Title: Paranoia's Brought Me To My Knees/Oh Please, Please, Please Take Away My Anxiety

Author: BlazeorFade

Rating: T

Summary: Jack gets to Elkin's house first. Set during Dead Man's Blood

Disclaimer: Jack is mine, the rest are borrowed for my own nefarious purposes.

AN: Lines from the show found on

found on

"Hey there's salt over here. Right inside the door." A man's voice carried through the house to where Jack stood in the destroyed study Daniel Elkin had spent his last living moments. She listened for a reply and a sign that the intruders wasn't just a couple of kids wanting to check out a dead guy's house. Crime scenes attracted stupid people like sugar attracted flies.

'And that's why you're here right?' She rolled her eyes at herself

"Like protection-against-demon salt or, uh 'Oops I spilled the popcorn' salt?" Another man asked.

'Definitely not kids.' Jack thought. She looked back at the gun box lying empty on the ground. She reached out and snatched it up hiding it under her jacket. Jack heard footsteps walking carefully in her direction and ducked behind the door a split second before it opened.

John watched his sons enter his old friend's cabin and do a comb through of the place. He'd only been planning on watching from afar for the time being when he saw a shadow shift near invisibly in the study Dean and Sam were about to enter. He pulled out his gun and snuck up to the house ready to back up his boys if this was a trap. He was more than a little annoyed that neither seemed to know that they were being tailed both by him and their mystery guest. And was that rust on the Impala? Oh Dean was going to hear about this.

Dean walked through the door into the trashed study and felt something was off. Even more off than the situation already was but he couldn't put his finger on the feeling. He placed himself discreetly near Sam while his brother checked out the room. Sam seemed to tense up.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Don't know, feels like I'm being watched or something." Sam said rubbing at the goose bumps running along the back of his neck.

"Same here." Dean replied taking out his gun. He did a 360 scan of the room and his eyes fixed on the door open wide to create a perfect dark, little hiding place behind it.

Jack braced herself against the ready to spring when the man found her. Just as he was about to reveal her though she heard the near silent creak of a third set of footsteps. The hand on the door stopped and reluctantly let go to go check out the new sound. She exhaled the breath she'd been holding and waiting for the men to leave the room before slowly coming out of hiding. She had to get the hell out before the shit hit the fan. Jack really didn't feel like a fight.

Dean stalked out towards the entrance. He'd had it with this spook shit. Someone or something wanted to throw down he was primed and ready for a fight. He turned a corner and almost took an elbow to the face but dodged it just in time swinging his empty hand around in a fist.

"Dad?" Sam asked bewildered, that one word stopped Dean mid punch.

"So you do have some observational skills." John said sarcastically. He was not at all amused by nearly cold decking his eldest. He was disappointed

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked putting the safety back on his gun.

"I heard about Daniel in the paper and came to look around. I was watching you boys in there. You didn't seem to notice that someone got here before you and is still here." John said talking so low they could barely hear him.

"We noticed." Sam said defensively, his temper rising. John ignored him and leveled his disbelieving eyes on Dean.

'How you gonna play this?' Jack asked herself slinking into the hallway, keeping close to the wall while the three men bickered with each other. The old one was saying something to the shorter one and they all turned with the older one in the lead to go back in her direction. Jack thought fast ducking back into Daniel's study. After a second of looking for a hiding place Jack felt her temper snap up.

Why the hell should she hide? She practically lived here once, they were the trespassers here. So she pulled her Magnums out and pointed them at the door, waiting for the three hunters to come through the door.

John stilled as soon as he opened the study door and stared down the barrels of two large, lethal guns.

"Stay where you are or I shoot?" The girl holding the guns said tensely.

"Fuck." Dean cursed under his breath.

"Who the hell are you?" John demanded.

"I should be asking you that, hunter. Just turn around and leave, there's no job here for you." She snapped.

"You know who we are." Dean said in surprise.

"Yeah and I've got this bitch so you can be on your merry way." She replied.

"Daniel Elkin was a friend of mine, we're not going anywhere." John said, his gun trained on her.

"Wait you knew him?" Sam opened his big mouth to say. John wondered if there really was a such thing as justifiable homicide. The girl raised an eyebrow at John.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"What's yours?" John shot back.

"Buffy." She said sarcastically.

"You seem more like a Faith girl to me." Dean smirked.

"You watch Buffy?" Sam asked Dean.

"Hot girls who fight." Dean shrugged. Sam nodded in understanding.

"Boys, do you mind?" John said irritably.

"Daniel Elkin was a friend of mine and I'm handling this myself." Jack told them.

"Funny he never mentioned you." John said.

"I could say the same thing bout you." Jack retorted. They stayed facing each other, guns drawn, no one backing down.

"This isn't really getting us anywhere." Dean spoke up as the voice of reason.

"Who was Daniel Elkin?" Sam asked.

"A hunter." John said shortly.

"Thank you Captain Obvious." Jack said rolling her eyes. Sam bit his lip to hold back the surprised snort, turning it into a cough.

John chose to ignore that comment and scanned the room with his eyes, trying to find it. Damnit, he knew the sonuvabitch had it he just had to….

"Where is it?" John asked advancing carefully into the room.

"Where's what?" Jack asked feigning innocence.

"The Colt." John said taking another step towards her. Jack stood her ground now holding the guns just inches from t he man's chest. The g un, s he knew it was important, that gun of Daniel's. She'd seen him clean, touch in with such reverence, but he'd never told her about it and she never pried. Now all that was left was a gun box and a lot of questions.

"Not here." She said biting the inside of her mouth.

John narrowed his eyes on the girl in front of him. He honestly hoped that she had the gun cause if not it meant that the creatures that killed Elkin had it.

"Do they have it?" He asked.

"Yes." Jack confirmed his worst fear.

"Who's they?" Sam asked.

"You know wh-"

"Yeah, I know who what and even where." Jack said gritting her teeth. She was glad they were close. She and Luther had unfinished business as it was. "I'm handling this."

"Too damn bad." John shot back.

"Hey, you mind telling us what the hell is going on?" Sam demanded.

"Sam stay out of this." John growled.

"Dad, who w as this guy? What Colt are you talking about? What killed him?" Dean asked.

"We need to g et out of here and talk." John finally said after a long stretch of tense silence.

"You go do that." Jack nodded in agreement.

"You're coming too." John said. Without warning he reached out and snatched one of her guns, wrenching it from her hand. Jack fell back a step and was looking into the barrel of her own gun. She exhaled hard and pursed her lips, giving him a half nod.

"Okay, we'll talk." She said.

"You can start with your name and how you knew Elkin." John said.

"Personal Ad." Jack quipped. "Older vampire hunter seeks young, pretty jailbait."

Dean snickered.

"Vampires?" Sam asked in confusion.

-FIN