Disclaimer: Neither Jordan nor I own Supernatural.
A/N: Sorry for the delay on this getting posted, only I haven't felt very well today... Probably just my allergies acting up... but anyway, chapter three!
Jordan: And don't forget to review!
Chapter Three – She's a What!?
"Ungh… What the hell --"
Jordan woke up, her back aching and her head killing her. Opening her eyes, she gasped and her eyes widened as she remembered the events of last night and took in her current situation.
She was in a cage, surrounded by animals. Wait… this is a cage… a big steel cage… and… AHHHHHHH! I'm a cat! What the crap!? How? When? WHY!? I can't be a cat!
"Okay, we got everything?" Sam whispered as they got out of the car and went to the trunk.
"Sure as crap better," Lyn answered grimly as she hid a knife in the rolled-up leg of her jeans, "because I'm not leaving her behind again."
"Good…" Sam sighed. Lyn had been like this for the entire two days they had needed to find where Jordan was taken. It hadn't been easy, and with Lyn being extra grumpy when she spoke at all, it hadn't been pleasant, either. Though, on the bright side, neither Sam nor Dean would be complaining about her caffeine-withdrawal grumpiness for a while; that was nothing to the past two days. "Come on… be quiet."
They all walked down the road, into the little patch of wood, and across a huge, farm-like field. A small, beat-up house stood prominently about 30 feet away. They all crept up and looked in the windows, trying to see if they could just sneak in and grab Jordan. However, all they saw were dozens of animal cages, holding everything from lizards to tigers.
Lyn's brow furrowed. "The crap kind of insane moron… forget it, I don't even care," Lyn murmured. "Jordan's here? Anybody see her?"
A tiger looked up, a forlorn look plastered on its face. As soon as it saw the trio, it started pawing the cage and gnawing at the bars. When that was unsuccessful, it thrashed around, trying to get their attention.
"Dadburn it, Jordan," Lyn growled, fighting an impulse to hit the wall. "Where are you?" She then noticed the animal trying to escape its cage and frowned. "If that freaking critter doesn't stop making racket, we're not gonna stay undiscovered very long…"
Jordan whimpered and swiped her paw at the three, hopelessly. They finally came and they're not even gonna know who I am! She fixed Lyn with her trademark puppy-dog look. God, Lyn! Recognize me! Please, God!
"I don't see anything but animals in here," Lyn muttered with an exasperated sigh. "Why the crap are there so many of them, anyway? I mean, I realize none of these freaks are in their right minds, but… wait…" A crease appeared between her eyebrows and she murmured, "That looks like… but that's impossible…"
"Hey," Lyn said faintly, reaching to her left, where Dean was standing a couple of feet away, and tugging on the arm of his coat without averting her gaze from the window. "Lookit… that tiger, the one that was jumping around like a chicken with its head cut off a minute ago… Look at its eyes…"
Oh, thank you, God! Oh, I'm so tackle hugging Lyn when I get out of here. Thank God I can read lips. Jordan smiled, although in her current form, it most likely looked demented.
"What… Wait… I would know those eyes anywhere… Do you think…? Hey, Sammy… Come here… Look at the spastic tiger's eyes…" Dean whispered.
"Okay, what am I – hold on… Jordan? Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking here?" Sam looked nervously at the other two.
"That has to be it," Lyn mused in a barely audible whisper, wide eyes still locked on the tiger's deep brown, gold-flecked ones. "That's why there are all these animals… They're not animals at all, they're the people who disappeared… Oh, jeez…"
"Come on… We gotta get in there… We have no idea why the hell this son of a bitch turned these people into animals, and we may not have much time until we find out," Dean said, his eyes full of anger, before he opened the window soundlessly and climbed through, Lyn right behind him.
"Yeah, I realize we should be moving quickly and being quiet and all," Lyn murmured with a raised eyebrow, "but shouldn't we… I dunno… make really sure it's not just a freaking tiger before we let it out of the cage?"
Wait, WHAT?! Tiger?! I'm not a freaking tiger! I'm a domesta freaking housecat! You hear me!? -- Well, obviously, you can't… oh, this really sucks… everyone around me is going crazy and calling me thing I'm -- OH MY GOD I'M A TIGER! WHAT THE -- COOL! I love tigers! Sweet! Jordan looked up at the trio. She stood up on her hind legs, put her paws through the bars, and whimpered.
"Okay, so it can do the trademark puppy dog eyes," Lyn acquiesced. "Which is kind of weird, since it's a cat... But yeah. How exactly are we supposed to know for sure...? I mean, it would be some kind of irony if, after almost getting killed so many freaking times, the end was death by tiger..."
Jordan huffed and flopped herself down, hopeless. Damn you, Lyn, you and your suspiciousness... They're never gonna let me out, and that stupid witch's gonna come back and harvest my body parts and eat them or something... A tear leaked from the corner of her eye.
"And now it's giving me the evil eye," Lyn observed, raising an eyebrow. "... And now it's crying. Can tigers even cry? ... Okay, this isn't fair. Now I feel guilty... JJ, I'm gonna kill you. Even when you're a freaking tiger, you can still lay guilt trips."
Jordan's ears perked up and she got up, filled with hope again. Yes! Okay, now gotta get them to open the door... She got up on her haunches again and nudged her nose against the lock of the gate, then nodded her head towards Dean, Sam, and Lyn.
"Good point," Lyn murmured, tapping a finger against the side of her leg. "Yeah, no keys. But oh, well; who needs keys when you have..." She paused to fish something out of her pocket, flash a crooked grin, and finish, "a fingernail file?"
Lyn picked the lock and, after much hesitation, let the door fall open. Jordan grinned a toothy, fang-ridden grin and waltzed out of her confinement. God, it's good to be out of here... OH SNAP... I gotta pee...
Jordan jumped up on Lyn and whimpered, then nodded to the window.
"We're goin', we're goin'," Lyn assured her. "But jeez, JJ, you realize you don't weigh a hundred some-odd pounds any more, right? You puncture a lung with those claws and I'll set our cousins after you... And remember, that includes April and Carrie now..."
Jordan just growled low in her throat in response. Oh Jesus, no... She wrinkled her brow and was about to go when she turned back to the other cages. Jordan nudged Lyn's leg and then towards the other cages.
"Wow... she's... a... tiger... a very beautiful tiger... but still... a tiger!?" Sam sputtered.
"Dude... did you just call my girlfriend beautiful!?" Dean turned towards Sam.
"Yes, I did..."
"Would you all just shut up now!?" Lyn hissed dangerously. "You realize we're still in the freaking building!? Does nobody left on the planet have a cotton-picking survival instinct any more!? Argue. Later. Jeez!"
She then turned back to the cages and bit her lip. "I dunno, Jordan... How are we supposed to get all of these cages open without getting caught? And, I mean... A python? An orangutan? Most of them are dangerous, and... well... JJ, what if it... takes a while to figure out how to change you back?"
Jordan looked up at Lyn with sad eyes. She knew that what Lyn said was true, but she felt bad, leaving these people to the same fate she was going to face. She huffed and turned toward the window; she nodded towards it and let out a mewling sound.
"So, let's get out of here, huh?" Dean started walking to the window, followed by Sam. Lyn sighed and trailed behind them, patting Jordan-the-tiger on the head.
"When we figure out how to stop it, maybe we can try, okay?"
Jordan nodded and jumped up on a crate then out the window, landing solidly on her feet, one of the advantages of being a cat. Jordan walked forward a few steps and turned around to see Dean, Sam, and Lyn already through the window and behind her. Jordan looked back toward the window, hung her head, made a sigh like sound, then started running toward the Impala.
Lyn gave Sam and Dean a sideways glance, gave a crooked grin, and said, "You know, there's a country song that goes 'You can't drive around with a tiger in your car'..."