Another short one, but they're going to start getting longer.

I tried to post this a couple days ago but work got crazy and then my internet died. But here it is, still early. Sorry for leaving you hanging.

Xoxo


She saw Jo tied to the bed with the man from the other day on top of her. His head snapped up when Jessa burst through the door. When he climbed off her, Jessa could see a few shallow cuts across her chest and shoulders but otherwise she appeared unharmed.

The man ran at Jessa and she easily dodged him. He was wielding a large hunting knife and when he ran at her again, Jessa grabbed his arm and forced him to drop his weapon. She wasn't expecting the punch that caught her face, but managed to retaliate with her knee to his groin. He dropped to the floor in pain and someone came running through the door just as her knee connected with his face, knocking him unconscious. She turned to see the agent from earlier, Morgan, standing in the doorway with his gun trained on the now-unconscious assailant.

Blood was trickling from Jessa's mouth as she grabbed her switchblade from her boot and cut Jo free from the ropes that bound her to the bed. As soon as she was free, Jo wrapped her arms around her.

Jessa could feel the bruise blooming on her cheek as she led Jo downstairs. Agent Morgan handcuffed their attacker and another agent had gone up to help him get his unconscious body to the waiting SUV's. The FBI had an ambulance waiting, which an agent ushered Jo to. While a paramedic was tending to Jo's minor wounds, agent Hotchner approached Jessa for a statement.

"I got to Jo's room and the door was locked so I kicked it in." She recounted, "He attacked me and I beat him up. The son of a bitch deserved more than I gave him."

A small smile briefly graced his lips before it was replaced by his stern expression, "Thank you for your help."

"Is this what you do all the time? Catch killers?"

"Serial killers, yes."

She smiled, maybe there was a point in having a life outside of hunting. She walked away from the agent to see how Jo was doing.

"I'm fine." She assured Jessa, "Just a couple of minor cuts. I gotta get used to it if I want to be a hunter, right." The paramedic had cleaned her wounds and taped bandages to her to stop the bleeding.

Jessa shook her head. All Jo ever wanted to be was a Hunter and that was the last thing Ellen wanted for her. "I'm just glad you're ok."

"Yeah but Mom's going to flip when she gets home tomorrow."

Jessa chuckled, "Come on, you should get some sleep."


"What the hell happened to you?" Ellen asked Jessa as soon as she walked through the door.

Jessa chucked the dirty rag into the bucket of water and stood up properly to face her. "Someone broke in last night."

"I hope he looks a hell of a lot worse than you do." She tilted her surrogate daughter's head to inspect the bruise.

"He does." She tried to find the best way to explain it, "Well, he didn't break into the bar, see."

"Jessa, what happened?"

"He attacked Jo."

Ellen saw red.

"Before you overreact, she's fine. I called the feds and they arrested him."

"Feds?"

"Uh, yeah. They came in and were asking me about him and when I closed up he was here so I called them."

"Mom." Jo appeared in the doorway wearing a black tank top, her injuries fully visible.

"Jo, honey, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Mom. Jessa saved me."

Ellen embraced her daughter, then Jessa. "I'm glad you're both ok."

Jessa finished her morning cleaning and was just taking the trash bag to the dumpster when she heard the gravel crunching behind her. In one swift movement she grabbed her hunting knife from her waistband and had the person pinned against the dumpster with the blade at his throat.

"Woah!" The agent from yesterday, Agent Morgan, held up his hands.

She released him.

"What was that for?"

She shrugged and tossed the garbage into the dumpster.

"What are you running from?"

"What makes you think I'm running?"

"For starters, you're what like twenty-one? Twenty-two? And you fight better than any civilian I've ever seen and you just put a knife to my throat for walking up behind you."

"What if I'm not running? What if I'm just being ready?"

"Ready for what?"

Jessa shrugged again. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to check on you and your sister." He told her, "I mean, I assume she's your sister. You kind of look similar."

She smiled. It wasn't the first time someone mistook her and Jo for sisters, but she didn't mind because she considered Jo and Ellen her family. "We're ok. It's not the first fight I've ever been in."

He chuckled, "I can tell."

Jessa started walking back to the Roadhouse, and Morgan followed. "So what? Now you're going to stalk me?"

He shrugged, "What's a girl like you doing out here anyway?"

"Girl like me? You don't even know me." She leaned against the side of the building and lit a cigarette.

He shrugged again, "I know more than you think, Bright Eyes. I know that you're tough. And that you care. I also know that you don't want to settle here. Someone like you would do good in a job like this."

She shook her head and scoffed, "Bright Eyes?"

He shrugged with an overconfident grin.

"What makes you think I don't want to stay, anyway?"

"Your room. Well, I assume it was your room. It's bare. No personal items at all."

"You were in my room?"

"We had to clear the building last night."

"Well, you don't know me."

"Then let me." He handed her a card, "If you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods, call me." He slipped a pair of dark shades over his eyes and walked off.

Jessa finished off her cigarette and went back inside to prepare for the night's trade.


The Roadhouse was closed and Jessa perched on the bar as she counted the tips while Ellen counted the money in the till.

"What's on your mind?" Ellen asked after a long silence.

"I've been thinking of moving on." She told her.

A brief look of surprise crossed Ellen's face before it was replaced with one of support, "You thinking of Hunting again?"

Jessa shrugged, "I don't know, but I think I should move on."

Ellen offered her a smile, "I'm happy for you, sweetheart."

"I won't be leaving you short a waitress or anything?"

Ellen shook her head, "Jo's been helping out a bit and she's old enough to operate the bar. When were you thinking of going?"

"I don't know, soon I guess."

"We'll be sad to see you go."

"This is still my home. It's always going to be my home." She slipped off the bar and wrapped Ellen in a hug.

"I love you, honey."

"Love you too, Ellen."

"Good luck when you tell Jo. She's going to miss having you around."

The next morning Jessa decided that it was the best time to tell Jo that she was leaving. She brought it up over breakfast, and Jo didn't react well.

"What do you mean, you're leaving?" She yelled.

"I just think that it's time for me to move on."

"Why?"

She shrugged, "It's what I want, Jo."

Jessa's voice remained calm when Jo yelled, and when she spoke again it was level, "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you."

"When are you leaving?"

Jessa shrugged, "In the next few days."

She left the following Monday. It didn't take much for her to pack up her life, it still fit inside the duffel bag that she used when she arrived. She got the bus from the town after Ellen and Jo dropped her off. It was a teary goodbye on Ellen's part, but when the bus couldn't wait any longer she let go and Jessa boarded the bus to take her away.