Jessa took the scenic route home, and it took her four months longer than expected. She followed hunts and omens, killing what she came across and searching for the demon. Occasionally she would call the Roadhouse and get updates from Ash, and potential cases from Ellen. She called her brother's too, though not nearly as often. Last she checked up they were in Mississippi.

Her time alone had done her the world of good, and by the time she got back to Virginia she was feeling better than ever.

She pulled to a stop out the front of her unit, and just stared at the locked door. She couldn't bring herself to get out of the car and go inside. After a long mental debate, she finally told herself she was being stupid and climbed out of the truck.

When Jessa stepped through the door the first thing she noticed was the faint red tinge to the previously white wall and the absence of her couch. She hovered in the doorway for a moment before walking any further. She made it to her bedroom before the panic set in. She grabbed the gun she kept in the drawer of the nightstand and stuffed it in the waistband of her jeans before grabbing an empty bag and stuffing it full of belongings. Before long she had her things piled into the back of the truck and she was sitting behind the wheel with the doors locked, fending off a panic attack.

When she got her breathing in check, she fired up the truck and headed into town, hoping she could get herself booked into a motel despite the late hour.

Jessa tried four different motels before she found one with vacancies. When she pushed the door to her room open, she could see why. It was unclean, even for a hunter. The duvet was covered in questionable stains, and she was sure that the sheets looked like they were white once upon a time. The carpet was bald in spots, and the linoleum was faded and peeling to reveal a stained and chipped concrete floor.

With a heavy sigh, she dumped her bags and threw herself down on the threadbare couch. She flicked threw the limited free-to-air channels on the old TV before switching it off. After another few minutes she got up and flicked the light off, but found herself unable to get comfortable. The springs pressed into her back as she tossed and turned, eventually falling into a fitful sleep.


Jessa drifted in and out of consciousness until the early hours of the morning when she gave up and went for a run. She ran through the light rain until her legs ached and her chest burned, then she ran a few more miles before returning to the motel.

She climbed into the grimy shower and stood under the intermittent spray of cool water washing away her sweat and anxiety. After a few minutes she climbed out and dressed herself ready for her first day back at work.

The motel was considerably closer to Quantico than her unit, so she ended up arriving for work a lot earlier than anticipated. She took a seat in the empty bullpen and on her desk sat her gun and badge. She clipped the gun to her belt and felt a sense of contentment when she slipped her badge into her pocket.

"We weren't expecting you back until Monday." She spun around when she heard a voice behind her, startled.

"Hotch, I didn't hear you come up." She gave him a small smile.

"It's been a while."

"Four months."

"You look good." He smiled, "Your hair looks different."

She chuckled, running her fingers through her hair. She had run into some trouble on a hunt in Georgia, about a month previous, and her hair ended up getting badly singed. As a result, a foot of blonde locks had to be cut off. It now fell just below her shoulders in soft waves. "Thanks."

"How do you feel? I mean, you've been away for a while."

"Better than I have in a long while. Thank you for asking."

"I should get back to work." He told her after a short silence, "The others should be in soon."

He walked away, and Jessa had barely sat down when she heard a voice behind her, "If it isn't Dr Winchester."

She turned around to face Spencer Reid, "Come on now, Reid, you know I don't like to be called that."

"We've missed you around here."

"To tell you the truth, I've kinda missed being here."

"I'm glad you're back."

"Thanks, Spencer."

She sat back down at her desk, at a loss for what to do because she had no paperwork. She was saved, however, when the elevator doors opened and JJ and Morgan stepped out.

"Look what we have here." JJ tutted, perching herself on the side of her desk, "Someone decided to grace us with her presence." She took in Jessa's significantly shorter hair, "Woah, you look good."

"Thanks, JJ. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

"Enjoy your vacation, Bright Eyes?" Morgan asked, tossing his things down on his desk and sitting down gracelessly in the chair.

"I'd hardly call it a vacation." She said, leaning backwards in her chair, balancing precariously on the back wheels, "I'm pretty sure they call it sick leave."

"How does it feel to be back?" JJ asked.

"Depends."

"On?"

"Do we have a case?"

"Not unless one came across my desk since I left last night."

"Ugh." She tossed her head back in frustration. "I've been here like ten minutes and I'm bored out of my mind without anything to do."

"I'm happy to split my paperwork with you." Morgan put in with a smirk.

"Not that bored."

"Come on, Bright Eyes. Help me out."

"Not going to do your paperwork, Morgan." She told him, leaning her seat forward.

"You're no fun."

"So be it."

"Well." JJ stood, "I should go get some work done. Hopefully find something to cure your boredom, Jessa."

"You're a legend, JJ."

"I know." She smiled, sauntering away.


It was over an hour that Jessa spent sitting at her desk before she lost it.

"Ugh! I can't do this anymore!" She exclaimed, standing up so fast that her chair scooted backwards. "I'm going to go see if JJ has a case."

She made her way up to JJ's office and almost ran into her walking out of Hotch's office.

"Grab the others." JJ told her, "We have a case."

"We've got us a case." She called down to Reid and Morgan in the bullpen before turning to walk back to the briefing room.

When they were all there, JJ started. "Montgomery, Alabama. Last month, school teacher Sally-Ann Scott was found dead in a local park early yesterday morning. She was ripped apart and her heart was missing. Yesterday, local florist Meghan Bennett was also found dead. Same MO, torn apart, missing heart."

Jessa froze then flipped through her file in a panic, desperately searching for any evidence to challenge her thoughts. The images of the bodies were gruesome, to say the least. They had been ripped open and all their insides were spilling out onto the ground under them. Their throats were also slashed, and they had claw marks over almost all their flesh.

"How are we sure this isn't an animal attack?" Morgan asked.

"Because these were carved into a tree near the body." JJ pressed a button and two images appeared on the screen side by side. Messages had been carved into the trees: Help me, at the first crime scene and Stop me, at the second.

"There's a lot of rage for someone that doesn't want to kill." Gideon provided.

"That means he's been driven by a delusion." Reid said, "Which makes him more dangerous because he believes that he has to kill."

"There's a lot of rage in this. What was the COD?"

"The bodies were too damaged for the ME to make determine."

"Wheels up in thirty." Hotch declared.


Jessa tried and failed to get into contact with her brothers on the plane, all the while cursing them for the unpredictability of their lives.

"Everything okay, Bright Eyes?" Morgan asked after a few minutes of watching her play nervously with her phone.

"Dean won't answer his phone." She stared at the screen, "It's probably nothing. He's probably just busy."

"You don't sound convinced."

"I'm trying to be."

"It's okay to be worried, it's family. And after what you went through a few months ago, it's expected."

"They can take care of themselves, but—"

"Doesn't stop you worrying." He finished for her.

"Yeah."

"They'll be fine."

"I'm going to try and call Sam." She got up and made her way to the end of the plane where there would be less chance of being overheard.

The phone rang, and rang, and rang, and she was about to hang up when his voice came through the line.

"Sam! Thank god!"

"Jessie? What's up?"

"Jessie?"

"Sorry. Jessa."

"Don't be." A smile spread across her face when he used the nickname he gave her as a child.

"What's going on?"

"I've been trying to get through to Dean."

"Sorry, we've been on a job."

"I might have another one for you."

"Where?"

"Alabama."

"We're almost two days drive away. Sorry."

"You're fine. I'll call the Roadhouse, see if they know of anyone in the area."

"Call Bobby, too. He has connections with plenty of other Hunters."

"Winchester." Hotch beckoned her over.

"I have to go. Thanks Sammy."

"Take care."

She hung up and sat back in her seat.

"When we get to Montgomery, Winchester and Reid go see the ME and see what you can find out about the bodies, Morgan and Gideon go to the latest crime scene and JJ and I will get set up at the station." Hotch ordered.


The ME, Dr Mason was a well-dressed gentleman, with a lot of white hair—he reminded Jessa of Colonel Sanders.

"What've you got for us, Doc?" Jessa asked him.

He pulled out a body drawer and pulled back the white sheet that covered the body. Body was almost a strong word—remains described what she saw. Her head was caved in at the back, and her throat had been all but ripped out. Her arms and legs had been clawed to pieces and her torso was all but ripped in two. In a box by her were her insides.

"They had been torn from the body." Dr Mason explained, lifting the lid, "Liver and stomach were shredded, the heart was missing, but the rest of her insides had been carefully cut from the body."

"Talk about overkill." Reid murmured.

"What did this?" Jessa asked.

"It's hard to tell with this level of damage. I mean, there isn't a clean stab wound which suggests an animal, but if you look closely at the torn flesh it's too clean around the edges which suggests a blade of some description." He told them.

"You said the heart was missing?"

"Yes. That appeared to have been ripped out. All of her ribs have been crushed."

"He ripped out her heart?"

"Whoever did this was strong." Mason summarised. "I've never seen anything like this."

"Thanks for your time, Doc."

The two agents left, but neither of them spoke until they got back to the SUV.

"That was gross." Reid said, climbing into the passenger side.

"It was incredibly violent." Jessa added, "But what doesn't make any sense is the message. That level of overkill, plus remorse."

"Yeah, that doesn't make any sense."

"Unless multiple personalities come into play."

"Multiple personality disorder?"

"Think about it, one personality is killing, the other is trying to stop it." They drove through the busy streets in silence, until Jessa pulled to a stop in front of the police station. "You never told me what you think?" She said as they walked.

"About what?"

"My theory."

"About the split personalities?"

"No, about Santa Clause." She bit sarcastically, "Yes about the split personalities."

"It has some merit, but Dissociative Identity Disorder is extremely rare and highly unlikely. It's far more probable that its multiple unsubs."

Jessa nodded, agreeing that it sounded more plausible but knowing better.


Okay, so about time I posted another chapter. But guess what! Yesterday I spent the day at a con in Melbourne (Where I now live) where I met Richard Speight Jr, Matt Cohen, Rob Benedict and Mark Pellegrino. It was super exciting because I had never been to a Supernatural con before and now I'm going to go to them all! Anyways, the next chapter should be up on... it's Monday now so lets say Wednesday or Thursday.

Hope you enjoyed.

Xoxo