Jorie's hand moved painfully slow as she willed it to rub her forehead. Her vision was blurred, her hearing was muffled and it took every ounce of her being just to blink her eyes or move any part of her body. What had Sam done to her? She couldn't even pull up the curtain in her mind as he'd shown her. All her thoughts were visible to Sam and if it were possible, he seemed to be able to control what she was thinking. A shiver ran up Jorie's spine. She'd thought the last time he'd controlled her movements had been bad. This time Sam was controlling everything. She'd heard him command Dean to come back. She'd fought to prevent it but there'd been no use. Sam's abilities far outweighed her own.

Time escaped her as she seemed to drift and float as if underwater, having no control to say or do anything. A fuzzy representation of Dean returned. Ripples of colours blurred around her along with muted sounds. She couldn't even detect volume or tone in the voices around her.

Then all at once, everything got loud.

Jorie's senses were overwhelmed. She shut her eyes, feeling tears brim her lids. Her hands flew to her ears as she attempted to block out the normal sounds of the room: the hum of the refrigerator, ticking clocks and creaking groans of the building. All of it together all at once became sensory overload for Jorie.

"…give you any trouble," Sam finished before turning to look at Jorie's face. His stern look quickly melted into compassion as he crouched down and pulled Jorie into a hug. "Hey, hey, it's okay, Jorie. You're okay. Take a deep breath for me. I'm so sorry that it's causing you pain, sweetheart."

"What's wrong?" Dean's gruff voice barked. Jorie could tell he was upset with her.

"I blocked her sensory receptors for too long. She's overwhelmed."

Jo frowned. "You did what now?"

Sam lifted Jorie into his arms, comforting her as she adjusted to the sounds around her once again. "It's a long story, Jo. I've explained enough. C'mon, let's head to the tunnels. You can watch Jorie in the car."

Jorie's body felt heavy as Sam carried her outside of the building. She lifted her head enough to read the brightly lit lettering above the doorway. It read Harvelle's Roadhouse. As Sam walked, discussing details with Dean and Jo, Jorie stared at her surroundings. Her senses were so messed up that she was unable to follow the conversation. She clung to Sam without a word or any fight.

Sam placed Jorie in the back of the Impala and fastened her seatbelt. Jorie sat completely still and stared straight ahead. She couldn't seem to find her tongue and wasn't sure if she still needed friendship bracelets. Jorie frowned. Friendship bracelets? What on earth? Where had that thought come from? Her mind was seriously messed up.

Dean got in the impala and turned to face Jorie as Jo got in beside her and fastened her safety belt.

"You try and manipulate me again, and I don't care where we are or what we're doing, I'm dealing with you myself. Got me?"

Jorie blinked but couldn't make her mouth work to answer. It was probably was just as well because even though she couldn't say anything, she could hear herself replying in numerous less than reasonable ways. Sam might be able to control her but Dean could not. If it was within her power, she would never let Dean deal with her again.

Sam got in and elbowed Dean. "She's not going to be any trouble, Dean. Just drive."

Jorie's mind felt like it was polluted in cobwebs. She leaned her head against the back of the seat and worked to clear the murkiness from her head. Time was not her friend while she was still so absorbed in the process. As she worked to make sense of her surroundings, she soon found herself able to understand what she was hearing and began listening.

"…have so much explaining to do, Sam. You can't just make me close the Roadhouse in the middle of the day to go on some wild goose chase. My mom is going to kill me…"

Sam turned to look at Jo. "Look, I'm sorry about that but this is more important, and I know Ellen will understand.

"Since when do you care what Ellen says?" Dean added, looking at Jo in the rear-view mirror.

"I care, Dean, and for your information, I'm trying to stay on her good side."

Dean chuckled. "Meaning you screwed up enough to get on her bad side recently? Let me guess. You took off on a hunt on your own again."

"It's none of damned your business."

Dean chuckled again but didn't say anything else.

Sam cleared his throat. "I can't control Jorie from a distance and still have Dean's back. The roadhouse is too far, and I can't trust she won't come after us…"

"Pretty sure I can watch a 10-year-old, Sam."

"Not this 10-year-old, Jo. Look, I know we haven't had much time to explain things to you. I appreciate that you were so willing to help us. We aren't even sure what we're dealing with ourselves when it comes to Jorie. She surprises us…"

"What's with all this mind control stuff?" Jo persisted in knowing.

"It's complicated," Dean said.

"Give me the reader's digest version."

Sam stared straight ahead as Dean drove and began to explain some of his abilities and what he was able to do. Jorie listened with interest. Details about demon blood and finding out he had abilities and learning to control them. Jorie found it all fascinating. She got so lost in all the information that she forgot she'd been tongue-tied and her thoughts became verbal once more.

"Do you think I have demon blood in me too?"

Sam turned to face her with a solemn expression on his face. "The truth is I don't know, Jorie. Your abilities seem similar to mine but also somewhat different."

Jorie frowned. How could Sam even know what all her abilities were?

The impala pulled into a darkened parking lot and Jorie recognized where they were. The tunnels were deep inside the warehouses. Her heart rate increased once more as she was flooded with memories of her father and the Jargeru.

"What are you looking for?" Jo asked.

"Jorie took back a piece of the vein attached to her dad. We have a hunter making an antidote from it but it's not going to be enough for both Mac and our dad."

Dean turned off the ignition and got out of the car, peering into the back seat. He pointed a finger in Jorie's direction. "You stay put. Jo is here to watch you. You make sure you listen to her."

Jorie frowned and shook her head, all her stubbornness coming back. "No way."

Sam puffed out his cheeks as he looked into the back seat. He looked at her pleadingly. "Jore, we can do this the hard way but I don't want to control you. Did you like the way you felt before?"

Tears came to Jorie's eyes. She'd hated the feeling of being constrained. Her eyes flashed in anger but that ire quickly dissipated. She didn't want to go head to head with Sam again so soon. She already felt depleted. She needed more time to figure things out.

"Please stay with Jo and listen to her, alright?"

Jorie could hear the pleading in Sam's voice. It was apparent that Sam did not want to restrain her any more than she wanted to be constrained. Jorie leaned back into the seat and reluctantly conceded.

Sam and Dean exchanged a few more words with Jo and then disappeared inside the warehouses again.

Jo chewed her bottom lip and turned to look at Jorie. "They're pretty intense, huh?"

Jorie nodded her head. She didn't want to be left alone with a stranger but that didn't mean she didn't appreciate the blond woman's attempt at kindness.

"Your mom's gonna be mad at you?" Jorie asked.

Jo relaxed a little, shifting her body sideways and leaning against the door. "Probably, but Sam's right. She'll understand. Sam and Dean are pretty good at bulldozing to get their way, though."

Jorie couldn't disagree with that.

"Besides, my mom likes them for some odd reason," Jo smirked at her but Jorie just stared at her and the smile quickly dissolved. "I'm sorry your dad is so sick," offered Jo when the silence grew thick between them.

Tears blurred Jorie's vision once more but she didn't say anything.

A longer silence filled the backseat making Jo shift in discomfort. "You're not gonna do any Jedi mind tricks on me are you?"

Jorie furrowed a brow in confusion. "Jedi?"

"You know like Luke Skywalker?"

Jorie's frown deepened. She wasn't very knowledgeable on pop culture references. She'd been on the road with her dad for as long as she could remember and school wasn't even a priority let alone keeping up with cultural things. Oh, her dad made sure she could read and factor numbers but that's where her education ended. They stayed in hotel rooms and often the rooms didn't even have televisions that worked. She watched her dad do research on the computer and even did some research herself, but that was the extent of it. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy reading, though. She'd read every single book she could get her hands on but her dad limited the subjects and topics. He said he didn't want her daydreaming about nonsense.

Jo pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Girl, you're in for a treat. I know what we can do while we wait for Sam and Dean to come back."

"What's that?"

"I have data on my phone so we can log into Netflix and watch the first Star Wars movie. You are gonna love it!"

Jorie watched with interest as Jo opened the app on her phone. Maybe watching a movie would be a good distraction even though she just wanted to be with her dad. Slipping away from Jo would be easy enough but Jorie was afraid Sam would check-in and she didn't relish another dose of Sam in her head.

Time passed very slowly as Jorie sat back to watch a movie that was very strange to her. As much as she wanted to let herself be drawn into the story, her mind kept drifting back to her dad. She closed her eyes, hoping Jo just thought she'd fallen asleep. She pulled the curtain up in her mind and pulled it around her, similar to the way her father's hospital curtain had been drawn. Maybe this would keep Sam from seeing what she was thinking. He would be distracted with Dean anyway.

Sam? She waited for him to answer. He didn't.

She opened one eye and peeked at Jo. You are feeling sleepy. Her suggestion worked and Jo yawned, shifting herself into a more comfortable position and adjusting the blanket over her and Jorie. You will fall into a deep sleep and won't hear any of the sounds around you until you hear Sam and Dean's voice. Jorie sat up more as the sleeping weight of Jo leaned against her. Jorie pushed Jo away from her and caught the phone before it toppled onto the floor. Jo's phone would be useful. She pocketed it and quickly scooted out of the car. She pulled the curtain tighter in her mind and looked up to see light pouring in. She'd need to learn how to block that as well. For now, she imagined a drawstring to block out that light. Flicking the flashlight on Jo's phone she took off running into the night.

XxXx

Sam cursed.

"What?" Dean asked, still squatted and investigating some veins they had found.

"Jorie compelled Jo."

Dean rose to his full height and tossed what he had in his hand onto the ground. "Son of a bitch! Can you stop her?"

Sam nodded. "I can bring her to me." He silently gave the order. Jorie thought she was tricking him but Sam had no problems seeing through her shrouds. Jorie's abilities were stronger than she knew but they were also untrained. Jorie had no idea how to block him yet and Sam was glad to take advantage of that. She'd forgotten that all her safeguards came down once she was on the move. He hadn't known she'd compelled Jo until she left the car and everything fell allowing him a peek into her thoughts and motives once again. As much as Jorie wanted to be with her father, it just wasn't possible to leave her alone with him. Bobby was still busy with other hunters, scrambling to make an antidote. Jorie had to stay away.

Dean sighed and shone the flashlight around the new space they found themselves in. "You're going to have to do something about her, Sammy or I will."

"Dean, she can compel you very easily."

"So, you can constrain her."

Sam hit Dean with a dirty look. "You're just like dad. If you can't make someone do what you want, you resort to smacking them into submission. It didn't work with me and it's not going to work with Jorie either."

Dean scoffed. "Dude, it worked for you."

"No, Dean, it didn't. All it did is make me angry. Why do you think dad and I always fought so much? He was pigheaded and never listened."

Dean cleared his throat. "And you're not?

Sam shook his head in defeat, "The two of you are cut from the same cloth."

Dean lifted his hands in the air as a sign of a truce. He shone the flashlight in another direction and motioned for Sam to follow him. "You sure it's a good idea to bring her here?"

"No, but what choice do I have? It's obvious that I'm the only one who can handle her…"

Dean turned to say something but Sam held up his hand to stop him. "And no, I'm not going to smack her."

Dean shrugged. "It's your funeral."

The two brothers continued walking in silence, listening to the sounds around them and hoping to catch a break. As more time went by, they lost hope in finding anything to make an antidote for both men. Noise in front of them brought them to full alertness until Dean's flashlight fell onto a very angry-looking Jorie. They'd reached the far entrance of the warehouses and came up empty-handed. They felt completely defeated.

Reluctantly, Jorie walked towards them until she stood in front of Sam. Anger radiated from her.

"The curtain falls when you move from the car, remember?"

Jorie scowled at him. She had forgotten that. Damn. Why couldn't she block Sam when she was on the move? What made that any different?

"I was just going to see my dad," she mumbled in defeat, eyeing Dean nervously.

"Yeah and we told you to stay in the car," Dean said gruffly.

Jorie glared at him. "What's your problem, Dean?" she suddenly shouted at him. "Why do you hate me so much?"

Dean flinched like he'd been slapped in the face. He cleared his throat a few times but then remained quiet, looking like he didn't know what to say.

"Dean doesn't hate you, Jorie," Sam said, coming to the rescue.

Tears glistened on Jorie's face. She knew Dean hated her. Why else would he always be so angry at everything she did? "I just wanted to be with my dad."

Dean found his tongue. "And I want to save his life so stop being a little jerk about it and listen when we tell you to do something."

Jorie scowled at him.

Dean grabbed her arm and led her out of the building towards the impala. Sam followed behind making sure Jorie didn't compel him and make things worse. He was grateful that she didn't try. This time she seemed resigned to her fate. Once they reached the passenger side, Dean opened the door and Jo jerked awake. She looked started and confused as she took in Dean's demeanour and Jorie's position outside the car.

"She compelled me?" Jo groaned, trying to gain her wits about her. Jo didn't even know what it truly meant despite having it happen to her. To her, it had just felt she'd had a nice long nap. She felt refreshed as a matter of fact. Jo got out of the car and stretched. "Sorry, guys."

"It's not your fault, Jo," Sam said wearily. He felt so tired.

Jo got out of the car just as she heard her phone ring. She felt around in her pockets but came up empty. Sam snatched the phone out of Jorie's hands. "Looking for this?"

Jo looked surprised. "Uh, yeah."

"It's Ellen," Sam informed her and handed the phone over.

"Shit." Jo accepted the phone and walked away from them to answer it.

Sam turned to Dean. "I better follow her and explain things to Ellen so she doesn't take a strip out of Jo. None of this is her fault."

Dean nodded. He looked down at Jorie as Sam went after Jo. The little girl stood with her back to him staring back at the warehouses.

"I don't hate you, Jorie."

Her shoulders stiffened in response.

Dean turned her to face him. "I don't hate you. Mac was like a brother to me, kid. That makes you like family or something."

"Or something," Jorie mumbled, toeing her shoe in the dirt.

Dean crouched down and looked up at her. "Hey, one thing you need to know about me is I always mean what I say. You piss me off and drive me crazy but I don't hate you, okay?" Dean put both his hands on her waist. "This compelling shit needs to stop. You can't manipulate me or anyone else to get your way. You're 10 years old and this may come as a surprise to you but you don't know everything. Gawd, Jorie, if anything happened to you, it would kill Mac. I couldn't live with that on my conscience and neither could Sam."

Jorie's lower lip wobbled. She didn't know what to do with a nice Dean.

Dean rose to his full height and messed up her hair and a small smile played around the corners of Jorie's lips as a result. Dean smiled back at her and just like that, it felt like they might be on the same team. Maybe. Not friends but at least in the same ballpark.

A few minutes later Sam and Jo returned to the car and Jo looked more than a little distraught.

She got into the back seat mumbling under her breath.

"What happened?" Dean asked Sam.

"Ellen understood but she isn't happy that we dragged Jo into a hunt."

"So why is Jo so upset? That's my bad, not hers." Dean said.

"Because my mother makes me want to pull my hair out!" yelled Jo from inside the car.

Sam and Dean exchanged a humorous look.

xXxX

"There is no debate here, Dean. Mac gets the antidote," John stated firmly.

Dean groaned. "No, dad, it's not simple. Are you even listening? We didn't find anything else. There is no sign of the mate. We need your help. That's the only way we stand a chance of saving Mac."

John sat up in the hospital bed, sipping ice water. He'd been moved to a private room, no longer needing to be in ICU. The doctors were baffled why he seemed to be doing better than Mac. Mac had yet to gain consciousness.

Bobby sat in a chair to his right with a handful of books piled on the floor around him. The hunter, O'Conner, was in the room, having just explained the lengths he had gone to make the antidote from the plant vine Jorie had found.

"Dean, I'm fine. The doctor said I've improved…"

Sam cleared his throat. "That's not altogether true, dad. Your blood is still showing high toxicity levels..."

John waved a dismissive hand. "Boys, the decision is made. Mackenzie gets the antidote." John turned to O'Conner. "Sneak into the ICU and administer it."

Jorie sat on a chair staring in awe at the senior Winchester. John Winchester was a conundrum. He carried himself with such decisiveness and authority. He didn't just simply create rules; he demanded complete and total obedience. Jorie could see it on all the faces in the room, especially the frustration on Sam's face and the flux in Dean's.

Dean raked a hand through his hair. "And then what, dad? Mac gets cured and we still have no way to cure you…"

John sighed. "I don't need a cure…"

Bobby looked up from the book he was reading, a pained expression flooding his features. "Another deal?

John scowled and shook his head. "It's not like that Singer…"

Bobby took his hat off his head and wiped his brow. "Then I guess you better explain it for those of us in the back row because from where I'm sitting, you should be dead. Not that I know how you're alive in the first place but that's neither here nor there right now. That young woman that died was only ¾ wrapped and she was Jello. How is it that you were completely engulfed in whatever it was and you come out nearly good as new?"

Sam stood up, looking aggrieved. "That's just it! He's not good as new. He's dying!"

"Sit down, son."

Jorie's eyes widened at the tone in the senior Winchester's voice. She shivered at the sudden chill that enveloped the room. How could one man command such authority? Jorie made a mental note not to ever cross the man. Playing around with Dean was a sport. Messing with this man might cause some serious damage.

He's all bark, Jorie. Jorie's eyes flew to Sam's. He smiled at her reassuringly, his dimples dancing in his cheeks as he obeyed his father and sat down. He just likes to have his way.

No kidding. Jorie replied in her head, still wishing she knew how Sam could read her so well.

"O'Connor! Go. NOW!" John commanded again and the large, blonde-headed hunter nodded and left the room.

Jorie was on her feet in a heartbeat ready to follow the hunter. If her dad was going to be cured, she was going to be there to greet him. Unfortunately, Dean held his arm out to stop her from leaving.

"Where do you think you're going, Short stuff?"

"To be with my dad."

Dean shook his head. "Uh-uh. You're not allowed in ICU."

"You let me before," She countered.

"Yeah and we're lucky we didn't both get kicked out. That nurse was a real piece of work. You're staying here."

Jorie sighed. She figured it was best not to include the fact that she'd compelled Dean to force the nurse to let her stay. She was pretty sure she was already walking on thin ice with the man, and she didn't have it in her to fight with him at the moment. Instead, she crossed her arms and scowled at him but leaned against the wall. She'd just wait until he was engrossed in arguing with his father.

John tossed the blanket off of him and swung his feet to the floor.

"Dad!" Sam protested.

"Sammy, I'm fine. Even if you hadn't have killed the Jargeru, I would have still escaped. I'm not going to die and I don't need an antidote." John stood to his feet and walked towards the wardrobe with all eyes on him. He flung open the door and grabbed out his filthy jeans and quickly pulled them on.

Bobby stood to his feet this time. "What in tarnation! If you don't tell us what the hell is going on, I'm going to shoot you myself." He smacked his ball cap on his hip and glared at John.

John groaned as he tossed off the hospital gown and pulled his t-shirt on over his head. "Aconitum."

Bobby narrowed his brows.

"Wolf-bane?" Sam murmured in bewilderment.

"My research hinted that Aconitum could kill it so I had some on me, only trouble was the sample I had got tainted somewhere along the way with algae. Mac and I both got a bad dose of it. The difference is I had injected some of the aconitum to test a theory I had. I guess it stays in the system longer than I thought."

"You mean ingested," Sam corrected.

John shook his head. "No, Sammy, injected."

Jorie watched as all colour drained from Sam's face. A large part of her was intrigued to stay and listen but all eyes were on John, including budinski Dean, so Jorie took the opportunity to slip from the room.