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Chapter 17: No Exit Part 2

I shifted in my seat and opened my eyes. When had I been moved to the backseat? I stretched seeing that Sam and Dean weren't in the front seat. You wouldn't believe how many times they did that and, even though I knew they were near, it still brought a little flare of panic through me. Like one day I'd wake up and they'd be gone for good. But as I looked out the driver's window I saw we were at another gas station. I shivered, swearing that we must have been in a colder climate this time. I turned to my right to see if Dean was wearing his jacket or not but when I did, his jacket wasn't the thing on the seat. In fact, wasn't even close. I grinned seeing white and red rose petals covering the back seat next to me. I cupped my hands and picked a bunch up to bring to my nose. The sickly sweet smell brought a giggle out of my mouth and I decided to forget that I was cold and get out of the car to find Dean.

The tank was probably filled and both boys must have been in the mart paying and looking around for things. I went through the glass door, the movement making the little 'costumer here' bell ring for a moment. Dean and Sam both turned around to look at me and I looked at the various items to see what they were grabbing.

"Candy and Gatorade huh? Great breakfast choices guys, I can see why both of your bodies are that amazing."

Sam smiled and stuck his tongue out at me as he grabbed a Twix bar and went to another section of the aisle.

"Well, seeing as how it's two in the afternoon. It's more like lunch choices." Dean said, turning around to give me a kiss on the cheek.

He went to turn back around to grab another candy bar when I put my hands around his waist, snuggling into his chest. He smirked, leaning down to kiss my head and leave his mouth there. "This is very cuddly for someone who was grumpy three hours ago."

"I was?" I asked him.

He nodded, running his free hand through my hair. "You probably don't remember. Sam and I woke up and you were close to falling asleep at the wheel. I made you go to sleep in the back; some very choice words were being used."

I giggled, now I remembered. "Sorry, but all in fairness you're the one I learned all those choice words from."

He smiled. "Fair enough."

"Oh, you wouldn't believe what happened when I woke up. Apparently, somebody broke into your car and put rose petals in the back seat next to me."

I looked up at him to find him raising his eyebrows, trying to look surprised. "Huh, you seem to have a very romantic stalker. Wonder who could have done that."

"Hmm, I wonder." I smiled, briefly kissing his lips. "Is that mean our dates tonight?"

Dean shrugged and for some reason it caused his lower lip to jut out ever so lightly. It gave me the urge to grab it with my teeth. But I just smiled and kissed it instead. "I don't know…rose petals seem to be a really big clue." I laughed excitedly and Dean grinned, leaning down to give me a big kiss. "Glad you're excited."

Suddenly my stomach plummeted. "Oh shit." He looked at me concerned. "I forgot Jo gave me this case that I told her we'd check out."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, I know. I found the folder on your lap and Sam and I looked over it. We're heading to Philadelphia to check it out."

"Oh, so that's why it's cold all of a sudden, huh?" I asked.

Dean smiled and shrugged, taking off his leather jacket to place around my shoulders. "That's usually how climate change works Andy."

I shrugged. "My body isn't made for cold weather alright? Sue me."

He snorted and turned around to grab more candy. "What do you want?"

"Hershey bars?"

He nodded, grabbing a few. He turned around and my eyes widened a little on how much candy he had. "We going trick or treating?" I asked and he smiled slightly.

"This…might have to do with our date tonight."

"Might?"

"I'm not sure yet," He said looking at the candy. "Wheels are turning."

I giggled. "Apparently very slowly."

He rolled his eyes and whistled to Sam, who gathered what he wanted and approached the counter with us. After we paid, a whapping fifteen bucks for candy and Gatorade, we headed to the car.

"So, you and Jo like best friends now?" Sam asked and opened the back door and paused, raising his eyes at the petals.

I shrugged. "No…just not tearing each other's hair out, that's all. She had a case, her mother yelled, felt bad and I took it."

"Stealing peoples cases now huh?" Dean asked opening the driver's seat and I shoved him, making him laugh.

"She gave it to me."

"I don't know Andy, gave and took are two different things." Sam quirked an eyebrow and went to brush the petals onto the ground.

I moved him and brushed the petals into my hands, gently picking them up and popping the trunk to put them back there. I don't care if we eventually threw them out when they wilted. I wanted to see them alive as long as possible. I could literally see Dean smile and roll his eyes ever so slightly at me doing it but I knew he felt good that the petals had meant something enough.

"Whatever," I said somewhat agitated and closed the trunk. "I just meant that I felt bad taking it because her mother wouldn't let her do it. But that doesn't mean we should ignore a perfectly good case."

Dean shrugged and kissed my head as I rounded the car to get in. "Good enough for me. Come on, we have at least an hour till we get to Philly."

"Having this case won't interrupt our date will it?" I asked guilty and he shook his head, taking my hands in his.

"It shouldn't." I knew he might just have been saying that so I didn't feel bad. He could have had something planned and if this went late we wouldn't be able to do it.

"I planned around the idea we would have some sort of case." He said. "So our reservation is for, like, twelve at night. I literally had to beg the guy on the phone."

"You begging, huh? I find that incredibly sexy." I said smiling and he grinned, kissing my lips and running his hands over my stomach inside the jacket and under my shirt. Then a thought occurred to me. A reservation meant at a restaurant and my stomach fluttered eagerly. "Reservation where?"

He smiled and I felt his hands brush the skin under my breasts. "I can't tell you that. It's a surprise."

I whined and I could see Sam lean up and honk the horn, making Dean jump and pull his hands out from under my shirt. I missed his warmth immediately but knew that we better get a move on anyway with this case if I wanted to go on that date.

I went to get in the car when Dean pulled me back and kissed me. "I can't wait to go on that date with you." He said and smiled, warm breaths puffing into my ear.

I shivered and smiled. I couldn't wait for the date and for what happened after…

O0o0o0o0

"I feel kind of bad, snaking Jo's case." Sam said quietly as he picked the lock to the apartment the last girl was found in.

"You feel bad?" I asked him as we all moved inside and Dean closed the door. "I'm the one who had to take it from her."

Dean shrugged and looked at the kitchen and the ceiling. "Yeah, maybe she put together a good file. But could you see her out here, working one of these things?" He shook his head. "I don't think so."

Sam turned on the EMF and moved it about, waiting for it to spike. It didn't seem so crazy to me. "Why not?" I asked Dean. "Her father was a hunter, just like mine, it's not so insane."

"Yeah, but you were trained basically all your life by two hunters. She went to school and then tended a bar. Not exactly great to put in the hunter's résumé."

I shrugged. "I guess so." Made me feel like Dean thought I couldn't do this job any more than Jo could. "Getting anything?" I asked Sam, wanting to think of something else.

"No, not yet. What's that?" He asked and turned towards a light switch on the side wall.

"Ew." I grimaced and walked over with Dean to observe what looked like grape jelly on the wall. I dipped a finger in it and swirled it around on the pads of my fingers, Sam doing the same. "Holy crap." I muttered. "That's ectoplasm."

"Well, I think I know what we're dealing with here." Dean said pausing; I wiped my hand off on my jeans and grimaced. "It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man."

I rolled my eyes and shoved him, making him think I got the jelly on his shirt.

Sam sighed a bit irritated, apparently not as amused that a giant marshmallow was after blonde girls. Eh, actually, it was pretty amusing when you thought about it and I smirked, causing Dean to smile.

"Dean, I've only seen this stuff, like, twice. I mean, to make this stuff, you have to be one majorly pissed off spirit." Sam said, drawing us back to reality.

Dean nodded, grabbing the EMF meter to shove in the pocket of the leather jacket I was still wearing. "All right, let's find this badass before he snags anymore girls."

We went back into the hallway, closing the door quietly. I heard voices down the hall and motioned for Sam to hurry the hell up. Jesus, how long does it take one person to close a door? Then I saw he had caught the sleeve of his jacket in the door and Dean was helping him pull it out. I rolled my eyes; two people on one door and it still took forever. He finally got it loose and the closed the door. Just as it closed two people rounded the corner and walked down the hall.

My eyes widened as Dean and Sam straightened up and pretended they hadn't been doing anything. Especially closing the door of the apartment we had just broken into.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, seeing it was Jo and apparently the superintendent for the apartments.

She looked at me surprised and I realized that I had just blown her cover ever so slightly. She looked like she didn't know what to do and suddenly she was running up to Dean, putting her arms around his neck. Dean froze, glancing at me and then Jo.

"There you are, honey." Jo said sweetly. She was referring to Dean. Sam saw my death glares and moved himself closer to me, snaking his hand down my arm to hold me in place. "This is my boyfriend, Dean, his buddy Sam and his girlfriend Andy."

Sam cleared his throat and smiled slightly, putting an arm around my waist seeing as how Jo had given our parts out for us. But I'll tell you what; we were having character changes as soon as Ed the superintendent left. She'd then be playing the part of grisly murdered girl in the apartment hallway.

"Good to meet you." Ed said. "Quite a gal you've got here."

Dean chuckled humorously, refusing to put his hands anywhere near Jo as she tightened her grip around his waist. "Oh, yeah, she's a pistol."

I shifted and Sam held me tighter to him afraid I'd break free and start tearing her hair out. Good thing too, because I planned on doing just that.

"So, did you guys already check out the apartment?" Jo asked.

I nearly groaned. Way to go Jo, how the fuck could we have checked it out? It was locked.

"How'd you get in?" Ed asked. And there it goes.

Dean cleared his throat. "It was open."

"When did the last tenant move out?" Sam asked and I saw Dean's eyes shift to the arm around my waist. He was running his teeth over his bottom lip, obviously annoyed by Sam holding me that tightly to him and I slightly shrugged my one shoulder at him, gaining his attention. What could he do?

Ed shifted and I was starting to feel really antsy in Sam's arms. Like a claustrophobia thing even though I was out in the open. "Oh, about a month ago. Cut and run, too. Stiffed me for the rent."

Jo laughed and I wanted to shove that cackle back down her throat. We made a deal that she wouldn't look at Dean like she wanted to ravage him and now she was touching him. And okay, seeing she really didn't have a choice when she saw us but God damnit, she could have thrown herself at Sam. Fuck, she could have thrown herself at me and I would have been happier than her arms all over Dean.

"Well, her loss, our gain. 'Cause if Dean here loves it, that's good enough for me." She smiled and squeezed him.

Dean was slightly pissed now and had a very tight smile on his face.

"Oh, sweetie." His voice was as tight as his smile and he smacked her back with his hand, surprising her a little. You could tell the hit had been kind of rough since most of it was muffled a bit by the jacket Jo had on. If she didn't notice before she knew now that Dean was a little less than happy. Surprisingly, that little hit on the back had relaxed me a bit, seeing as how Sam had a death grip around my waist and I couldn't move to get to her even if I tried to.

Jo cleared her throat and released her hold around Dean, pulling out a wad of cash to give to Ed. "We'll take it." Oh great, she apparently had had a few jobs in the corner before she came down here.

Ed looked a bit stunned and nodded, taking the cash. Eh, maybe he wanted to know what other services she offered. He headed down the hall and we all turned to look at Jo, Sam removing his arm from my waist.

She shrugged, looking at us. "What?"

I scoffed, nearing walking forward to cap her head off. "What?" I mocked her. "Are you flipping serious? What are you doing here? Does your mother know you're here?"

"What are you? My father?" She asked me, walking past to head into the apartment. No, good idea. I could murder her in there without witnesses. Dean and Sam be damned, they could pretend they saw nothing.

I bit my tongue, hoping this comment didn't spill out of my mouth. But when I saw Jo look at Dean and ask him whether he wanted to flip for the sofa, I nearly screamed. "I wish I was your father." I said angrily as Sam shut the door. "I'd tell you to forget this and go home."

No she was pissed. But at least she wasn't eyeing Dean like he was fucking free candy. "This is my case. I gave it to you!" She yelled.

Dean and Sam just kind of looked at each other and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Yeah, that's right, you gave it to me. Didn't realize it had a return date. Your mother wanted you to stay home Jo, she obviously doesn't know you're here."

"What are you gonna do? Call her and tell on me?" She asked childishly.

She had no idea how close I was to getting Dean's phone and doing just that. "I just might. I'm not having your blood on my hands Jo."

She sighed like she was tired. Oh, we weren't even close to being finished. The little topic of her groping my boyfriend still needed to be discussed. But I didn't feel like having that when Dean was right there. "I told her I was going to Vegas."

Dean scoffed. "You think your mother is gonna buy that?"

"You think I'm an idiot?" She asked and I shook my head.

"Don't make me answer that."

She glared at me. "I got Ash to lay a credit card trail all the way to the casinos."

Dean sighed, shaking his head. "You know, you shouldn't lie to your mom. And Andy's right, you shouldn't be here, either."

Jo rolled her eyes. "Well, I am. So untwist your boxers and deal with it."

I clenched my fists and glanced at Dean, turning to take off his leather jacket and sat in one of the arm chairs.

"Where'd you get all that money from, anyways?" Sam asked.

I smirked, rolling my shoulders and cracking my neck. I felt Dean come up beside me and sit on one of the patted arms of the chairs and rub one of my shoulders. I felt good he was doing this in front of Jo, any reminder she could get without me shoving it in her face was good.

"Keep it PG Jo, we don't need to know all the horny details."

She sent another glare at me and watched as Dean leaned down and kissed my shoulder. She then turned her direction back at Sam. "Working at the Roadhouse. A lot of hunters aren't that good at poker."

Dean's cell started ringing and I lifted up the jacket to fish through the pockets to look for it. Once I found it, my eyes widened.

"It's Ellen." I said. I glanced at Jo and for a moment she looked alarmed. Then she crossed her arms over her chest, daring me to open it and tell her mom where she was.

Oh, she should have known better. I opened the phone and smiled at Jo. "Yeah?"

I heard Ellen shift around frantically, asking me if Jo was with me. I felt bad I had to lie to this woman and knowing how pissed Jo had made me in the hall was I seriously just about to tell her she was right here. And that nothing would make me happier than to send her ass back home.

Ellen cleared her throat, obviously worried. She sounded like a mother who had lost their toddler in a mall. "She left a note she's in Vegas. I don't believe it for a second."

I played with the collar on Dean's jacket and looked at Jo, taking a shallow breath. Now Jo came towards me and her eyes were begging me not to say anything. She wanted to hunt. Like her dad had. Like I had wanted to when my dad was alive.

I sighed quietly and ran my hand over my forehead, damning my inability to ignore puppy dog like stares from other people that weren't Sam. "I haven't seen her."

Ellen's voice sounded like glass breaking. She knew I was full of it. "You sure about that?" She asked me.

I shook my head and felt Dean rub the back of my neck. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Well, please, if she shows up, you'll drag her butt right back here, won't you?" I rubbed my forehead and sat back, leaning against Dean's side. I shouldn't have been promising anything to this woman. I already felt horrible lying to her. Jo had no idea what it was like not to have a mother. She had no idea what I would have killed to have Ellen worry about me like that. To have a mother worry about where I was and who I was with.

I nodded. "Absolutely." I nearly bit my tongue on the reply.

Ellen seemed relieved as she talked. Like she actually believed I was going to tag Jo's ass all the way back to her. Which I should have been doing.

"Okay. Thanks, hon." She replied and hung up. I nodded absentmindedly and hung up the phone, handing it to Dean.

All I was going to end up doing was piss off Ellen Harvelle and that was seriously something I didn't want to do. I mean, I wasn't afraid of her or anything. But I knew what it was like to lose a family member and she had already lost her husband. Plus, she was a nice woman and a good contact to have in case we needed information.

"Everything okay?" Dean asked me, glancing at Jo and then at me. I shrugged and ran a hand over his thigh. When I looked up I saw Jo grinning at me and I squeezed Dean in an annoyed attempt to lay off some steam. Dean chuckled softly, obviously reading my thoughts about smacking Jo upside the head, and leaned down to kiss mine.

"Alright, let's get this case over with so I can drag your ass back home before your mom finds out and calls the cops, blaming us for kidnapping." I said wryly and Jo nodded, sitting down at the kitchen table next to Sam.

At least she seemed like she wasn't going to argue with me anymore. She knew the three of us could drag her back to the Roadhouse if we needed to.

"Okay well…where's my folder?" Jo asked and I almost got up from the chair, when Dean pulled me back, telling me he'd grab it. I smiled at him; he must have known how annoyed I was with this whole thing. He got up and crossed the room, rummaging through the duffel. He found it and handed it to Jo, coming back to sit on the arm chair next to me.

And there she was, doing it again! Staring at Dean's ass as he walked back over to me. I mean, how freaking obvious did him and I have to be? He had his arm over my shoulders and I was leaning into his side. He kissed my head again for Christ's sake. The conversation obviously needed to be had again and this time I wasn't going to be so nice about it.

"This place was built in 1924." Jo said, clearing her throat and looking in the folder. "It was originally a warehouse, converted into apartments a few months ago."

Sam got up and started pacing. "Yeah? What was here before 1924?"

She shrugged. "Nothing. Empty field."

"So, most likely scenario –- someone died bloody in the building, and now he's back and raising hell." Dean said and looked at me. I rubbed my face against his shirt, smelling the cinnamon that seeped through the fabric when I did so.

Jo looked at me somewhat agitated. Was she was jealous she couldn't do that herself or something? Maybe she thought since I was shifting my head against Dean's side I wasn't paying attention. Whatever. I didn't give one flying fuck about her reasoning. She needed to stop looking at Dean like he was hers. "I already checked. In the past eighty-two years, zero violent deaths. And I checked obituaries, mortuary reports, and seven other sources." She said, guessing Dean's next question. "I know what I'm doing." She answered pointedly.

I rolled my eyes. "I think the jury's still out on that one."

Sam sighed. "Okay. So, it's something else, then. Maybe some kind of cursed object that brought the spirit with it."

"We've gotta scan the whole building. Whatever we can get to, right?" She asked and I nodded, standing up.

"Right. So, you and me –- we'll take the top two floors."

Jo looked between me and the Winchesters. "We'd move faster if we split up."

I smiled tightly at her. "We are splitting up, sweetie. Into pairs."

She rolled her eyes. "You knew what I meant."

I nodded. "I lied to Ellen, you know, told her you weren't here. So if I were you I'd follow in line before I call her right back."

"You won't drop this case just to take me back home." She answered somewhat defiantly. It made me want to grab her fake blonde hair.

I scoffed. "Dean and Sam aren't four and are perfectly well enough to do this one job without me." I said, getting up in her face a little and added quietly. "Plus, with the number of times you've been checking out Dean today, I would love nothing more than to drag your ass all the way back to the Roadhouse."

Jo looked down, somewhat embarrassed. But I mean, what the hell had she expected? It wasn't like she trying to make her staring discreet.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, ignoring the looks of Sam and Dean as I headed outside the room to head upstairs. I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Jo and Dean as reached the elevator.

"Why aren't you with Sam?" I asked him.

"I'm just making sure you two get up there okay, told him I'd meet him down there."

I nodded and pushed the elevator button, waiting it to come down from the highest floor. This was awkward. And I mean, it shouldn't have been for me. This wasn't a love triangle for Christ's sake. Dean loved me and I loved him. End of story. Jo just standing around me made my stomach flip and do the rumba. She made me uncomfortable. Maybe because to her this was somewhat of a love triangle. And all she did, whether I was looking at her or not, was stare at something she couldn't have.

"I don't know if you noticed." Dean said, shifting on his feet and looking at Jo. "But you're kind of the spirit's type."

Another reason she shouldn't have been there. I pushed the lit up down button and waited impatiently as the elevator lurched down only a floor.

Jo nodded and moved around a weapon in her waistband. "Exactly. Quickest way to draw it out, and you know it." Dean rolled his eyes as I leaned against the wall. "You think women can't do the job?" She spat.

Did I not have boobs for Christ's sake? "Are you serious?" I asked her. "I'm standing right here."

"This ain't gender studies. Women can do the job fine. Amateurs can't." Dean said somewhat heatedly. But I wasn't sure if it was because she was annoying him or because she disregarded that I was standing right there when she made the woman comment. "Unlike Andy, you've got no experience. What you do have is a bunch of half-baked romantic notions that some barfly has put in your head."

Jo groaned; the elevator shifted two floors and I looked around for a staircase entrance. "And now, you sound like my mother."

"Oh, and that's a bad thing?" I asked. "Jo, you've got a mother that worries about you, who wants something more for you. Those are good things." I said. She had no idea how much I wanted her life. Wanted to be her just for that reason and that one alone. "You don't throw things like that away. They might be hard to find later."

And ding goes the elevator, signaling it was approaching the floor, saving us from a very awkward silence. Jo went into the elevator and I stood and held the door open.

"You can head to Sam. I got it from here." I said softly and he nodded, kissing me gently.

"Call me if you find anything." I nodded and went to go inside the elevator but he grabbed my arm. "Oh and Andy, try not to kill her okay?"

I smiled and rolled my eyes but nodded nonetheless. He smiled too and ruffled my hair as the door closed. I backed into the elevator and leaned against the mirrored wall as it went all the way up. I scoffed quietly, don't kill her, we'd just have to see about that.

O0o0o0o0o

So Jo and I fished around on the upstairs floor, not saying anything to each other except for the occasional 'find anything' every ten or twenty minutes. Dean hadn't called me yet so I'm guessing he hadn't found anything either.

As I turned the corner, and made sure Jo was behind me, she cleared her throat and muttered something. I turned around to look at her. "What?"

"I said, I'm sorry about before."

I crossed my arms over my chest. Oh, this ought to be good. "For showing up here or for hitting on Dean again?"

She shrugged. "For both I guess."

She guessed? As in, she wasn't really sorry for checking out Dean since she enjoyed it. I clenched my fist around the small flashlight in my hand and rolled my eyes. "You either are sorry or you're not at all. Pick one."

"I'm sorry for checking out Dean when I told you I wouldn't anymore. But you have to admit…it's hard not to look."

I found a small smile making its way across my face. The hard part was she was right. It was hard not to look at him, especially when you didn't see him as much as I did. I mean Jo wasn't the only one I ever found staring at Dean. Waitresses, check out girls at the mini mart, bartenders…random people on the street. I could name a lot more. I guess all of them never really irritated me as much as she did, though I couldn't exactly put my finger on why.

"Yeah, I get that. But the touching in the hallway is what really pissed me off." I said, somewhat softly. I knew if my voice went any higher I'd be screaming at her.

"I was thinking on my feet." Obviously something she wasn't great at doing. "Sorry."

She sounded like a broken record and honestly I didn't want to hear it anymore so I just nodded, turning in the other direction. "Come on."

So we ended up heading down the hall and came to the vent and she stopped. I asked her what it was and she shrugged, bending down to look in the vent. I sighed and shifted on my feet, finally deciding to bend down and look at what she was staring at.

She had an EMF in her hands and as soon as she crouched down it started freaking out. I smiled, thinking of the thing Dean had said to me when I found my first spirit. "Mazel Tov, you just found your first spirit."

She rolled her eyes and turned off the EMF as I took out a small screwdriver to unlatch the vent. I saw something in the back and it glistened against the small flashlights beam. I pulled back the vent and reached my arm inside, groaning as I pulled something out.

It was blonde bloody hair…with a piece of scalp attached to it. "Looks like somebody's keeping souvenirs."

O0o0o0o0

I looked at my cell, seeing it was half past ten and groaned as we reached our apartment room. It took forever to search the upstairs and as Jo and I headed back into the room, Dean and Sam still weren't there. There were more downstairs rooms, including the basement, then there were upstairs. So I wondered what time they'd be back.

"You want some coffee?" I asked her and she nodded, sitting on the chair Sam had been sitting on at the kitchen table.

I looked around the cabinets and saw coffee dispensers and a package of Foldger's coffee. "Score." I muttered, pulling it out and getting it ready.

"So…mind if I ask why you're so into Dean?"

"Mind if I ask why it's your business?" I muttered quietly and rolled my eyes. "Other than the obvious."

"Other than the obvious reason." She said finishing her sentence.

"So other than the fact that he's hot you wanna know why I'm into him?" I asked, filling up the coffee pot with water to pour into the dispenser.

I clicked on and turned to lean my back against the counter, eyeing her as she played with a dagger on the table. She then looked at me, her curious eyes meeting mine. For some odd reason she reminded me of Chrissie. Maybe that was why I was letting everything slide with her and wasn't jumping to tear her head off from what happened in the hallway. Chrissie always did shit like that and I just ignored it, letting it slide.

Jo was younger than me and she gave me this younger sister vibe that made me thank God I was an only child. But I sighed and nodded. Hell, why not tell her how Dean was wonderful? In a way it was like shoving it in her face, but as I started to tell her, I knew that's not why I was doing it.

"He just…makes me feel warm. And safe." I sighed, thinking how incredibly cliché it all sounded. But it didn't seem to be bothering her. "And I know that he believes in me, when no one else does." She smiled; it was encouraging. "I also know that, one hundred percent, he would never let anything happen to me."

"Because he loves you." Jo said; surprisingly understanding.

I nodded, hearing the door click open and Dean smiled at me as he and Sam came in. "Yeah..." I agreed and smiled at him too.

"You ladies find anything interesting?" Dean asked as Sam closed the door and locked it.

"I found a lock of bloody hair with a scalp attached to it." I said nonchalantly and both boys grimaced. "You?"

Sam shook his head, approaching the coffee to see how much more it needed to fill up. "No, nothing."

"Looks like I win in the gross department." I said and Sam nodded almost incessantly.

"So are we just going to head to bed then?" Jo asked. "See if we can find anything in the morning?"

Dean shrugged. "I guess so, who's sleeping where?"

"Well since you two are the only ones who actually sleep together here I'm guessing you want the bed?" Jo asked, eyeing me and Dean.

Dean shrugged again, like he really didn't care and I rolled my eyes. "It won't be so bad Dean." I said, going up to him and pulling on his arm to head into the bedroom. "Promise."

I could feel him smile and grab my hand as we went inside the room. As I closed the door he suddenly swooped me up in his arms and plopped me on the huge bed. God, it was one of those beds that it was so comfy you couldn't wait to sleep in it.

I nuzzled the back of my head on the soft pillows and felt Dean take my shoes off, working his way up.

"Have fun with Jo?" He asked entertainingly and I jerked my hips as he tickled the skin along the inside of my jeaned legs.

"You have fun with Sam?" I shot right back as I felt him unbutton my jeans to pull them off. He kissed my navel and nuzzled his nose against my belly button.

"I would have rather been with you." He replied softly, his breath hot against my skin.

I smiled and ran a hand through his spiked hair. "I'm sure."

He ran an arm under my back and arched it so he could pull my pants off. I removed his button down and his muscles flared under the white t-shirt he had on.

"We just gonna sleep in our underwear?" I asked and he smiled.

"Or naked…whatever you prefer." Right, like there was actually a choice.

He undid his belt and threw it aside. He ran his hand along my sides and rubbed my shoulders for a moment before lifting my arms gently above my head. He tugged at the end of the shirt and smiled again as he pulled it up to reveal my laced bra. The shirt went up and over my head and I looped my fingers through his belt loops, pulling on them. I pulled him down into a kiss and unbuttoned his jeans, pushing them down.

He switched gears and took over to pull his jeans off and I smiled against his lips, hearing them reach the floor with a soft thump.

Suddenly, I remembered something and I pushed him up. "What?" He asked. He looked like he thought he did something wrong.

"Dean, what about our date? You had a reservation." I said frantically, worrying this case ruined the whole thing. I never should have taken it.

"Hey, calm down." He said gently. "It's okay, I called and rescheduled. It's tomorrow night at midnight." He smiled. "Didn't have to beg this time."

I sighed and shook my head, leaning back down on the bed. He lay next to me and propped his head up on his elbow. "What is it?" He asked, stroking my hair. "Not excited anymore?"

I turned on my side to face him. "Of course I'm excited, you idiot. It's just, I hate this job sometimes. We can't even have a normal date without spirits and Jo and ectoplasm screwing it up."

He moved one arm around my waist and brought me close to him and I rubbed my nose against his neck, cinnamon rolling off him in waves. The scent was calming. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I wish that you could have a different life, ya know?"

I shook my head. "No, that's not what I meant. If I had a different life, I wouldn't be with you." I kissed him, showing him that's not what I regretted at all. "I just wish we had a little more time to ourselves that's all."

"We have time now…" He said suggestively, raising an eyebrow.

I giggled, feeling him pull me closer to him and I wrapped an arm around his waist. "Except that Jo's in the next room and we all know how incredibly not quiet I am." I wasn't really worried about Sam. I'm sure he knew by now, embarrassingly or not, what I sounded like.

He smiled, turning me on my back and leaning over me to nuzzle my neck. "Oh, let her hear you. She might learn something."

I giggled, pushing his chest. "Dean!" He smiled cockily and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down to kiss me. I felt him breach my underwear with his fingers and I raised my eyebrows, having my hand rub the skin above his briefs. It was a race now.

Maybe Jo hearing a few things wouldn't be such a bad idea.

O0o0o0o0

When I woke up Dean wasn't in bed next to me. I groaned rolling over and burying my face into the pillow he had slept on, taking in the scent his hair had left on it. I finally decided that I should get up seeing as how Dean wasn't there anyways. I sat up and stretched, looking towards the closed door and saw a stack of clothes on the end of the bed. I crawled out of bed, missing the warmth of the sheets and of Dean, and picked up my clothes. I smiled. Dean must have picked them for me, because underneath my jeans and shirt was my bra and panties, along with a note.

Went to get coffee with Sam.
Hope you like the selection :)

Love, Dean

PS. Behave. Contrary to popular belief, we do need to return Jo to her mother in one piece.

I rolled my eyes and put the clothes one, running a hand through my hair and disregarding a brush completely at the moment. I decided to just pull my hair up into a ponytail, figuring it was useless and that I needed a shower anyways.

I headed out the bedroom door and saw Jo sitting at the table with the research papers. How did she get her hair to look so nice at nine in the morning? Another reason added to the list of why I hated her.

"Morning." I said and she looked up and gave me a small smile.

"Hey."

"How long ago did they leave?"

She shrugged and set her knife down. "Ten minutes ago?" I nodded and sat down at the table. I must have looked somewhat ratty because she raised her eyebrows at my appearance. "Sleep well?"

I couldn't help a grin from spreading over my face. "I usually do." She grimaced and I shrugged. "What, you asked."

She laughed slightly. "Yeah, and now I'm regretting it."

Suddenly Dean and Sam came through the door and I looked up at them expectantly. They looked alarmed.

"What is it?" I asked, standing.

"Another girl went missing." Sam said and shut the door.

"Teresa Ellis –- apartment 2-F." Dean explained. He had obviously talked to a cop. "Her boyfriend reported her missing around dawn. Cracks all over the plaster –- walls, ceiling. There's ectoplasm, too."

"Well from that and the hair, I'd say this sucker's coming from the walls." I said and Jo nodded.

"Yeah, but who is it? The building's history is totally clean." Dean asked.

Jo was looking at a photo. "Maybe we're looking in the wrong place." She moved closer to me and I looked at the photo she had in her hands. "Check this out."

Sam and Dean ushered closer and stood in front of us to look at the photo. "An empty field?" Sam asked.

I scoffed, noticing what Jo was pointing out. "No, look at the one next door. The windows."

"Bars." Dean said and reflexively looked out the apartment window. "We're next door to a prison?"

So Jo called Ash, threatened him a few minutes, and then got some information about the prison that was built next to us. And of course, being a lovely prison, used to hang their prisoners in the empty field next door. Luckily, Ash got us a list of names. I groaned; 157 names. We needed to somehow narrow it down. I figured it was going to take a while or somehow we'd be digging up a lot of stiffs until Sam noticed a name.

"Herman Webster Mudgett?" Sam asked and thought for a moment. "Wasn't that H.H. Holmes' real name?"

Dean scoffed and looked at me. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Who's this guy?" Jo asked.

I shifted on my feet, playing with the coin around my neck. "The term "multi-murderer" –- they coined it to describe Holmes. He was America's first serial killer before anybody knew what a serial killer was."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, he confessed to twenty-seven murders, but some put the death toll at over a hundred."

"So, we'll just find the bones, salt them, and burn them, right?" Jo asked.

I cleared my throat, thinking. "Well, it's not that easy. His body is buried in town, but it's encased in a couple tons of concrete right?" I asked, looking at Sam.

Sam nodded. "Story goes that he didn't want anybody mutilating his corpse, 'cause, you know, that's what he used to do.

Dean scoffed, leaning his hands down on the table. "You know something? We might have an even bigger problem than that."

"How does this get bigger?" Jo asked and I smirked at the rooky comment. Oh, she had no idea how this could get bigger and more twisted.

"Holmes built an apartment building in Chicago. They called it The Murder Castle. The whole place was a death factory. They had trapdoors, acid vats, quicklime pits. He built these secret chambers…inside the walls. He'd lock his victims in, keep them alive for days. Some he'd suffocate, others he'd let starve to death."

I could literally see the little puzzle pieces clicking together in Jo's head. "So, Teresa could still be alive. She could be inside these walls."

Great. Break out the sledgehammers and crowbars.

O0o0o0o0

I sighed, running a hand over my face as Jo and I squeezed closer together in the wall. Man…whose idea was this again? Knew if Dean was here he'd have a joke to say about two girls smack up against each other. I could literally see his horny switch turn on.

"Okay. Call us after you check the southeast wall." Jo said, hanging up her phone.

I turned the flashlight and shined it down the small space. It was dusty and dark. Pretty much what you'd expect the inside of a wall to look like. "Well?" I asked her.

"Dean and Sam are almost done with the first floor. They haven't found jack squat either."

We turned a corner and the space was getting smaller, making my breathing a little shallower. I stopped, and leaned against the dusty wall. I could kick myself for getting cobwebs on my jacket later; right now I was too dizzy to move.

"What is it?" She asked me.

"It's too narrow. I'm getting claustrophobic."

Jo sighed but she didn't sound annoyed. Which was good because I was a condition that I would have smacked her. "Let me try."

She squeezed past me and looked down the space. "I can fit in there." She said, taking my flashlight and shining it down the corridor to make sure.

I opened my eyes to give her an incredulous look. "You're going in there by yourself?"

"You got a better idea?" She asked me and I sighed, shaking my head. "Call me on my phone."

I looked between her and the exit of the wall. I obviously couldn't go any farther without freaking out and at least if she was on the phone with me I'd know if she was okay. I nodded, still feeling a bit unnerved but pushing that it was my claustrophobia, and headed towards the exit. I dialed her cell and she answered on the second ring.

"Where are you?" I asked.

I heard rustling as she turned a corner. "By the north wall. I'm heading down some kind of air duct."

Bad idea bells were ringing in my head. "No, stay up here."

She sighed. "Andy, come on, we've gotta find this girl, don't we? I'm okay."

I rolled my eyes at myself and how much I sounded like a mother right now and adjusted my cell phone as I left the wall and turned into a hallway. "All right, I'm heading to you."

I kept hearing rustling as I walked down the hallway and suddenly Jo whimpered. I froze.

"What is it?" Her voice was shaking and a choked 'Oh, God' erupted through the phone "Jo? Jo!" I called out to her. She screamed and I ran down the hall to where she said she was and pounded on it. "Jo?" I cried, trying to get her attention.

I hung up the phone and redialed, pressing my ear to the wall. All it did was ring.

O0o0o0o0o

I ran back up the stairs, looking for Sam and Dean. I turned the corner and ran straight into them.

"Whoa!" Dean said as he grabbed my shoulders to prevent me from damn near knocking him over. "What is it? What happened?" He asked.

Tears were coursing down my face. "He's got her, he's got Jo. It's all my fault! I should have stayed with her."

Dean pulled my into a hug, running his hands down my back. "Shhhh…it's not your fault. We'll find her, all right?"

"Damn it." I swore, bucking against him slightly. I should have never let her out of my sight. She was my responsibility. Even as I told Ellen she wasn't here I vowed to keep her safe. I wouldn't be responsible for taking someone's loved one away from them. I just wouldn't be. What ever happened to Jo would be my fault. How would I ever explain that to Ellen?

o0o0o0o0