Author's note:
Hi, all! Thank you so much for reading and for the follows/favorites! I have not forgotten or given up on this story. I honestly don't think I could at this point. I am too invested and there are too many points, hunts, and situations on The Timeline I still have yet to address, or even get to.
In fact... I'm 13 chapters ahead of this. (Yes, I am currently writing chapter 32.)
AUTHOR'S REQUEST!
I'd like to know what you guys think so far. Please let me know in a review.
If you have any questions about J, specifically from Dean and Sam's perspective, that have not been addressed and/or elaborated on, please also leave them in review. It would be amazing to get some questions from outside sources. Thank you!
Hooray for character development. She can't remain a stranger forever, even thought she is no stranger to me.
Chapter 14
It was hot and muggy in the garage. The sign out front read Singer's Mechanic and Salvage. The old garage had two cars parked in the bays. A beautifully restored and maintained '67 Impala sat in one bay, and a semi-restored '66 Chevelle was in the other.
Dean was stuck under the '66 Chevelle he was restoring for Bobby.
It had been awfully nice of Bobby to let him stay with him and work here while Dean was in between jobs. Bobby needed a hand with a few projects and Dean needed the money.
Dean turned his head, pausing his movements for a moment. He thought he had heard someone call his name. Must have been hearing things. Or maybe it was the radio in the office. Bobby was doing paperwork in there.
"How much longer you gonna be, boy? It's lunchtime and I don't feel like waiting much longer." Bobby called from the attached office.
"Not too much longer, Bobby! Almost finished. Just cleaning up." Dean called from under the car.
Replacing oil pans was not the hardest job in the world. It wasn't fun either. It was always so messy. You almost wanted to wear an extra layer in this heat, just to keep the mess away.
He finished checking and wiping the bottom of the new can, and then double-checked his tightening job. With his shirt stuck to himself, and grease covering 68% of him, Dean slid out from under the car.
He wiped his hands on a shop rag while heading towards the office to meet Bobby.
Before he could get halfway across the garage to the office something stopped him dead in his tracks. Someone called his name. Again. Someone had definitely just called out his name. And it unquestionably was not Bobby.
"Dean!" a female yelled. It sounded like it was coming from far away. Kind of like it was through water. Muffled, but still distinct. It was definitely coming from outside of the shop. Dean wheeled around. Moving towards the open garage doors, trying to gauge his next response.
He didn't see anything. Or anyone. Where was Bobby? Hadn't he heard that just now, too? It was definitely loud enough for him to hear, now that he knew that the radio was off. Why hadn't he responded? Didn't matter if it was his name or not, whoever it was, was obviously in distress.
Then, right next to his ear, he heard it again. Only this time she was screaming.
"DEAN!"
He knew that voice. That was J. Why was she screaming his name? Why did she sound like that? Why was she screaming his name like THAT?
Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.
Dean turned around, again. This time facing into the shop. And there she was. Standing there like she had been standing there that whole time.
Just as tall, dark-haired, and mysterious as before. Still with the same green and brown eyes. Only now her clothes were dirty and ripped in places. Like she had gone on a hike and had taken a tumble. Or four. J launched herself at Dean, wrapping her arms around him, burying her face into his shoulder.
"Oh, my Gods I cannot believe I found you. Holy shit! Okay. You need to listen to me, Dean. You need to wake up!" She said intently, pulling away.
Then she took a moment to take in his appearance and suddenly her hands were gone and she was five steps away. Having backed away from him as quickly as she had advanced. He wondered why slightly hurt.
It was like she had been burned and recoiled from it. Her eyes, those honey-covered emeralds, looked Dean up and down quickly. Assessing him. There was a new look behind them. He saw her eyes linger in places as she surveyed him silently.
Again, Dean felt those eyes penetrating his very being. He felt suddenly very self-conscious, yet invigorated at the same time. He wanted J to look. He wanted to be the reason that there was red creeping into her cheeks. He wanted to feel her fire. He also needed to know a few things.
"Uh, J what's going on? Why are you here? And why are you here looking like that?" Dean suddenly noticed the actual state of her clothes. Worse than first glances. "What the hell happened? How come you just magically showed up here? And why on earth do you look like you've been in a fight? That's dried blood…" Dean motioned to her dirty and ripped clothing. He looked her up and down. A little more slowly than he had intended.
He hoped she hadn't noticed.
She honestly looked like she had just come back from a hunt. A very hands-on hunt. There was blood. It didn't look like much of it was hers. She was covered in dirt and sweat. Her hair and clothes were a mess. Dean was getting more and more concerned about her well-being as he looked on, his train of thought shifting.
J interrupted his train of thought. He intense gaze wavering.
"Dean. You need to listen to me. The Djinn got to you. You are asleep. This is a dream. You have been poisoned. You need to wake yourself up. And I mean like now. All other information can wait until we sort this out." Her voice was urgent in the way that set off Dean's suspicions. His instincts. Okay, fight or flight, here we go.
What was going on here, exactly?
"How can this be a dream? Explain that to me. How do I know I just haven't finally cracked? After everything. We all know that's been a long time coming… Either way, I've been awake all morning. I even had a dream last night. It's lunchtime, I'm staring, and I've been working on that car all morning. Look at me!" Dean motioned to the Chevelle and then to himself, sweaty and covered with various car fluids and greases.
Her eyes roamed everywhere he was gesturing to before they looked back up at Dean. She made a show of it. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. He could see her eyes flash mischievously.
"You'd rather be crazy, huh? Of course, you would have thought you went crazy before believing me. Typical Winchester." J growled to herself. "What was did you dream about last night?" J countered missing only half a beat. Her eyes were hard now. Her arms were crossed across her chest and she was leaning back onto on leg in a powerful contrapposto stance. This was a woman on a mission, and it needed to be accomplished, like yesterday.
Dean thought for a second. About to answer truthfully in spite of J's condescending tone. It had been something completely mundane. He had been content on telling her exactly what it had been. Like going to the grocery store and seeing one of his ex's. Which ex had it been? Was it at the grocery store?
It was only then that Dean realized he could not answer. Any part of the question. Because he just could not remember. The memory wasn't there anymore. A memory of a memory in its place now.
He was sure he had remembered, because he remembered laughing about it while he was brushing his teeth this morning, almost choking on toothpaste. What THE HELL was going on here? Dean a feeling in his gut that this was not right.
"The pieces are starting to fall out of place, aren't they?" She asked quietly. Dean looked at her. His eyes searching hers. He could lose himself in them if he wasn't careful.
"No. I remember. Like I said. I have been here all morning. There is no way this is all a dream." Dean gestured to the garage around them, halfheartedly now. Only trying to convince himself. The alternative was not something he could easily face.
"Where's Sam?" J asked flatly.
"He's back at Stanford. I'm working here to help pay for his student loans. For the time being, anyway." Dean said. Very sure of this truth.
"Then you can look me in the eyes and tell me you and Sam were not just at The Roadhouse visiting Ellen and Jo, not two days ago? Where we met?" She paused and then added hastily, "In between jobs" J's eyes had suddenly gone hard. Resolute in her quest. She licked her lips. Dean watched the movement intently.
She was doing it again. She was commanding the attention. It caused Dean to stammer. He DID remember all of that. But that was impossible! He had been here the whole time… He looked up at J. Pleading with her to help him understand. His eyes must have conveyed, or she read his mind. Or both.
"The Djinn got to you. You were telling a story that was so good it attracted him, evidently. They love good storytelling and you have been doing a lot of that recently. Seems I wasn't the only one who noticed." She paused. Clearly not knowing how best to continue.
"He now has Sam, too." The look in J's eyes was enough to break anyone's heart. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep him safe for you. I tried. So, now I'm here."
Dean looked down. He couldn't take the intensity of the situation and of those eyes all at once.
Sam was in trouble. Shit just got real.
"So, now I am here to find you. My way. I need you to flex for me. I need you to trust me, Dean."
"Say what now?" Dean was beyond confused. He took stock right quick. Okay, so he was dreaming. This was a Djinn poison dream, though. So how was she here? Was that possible? How did that work? He looked back up at her. Wasn't this supposed to be his dream or fantasy reality?
He was working on cars, at Bobby's…. With no monsters. Okay, things were starting to add up.
"Explain it to me, J. Please." Dean could feel the urgency now. If he was not ok and Sam was not ok then things had gone very, VERY wrong.
"Remember the bartender? He slipped you sometime last night. Probably when you had all of your attention on that redhead. You are welcome for that, by the way. You will owe me more than one when we all get out of this. Don't get started with that now. Yes, I had Jo call you." She quickly added at the look of recognition on his face. He was just about to interrupt her to ask her about that.
"Now is not the time, I will explain later. Right now, we need to worry about how Sam and I came to get you, but the Djinn got the drop on us first. I was just barely able to get away. To hide. I had to leave my body to come to find you. I don't have all the time in the world here." J put the full weight of her gaze back on Dean.
His mind went blank for a moment under her gaze.
"Now wake up, and tell me where you are so I can come get you two." She said firmly. Eyes flashing with the command. "I need to hear you and I know you are perfectly capable of it. At least draw me to you."
"Tell you? How can I tell you where I am? Once I wake up, you're gone. It's not like you can read my thoughts and can come find me that way." Dean said, exasperated.
His eyes widened slightly at the look on J's face.
"That may not necessarily be true. I managed to narrow down approximately where he has been stashing everyone, including you. But this mine has a lot of passages and hidden spaces. It would take days to find you guys the hard way. Getting lost is a big risk here. Besides, I have no backup. I need to get the drop on him first, this time."
J looked away again, looking like she was admitting something she wasn't exactly happy to admit. Her posture was still strong and resolute.
'God she is hot.' Momentarily flashed across Dean's mind. He let that one go.
"I'm meditating to get to this dream state. Once you're awake I can come find you. But you have to lead me. If you think something strong enough, think about it hard enough, for long enough, intensely enough… you can get through to me. I think. I'm not entirely sure how this all works or what the fuck is going on. This can happen even when you're awake, it seems." J looked nervous now.
"Remember when I said Djinn are attracted to storytelling? You've been… sending some stuff to me. Thoughts, since you left on this hunt. I do not think you are aware of it. If you were, I highly doubt you'd be sending me…. What you have been sending… Either way, if it got to me it might have gotten through to the Djinn as well. It's only the current theory."
Dean thought for a moment of all the things that had gone through his head about J since they had left. If even a portion of that got through to J, herself, he was royally screwed. She was probably creeped the hell out and thought he was just another hunter creep piece of shit. There were a fair few of those out there.
But she was still here. On a hunt. Needing him to do something.
Dean had an idea. He did not like it. At all. But it was still something.
"What was the loudest? What was I thinking about when I got through to you the loudest? Give me advice or something that I can use to help boost my signal." Dean said gruffly. Trying to hide his embarrassment.
J looked at him for a few seconds before responding. "I don't think you're going to be too happy about it, but I see your point." She looked down again before she continued.
"Swine and MANiCURE. You were quite focused on those songs for quite some time. Middle of the night. The night you and Sam left. I don't think I'm going to elaborate any further on that one. I don't think I have to."
Oh, that. Dean's face fell. Eyes widening slightly at the memories. He was certainly concentrating on those two songs, alright. What the lyrics were. What those lyrics meant. All the ways she would have or could have sung them. He was definitely screwed.
"Then I guess Lady Gaga is going to save my ass. I never thought I would ever say that."
"I may just turn you into a Little Monster, yet." She said, smiling up at him.
"As for what can boost your signal… this is all just speculation at this point. This part is as new to me as it is to you." J continued, addressing Dean's look of obvious confusion.
"I have never had to have this conversation before and I have never had anything like this happen before, so I don't know exactly what to say," J said exasperated. She took a deep breath.
"But I do have a few tips on what I was taught that may help you. Concentrate on your breathing. Think yoga bullshit. Deep, even breaths. Awareness and concentration are key. Being present and all that jazz." J rambled. She looked down again. This time concentrating on something.
"When you were thinking of those songs you were probably driving down some two-lane high way somewhere, right? Middle of the night. With no one or nothing around? Also guessing Sam was occupied. Asleep would be my preferred guess." J said, nonchalantly and very matter-of-factly. Like she hadn't just explained the situation to a T.
"Then again the following afternoon. You were alone. You were definitely alone at that time. But that time was different." J concluded.
The look on Dean's face at her statement made her continue, "That is how Dean Winchester meditates. Behind the wheel of his car, out on the open road. I need you to do that for me. And I need you to call out to me. Even if you gotta sex up the whole thing, I don't care. I care about finding you and Sam. Alive." Her eyes flashed. He could see the molten steel again. But only for a second.
Dean was taken aback by her sudden boldness. J didn't seem coy or afraid, or surprised, by anything she had just said. Not anymore at least. This was just another job now. There had been a shift in her resolve. It had hardened in a different way. Dean was fascinated.
That was not important, right now. Right now, he had to wake himself up. And he had done so only one other way before.
"Okay. Notes taken. Now you need to leave." Dean looked at her. He watched her expression flicker. He knew that look of inner turmoil.
"I have woken myself up from a Djinn poisoning before, but it ain't pretty. I don't want you here for that." Dean continued, to help break some of the sudden tension.
Her resolved melted and then hardened again, her expression unreadable. No evidence of anything in those green and brown eyes but pure determination. She knew he understood. But he didn't know why she suddenly bit her lip. He hoped she hadn't noticed him looking.
Just as quickly as before, she stepped forward and grabbed him by the back of his neck and kissed him. A full-on make-out session, kiss. Like a shove you against the wall kind of kiss, too. For one hot and heavy second Dean couldn't think of anything. But that fire.
The same fire in her eyes. He could feel it, now. He wanted more of it. He wanted it to consume him. Consume his thoughts. His entire being. Everything. The things she was doing with her tongue on his. Dean was burning inside.
She pulled away, both of them panting slightly. Why was she always doing that? Pulling away like that? No fair! "That should help boost your signal." She stepped back and was gone in the blink of an eye.
Dean stood there in the dream garage for a moment. He certainly had a lot on his mind. The fire. He still tasted it on his tongue. He took a moment to revel in the feeling. Just a moment.
Dean had to act now. Sammy was in danger. He had to wake up. J was counting on him. Everything was counting on him. On his abilities, if he really did have any. Or maybe this was just some kind of a sick, twisted, and perverted cosmic joke. He didn't think so.
Either way, he headed towards the empty office.
The revolver was in the drawer.
It wasn't the best thing ever, but you had to wake up if you were dead.