Jessa waited atop her SuperHawk while Dean filled the Impala. She had her tank full long before Dean and Sam even arrived at the gas station. She watched the banter between her two brothers, feeling for the first time like no time had passed at all. It was like they were kids again, waiting for John to come back with a treat before they headed on another hunt.
Sam was trying to give Dean a lesson on morals, regarding the fake credit cards.
"We heading?" She asked them.
"You good?" Sam asked her.
She nodded, but her phone rang, "Hang on." She told her brothers. "Winchester." She answered. "Yes, sir. I understand. See you then, sir. Thank you."
"What was that about?" Dean asked.
"My new boss. I don't need to start until Monday after next."
Dean nodded, "Let's hit the road."
When Jessa rode into Jericho the first thing she noticed were the police cars on the bridge. She slowed the Hawk to a stop before kicking the stand up. The boys were still a ways behind her but she decided to start without them. She pulled her helmet off and sat it on the handlebars before climbing off. She looked down at her attire, a midriff tank with leather pants and combat boots. She adjusted her denim jacket and approached the hubbub, thankful that she had kept her badge in her pocket.
"Excuse me," She called to a deputy as she approached, "What's going on here?" She held up her badge for him to inspect.
"You don't look like a fed." He observed rudely.
Jessa smiled and tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder, "I'm off duty. I was heading into town to see my cousin, we had plans for lunch." She lied easily. "This is his car."
"You know the victim?" The Deputy, Jaffe, asked.
"Victim? You mean, he's missing?" She mocked surprise.
"Afraid so."
"Is this the first?" She asked as if she didn't know.
Jaffe shook his head, "Had another one about a month back, there have been others before that."
"Any leads?"
He shook his head sadly.
"Alright, thanks Deputy." She walked back to the Hawk just as Dean and Sam pulled up in the Impala. "Don't bother." She told Dean when he moved to get out. "I already talked to them, they don't know anything."
"You started without us?" Dean complained.
"I have a legit badge." She countered, "I heard two of the deputy's talking, vic's girlfriend is hanging up posters."
It didn't take long to find her, they just followed the posters that were taped to every surface around town.
"Excuse me, Amy?" Jessa jogged up to her ahead of her brothers.
"Yeah?"
"I'm Jess, Troy's cousin."
"Oh."
"I was heading to town to surprise him when I heard he was missing, how are you holding up?"
She offered Jessa a weak smile before shrugging, "Ok, I guess."
"Were you with him, when he disappeared?"
Amy shook her head, "We were on the phone. He said he'll call me right back." She eyed Sam and Dean who had come to stand behind her.
"Amy, these are my brothers. Dean and Sammy." She introduced.
"Did he say anything weird or out of the ordinary?" Sam asked before Jessa could, but Amy shook her head.
"I like your necklace." Jessa complimented the silver pentagram that hung around her neck.
Amy smiled, "Troy gave it to me. Mostly to scare my parents with all that devil stuff."
Sam chuckled, "Actually it means just the opposite. A pentagram is protection against evil. Really powerful. I mean, if you believe that kind of thing."
"Okay." Dean cut in, "Thank you, Unsolved Mysteries. Here's the deal ladies, the way Troy disappeared, something's not right. So if you've heard anything…"
Amy looked at her feet then up again.
"Amy, do you know something?" Jessa asked.
"It's just, I mean, with all these guys going missing, people talk."
"What do they talk about?" Dean asked.
"It's kind of this local legend. This one girl, she got murdered out on Centennial, like decades ago. Well, supposedly she's still out there. She hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up? Well, they disappear forever."
Jessa smiled, "Thank you for your time."
The trio walked away.
"You think there's anything to that story?" Sam asked when they were out of earshot.
"It's worth a look." Jessa said, "I think we passed the library up the street.
They walked a few minutes until they found the library. The siblings sat around a computer and Dean brought up the Jericho Herald webpage. He navigated to the search page and began typing in parameters with no result.
"Let me try." Sam said, trying to get the mouse from Dean's hand.
"I got it." Dean said.
"Dean, give him a go." Jessa was perched on the table playing mediator.
Dean glared but shuffled his chair out of the way so Sam could have a turn. He clicked the search bar and changed the word 'Murder' to 'Suicide'.
"Angry spirits are born out of violent death, right? Maybe it's not murder."
"Suicide." Jessa mused, angry at herself for not thinking of it first.
Sam hit search and one result popped up.
"In 1981, Constance Welch, twenty-four years old, jumps off Sylvania Bridge, drowns in the river."
"Why?" Jessa asked, more herself than Sam.
"Does it say?" Dean asked.
"Yeah." Sam scrolled down the page.
"What?"
"An hour before they found her, she calls 911. Apparently her two little kids are in the bathtub. She leaves them alone for a minute, and when she comes back, they aren't breathing. Both die." Sam brought up a picture.
"That bridge look familiar to you?" Dean asked, pointing at the image on the screen.
Jessa slid off the desk to get a good look at the picture, "That's where Troy went missing from."
"I saw we check out that bridge." Dean told his siblings.
"I think we ought to know more about this Constance Welch character."
"What more do we need to know?" Sam asked, "Vengeful Spirit, we got this."
"Something doesn't feel right."
"How do you mean?" Dean asked, knowing his twin's gut feelings were more often than not, even if they hadn't spoken in years.
"I just think that there's more to her."
"Jessa, you're overthinking this." Sam insisted.
"Fine. You two go check out the bridge, I'll do my own research." She stood, "Meet me at the motel on the edge of town."
The boys nodded in agreement and she stalked off.
Her first stop was the Sheriff's station. She approached the deputy at the front desk with a flirtatious smile.
"I was wondering if you could help me out with something." She asked the young man. He was clearly a rookie, his uniform was too dark and too pressed. "Please." She slid her credentials across the desk so he could clearly see that she was FBI.
"Wh- um, what can I help you with?" He stammered.
"I was wondering if you had case files from a suicide in '81."
"'81? Ma'am that was a long time ago. I doubt they even investigated it if it was a suicide."
"Humour me?" She drummed her red fingernails on the counter before flashing him another smile, "Please?"
He nodded and walked away.
"Agent?" The deputy from earlier, Jaffe, approached her, "What are you doing here?"
"I was wondering if you had any more information on Troy's disappearance."
"Sorry. No word."
"Here are the case files you wanted." The young deputy returned, "There isn't much."
"Deputy Simmons." Jaffe scolded, "What are you doing?"
"Agent Winchester asked for some files." He told him.
"You're dismissed, Simmons." Jaffe grabbed the file from the desk before Jessa could reach it. He flicked it open, "What are you doing investigating a suicide from the eighties?"
Jessa struggled to come up with a plausible lie, it shouldn't have been difficult she had been doing it her entire life.
"Well?" Jaffe grew impatient.
"I was looking into the bridge." Unable to find a lie she opted for a half truth. "I figured maybe whoever took Troy was like, connected to it somehow. I came across the suicide in the local paper."
"What does it have to do with your cousin's case?"
Jessa could tell he didn't believe her so she tried to play the grieving family member. "I'm desperate, ok? Besides my brothers, Troy is all I have left. I just thought maybe Constance Welch stumbled across an attempted abduction or something. I just want to find my cousin."
Deputy Jaffe sighed, "Fine." He handed her the file. "Bring it back in the morning."
"Thank you Deputy." She smiled gratefully before walking away.
Jessa pulled her Hawk up out the front of the motel she was meeting her brothers at. The sky was growing dark so she suspected the boys wouldn't be long.
"Excuse me, I was wondering if I could get a room?" She asked the clerk. He barely looked up from his comic, but he motioned to the guest book. She picked up the attached pen and went to sign it when she noticed the name a few spaces up: Burt Aframian. The name sounded familiar. It took her a moment before she remembered, Sam and Dean had been arguing about the credit cards. Aframain had been the name listed.
"Excuse me." She said to the clerk, "This man, Burt Aframian, can you tell me what room he was in."
He shook his head, "That's confidential."
Jessa pulled a handful of bills from her pocket, "Now?"
He handed her a room key.
"Thanks."
She found the room that matched the key and entered. The room was a mess. Maps, pictures, and notes littered every available surface. "What did you find, dad?" She mused, inspecting his research. She glanced around the room, noting a half-eaten hamburger. "Gross." She grabbed a bag and stuffed trash in it before succumbing to exhaustion and climbing into the shower. After a long, hot shower she climbed into one of the beds and drifted off.
She woke to the distinct sound of a lock being picked. Out of reflex, she grabbed a gun from the nightstand and pointed it at the door just as her intruders entered.
"Woah!" Sam put his hands up, "It's only us."
Jessa pulled the blanket over herself more. Her bag was in the Impala so she was wearing her midriff top from yesterday over top of her underwear. "Where have you two been?" Her gaze shifted to Dean as a smell assaulted her, "You reek."
He made a sound and then walked into the small bathroom.
"Do not some out until you smell better." She called after him with a smirk. "You find anything?" She asked Sam.
"Just Constance trying to run us off the bridge. What about you?"
She shook her head, "Sheriff's department doesn't have much but I think Dad was on to something," She pointed to a part of the wall that had a handwritten note.
"Woman in White?" Sam read.
Jessa nodded, "I've never hunted one personally, but I heard the occasional story come through the roadhouse."
Sam gave her a confused look.
"It's a Hunter hangout I worked at. Anyway, Woman In White, if I can recall correctly she kills unfaithful men."
"Wouldn't dad have found her body and burned it?" Sam asked.
Jessa shook her head, "Unless something happened before he did."
"Her husband." Sam said, looking over the article about Constance Welch that John had.
"He'd have to be in his sixties now."
"Sixty four." Sam corrected, "Assuming he's still alive."
"Well, we should talk to him and find Constance." Jessa reached her leather pants and tugged them on under the covers before getting up. "Should we wait for Dean?"
"Yes." Dean's muffled reply came before they heard the water turn on.
"At least we don't have to bring him up to speed." Sam offered, getting a chuckle out of Jessa. "Look, Jessa, about everything I said earlier…"
"Don't worry about it, Sammy. We all say things."
"Don't call me Sammy. It's Sam."
She shrugged.
"Alright, I'll start calling you Jessamine." His tone was threatening.
Jessa tossed a pillow at him, "Fine, Sam."
It was another few minutes before Dean returned, smelling a whole lot better than before.
"I'm getting breakfast. You guys want anything?" He asked.
Both Jessa and Sam shook their heads.
"Fine." He walked out of the room.
After about five seconds Sam's phone rang. "It's Dean." He told Jessa, "What?" he put it on speaker.
"Dude, five-oh. Take off."
Both Winchesters stook and began grabbing their things, "What about you?" Sam asked his big brother.
"They spotted me. Go find Dad."
Dean disconnected the call and Sam glanced out the window but quickly ducked away. "Go." He told Jessa.
They both climbed out the bathroom window, a feat that was far easier for Jessa than it was for Sam's six foot four form. They managed to get out of the room before any of the cops spotted them.
"Now what?" Sam asked.
"Husband?" Jessa offered. "Dean can take care of himself."
Sam nodded reluctantly.
"I parked my Hawk at the other end of the motel." She told him.
"Can you get it without being spotted?"
"I have a better idea. Meet me around the block." She spied the open window in the reception area and jumped through it, thankful that the clerk wasn't paying enough attention. She placed a fifty on the counter. "If the cops ask, I stayed in room ten." She told him, knowing ten was the furthest from John's room as possible.
The clerk stared at the money and, with a roll of her eyes, Jessa slammed down another fifty. He nodded and she calmly strolled away. She had just mounted her bike when a deputy spotted her.
"Agent." He greeted.
"Deputy, how can I help you?" She recognised him from the crime scene, and his uniform told her his name was Hein.
"What are you doing here?"
"Not a lot of places to stay." She shrugged.
"Know anything about who was staying up the other end?"
She shook her head, "I got in on dark, not long woke up." She played clueless, "Does it have something to do with Troy? Have you arrested someone?"
"We've made on arrest. We're not quite sure of his involvement but the room he was in is covered with information about the case and he was seen hanging around the crime scene last night." He took a look at her on the bike, "Are you leaving?"
She shrugged, "I was only checked in overnight. I'll hang around as long as I can but I have to get home at some point."
Deputy Hein nodded, "I'll leave you to it."
"Deputy!" She called and he spun around to look at her. She pulled the files from her jacket, "Deputy Jaffe gave me these to look over. Waste of time really."
He looked at the file in his hand and nodded before walking away.
Jessa pulled her helmet over her head and sped off to meet Sam. She saw him sitting at a bus stop waiting for her.
"Need a ride?" She smirked.
"Yeah, I'm not getting on that thing." Sam informed her.
"It's a long walk to Mr Welch's place."
Sam groaned and jumped on behind her.
"Do you want the helmet?" He shook his head and Jessa took off.
They stopped at a local store and Sam charmed the shop girl enough for her to allow him to use the phone book. It didn't take long to find Joseph Welch.
"Stay here." Sam ordered when they arrived.
Jessa didn't like to take the sideline but she sat obediently on the Hawk while Sam went to interview the man.
Almost twenty minutes later he returned. "Well?" Jessa asked him.
"Yep. Woman in White."
"Cheating bastard." She muttered and swung her leg over the bike. "Next stop?"
"Well, it's been a couple of hours. The cops should be done at the motel by now, we should get the car."
"If the cops haven't taken it."
They made the trip back to the motel to find the Impala sitting in the same position as this morning.
"Thank god." Sam commented as Jessa killed the Hawk's engine.
The first thing he did was pop the trunk and check that all their weapons were still there. Then she pulled the gun from her jacket and checked the clip.
"Why don't you use your own gun?" Sam asked, having seen the government-issue weapon in her duffel.
"If I fire it, it's traceable." She told him, "The one I took from Dean, not so much." She tossed her bag back into the trunk, "Speaking of, how are we going to bust him out?"
Sam thought for a moment before saying, "Couldn't you flash your badge and make something up about a federal investigation?"
"No," She shook her head, "It's too easy to check." There was silence for a few minutes before Jessa spoke again, "Town like this, how many cops do you reckon are on shift?"
Sam shrugged, "What are you thinking?"
"Would a 911 call get most of them out of the way?"
Sam chuckled, but fished some coins from his pocket and jogged to the nearby payphone.
When he returned Jessa had finalised a plan. "It's dark, and we've got to waste this bitch before she kills again."
"Agreed."
"You take the car and I'll get Dean and meet you on Breckenridge Road."
"Fine."
Before he shut the truck, Jessa grabbed an empty duffel and slipped in a small bottle of accelerant, a book of matches and a shotgun with a handful of salt rounds. "Meet you there." She slung the bag over her shoulder and mounted her bike.
She knew her twin. Before she ran away they had been practically inseparable, so she had gotten good at anticipating his moves. Sure enough, when she pulled up a few blocks from the Sheriff's station, Dean was speaking to someone on a payphone.
His head shot up when he saw the beam from the Hawk's headlight.
"Boy am I glad to see you." He said, jumping on behind her. "Constance has Sam."
Needing no more motivation, she revved the bike and sped off down the road leaving a strip of rubber on the blacktop.
"Gun in the bag." She shouted at Dean over the roar of the wind as they were speeding down Breckenridge road. She hoped he could hear her, and after a moment she felt his hands slide free of her waist and fumble with the zip on the bag.
When they approached the dilapidated building that once belonged to the Welch's she could see Constance leaning over Sam, and could hear his cries of pain. Dean was off the Hawk and shooting before Jessa had pulled it to a complete stop. Jessa was behind him as soon as she could be, firing her gun into her head, knowing the silver rounds were useless against the spirit.
Before she had time to think of anything, the car's engine revved as Sam drove it straight into the old house. She watched in horror as the wall crumpled around the beloved Impala. She and Dean took off running towards it and she helped Dean shift the wreckage to get Sam free.
"Sam!" Dean called, "Are you ok?"
"I think…" He started.
"Can you move?"
"Yeah, help me?"
While Dean helped Sam from the car, Jessa stared at Constance. The woman was staring sadly at a portrait. She watched as her expression changed and suddenly a set of drawers came flying at them. Jessa managed to dodge the furniture, but Sam and Dean were trapped. She dived at the shotgun that lay abandoned by the car.
"Jessa! No." It was Sam. His cry caused her to pause. "Just wait." His expression was pleading so she obliged.
She watched as the ghosts of the two children appeared. They stared at their mother. "You've come home to us, Mommy." They said in unison, hugging around her middle.
Constance let out a scream as the three of them disappeared, melting into the floor. As soon as they were gone Jessa started shoving the drawers off her brothers, freeing them.
"How in the hell did you know that was going to work?" She asked Sam, her voice a mix of equal parts admiration and anger.
He just shrugged.
"So this is where she drowned her kids." Dean observed.
"That's why she could never go home. She was too scared to face them." Sam explained.
"Nice work, Sammy." Dean slapped him on the chest, where there was a wound from Constance.
"Ow." He said, half chuckling.
"You sure you're ok, Sam?" Jessa asked her little brother.
"Fine, Jessa."
"I'll tell you something." Dean said from behind them. Sam and Jessa spun to see him inspecting the damage on his car, "If you screwed up my car I'll kill you."
Both Sam and Jessa scoffed.
"Just be thankful we're all still alive." Jessa told him.
Her twin gave her a look that was half amusement and half disbelief, "Easy for you to say! Your ride is sitting out there, unharmed."
She laughed and looked at her SuperHawk, she did love that bike. It took her months of saving and when she finally bought it she had been so proud.
"We better hit the road." Dean declared after a few moment's silence.
"Yeah, get Sam back to school." Jessa agreed, "I'll head on to Virginia."
"Can't believe you're a fed now." Dean said, shaking his head.
"Yeah," Sam agreed jokingly, "Who knew a life of lawbreaking would lead someone to a job in law enforcement."
Jessa laughed, but Dean remained serious.
"Anyway, I've got one hell of a trip in front of me." She told them, taking a few steps away.
"Sure you don't want to hit the road with us?" Dean asked, "Like old times."
She shook her head sadly, "Dean, I can't."
He nodded his understanding, a hint of betrayal reflecting in his green eyes.
"Like I said, I'll help out when I can but I'm not a Hunter anymore." She reefed open the trunk and switched the bag she had for her duffel. She opened the zip halfway and produced a pen. Grabbing Dean's hand, she scribbled down her number, "I don't want to wait another nine years to see you again." She wrote the number on Sam's arm too.
Sam smiled and wrapped his only sister in a hug, "I missed you, Jessa."
"Keep in touch." She pressed a kiss to his cheek, then to Dean's before turning away and climbing on her bike.
She offered them a wave before she pulled her helmet over her head and rode off, her long blonde hair trailing in the breeze.
I hope you are enjoying this story.
Xoxo
