Again, if you all hit that little 'review story' button at the same time, the system will jam :)

All pathetic attempts at kidding aside, I promise that the story is gonna pick up soon. Really soon. Like, just as soon as I post this chapter and then try to get over my writer's block... yeah...

Enjoy!

With a yawn and a stretch, Jaydin headed out of the back room and down the hall toward the bar. She'd been a little surprised to wake up alone in the dusty old room, had actually been expecting to find her father looming over her with a very angry expression on his face.

She wandered out into the saloon, fully expecting to see Jo or Ellen setting up for the day, and stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened as they fell on the man sitting at the bar. He was staring at her, an aggravated expression on his face, hazel eyes narrowed.

"Hey, daddy," she squeaked.

"Hey there, Jaye."

"Um… let me go get dressed, ok?"

"Sit."

Jaydin gulped. It hadn't been a friendly request. "Yes, sir." She slid onto one of the bar stools, careful to keep her eyes down and her shoulders slumped as her father fixed her wit a disapproving glare.

"You mind telling me why I had to drive for an hour, get three speeding tickets, and nearly have a heart attack yesterday?"

"You got three tickets?"

"Answer the question."

She sighed. "I ran away."

"You ran away."

"Without telling you."

"Without telling me."

"But I wanted to-"

Dean sighed. "I told you I would bring you here sometime this summer."

"But it is summer," Jaye argued, finally daring to look her father in the eye, "and you never have any time off in the summer. You're too busy."

"I'm only so busy because everyone else works in the summer and little kids can't stay home alone."

"So get a different job."

"It's not that easy," he snapped, "not with my resume, anyway."

"You could always do what uncle Sammy does."

"Because raising a teenager on stolen credit cards is so easy. And when did this conversation become about me, huh?"

Jaye rolled her eyes. "I just wanted to meet my mother."

"And if you had stuck around for a couple more days, we could've come together and you wouldn't have to spend the rest of the summer in your room."

"What?"

"Yeah. I was going to ask for a couple of weeks off to bring you out here, but you just couldn't wait. Prepare to learn the meaning of the word 'grounded.'"

"That is so not fair!"

"No phone, no computer, no friends, no TV, no texting, no iPod."

"What am I supposed to do for three months?" she whined.

Dean shrugged. "Read a book. Count the blades of grass in the yard. Find funny shapes in clouds. Just don't have fun."

"I'm telling mom."

"I have a funny feeling she's gonna agree with me on this one, babe."

"You're the worst dad ever!"

"Oh," Dean sobbed, tracing a finger down his cheek, "cry."

Jaye tried to scowl, but found it kind of hard to effectively express her current mood towards her father with a smile on her face. "I hate you," she laughed as he stuck out his bottom lip and continued to pretend to cry.

He crossed his arms on the scratched countertop and laid his head in them, body shaking with a mix of fake sobs and suppressed laughter. "Y-you hate m-me?"

"Now, dude, I never said that."

Dean's head popped up as he spun around on the stool. Jaye followed his gaze to look at the person who had just spoken.

"Ash?" Dean asked, jumping out of his seat, "what are you doing here?"

"Looking for your brother, actually," the MIT dropout replied. His eyes fell on Jaydin. "This your little freak of nature?"

Dean and Jaye both scowled. "This is my daughter, yeah," the hunter corrected.

Ash shrugged. "All I know is that she popped out of a dude, and that ain't normal."

"How'd you know that?"

"Well," Ash muttered, taking a seat at the bar, "I figured that Ellen's story was pretty much a load of bull. I thought to myself, 'if I got someone pregnant, what would I do?' Then I thought, 'shoot her, duh.' Since you and I are kind of on the same brainwaves, I figured you either really loved the chick, or were scared of her. Then I did the math, and found out you were here around the time the munchkin was conceived. Add in the demonically-demised witch, and there you go."

"Does Ellen know you know?"

"Hell no!"

Dean sighed and closed his eyes, bringing a hand up to massage his temples. "What're you looking for Sam for?"

Nervous eyes fell on Jaye before Ash turned his attention back to Dean. "Maybe not in front of the kid, huh?"

"I know," Jaydin offered, "about everything."

"You know the demon's back?"

"The demon?" Dean asked, suddenly alert, stepping forward, "the demon? Fugly sucker with yellow eyes?"

"The one and only."

"Then why do you want to talk to Sam?"

"He's been hunting the damn thing for the past two months, ever since those signs your dad figured out started popping up again. He didn't tell you?"

"No, he didn't tell me. If he told me, you really think I'd have asked you if the demon was back?"

"Dunno," Ash shrugged, "you always were kinda slow on the uptake."

Dean sighed. "So it's back. Where is it?"

"Signs started popping up in west Texas early this morning. Sammy usually stops by here after working a job for a little R and R. Figured he might be back."

"Which town in west Texas?"

"Little place called Hamlet. Why?"

Dean looked back over his shoulder, toward the bar. "Ellen!"

The older hunter appeared almost immediately at the door. "What?"

"Watch Jaye for a couple of days, all right? I'm heading out to Texas."

"Oh, no," Jaydin argued, "I'm going with you."

He shook his head. "Too dangerous."

"How do you know mom's gonna enforce your punishment?"

"I trust her."

"Really? Because she looks like one of those lenient parents you always see on those shows about British nannies."

"Looks are deceiving."

"What if she comes with us?"

"There is no 'us' here, Jaye. You're staying here with your mom, and I'm going to Texas."

"What if she hits me or something?" Jaye pouted.

"She's not gonna hit you."

"I think I should come."

"Out of the question."

"Come on, dad. I know all about the things that hide in the dark-"

"Doesn't mean I want you to meet 'em."

"It'll be a good learning experience-"

"That you could do without."

"What else am I gonna do this summer?" she pointed out. "Besides, if I go with you, you can make sure that I don't have any fun. I can stay in the motel room the whole time, surrounded by salt."

Dean sighed. "I don't know."

"I'll be perfectly safe, dad."

"Famous last words."

"Please?"

He looked back over his shoulder. "Ellen?"

Ellen shrugged. "I don't see why she can't come with, just as long as she stays in the room or the car or wherever."

"I suppose that means you're coming along for the ride, too?"

The older hunter smiled. "It's been a while since I've seen any action. Might as well go with you."

"Great," Dean muttered, throwing up his arms in surrender, "Ash, you coming, too?"

"No, man, I'm cool right here."

"Good." He turned to his daughter. "Let's go home and pack." He looked back at Ellen again. "Be back in an hour, I guess."

Dean shook his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets, heading for the door. Jaye hung back a bit, smiling at her mother and mouthing an appreciative 'thank you' before following her father out of the building.

"So," Ash began, grinning at Ellen, "that hooker he slept with thirteen years ago…"

"Shut up Ash."