Author's Note: I know that it has been a long time between updates. Sorry. My next two chapters are written and with my beta. Hopefully they will be up sometime next week.

Chapter 18

Jo paced the floor as she debated what to do. She stopped pacing long enough to pull her phone out and once again call Jeremy. The call went straight to voicemail.

Jo pushed away the worry she felt and left yet another message for her husband. "Jeremy, this is not funny. You had better be maimed when you get back, or you'll wish you had been. Call me the second you get this! Please."

Jo flipped the phone closed and tucked it into her back pocket. She was officially worried about Jeremy, which meant it was time to get Bobby involved. She knew that he would get mad and probably yell at her, but it was worth it if it meant that Jeremy came home safe. If Jeremy was hurt or worse because she wanted ice cream, she was never going to forgive herself.

Decision made, Jo went to find Bobby. When she found him, she took a deep, calming breath before she began. "Now before you start yelling," she prefaced, "you need to know that this was all my idea and that I'm sorry."

"What was your idea?" Bobby asked angrily.

"Um...I sent Jeremy to the store for ice cream. He's not back yet, and he's not answering his phone. You can get mad at me later. Right now we need to find him."

"We found him."

Jo shook her head. "I don't think you understand. Jeremy is–"

"–in the barn," Bobby interrupted.

Jo was confused. "Why is he there? What's going on?"

"That's what we'd like to know. We found him about an hour ago tangled in a magical trap on the perimeter. It looks like he was trying to sneak back into the place and got caught. We haven't been able to get him to say anything but a bunch of gibberish."

"I don't understand. Why wouldn't he just use the front gate? He was just going for groceries."

"We can't find Liz."

Jo quickly became offended. "Wait! Are you saying that you think Jeremy did something to Liz. That's just...just..."

"We know he did something to her. He told us he did. The only sensible thing he's said is that he hurt Liz. He won't tell us anything else about it, though, and Alex's patience is running thin."

"What's going to happen to him?" Jo asked, her voice small and scared.

Bobby sighed. "I don't know."

Jo did the only thing she could think to do and started pleading with Bobby. "I know this is bad, Bobby, but Jeremy's the father of my child. I'm pregnant, and without a doubt, he's the dad. I don't want my baby's father remembered like this. Give him a chance to make it right. Please. Please, Bobby."

"I can't make any promises," Bobby responded. His voice was tired and Jo could tell that he was, too.

"Let me talk to him. I'm sure I'll be able to get him to talk to me. Please."

Bobby nodded. "That might work. He's definitely not responding to Alex's attempts at persuasion."

Jo gasped. "Is he okay, Bobby?"

"He'll live. I'm not sure the same can be said about Liz."

Jo's eyes widened. "What about Dean? Where is he in all this?"

"He's asleep in his bed. I'm counting on him being there another two to three hours."

"You're not going to wake him up to let him know that Liz is missing?" Jo wondered, shocked.

Bobby's glare pinned her where she stood. "No, and neither are you. Until we know more about what happened, I'm going to let him get some rest. He needs it."

"He'll never forgive you for keeping this from him. You know that, don't you?"

Bobby shrugged. "That's a chance I'm willing to take."

The two of them walked silently for a few more steps. "Are you going to be a problem on this?" Bobby asked.

Jo shook her head. "Dean not being here is keeping my husband alive. As far as I'm concerned, we can keep it from him until the world ends."

They stopped outside the barn door, and Jo took a deep breath to steel herself. She looked at Bobby expectantly. "Who's in there?" she wondered.

"Alex and Cassie are interrogating him. Katy's with them because she's the one who found him. I couldn't trust her to keep this quiet, so I thought it'd be best to keep her close."

Jo nodded. "That's probably for the best." She started tugging the door to the barn open and noticed Bobby was not following her. "Are you coming?" she asked.

Bobby shook his head. "I have something I need to take care of while y'all are doing this."

Jo nodded and entered the barn. It took a moment for her eyes adjusted to the light, and when they did, she bit back a gasp of surprise as she took in Jeremy's state. He was tied to a chair and blood was everywhere. She ran to him and started tugging at his bonds trying to loosen them. Alex pulled her away from him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked angrily. He picked her up and slung her away from Jeremy.

Jo tumbled across the floor and rolled to a stop. She sat up and glared at Alex. "I came to help you. What have you done?"

Alex glanced at Jeremy and rolled his eyes. "A lot less than he deserves. The next time you try to let him go, you're going to join him."

Jo stood up and brushed herself off. "Let me talk to him," she told Alex.

Alex shrugged. "As long as you talk with your mouth and not with your hands."

Jo walked over to Jeremy and positioned herself so he could only see her. "Jeremy, baby, I need you to tell me what happened. Did something happen with Liz?"

Jeremy squeaked and started mumbling incoherently. Jo took a step away from him, shocked at how bad of shape he was in. She turned to Alex and Cassie then glanced at Katy, who was watching from one corner, her eyes the size of saucers.

"Maybe he's not talking because he doesn't know anything. Something clearly happened to him, but he seems to be in shock. He may need medical attention."

"Boo-frickin-hoo," Cassie replied. "He's not going anywhere until he tells us something useful. If you suggest otherwise again, I'm going to throw you out on your ass."

Alex smiled. "What she said."

Jo hugged herself and turned back to Jeremy. "Sweetheart, I need you to tell me what happened to Liz. They think you did something bad to her, but I know you could never do that. I need you to tell me what happened to her so that we can prove them wrong."

Jeremy gulped. He met Jo's eyes, and Jo could see the tears forming there. "I killed her," he whispered. "It's all my fault. I killed her."

Jo could hear Alex and Cassie moving toward them and held up a hand to tell them to stay back. "What do you mean you killed her? Liz is dead?" There was a giant lump forming in Jo's throat at thought.

"It's all my fault!" he wailed. "I gave her to him. He's going to kill her, and I helped him. It's all my fault that he has her." He looked at Jo with pleading eyes. "I didn't know. You have to believe me that I didn't know. He told me that nothing was going to happen to her. I know it was stupid to believe him, but I was just so angry at Dean that I couldn't think straight. You understand, don't you? Please tell me you understand. Please."

Jo tried to keep the horror she was feeling from showing on her face. "Of course I believe you, Jeremy." She glanced at Alex and Cassie's unhappy faces then focused on Jeremy again. "I need you to tell me who you gave Liz to, Jeremy. Can you do that for me?"

Tears were spilling down Jeremy's face. "Yes," he rasped. "I can do that. I gave her to her brother."

"You son of a bitch!" Alex exploded. He started toward Jeremy, but Jo put herself between them. Alex shoved her out of the way and punched Jeremy hard enough that it flipped the chair he was in. His head made a sickening sound when it hit the floor then he was still.

Jo was crying as she lunged for Jeremy. "Please be okay!" she begged. "Please be okay!" She pulled Jeremy's head into her lap and cried while he lay there unconscious. After a few minutes, Jeremy groggily regained consciousness. Jo cried out in relief and kissed his forehead. "You're okay," she repeated over and over.

Cassie tapped Alex on the shoulder to pull his attention away from the scene between Jo and Jeremy. "Hey," she said quietly, "why don't you go find Bobby and let him know that we know what happened to Liz. He would want to know. Katy and I'll watch things here."

Alex nodded and handed Cassie his gun. "If that piece of crap tries anything, take care of it."

"I will," she promised.

XXX

"So Jeremy gave Liz to Tom," Bobby repeated. Alex gave him a confirming nod, and Bobby sighed. "Well, this complicates things."

"What do you want me to do with Jeremy?" Alex asked.

"I'll take care of him," Bobby responded.

"But–"

Alex's protest was cut short. "I'll take care of him," Bobby repeated in a clipped tone. "I need you and Cassie to take Katy and get the heck out of Dodge. I'm reassigning the three of you to find Liz. Leave as soon as you can."

Alex nodded. "Fine. What about Dean?"

Bobby glared at him. "I'll take care of Dean, too."

XXX

Bobby waited to wake Dean until Alex and Cassie had left with Katy. It had been less than three hours since Liz had told him she was going running, but it felt like a lifetime had passed.

Bobby could tell that Dean was still exhausted when he opened the door. "Rise and shine, Dean. It's time to head out."

Dean yawned and stretched. "Yeah, okay. You seen Liz?" he wondered.

Bobby's face revealed nothing. "She left already."

Bobby wasn't sure he'd ever seen Dean look so vulnerable. "She left?" he repeated. "What do you mean she left?"

"She saw reason, Dean. It's time to get to work, and she didn't think she could do that if she stayed to say goodbye to you.."

Dean shook his head. "That's bullshit. This has got to be some kind of joke. Liz said that she would see me later and we would say goodbye. She wouldn't just leave."

"She didn't want to, but I convinced her she should."

Dean's jaw worked as he wrestled with what to say in response to that. Bobby hated what he was doing but knew it needed to be done. "She said that you could call her," he said, handing Dean a piece of paper with a number on it.

"How generous of her," Dean replied in a flat voice.

"I'm sorry, Dean. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me. I'm the one who convinced her to go."

"And she's the one who went."

They stood in awkward silence for a few moments. Finally, Bobby cleared his throat. "It's time for you to leave. Do you need any help with anything?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "This has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever been assigned to do."

Bobby shrugged. "Liz trusts you with it, so I do, too. She made a very persuasive argument as to why you had to be the one who does this."

Dean rolled his eyes again. "I'm not taking six kids to some bunker seven states away Bobby. If there's a fight, I want in on it. And if Liz is involved, I really want in on it."

Bobby yawned. "I need a nap. I'm going to go help you load the kids then I'm going to sleep for a couple of hours. When I wake up, you're already going to be across the state line."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are. Liz left because she knew that her family was going to be safe with you taking care of them. You're going to do this for Liz to prove her right."

"Fine. Is Sam already gone, too?"

"I don't know. Possibly. I've had other things on my mind."

"I'm gonna go wish him luck. I'll meet you at the car."

XXX

"Did you find him?" Bobby asked.

Dean shrugged. "Nah. I guess he already left."

The slightest hint of concern flashed across Bobby's face, but he pushed it away just as quickly. "Sorry."

Dean shrugged again, but Bobby could tell he was upset. "See you in a week," he said.

"See you then."

Linda appeared with the kids and started loading their bags into the Impala.

"Mommy, I don't want to go with him," Sofie whined.

"Mr. Dean," Linda corrected. "Call him Mr. Dean."

"Actually, just Dean," Dean chimed in. "Not Mr. Dean. Just Dean."

Linda ignored him. "You guys be good, or Mr. Dean will let me know."

"Just Dean," Dean repeated.

Once again he was ignored. "We'll be good, Mommy," Chris assured her. His brave façade broke a little as he asked her, "Why can't we stay with you?"

Linda choked back tears. She patted his head while she recovered herself. "Because Mommy has to help Mr. Bobby. Mr. Dean is taking you on a trip until we get done."

Isabelle looked through her lashes at Dean. "Aunt Lindsey said…"

"Aunt Liz," Linda corrected.

"Aunt Liz said that Mr. Dean was…" she trailed off and looked to Sofie and Mitchell. "What did she say he was?"

"Surly," Sofie supplied sullenly.

Linda snorted in amusement, and Dean shook his head.

Isabelle nodded. "Right. Surly. Aunt…Liz said that Mr. Dean was surly but that he was nice under that. You promise he'll be nice?" she asked her mom.

Linda nodded. "I promise. He will take good care of you and probably buy you candy if you are really good and listen to him. And if he does anything you don't approve of, call me and I'll get it straightened out."

Isabelle considered Linda for a moment then nodded once. "I guess it'll be okay to go on a trip with Mr. Dean." She turned to her siblings. "We're going on a trip with Mr. Dean."

Mitchell rolled his eyes and pushed her. "Like we have any choice, idiot."

"Mitchell," Linda said, a warning tone in her voice.

"Sorry, Mom," he mumbled.

"I'm not the one you should apologize to."

Mitchell sighed. "Sorry, Bell," he said. He waited until Linda wasn't looking and stuck his tongue out at Isabelle. Isabelle stomped his foot in response.

"Mom! Isabelle stepped on my foot!"

"That's enough, all of you! Go to Mr. Bobby, and he'll help load you in the car." Linda waited for the kids to leave then turned to Dean. "You sure you're ready for this?" she wondered.

"No."

Linda patted him on the shoulder. "You'll be fine. Liz trusted you with them, so I'm going to, too. That said, if there is one scratch on my babies when I see them again, I will show you pain that you never imagined existed."

A smile tugged at Dean's mouth. "I'm starting to see the family resemblance," he said.

Linda's answering smile was watery. "Promise you'll keep them safe?"

Dean nodded. "I promise."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

"They're ready," Bobby interrupted.

Dean took one last look around the place. "I better get on the road," he said, sounding miserable.

Bobby and Linda watched as Dean drove away. As soon as he had passed through the gates, Bobby was on his phone calling Sam.

Sam answered on the fifth ring. "Bobby, before you say anything, I had to do this. Lauren could be in trouble, so I had to go get her and bring her to safety. I know you probably won't agree, but it's something that I have to do."

"Sam, get your ass back here before it's too late," Bobby snapped.

"No. I'll come back when I have Lauren."

"Sam, get your–"

"I'll see you in a few days," he said and hung up.

Bobby closed his phone with a sigh. "Damn it, boy. The last thing I need right now is for you to make things harder."

XXX

"Wakey-wakey," Ginger cooed at Liz's unconscious form.

Liz eventually stirred, struggling into wakefulness.

"Did you miss me?" Ginger asked with a feral grin.

Liz squinted at Ginger. "Where am I?"

Ginger laughed. "I'll be asking the questions here," she said and punched Liz in the face hard enough to knock her back into unconsciousness.

Jason sighed. "Was that really necessary?" he wondered. "You have as long as you want to torture her."

Ginger grinned. "Was it necessary? No. Was it fun? Absolutely." She clucked at him. "You know that first impressions are important," she reminded him cheekily.

He shook his head at her. "What am I going to do with you?"

She smiled at him. "Love me forever, that's what." All trace of her good mood was gone as she turned to the other men in the room with her. "What are you waiting for?" she snapped. "She's not going to string herself up."

The men tripped over themselves to do Ginger's bidding. When they had Liz strung up on chains, they stepped away so that Ginger could survey their work. Ginger took in the sight of Liz hanging from rusty chains, stringy hair falling in her face as her head lolled forward, and she smiled. She looked at Jason and had one thing to say. "This is going to be fun."

XXX

Three Days Later

"Okay, Bobby, I'm here," Dean told him through the phone. "No one else is, though. I thought I was dropping the kids off with someone and then coming back to your place for further instructions."

"About that," Bobby explained, "I lied."

"You lied?"

"Yes. No one's coming to meet you. You are going to protect the kids. You can't get out and no one else can get in. Sorry we had to trick you, but we knew that you would never go along with it if you knew that you were going to be stuck where you are with a bunch of kids you don't know."

"Bobby, that's not funny. When does the calvary arrive?"

"I'm sorry Dean. Food has been stockpiled in the community kitchen. Try not to call more than necessary."

Dean hung up the phone angrily. He pulled the piece of paper Bobby had given him out of his pocket and dialed Liz's number. The call went straight to voicemail, and Dean flipped his phone closed angrily.

Christopher tugged on Dean's shirt. "Where are we, Mr. Dean?" he wondered, eyes wide as he took in the compound.

Dean's jaw ticked as he struggled to control his anger. "Oklahoma. We're in Okla-freaking-homa."