Short chapter this time. Thanks for reading!

"Yeah, that's my daughter. Adopted, but still mine," Dean said and used the fire extinguisher on the ashes and embers of the woodpile. Shaky, I stood up and stumbled a little. Rufus stepped forward and steadied me.

"Firestarter," Rufus said holding my shoulders.

"Yeah," Dean rubbed his neck. He handed the fire extinguisher to Rufus and scooped me up. "Psychic powers, not demon given. She's still learning to control it."

I leaned my head against Dean's shoulder. He carried me back into the house and set me down on the couch. I watched the two of them go back into the kitchen and closed my eyes. The pressure in my head was blessedly gone.

"If not from a demon," Rufus said, "how'd she get 'em?"

Dean shrugged. "They started when she hit puberty. We don't know much more than that right now. Fits with what we know about other psychics, though."

I wished it was true. I wished I'd inherited my abilities like other normal psychics, and I was so relieved that he didn't tell this other hunter the truth. Guilt suffused me again.

I stayed on the couch until it was time to go, drinking water from a plastic cup and staring at the television screen. I was going to have to tell Dean the truth and beg his forgiveness. I couldn't handle this guilt. I couldn't handle lying to him. He was going to be so mad. I drank more water and tried to figure out the best way to break it to him.

After a while, Dean finished asking Rufus questions and shut the file. "Mind if I take this with me?" he asked.

Rufus shrugged. "I got another copy," he said.

When Dean stood up from the table, I stood up and went to him. He handed me the file and picked up the fire extinguisher.

"Thanks again, Rufus," Dean said, shaking Rufus's hand. I stepped around Dean and extended my hand.

"Thank you, Mr. Turner," I said. "Sorry about your woodpile." He took my hand into his big warm one and shook it.

"You're welcome," he said. Dean put his free hand in the center of my back and led me to the door. We headed to the car and put the file and the fire extinguisher in the trunk.

As we got into the Impala, Dean said, "I'm proud of you, sweetheart. You were very polite and behaved."

Adrenaline flooded me as I fastened my seatbelt around me and took a deep breath, "Yeah… uh… about that…"

Dean looked at me. "About what?" He started the car and backed off of Rufus's property.

"You know how you said before, when I wasn't eating, that if I didn't tell you what I'd done and you found out later, it would be lying?" I couldn't even look at him. I stared out the window at the houses we were passing.

"Yeah," Dean said, his voice low.

"If I tell you now, is it still lying?" I asked, really quietly.

Dean was quiet for a minute, long enough that I glanced over at him. His eyes were on the road and his face was grim. I looked down at my feet on the floorboard. "It's still lying because you told me that you didn't do anything and you fed me a line of bullshit," he said. "But if you tell me what you did now, I won't punish you for lying, and believe me, little girl, I am being overly generous."

I nodded, knowing he was right. I pulled my knees up and buried my head, scared to tell him but knowing I had to. "I took the African dream root last night and visited Gabby," I said in a rush.

"You WHAT?" Dean yelled. The car swerved momentarily before he settled it back into the lane. "I can't wait to hear your cocked-up reasoning behind that decision," he growled, only slightly calmer. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel.

"I thought she might be able to save you from hell," I said. His eyes flicked to me, and I continued. "But she can't. She's not strong enough."

"And what price did you have to pay for that bit of information?" Dean asked, his voice tight.

"Nothing, Dean. She was really nice. She didn't want anything from me. Nothing. She just told me she couldn't help me and let me go," I said. "I wasn't in any danger!"

"Bullshit, Jessie!" Dean snapped. "You had no idea what was going to happen when you drank the dream root. You had no idea how she was going to react when she saw you. Goddesses are fickle. She might have decided to snap your neck and take her 'gifts' elsewhere." He slammed his palm down on the steering wheel and I jumped. "That's not even addressing the fact that you used the dream root to begin with. You know you're not allowed to touch anything in the trunk without our express say so, don't you? Don't you?"

"Yes, Dean," I whispered, my face red.

"Do I even need to mention the fact that both Sam and I told you no when you brought this up yesterday?"

"No, but I was just trying to help," I said.

"Just trying to help?! That's your excuse every time and it's a piss poor one," Dean growled.

"I'm sorry, Dean!" I said. "I felt horrible about it. I shouldn't have done it."

"Damn right you shouldn't have done it, but you know something, Jessie? I think given the same situation in the future, you'd do the exact same thing. Wouldn't you?" Dean asked.

I looked at him, unsure what he meant. "I don't understand."

"Say Sam is in trouble and something's going to happen to him. If we tell you not to help, are you going to sit in the room and let us take care of it, or are you going to disobey us and try to help?"

I knew what the right answer was, I really did, but I didn't want to lie anymore. I dropped my eyes and didn't answer.

"That's what I thought," Dean said. He pulled into a parking lot at a fancy hotel and parked off to the side and behind a wall. He shut off the car and looked at me. "We'll talk about this more after I take care of Bela. You stay here. Got it?"

"Yes, Dean," I said. He raised his eyebrows. "I promise. I'll stay right here."

Dean got out of the car and headed towards the hotel. I unbuckled my seatbelt and leaned against the door, pulling my feet up with me. He was gone a while, and I spent the time thinking. Dean was right. I kept getting in trouble for this. Every time I tried to help without permission, I got my ass handed to me and usually restriction, which meant that it was even longer before I could learn the skills that meant that I could actually help.

I was an idiot. They'd taken me in, helped me learn to control my abilities, made me family, cared about me, loved me, and in return, what did I do? I disobeyed them and made their lives more difficult. In the meantime, it didn't help me at all, just made them mad at me. I was ashamed of myself.

About twenty minutes after Dean had gone into the hotel, he came out and slid into the car. "Did you get the Colt?" I asked.

"No, she'd sold it. Put your seatbelt on so we can get out of here," he said. He started the Impala as I dropped my feet to the floor and snapped my seatbelt on.

"Dean," I said after we'd been driving for a while, "I've been thinking…"

"Do I wanna hear this or is it just going to piss me off more?" Dean asked, looking at me with his brow furrowed.

I flushed and took a deep breath before continuing. "You're right and I'm sorry. I need to stop trying to help when you guys tell me not to. I need to ask before I try to help in the first place and I need to obey you when you tell me to do something. I'm really, really sorry, Dean."

Dean expression changed to surprise. "Thank you," he said. "You're still in trouble, though."

"I know," I said, looking down at my feet.

"It's getting late. How about you get in the back seat and try to get some sleep?"

"Ok," I said. I unbuckled my seatbelt and hugged Dean before sliding over the top of the front seat and lying down with the middle seatbelt fastened around my waist. I wadded up the blanket I kept back there and stuck it under my head for a pillow. "I love you, Dean. I'm sorry."

"I love you too, sweetheart," he said softly.

I woke up a little while later when I heard him yelling 'Sam!' into his phone. I sat up. "Dean, what's going on?"

"Doc Benton's got Sam. We'll be there soon. When I get there, I want you to stay in the car, you understand me?"

"Yes, Dean," I said. I picked up the blanket and hugged it. The rest of the ride was tense. Dean got to the woods around Doc Benton's cabin, parked the Impala, and grabbed some things out of the trunk before heading into the woods.

He was gone a long time. With nothing left to do and since it was the middle of the night, I dozed a little. I woke up when Sam opened his door.

"Sam!" I said. I reached over the seat and hugged him from behind. "I was so worried!"

"I'm fine, honey. See? No harm done," Sam said.

I dropped back into my seat as Dean got back in and we headed back towards the motel. Dean filled Sam in on what happened with Bela. "We need to get your stuff and get back on the road. She's going to be following us and she knows where we are."

I waited in the car while they ran up to the room and made preparations. As we left the motel, Dean saw Bela's car pulling in. He waited about ten minutes and then called the room. Their conversation was a bit scary. Turned out that Bela had sold her soul to a demon to kill her parents ten years ago and today was the last day. She'd stolen the Colt to try to get out of the deal, but they'd wanted her to kill Sam, too. But none of that was the scary part, not really. The scary thing was how cold Dean got when he talked to her. He used some of the same phrases and tones when he talked to me, but there was no warmth or care in his responses to her. It highlighted for me how much he cared about me, even when he was mad, and it made me feel worse about lying and disobeying.

"Where are we going now," I asked when Dean hung up.

"Back to the abandoned cabin," Dean said. "Get some sleep."