Jess jolted awake, not completely sure what had woken her, but certain that something had.
Blinking a few times to adjust to the dim light, she realised that Sam was sitting up beside her, breathing heavily.
"Sam?"
Sam took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm okay."
Jess reached across and switched on the light. They were in another motel - in separate rooms, for once - so she had no need to worry about waking Dean. "No, you're not."
"No, I'm not," Sam agreed, burying his face in his hands.
Jess slipped her arms around his waist, resting her chin on his shoulder. "Talk to me, honey."
"There was … a man," Sam whispered. "A doctor, I think. He went into this store and asked to see a gun. And the clerk laughed but handed one over and … the guy loaded it, shot the clerk and then shot himself."
Jess felt a chill run through her. "Any chance this is a normal nightmare?"
"No," Sam said. "This wasn't normal … The man … His eyes were …"
"Possessed?" Jess asked.
Sam shook his head. "No, he wasn't possessed; he was … calm. Too calm. We need to tell Dean."
"Hold on," Jess said hastily, as Sam moved to get out of bed. "Sam, it's 2am. He's probably fast asleep. And even if you do wake him up, how do you plan on finding this guy?"
Sam hesitated. "The last time I dreamed like this, it was Max," he said slowly. "So it stands to reason that this guy has something to do with someone else like me."
Jess sighed. "So, what, we look for people who lost their mothers in nursery fires when they were six months old?"
"How many can there be?" Sam asked in response.
"Well, before Max, I would have guessed one," Jess muttered, falling back on to her pillow. "Okay, so I'm guessing Ash would be our best bet."
"That's what I'm thinking," Sam agreed.
"Yeah, well, we're not going to drag him and Ellen and Jo out of bed at this time of night," Jess said firmly. "We will tell Dean in the morning and then go."
"But, Jess, what if this guy's still alive," Sam said. "I need to stop him."
"Honey, you don't know who he is and you don't know why he did it," Jess said gently. "This isn't like Max, where it's obvious something else killed him. You said so yourself; he shot himself."
"And someone else," Sam reminded her.
"And someone else," Jess agreed. "But if you don't know who he is, or why he's doing it, it may be better to figure out who we're looking for and stop them from hurting someone else - if that's what's even happening. Maybe you're seeing his father, or his brother, or something, and there's nothing supernatural about it. I think saving this guy needs to be the cherry on top - it's great if we can, but we need to be realistic about that fact that we may not be able to."
As Jess watched Andy Gallagher sweet-talk the police officers investigating his brother's suicide, she could feel his girlfriend trembling beside her.
"Tracie, you okay?"
Tracie choked out a laugh that sounded slightly hysterical. "Yeah, of course! Let's see, I've been kidnapped by a psychopath, been mind-controlled into committing suicide, been mind-controlled into not committing suicide, and then shot a guy!"
Jess shot a glance at the police officers, but none of them seemed to have heard her. Taking Tracie by the elbow, she led her gently, but firmly, away from the scene, so they couldn't see Ansem's body on the ground. "You know that Andy couldn't have done anything else to save you, right?"
"I know," Tracie admitted. "It's just … I knew what he could do. I've seen him do it. I just … I never knew what it felt like. And now I do and … I can't … I can't watch him do that anymore."
Jess shrugged. "Then don't."
"It's that simple, is it?" Tracie asked sardonically.
"It's never that simple," Jess admitted. "But you're assuming that after all this, he's going to want to keep doing that. He might not, and then you won't have to watch. I bet he's freaking out as much as you are."
"I could see it," Tracie whispered. "When Web - When Ansem was telling me to jump because I could fly … I could hear him and see it all and my mind was screaming at me not to listen, but I … I didn't have a choice."
Jess could see that Sam and Dean were already at the Impala, but she didn't want to leave Tracie on her own.
Thankfully at that moment, Andy approached them. "Tracie, I'm sorry. I didn't want to use it on you …"
"You didn't have a choice," Tracie said, her voice not quite managing to stay steady. "But I don't think I can watch you do it to anyone else …"
"Oh, don't worry," Andy said with a nervous laugh. "I don't want to use it ever again."
"See?" Jess asked. "I told you there was nothing to worry about. I've got to go, it was nice to meet you both, although the circumstances not so much."
"Thanks," Andy said, wrapping an arm around Tracie. "Hey, ask Sam to let me know when he has an explanation, yeah?"
Jess promised she would, bid them both goodbye, and jogged back to the car.
Dean pulled away before she had even finished shutting the door behind them. "Well, that sucked."
"Ever the master of the understatement there, Dean," Jess muttered. "I hate dealing with humans."
Dean's phone rang and she grabbed it from him before he could answer. "Not while you're driving, for God's sake. Dean's phone."
"Jess, it's Ellen. You guys need to get back here. We need to talk."
"No problem," Jess said, more than a little concerned by the way the line went dead immediately afterwards. "We're going back to the Roadhouse. I think Ellen has something."
As soon as Jo disappeared down into the cellar to get a crate of beer, Ellen fixed them all with a look. "So … want to talk about the last hunt?"
"Not really," Dean said.
"Tough." Ellen dropped a number of folders on the table in front of them. "Ash's research. Andy Gallagher - house burned down when he was six months old. Just like yours. You think he's connected?"
"Listen …" Dean began, but Jess kicked him under the table.
"Drop it," she said tiredly.
"Jess," Dean said. "We can't …"
"Can't what?" Jess asked. "Trust her? Look, this is not a personal crusade anymore, and you know that. Deep down, you know that. You're just hoping if you can keep it quiet, it will all blow over, and it won't."
"She's right," Sam said, his eyes fixed on the table.
Jess squeezed his hand and turned to Ellen. "We don't have all the answers."
"That's okay," Ellen said, her tone softening. "That's half the reason I want to know. So I can help you."
Jess glanced at Sam and Dean but neither of them seemed about the jump in. "We know that the demon that killed Mary has yellow eyes and he did something the night she died that caused Sam to develop psychic powers - prophetic dreams to be exact. Andy was the same, so was his twin brother. And we met another kid a while back as well, Max Miller. The demon has said that he has … plans for them, but we don't know what they are."
Ellen was quiet for a few minutes. "Are these kids dangerous?"
"No," Dean snapped.
"Yes," Sam argued.
Jess rolled her eyes. "Some of them are. It's the same as any ability. Some people will use their abilities to do good, some to do bad."
"How do the powers develop?" Ellen asked. "Is it something to do with the mothers dying?"
Jess grimaced. "I don't think so. I mean, it was Andy's adopted mother that died in that fire, no biological connection. How could killing her give her son powers?"
"And there's something else," Sam said. "Ansem's adopted mother didn't die, and there's nothing weird in his past - no fire, nothing."
Dean frowned. "Why did the pattern change with him?"
"Maybe it didn't," Jess said slowly. "I mean … say it has nothing to do with the mothers. Say he just goes into nurseries and … does something. If that wakes the baby and they start crying …"
"The mother gets up and goes to check on them," Ellen finishes grimly. "If she doesn't wake up, she lives through the night." She tapped the folders. "So if not all the mothers died - whether we need to keep them safe or stop them from hurting people - how do we track the kids down?"
"I don't think we can," Jess admitted. "There doesn't seem to be anything in common between Sam, Max, Andy and Ansem, except Andy and Ansem were twins."
"And they're all male," Ellen added. "But that doesn't help us either. Jo!" She called. "Make it a crate of whiskey, would you?" She looked over at Sam. "Listen, Sam, I know that John could be a bit … fanatic when it came to hunting. And I don't mean that as a criticism necessarily. But I want you to know that Jo and I will back you up."
Sam cleared his throat. "Thanks, Ellen, I … um … Ash in?"
Ellen smiled knowingly. "Yeah, he is. Go wake him up."
Dean jumped to his feet as well. "Mind if I use the bathroom?"
"Go ahead," Ellen said. "And you're staying here tonight, so don't even think about going to look for a motel."
"Yes ma'am," Dean muttered, disappearing after Sam.
Jess shook her head. "Sorry, Ellen, they've got a touch of emotional constipation."
"Growing up with John, I'm amazed it's just a touch," Ellen whispered to her.
Jess stifled a giggle. "Thank you for being okay with all this. John never really reacted to the news; I think he would have taken Sam as the exception, but …"
"I wouldn't bet my life on it," Ellen said with a scowl.
Jess still didn't know the history between Ellen and John, but she was still not going to ask.
"He wouldn't have been alone either," Ellen added. "I don't need to tell you all to be careful who you tell."
"Absolutely," Jess agreed. "You're different."
"Well, I should hope so," Ellen said, fixing her with a look. "How are you holding up, honey?"
"I'm fine," Jess answered automatically.
"And again, without the Winchester filter," Ellen said.
Jess gave a self-deprecating smile. "Fair enough." She sighed. "I'm scared. I don't know what's coming; I don't know why Sam was chosen; I don't know what John's last words were, so I don't know why Dean's still in the headspace he's in - he's not normally this abrasive; I don't know what the Yellow-Eyed Demon wants."
"Well, what do you know?" Ellen asked.
"I know that something's coming," Jess said with a sigh. "I know how to handle two stubborn Winchesters. And I know that I'm slowly getting out of my depth."
"You could stay with us," Ellen offered immediately.
"Thank you," Jess said, "but no thank you. I'm seeing this through, I just …" She swallowed. "I miss my mom."
It was coming up to the one-year-mark and, far from having an answer, she just had more questions.
"Were you close?" Ellen asked gently.
"No,' Jess admitted with a laugh. "We fought like cats and dogs. I barely saw her by the time she died, but … I miss knowing that she was there. I miss being able to call her and just have a chat, even if it did end in an argument most of the time." She wiped at her eyes, feeling them begin to burn with unshed tears. "I just miss her."
A chair scraped across the floor and Ellen's arms closed around her, guiding her into an embrace only a mother could give.
Jess didn't hesitate to turn her face into the older woman's shoulder, permitting a few tears to seep out.
Ellen brushed the hair back from her face and pressed a kiss to her temple. "You listen here, honey; any time you need to talk to someone, any time you need to call someone and rant about those boys being idiots, or fret about the future, or anything like that, you call me, alright?" She pulled back from Jess to look her in the eye. "And I think your mom would be so proud of you."
Jess sniffled, managing a smile. "Thank you."
"Right," Jo announced, appearing with the drinks. "Who's up for shots?"
Jess laughed. "Oh, yes please!"
So my method for writing this fic is changing as I go. As Jess is getting more established as a hunter, it's getting less fun to rewrite the whole episode. I might do that with some, but most are probably going to be behind the scenes or if Jess's presence is going to make a huge change. Once I get to seasons 4 & 5, I'm going to get to have more creative ... but I don't want to tell you all that just yet!
