Chapter 31

The club didn't quiet in the slightest this time. Although, Dean could feel all eyes on the pair of them. He could tell every person in the club was watching as they crossed it towards the booth in the far corner. It seemed J's 'effect' had yet to entirely wear off, Dean mused to himself. He purposefully made eye contact with a few people who quickly looked away, confirming his suspicions of being watched.

Dean could not help the feeling of smugness that overcame him as he felt J squeeze him arm even tighter. She was on his arm. Not anyone else's. He could not help the smile that broke out on his face at the thought of this. He also could not help the possessive feelings he felt when he thought of the woman on his arm.

For one of the few times in his life, he wanted this to be a more lasting fixture of it. He wanted this woman around; he did not want to let her go. Metaphorically and physically speaking. This thought wiped the smile from his face as quickly as it came. Nothing good ever came from this feeling. Nothing in their lives was ever permanent.

He was foolish to think otherwise.

Disaster always came sooner or later to rip anything good from him. That much was inevitable. That was the price he paid for living the life of a hunter.

As he forced the thought from his mind, Dean made sure to seek out the only other familiar pair of eyes in the place. When he found them, the expression they were wearing was not what he had been expecting. Not in the slightest.

Sam was at the bar with his drink in hand, giving Dean the biggest of stupid grins he had ever given him.

Is he drunk already? Before Dean could think of anything else, J's arm slipped out of his, which took his attention away from Sam. The sudden feeling of cold and loss surprised him.

They had quickly arrived at the booth that was just off the dance floor in the corner. Away from any other tables, on the opposite wall as the bar. It could easily have fit four people comfortably in its worn-but-loved leather seats and had a small RESEARVED sign at the edge of the table.

Dean watched J put the bottle down on the table, she grabbed the glasses from him, and poured them both drinks.

Without looking up at him she stated, "Sam is not drunk. He was wishing you could have seen the look on your face." She smiled a cute half-smile before she continued. "Well, looks. He seemed to have been keeping tabs on you since I came in." J said nonchalantly as she slid into the booth, crossing her legs gracefully and adjusting her dress as she settled in.

Dean couldn't help but notice black stockings hugging her thighs, and the flash of a garter belt that held said stockings up.

She reached for her own drink before she finally looked up at Dean staring down at her.

Dean just stood there for a moment, lost in a whirlwind of thoughts, before J outright laughed. "Well, have a seat. You're making me nervous. And please have a drink. I feel bad for taking yours, but I think you will find this better than any whiskey you'll find at any normal bar."

Dean floundered for a moment before he burst out with "I'm sorry, it's just I don't think I want to know the looks on my face. I'm sure I have been quite expressive enough already. I don't do this very often."

Dean cringed, then smiled what must have been the most awkward smile of his life at the look on J's face. She was giving him time, space, and reassurance, all with just a simple, small, and inviting smile. His nerves almost evaporated as he looked into her beautiful face. He then sat down and pulled his glass toward him before grabbing the bottle itself to inspect it.

"Speaking of. What is this exactly? This has to be German. I can't even read it! As-back Err-alt? Never heard of it." Dean said, trying to change the subject as quickly possible.

It worked. J laughed a genuine belly-laugh and took her first sip as she eyed him, now with a smirk where the smile had been. "That is totally not how you say it, but okay. I will add that one to my repertoire. Taste it and tell me what you think it is. I'm interested to see what you think. I really hope you like it."

Dean eyed her back, sarcastically suspicious, before he started analyzing the drink the way he thought someone who knew what they were actually doing and talking about would do.

He lifted the glass in the dim light to inspect the color and transparency of it. He swirled it around his glass and a little bit before giving it a sniff like he's seen in wine commercials. He finally brought the glass to his lips and took a sip.

It was surprisingly smooth. And wow was it strong. Dean was not expecting such a hard hitter. He tried to conceal his surprise, as well as the burn in his throat, as much as he could. You didn't need much of this stuff for a good time. Not much more for a really, really, bad time.

In a very nasally fake British accent, Dean said, "in my humble opinion I think this drink is a fine brandy."

Now J smiled a real, true smile for the first time that night and it took Dean's breath away. Even more so than the alcohol had.

"Although I think you are full of shit, you are right. It is a brandy. It's a German brandy called Asbach Uralt. It has a nice finish and one hell of a kick. I only save it for special occasions."

"That explains why this looks like an older bottle and yet there's not much gone." Dean thought out loud.

"It was actually my mom's. It's gotta be 20 years old by now. She always had a bottle of this stuff around. So did my dad out of tradition; though he was never a drinker. I try to keep that tradition alive as well. She never had a chance to open this one." J paused and look down at the bottle before grabbing it and running her thumb over the yellowing and slightly-peeling label.

"I don't often have reasons to celebrate." J sighed, almost to herself.

J's tone was somewhat solemn. Her expression was one of fondness and one of pain.

"Will you tell me what happened to her?" Dean asked before taking another sip. It burned his throat like the question he had asked. But the finish was nice. He hoped the answer she would give him would follow suit.

J put the bottle to the side before looking back up at Dean. Emotions that had just lingered there were gone. Instead, she looked more at ease than she had all night. Her shoulders visibly fell. How had he not noticed that she had been so tense and wound up until this point?

J took a deep breath, letting out a long sigh before starting.

"I was eight. She died on an assignment for the organization she worked for. Something went wrong and she had to sacrifice herself to save her team." J paused for a moment. "I am honored to be her daughter. Although I could live without the notoriety of it." She finished sarcastically.

"What kind of organization did she work for!?" Dean blurted out harshly without thought, slightly horrified and intensely disturbed. Both at his question and her answer.

J took in the look on his face and then smiled a lopsided grin that had no place in a conversation like this.

"An organization that my dad also worked for. The same organization that I work for. That is my Family Business. It's my job. I have a real job in this supernatural world we live in." J said as she rested her chin on her hand and observed Dean's reactions.

Before Dean could ask another question, J cut him off again. She had the uncanny timing of doing this right before the words could form in his mouth. He was starting to get used to it. As odd as it was. "Also, about the question, I cut you off from asking earlier: The answer is yes. What happened at the diner with that redhead was all me."

Dean's train of thought halted as he reeled at her statement. He gave her a surprised look before managing to say, "How?"

J smiled and looked down into her drink. "I call it Fuck Off Powder. It's also known as Quitting Powder or Love Fix Powder. A simple concoction of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, powdered newsprint from the book she was reading, that one was reading 50 Shades of Grey. Of all things… I was not a fan of what she was thinking about doing to you. People get the wrong ideas from those books. Physical and emotional abuse and BDSM do NOT go hand in hand. It makes me sick. Anyway, I digress. I also added some tobacco from one of her cigarettes for potency and BAM. You saw first hand what happens when it's done right."

Dean was speechless for a moment. Trying to process everything J had just told him.

Before he could respond she held up a hand. She had something else to say.

"Dean, tonight I am an open book. You can ask me anything you want. Gods know I have given you question after question with little to no answers. I can only imagine what you have thought of on your own. The conclusions that you have already come to. I half expected you to come with a notebook. Or not show up at all…" J chuckled nervously then at the thought before she continued.

"I will be completely honest with you; with whatever questions you have. To the best of my knowledge and abilities. I promise you that. However, please know that there are some things I am bound not to talk about. I mean it's bigger than some NDA contract or my willingness to share. I metaphorically, and sometimes literally, cannot speak about certain things. But I will always tell you why I cannot answer if that is the case."

J paused to gauge Dean's reaction as she took another sip of her drink. He noticed this, and relaxed his shoulders and composed his face into a hopefully passably nonchalant expression. He thought he passed inspection as she then continued.

"That being said, start with the questions with the easiest answers, or the most pressing ones and let's keep the really deep ones for when we both have a few more drinks in us. I am not going to lie when I say some of this shit is straight-up just a history lesson and can get incredibly involved and complicated. It gets tedious and boring, as well. But…You need to know in order to understand."

Dean nodded his head slowly taking in everything she had said while taking another sip of his own drink. He weighed a few questions as he studied her more. But he wanted to say something before they got into the nitty-gritty of everything. And he would be damned if she would interrupt him this time. He felt like this was one of the most important things he was going to say tonight.

Dean looked back down into his drink before he began, slightly afraid and embarrassed to look up as he spoke. "J, before we get into all this, I want to tell you something. My view and opinion of you has not changed. I am not afraid of you. I do not think any less of you. I do not think you are anything to be afraid of or anything that I would have any intention of hunting. I will admit, when you first told me, it was like a sucker punch to the gut. I did not know what to think. I did not know what to feel or how to handle it."

Dean looked up from his drink to gauge J's reaction. At this point, the look on her face gave away her feelings. Her eyes were wide with worry and her hands had disappeared below the table. Dean assumed they were in those worried fists again like they had been back in the Impala.

Before she could stop him, or continue on the path he could see her going down, he continued. "But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. The more things fell into place. In fact, I think I am more in awe than anything else. Than I ever was before. I just wanted to let you know that you can tell me anything. I am not afraid and I will not judge you. In fact, I want to know everything you are willing to tell me…"

Dean trailed off as he looked into those duo-toned eyes that had captivated him from that first moment. The fear in them that he had seen moments ago, had vanished. They were soft, staring into his soul. And he more than welcomed it. He wanted her to see right through him and know he meant every word he had said. As well as everything he couldn't bring himself to say.

They sat there for a few moments. They were both openly looking at each other now. Taking in the other as if they were fascinating science specimens. Neither afraid that the other was watching.

J suddenly spoke. Taking Dean off-guard. "Can I ask you something? I don't want to intrude, but I want you to tell me, Dean. What are you thinking about? Right now?" J asked as she slowly tilted her head slightly to one side. Her eyes were flashing again. Dark green and deep brown were Dean's new favorite colors.

"I could just reach in and find out for myself, but that would be rude…" she trailed off and looked away as finished. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and worried it as she waited for an answer.

Dean just openly stared for a second before answering truthfully.

"I'm thinking about how incredible you look. Breathtaking doesn't begin to cover it. You are a beautiful woman and that dress is absolutely killing me, in all honesty. Besides that obvious observation, I'm thinking of the way everyone looked at you and went silent earlier. How you have an effect on people. How you have had an effect on Sam and I. I'm thinking about that blonde. I'm thinking about what and how you did what you did to her. I am wondering how all of that is connected to your…. Abilities." Dean said the last word a lot quieter than the rest of his confession as he swirled the liquor in his glass.

He desperately wanted to look back up at her, but being honest and direct was not something Dean Winchester was used to.

"We can speak openly here, by the way. The booth on the other side of us is reserved, by me, specifically for that reason. I did not want to run the risk of being overheard and I wanted complete privacy tonight."

J looked around the club, slowly scanning all of the patrons, obviously thinking of what to say next.

"As for my effect on people and my surroundings, that ties in with my ability to read minds, dream walk, all of that. It is more so the power of persuasion than anything. I have a secret siren song that you are unaware of but react to nonetheless. Basically, I can't make anyone do anything, but I can persuade them to a certain extent. More so than anyone is consciously aware of. Power of will plays a lot into that. Anyone can overcome my persuasion, if they are aware and really wanted to. Most just let it happen, and are completely unaware, and you have seen firsthand what that entails."

J sighed heavily and looked back into Dean's eyes. The look in her them was one of confusion and tension now.

"What happened with the blonde is something I'm still getting used to and mastering. I'm not quite sure how it works myself. My abilities reach further than just the mind-stuff. In this case, if I feel something strongly enough, I can make things manifest. I'm still figuring out how exactly that works and how to control it. It surprised even me. That is as much as I know and can tell you. In all honesty, it just kind of happened. I willed it, and then it was. I am at a loss of how else to explain it. I'm still learning about the extent of my abilities and how to control them…"

J took another sip from her glass while Dean stared at her, mouth slightly open. He was somewhat intimidated now. If she could manage to pull what she had earlier with Madison, without fully knowing what she did or how she did it, she must be powerful.

He was as interested in her raw power as he was with everything else about her. Before he could finish this train of thought she spoke again.

"Now the ball is in your court. I know you must have so many questions beyond what you have already asked. So, ask away. I have already interrupted with a question of my own and I promised myself wouldn't do that. I promised myself to let you take the wheel."

Dean looked up as he took another sip. He could already feel the alcohol running through his veins, that's how strong this stuff was. Liquid courage to the rescue. This was going to turn into one hell of a night.

Before he could stop himself, he asked one of the questions that had been running through his mind constantly and consistently since almost the day they had met.

"Why did you stop visiting me in my dreams?" Dean's eyes widened before he looked down and took another gulp of his drink.

J reached for the bottle, uncorking it and topping off both of their glasses.

"I thought it was an invasion of privacy and you knew what I was doing. You neither confirmed nor denied the fact that you wanted me back. So, I stayed away to be sure."

Dean nodded as the burn in his throat slowly faded as he looked back up from his hands folded on the tabletop.

"Why do you seem… sad asking me that question?" J asked as she sipped at her own drink. Her eyes were searching his, though he knew she was refraining from reading him.

Without thinking, Dean answered, "I thought you didn't want to visit me anymore."

J looked up from her drink, a surprised look on her face. The surprised look turned to that of a genuine smile.

"To be honest, it has been difficult. Staying away. The vibration of your mind, the frequency, the way it works, something, is different than anyone else's that I have ever encountered. It's how I knew you needed an out that one night with the redhead. It came to me as easily as if you were standing right next to me back at The Roadhouse. It seems that for you and your thoughts, distance is not an issue like it is with everyone else."

They both looked at each other. Dean was at a loss for words because J had answered another one of the questions he had been dying to ask. How she had known to have Jo call him. How she had known he needed a reason to bail. The additional thought of being different than anything else she's encountered made his heart swell.

Dean felt special. J took a deep breath as her cheeks flushed and she looked back down at her drink before she continued speaking. The cute, shy girl was back.

"It's not like I have not wanted to visit. I have stopped myself more times than I care to admit. I didn't want to scare you off. It's just that it wouldn't have been right since I didn't know until now, that I was wanted…That I had permission. Had I known; things would have been a bit different."

The strawberry-blonde J had called Lucy earlier finished another song and both Dean and J turned and clapped politely with the rest of the club.

Dean turned back to J, admiring her profile as she looked over at the stage. He enjoyed being able to just look and admire such beauty without feeling like a creep. He was not afraid of J turning back to him only to find him staring. In fact, he wished she would turn back around and look at him.

He craved her attention he was starting to realize.

A sudden fire burned low in his stomach and Dean was sure it had everything to do with the woman in front of him. Plus, the alcohol now starting to run through his veins was boosting his confidence now. He had more questions to ask.

A lot more questions.

But J wasn't turning back to him, though. She was still facing the stage. Now there was a strange expression on her face.

Dean furrowed his eyebrows and followed her gaze and saw Lucy up on stage mouthing unheard words while staring right back at J.

For a second Dean thought the microphone had malfunctioned and that her voice was not being amplified. Then he realized he couldn't hear anything at all.

If Lucy was singing, he sure as hell would be able to hear her voice from here. Microphone or not. They were not that far from the stage, and they were right off the dance floor.

It was then that Lucy really did start singing to this new song. Like nothing had happened. Her eyes were back roving the crowd, stopping on his brother every few moments. Dean even though he saw her wink at Sam.

J finally turned back to him. He turned back to her with what must have been a bewildered look on his face.

"What was that about?" Dean asked, obviously interested and not hiding the fact that he had noticed the whole thing.

J chuckled and took another sip of her drink. The pink in her cheeks coming forward again.

"I can read lips. It's part of my training. You know. For my job… They all think it's because I have hearing problems and I'm shit at ASL. Which is true. That and I can't just go around and use my psychic mojo all the time. People would eventually catch on. Most are not that stupid." J blushed again, giggled, and smirked to herself.

Dean could become addicted to the sound.

J sighed again and finished "She asked me if I would close out the night with a surprise performance."

Dean tilted his head side to side like a dog as he tried to understand what she had just said.

"Surprise performance?" Dean asked breathlessly, still not quite understanding.

J looked off over at Lucy again before she answered.

"You'll see. Let's see what I can come up with. Even I have no clue what I'm going to do. This is only the second time I've said yes since I stopped performing. She's using my drinking against me. That bitch." J said with a smile as she turned back and lifted her glass.

J took another sip. The smile growing on her face.