(Disclaimer: Don't own the boys or the concept…story is mine)

Battle Weary.

Chapter Thirteen.

Jay was sitting outside on the hood of her car, nursing a beer. She didn't want to be in there when Dean explained it to them…well explained to them the parts they'd figured out anyway. She knew they were still a long way from figuring it out completely. She laughed. They. There WAS no they, it was just her. She took another swig of beer and went over it again in her head.

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More beers were opened as Dean, Sam and Gus sat around the table. Both Jay's and John's journals open in front of them.

"That can't be right, Dean. Dad wouldn't do that!"

"I didn't believe it either, Sammy. But …shit" he sighed "It's true" he said.

Sam shook his head "No. She just convinced you"

"No. I figured it out before she did, Sam. And then I had to tell her, so don't you start arguing with me. I know what I know"

"Tell us, son" said Gus softly.

Dean sighed "We haven't figured it all out yet but from what we can tell, Dad and Zeke met up about six months before Zeke disappeared. I don't know who organised the meet so don't ask. Dad was the one who explained to Zeke about Jay's healing and how it all worked. I'm guessing, and Jay agrees, that Zeke figured out something was going on with you and me, Sam."

"How….why?" asked Sam.

"Cause Dad and Zeke spent over a week together" he looked at his brother "Now tell me, Sammy. When has Dad ever done that? He barely spent a week with us. Why would he spend ten days with someone he doesn't know?"

Sam had no answer.

"Because they were planning something. They were planning this…only…."

"Only what, Dean?"

"Only, I think Dad…double-crossed him"

"Bullshit!"

"No, Sammy. I don't mean that in a bad way…although it really does suck out loud that he did that. But he did it for us. It doesn't excuse it because he fucked two other people by doing so"

"I don't understand, Dean. You think you could, I don't know…SPEAK ENGLISH!"

"Fuck me, Sam. Settle down, alright!"

"He's got a point, Dean. Just tell us what the hell it is you think John did. 'Cause I know your father and I can't see him doing that to anyone" said Gus.

Dean sighed, he hadn't believed it either, had thought he'd misinterpreted what his Dad had written but …he knew how his father worked and there was no denying it. "From what I can tell, when Dad found out about Jay's ability…he thought it might help us. He gave Zeke the co-ordinates for this place, probably told him that we'd be able to help if the shit really hit the fan. We know that Zeke knew the 'new hunters' were being killed off as well, that there was just the three of us and Jay left."

"You sure?" asked Sam.

Dean nodded "We found names…in code…and we're in there. Everyone else on the list is dead. We checked" he paused "I think Zeke was on his way here but when Jay turned up it screwed with everything. Zeke panicked. He already had the co-ordinates in his journal…but this is where it all gets weird."

"This is where it gets weird" muttered Sam.

Dean ignored him "I think Zeke called Dad, told him Jay was here. Dad told Zeke about the pact, sent it to him" he paused, he'd hated saying it the first time, now he was saying it again "He'd fucked with it. I double and triple checked it"

"Fucked with it how, dude?"

"I think Dad saw the way Zeke was with Jay, realised he'd do anything to save her. So he made a deal with him"

"Dad doesn't make deals!"

"Yeah?" he shook his head at his brother "Sam, Zeke's not like me…well he is, he can track 'em too…but he's like you too, Sammy. He has death visions as well. He told Dad one of us was gonna die, the date and everything, that's how Zeke knew to send Jay here. I'm guessing Dad told him that if Jay helped us, he'd help him….but he fucked him over instead. The pact was supposed to make sure that if anything happened to Zeke, Jay would be fine."

"But?"

"But…for some reason, Dad changed it. He made sure Zeke was sent to Hell"

"So when Zeke lost…"

Dean shook his head "No. There was no fight. The minute Zeke made the pact, he went. That's why Jay believes he's alive…because he is"

"Your father wouldn't do that, Dean"

"He did, Gus" Dean took the paper from Jay's journal that their father had sent to Zeke and got the book with the correct pact in it "Look. See the difference? Dad doesn't make mistakes"

Gus studied both for a long time before looking up at Dean "That's not a mistake"

"I know" said Dean "What I don't understand is why?"

Sam looked at Dean "And you used this same pact?"

"I used the correct one. Not the one Dad sent to Zeke" he didn't tell Sam about the whisperings, he still couldn't remember them and he wasn't sure he wanted to either.

"But why did you use that one, Dean? Like Jay said, you could have used any other one"

"I don't know for sure" he laughed "Jay said it's Karma kicking Dad's ass by using me. Dad fucked Zeke over and now…" he shrugged "but that doesn't matter Sammy because I'm not gonna lose today. You and I are gonna be fine" he grinned at his younger brother "You know I always got your back, dude and I ain't going nowhere'

"You're sure about this, Dean?" asked Sam, pointing to the pact. Dean nodded.

Sam sighed "So how much does Jay hate us?"

Dean laughed "She doesn't hate me, Sammy" he grinned "She just hates you"

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Jay sat on the porch steps reading both Zeke's and John's journals. She looked up occasionally when she heard Dean and Sam laughing. They were practicing in a far field but it was only half-arsed practicing. They were just mucking around, being kids, brothers, enjoying themselves before tonight. She knew Dean hadn't told Sam the truth about the pact. How it was Sam's soul he'd traded, not his own. And she'd promised Dean she wouldn't tell Sam either. She always kept a promise.

She went back to reading. She had an idea of what she was looking for. When Dean had told her that his father had sent Zeke to Hell, she hadn't believed it but after reading both of the journals, again and again she'd had no choice but to believe. She knew Dean had been surprised when she hadn't freaked out, hadn't screamed or yelled at him, had just nodded. He'd apologised to her and she'd told him it hadn't been his doing, that he had nothing to apologise for and she'd meant it. It had been his father that had done it. Not him. But there was something else, you see Dean didn't know Zeke like she did. Zeke would have seen the difference in the pact, would have understood what it meant but he'd gone along with it anyway. That was what bothered her most.

And Zeke wanted her here. Why? To help Dean? Maybe. Or to find answers. This was so fucking confusing. She sighed. Alright. Point form. She picked up her pen

1. Dean and Sam were the last two of the new hunters and she could self-heal.

2. Zeke and Dean made a pact to save siblings, backfires.

3. I'm sent here by Zeke, give transfusion to Dean…he now self heals.

4. John screwed Zeke over, Zeke now in Hell

5. Zeke agreed to go to Hell?

6. If Dean loses, he dies and they get Sam's soul as well.

She tapped the pen against her teeth and picked up John's journal. She flicked through the pages before finally finding what she knew she would. She sighed. If Zeke and John were here right now, she'd beat the shit out of both of them.

She heard Gus come out and yell for Dean and Sam. They looked up from their wrestling on the ground, punched each other a couple of times and jogged over.

Dean grinned at Gus "Yo!"

Gus smiled "Yo, yourself. Transfusion time. Jay here's gonna juice you up"

Jay turned to Gus "I'm gonna what?"

Dean grinned again "You heard the man. Juice me up, baby!"

She shook her head "Lovely"

Dean jogged up the stairs and turned back when she didn't follow "Come on, Bessie!"

Jay tried not to laugh "If you just called me a cow, Dean Winchester, I will kick your arse"

He laughed at her "That's damn fine ass, thank you very much" and walked happily into the house. Jay sighed, grabbed the journals and followed him inside.

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Jay lay on the bed this time, Dean was sitting in the chair. He'd tried to make conversation with her but she'd just shaken her head and continued to read.

"Hey, you are allowed to have fun you know" said Dean.

"Yeah, I'm having a ball" Jay said distractedly as she kept reading.

"I'll let you stab me when we're done, how's that?"

She looked up from the journal and into his grinning face "You promise?" he nodded and she smiled "Ta" then went back to reading.

"Aaah,…"

"What?"

"This soul trade thing…." he whispered.

"Dean, I'm trying to figure it out. Just don't lose okay"

"Aww, you care" she gave him the finger "You do. I know it. I'm irresistible"

"You're a pain in my arse is what you are" she looked at him "And I know what I just said and let it go"

"Come on! Have some fun! This could be my last day on earth…." he raised an eyebrow and grinned at her.

"I'm not gonna bang you, Dean"

"Really?"

She laughed "Really"

"Wow. That's …never happened before"

She laughed at the look of confusion on his face.

"Seriously?"

She nodded "Seriously"

He grinned "You'll change your mind. Now tell me what you figured out. No bullshit" she went to open her mouth and he put up a hand "No bullshit. You've found something else, now tell me. It's my brother remember?"

She sighed, she had to tread carefully around this if it was going to work. Zeke had known what John had done and she was starting to think that Zeke had volunteered to go as long as she was kept safe. John had sent Zeke the amended pact, on the proviso that Jay helped Dean. John must have known that Dean would do whatever it took to save Sam, she also believed that John knew Dean would use the same pact as Zeke or that maybe Zeke had seen it in that vision he'd had and told John, either way she'd been sent to help him. But she'd found something in one of Gus' books about using those pacts and what happened if you put proviso's on them. And that plus what she'd found in John's journal…

"Alright, Jay. It's not good, I can see that. Just tell me"

"Shit. Okay…umm…alright. Zeke's alive, there's no doubt, we both know that" Dean nodded "And we know where he is right?" Dean nodded again "But when is he, Dean?" Dean stared at her "Yeah, bloody good question, I know"

Dean reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. She opened it and read it…and re-read it and re-read it before handing it back.

"Sam doesn't know?" he shook his head "So, this is like a 'take two' on everything"

"I'm guessing" he laughed "No, no guessing. Yeah it is. And that photo of us against your car, well before you arrived, it was my car we were leaning against" she saw his face fall at the mention of his car.

"Black Chevy?" he nodded "Saw it by the side of the road, tires slashed but otherwise alright" his face lifted a little. "Beautiful car" he grinned "That's better. So how'd you get a second chance?"

"No idea"

"Really?"

"Yeah, really" he looked at her "What? What?"

"I'm not sure but….I don't think I made it here the first time. I think that maybe…maybe both you and Sam died"

Dean thought on it, died was right. Sammy had been killed and he was going to shoot himself. "So, we were dead, Zeke was in Hell and you were the last one left" he looked at her "You'd have been easy to kill, they knew how and you'd have had no help" she nodded "So…"

"So I'm thinking that Zeke isn't in Hell in the present, I think he's in Hell in the future and he's messing with stuff. Don't ask me how he's doing it…"

"Jay, look, I know you love him and I hate to be the one to say this but …do you have any idea what they'd be doing to him? He wouldn't be able to do anything. They'd make sure of it"

Her eyes darkened "Yeah, I guess but he's not supposed to be there… I mean be there then. Surely that means something? If they're messing around with time and trying to impose their will on it, surely there has to be some repercussions. What if…if…..if…"

He smiled at her "How many straws would you like with that stutter?"

She turned on him "It's easy for you to make jokes! Your brother is here! Where the fuck is mine??"

"I'm just saying…" he mumbled.

"What? That I give up? Would you give up on Sam? Would you?" he shook his head "Then don't take the piss out of me!"

"Take the what?" he tried not to smile.

"Take the piss! Make jokes at my expense….stop laughing!"

"Oh that's an awesome expression. I'm using it" he laughed.

"You're an idiot"

"Jay, listen" he tried to stifle his laughter "Listen, I'm sorry. When I finish killing these assholes this afternoon, me and Sammy will help you get to Zeke. I promise" he grinned "And I'll try not to take the piss"

"You don't understand, do you? They get one of you either way" she looked at him "Yeah, that stopped you didn't it?"

"No, you're wrong. When I win, they leave us alone. That's what Gus said. They go back and it's over for now"

"Jesus, Dean! Do you think they'd let it be that simple? If you lose, you die and they get Sam. If you win, then they get YOU and then go after Sam"

He shook his head "No"

"Yes. If you put a caveat on the pact then that's a deal with them, you made a deal with the devil. They tricked you into trading Sam's soul instead of yours because they knew they already had you. The minute you wrote the proviso they had you, that's why that wanted Sam's soul"

"No..."

"Yes, Dean" she said softly 'But I think Zeke knew that and I think he knew you'd do it too" She took the photo from John's journal and looked at it "Notice anything different?" and she handed it to him.

He studied it for a long time before looking up at her "How is that possible?" she raised an eyebrow, he smiled "Don't take the piss"

He looked back at the photo, it was still him, Sam and Gus leaning against her car but now Gus had a bandage around his head and they were all wearing pissed-off expressions. There was also the burnt out shell of an old Camaro just visible between a strand of trees in the background.

To be continued….