Sam's arms closed around me as I buried my face in his shirt. I breathed him in and hugged him as tight as I could. He didn't object. After a second, I lifted my head.

"How?" I asked with happy tears in my eyes. "How are you back? None of the…"

"Jessie," Dean said sharply, interrupting me. "We don't have time right now. Upstairs, pack a bag. Move!"

I turned my head and glared at Dean, but I let Sam go and headed to the stairs where Ben was waiting for me. I looked back at Sam before climbing the stairs, but he was looking at Dean and Lisa. I got the feeling they were waiting for us to be out of earshot before saying whatever it was they were going to say.

As Ben and I got to the top of the stairs, Ben whispered, "Do you know what's going on?"

I shrugged and pinched the bridge of my nose, something I'd seen Dean do a lot. "No, but Sam's back and that changes everything." My stomach was roiling, a mix of happy about Sam and worry about why we were fleeing.

"What about where we're going?" Ben whispered before I went in my room.

I shrugged again. "Probably Bobby's?" I suggested.

Ben squinched up his face. "Who's that?"

I stopped in my doorway. "Kinda an uncle, I guess? But not blood related."

"But…" Ben started.

I sighed, interrupting him. "Ben, I don't know any more than you do, but I do know that if we don't get packed, we're gonna get fussed at."

Ben's shoulders drooped. "I don't even know what to pack," he said, but went into his room anyway.

I did. I dug out my duffel bag and threw in 3 days of clothes, some toiletries like my toothbrush and hairbrush, my snowman, my favorite fleece blanket with Chococat on it, and two novels I was in the middle of reading. Dean came into the room while I was grabbing my pillow.

"You all set?" he asked me and unzipped the duffel to inspect my work.

"Yeah," I said. "It's not like I haven't done this before."

Dean shot me an assessing look but didn't say anything. He re-zipped the duffel and flung it over his shoulder.

"Dad, what's going on?" I asked him, grabbing his arm. "Why are we leaving? Are we coming back? What's Sam doing here?"

"Grab your school stuff," Dean instructed.

"What does that matter? We've only got like 3 more weeks anyway," I snapped, annoyed that he wasn't answering me.

Then Dean leveled his look on me, the one that meant I was pushing his temper at a bad time. "Now, little girl! We don't have time for this. We've got to get out of here now."

"Dad," I tried one more time, but he cut me off.

"You can ask all your questions in the car. Move!" With that, he left the room and went downstairs. Frustrated, I grabbed my backpack like he'd said and followed, meeting Ben and Lisa on the landing.

"Come on, sweetie," she soothed. "Everything's gonna be okay. Your dad knows what he's doing."

I wasn't sure I believed her, but I followed her down the stairs anyway.

We took Sam's car, a black Dodge Charger, I thought because Dean didn't want us to be able to leave Bobby's once we got there. Or maybe just because he didn't want us getting separated, but he didn't say. Sam drove and Dean sat in the front seat with him. Ben and I sat in the backseat with Lisa in between us. All of us were uncomfortably quiet for the first ten minutes or so, but then I couldn't stand it any more.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and slid forward, hugging the back of Dean's seat. "Okay, what's going on? How did you get back, Sam? You were in a cage in hell! Did you just get back? What happened…?" I would've kept going, but Sam broke in.

"I don't know," he said shortly. "I'm just back."

"But… how long?"

Sam didn't say anything, but Dean did. "He's been back almost a year, hunting the whole time." His voice was sharp with anger and hurt.

I stared at Sam, my heart sinking into my stomach. Almost the whole year we'd been with Lisa and Ben? "Why didn't you come get us?" I asked, my voice shaky with hurt.

Dean didn't let Sam answer that either. "We'd gotten out," Dean said, pain in his voice too. "And he didn't want to drag us back in. Now sit back and get your seatbelt back on."

I sat back and obeyed, shocked, tears filling my eyes. "You were hunting without us?"

"Yes," Sam said, looking at me in the rear view mirror. "But not alone. We've got more family, Jessie. Our mom's family, and I joined up with them."

"Instead of us?" I asked, trying hard not to cry. "Are they better hunters than us? I don't understand…"

"Jessie, you were safe, going to school, living a real life, a good life. I couldn't pull you out of that. It was good for you."

I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn't argue with that. Sam and Dean had always wanted me to have a safe and normal life, and I'd finally gotten it. I'd finally accepted it.

I even liked it.

"Well, but… why now?" I asked. "If you wanted us to have a normal life, if you didn't want to be with us at all, why are you back now?"

"Jessie, I never said I didn't want to be with you. That's not what it was about," Sam said.

"So why now? What's going on?" I insisted, pushing the question he hadn't answered, that no one had answered despite the number of times I'd asked it.

"I'm being hunted," Dean said. "By djinn."

"What the hell is a djinn?" I demanded.

"It's a creature who lives in caves and poisons people," Sam said. "Except this version looks like people and can poison you with a touch."

"Djinn is another name for genies," Ben piped up. Deep in my hurt, I'd forgotten he was there. "Like from those old Arabian stories. They grant wishes."

"That's right," Dean agreed, his voice almost normal. "Except they don't grant wishes. They poison you and you hallucinate while they feed on you, so you think your wishes are coming true until you're dead. We killed one a while ago."

"We think these are chasing us for revenge," Sam explained. "Dean's in danger, you're in danger, so I had to come get you."

My heart started pounding, anger rising in my chest, my face red with it. "That's just great," I said. "You couldn't come visit or anything. 'Hey Jessie, how are you?' No, it had to be life-threatening danger. Thanks for caring."

"I do care," Sam said. "That's why I left you alone before. That's why I'm here now." His expression seemed sincere, but there was something in his tone that didn't match up. Like, most people would be hurt or sound sorry or something, but he was just explaining. Not urging me to understand, to forgive. Just matter of fact—I didn't come get you because it was good for you and I'm only here now because I have to be so you don't die. We were just another set of people to save.

I crossed my arms over my chest and stared out the window. "Where are we going?" I asked, defeated, my tears finally winning, streaming down my cheeks.

"Bobby's," Dean said, and Sam drove on.

I didn't ask any more questions, too hurt at Sam's answers. If he'd been back almost a whole year, that explained why Dean's resurrections spells didn't work, why my resurrection spell didn't work. Crowley probably even knew he was already back, had tricked me into a deal with him, knowing that even if I used the snowman, it wouldn't work. Anger seethed and I nursed it and the hurt, ignoring the rest of conversations that happened around me.

It was an eleven hour drive to Bobby's from our house, but Sam managed to cut it to ten, speeding the whole way. If we'd been in the Impala with Dean driving, we'd probably have made it in even less time. Eventually I fell asleep, leaning on Lisa's shoulder, the sound of the road soothing me despite the uncomfortable position. Ben did too, although he ended up with his head in her lap. I didn't know if she slept at all, but probably not. More likely, the adults had talked in hushed tones while Ben and I slept, or maybe not at all.

We got to Bobby's around 7 the next morning. Dean knocked on the door, me, Ben, and Lisa behind him. Sam didn't really fit behind us on the porch so he was off to the side.

Bobby opened the to door to Dean's knock, took one look at Dean, and sighed, "Damn it." The words stopped me cold.

"It's good to see you, too, Bobby. It's been a while," Dean replied evenly.

"If you're here, something's wrong," Bobby said, his shoulders dropping in disappointment. He opened the door wider to let us in

Dean introduced Lisa and Ben, and Bobby sent them upstairs to get settled, warning them about the guns. I lingered in the hallway, duffel at my side, back against the wall, making myself as small as possible. If they didn't notice me, they couldn't send me upstairs too, and I wanted… no, I needed to know what the hell was going on.

That's when Sam stepped into the doorway and said, "Hey, Bobby."

Dean had a kind of half smile on his face, looking to Bobby for a surprised reaction, but Bobby just said, "Sam," nodding his head in Sam's direction.

My mouth dropped open. Bobby knew?!

It affected Dean as much or more than it affected me. He practically dragged them into the kitchen. I followed quietly, watching as Sam took a seat at the desk there and Bobby leaned near him against the counter. I stayed in the doorway between the library and the kitchen, hugging my duffel, trying to stay out of everyone's eye line, still afraid of being banished upstairs if anyone happened to notice me.

Dean was mad, but hurt-mad. It was etched into every expression, every movement as he paced, demanding to know how long Bobby had known Sam was alive. Bobby admitted that he'd known all year and that he'd do it again because Dean and I were out of the life, and because Bobby was happy about that.

Bobby's explanation didn't help Dean. Dean pointed out that he'd only gone to Lisa and Ben because Sam had asked him to. Bobby said that was good, but Dean didn't agree. He said he'd been half mad with grief, that it was lucky they'd even taken us in.

"I drank too much. I had nightmares," Dean yelled. "I looked everywhere. I collected hundreds of books, trying to find anything to bust you out!" He looked directly at Sam.

"You promised you'd leave it alone," Sam said quietly.

"Of course I didn't leave it alone! Sue me!" Dean snapped. Then he looked at Bobby and said, "A damn year? You couldn't put me out of my misery?"

Bobby raised his head and yelled back. "Look, I get it wasn't easy. But that's life! And it's as close to happiness as I've ever seen a hunter get." His voice got softer then. "It ain't like I wanted to lie to you, son. But you were out, Dean."

"Do I look out to you?" Dean demanded.

Bobby dropped his head again and even Sam looked a little ashamed.

Dean turned then and noticed me in the doorway. "Jessie," he sighed. "Come on, let's get you settled." He ushered me into the hallway and to the stairs, his hand between my shoulders. Lisa was coming down.

"Go on upstairs," he said to me and kissed the top of my head. Then he turned to Lisa and asked how Ben was doing. I climbed the stairs, listening to them talk, and then stopped at the top where I was out of sight, leaning against the wall.

Dean apologized to Lisa, saying he should've known something would come after him because something always comes after him. Lisa didn't buy it, but that didn't seem to help Dean. I wished I could see them, but all I could do is listen to them, my heart aching for them both.

"You're saying goodbye," Lisa said, realization in her voice.

There was quiet for a minute, just the sound of someone moving, and then Dean said, "I'm saying I'm sorry." He paused, then added, "For everything."

"Everything," Lisa repeated. A moment passed and then she scolded him. "You're an idiot," she said. "I mean, I know it wasn't greeting-card perfect, but we were in it together."

I had to see this. I poked my head around the corner at the top of the stairs and looked down. They were sitting next to each other on the bottom steps, their shoulders pressed together.

"I was a wreck half the time," Dean argued.

Lisa didn't let him off that easy. "Yeah, well, the guy that basically just saved the world shows up at your door, you expect him to have a couple of issues," she shot back, glaring at him, annoyance in her tone.

Her voice softened then and she looked away from Dean."And you're always so amazing with Ben.' She still wasn't looking at him. "You know what I wanted, more than anything," she asked, the words coming haltingly from her lips, "was a guy that Ben could look up to… like a dad." She turned her head, looking at him, but not facing him. "So, you're saying it's all bad, Dean?" she asked. "'Cause it was the best year of my life."

Dean looked at her but she looked away and then they just sat there. Not wanting to get caught eavesdropping after getting in trouble for it so often, I slipped down the hallway and into one of Bobby's spare rooms, where I found Ben staring blankly at the disassembled guns Bobby had laid out on newspaper on the bed.

"Bobby said not to touch the decor," I reminded him, mostly to bring him out of his thoughts.

Ben turned to me, his expression lost. "How long are we going to be here?"

I shrugged and dropped my bag on the floor next to his. "Until Sam and Dad get rid of the djinn, I guess. Probably a few days. It won't be so bad. Bobby's great."

Ben sighed and leaned against the wall, gesturing at the bed. "If we can't touch them, how are we supposed to move them to sleep?" He wouldn't look at me.

I laughed, trying to lighten his mood. "Bobby will move them, or Dean will before he goes."

"Bobby said the TV was broken," Ben pointed out.

"He's got board games and books from when I stayed with him," I said. "And town's not too far. We can probably talk him into taking us there."

"Are you and Dean gonna leave?" Ben demanded, finally raising his head and saying what he really wanted to know. His face was tight with worry.

I swallowed. "I… I don't think so," I said. "I don't want to leave." I knew he hadn't heard them talking on the stairs because they hadn't been loud and sound didn't carry that way up here. "Why would you even think that?"

"He's gotta go hunt that thing," Ben said.

"He's had to hunt things before while we've been with you," I pointed out. "We didn't leave then."

"Yeah," Ben said, turning to me, his hands in tight fists at his sides. "But it's different this time. He's never… he's never sent us away while he did it."

"He's just trying to keep us safe," I said. "He's not hunting a ghost at some nearby house. They came after us this time. He had to get us out." I dropped my head, unable to meet his eyes because I didn't know if what I was saying next was true. "It doesn't mean that we're leaving you."

"Yeah," Ben said, his hands loosening. "I guess it doesn't." I raised my head a little and his eyes were full of tears.

That's when it occurred to me that Ben really only had Lisa for most of his life, that guys had come and gone, if what Lisa said was true. Ben had us for a whole year. We'd become a family. I loved him as if he were actually my brother. I loved Lisa and I knew she loved me with the way she fussed over me, remembering what I liked and didn't like, all the different ways she'd been kind to me and when she'd been worried and angry when I endangered myself.

If he lost us, it was going to hurt him, even aggravate the hurt I was sure he already had. Lisa would be hurt if we left, but I thought it might affect Ben more.

I hadn't even considered that leaving was an option up until now, with Dean hinting at it on the stairs and Ben seeing it as a possibility. I didn't want to leave. I liked my life now. I had friends, I had Kara, I had a normal life, and I liked it.

Despite or maybe because of my bad decisions over the last year, I didn't want to go back to hunting. And even though I loved Sam and was glad he was alive, I didn't want to lose Lisa and Ben and go back on the road.

I pulled Ben into a hug. He resisted at first, but then hugged me back. "Everything is going to be all right," I told him. He nodded into my shoulder, but I didn't think he believed me. I knew I didn't.

That's when Dean showed up in the doorway. "Sam and I are gonna head out," Dean said as we broke apart, his eyes flicking over us, taking in our expressions. "I'll be back to get you in a few days."

"Promise?" Ben asked.

"I promise," Dean said. "And you can text me while we're gone. I might not be able to answer right away."

"Dad?" I said, raising my worried eyes to meet his. I wondered if he even knew everything we were worried about, if he could tell.

"Yeah, sweetheart?" he asked.

I couldn't ask, not right before a hunt. I couldn't put it on him. I couldn't demand a decision right now, not with his life at stake, with Sam's life at stake. I tightened my resolve.

"Kick their asses," I said.

He smiled at me. "You got it," he said and pulled both of us into his arms for a long hug. He kissed the tops of our heads and then left.

Ben went back to staring at the bed. I sighed. "I got you," I said, stepping forward to move the gun parts off the bed and onto the floor by the wall.

"I know you do," Ben replied, a wealth of meaning in the words.