"Help me."
"Come on." John helped her inside and sat her on the bed. "What happened to you?"
But Janie was crying too hard to be coherent, so John tended to her wounds and helped her calm down first. Her nose wasn't broken, but someone (bastard sperm donor, John thought) had punched her hard enough it was swollen. There was a handprint on her cheek, and she was getting a black eye. She was still squirming on the bed like earlier at the diner, but it was much worse this time. She exhausted herself crying, and John finally went out and got her a large glass of ice water. She drank it greedily, and another disturbing thought came to John.
"Janie, have you had anything to eat or drink today?"
Janie shook her head and looked away.
John handed her what was left of the sandwich he'd gotten at the deli across the street. "You like turkey?"
"Yes." Janie said, looking down at the floor, as if she was ashamed.
"Eat that. All of it. After you eat, take these." John pulled two pain pills out of a bottle in his bag. "Don't take them before you eat or it'll make you sick. Okay?"
"Why are you helping me? You don't even know me." Janie asked as she took the sandwich from him.
"Because you're in pain. Janie, no one deserves this. No one. It isn't your fault, and I will keep you safe. Do you trust me?"
Janie didn't know why, but she did trust him. "I trust you."
"Okay. Eat. I'm going to the deli across the street to get you something to drink. What do you like?"
Janie feared making a request, after years of feeling lucky to even be fed enough. But this would be the final test as to whether John was really there to help her, or if he had any sort of hidden agenda. "Iced tea. Lots of ice."
"You got it." He said with a warm but sad smile. "I'm locking the door behind me, and I'm leaving this with you." John put his gun on the floor beside her. "I'll only be a few minutes, but if anyone other than me comes to that door, you don't open it. If they get in, you don't hesitate to shoot."
"I won't." Janie said.
"I'll be back."
When she finally had a full stomach, Janie explained, "He dragged me from the diner and back to the house."
"Your father?"
"Yeah. He dragged me down the basement. I thought he was going to whip me again."
"Again? Is that why you were squirming so bad at the diner?"
Janie nodded. "Yeah. But he didn't. He just told me he was gonna leave me down there until tomorrow."
"Lock you in the basement? Has he done that before?"
"A couple times. He'll leave me down there for a day or two to 'think' about things." Janie said.
"So what happened? Obviously he didn't leave you alone for long."
"He got a phone call. A couple days ago, the nurse at school made him take me to the ER. I'd passed out twice. They ran blood tests and everything, and…" Janie swallowed, and tears threatened to fall again.
"What is it, Janie?"
"I can't say it." Janie said.
"Janie, come on. I promise, whatever it is, I won't abandon you."
Janie looked up, and the pure shame in her face made John wish he could grab her up and hold her until she recognized that she deserved someone to love and care for her. But what she said would have knocked John off his feet if he'd been standing.
"I'm pregnant."
"Oh, Janie." John said. "Honey, it's okay."
"No, it isn't."
"Honey, all of us make mistakes. Believe me, I've made a ton of them…" When she looked away, a frightening puzzle piece clicked into place. "Janie…"
"He doesn't just hit me." Janie whispered.
John Winchester was not known for his self-control. But he thought that his friends and family would be proud of him at that moment. Janie needed calm, not rage. John hoped that her worthless father was still alive, so he could heap all of that rage onto the creature who truly deserved it.
"Janie, look at me." John said, firmly but not unkindly.
Janie looked up at him, wondering why he hadn't thrown her out yet.
"Janie, this is not on you. It's on your father and your father alone. But he won't be a problem after tonight."
"What does that mean?" Janie asked.
"I need you to trust me. Do you?" John asked. Janie nodded, and John said, "Okay. I'm gonna take some blood from you."
"Blood?" Janie asked.
"Blood. Everything will make sense later on. Just trust me."
John took as much blood from Janie as was safe. He was preparing to leave, and had decided to make sure Janie understood what he had to do before he left.
"Janie? How did you get away from your dad?"
"I, um, grabbed a piece of wood that was on the floor and hit him with it as hard as I could. He kept saying he should kill me, and I was afraid he really would." Janie said.
"Okay. You did good. Very good." John assured her. "Listen, I'm going to your house now. When I'm done there, I'm coming to get you and we're leaving. Is there anything you want me to get from your house?"
"Just a photo of my mom. I don't care which one." Janie said.
"Nothing else? No clothes, no books?"
"I don't care about anything else." Janie said. "Just that photo."
"You got it." John said. "Honey, you're exhausted. Lay down and get some sleep. I'll be back."
"John? Are you gonna send my mom away?"
"Yes. I know you don't want me to, but she can't stay around, sweetie."
"Please don't. She's all I've got left." Janie begged.
John sighed. "I swear to you, I will keep you safe. I know it's probably hard for you to trust anyone, but just trust me. I'll make it okay for you."
A tear fell down Janie's cheek. "That's what mommy said. That she'd make it okay."
John smiled and wiped the tear away before it fell all the way down. "Maybe that's why I'm here."
Finally, Janie smiled.
"Get some sleep, sweetheart."
It had been years since John put a child to bed. While Janie was hardly a child, she seemed to soak up attention that wasn't directed at hurting her. By the time John pulled the blanket over Janie and wished her good night and sweet dreams, Janie was fast asleep.
"I'll take care of you, honey."
As he locked the door behind himself, making sure again that Janie was safe and the room was locked up tightly, the answer came to him. Jack and Marissa Adams. He'd been working with Jack on a hunt ten years before, where Jack had hurt his back badly enough he'd decided to quit hunting. Marissa had been a nurse at the hospital when Jack hurt his back, and the rest was history. Jack became the owner of the local hardware store, and Marissa continued to work as a nurse. John remembered something that Jack had told him the last time they'd talked.
He and Marissa were looking to foster an older child. Marissa had grown up in foster care, and knew that it was hard for older kids to find homes. Making a mental note to call them after he finished what he was doing at Leon's, John stepped out of the truck and made his way into the house. The first sound John heard was a muffled cry from the other end of the house. It got clearer the closer John walked to it. When he realized that the basement door was shut, John felt a burst of pride towards Janie.
"Good girl."
With one hand, John drew his gun, and with the other, he opened the door. Leon came flying out, grabbing for the first thing he could see.
"You bitch, I'll kill you…"
Leon stopped when he heard the click of John's gun. John noted with not a small amount of satisfaction the way Leon's eyes bulged in fear when he realized that it wasn't Janie standing there, but someone closer to his own size.
"I only see one bitch here right now. Get your ass back down in that basement."