Two Years Later

Chapter One

"I'm telling you, man, if you just cut it, this wouldn't be a problem." Dean bit back a laugh as he watched his younger brother struggling to keep his hair out of his eyes in the strong wind.

"Shut up," Sam snapped back, pushing his hair back again. "Let's just get this over with."

The brothers walked into the coroner's office, glad to be out of the way of the icy gusts. The place was deserted except for an elderly secretary working the desk.

"Hello, ma'am," Dean said, putting on his best smile. "Agents Smith and Jones, FBI." Dean whipped out his fake badge, Sam doing the same beside him.

"Hello, gentleman!" The secretary smiled back. "How may I help you?"

"We're here investigating the death of Mr. Thomas Gregory."

"Alright. If you'll follow me." The secretary started moving towards a door in the side of the room, gesturing for them to follow. The brothers exchanged a look. Usually people took a little more convincing than that. Shrugging, Dean put it down to her old age, and followed after her, Sam close behind.

They walked down the plain white corridor, the secretary chatting excitedly the entire time.

"Tom's death really was a shame. He was a good man. Always checking on people, helping out where needed, you know? He and his wife would always bring me goodies for the holidays. You see, since my husband died, I've been living by myself, and I don't get out much. Don't really like talking to too many people. Well, I guess that's obvious since I work at a coroner's. But I always enjoyed it when Tom would come by…."

The secretary continued talking, not noticing that Dean had obviously stopped listening. He didn't much care for the gossip of old ladies. Sam was good at listening to old people, nodding at the appropriate times while the secretary chittered away. Dean had just started wondering how the burgers were at the diner they had passed by on the way into town when Sam's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"I'm sorry, did you say other FBI agent?"

"Well, yes, there was a young woman in here yesterday to look at Tom. Hopefully you will be able to solve this case quickly with three agents on it, right? Tom deserves justice, he really was a good man...here he is!" The secretary opened a drawer lining the wall and pulled out the body. "Poor man, he…" she was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing shrilly. "If you'll excuse me? I'm the only one working, and I need to get that. Take all the time you need here." She walked briskly out of the room before the hunters could inquire more as to who the other "FBI agent" was.

"Think it's another hunter?" Sam asked, zipping open the body bag.

"Probably. This isn't really a case the FBI would be worried about." Dean walked over to the body. "Not that she needs to know that," he added with a jerk of his head.

"True." Sam leaned in to examine a wound in the cadaver's neck. Two small puncture wounds, side by side. "I think we were right. Vampire."

"Yeah, and it seems they had a nice feast on Tommy here." Dean replied, holding up the chart. "Sucked dry of all blood when he was found."

"Looks like they had him for a while," Sam said, looking at the bruises on his wrist. "Held him captive."

"Which means there's an old hut or abandoned house or some other creepy-ass place around here where he was kept. Come on, Sammy, let's get out of here and grab some grub. You can start looking up creepy local joints." Dean punched Sam's arm lightly and walked out of the morgue before Sam could reply.

Even though he knew his brother couldn't see it, Sam gave Dean's back his best bitchface.

Sam slammed the trunk of the Impala shut and walked around the car to join Dean at the front. Even though this was a small town, it was rural, meaning there were a lot of old houses out in the surrounding wilderness. Sam had managed to find 7 abandoned structures within the vampire's hunting ground. They had visited two already, and had found no evidence of captives or bloodsuckers.

Sam nodded to Dean, and they silently moved forward, machetes in hand. They slowed as they neared the door and stopped to listen.

Sounds were coming from inside the house. There was definitely someone, or something, in there.

Quietly, they sneaked into the house, watching for any sudden movements. They carefully checked each room as they passed, making sure it was void of any bloodsuckers or victims before moving on. As they moved down the hall, the sounds got louder, clearer. It sounded like something heavy was being dragged.

Suddenly, a person walked backwards out of a room at the end of the hall. Both Winchester's froze, watching.

The other person froze too, apparently becoming aware of the other people in the room. She whipped around, facing them, pointing a gun at their heads.

All three relaxed as they saw who they were facing.

"Jo!" Dean said in surprise at the same time that Jo said "Sam, Dean!"

Dean laughed and walked towards Jo, pulling her into a tight hug. Sam quickly followed, doing the same.

"What are you doing here?"

"What's it look like I'm doing here? I'm finishing a job. Now help me with this vamp. There's another one back in the room."

Jo and Sam each grabbed an end of the dead vamp and carried it outside into the snow, then went back in to help Dean drag the other one out. Quickly they salted the bodies and set them ablaze. They stood in silence, watching the flames for a moment before Jo spoke up.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I feel like a beer. Coming?"

"Absolutely," Dean answered, Sam nodding beside him.

"Then let's go. You're treat."

"Hey, I didn't agree to that."

"It's the least you could do, considering I did your job for you."

"You mean you got lucky and got here first. If Sammy hadn't insisted on going to those other places first…"

"Woah, don't drag me into this. I don't remember you helping with the research."

"Yeah, well, point is we would've gotten this if you hadn't been here."

"Exactly. You would've, but you didn't, so you're buying. Let's go." Without waiting for an answer, she turned and started walking towards the front of the house.

Sam glanced at Dean and hid a smile. His brother wasn't used to being around someone who was as much of a smart-ass as he was.

The brothers quickly followed Jo around the house, and were surprised to see her head towards the Impala.

"Where's your car?" Sam asked as they approached.

"'Bout half a mile down the road in a ditch. Blew a flat on the road up here, and pushed it off the road to keep it hidden."

"Did you not have a spare?"

"That was my spare."

"Geez, first a drink, now a ride, you're a demanding girl," Dean teased.

"But I'm worth it," Jo flashed a smile at him as she climbed into the back seat.

Sam and Dean climbed into the front seat, and Dean expertly maneuvered the muscle car down the icy slope of the mountain. Whoever thought that building a tiny town on the side of a mountain was an idiot. And whoever thought of building houses even higher up said mountain was a moron. Dean wasn't at all surprised that Jo had had car trouble on this icy road. The road was getting icier and more dangerous as night slowly set in.

"Wanna stop and get your car?" Dean asked as they drove down the road.

"Nah I'll call someone to get it when I get back to the motel."

"How's your mom?" Sam asked, turning slightly in the seat to face her better.

"She's, uh, great. The Roadhouse keeps her busy." The slight pause in Jo's voice told Sam something was off.

"She doesn't know you're here, does she?"

"Not exactly," Jo answered slowly.

"Where's she think you are?" Sam inquired.

"On a road trip with a friend."

"And where exactly is your friend?" Dean asked from the driver's seat.

Jo gave a small smile. "Well, right here. Got me two great friend's right here." She patted their shoulders. Her smile disappeared when she saw the look the brother's exchanged.

"Does anyone know you're here, hunting?"

"No, not really."

"Jo, what they hell were you thinking? As if this job isn't already dangerous enough as it is, you run off to hunt two bloodsuckers with no back up and with no one knowing where you are. Are you trying to get killed?" Dean asked heatedly.

"Hey, this isn't my first hunt, I know what I'm doing."

"Doesn't matter. Accidents happen to the best of us. That was incredibly stupid of you." Sam retorted.

Jo looked indignantly at them. "That's a bit hypocritical, don't you think, considering your history."

"Yeah, but that doesn't make it any less stupid," Dean said heatedly.

Jo paused for a moment. "I know. You're right."

"Then why'd you do it?"

"I had to get away. Mom and I kept fighting for no reason. I just couldn't take it anymore. When I heard about the vamp problem out here I decided to get away for a while and cool my head. I'm planning on going home after this."

Sam and Dean were silent. They had both been in that position before. Hell, being in that position was what had pushed Sam away to Stanford. They understood where she was coming from.

The passengers were silent for a few moments as the Impala sped down the road.

"Just, promise us you won't go off like this without at least giving us a heads-up about where you're headed." Sam said after a while.

"Yeah, I promise." Jo answered quietly.

The rest of the ride to the bar was spent in a lighter mood, the hunters joking and laughing the whole time.