Chapter 27

The entire drive home, Jessie could only think about what Mike had whispered in her ear. She was almost completely sure that what he'd said was nonsense, but she knew that one could never dismiss anything totally when it came to dealing with demons. What she did know was, if what he said was true, she knew it would be best to get away from Sam now before it was too late. But she didn't think she even had the willpower to do that, regardless of the consequences. So she did what she thought she should do with Mike's information, keep it to herself, at least for now.

She noticed lights on in the house as she approached, hesitating as she pulled the car into its spot. She was exhausted now and had been hoping to go straight to bed when she got home, but now she knew that wasn't going to happen.

She sighed deeply as she turned the doorknob and walked into the house to see Dean standing by the couch with his arms crossed, staring at her angrily.

"Where the hell have you been?"

She narrowed her eyes angrily. "Who the hell do you think you are talking to me like that?"

"Are you that selfish or are you really that stupid?" he scoffed.

"What are you talking about?"

"What did you think you were doing taking off on your own, leaving your phone and purse here?"

"I forgot them!" she exclaimed her voice steadily rising.

"And you didn't think that if Sam noticed you were gone, but your stuff wasn't, he would think something happened to you? Did you even think about him when you took off?"

She hadn't thought about it at the time, but she had later on. She felt guilty enough without Dean calling attention to her thoughtlessness.

"I wasn't thinking at the time, Dean," she replied lowering her voice slightly.

"Obviously not! Where did you go that was so important?"

She grasped her keys tightly in her hand, resisting the urge to throw them at him.

"You know what, Dean? I did fine on my own for years without you or your brother," she scanned the room quickly. "And now I'm tired, so I'm going to bed."

She turned to walk towards the stairs, but Dean stepped in her way.

"What? You aren't even gonna wait until Sam is back so you can explain things to him?"

"Where is he?" she asked quickly.

"He jumped in my car and took off after you, without my permission I might add."

She resisted an urge to grin, although it was difficult.

"I'll call him and let him know I'm fine."

"I already did when I saw your headlights coming up the driveway."

"Good. Then get out of my way," she replied as she stepped closer to him.

He gave her an impatient look but moved out of her way.

"Send him up to my room when he gets back," she said glancing at him sideways. "If I'm asleep he can wake me up." She didn't stop to listen for a reply, heading upstairs quickly.

She was exhausted, which she quickly realized she had been all along, but didn't notice until she'd left Mike's room. She'd been too wound up to settle down, but now she just wanted to climb under her blanket, lie her head on her pillow and drift off into a quiet oblivion. However, she knew it wasn't going to be as easy as that now. She was upset by her guilt and she needed to apologize to Sam.

She changed into a comfy pair of pajamas then climbed under her covers, falling asleep almost the instant her head hit the pillow, despite all of her guilt.

She was awakened a short time later by someone calling her name gently. She hesitantly opened her eyes, the room was still dark but she could make out the very tall outline of a man.

"Sam?" she called hoarsely.

"Yeah, it's me," he replied in a whisper. "Dean said I could wake you up."

"Yeah...uh...yeah," she replied while half asleep, then leaned over and turned on her bedside lamp. She winced as the light shined in her eyes.

Sam hovered near the bed, until she patted the bed, indicating she wanted him to sit down. He sat down at the very edge, his face stoic.

"I'm sorry, Sam," she said quietly. "I didn't mean to make you worry. I wasn't thinking."

He sighed. "I don't want to make a big deal out of this, but, are you sure this is what you want? To be with me...and stuck with my brother?"

"Why would you ask me that, Sam?"

He shrugged his shoulders very slightly. "I'm sure you don't need us worrying every time you decide to go somewhere without us."

She raised an eyebrow curiously, then glanced at her watch. She'd been asleep for at least an hour. She had to imagine he had talked with his brother before he'd decided to wake her.

"If you're gonna say we shouldn't be together, then just come out and say it. Don't try to turn it around on me."

"That's not what I'm doing at all, Jessie."

"Right," she snorted. "You weren't about to say I would be safer if I wasn't with you?"

"No, actually I wasn't even thinking about that. It's just obvious that you find it a nuisance having us around."

"That's your brother talking, not you, Sam."

He looked away for a moment, before turning back to gaze into her eyes.

She noticed something had changed in his eyes, something she hadn't recognized before.

"You're scared, aren't you?" she asked as she took his hand.

"I was scared something happened to you. Is that so wrong?"

She frowned slightly, holding back tears. "No, it's not wrong, Sam. The only one in the wrong is me. I shouldn't have left like I did."

He squeezed her hand gently. "This is new for both of us. And as long as you're not having second thoughts—"

She tugged on his arm, pulling herself close and laid her head against his chest, closing her eyes, while he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly.

Before long, he was stroking her hair, which made Jessie relax even more. So much so, she almost dozed off. But she couldn't allow herself to do that. She wanted to take advantage of this alone time while she had the chance.

She pulled herself from his grip, gazing into his eyes, which looked soft and loving. She found herself unable to resist the urge to lean in and kiss him right at that moment.

She found his lips soft, inviting and just as enthusiastic as hers. Nothing mattered at that moment, as their lips explored each other's. It wasn't long before they were both naked, exploring each other's body. They took their time, slowly enjoying every kiss, every touch, every loving moment. Eventually falling asleep in each other's arms.

When Jessie woke up, she was cuddled up with Sam, her head on his chest. She smiled as she remembered the night before, then wished she didn't have to get out of bed. She decided not to move until she had to, she wasn't in any kind of hurry.

She listened to his breathing and the sound of his heartbeat for a short time, until she couldn't stay still any longer, because her arm had fallen asleep. She wiggled herself out from under Sam, waking him up.

Sam smiled as his eyes fell on Jessie's.

"Good morning," he grinned.

"Good morning," she replied, smiling brightly.

He pulled her close, trying to kiss her but she pulled away with a smile.

"Ewww, Sam. I have morning breath."

He chuckled. "So do I, so what?"

She rolled her eyes playfully then tried to roll away from him, but he grabbed her tightly, pulling her back towards him.

"Sam!" she cried.

He laughed lightly. "Can't I just hold you for a bit longer?"

"I would love to stay in your arms forever, Sam, but, at some point we need to eat, drink and...shower," she replied with a teasing grin.

"Yeah, I supposed you're right," he said then kissed her once lightly on the lips.

They managed to shower together with minimal distractions, but as they got dressed, Sam couldn't help trying to keep Jessie from getting her clothes fully on. She did manage to get him to keep his hands off her by threatening to bring out a stuffed clown she kept in her closet.

He balked at her threat, but he left the room quickly so she could get dressed in peace. His hasty departure made her laugh. It was even funnier because he had no idea how she'd found out about his clown phobia.

When she came downstairs, Dean was sitting on the couch watching the morning news. He glanced up at her quickly then went back to watching the TV. She wanted to say something to him, but she decided it would be best to get herself a cup of coffee first.

She smiled at Sam as she entered the kitchen, who was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in his hands. She poured herself a cup, took a sip then set it down on the table.

"I need to talk to your brother, alone," she said as she walked out of the room.

She walked into the livingroom slowly trying to decide if she should stand or sit, finally deciding on sitting beside him.

"Can we talk, Dean?"

He shot her a curious sideways glance.

"I wasn't aware we had anything we needed to discuss."

She rolled her eyes. "I shoulda known you wouldn't make this easy for me."

He turned in his seat slightly, wearing a strange expression.

"Look, Dean. All I wanted to do was apologize to you," she said, pausing for a moment. "I apologized to Sam last night, so I thought I should give you the same courtesy."

"Yeah, I heard you apologizing to Sam last night," he replied with a smirk. "You didn't need to do it so loudly."

Her face turned several shades of red as she turned away.

"Oh my God, Dean," she replied covering her face from embarrassment.

He chuckled.

Once she regained her composure, she turned back to Dean, who was wearing a wide grin.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about last night, Dean. I worried Sam and I worried you," she paused a moment, swallowing hard at what she was about to admit. "It was stupid and selfish of me to leave like I did."

The grin had left his face, replaced with one of surprise.

"Now don't get too excited," she said before he could respond. "I don't usually admit when I'm wrong—or apologize for that matter."

"I got that," he replied.

"And since we're forced to spend time in each other's company—well, I'm sorry."

He grinned smugly. "That wasn't so painful now was it?"

She snorted. "The only thing that's gonna be painful is your face after I punch you in it."

He laughed. "Ah, Jessie. Life with you will never be boring."

She wasn't sure if she should take it as an insult or a compliment, but she decided on the latter.

"I wish I could say the same about you," she said with a grin, then turned on her heel and went back into the kitchen to sit with Sam.

Sam smiled as she entered, taking her hand as she sat down beside him.

"I half expected to hear yelling at some point."

After Dean's remark about the night before, it was difficult for her to be anything but embarrassed.

"Nope. All's good."

The couple stole a few kisses before they finished their coffees and began to get ready to leave for Bobby's house.

Jessie did some house cleaning with Sam and Dean finished up the laundry, before packing their dufflebags.

"Why don't you come in the Impala with us?" Sam asked Jessie as they were about to leave.

She sighed deeply, trying to keep herself calm.

"Sam, we talked about this," she replied tersely.

"I just think it would be safer if you travelled with us."

She shook her head. "I'll be fine. There's nothing you can say that would make me give up my car. You might as well just ask Dean to give up the Impala."

"Hey! Leave me and baby outta this conversation," Dean yelled from across the room.

He rolled his eyes at his brother. "At least let me go with you then."

"With the demons wanting your brothers head, I think it would be best if you went with him."

"I'm a big boy, Jessie," Dean replied as he passed her, carrying his dufflebag. "If Sammy wants to go with you he's more than welcome to."

She shook her head, clearly annoyed. "Dean, can I speak with Sam alone, please?"

"I guess the honeymoon's over already," he mumbled with a grin, before shooting Sam a glance that said, 'good luck', then threw his dufflebag over his shoulder sweeping from the room as quickly as he could.

"Jessie..."

"This is gonna be a very short relationship if you insist on treating me like a damsel in distress," she said, crossing her arms in front of her.

"That's not what I'm doing at all. I just want to spend more time with you."

She snorted. "You can try that excuse if you want to, but it's not gonna fly with me."

He threw his hands in the air outta frustration.

"I'm sorry, Jessie. I'm not trying to control you or treat you like you're helpless," he replied sincerely.

"Then why can't things be the way they were before? Live our lives separate—but together."

"That sounds utopian, but I'm not sure if that'll work."

She sighed lightly. "And why not?"

"Because I love you, that's why."

She didn't know if he said it to make her feel guilty or because it was exactly how he felt. Either way, it made her feel guilty.

"I'm an independant woman, Sam, always have been. So you're just gonna have to deal with it."

He nodded his head in understanding.

"All I can promise is that I'll try."

She smiled slightly. "I guess that's the best I can hope for."

He smiled, throwing his dufflebag over his shoulder. "I guess I better not keep Dean waiting."

He began to walk past her, but she grabbed his arm, making him wheel around.

"You can't go yet."

"Why?"

She grabbed a hold of the front of his shirt, pulling him closely, kissing him slow and deep.

"I love you, too, Sam," she said quietly into his ear.

He smiled, brushing stray hairs from her face. "You don't play fair."

"Nope," she replied with a sly grin and a wink. "See ya at Bobby's."

He shook his head with a smile before hoisting his dufflebag over his shoulder and left the house.

Jessie watched him leave, her eyes stuck on his behind. She smiled in a giddy way before she grabbed her dufflebag and her purse, set the alarm to her house, then locked up.

The Impala was gone when she turned to walk to her own car, the dust it had stirred up was the only evidence of its former presence. She felt slightly anxious about going to Bobby's house, but was unsure why. It was a feeling she couldn't shake no matter how much she tried to rationalize it.

The entire drive was uneventful. However, the moment she walked into Bobby's house, she was greeted with a smile, then a very long, and thorough lecture from Bobby. She wasn't surprised, she'd been expecting it. All she could do was listen, agree, then promise not to do anything reckless ever again.

While she promised him not to be reckless, she knew it was a lie. Hunting was reckless as far as she was concerned, and both of them knew she wasn't quitting any time soon.

After the lecture, Bobby went into the study to continue researching something he had been working on before they'd arrived. Jessie wasn't sure what to do, so she did the first thing that came to mind, make lunch.

As she was cooking some bacon for sandwiches, Sam came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She shrugged him off, before turning around with a stern look.

"Are you asking to get burned?"

He laughed at the absurdity of her question. She rolled her eyes at his laughter.

"Why don't you just sit at the table and wait?" she said with impatience as she turned back to cooking.

He chuckled as he walked over to the table and sat down. He began to browse through the various newspapers that littered the far end of the table, when he uncovered a slim rectangular package lying under them.

"Hey, Bobby!" Sam called. "What's with the package?"

"It has your name on it, ya idjit," he replied from the study.

Jessie turned around quickly, smirking before she turned back to cooking.

Sam wasn't sure who the package was from, he hadn't been expecting anything. He checked the shipping label, but it didn't give him an idea who the sender was either.

He began to open the cardboard box as Dean walked in, sitting across the table from him, watching curiously.

"Who's it from, Sammy?"

"I don't know yet," he replied with irritation as he continued to open the box.

Once he managed to get one of the flaps open, he glimpsed another box inside. He tipped it sideways, allowing the box inside to slide out, revealing another nondescript box, but also an envelope.

Picking up the envelope, he ripped it carefully, pulling out a birthday card.

"What the hell? Your birthday was a couple of weeks ago."

He shot his brother an aggravated look, then opened the card to read it. It was a generic card, but it had a personal handwritten note at the bottom.

He smiled widely as he read it to himself, laughing lightly as he got to the end of it, causing his brother to impatiently ask him what it said.

He glanced over in Jessie's direction quickly—who still had her back turned to him—before turning his attention to his brother, still grinning.

"It says, 'I'm sorry your gift is late, but I had this built especially for you, so it took some time. It might be an expensively inappropriate gift from a friend, but I couldn't stand seeing you use that super old and slow piece of shit laptop any longer. Promise me you will NOT let your brother use it to watch porn, it's way too good to use it for that. Love, Jessie.' "

He turned his attention back to the nondescript box, tearing it open quickly.

Dean turned his head in Jessie's direction. "If that wasn't a huge sign that says you loved him back then, than I don't know what is."

She turned around glaring at him furiously.

"Why don't you shut up and stop acting like a jealous little boy, Dean? You don't need to ruin your brother's moment."

He looked defensive, but stayed silent.

She walked up to the table and stood beside Sam. She smiled as she noticed the child-like grin he had on his face as he took the laptop out of the box.

"This thing must have cost a fortune," he said as he glanced up at her.

"All that matters is that you like it, Sam," she replied, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He reached his hand up, placing it on the hand that was on his shoulder.

"But you bought this weeks ago. How, uh..."

"I bought it for a friend, Sam. You needed a better laptop, so I bought one for you because I can. It's not a big deal."

"Well, it's a big deal to me."

"Just take care of it. It's one of the quickest, most powerful laptops ever. And since mine is more than six months old, it's even better than mine," she replied with a grin.

She finished making sandwiches for the Winchesters, then made one for Bobby and herself, which she took into the study. She sat at the desk with him while he ate, looking over what he was reading.

He was reading some religious texts, which made her wonder what he was up to. Although she was curious, she decided it didn't matter, she wasn't interested.

"That was a nice thing you did, Jessie," Bobby said abruptly, breaking the silence. "Sam's needed a new laptop for awhile."

"Uh huh."

"Did you know things were going to turn out this way?"

"What?" she asked with surprise.

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"If you want the truth, Bobby, no. I didn't plan on this at all. I just hated to see Sam using that ancient piece of crap. Especially since the only reason he hadn't replaced it was because he didn't have the money. I have money, so I bought it for him. I don't understand what the big deal is."

"And that's it?"

She sighed exaggeratedly. "If you have something to ask me, old man, just come out and ask."

He studied her carefully for a moment before speaking.

"You said you bought it a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, so?"

"Was that before you killed the Alpha?"

She narrowed her eyes this time, trying to figure out what he was asking.

"Yeah, it was. What are you getting at?"

He narrowed his eyes shrewdly. "You were expecting to die, weren't you?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "So what if I was?"

"So, you're gonna lie to the boy?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Are you being serious right now? Why does it matter what the motivation behind it was? He needed it. I bought it. It's not like anyone else did anything for his birthday. Now he's happy, so leave it alone."

"Sam doesn't like liars or people who keep things from him. Just remember that, Jess."

She gave him an impatient look, then took her plate into the kitchen. She wasn't sure what that had all been about and now she was confused. He didn't want her with Sam, but he was giving her advice about him. She was sure there was more to it than what he was saying, she just wished she knew what.

She quickly glanced in Sam's direction, who was sitting at the table with his shiny new laptop, beaming. She couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

As she watched him, she felt something strange. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she was beginning to feel like part of a genuine family again. It was a strange family, with no blood relation, but their bond couldn't have been stronger if they had been blood related. She could no longer think of herself as alone. She just had to learn what it was to be part of a family again.

She was still irriatated about her conversation with Bobby, but she wasn't angry with him. She still wasn't quite sure what he'd been trying to get at, but she knew it came out of a place of love. Eventually, she decided she needed a distraction, now that she'd finished eating.

After washing the few dishes that had been dirty from lunch, she went outside and began to work on getting the scratch out of the trunk of her car. It was mostly therapeutic, working on her car, but it also needed to be done. She couldn't risk the chance that it would begin to rust, then she would have a worse problem on her hands.

The first thing she did was clean the area with soap and water, removing any loose debris, so she could see how far the scratch had gone. As long as the scratch wasn't all the way into the steel, she would just patch it up.

She rubbed some black shoe polish into the scratch, then began to sand the scratch with sandpaper and water. Once the shoe polish was gone, she knew not to sand any further. After applying some rubbing compound, she began to buff it with a polisher until it looked perfect once again, following up with a light hand buffing.

She stepped back to look at her handy work, pleased with the results. She couldn't see the scratch any longer and couldn't tell there ever was. There was only one thing left to do and that was to wax her car.

She was searching through her trunk when Dean appeared behind her, startling her

"What are you looking for, Jessie?"

"I'm looking for car wax, but I don't seem to have any left. At least that I can find."

"I've got some if you need. How's the scratch look?"

"See for yourself," she replied as she closed her trunk.

"Can't even notice it was there," he remarked.

"Impressed?" she asked teasingly.

"Not really. I had no doubt you know what you're doing."

She smiled with a mixture of thanks and amusement. She knew he was probably trying to be as pleasant as possible after she'd practically bitten his head off earlier.

He fetched car wax from the trunk of the Impala, offering to help as he handed it to her. However, he left promptly after she refused his help again, he wasn't in the mood to get on her bad side twice in one day.

She was rummage around in Bobby's shed looking for some better cloths to use to wax her car, when she felt like she was being watched. She turned on her heel quickly to find herself face to face with a stout man wearing an expensive suit.

"Hello, Jessie," the man said with a smug grin.

"What do you want?" she replied backing up a step, adjusting her body to a more defensive position.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm—"

"Crowley. "Yeah, I know who you are," she replied speaking quickly. "Bobby has described you at length."

He smirked again looking somewhat amused.

"So answer my question. What do you want?" she asked, scanning the area quickly for a weapon she might be able to use.

"I was curious about the woman that finally stole Sam Winchester's heart."

She narrowed her eyes. "What does it matter to you?"

"If I told you that, how would I keep you at a disadvantage?"

"If you have nothing else to say, why don't you get your ass back to hell?"

She wasn't sure if it was smart to mouth off to the king of hell, but she figured she had nothing to lose.

He chuckled lightly. "You're quite the sassy thing now aren't ya?"

"You have no idea," she replied bravely.

He was quiet for a moment before smirking smugly once again.

"We'll be seeing more of each other, Jessie," he replied ominously. "You can count on that."

She opened her mouth to answer him with a colorful colloquialism, but he disappeared before she got the chance.

She was upset and slightly shaken from the encounter, but he hadn't been threatening, so she felt rather silly for being so upset. He was the king of hell after all, so she couldn't berate herself too much.

She was unsure what to do next, but she figured she would finish waxing her car before telling anyone about Crowley's unexpected visit. After all, there was nothing they could do about it now and he didn't even attempt to hurt her.

After finding what she'd been looking for in the shed, she did exactly that. She finished waxing her car, before walking into the house.

A/N: Things sure have changed between Jessie and the boys, haven't they? What do you think Crowley wanted? He didn't say much. His visit almost seemed pointless, didn't it?

Good news. My computer is okay for the moment. I'm hoping it's fixed for good, but it's had some tiny issues still, but nothing too bad. Hopefully I should have another chapter up in a week or so.

Thanks for reading!