Hey Readers...so here is another chapter.

To recap: The boys and Jorie are back home and out of the dream. They are trying to figure out the next step and Jorie is not on board.

Thanks for the reviews!

"How's the knee?" Sam knelt beside her and inspected her leg. "How much does it hurt on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the worst?"

Jorie tried to stand up but Sam's heavy hand made it impossible. He gently twisted and turned her knee to be sure it was okay. Jorie grimaced. It felt like the glass shard was still there.

"Owww…it feels like 15!" she gasped wiping at her nose that started to drip. She pulled her hand away only to see blood covering it. It seemed that all her compulsions were catching up to her now that she was awake.

Sam grabbed some tissues nearby and pinched her nose firmly. "The throbbing will die off, take a deep breath and breathe through the pain. It's not real but your brain is still catching up. African Dream Root is a hallucinogen."

Jorie frowned. A halluc-a-what? She had no idea what Sam was talking about.

"Like a drug," Sam went on to explain. "Your mind is going through a type of withdrawal."

Dean scrubbed a hand over his face. "Damn it, Jorie! What were you thinking drinking that dream root tea?"

Tears blurred her vision again. Guess the dream part was over and now reality had arrived.

"Dean, back off!" Sam said with a growl in his voice. "We can talk about it later. We need to make sure she's okay."

Dean's face reddened. "So help me, Sammy…"

Sam stared Dean down. The two brothers had a silent battle of wills for several moments before

Dean punched the wall and stormed from the room.

Sam looked at Jorie with a shrug. "He'll calm down."

Tears flowed down Jorie's cheeks and she choked back a sob.

"Hey," Sam soothed, still pinching her nose. "Your dad finally clued in to who you were and woke up. This is a good thing, okay?"

"But where is he?" Jorie couldn't hold back her despair.

Sam pulled her in for a hug and rested his chin on her blonde hair. "We don't know that yet, but he's awake right now or we'd still be in the dream. We don't know how long he will stay awake before the Jargeru forces him back under but for now, he's awake."

Jorie wept into Sam's chest. She felt emotionally exhausted and she still had no idea where her dad was. They were no further ahead than before. She never felt so frustrated in her whole life.

Sam pulled away. Jorie tried to calm down and stop crying as Sam slowly pulled the stained tissues from her nose and leaned in to see if the blood flow had stopped.

Jorie sniffed, almost choking on the blood still in her throat.

"Try not to sniff for a bit while the blood is clotting. It's stopped for now and we don't want to disturb the newly formed clot."

Jorie nodded.

"Your knee feel any better?"

Jorie tried to stand and was pleasantly surprised that she could regain her balance. Her knee still ached a little but definitely not like it had when she'd first awakened.

"Yeah."

Sam smiled. "It's pretty overwhelming for a few minutes, huh?"

Jorie felt like that was the biggest understatement she had ever heard. The pain had been agonizing like her knee was really split open by a glass

Sam stood up and offered his hand to her. "Let's go see what Dean and Bobby have found out."

XxXx

Jorie followed Sam downstairs to see Dean and Bobby pouring over a large map spread out on the kitchen table. Dean held a beer in one hand and was just hanging up his cell phone.

"You sure he said Industrial Street?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. He specifically said street."

"Who'd you call?" asked Sam when he walked into the room.

"Couple of hunters in the area are going to check the warehouses out and report back to me. I thought it would be quicker to scope the place out first."

Sam lifted a brow. "Who's in the area?"

"Ash and a few of his hunting buddies," Bobby replied.

Sam hummed at the information.

Dean looked back down at the map. "Got an idea what's under those warehouses?"

Sam sat at the kitchen table and opened his laptop. "Likely underground tunnels of some kind, probably used during the war. Industrial Street has been vacant for as long as I remember. Pretty sure kids in our day used to graffiti the buildings."

Bobby rounded the table and watched Sam as he googled the area searching for blueprints.

Jorie stood in the background wanting to remain unnoticed.

Dean circled the area on the map with a large black sharpie, tapping the marker on the table several times. "You know, we know this area, Sammy," Dean looked towards Sam who peered at him over the screen of the laptop with a nostalgic look flooding his face.

"We do?"

"Remember that time we snuck out with Rod and Keith…they dared us to meet them after midnight at that abandoned warehouse…"

Sam narrowed his eyes a moment then his brows went up in remembrance.

Dean grinned. "Did we ever get plastered that night."

"You got plastered," Sam corrected.

Dean shrugged with a smirk and took a long draw from his beer.

"Hold up," Bobby said taking off his filthy ball cap and wiping his brow. "When did you two sneak out and get plastered?"

Sam held up his hands in innocence. "Let the record show that Dean got plastered."

"1996," Dean said. "Whatever, the point is I remember these tunnels." Dean pointed to an intersection on the map. "Industrial Street follows Cochrane. There is a cluster of underground tunnels that lead…"

Bobby cut him off. "'96?" Bobby looked like he was calculating in his head. His face reddened as it dawned on him how old the brothers were in 1996. "You're telling me you dragged your 13-year-old little brother out to Industrial Street in the middle of the night and got plastered?"

"Yes, he sure did," Sam said with a chuckle.

"Okay," Dean said, shrugging his shoulders. "Not one of my finer moments, I admit."

Bobby smacked Dean on the back of the head with his ball cap before fitting it back on his head. He grumbled under his breath making Sam chuckle louder.

"There's no statute of limitations on these things, Sam," Bobby growled.

Sam lifted his hands again in surrender but kept chuckling as he and Dean exchanged a mischievous look that even made Jorie giggle. Sometimes the exchanges between the three men were hilarious, even to a ten-year-old girl. Not that she understood all of it.

"Jorie," Bobby said just noticing her for the first time.

Jorie inwardly groaned. Her cover had been made. She'd tried to stay out of view but her giggle had given her away.

"You hungry? If I left it up to these two knuckleheads, they'd starve you?"

Jorie stepped out of the shadows and shook her head. She wasn't hungry. She just felt numb. So much had happened in the dream that she wasn't even able to process it yet. She had so many questions but she was afraid to ask them. She worried her bottom lip and leaned against the wall furthest away from them.

"These two knuckleheads kept her from getting herself killed," Dean said, his eyes darkening when he looked at her.

Jorie swallowed hating Dean all the more.

"What do you mean?" asked Bobby.

"Dean, now isn't the time to discuss this…" said Sam, sighing and shutting his laptop.

"I disagree. Now is the perfect time to discuss the rules she broke."

Bobby waved his hand in the air. "Hello? What are you two talking about?"

Dean walked towards Jorie and pointed at her. "She took it into her fool head to follow us into Mac's dream."

"Wait, What?" Bobby swung around to look at Jorie, disbelief written all over his face.

Jorie felt her anger bubble up. "I don't care about your stupid rules! I just wanna find my dad."

Jorie marched to the side door of the kitchen and flung the door open. Dean grabbed her and swung her under his arm, slamming the door shut with his foot. Jorie struggled to get free but it was no use. Dean carried her across the room and planted her firmly on a chair. He glared down at her but remained silent, his jaw working out his emotions.

"Jorie," Sam said as he pulled his chair closer to her. "We need a game plan first. We don't know how to kill the Jargeru yet, so there's no sense in going after him if we're only going to end up in the same place as your dad. That won't help anyone. Can you understand that?"

Jorie crossed her arms stubbornly but her lower lip trembled. She didn't care if they killed the creature; she just wanted her dad back. The last dream sequence was etched into her mind; smelling her dad's scent and him holding her had nearly been her undoing. She was so tired of everything and that included the Winchester brothers.

Sam looked up at Dean, hitting him with his trademark bitchface expression that only Sam could get away with. Dean glared right back.

"Cut it out, you two!" Bobby scolded. "Nothing makes a lick of sense to me. The fact that John gave this information about Industrial Street seems off to me too. Was Mac with you when you snuck out on this secret teenage stupidity?" Bobby scratched his scruffy bearded face.

Jorie felt a little relief that Bobby had taken the heat off of her and pointed things back to finding her father. She wasn't feeling overly confident in her decision to follow the brothers into her father's dream. It wouldn't take much to break her.

Dean rubbed his hands over his eyes and shook his head. "No, Bobby. Think 1996. It was before Mac came the first time." Dean sighed. "We never went back after the cops raided the place and padlocked all the doors. If dad had found out we snuck out on your watch, he'd have skinned us alive."

"He'd have skinned you alive," Sam corrected.

Dean kicked Sam's chair. "Shut up. He'd have skinned you too. You were guilty by association."

Sam shrugged.

Bobby walked across the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of amber liquid and poured himself a drink. He looked at each brother and then downed the glass. "Do I even want to know how many times you snuck out of this house on my watch?"

Dean looked like he swallowed the preverbal canary. Sam dusted the top of his laptop off with his hand.

"Idgits," Bobby grumbled.

Sam stood to his feet and grabbed a piece of fruit from the counter, passing it back and forth between his hands. "Not to change the subject but we never did see Dad's body, Dean. We were so shell-shocked about everything; we just gave him a hunter's funeral and moved on. What if he's still alive? I mean, I wouldn't put it past him to hide that from us since he was always so hell-bent on hunting without us."

Dean held up a hand. "No. Uh uh. We aren't going there, Sammy. That man is dead and buried. I'm not going to stand here and let you dig him up again."

"All I'm saying is that he knew stuff that Mac wouldn't have known about…"

Dean shook his head. "No, Sam, I don't want to hear it." He cast Jorie a stern look. "Don't you dare leave this house!" He stormed out of the kitchen towards Bobby's study.

Sam set the fruit in front of Jorie and ran after Dean.

XxXx

Bobby lifted a brow and offered Jorie a look of compassion. Jorie thought she saw a hint of amusement on Bobby's face too but it soon morphed into his usual gruff expression. As much as Bobby tried to look mean, Jorie could tell underneath he was a big teddy bear. Bobby stood and cleared the table of the bottles of beer and clutter.

"So, you took it into your head to follow them boys, huh," Bobby said as he dropped the bottles into a bin and reached for a clean glass. He poured milk into it and grabbed a couple of cookies from the jar in his cupboard. Bobby sat down again and pushed the milk and cookies towards her. Jorie kept her arms crossed and eyed the door once again. "I wouldn't try it, darling. Dean is pretty irritated right now and I wouldn't put it past him to smack the dust from the seat of your jeans."

Jorie felt tears burning at the back of her eyes. "I just want to find my dad," she said with a quiver in her voice. She leaned forward and rested her head in the crook of her elbow. "They know where he is…"

Bobby stroked the back of her head gently. "I know it's hard to understand, darling. Hunting isn't always a quick thing. We need to be smart because there are no second chances. It takes time and planning. We've got hunter friends who can help too." He was quiet for a minute so Jorie lifted her head to look up at him through teary eyes. "One thing I do know is those two boys won't stop until they get your daddy back. You can take that promise to the bank. One way or another, they'll find Mac and bring him back safely."

Jorie hid her face again and forced herself to run through each dream sequence in her head starting with the first one when she first arrived. Her dad had been with John Winchester and they were discussing a hunt. She heard bits and pieces of it but was so glad to see her dad that she'd lost control of herself instead of listening for details. That was stupid on her part. When she'd told John about Sam and Dean being with her, he seemed very surprised that Jorie knew who they were. Could that have been the real John as well? And in that first sequence, her dad knew she was manipulating him. So that was her real dad as well. In no other dream version was anyone aware of what she was doing except Sam and the real John Winchester. Jorie frowned remembering what else happened. Perhaps that was her real dad who had spanked her in his dream for manipulating him. She squirmed on the chair feeling a little chagrinned about that realization. Her dad would be very angry with her when everything was said and done.

"Hey, Bobby, we could use your help on something. Dean found something…"

Jorie popped her head up to see Sam standing in the entranceway. He motioned for Bobby to follow him back to the study. Bobby patted her back and smiled at her. "Drink your milk, darling. Everything is going to be okay," he encouraged and left the room following Sam.

Jorie reached for the glass of milk and took a sip. It was cold and refreshing so she emptied the glass but pushed the cookies away. Her st omach felt tied up in a knot. She slid from the chair and took a peek into where the three men were standing. They seemed occupied with another map and several books. Jorie rubbed her sweaty palm on her pants and looked towards the door. If they made a fuss over her going outside, she'd just insist she was getting some fresh air. There was no law against that. If she was able to get out without them noticing, then she'd make sure she disappeared and found her dad herself. They were taking too long and every minute that went by was one more minute that her father was alone and in danger of falling asleep again.

Jorie walked over to the door and pulled back the dingy yellow curtain that covered the window. Outside she could see Rumsfeld lying on the porch. Jorie smiled. Rumsfeld would be the perfect alibi should they catch her leaving the kitchen. Cautiously, she turned the handle and opened the kitchen door. Her heart pounded a little faster when the door creaked very loudly. She should have made herself aware of that but normal everyday noises never seem to register until the house is quiet or you're trying to be sneaky or something. Her heart nearly stopped when Dean stormed into the kitchen looking ready to throttle her. Without thinking, Jorie closed her eyes and compelled him to stop in his tracks.

Dean stopped and looked at her like he was confused as to why he was in the kitchen.

Go back to Bobby's study.

Jorie squeezed her eyes tighter as she felt Dean fight against her compulsion. She licked her lips and wondered how he was doing it. Her nose began to run and she could taste copper in her mouth. Dean hadn't ever fought back against her before so she had to push harder.

I said go back!

Dean wavered a bit, reaching out to grab the nearest chair. He blinked his eyes a few times and then turned to walk back to Bobby's study. Jorie breathed a sigh of relief once he was out of eye contact and she rushed out the door only to hear Sam's voice in her head.

Stay on the porch.

Jorie froze. Sam had projected on her but at the same time compelled her. Jorie tried to step off the porch but her foot wouldn't move in that direction. How did he do that?

Don't force me to waste this time when I can be using it to find out how to kill the Jargeru.

Jorie's lip wobbled. Damn if Sam wasn't more powerful than he let on. More powerful than she was by a long shot. She had no idea he could project his thoughts and compel her to obey him at the same time.

I'm willing to let stuff go from the dream but I won't allow you to compel Dean. We have no idea what kind of damage that kind of thing does. Cut it out, now!

Jorie's eyes widened at the commanding tone of Sam's voice in her head. He wasn't compelling her to obey him but it was most certainly an order. She sniffled and wiped the blood from her mouth as her nose continued to run. To be truthful, Jorie had no idea what kind of damage she was doing to herself either. It seemed that her nose bled every time now, but she hadn't had any headaches so far since awakening and the overwhelming exhaustion had yet to hit her. That felt like a win to her. Maybe she was getting stronger the more she used her abilities. She was always afraid to use them but now she felt a little more brazen after the dream world.

Jorie sat down and stroked Rumsfeld's soft fur lost in thought. He whimpered a little and moved to rest his head on her lap.

"What kind of adventures did you have, boy?"

Jorie had seen the dog a few times in different scenarios but the dog probably had been very confused through the entire series of dreams. Rumsfeld yawned and sneezed but looked unconcerned and definitely not hard done by in any way. Jorie kissed his warm head and surveyed the yard in front of her. Bobby's yard was run down, and it didn't look like he'd cut his grass or used his weed eater around the place in decades. Long prickly weeds grew up against his fences that surrounded the property. The entire property was just plain run down.

On a whim, Jorie tried to move her foot further down the steps but found she couldn't.

Sam, in essence, had grounded her to the porch.

Let me go, Sam! She compelled back.

She waited for some kind of response from Sam but none came which just served to frustrate her. The guy didn't even have to move to stop her.

Tears of defeat welled in her eyes. When she compelled Dean in the dream sequences, it would cripple Sam. She wondered if she could do the same outside of the dream. Jorie patted Rumsfeld on the head and slipped out from under his sleepy head. The dog grunted but didn't move. Jorie slipped back into the kitchen and wandered into the den being careful to stay hidden. Sam was sitting at Bobby's desk searching for things on his laptop. Bobby was in the corner talking on the phone. Dean was mumbling and reading words from a book he held in his hands. Jorie slipped into the room seemingly unnoticed and took stock of her options. Sam always seemed to know when she compelled someone. That royally sucked but she wagered if she made the compulsion big enough, it just might cripple Sam enough for her to get away. Finding her dad was her priority. They were taking too damn long.

Jorie closed her eyes and imagined a scenario. She envisioned Dean walking out of the house, getting into the Impala and driving away. She didn't think she needed to give him a set destination but only an inclination to stay away and not have any contact with Sam or Bobby for 24 hours. Dean would have no memory of any of it when he returned. That would be enough for her to slip away and find her dad. The Jargeru meant nothing to her if she could find her dad while he was awake. Tightening her eyes and clenching her fists, Jorie sent the compulsion towards Dean. Blood poured down her lip and dripped off her chin as she concentrated on relaying her plan to Dean. When Dean gripped the table and grabbed his head with a loud groan, her eyes flew open and her heart jumped into her throat.

"Dean, you okay?" Bobby asked, covering his phone with the palm of his hand.

Dean waved his hand and nodded. "Yeah, just have a bit of headache." He rubbed his temples and then looked at Bobby. "What's Ash got?"

"They found the tunnels and are just going in now. He'll text you the coordinates."

Sam jumped up suddenly. "African dream root can kill them!" He spun his laptop around and showed Dean and Bobby the webpage he'd brought up. "I found it on the dark web…some hunters in Illinois tracked one in 1992 and killed it by shooting it in the head with a bullet laced with dream root."

"Hang on, Ash," Bobby said, dropping the phone to the floor and leaving it hanging by it's cord.

Bobby grabbed one of his books out and flipped through until he found the page he was looking for. He dropped it on the desk for Sam to read.

"Hiram Baker did the same damn thing in 1878 and recorded it. No one could repeat what he did because the Jargeru is so rare. The lore only has the mention of them three times in history and twice they killed every hunter only to disappear again. We have no idea how many there are in existence. It seems like they only need to feed every few hundred years or so."

Dean continued to rub his temples as he listened to information.

Jorie frowned and closed her eyes again repeating her compulsion over Dean more insistently. Jorie couldn't figure out how Dean seemed to be able to withstand her compulsion yet not even know he was doing it.

This time Sam and Dean both doubled over.

"What the hell?" Bobby said, looking at the brothers with concern. "Is this some kind of aftereffect of the dream root?"

Dean moaned like he was in pain and started for the kitchen.

"Dean," groaned Sam, holding his head with both hands. "Wait!"

Dean didn't listen but went out the kitchen door.

"Bobby, follow him!" Sam pleaded, forcing himself to stand up to his full height. Bobby looked confused. "I'll explain later but just don't let him out your sight."

Bobby sighed and ran after Dean grumbling under his breath.

Release the compulsion, Jorie.

Jorie sunk to the floor in her hiding spot but didn't answer Sam out loud or in his head. Sam was working hard to keep his composure and Jorie would bid her time until Sam lost his edge. The longer she held Dean captive, she figured the weaker Sam would get.

"I've adapted, Jorie. You caught me off guard but it doesn't hurt anymore." Sam said carefully looking around the room. "Trust me, girl, I am stronger than you and I know how to use my abilities."

Jorie curled her arms around her legs and watched Sam circle the room. If they were playing hot potato, Sam would be stone cold.

"Sam! Sam! What's going on?" said a voice yelling over the phone that Bobby had dropped onto the floor.

Sam's attention went to the phone and he picked it up. "Sorry, Ash. Bobby and Dean went to check a few things out. Anything yet?"

Jorie couldn't hear the other end of the conversation.

"Just scope it out…if you think you can grab Spencer then do it. We need to get our hands on more African dream root first, but I have a few ideas on that front. Hang tight."

Again Sam listened.

"Yeah, that sounds like a hell of a plan. Keep us in the know, man."

Silence from Sam as he listened.

"Thanks, man. We owe you one."

Sam hung up the phone and ran his hands through his hair. "The longer you play this game, the more danger you're putting your dad in. What are you trying to prove? I'm not letting you leave this house."

Jorie disagreed. She could wait out Sam but could Sam wait out her?

"Jorie, I'm warning you. Come out now and release Dean? Where is he going?"

Jorie felt her heart rate increase and started to feel hot. Her nose was still bleeding and she felt light-headed as well. She didn't feel the usual exhaustion though so that was a win.

Sam went behind the desk and pushed out Bobby's swivel chair into the middle of the room and sat down. He crossed one leg over the other. "Okay, the hard way it is."

Jorie shivered at how assured Sam look. He didn't look pained anymore, and she'd constricted the compulsion on Dean as tightly as she could. Dean would drive without stopping until she released him. On some subliminal level, Jorie felt a rush of power. She'd never felt exhilarated like this before.

"The ball is in your court, kid. What's your next play?"

Sam looked even less concerned with her as he dialled his cell phone and put it to his ear.

"Bella? Yeah, it's Sam. Listen, I need a favour."

Jorie shuffled her spot until she was a little more hidden and debated her choices.