Author's Note: I'm not even going to pretend like this chapter is really any good, but it's been so long since I updated...I knew I had to write something just to try and get the creative juices flowing again. So here is...something. Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, least of all The WB's Supernatural.

Wydecker, Ohio – Three weeks earlier

He'd been sitting at the outdoor café for nearly an hour before she finally decided to show up. As she moves slowly towards him he fights the urge to rise and wrap his arms around her, tell her how glad he is that she's all right, how angry he is that she's so late. But that might seem a bit suspicious, and the whole idea of having these covert little meetings is to blend in. So he continues to sip his coffee and pretend to read the paper as she walks up and takes a seat across from him.

"You're late," he says calmly, though the anger is still palpable. She says nothing to him, only orders a cup of coffee for herself when the waitress arrives. He folds the paper up and looks at her over the tops of his sunglasses. But she does not look at him.

"I've been reading," she says softly, then laughing a bit, "like I do anything else."

Her face hardens, so much so that it seems as though it might even crack. And he notices. He notices how red her eyes are. Has she been crying? Has she simply forgone sleep? He notices how pale her complexion is, just as it always was of course, but now it stands out even more because her cheeks are burning. He knows that she only blushes like that when she's angry, furious, and attempting to keep it all inside so as not to explode. "Tessa?" he says in a tone that any of his children could easily recognize. Tell me what's wrong and tell me now or there will be hell to pay.

The waitress returns with her coffee and for a moment it seems as though she is in the process of ignoring her father completely while she slowly stirs mounds of sugar into the black liquid. Then she goes on speaking, her eyes aiming themselves out into the street just beyond John's head. "You know nearly every faith has an idea regarding balance, a notion of a sort of equilibrium. Even if the concepts of good and evil don't exist, at least not how we think of them, there's still that idea that things that come from opposite ends of the spectrum can only coexist if there's a carefully maintained balance." She gulps at her coffee and spurns as the scalding drink runs down her throat.

"What are you talking about?" It's no secret that his daughter can be a bit eccentric, often going on and on about random things that may mean something to her, but seldom do to anyone else. They've all had to deal with it, but right now, mostly because of her angry demeanor, he simply wants to know the facts, the short version. And his patience is quickly dissipating.

But she couldn't care less about his impatience. "Entropy, I think. I don't know. I was never very good at science. Physics, though, it's a basic law. What is it, equal and opposite reactions? For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction. Same thing."

"Same thing as what?" he asks, frustration playing on voice.

"There's always going to be that reaction, has to be to keep the balance. There'll always be consequences. But you know that, right Dad?" she says as her eyes lock onto his. And all at once, he knows.

"What?" he asks, trying to sound as though he truly has no idea what she's talking about.

"I met with your friend Baz," she says simply, and her cheeks turn even redder.

"Baz?"

"He told me."

"Told you what?"

"Everything."

"Tessa…" he starts, but quiets and shakes his head solemnly when realizing there's really nothing he can say.

"She's dead because of me. You realize that, don't you?" She spits the words out, leaning into him as she does so, careful to be quiet, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

"I didn't know," he offers softly.

"How could you not? He told you there would be consequences, what the hell did you think he meant?"

"I don't…I wasn't thinking."

"Obviously," she scoffs, leaning back in her chair.

"You don't understand," he says gazing at her. Almost her entire face is a bright shade of red now and he can't tell if it's because she's trying to control her anger or her tears, which keep pooling and lingering on her bottom lid. But still, she's beautiful, just as he always thought she would be, just as she almost never was. He reaches out to touch her hand, but she quickly pulls away and folds her arms protectively over her chest, leans far enough back in her chair to remain just out of reach. "I love you," he says, hoping that's enough to explain it all.

She laughs bitterly and the movement is just enough to cause those tears to spill. "I met her, Dad. I knew her. I talked to her on the phone. I liked her. And Sam loved her. He loved her."

"And if he had a choice like I did, he probably would have done the same thing." She shakes her head in response, bites her bottom lip and tugs at with her teeth. It's a habit she's had her whole life, biting her lip when she gets upset, uncomfortable, scared. "Tessa," he says, barely a whisper.

"Do you even know, really know, what you've done? What you've started?"

"Look, I'm sorry for what happened to Jessica. I'm sorry for Sam. But I don't regret what I did. I'm not sorry that I have you here."

She turns to him stonily. The tears continue to run down her face leaving streaks that gleam in the sunshine, but other than that she seems to be devoid of emotion. "It's not just her. You made them angry. You caused the balance to be thrown wholly out of whack. You think it's over now? A life for a life?" She pauses and waits for him to respond, but he does not. "Jeremy was that life. And you knew that then. He died so I could live."

"I never wanted that."

"But just trading one kid's life for another isn't always enough. There are things that he should have done that now…and there are things that I've done that never should have happened. Dad, do you get that?"

"I told you, at the time I wasn't thinking clearly. I'm not saying I would have made a different decision if I had been, but…"

"It doesn't matter now," she says in a deep and serious tone. "They're going to keep coming. Did Baz tell you that? They're not going to stop."

"Now who's throwing the balance out of whack?" he says sarcastically.

"I mean it, Dad. I don't know what I did," she says, her voice cracking. "I don't know, but Baz said I must have done something…something I wasn't supposed to, something that shouldn't have happened. And they found out, that I'm still here even though I shouldn't be."

"Honey, if this were all about you, they would have just come after you."

"No." She wipes the tears from her face and squints into the sun. "I started all this to find out what happened to Mom. I had to know." She turns and looks at her father. "You know. He told you."

"Yes."

"He told you how she died?"

"She walked in. He was trying to…deal with the situation. She just got in the way."

"It was anger. It wasn't even intentional. That…thing just got so angry and frustrated and Mom came in on that, and it just sliced through her. The fire…fire is all about jealousy and anger and animosity."

"I know."

"And that's how Jessica died too. That's why she died. The rest of the Shedim hate Baz, hate him. And when they found out about me and what he did…they found out about Sam too, and what he is."

John looks at her as he feels the breath catch in his chest, and he barely manages the words, "What do you mean?"

"They found out about me and went looking for him. I think you know why."

"That doesn't – "

"He wasn't there. At the time, he wasn't there because he was with Dean, looking for you. But they knew he was alive, that he lived there. They got angry, and she got in the way, just like Mom." She stops and notices the stricken look on her father's face. "You understand, right? Baz could protect him when he was a baby, he could save him from her. But he can't keep him safe forever, not now that they know who he is." She leans back in her chair again, resigned for the moment. "That's what you did, Dad. These are the consequences. They're after Sam now."

"You don't know that for sure. Did he tell you that, Baz?"

"They won't stop. They'll keep coming until he's dead. Or worse."

"Damn it, Tessa…"

"It's true." She leans close and whispers to him. "There's only one thing we can do to stop it."

They lock eyes for one long moment as realization dawns on him. "No," he says firmly, a bit too loudly as well. Then, more hushed, "I will not let you – "

She rises quickly, pushing her seat out into the open aisle way. "If you try to stop me…" Her mouth pinches shut and she stops herself from going on and saying anything she might regret. Instead she turns and leaves, walks briskly out of the café, leaving John alone and slack-jawed.