Author's Note: I spent awhile on this chapter, and it still isn't quite exactly how I want it, but I also wanted to put it out there. I try to update on Saturdays and I'm late. GISH has been intense, and amazing, and Misha has been running us all around like crazy, and I highly recommend it.

I hope I did Jo justice. She's so stubborn and independent and sometimes distrustful that I feel like it'd be easy for the two of them to misinterpret each other. Jo thinks she's playing with fire, and meanwhile he's calmed down a lot by this point in time. Neither of them were ever particularly good at communication.

Anyway, please review! I don't own Supernatural.

***Jo Harvelle POV***

November 8, Noon

Claire was inexperienced, but she was fun to hunt with. She was younger than Jo by just over a decade, but she reminded Jo of herself at that age; eager to prove herself, tough as nails, with a slight tendency to look before she leapt.

They had hooked up on a particularly nasty ghost case in September, and they'd been hunting together ever since. Jo outwardly kidded Claire that she wouldn't have made it this far without her (which was true), and Jody Mills seemed more comfortable with Claire hunting if Jo was with her. At the same time, Jo had admitted to herself that Claire, Jody, and Alex had become the closest things to family she had had since her mother had died almost two years prior. She was always welcome at Jody's home between trips, and there were moments when she almost felt like an older sister to Claire. When it was convenient, they even introduced themselves as sisters, since they both sported long, platinum blond hair.

When Claire received what Jo would later refer to as "the call," the two of them had just successfully wrapped up a werewolf case. Jo was humming to herself as she unlaced her large, black boots.

She could hear Jody's voice through the phone, even though Claire wasn't using speakerphone: "Claire, it's Sam and Dean. They're missing. They were on a hunting trip, and nobody's heard from them in 2 days. It's time to come home."

***Dean POV***

November 9, Maybe

It had been a horrible nearly 3 days in the Bad Place, but now, at least, it would be over. He and Sam had been captured by… something. It looked like a ninja, in black robes. It had bound them, with ropes, their backs to a tree. Then it had used a large stick to make a loud CLANG! sound on some hollow bones, and since that point Dean had heard growling, which was slowly coming closer.

"I think it just rang the dinner bell," Dean said.

But wait! There was another sound… a slight rustling.

"Dean, you hear that?" Sam asked.

Suddenly, Dean felt the tension on the ropes loosen, and saw a flash of platinum blond hair. "Jo?" he asked, hopeful.

"Didja miss me?" Jo asked, grinning her signature grin at him. He had never been so glad to see her.

"What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you, of course," said Jo.

Dean was almost free, now, and could turn around fully. He saw Sam, still tied up, as well as the daughter of Castiel's vessel, Claire Novak. Krissy was right behind them, and Kaia brought up the rear, looking guilty and working on Sam's ropes.

"Hey boys," said Claire.

"What would you do without us?" asked Krissy, grinning at them.

"How did you get here?" asked Sam, shaking free of the rope.

"It's the door, it's still open," said Claire.
"For now," added Kaia.

"Where's Jack?" asked Sam. "And Cas?"

"I think Jack's in the other place with your mom," said Kaia, dropping her eyes to the ground.

"And Cas got banished to rural Ethiopia," answered Krissy. "It took him a day and a half just to get to a phone. He'll be back tomorrow morning."

Suddenly, Dean heard a thunderous roar.

"It's time to go," said Claire, and Dean fully agreed. The six of them ran, as fast as they could.
"There!" Kaia exclaimed, and Dean saw it. They had been so close! But the rift between universes was growing smaller…
Suddenly they all turned at the snap of a branch and watched in slow motion as the cloaked figure, so similar to a ninja, hurled its spear at Claire. Jo yanked Claire out of the way at the last moment, however, and instead the spear hurtled into Kaia's stomach.

"Get them safe!" Dean yelled at Jo, and he didn't look back to see if she was following directions. He pulled out his angel blade, and he sensed rather than saw that Sam was doing the same next to him.
There was a loud rustling and snapping, as they faced off with the ninja-person. "Let's go!" Jo's voice rang out from behind them. "C'mon!"

But Sam's gasp next to him stopped Dean in his tracks. Above them was a gigantic monster with glowing red eyes and a face made of rock.

Dean was awestruck as he took in the gigantic figure. Then, finally, he found his feet, and dove back through the rift after Sam.
The rift closed behind him.

Dean turned, slowly, and realized with a start that his current surroundings were almost as shocking as the Bad Place had been, but in a different way.

Scattered across the wide floor of the boat lay about ten dead creatures that Dean recognized as being from the Bad Place. (Dean had named them Blue Vaders after he had killed one during their first evening in the Bad Place, and dissected it. A black mask partially covered their bald faces, and they bled light blue blood, or goo; Dean wasn't sure which). Kaia lay on the floor directly under where the rift had been, unconscious, blood spurting from her belly. Claire Novak and her sister Alex (Jody Mills' other adoptive daughter) were now trying desperately to stem the bleeding with every bit of cloth they could find. The wound was a bad one, Dean could tell, but as long as Kaia got immediate medical attention she would most likely survive. Sheriff Jody Mills and Sheriff Donna Handscum were rounding up the other members of the party: Krissy, Charlie the computer nerd, Patience the psychic, and, of course, Eileen.

Dean's eyes fell at last on Jo, who was smiling shyly at him. He winked at her, and she winked back, her face turning slightly red.

***Dean POV***

November 9, Night

There was a party. Apparently Jody's house had been wrecked by the Blue Vaders, who had been tracking Kaia. So, the group of them pooled their money for a giant hotel suite and a lot of alcohol. They had all taken turns taking a shower, because they were all covered in blood (mostly blue), and then begun a long night of drinking, talking, and celebrating the return of the Winchesters.

Dean wanted, desperately, to resume the search for his mother. The problem was that Jack had been required to channel Kaia's dreamwalker powers the first time around. Besides that, Kaia herself was in no state to dreamwalk. She returned from her trip to the hospital in a stolen wheelchair with her belly heavily bandaged. She had remained mostly unconscious, and was on a variety of pain pills.

Therefore, Dean supposed that his search for his mother would need to wait until morning. If he was honest, as desperate as he was to find his mother, he was tired, and was looking forward to sleeping in a soft bed.

Despite his mother, and even despite Ember, Dean looked around and allowed himself to feel happy. So many people had come looking for them! In the corner, Kaia was lying on a bed, drearily accepting ice chips from Krissy. Next to them, Sheriffs Jody Mills and Donna Handscum clinked their glasses together and laughed about some unknown joke.

In the sitting room, Alex, Patience, and Claire were having an animated conversation with Sam and Eileen.

He had just decided to join Sam and Eileen's conversation when he spotted a flash of blond hair leaving the hotel room. "I'll be back," he said to nobody in particular, and darted out to follow Jo.

"Hey!" he said, just as she began to climb into her yellow death trap of a car.

"Hey, Dean!" she said, beaming at him.

"Where ya' goin?" he asked. "Party's in there!"

"Well, I just got a call about a possible rugaru case in Georgia. It's probably nothing, but… you never know."

Dean considered her for a moment. She seemed happy enough, but there was a sort of hurt look behind her eyes. Was she lonely? Why was she leaving the party so early?

He stepped closer to her, but she stood her ground. "Why?" she said, smiling slightly. "Was there something you wanted?"

"Yes," he said, making up his mind in a split second. He walked the extra foot to her car, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her.

***Jo POV***

November 9, Night

Jo had liked Dean for a long time – this was old news. It had been a schoolgirl's crush when she had first known him, before he went to Hell. That was back when she had been working at the roadhouse, barely old enough to drink the alcohol she had been serving. The few times she'd seen him after he went to Hell, he had been with Ember. Jo had thought they would get married and have children of their own, but apparently it wasn't meant to be. They'd no sooner broken up, however, than Dean had been sent to Purgatory with Dick Roman.

That had been nearly seven years ago, however, and a lot had happened since then. She'd spent the better part of five and a half years in Greece, and the experience had hardened her in some ways and softened her in others. She understood, for example, that she never wanted children. She was too stubborn, too hardened by "the life", and, frankly, she liked killing things too damn much. She liked children, of course, and she was good with them, too, as she had become more patient and tolerant during her years abroad. In the end, however, it was very simple: she just couldn't see herself ever slowing down.

Dean was the same, perhaps, and Jo had come to understand this as well. She saw him for who he was. He was a womanizer (as he had been rumored to be both before and after Ember). He was a heavy drinker (though since her mother's death, Jo thought perhaps she could give him a run for his money). Most of all, he was a damn good hunter, if not the best.

Ember had perhaps been an anomaly, Jo thought. She had never disliked Ember, exactly. She had certainly been jealous of Ember when she was younger, though she had never been able to find anything to properly hate about the woman. She'd tried, too. When she'd found out that Dean had a girlfriend, Jo had at first imagined her as having perfectly manicured nails, or a bitchy disposition, or being dumb as a box of hair. When she'd found out that Dean's girlfriend was half-demon, Jo had concocted situations in her mind where she somehow had managed to save Dean from the spellwork of a horrible she-witch. Unfortunately, Jo had gotten to know Ember just well enough to know that none of the things she had imagined were actually true. She had been ultimately forced to admit that she trusted Ember as much as she trusted anyone, though she'd never made the effort to get to know her.

Though Jo had never been able to properly "hate" Ember, she had always felt that Ember hadn't been "hardcore" enough for Dean, as she remembered expressing to Ellen on one occasion. That had turned out to be true, at least from what Jo could surmise about their break-up.

Still, Ember was an anomaly. Ember was the only woman that Dean had ever settled down with, and she had psychokinetic abilities as well as the power to become invisible. From what Jo understood of the situation, they had rekindled their romance at some point, and Dean had semi-adopted two of her children. If Ember was the kind of woman that Dean was looking for, Jo was not going to compete. It was no longer a fact Jo was bitter about, however… it was just simply a fact of life.

Therefore, Jo hadn't given Dean a lot of thought since she had returned from Greece. He looked at her differently now, that was certain. He'd looked at her as though she was a child when he had known her before, so this was definitely a welcome change. And Jo was still attracted to him, of course. Jo had known for some time that sex was on the table, but that perhaps they were waiting for the right time and the right moment, a long dance that had gone on now for several years. And that was fine – she would take it as it came, but she was no longer prone to ridiculous fantasies.

His kiss threw her, however. Her initial reaction was "Finally!" This sounded so much like a 21-year-old version of her, however, that she mentally chided herself before allowing herself to finally engage in something she'd wanted for a very, very long time. His lips were softer than she had expected, but his arms were hard. She responded eagerly, turning and fitting her form against his to give him easier access.

He kissed her furiously, as though he had been starving, and the intensity of the kiss surprised her. She kneaded her hands in his hair, feeling the surprisingly soft spikes, and he made a soft moaning noise into her mouth.

They separated for air, and he kissed a line to her ear, where he whispered huskily, "I've got my own room upstairs." His voice sent shivers down her spine.

"You do?" she asked, caught between surprise and the hazy dreamlike state that resulted from being kissed into oblivion.

"No," he whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "But I'll get one."

"Okay," she said. A second later, she found herself being led back into the hotel. She then came to the delayed realization that this actually was going to happen, which was almost terrifying. Then again, she had known that there was every possibility it might happen eventually, and it had been awhile since she'd been laid (almost a year or so, to be honest). (That's a healthy way to look at it.)

And, after all, it was Dean. (That's a less healthy way to look at it.)

It was obvious what they were doing, and Jo worried that the hotel clerk would give her a judgmental look. Instead, the hotel clerk (who had long black hair and a too-straight nose) gave Dean a once-over and looked at Jo with pure jealousy. Dean didn't give the hotel clerk a second glance, which Jo thought was perhaps uncharacteristic, but she didn't dwell on it.

The room was small and the sheets were white, but Jo didn't get the time to appreciate either of them. Dean gave her a signature crooked smile and then began raining soft kisses onto her face. We're doing this? We're doing this. We're doing this!

He was still kissing her softly and slowly, and she appreciated the gesture but not the pace. She pulled his shirt off, raking her nails up his back as she did so. His brows furrowed in surprise, but he changed tact, and her shirt followed his onto the floor. He backed her into the bed where she fell, taking him down with her, a look of hungry pride in his eyes.

She attempted to get her hands in between their jeans to pull his off, but he danced away, moaning as her hand brushed the bulge in his pants.

"I've waited for this for a long time," he said huskily, and Jo felt herself shiver.

Dean massaged her breasts, putting his mouth on both of them, and worked at her zipper until he could finally pull her pants away. She attempted again to undo the button on his pants, but managed to touch only the hard planes of his chest.

A few seconds later and his mouth was on her. She cried out in surprise and pleasure – she had never imagined that he would be the type of guy who was willing to perform oral sex on a girl. She was about to tell him not to bother, to take back control, but then the pleasure washed over her and she forgot to care.

She felt her orgasm coming quicker than she expected. Had it really been that long? She saw Dean's smiling face, and then felt herself falling over the edge, the explosion shaking her entire body.

He kissed her as her orgasm subsided, and she was suddenly exhausted. She wanted him more than ever, though, and was relieved when she felt that he had lined up with her entrance. When had he taken his pants off?

She made eye contact briefly, and for a flash of a second there was a look in his eyes that was raw and almost heartbreaking – joy, and nervousness, and cockiness all in one. Then he pushed inside her, and pleasure exploded once more down her spine.

He allowed her to get used to the feel of him, then began to thrust in earnest, a slow and steady pace. "Dean," she whispered, and he groaned in response, speeding up the pace.

She had imagined this so many times, far more than she would have been willing to admit. Each time she imagined it, she had imagined that she would show him her "moves" – she would be on top, or blowing him, and he would forget his own name.

Instead, she could tell that there was no need for this, that he was as enraptured as she was, and anyway, this way felt so damn good. She raked her nails lightly down his back, and he thrusted deeper, staring hard into her eyes. And then she fell once more over the edge, and he groaned and followed soon after, collapsing on top of her.

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

Jo would readily admit that it had been the best sex she'd had for some time. Maybe not the best sex ever, because Jo had had some pretty good sex along the way, especially in Greece, with a guy named Stelios. (Not that Dean needed to know that.)

She was still blown away by the orgasm when Dean said with a grin, "Well that was… unexpected. But… awesome."

"What was unexpected about it?" she asked, turning to him with a lazy smile.

A small annoyed look flashed across Dean's features, and Jo realized too late that Dean wasn't used to post-coitus discussion. The expression left his features almost as soon as it had appeared, though. Dean thought a moment, and it looked as though the wheels were turning very slowly as he recovered from orgasm. "The whole night," he said, finally. "The sex being the best part of it, of course."

"Mmmm," Jo agreed, settling into his chest and enjoying the moment.

It was a long time – at least five minutes – before either of them spoke again. "Thanks for coming to save us," he said finally. It was a voice she'd never heard him use before – not cocky, or self-assured, but not whiny either. She wondered perhaps if this was the real Dean talking, rather than the façade he put on to get through the day, but shrugged it off again as girlish fantasy.

"Of course," she said. "Of course we'd save you. You'd have done the same for all of us."

"It helps to know…" his voice wandered off, before he said finally, "that along the way, we've done something good. To have everyone we know waiting for us like that… it was almost perfect."

"Almost?" she said, raising her eyebrows and turning towards him.

He gave her a slightly shocked look and visibly backtracked, but seemed to realize he was stuck. "Well, would've been nice to have Cas, and Ember," he admitted.

She could tell from the way he said it that Castiel's and Ember's absences meant more to him than he had let on. He was still in love with Ember, then. She tried not to be too disappointed. She'd really thought that they had something…

We talked about this, her inner voice seemed to chide her.

"But you…" Dean looked at Jo, and she was surprised, again, at the sincerity that reflected from his eyes. "I've wanted this to happen for a very, very long time." And he kissed her, a slow, sweet kiss.

Was he always like this after sex? She'd known a few girls that he'd slept with after a hunt that said he never called them afterward, but had he acted like this with them? From the way they'd made it sound, it was more of a traditional "nail and bail" situation.

He was kissing across her neck, now, and he was so good at it… Who knew when she would have this again? Another round was definitely in the cards. She could "show him her moves" this time, for what it was worth. Then she'd definitely leave… preferably before morning, if she could manage it. She wanted to be out early. If she could leave before he did, it would save him the trouble of an awkward morning-after good-bye. Then maybe he'd get the message that she wouldn't try to tie him down, and perhaps they could do this again sometime.

***Dean POV***

November 10, Morning

Dean felt good, better than he had in a long time.

Jo… he reached for her in the bed next to him… but she was gone.

He heard rustling, and rolled over to find his partner from the previous night almost completely dressed. "Jo?" he asked in question, and she jumped.

"Sorry," she said. "I didn't want to wake you."

"Leaving?" he asked, trying not to sound to disappointed.

"Yeah," she said. "Gotta get to Georgia. You know how it is."

She was leaving so soon? A feeling of disappointment threatened to overwhelm him, but he kept his face impassive. "'m I gonna see you soon? 'Should do this again sometime."

Jo stopped putting on her boots, looking at him curiously. "I mean, I didn't think you wanted us to be, like, a thing, or anything." She wasn't derisive, or condescending… she was simply laying out her boundaries, and he understood this.

"No, no," he said, shaking his head as disappointment settled in his stomach. "We're both way too busy. 'Just figured, you know…" he shrugged. "We made a good team, last night." He gave her his signature cocky grin.

"We did," she said, giving him a sly grin of her own and coming over to the bed to kiss him. He knew that she had believed his façade. And, he attempted to convince himself, this was a good thing – it guaranteed him sex on a semi-regular basis without any major commitments.

After a few more good-bye kisses, she slunk out the door, and he rolled over and went back to sleep.

***Sam POV***

November 10, Evening

Everyone checked out of the hotel by noon. Jody, Claire, Patience, Kaia, Donna, and Alex all headed back by 11AM to tackle the monumental project of cleaning their home, which had been ransacked by the monsters that Dean had taken to calling "Blue Vaders". Eileen had gone to help them. Charlie left by 11:30 as well. Krissy had headed back to Conway Springs for school.

Dean showed back up in the hotel room at five minutes to noon. His face was impassive, and only Sam knew him well enough to know that he was making a supreme effort at this.

Sam threw his brother a beer. "So. Jo, yeah? Bout time."

Dean eyed his younger brother, and Sam felt suddenly self-conscious in his loose-layered clothes and messed-up hair. He had had a very good reunion with Eileen the previous night, as she had been worried sick about him while he had been in the Bad Place. "You're one to talk," said Dean, smirking.

Sam felt himself blush. "So? You guys a thing now?"

Dean shook his head. "Nah. I'm a leaf on the wind, man."

Sam smiled, rolling his eyes. It was the best mood his brother had been in in awhile. Perhaps it was the chance to take advantage of it. "Dean… speaking of girlfriends."

"Yeah?" Dean asked teasingly. "How's Eileen?"

"I think I'm gonna propose."

Dean had been leaning back in his chair, but now the feet of the chair hit the floor abruptly. "Yeah? When?"

Sam shrugged. "Christmas, maybe. Dunno yet."

"So… apple pie life?" Dean asked.

Sam could tell from Dean's face that his brother was trying to mask his growing upset, and Sam was quick to reassure him. "Nah, not for awhile. Maybe after we take care of Lucifer. But Dean… she's a hunter too, remember? We're never gonna have an apple pie life, not really."

"You'd move out of the bunker, though." It was a question, not a statement.

"D'ya know, we talked about it," said Sam. "But after the hellhound…" he sighed. "We were kinda thinking she might move in."

"Huh," Dean said. He seemed to be thinking about this at great length. Finally, he said, "Yeah, she's good for you, man."

That was all that needed to be said.