Chapter 18

Sam and Dean looked at each other. Their faces must have been carbon copies of each other when they looked back at J.

"Explosives?!" They both said, at the same time.

"What the hell are you planning on blowing up?" Sam asked. Expression turning from one of some form of shock to one of genuine interest and intrigue. His eyebrows were threatening to get lost in that long hair of his, they were raised so high.

"Nothing, this time. This is more of a controlled smoke bombing. Think controlled demolition, but with the smoke bombs I made." J said indifferently. "I just need to make sure you two know what you're doing. Blasting caps can take off your fingers if you don't know how to handle them right. I cannot risk someone who is inexperienced. I can rig everything myself; it would just be faster and easier with more hands."

She looked back and forth between them, a slightly amused look on her face at their bemused expressions.

Sam and Dean looked at each other, again. This time they were both wholly perplexed. They were both versed in a multitude of different offensive and defensive techniques that proved themselves useful in the hunting and killing of monsters.

Most explosives, however, were not part of either of their repertoires.

They both looked back at J and they both shook their heads.

"Really? The Famous Winchester Brothers don't know anything about explosives? Wow, I am surprised. I'll have to teach you sometime." J raised her eyebrows and started packing up the canisters and bundles of wire carefully into her backpack.

"I have rigged these smoke bombs with blasting caps. They are already all connected. They just need to be set. I already have a system set in place where it connects to my phone wirelessly. We don't need to worry about any accidental detonations either. I have to put my pin number in, in order for the system to become fully active. Also, if one is accidentally triggered, the rest will not detonate without a system reset or my pin."

"What exactly is in these smoke bombs of yours?" Sam asked, cutting her off. "And when did you come up with such a complex system like this?"

J raised an eyebrow and cocked her head slightly to the side. A grin spreading across her face.

"Remember what Bobby did with a spare weekend? He built a Hunter's Panic Room. Well, it can be awhile between jobs for me. I have a lot of spare time on my hands. And Ash is amazing at making my ideas a technical reality. He is far better at the electronics and computer aspect of everything than I am, so he helps me. As for the smoke bombs, those are just made with my own blend of Wormwood, Tuareg, Benzoin, and other herbs. Djinn cannot stand the stuff. It's a severe irritant to them. The resin is even more effective as it's super concentrated. The same resin coats the bullets in the gun and clip I gave you." J looked at and motioned towards Dean, then to Sam. Freezing.

"Oh, shit! Sorry man, I almost forgot. I don't want to leave you unprotected." She said to Sam as she reached into her bag. Pulling out the secondhand gun, and an extra clip, handing them to him.

"These bullets are coated with the resin from these smoke bombs. They will slow him down long enough to get the jump on him. Think Dead Man's Blood, but for Djinn. Hurts like a bitch. Can be deadly in high enough doses. Or in the right places. Since we are aiming to destroy and not to torture, I suggest ya aim for the head or the heart, if you can. Get it over with."

Sam cocked the gun and checked the chamber to make sure his firearm was live. He nodded at J. she continued, back tracking slightly as she pulled her own sidearm from its holster on her thigh. Checking its chamber and clip.

"As for the smoke bombs themselves, like I said before I have a system set in place already. I just need to put everything in their actual places. I'm going to put a couple smoke bombs strategically through the cave system, starting at the entrance. I'll block off every way, except for the one that leads directly to this area. Once the bastard is in past the first one, I'll trigger the detonators, causing the smoke bombs to go off in sequence. He will be cut off from running out, so his only other option will be running in. The other smoke bombs will cut off any other escape route. Except for the one that runs straight in here."

Sam was surprised at how good a plan this was. It was technically sophisticated, yet fundamentally simple. Now even he was wondering about J and where she had acquired all of this knowledge.

Including the new ways to take the offense on Djinn. Before it was just the silver dagger dipped in lambs' blood or blunt force trauma to the head. The latter seems to work on most occasions, Djinn or not.

This incense thing was completely new and didn't seem entirely logical to Sam. But J was confident. More than, actually. Sam knew she knew what she was doing. And he trusted her. She had been right on her previous hunt, so who was he to say. He knew there was always more than one way to skin a cat, but this didn't seem like something a normal hunter would do.

Dean noticed the analytical look Sam was now giving J as she concluded explaining her plan. He knew he and his brother were both thinking along the same lines. Not knowing if this new way would work, but trusting J explicitly and without question, mostly, anyway.

"You guys wait in here. I'll go wait by the entrance for him to come back. Once he is in, I'll detonate the smoke bombs and send him your way. I will be close behind, so hold your fire until I am clear. I am actually hoping to get him before he even has a chance to get this far. You'll hear the detonations. They sound like very small gunshots or pops. Stay ready." J looked away sourly. She then grabbed her stuff and left.

Dean knew that look. He was very familiar with the feeling that accompanied it. The look of unfinished business. J didn't like that the Djinn had gotten the drop on her and Sam. And now it was personal that she takes care of it, and finish the job this time.

Sam and Dean had been waiting for about an hour. Dean knew that Sam was just itching to talk to him about something. But the threat of something happening any second kept him quiet. They were still working a job, after all.

Dean was thankful for the silence, even as heavy as it was. He had a lot going on in his head right now.

J was proving to be more and more of an enigma. Wrapped in an anomaly. As well as becoming more and more of an asset. Dean couldn't forget that he still had unfinished business with her. While the questions surrounding this woman kept mounting. More and more questions. Always with the questions. And any answers only led to more questions. Now Dean knew that Sam was also eager for some answers of his own.

Dean wanted answers, too. To all of the questions that he had found himself asking over the last week or so. Not knowing was becoming maddening. It was coming to a point where Dean did not know what he wanted more anymore: to find out what was up with this chick OR pursue with caution anyway. He knew he wanted to pursue, despite his hunter senses tingling.

He couldn't help himself when he went through the plan again. He was amazed at J's skills and technical know-how. Her ingenuity. Her MacGyvering skills had Dean speechless. Was there anything she couldn't do? Now Dean could understand some of the admiration Jo clearly had for J. It was obviously well-deserved.

Dean found himself strangely, and very strongly, attracted to this new person. But something about this new person also set him on guard, for some reason. He kept thinking back to his second dream. Where she had asked him if he thought that she as something to be hunted. He was starting to understand why she had asked. Maybe she had been right. Was she something that needed to be hunted? Was this their thing?

Dean's stomach twisted in extremely unpleasant knots at the thought of that being the case.

No way.

He could not deny, however, that as more and more time went on, more and more things about J were not adding up, or were just odd. Not in we shouldn't trust her kind of way. More of this is very different than anything we are used to kind of thing. Dean knew that J was a great hunter, but some of her methods were beyond his understanding. It was like they had the same job, but went about things in two totally different ways.

These ways may be new and different to Sam and Dean, but that did not mean they were wrong or deserved to be thought of as a danger. Just because it was hard to understand didn't mean they had to be ruthless, mindless killers. This was just something out of left field when they were right fielders. Dean silently scolded himself for thinking that way.

The more Dean wrestled with these thoughts the more he became inundated with questions and feelings that were clouding his judgment.

"Keep your head in the game." He thought to himself, shaking his head to clear it.

J had checked the connections of the blasting caps several times now out of an OCD thing everyone always associated with her being a Virgo. She didn't think they were entirely wrong. She was German, and everyone knows how Germans like their Ordnung. And having that particular star sign with that bloodline didn't help her much. J was flexible, but even she would admit that she does like things a certain way.

After checking the entire system for the half dozenth time, ensuring all evidence of her work was hidden in plain sight. Hidden to anyone just walking through. The smoke bombs were finally all primed and ready. J got out her phone, running one last test on her app that controlled this whole operation.

Green Light.

Everything was working. J entered her pin and the system was live. Just one last push of the button and the signal would be wirelessly sent to the charges, detonating each smoke bomb in sequence from the mouth of the mine, in towards Sam and Dean.

Just as J finished hiding her stuff in an offshoot of the mine, away from the smoke bombs, she heard a noise coming from outside. It sounded like footsteps from right outside of the mine's opening.

She silently ran along the wall, hiding in the shadows of an archway that lead to another offshoot of the mine. She crouched poised, phone in hand, ready. The archway was about 30 feet from the entrance, 10 feet away was J's first smoke bomb.

It was definitely that bartender. J could see the tribal markings on his arms Dean had missed because of the long-sleeved uniform the thing had been wearing the night before.

All he had to do was walk another 20 feet and she would set off the smoke bombs.

Come on!

THERE!

J pressed the Big Red Button on her screen and listened to the synchronized pops of her system working flawlessly. The Djinn looked up, eyes flashing electric blue.

He started running away from the first bomb, away from the entrance, straight at J. If everything went as planned, he would run right past her and she would heard him, like cattle for slaughter, right into the room where Sam and Dean were waiting.

J thought it only appropriate that they all get a chance to take out this one. He messed with every one of their heads.

Suddenly, the Djinn stopped, letting the smoke of the incense waft over him. He was in obvious discomfort, but his rage seemed to be one hell of a driver. He stopped and turned to stare J right in the eyes.

J was still standing in the shadows, ready, waiting. The Djinn now barely noticing the incense smoke, now. Their eyes locked.

Both sets of eyes flashing.

J smirked, she only saw the look of pure rage in his eyes for a split second before she raised her gun and fired.

In the distance, Dean heard a popping sound. He was so lost in thought he barely noticed it at all. It only registered with Dean that something was going down when Sam drew his gun and aimed it at the door.

As his thoughts of J left him, and the plan of attack came back to the forefront of his mind, he too followed Sam and leveled his gun at the entrance to the room.

Both Sam and Dean could now see the smoke from the smoke bombs now. Rolling into the room, undulating from the force of the various detonations.

Next, they heard three distinct gunshots.

Rapid-fire. 1, 2, 3.

Dean didn't hesitate.

He ran forward, gun still held level out in front of him.

"J!" he called out as he ran forward. "J! Answer me!"

Dean followed the smoke. Finding the areas where the smoke was the densest, knowing that was where she had placed a bomb. He used this method to find his way back through the cave systems various tunnels and off-shoots until he came close to the mouth of the mine.

He could feel a breeze and smell fresh air now amid the acrid smell of the smoke.

As Dean rounded another corner, he placed his finger on the trigger automatically for a moment before he lowered the gun completely. J was standing there. The Djinn was on the ground in front of her. Dean could see the opening of the mine some 40 feet ahead of them.

As J looked down upon the Djinn, Dean noticed a hole in his forehead. Dead center. It was emitting purple smoke, the same purple smoke as before. As were the other two bullet holes in his chest where the other two rounds had obviously penetrated.

She must have noticed him standing there. After another moment she turned around to face him. Her eyes flashed in triumph. "I think I got him." She said with a smirk on her face.