anymore, but you didn't freakin' give them one when they did. And I'm sorry, the drive?!" Jess repeated. "I might agree with the experience, except the boys are damn good teachers and I'm not stupid enough to walk into a fight I know I can't win, but I have exactly the same drive as Sam does – that thing killed my mother. I may even have more drive than Sam does, because I remember my mom, she was all I had from when I was six years old, and she was overprotective and drove me up the wall, but she was my mom and it killed her. So, yes, I do have the damn drive."
"Do you know why it killed her?" John asked suddenly.
Jess froze, a little breathless. "What?"
"Do you know why it killed her?" John repeated.
"No," Jess answered slowly. "Do you?"
"I think for the same reason it killed Mary," John said. "I think it wanted Sam."
"But it didn't take Sam," Jess argued.
"Doesn't mean it didn't do anything," John said.
Jess's mind flashed back to Max and his telekinesis, and Sam's visions and slowly-evolving powers. "Even if," she said slowly, "it wanted Sam and it did something to Sam and it killed Mary because she tried to stop it … even if it came after me to get to Sam and got my mom instead … it's not Sam's fault. He tried to blame himself when it happened, and I wouldn't let him. He didn't pin Mom to the ceiling and set her on fire." She straightened up with a glare, hearing the Impala pulling in to the parking lot. "And I'll thank you not to suggest that to Sam either."
Jess did not say a word to Sam about her … heated discussion with his father. Not when Sam confronted him about the Colt, not when John admitted to setting up a college fund for his boys and then spending it on 'munitions, and not now, as they patrolled the campfire.
"Here," John said, handing Dean a bag. "Toss this on the fire. Saffron, skunk's cabbage and trillium. It'll block our scent and hers, until we're ready."
Dean sniffed the bag and coughed. "Stuff stinks!" Nevertheless, he sprinkled the contents over the campfire, causing the other two to start coughing as well.
"That's the idea," John said. "Dust your clothes with the ashes and you stand a chance of not being detected."
Sam glanced towards the car, where an unconscious female vampire was trapped in the trunk. "You sure they'll come after her?"
"Vampires mate for life," John said. "She means more to the leader than the gun. But the blood sickness is going to wear off soon, so you don't have a lot of time."
Sam checked his watch. "Half hour oughtta do it."
John nodded. "Then I want you out of the area as fast as you can."
"Dad, you can't take care of them all by yourself," Dean protested.
"I'll have her," John said. "And the Colt."
"But after," Sam protested. "We're meeting up, right? Use the gun together, right?"
John didn't answer.
"Here we go again," Jess muttered.
"You're going after the demon alone, aren't you?" Sam asked in disbelief. "Seriously? After everything, you're still going to treat us like kids?"
"You are my kids," John said quietly. "And I know how important Jess is to you, Sammy. I'm trying to keep you safe."
Jess raised an eyebrow. Maybe she got through to him after all.
"Dad, no offence, but that's a load of crap," Dean said heatedly.
One Winchester stops, another one starts. Jess shook her head. Tag-team bull-headedness.
"Excuse me?" John asked.
"You had your chance to keep us out of it," Dean said. "You never once took it. All those times Pastor Jim and Caleb and Bobby offered to have us stay with them, you never once took them up on it. And, Hell, you know what we've been hunting over the last year – you've sent us on half of them."
"It's not the same thing, Dean," John said. "This demon? It's bad – worse than anything we've come across before. And I can't make the same moves if I'm worrying about you."
"You mean you can't be as reckless," Dean retorted.
John heaved a heavy sigh. "Look, boys … I'm not expecting to walk away from this one. Losing your mother nearly killed me – I won't watch you two die too."
"And what do you think would happen to us?" Dean asked. "How do you think we'll feel if you die and we could have stopped it?"
"We're running out of time," John said in response. "You should get going?"
Dean's jaw set and Jess reached out, tugging on his sleeve with a sigh. "He's right," she said softly. "Talk later."
Dean didn't look happy, but nodded, turning to follow her.
"That may not have been one of our smarter ideas," Jess admitted, rubbing her neck.
"You'd have been alright," Dean said with certainty. "I've seen you and Sam get out of worse messes."
"If you say so," Jess muttered, tilting her head back to let him check her throat for bruises.
She knew there weren't any - Luther's choke-hold had been tight, but his arm was broad enough that the pressure had been more evenly distributed.
The sound of the door closing made them look up to see that John had let himself in.
"So," he began, "you defied a direct order back then."
"So we did," Jess said, before Sam could.
"But we saved your ass," Dean added.
"You're right," John admitted.
"I am?" Dean asked, releasing Jess.
"He is?" Jess and Sam asked.
"It scares the hell outta me," John said quietly. "You two are all I've got. But I guess we are stronger as a family. So we go after this thing together."