Jessa opened one eye when the rude beeping of the alarm pulled her from her sleep. The sun was just peeking through the shades and shining directly into her eyes. She attempted to swat the light away, but after a moment she climbed out. Shuffling into the kitchen still half asleep, she made herself a coffee and almost drank it all in one go. When she shuffled back into her bedroom to get dressed, the first thing she noticed in the mirror was the bruise that was darker and uglier than the day before. Dressing quickly, she opted for a light scarf to cover the injury.
Dressed in the pale blue dress shirt, the silver chain that hung around her wrist was easily visible and Jessa found herself fingering one of the charms that hung against her thumb. It was a simple pentagram that was placed between a cross and a Buddha. There were a handful of other charms she recognised and one she didn't. It was a kind of star shape that she was sure she could find in one of her lore books. Dean had fastened the chain around her wrist just after she found it, commenting that it looked good on her.
Tugging on her jacket and helmet, she walked out her front door and to her bike.
She was just about to start it up when she heard a distinctive low rumbling getting closer. Swinging a leg over the side, so she was no longer straddling it, she waited until the Impala pulled to a stop at the curb.
"Morning." She greeted the boys when they climbed out of the car.
Sam nodded in response, but Dean didn't speak.
"Alright, well you caught me just as I'm leaving for work."
"That was the plan." Sam said.
"What? Are you skipping town again?"
Dean nodded. "We have to hit the road, J. You know how it is."
Jessa just nodded, she did know how it was. "Be safe, yeah?"
"Always." Sam wrapped her in a hug, and Dean did the same before they climbed back into the car and drove off.
"Come back soon." She muttered to no one in particular.
The next few weeks passed in a monotony of out of season scarves, paperwork and boredom, with the occasional case thrown in to break it up.
Jessa was sitting at her desk, feeling buried under the mountain of paperwork she had to get through.
"This is ridiculous!" She sighed, exasperated.
"It's your own fault, Winchester." Morgan laughed. He was sitting at Reid's desk, the two of them chatting about something. "You should do it as it comes, rather than waiting for it to pile up."
"Yeah, yeah." She grumbled, it definitely wasn't the first time he told her that.
"How much have you got left?" Reid asked her.
"I think if I speed up, and not do half of it, I can be done before Christmas."
Both Reid and Morgan laughed, Christmas was still six months away.
"Agent Winchester?" A junior agent walked up to her desk.
Jessa spun in her chair to face him, "Yes?"
"Uh, there's a man downstairs. Claims he needs to speak to you."
"Who is it?"
"I don't know, ma'am. He doesn't have ID. Says you'd know who he is."
"Fine." She stood up, her hand resting on her gun—an unconscious move to ensure it was actually there. She followed the young agent to the elevator and they rode down in silence. It was obvious the agent was new, because he kept shifting his weight nervously and glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes.
"How long have you been here?" She finally asked to break the silence.
"Um, a week, now."
She nodded, a smile tugging at her lips as she remembered how nervous she had been fresh out of the Academy.
The doors chimed as they opened and she stepped into the lobby area. Straight away she spotted who had come to see her. She was surprised—she had been expecting Sam or Dean—but standing in her workplace was her father.
She made for him straight away, and gestured for him to follow her outside.
"What are you doing here?" She asked when there was no risk of being overheard.
"I need your help." John said simply.
"What's going on?"
He pulled out his cell and played back a message. "We think we've got a serious lead on the thing that killed Mom. So, uh, this warehouse—its 1435 West Erie. Dad, if you get this, get to Chicago as soon as you can." Dean's voice informed her.
"Ok." Jessa didn't need any more convincing. "I'll get my things." She turned back towards the elevator when John reached out and grabbed her wrist, stopping her.
"Where did you get this?" His thumb ghosted over the charm bracelet that had been a constant accessory since they had found it early that month.
"Found it." She said, "I was given a trunk full of things when we were in Lawrence, this was in it. Dad, was it Mom's?"
He shrugged, "She used to wear it around, but after her parents died and we got engaged she took it off. I didn't even realise she kept it."
"Was she a Hunter?"
"If she was I didn't know."
"Ok." She rushed back to her the elevator and impatiently pressed the button over and over until the doors slid open. When it reached her floor she all but ran up the stairs to Hotch's office. Barely waiting for a reply, she pushed the door open.
"What can I do for you, Winchester?" Hotch asked. Jessa hadn't stopped to consider that Hotch wouldn't be alone, and JJ sat opposite him with a case file in front of her.
"I need a few days." She said, then added, "Personal reasons."
Hotch sighed and clasped his hands in front of him, "From when?"
"Now, sir." The 'sir' was added as an afterthought.
"I don't think I can give you leave with this late notice, Winchester."
"With all due respect, sir, if you can't give me leave I'll still go."
If he was surprised by her words, he didn't let it show. "Very well. If it is this important, go. You have three days."
"Thank you!" She raced back to her desk to grab her helmet, jacket, and gloves, barely giving her colleagues a glance.
"Are you leaving?" Reid asked her.
"I'll be back in a few days." Was all she said before running off.
She mounted her Hawk and flew out the gates, meeting John just down the way.
"It's eleven hours to Chicago." She told him.
A wicked grin spread across his face, "Doesn't have to be."
They made it to Chicago in seven hours. Their first stop was the warehouse Dean had told them about. Jessa was about to climb off her Hawk when a woman fell from the top window.
"Woah!" She exclaimed.
John climbed out of his truck and stood next to her.
"We going in?"
"No. There's a hotel up the way a bit. We stayed there once, you were about eight. They'll be staying there now."
Jessa nodded, she remembered.
The pair made their way to the hotel, and John instructed her to wait outside while he went to see what room the boys were staying in.
"I've got this, Dad." She said and pushed past him into the hotel lobby. She walked purposefully to the counter and stood there with her sternest expression.
"Can I help you?" The middle aged man behind the desk asked without looking up.
"I hope so." She grabbed her badge and held it in front of his face. "I'm looking for two men, would've checked in in the last couple of days."
"We get a lot of people in."
"Two men, one is tall with longish hair, the other shorter with green eyes."
"I don't know."
"Look, I could bring you in for obstructing a federal investigation, or you could tell me what I need to know? Your choice."
"Look, two men like that checked in about two days ago."
"What room?"
"Sixteen."
Jessa walked back outside to John's truck, "Room sixteen."
"That was quick."
She waved her badge, "This helps."
John nodded and the two walked up to room sixteen.
"It's locked." John told her, trying the knob.
"Pick it."
It didn't take them long to gain access to the room, and found—as they expected—the boys weren't there.
"Now we wait." Jessa hoisted herself up on the window sill and pulled a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of her jacket.
She placed one between her lips and lit it, then blew out a slow breath of smoke and watched it twist and curl through the open window and into the cool night air.
"Those damn things will kill you." John told her. "I didn't spend my life training you to fight, only to watch you die of cancer."
"I'm a big girl." She said taking another drag.
They waited for a few minutes before voices could be heard moving up the hall. After another moment the door opened and Sam and Dean stepped through. Dean noticed the pair first, "Hey!" He shouted as Sam fumbled to his bag for a weapon.
Jessa wasn't sure who did it, but the light flicked on and both boys stopped in their tracks.
"Dad?" Dean breathed out the syllable, his voice breaking.
"Hey boys." John took a step forward and embraced his oldest son. "Hi, Sam." He looked at the youngest Winchester, wanting nothing more than to hold his estranged son.
"Hey dad." Sam almost whispered, sadness seeping into his voice.
"Dad, it was a trap. I didn't know, I'm sorry." Dean sounded like he was on the verge of tears.
"It's alright." He assured, "I thought it might have been."
Jessa stubbed out her cigarette and swung her legs inside the room. "Anyway, so we arrived just in time to see the blonde bitch take a swan dive."
"She was the bad guy?" John asked.
"Yes, sir." Sam answered.
"Good. Well, it doesn't surprise me. It's tried to stop me before."
"The demon has?"
John nodded at his youngest, "It knows I'm close. It knows I'm gonna kill it. Not just exorcise it or send it back to hell—actually kill it."
"How?" Dean asked.
"I'm working on that." John answered with a sly smile.
"Let us come with you. We'll help." Sam's voice was pleading, he may have been an adult but he still needed his father.
"No, Sam. Not yet. Just try to understand," He reasoned, "This demon is a scary son of a bitch. I don't want you caught in a crossfire. I don't want you hurt."
"Dad, you don't have to worry about us."
"Of course I do. I'm your father." There was a pause, "Listen Sammy, last time we were together, we had one hell of a fight."
"Yes, sir."
"It's good to see you again. It's been a long time."
"Too long." Sam hugged his father, tears spilling from his eyes.
They pulled apart, a moment later John was thrown across the room and Sam knocked over.
"The Daeva's!" Dean managed to shout before he, too, was thrown around the room.
Jessa watched a shadow approach her, and out of the corner of her eye she saw a figure in the alley bellow. Checking she had her knife strapped to her ankle, she rolled off the windowsill and landed nimbly on the fire escape before the Daeva could get to her.
She rushed down the first few stairs then leapt off the side, landing heavily on the cement below her. With a groan she forced herself to her feet and faced the figure in front of her.
She was a petite woman with cropped blonde hair and a dangerous smile.
"Well, well." She grinned, "The oldest Winchester."
Jessa slipped the blade from its sheath, but the figure just laughed.
"Honey, you know that won't do a thing."
"I know," Jessa smiled. A nearby streetlight glistened off a pendant hanging from her neck, "I watched you fall from a building. But, I figure it will hurt like a bitch." Without warning Jessa flung the knife at the woman. It sailed through the air, silver blade shimmering in the dim light, before it embedded itself in her chest just below her collarbone.
Her eyes flashed black as she cried out. "You little bitch!" She roared.
Jessa flashed her a cocky Winchester smile as the pendant fell from her neck, its chain severed by the blade that stuck in her.
The demon's eyes darted to the window Jessa had come out of, just as a white light flared from within.
"You'd better run." Jessa said, half amused. "You don't control them anymore."
She sent Jessa a hateful glare before disappearing into the shadows. When Jessa was alone she rushed to the front door, almost running clean into Dean and John as they limped from the building, Sam close behind.
"Dad, are you ok?" Her father was leaning heavily on Dean. His clothes were torn up and blood gushed from a wound on his head.
"I'll live." He told her with a grimace.
Jessa's eyes flicked to her brothers. Her twin had a cut just above his eye and Sam had a bruise and claw marks down his face and neck.
"You guys ok?"
Sam nodded, but Dean just glared at her, "No thanks to you."
"Dean." John cautioned, knowing his only daughter's temper.
"Guys, we should go." Sam said, "As soon as that flare's out, they'll be back."
"No they won't." Jessa said, then glared at her twin, "No thanks to me."
She turned her back and started walking away.
"Where are you going, J?" Dean asked her, "We could use your help."
"I have to be back in Quantico." She told them, stopping to look back at them.
"We're closer than ever." Sam said, "We need you, Jessa. We have to stick together."
She scoffed, "Together is dangerous, Sam."
"We're stronger together."
"Sammy, she's right." Dean's voice was sad, "Dad can't come with us, either."
"What? What are you talking about?" He yelled, "We should stick together. We'll go after those demons!"
"Sam!" Dean yelled over his rant. "Listen to me. We almost got Dad killed in there. Don't you understand? They're not going to stop. They're gonna try again, and they're gonna use us to get to him. I mean, Meg was right. Dad's vulnerable when he's with us. He's stronger without us around."
"Dad." Sam turned to John, pleading, "No. After everything—after all the time we spent looking for you—please. I gotta be part of this fight."
"Sammy, this fight is just starting." John told him sadly, "And we are all gonna have a part to play. For now, you've got to trust me, son."
Sam shook his head.
"You've got to let me go."
There was a few moments silence before Sam nodded his understanding, tears in his eyes.
"I'll see you all soon." Without another word, John limped to his truck and drove away. Jessa followed suit, and disappeared in her Hawk.
