I knelt against the wall, peering through the vertical slats of Vinnie's woodshed into the dawn light outside the shed. Sighing, I turned away and plopped myself down on the dirt floor. Dean looked up from the stake he was carving as a decoy.

"It's too early," I said to Dean's questioning look. "How can you stand this?"

"Waiting is a huge part of hunting," Sam said from the bedroll he was lying on. He didn't even open his eyes. "You don't spend all your time researching and fighting. You know that."

"Yeah, but…" I grumbled, pulling my knees up to hug them to my chest.

"Why don't you come over here and try to get some sleep," Dean suggested, toeing the bedroll on the floor next to the stump he was sitting on. "I know you barely slept last night and it's going to be a couple hours before she gets out here to practice if your time line was right."

I unfolded myself and got to my feet, only to slump back down on the bedroll a few feet away. I didn't bother telling him I wasn't tired. I was. I just knew I wouldn't be able to sleep with all the adrenaline pumping through me. Dean reached down and ruffled my hair before going back to his carving, and I wrapped my arm around his ankle and held it close to me, seeking comfort from all the emotions roiling through me. Exhaustion warred with the mixed excitement and terror of finally going after Gabby. I pressed my cheek against the rough leather on his boot and closed my eyes, exhaustion finally winning out.


We'd spent all of yesterday on the road, traveling from Sioux Falls to Centralia. Before we'd left Bobby's house, he'd pulled me aside. "Listen, kid, I heard what Dean told you about arguing with him."

I dropped my eyes to my boots, digging the toe into the floor. "Yeah, that's gonna be hard, Bobby? I mean… if I disagree…"

"Duct tape," Bobby broke in.

I raised my head, eyebrows drawn together in confusion. "What?" I asked.

"You wanna keep Vinnie from having to kill Gabby? You wanna do it yourself? Every time you open your mouth to disagree with him or correct him, pretend there's duct tape over your mouth. Put your hand over your mouth if you have to, but don't let those words pass your lips."

I bit my lip and slowly nodded. "Ok, Bobby. I'll try."

"Don't try," Bobby said. "Do it. I hear Dean calling you, so you better go."

I turned away, then turned back and flung my arms around his neck. "Thanks, Bobby," I whispered into his ear, his beard tickling my cheek.

"Go on, kid," Bobby grumbled. I kissed his grizzled cheek and went out to hit the road with the guys.

The ride itself was uneventful, if horribly long. We went over the plan a couple times, Dean checked with me three times to make sure I had the stake, and when it hit around eight at night, while we were still five hours out, Dean pulled over at a park.

"What's going on?" I asked when he turned off the car.

"It's time for you to get some sleep," he said, turning around to look at me. I blinked at him, still not understanding why we'd pulled over, and he shook his head. "I owe you one more spanking, little girl."

My mouth dropped open and I couldn't help myself. "But, Dean, we're on our way to kill Gabby… you can't mean to do it right now!"

"I can and I will, Jessie," Dean said and opened his door.

"Where's your hairbrush?" Sam asked, turning around.

"In my bag," I said around the lump in my throat. They couldn't mean to, not now… I mean, we were on the side of the road, on the way to a hunt. I stared at Sam with huge eyes.

He had no sympathy. "Get it," he said at the same time Dean opened the back door and slid in. I wanted to argue, and Dean had only said that I couldn't argue with him, not Sam, but if I argued with Sam, Dean would just repeat what Sam said. There was no winning here. With shaking hands, I reached down, opened my purple duffel, and dug out the hairbrush. Dean plucked it from my hand.

"Dean," I whispered, my bottom lip trembling. "I'm sorry. You know I'm sorry."

Dean's face was tight, his jaw set, and he met my eyes steadily. "I know you're sorry, but I promised you three days of spankings and that's what you're getting. Are you telling me you don't deserve it?"

"No…" I whispered, dropping my eyes so I wouldn't have to meet his.

"Then what are you telling me?"

God, I couldn't talk around the lump in my throat. "I don't… I don't want… I don't need it. I'm not going to do it again. I swear."

Dean put a hand on his knee and leaned down so that he was looking up into my face. "Why are you getting this spanking, sweetheart?" The kindness in his voice was my undoing, and I started crying.

"Because I ran away and broke my p-p-p-promise to you that I… that I would… wouldn't take off the ring," I whimpered, unable to stop the tears. "I broke my p-p-p-promise to keep myself safe. I didn't … t-tell you where I went. I didn't l-l-leave a note. I didn't call B-B-Bobby when I was supposed to. You didn't know where I was. I risked my life when I didn't need to, without thinking about it, without thinking about how it would affect you both if I… if I…" I gasped in a huge breath. "If I DIED!" I wailed.

Dean put his arm around me and pulled me close, his hand rubbing up and down on my back. "That's right, sweetheart. Now, are you telling me you don't deserve this spanking?"

I shook my head, still crying, and he tilted me over his knee without another word, pulled down my jeans, and brought his hand down. I was so caught up in what I'd done wrong, what I'd told Dean, that the spanking was over almost before I knew it, and I was over Sam's knee. He spanked me quickly and thoroughly, and then flipped me back over and cuddled me in his arms for a minute or two while I cried on his shoulder.

"It's over, honey," Sam whispered finally, holding me close.

"I won't ever do that again," I sniffled, clinging to his flannel shirt. "I promise. I won't scare you like that again. I'll tell you where I'm going and I won't just disappear."

"We know you won't," Dean said on the other side of Sam. Some unspoken signal passed between the two of them, and Sam handed me over to Dean. I wrapped my arms around Dean's neck and held onto him as he stroked my hair and made soothing noises. After I'd quieted, Dean unwound my arms from his neck and set me gently on the seat. He and Sam both climbed out of the car. Dean pulled out the blanket I kept under the driver seat and Sam pulled the pillow out from under the passenger seat. "It's time for you to get some sleep," Dean said in a low voice as I lay down on the seat. "I want you rested for the fight tomorrow."

Sam handed me the pillow and I settled it under my head. Dean untied my shoes. "You want to give her some Benedryl?" Sam asked, looking at Dean.

Dean pulled my boots off one by one. "No," he said. "Who knows what's going to happen when we get there. I don't want her furnace drugged up and unusable."

I looked up at Sam, and he brushed my bangs away and kissed my forehead. "Good night, honey," Sam whispered.

"Good night, Sam," I whispered back. Sam backed up and closed the door. Then Dean was leaning into the car to kiss my cheek. "Good night, Dean," I whispered to him.

"Good night, sweetheart," Dean answered before shutting the other door and getting into the front seat.

I closed my eyes.

"You've brought me such a gift, my priestess. I am pleased with your offering," Gabby says to Vinnie. I turn my head and realize that Vinnie is behind me, her hands around my wrists, holding me captive, but in my hand is the stake from the Stelmužė Oak and Vinnie knows it's there. "I will relish killing this betrayer," Gabby continues. She takes a step towards me, and Vinnie drops my hands. I charge towards Gabby, bringing my hands up and aiming the stake right at Gabby's heart.

Gabby's face twists. "Deceiver! Traitor!" she screams. With a single blow, she knocks me to the side. I hit my head on the wall and fall to the ground, unable to move as Gabby descends upon Vinnie. Gabby's hands close around Vinnie's neck and twist. Vinnie's head explodes from the pressure. Something squishes against my cheek and I reach up to wipe it away. I look at my hand, the first two fingers slimed with red and gray, flecked with white. Bile rises in my throat as I realize that it's Vinnie's brain. I scream in horror and grief, raising my head to see Gabby's hand descending towards my throat.

My eyes opened, my heart beating fast, tears staining my cheeks. I could hear the guys in the front seat talking, but my brain was too full of fear and horror. After that, I didn't try to sleep. When I did doze off, I'd end up in the same dream, and jerk awake as soon as I felt Vinnie's hands on my wrists.

We'd arrived in the middle of the night, 2:30 in the morning, and parked a couple miles away from Gabby's farm. Dean packed our weapons into a duffel and Sam ordered me into a coat, despite the heat melting the snow on the ground. We hiked across the fields to Gabby's farm. With each step, I could feel the fire pulsing below me in the ground, calling to me. As we got closer and closer to the farm, the call lessened, probably because Gabby kept the coal fire away from the farm so they could grow crops, but I was attuned to it now. I could hear it faintly in the distance in a way I couldn't the last time I was here, but I tried to ignore it. We didn't need more fire. We needed less. Gabby was even more immune to flames than I was.

We reached the woodshed without incident, slipping inside and closing the door behind us. Dean set out bedrolls and ordered me to try to sleep while he and Sam took alternating naps, the other watching for Vinnie or trouble.


I'd finally fallen into a dreamless sleep when Sam shook me awake. The vertical slats between the boards let in bright, dusty sunlight, the sun somewhere near its apex. Dean was pressed up against the wooden boards, looking between them. My heart pounding with adrenaline, I stumbled to my feet. "What is it?" I whispered.

"Vinnie's here," Sam whispered, holding a hand out to me. I went to him and he led me to the wall so I could look between the slats.

It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the sunlight, but when they did, I saw her. She stood in front of the fire pit, dressed in her traditional priestess clothing. The cast on her left arm glared in the winter sun. I bit my lip. There was no doubt in my mind why she had a broken arm. She ran her right hand over her hair and stood tall. I felt her open her furnace and light the wood in front of her, but once it was lit, she closed her furnace and bent her head. Her shoulders shook with sobs.

"Oh god," I murmured. I turned towards the woodshed door, wanting to go to her, but Dean stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.

"Wait," he said.

Reluctantly, I turned back to the slats and peered out between them just in time to see her stomp her foot and shake her head. She dashed the tears of her cheeks and settled her shoulders. "I won't cry," she said to no one. "She will come back for me and I'll be ready." Then she opened her furnace and reconnected to the flame.

I looked up at Dean and he nodded. For the first time I saw the pistol in his hand. "Go on," he said. "Go get her."

"Don't kill her," I whispered. "Please don't kill her."

"Killing her isn't in the plan, sweetheart. Go on."

That wasn't much comfort, but the ball was rolling now. There was no way to stop it. I went to the woodshed door and dragged it open. Vinnie shut her furnace and turned at the creak in the hinges. She squinted her eyes and then widened them when she saw me in the doorway.

"Jessie?" she asked.