Summary: Jess's old life interrupts her new life but she couldn't just ignore a call for help from a friend. Dean's not enthused and she couldn't blame him. After all it's his reputation on the line.
The gas station was one of those multipurpose general stores. It had a mail box, a couple of pay by the minute computers with wi-fi, and a tiny section of essential clothes. Dean was outside filling up the Impala and Jess was inside trying to decide if she really needed to shave her legs or if she was willing to stretch it out to a whole month. It's not like she had anyone to impress anyway.
"Fuck it." She grabbed a package of razors and a can of shaving cream. Legs or no, there was no way she was going another day with armpit hair.
Snagging Dean's candy and beef jerky she was on her way to the cash register when a display of postcards caught her eye.
In Blackwater Ridge, on a spur of the moment fancy, Jess had snatched up a postcard with a massive bear on the front. In Lake Manitoch she bought a card with a picture of the now defunct dam. While Dean was haggling with the rental car guy, she palmed a postcard from Indianapolis. And on the drive in, before people's eyes started liquefying, Jess added a "Greetings from Toledo" card in with their six pack of beer.
Maybe it was silly of her, but postcards were a thing in her family and it was reflex to just pick one up everywhere. And standing there with M&Ms under one arm and a packet of disposable razors in the other Jess felt like those postcards were burning a hole in her pocket.
"Hey, Jess. We ready to go or what?"
Snapping her eyes away from the display she saw Dean poking his head in the door expectantly.
"Uh, yeah." She dumped her purchases on the counter. "Can you pay for this stuff? There's something I want to do."
He looked at her curiously. "What's up?"
"I uh…" she started embarrassed. "I want to send off some postcards."
She couldn't tell what exactly Dean was thinking. His expression was unreadable for a long moment then he looked away nodding at the cashier.
"Can we get some stamps to go with this stuff?"
The old man, the owner, pulled down a packet of Liberty Bell forever stamps, rang it up and handed it to Jess with a smile.
"Thank you." Jess gave the cashier a distracted smile. Then turned to Dean and grinned at him. "There anything you want me to tell my parents?"
He snorted. "That's all you, darlin'. I'll be in the car when you're done."
The computers caught the corner of her eyes and she bit her lip hopefully. "Do I have time to check my email while I'm at it?"
He gave a beleaguered sigh and shook his head. "Whatever."
"Thanks!" Jess chirped and darted around the counter to the row of computers snagging a pen from the cup next to the register as she went.
Sitting down with the cards spread out in front of her, it was hard trying to think of what to write.
"Dear Mom and Dad, I killed my first wendigo. It smelled like roadkill." Yeah, no.
Chewing on her lip in thought, Jess tried to decide if she should water down their adventures or lie and write about something completely innocuous. Shrugging she uncapped the pen and started writing.
"Dear Mom and Dad, Went camping. Saw a really big bear. D almost set the forest on fire. Hope you're doing well. Love Jess." She scrawled out her parent's address, slapped a stamp on it and flipped to the next one.
"Dear Mom and Dad, Lake was cold. Am never going fishing again. D made friends with a young artist. Love, Jess."
"Dear Mom and Dad, Caught spur of the moment flight. Lots of turbulence. D's afraid of flying and got drunk. Love, Jess."
"Dear Mom and Dad, Learned lots of local history. Went antiquing, accidentally broke some mirrors. Totally D's fault. Love, Jess."
She double checked all the stamps and addresses then stood and dropped them in the outgoing mailbox. Popping a couple quarters in the money slot for the wi-fi, Jess popped open their laptop and spent a laborious couple minutes waiting for her email to finally load. The internet was so freaking slow it was like torture.
It was almost a surprise how many emails she actually had. A lot of them were spam, but some were from friends back at Stanford checking in, asking how she was doing. A couple from professors bugging her about completing her classes or about coming back the following semester. She didn't do more than skim most of them.
It took her about two minutes to type out a mass reply following the general theme of needing some time to find herself and taking sabbatical of indeterminate length. She was about just hit "send" when one subject line caught her attention.
Her computer chimed a "times almost up" warning and Jess hurriedly clicked on the email, read it then typed out a short reply. She hit send on it then hit send on the rest and packed away the laptop darting out the door.
Dean had pulled the Impala around to the tiny parking lot next to the general store and Jess jogged over. She yanked the door open and threw herself inside.
Lynyrd Skynyrd was blasting through the radio and Dean was sprawled out in the driver's seat, sunglasses on, head tipped back tossing M&Ms into his mouth. Lifting his head he raised an eyebrow at her when she slammed the door hard enough to rock the car.
Jess cut him off before he could complain about any mistreatment of Baby.
"We're going to St. Louis."
"What? Why?"
"Rebecca, a friend of ours from Stanford, says her brother Zack's been arrested for murder."
"Uh." Dean tipped his glasses down and peered at her over the tops. "Okay. And we're going to St. Louis why?"
"Because they're our- my friends," Jess insisted. "Becky says Zack was with her the entire time, but the cops are convinced it's him."
He straightened in his seat and tapped the steering wheel impatiently. "Still not seeing why we need to get involved."
"They are my friends," Jess scowled, "and they might need our help."
"How's that, you figure?" He looked at her skeptically.
"That's what we do, isn't it? Help people."
"Yeah. From monsters, not other people," Dean protested but Jess just stared him down. "Fine." He threw his hands up in defeat then threw the car into drive. "St. Louis, it is."
He peeled out of the parking lot too fast and sprayed gravel under the tires. Jess gripped the door handle in surprise, but wisely to let it slide. No use in annoying Dean any more than she already had. Otherwise he'd be unbearable the entire drive there.
Rebecca Warren's house was rich. Like mansion rich. Jess could tell Dean felt uncomfortable just stepping into the front foyer. Of course the fact that they even had something called a foyer probably said something about Warrens' lifestyle.
"I'm so sorry, Jess." Rebecca pulled her into a hug. "I didn't get a chance to talk to you at the funeral."
"It's alright. I understand everyone was taking it hard." Truthfully, Jess couldn't even remember people's faces from the funeral much less which ones talked to her.
Jess hugged her back but felt awkward and stiff. It's been months since she's had any physical contact with anyone that wasn't Dean. He was all broad, muscular build and gave off the impression of invulnerability. Rebecca was small pressed against her, fine boned and soft. Jess felt like if she squeezed too hard she'd snap Rebecca in half.
Jess was surprised how quickly she'd gotten used to the literal physical isolation that came as a part of her new life.
Rebecca pulled back her eyes full of sympathy. "You left town so quickly afterward none of us got a chance to say goodbye."
Jess shrugged apologetically. "I needed some space to figure myself out. Dean was leaving to go back to work and I decided to go with him."
Rebecca's gaze slid to Dean standing silently behind Jess. Her expression of friendly concern morphed into suspicion. "You're Sam's brother, right?"
"Yeah." Dean nodded vaguely. "That's me."
Looking back at Jess, uncertain, Rebecca asked, "What –um- what have you guys been doing since then? Since you left."
Jess pasted the most reassuring unconcerned smile on her face as she could. "We've just been road tripping; working through stuff, seeing the sights, taking some time to hit up the state parks. Did you know there's a sequoia with a hole in it big enough to drive a car through?"
It hadn't occurred to them, at the time, how their sudden and unexpected closeness would look to the rest of the world. But after Jess's mom had cornered her with worried questions, they weren't surprised that Rebecca was making the same assumptions. Once they'd noticed, they weren't oblivious to how a young attractive unrelated man and woman traveling together looked.
The tree non-sequitur worked its magic and derailed Rebecca's suspicious train of thought.
She laughed, and grinned at her friend. "God, Jess. I didn't realize you'd be so into nature."
Jess just smiled and shrugged. "Your email said Zack was in trouble."
Rebecca's expression clouded and she nodded solemnly. "Yeah, why don't you guys follow me?"
They walked through Rebecca's fancy house and into the kitchen where Jess and Dean accepted her offer of a beer. Dean was always up for one and Jess needed the distraction. She didn't realize how uncomfortable she'd be reconnecting with any part of her old life.
Rebecca set a beer in front of each of them and watched taken aback as Dean grabbed Jess's before she could touch it. He used his ring to pop the cap off and set the bottle it back in front of her before he did the same to his.
Jess was oblivious to her friend's surprise. The routine had long since become so familiar it didn't faze her a bit. She grabbed the beer without a word and took a long swallow.
"Tell me what's happening, Rebecca." Jess tapped the bottom of her beer bottle on the granite counter. "You're email didn't say much. Zack was arrested for murder?"
Rebecca sighed, her face falling. "When he went home, he found Emily. She was tied to a chair, beaten and covered in blood, and she wasn't breathing. He called 911, but when the cops got there they arrested him." Her voice hitched. "They said they have him on video going back to his apartment around ten thirty, her time of death, but he was with me having some beers until after midnight. He can't be in two places at once."
Jess's expression hardened with determination. "We might be able to help Zack," she said, completely ignoring the huff of surprise from next to her.
Dean tapped his boot against Jess's to get her attention. He tried to give her a pointed look, but she just kicked back at him.
"What can you do?" Rebecca asked.
"Dean is a private investigator," Jess patted Dean on the arm and smiled in the face of his incredulous look. "If he can take a look at the case he might be able to find something."
"Really?"
Dean scowled in the face of Rebecca's hopefulness and Jess's smug grin, but he quickly schooled his expression and nodded. "Sure. No problem, it's what I do."
The moment Rebecca was out of the room looking for the keys to Zack's apartment, Dean turned and glared at Jess.
"Really?!"
"Yes." She was unperturbed. "They need our help."
"It's not even our kind of deal."
"A person in two places at once?" She raised an eyebrow pointedly. "We just got off a case we found from an obit about a stroke victim. We've looked into less."
"Yeah, alright, point taken." Dean sighed in resignation. "We'll look into it, but if it's not our thing, we're leaving." He pointed his finger at her warningly.
"Of course." She smirked triumphantly around a sip of her beer.
Zack's apartment was chaos and blood. Magazines, throw pillows, and lamps were scattered all over. Everything was sprayed in a liberal smattering of dried blood. It was a gruesome sight, but not quite as bad as an eyeball-less dead body.
The thing that sent the hairs on the back of Jess's neck up, though, was the story the scene told. Emily died violent and painful and Jess was determined to find out what really happened. There was no way that Zack killed his girlfriend, that he did this. He wasn't that kind of guy.
Rebecca was hovering by the door and Jess came to stand next to her in support. Dean was already well into the apartment examining the scene.
"Tell us what the cops said." He used a finger to lift up a magazine from the coffee table. It peeled away sticky.
"They said there was no sign of a break in." Rebecca wrapped her arms around herself. "She let in her attacker. The lawyers think Zack might have to take a plea bargain," she said looking lost.
Jess rubbed a hand comfortingly up and down her arm. "Zack'll be okay, we'll figure it out."
They were quiet for a few more long moments just the next door neighbor's dog continuous barking to break the silence. Dean finished poking around and turned to the door ushering them out. He paused at the top of the steps and eyed the dog.
"How long's he been freaking out like that?"
Jess glanced at him curiously. Not sure where he was going with this.
Rebecca frowned in thought. "I guess since around the time Emily was killed."
"Hm." Dean turned back to look at her. "Any chance we can see those video tapes you mentioned."
"Sure." She ducked her head embarrassed. "I kinda stole them off the lawyer's desk."
He grinned. "Perfect."
They started to walk back down to the car, but Jess was stuck watching the dog. It hadn't stopped barking since they pulled up. She wasn't sure how it tied into Zack's case, but Dean never asked about anything that wasn't relevant to the hunt.
He asked about the dog for a reason and Jess trusted his judgment. She filed it away to examine later.
The video of Zack coming home to kill his girl was pretty damning. That is, until you noticed his eyes glowing every time he faced the camera.
"Ten to one that's not just a camera flare."
Jess glanced at Dean. "What can do that? What has eyes that glow on film?"
He shrugged. "Whatever it is, it ain't Zack that's for sure." He grabbed the remote from her and rewound the video to watch in slow motion again. "Remember that dog that was freaking out. Animals are more sensitive to the supernatural than we are. It probably saw this thing. It could be a doppelganger, a kind of dark double."
"Well, that's different." Jess took a drink from her second beer of the evening. "How do we kill it?"
"We have to actually figure out what the thing is first." He glanced at her with an amused quirk of his mouth.
"A monster that can take on the form of a person, has eyes that glow on film, and likes to murder people." Jess jumped up from the sofa and headed for the door. "I'll go get the books from the trunk."
Dean watched her go and called after her, "Ask Rebecca to order us some pizza while you're at it."
Jess and Dean were standing outside the yellow line of caution tape watching an Asian man with a hell of a bump on his head being loaded into a cop car.
"He tried to kill his wife. Tied her up and beat her."
Jess glanced fleetingly at the jogger standing next to her then shared a speaking look with Dean.
"You check around back," he murmured under his breath. "I'll go talk to the cops."
There wasn't much to see at the back of the house. The trash cans didn't yield anything interesting and it wasn't like there was a neon sign with an arrow flashing "monster went that'a way". There was however, an almost unnoticeable smear of blood on the hand railing down the steps from the backdoor.
"So get this." Dean jogged up grabbing Jess's attention from trying to find any other evidence of a getaway.
"Just talked to one of the cops, he was first on the scene. Apparently the husband got home from a business trip early. Got into the house, saw his wife tied up and beaten and a dude that looked just like him wearing his clothes."
Jess felt an uneasy twist in her stomach. "Our kinda case, huh?"
"Definitely our kind of case." Dean nodded seeming suddenly happier with the entire situation. Jess would have been perturbed by that if she wasn't already trying to figure out what they should do next.
"Look over here. I found some blood on the railing." She pointed out the smear. "I think he came out the backdoor."
Dean examined the blood and immediately found another streak a couple yards away. "The trail ends and as far as I know none of witnesses said they saw the husband running out the back."
"Where'd it go then?" She glanced around trying to dig up some kind of clue from her mind.
"My guess is down."
Jess looked where Dean was pointing and immediately didn't like where this was going at all.
Dean had the weapons locker open and was trading out the lead bullets in the clips of their guns for silver.
Jess took the clip from him when he was done sliding the last bullet in and snapped the clip into Sam's gun.
"What has eyes that flash on camera, can make itself look like anyone, and tends to live down in the sewers?" She waited for Dean to close up the trunk and reluctantly followed him to the closest manhole cover.
"Dollars to a dime I'm betting it's a shapeshifter."
Wracking her brain, Jess came up with nothing. "I got nothing. What's a shapeshifter?"
"Creatures that can make themselves look like pretty much anything; animals, people. Like skinwalkers can change into dogs and werewolves have the characteristics of wolves. Shapeshifters tend to look like people."
"Right." Jess helped Dean shift the manhole cover and followed him down ladder into the sewer with a grimace. "That's why the silver, right?"
"Yep." Dean jumped the last few steps and offered her a hand. She slapped her hand in his and jumped landing her boots on the concrete with a thud. "We just gotta find its lair and hopefully we'll find it."
"And shoot it with silver. Double tap to the heart."
He flashed her a grin. "Got it in one, sweetheart."
The sewers predictably, smelled like crap. Rancid, putrefying crap.
"I'm never gonna get this smell out of my hair."
Dean snorted but didn't comment. "Keep a look out for clues."
"Clues like the pile of goo you're about to step in," she responded innocently.
Dean looked down a split second before his boot heel laded in a gelatinous puddle and cursed. He hopped on the other foot and bounced into the wall when he lost his balance. Jess failed to hide her laughter.
Scowling, Dean straightened up off the wall. "Laugh it up."
"It was pretty funny." She shrugged unapologetic.
Grumbling, Dean crouched down and poked at the goo with a pocket knife.
Jess crouched next to him and pinched her lips together trying to hide her disgust. "Do shapeshifters shed their skin?"
"That's what I'm guessing, since that looks a hell of a lot like an ear."
"Oh that is so gross."
They stood up and Dean pointed his flash light further down the tunnel. It landed on another pile of shifter skin. "Looks like we're going that way."
They only made it about ten yards before Dean threw a glance over his shoulder and tensed. "Jess!"
She tried to spin around, but that thing, still looking like the Asian man, punched her in the chest. Her back and head hit the sewer wall knocking the air out of her. There was an ear piercing bang as Dean shot at it making Jess's head swim.
"Fuck!" Dean cursed when he missed and made like he was going to run after it, but paused.
"Jess, you okay?"
She stumbled away from the wall blinking away the spots in her vision. She was genuinely surprised she'd kept a hold of her gun. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good. Go!"
"Are you sure?" He asked, but he was already stepping away.
"Yeah. I'm right behind you, just go!"
He took off running. Jess steadied herself with a hand on the slick concrete wall for a split second before she pushed herself off and gave chase after him.
She couldn't see Dean anymore, but she could hear his pounding footfalls and followed that. There was a sharp bend in the sewer and the pale light from an open manhole cover guided her up the ladder and into a public park.
Night had fallen while they were in the sewer and she could just barely see Dean's back as he chased the shapeshifter into the trees. Dodging around a shocked woman walking a dog and an old couple out for a stroll, Jess tried to follow them but as soon as she broke into the tree line she lost any and all sign of them.
They were in the middle of the city so it wasn't like she could just keep running around with her gun out in plain sight and the copse of trees wasn't large enough to get lost in much less provide adequate cover. She shoved her gun in her side holster and jogged out onto the street trying to decide which way they could have gone.
It was like they'd just disappeared and Jess cursed under her breath.
"Fine backup I am," she muttered derisively as she started a quick pace down the street back toward the Impala. "Can't even watch my own back, much less Dean's."
One of the first days on the road, Dean had drilled into her the rules for if they got separated.
Go to the first motel in the phone book and look for the name Jim Rockford.
Or go back to the Impala. Always back to the Impala.
Jess cursed under her breath some more and took a right turn back onto the street of the second arrest that morning. To the back alley where they'd parked the Impala.
Despite her frustration with herself, the sight of the shining black muscle car in the shadow of a streetlamp was a weight of relief and comfort. It hadn't taken her long on the road to figure out that the motels were a place to sleep but Dean's car was home.
She let out a tense breath and patted the Impala's the trunk lightly. "Hey, Baby. Looks like we gotta wait for Dean."
It took longer than Jess was comfortable with. She'd started getting antsy, the itch that something was wrong started up under her skin and she was a second away from hopping back down the nearest manhole cover, when Dean turned the corner and saunter over to her.
She sighed in relief. "There you are! Did you get the shapeshifter?"
"No, I lost him." He shrugged unconcerned.
"Did it go back into the sewers?"
"Probably. Hey, it looked like he hit you pretty hard. Are you hurt?" Dean asked taking a step closer as his eyes slid slow and appraising down her body.
It could almost be mistaken for his habitual visual check for injury; almost. Something in his eyes was wrong. Dean had looked her up and down a hundred times and not once had she felt naked, her skin crawling under his gaze.
In a blink she had five feet between them, her gun out and pointed right at the shifter's heart.
"Where's Dean?" she snapped.
The thing that wasn't Dean raised its hands nonthreatening and put on a shocked expression. "Whoa. What are you doing, Jess?"
"You are not Dean." She was one hundred percent sure of that. It looked like Dean, moved like Dean, talked like Dean, but it sure as shit was not Dean.
Dean had never made her feel like a piece of meat before.
"Come on, Jessie." It smiled harmlessly. "You know me. I'm not the shapeshifter."
"Bullshit." Her face hardened and her finger tightened on the trigger. "Now tell me what you did with Dean!"
Suddenly its stance loosened and the innocent look melted off its face. It sneered at her. "You know, for a hot chick, you sure are a bitch."
She squeezed the trigger, but the shifter darted forward. It was freakishly fast, knocking her hand to the side so her shot went wide missing him by a foot. She didn't even have time to flinch. It backhanded her, she hit her head on the edge of the Impala's roof, and everything went black.
Coming to with the smell of the sewers in her nose was almost worse than the throbbing pain her head. The entire right side of her skull felt like one big goose egg.
"And sleeping beauty awakens. And I must say, you sure are a beauty."
Jerking her head toward the voice, Jess's heart sped up.
The shapeshifter still looked like Dean. Even more so, now that it had time to perfect the image. It had Dean's frayed jeans, scuffed boots, and soft flannel shirt. It had Dean's amulet hanging around its neck. Jess wasn't sure how she could get much angrier, but she did.
"What did you do with Dean?"
It scoffed. "Dean, Dean, Dean. Is he all you think about? 'Cause I gotta tell ya'," it smirked, "you're almost all he thinks about."
If Jess's glare could kill, the shifter would be gone the way of the wendigo she'd roasted.
It was unaffected.
"Don't be like that, baby." It sauntered toward her and pouted. "You wanna know what he thinks of you? I mean, what he really thinks deep down?"
Not really. She stayed silent but her glare ratcheted up a notch.
It planted its hands on either side of her head and leaned close breathing against her ear. She couldn't stop from jerking away.
"He thinks you are smoking hot," it whispered. "And that it should have been you that died instead of Sam."
She couldn't stop her flinch either.
"Oh." It pulled back and looked at her in a mockery of shock. "You didn't know? Yeah, good old Deano here has some mixed feelings about you."
It grinned and if she wasn't trussed up like a Christmas turkey she would have done her damnedest to claw the look off its face with her fingernails.
"Let's see what else we can dig up, shall we?"
It put its hands to its head and closed its eyes, squeezing them tight like it was struggling. It was still well into Jess's space, leaning over her predatorily, but she couldn't help her sudden curiosity. Somehow it was inside Dean's head. It didn't just look like Dean, it was downloading his memories too.
"Ooh!" It opened its eyes and smirked like cat that got the cream. "You know, it turns him on when you hang up your lacey panties in the bathroom. And it enrages him that his brother had to die to save you."
It was saying these things to hurt her, she knew that, to get in head, under her skin. But that didn't make it hurt any less. It wasn't like it was knew information either. That Dean resented her for living when Sam had died. It just… she'd been hoping she'd never have to hear it out loud.
Swallowing that hurt down, Jess hardened herself to its words as it kept talking.
"I mean, why did my baby brother burn up on the ceiling? Why did I get saddled with this useless chick that acts like she's the only one that lost something? I was the one that raised him his entire life. Dad left us alone and I had to take care of him." It growled, getting more and more worked up.
Jess grew more horrified as she realized what was happening. It was trying to actually become Dean.
"He wasn't even grateful for all I had to give up for him. He got to go to college, have friends, find a girl, but me?" It pointed at its chest indignantly. "No, I had to stay behind. I got saddled with the whiny little brother and now I'm saddled with you. A worthless piece of shit that can't even take care of herself."
Like the flip of a switch it was calm again almost detached as it looked her up and down again. "You know, when he saw you standing there in that tight little Smurfs t-shirt and those tiny little panties, he totally would have banged you."
Without another word it turned around and hefted a heavy duffle bag over its shoulder. The bag clanked like it was filled with solid iron chains. It started walking away completely ignoring Jess.
"Where are you going?" she called trying to think of anything that would keep it there and not out and about doing God knows what wearing Dean's face.
"I'm going to pay little Rebecca a visit." It glanced over its shoulder and grinned evilly. "But don't worry, baby. I'll be seeing you again. After all, gotta save the best for last."
A shiver of fear raced up Jess's spine and she watched as it disappeared down the tunnel, its footsteps fading away a moment later.
"Great." Jess's voice hitched and she dropped her head back against the iron support she was tied to.
Rebecca was in trouble, Dean was God only knew where, and Jess was tied up tight enough to star getting rope burn. She wasted about two minutes on despair and panic before she shoved it all down and tried to figure out what to do next. The past weeks on the road, if Jess had learned anything, it was that Dean knew what to do in almost any situation. So she had to ask herself…
What would Dean do?
"Get the hell out of these ropes, that's what Dean would do."
The shifter had taken her knife, and the ropes were too tight to just shimmy out of, so Jess was going to have to improvise. Feeling around the steel girder she was lashed to she ran her fingers over the rough edges, scraping her skin. She wiggled her tied wrists up and down against it testing and nodded to herself. Good enough.
It was slow work and she'd been sawing at the ropes around her wrists for ten minutes before a muffled groan from somewhere behind her interrupted the quiet.
"Fuck, my head."
Jess's heart sped up and she couldn't help the smile spreading on her face.
"Dean?" she called hopefully, craning her neck trying to look behind her.
"Jess?"
"Oh, thank God." She collapsed in relief. Suddenly things didn't seem quite so dire.
There was the sound of shuffling like something heavy and cloth hitting the floor. "Jess, are you alright? Did it hurt you?"
She blinked away the sting in her eyes at the sound of genuine concern in his voice. "I'm okay. It just slammed my head into the Impala, tied me up, and then monologued evilly for ten minutes."
He let out a strained chuckle. "Don't you just love a good evil monologue?"
"Eh, I gave it a six out of ten."
Dean's laughter echoed in the tunnel and Jess grinned. God, it was good to know he was there, that she wasn't alone.
"My ropes are pretty tight. How are you at getting loose?"
She wiggled her wrists feeling more give in the binds. "I think I've almost got my hands free."
"Good, good. Keep working on it."
Rubbing her wrists up and down on the girder, Jess bit her lip in concentration. "Dean, it turned into you and went back to Rebecca's."
"Shit."
"Yeah. We gotta stop it."
"Well, we gotta get out of here first," he replied wryly. "Let's work on that."
It didn't take very long, and finally Jess was freeing Dean from his ropes. The first thing he did after standing up was cradle her head gently in both hands feeling through her hair for tender places. Satisfied her skull wasn't cracked, he ran his hands down her neck and over her arms checking for any other injuries.
"Are you sure you're alright?" He looked her in the eyes intently.
Her throat felt tight and she nodded, rasping, "Yeah, yeah, I'm good."
He let her go and stepped away. "Come on, we got a face stealing freak to gank."
By the time they made it out of the sewers Dean's face was plastered on almost every news channel in the city. Or a pretty accurate sketch of Dean's face anyway.
"Come on! That's not even a good picture."
Jess elbowed Dean in the side as she eyed the other passersby on the sidewalk.
"It looks pretty freaking accurate to me, Dean." She spotted a thrift store two shops down and started tugging him in that direct.
"Come on." She shoved him into the alley they'd just come out of. "Stay there. I'll be right back."
"Wait, where are you going?"
"To get you a disguise," she tossed over her shoulder as she jogged into the store.
Five minutes later, Dean was wearing a sweat stained baseball cap and a pair of hipster glasses with the lenses popped out.
"Man, I look like a tool." He poked at his glasses sullenly.
Jess tugged him down the sidewalk faster. "Well, a hat and glasses can only disguise so much."
"Ha, ha. You're freakin' hilarious."
She tossed him a distracted grin. "I think so."
They were a block from the last crime scene when they turned a corner out of an alley and spotted the Impala parked in a shadow.
"Baby!" Dean started to speed up, but he didn't get ten feet before a cop car blocked the street behind the Impala. "Shit."
Jess's heart started to pound and they both turned to try and jet the other way, but a screeching of tires and another cop car jerked to a stop blocking the way again.
"Crap!" Dean looked like he was about to try and make a run for Baby anyway and Jess felt a well of panic making her hands shake.
"Dean." She snagged his arm and jerked him back before he could try it. "Dean, you have to go."
"What?" He looked at her incredulously. "No, I'm not leaving you here."
"It's okay." She darted her eyes between the cop cars and her heart sped up as the doors opened. "They can't do anything to me. Just get out of here and find the shapeshifter."
Dean bit his lip, conflicted, then a cop started yelling at them.
"Freeze! Police! Put your hands up!"
Jess gave him a shove toward the wooden privacy fence. "I'm serious, Dean! Go before they arrest you for attempted murder."
"Fuck!" He sent one last baleful look at the cops closing in on them then took a running jump up onto the fence and threw a leg over to the other side. He paused and scowled back down at her. "Jess, if you-"
"Jesus Christ! Just go! I'll meet you at Rebecca's tomorrow. Just-"
"Yeah, yeah." Dean huffed unhappily, but dropped down the other side of the fence and disappeared.
Jess felt some of her panic drain away, but her tension didn't. She'd never been arrested before. And no, she didn't count that time she got caught tee-peeing the assistant principal's house. The cop had just given her a stern talking-to and drove her home.
"Put your hands on your head!"
"Okay. Okay." Her hands were shaking as she put them on her head and tried to look as non-threatening as possible. "I'm unarmed!" she shouted hoping they'd stop yelling at her. It wasn't doing anything good for the ball of nauseous tension in her gut.
One of the cops finally made it to her and yanked her arms behind her back and cuffed them none too gentry. She was roughly dragged toward a cruiser and shoved her into the back. At least they made sure to keep her head from smacking on the car. She didn't know how many more head injuries she could take before she got permanent brain damage.
When they got to the police station an EMT checked her over cataloguing the massive bruise on her cheek where the shifter backhanded her, the giant goose egg from her head impacting with the Impala, and the rope burns on her wrists. The EMT kept asking really leading questions about any other injuries she might have, and Jess had to bite her tongue to keep from bursting out indignantly at the implied besmirching of Dean's honor.
She knew the drill though. It was impossible to live with Sam and not soak up some kind of knowledge of how the legal system worked. They couldn't hold her if she didn't talk. They didn't have any evidence that she was implicit in any of Dean's supposed crimes and her injuries seemed to be working in her favor.
Though not in Dean's.
"We can protect you," the lady cop said sitting across from her in the interrogation -excuse me- interview room. "We know Dean Winchester is a dangerous man. If he's threatening you, forcing you, just answer our questions so we can put him away."
She stayed stonily silent. Not one word would escape her lips, because no matter what she said they wouldn't believe her and the chances of implicating herself or Dean was too great.
"Did he give you that bruise?" The cop's eyes were all sympathy and concern.
Jess kept her eyes resolutely on the two way mirror behind her shoulder. Images of the shifter wearing Dean's face flashed through her mind, but she kept her expression as blank as possible.
"You have to work with us, Jessica. Dean was found beating and torturing your friend. Tell us what you know and we'll make sure he can never hurt another woman again."
Dean wouldn't hurt a woman. Unless the woman hurt him first, that is. The memory of Dean practically dropkicking Bloody Mary into a wall of mirrors almost made her smile.
"Your boyfriend, Sam, he was Dean's brother, right?" the cop asked peering into her eyes watching for any twitch or flinch. She almost got one. "What did Dean say to convince you to leave Palo Alto with him? Or did he force you to leave? Threaten you, threaten your family?"
They'd done their homework. Suddenly Jess wondered if they'd already tried to contact her parents. If her mom had told them everything Jess had told her about Dean. Still, she didn't break. She called to mind every single one of Dean's lessons in hustling, in controlling your reactions, in running a con. She called to mind what her dad had taught her about hiding her tells in poker.
The only reaction the cop got with her words was steady breathing and an unwavering stare at the mirror behind her.
"I am trying to help you here, Jessica."
No, Jess thought, you really aren't.
They kept her until just after one in the afternoon the next day. She hadn't said a single word except to ask for the bathroom. They didn't have any evidence she was involved in any alleged crimes and she hadn't given them any plausible reason to keep her.
She could tell the lady cop was pissed as she watched Jess walk out of the police station free and clear.
Jess didn't know where Dean was, who the shifter looked like now or how they were going to find it, but she knew Dean was supposed to meet her at Rebecca's at some point today. Plus she actually really wanted to check on her friend.
Looking down at her stained t-shirt and patting at her stiff somewhat crunchy hair, she knew she couldn't really show up at Rebecca's door like that.
Since their bags were in the Impala and the shifter presumably had the Impala she would have to improvise. A trip into a clothes store to get a clean t-shirt with what little money she had in her pockets and a really haphazard scrub down in a public restroom later, Jess was making her way back to Rebecca's upper class neighborhood.
She knocked on the door and prayed Rebecca would let her in.
Unfortunately, she was in luck.
"Did you know that Dean actually tried to convince me some kind of creature framed my brother for murder?"
Wow, so the shifter really was all kinds of messed up. Not only did it frame Dean for attempted murder but it made him sound like a complete nut job too. That's just great.
"I know it sounds completely crazy, but you have to believe me, Rebecca," Jess implored as she stood across the kitchen island from her friend. "The shapeshifter is real. It framed Zack and it framed Dean. Dean would never have hurt you."
Rebecca's regarded her dubiously and pushed away from the island to walk around it to the fridge next to Jess.
"Yeah? And how do you kill one of these -uh- shapeshifters?"
Jess glanced behind her at Rebecca and took the offered beer with a wan smile. "Silver bullet to the heart."
"Now, I know you're both crazy."
A chill went up Jess's spine. She knew that tone of voice.
She tried to spin around, but a glass bottle broke over her head and for the second time in twenty-four hours Jess woke up tied down. This time to a kitchen chair in Rebecca's living room.
Groaning, Jess tried to roll her head into an upright position, but the pounding got worse. It felt like her brain was trying to beat its way out of her skull.
"You know, I thought it would be Deano that showed up, but when I saw you, mh! I couldn't have asked for a better surprise."
Her breath hitched and she forced her eyes open to see the shifter standing in front of her with a smirk on its face and a tumbler of whiskey in its hand.
It looked like Dean again and with her vaguely double vision Jess could just make out a pile of shifter goo on the floor behind it. She definitely had a concussion and that boded all kinds of ill.
The shifter set the whiskey down and loomed over her. "You're beautiful, you know that?" It leaned closer and sniffed her. "And you smell so good."
"Get the hell away from me."
It smirked again, amused, and moved away stroking its fingers over a kitchen knife it had stabbed into the end table next to her.
"I'm going to have fun cutting you up. Or Dean will," it corrected. It sounded like it was talking about the weather.
"You," she growled, "are not Dean."
"But I'll be wearing Dean's face. And knowing that the last thing you see will be him is just the icing on the cake."
Yanking the knife from the table the shifter leaned in close its eyes glinting evilly.
"Where should I start first?" It asked, tapping the tip of the knife against the top of her breast. "Here?" It moved the knife to her thigh and pressed down through her jeans to cut into her flesh. "Or here? They're both my favorite."
She was so done with this. She slammed her forehead into the shifter's face and its nose cracked with the impact. Her vision swam and head ached, but it was so worth it.
"Fuck!" It jolted away from her and pressed a hand to its nose. It came away bloody. "You bitch."
"Touch me again, I dare you." She grinned, all teeth.
Its expression was thunderous and it punched her full on in the face. Her head snapped back and Jess was pretty sure at this point that by the time Dean finally showed up, she wouldn't have much of a brain left.
"I don't think you'll be laughing anymore when I cut up that pretty little face of yours." It sneered, tightened its grip on the knife and took a step toward her.
Jess sucked a breath in and yanked at her ropes hard enough to make the chair creak. The shifter just raised the knife and grinned.
"Hey!"
The shifter spun around and Jess let out a whimper of relief when she saw Dean standing in the doorway, gun ready, deadly purpose in his eyes.
The shifter dropped the knife and tried to skitter away to get behind Jess, but Dean squeezed the trigger twice in quick succession. It jerked violently hit the bookshelf then dropped to the floor and went still.
Jess's ears rang with the deafening gunshots, but she forgot about it the instant Dean rushed to her and started slicing the ropes.
"Jess, I'm so sorry." He glanced up into her eyes, painful regret in his gaze.
The ropes fell away and Jess grabbed Dean's arms digging her fingers in. "Shut up, Dean. You came and killed it. You saved me again. That's all I care about."
"You should have never been in this situation to begin with," he growled wrapping his hands around her elbows and pulling her to her feet.
"Fuck you." She hissed when the cut on her thigh stung and her head swam with dizziness. "I knew what I was getting into."
He huffed at her, but relented, wrapping an arm around her waist keeping her steady. "Yeah, alright. Guess some of the crazy rubbed off."
She gave a strained chuckle. "Think I was pretty crazy already."
"Oh my God, Jess! Are you alright?"
Jess turned her had gingerly toward Rebecca standing in the doorway hair caked with unmentionables and clothes stained beyond repair. She tried to smile.
"I'm okay. It's just a little concussion, nothing to worry about."
Dean snorted and felt around her head with light fingers. "Well, your hard head isn't cracked so I think you'll live."
Rebecca didn't look too reassured, but came over and took some of Jess's weight on her other side. Her eyes flicked toward the dead shifter sprawled on her living room floor. "Is it dead?"
Looking over at the body, Dean made sure Jess was steady in Rebecca's hold then stalked toward the monster wearing his face. He crouched down and wrapped a hand around the bull's head amulet the thing had stolen from him and jerked it off its neck.
"Yeah," he said with dark satisfaction in his eyes. "It's dead."
The cops were called. Dean Winchester was declared dead at the scene and Rebecca took the credit for shooting him when she came home to find him torturing her friend.
It was decided against Jess's protests that she would let the EMS take her to the hospital.
"You've blacked out twice today," Dean had said while they were getting their stories straight minutes before the cops arrived. "You don't mess around with head injuries."
Jess's head checked out with a mild concussion and she was forced to stay overnight for observation.
The case was pretty open and shut. Dean Winchester was blamed for two murders and two attempted murders and since he was already dead, the cops didn't do much more than file the paperwork.
Once Jess escaped the hospital the first thing she did was find Dean. Jim Rockford in the first motel in the phonebook.
"And the doctors said your head was all good?"
Jess nodded slowly, trying not to aggravate her lingering headache. "Yep, said I was good to go." She'd checked herself out AMA but Dean didn't need to know that.
He regarded her dubiously, but didn't push it. She was thankful, just slouched over to the bed furthest from the door and collapsed.
The next morning the murderer Dean Winchester got a pauper's burial and Jess and Dean left town. They stopped at Rebecca's long enough to say goodbye, for the final time. Then they hopped into the Impala and sped for the state line.
Jess stared out the window watching the scenery fly by and sighed. "I'm not gonna be able to see any of my friends again, am I?"
Dean glanced at her fleetingly, but didn't say anything. She didn't really need him to confirm it. Even if the answer had been different, she had already decided she wasn't going to stay in contact any longer. Her life now wasn't very conducive to fostering normal relationships, especially not with people that didn't know about the things in the dark.
"I wish things had turned out different."
Jess turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"
"I wish you could have stayed at Stanford. That you could have gone back to your life."
"That you didn't have to drag me along behind you?" she finished with a strained chuckle trying not to show just how much the thought hurt.
He turned his head to look her in the eyes. "No. This, not being alone, having you here with me, it's pretty much the only thing keeping me going." He held her gaze steadily and gave her a small but genuine smile. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."
The pain that had been simmering in her chest ever since the shifter had started spewing secrets at her eased. It melted away in the face of Dean's conviction. He could lie with his body, with his words, but his eyes were unfailingly honest and Jess could see the truth in them.
She returned his smile with one of her own, relieved and happy for the first time in days. She settled down in the passenger seat making herself comfortable.
"So, how's it feel to be a dead man?"
Dean chuckled. "I'm kinda pissed we had to leave. How many times am I gonna get to go to my own funeral?"
Jess raised an eyebrow at him. "You know, your sense of humor leaves a lot to be desired?"
He shrugged. "You love it."
Yeah, she kinda did.
They were out of Missouri and well into Kansas when they stopped for a fill up on gas and junk food. It was another small kind of general store complete with pay-by-the-minute wi-fi and a mailbox.
Jess looked down at the postcard in front of her. On one side it had a cliché "Greetings from St. Louis" filled with cartoonish city land marks. She turned it over and stared at the blank text box next to the address lines. Her mind was completely blank of any kind of message she should send and she still couldn't decide whether she should even send one to begin with.
She glanced outside where Dean was leaned against the trunk of the Impala waiting for the tank to fill up. He was dressed in his customary leather jack and biker boots, but his gaze seemed far away. He was playing with the amulet hanging around his neck, lost in thought.
Turning back to her postcard she uncapped the pen, jotted down a quick message, slapped a stamp on it and dropped it in the mailbox.
Dean glanced up when the door jingled as she walked back outside. "Hey, you get everything?"
"Yes, Dean. I got everything."
She dropped the plastic bags on the floorboard of the front seat as she closed the door behind her. Dean hooked the gas hose back on the meter, screwed the gas cap back on, and walked back around to get in the driver's seat.
"You didn't forget the pie, did you?"
Jess gasped and started rummaging through one of the bags frantically.
Dean's eyes widened. "You forgot the pie!?"
"Oh, wait. Here it is!" She pulled out a tiny individual sized pie and grinned at him.
He scowled. "Not funny."
She shrugged and put the pie back in the bag. "It was kinda funny."
"Not even close," he grumbled, but she could see him trying to fight down a smile.
Jess twisted the cap on her Big Red and grinned around a big gulp. It was definitely funny.
Dear Mom and Dad, Don't believe everything you hear. Love, Jess.
TBC...