Hello my lovelies! Sorry for not updating sooner. It was finals week here so I was a tad bit busy, but I'm back now! Thank you so much to everyone who commented and if you haven't commented, please do! I love hearing what you all think.

Sorry if it's still a little slow-moving, next chapter things will get moving, I promise!

xoxo Zabby

TEN DAYS LATER

Jo flung herself down and beat her fists against the cold concrete floor as she screamed. She was still in the seemingly endless hallway, searching for a door that seemed to have disappeared entirely. Jo had no clue how long she'd been looking for Dean's door, but she knew it had to have been at least a week since she last saw him. During that time, Jo had searched the hallway, peering into the window of every door she passed, but she hadn't been able to find the door that would lead her back to Dean.

Her Dean.

Jo hadn't stopped moving since she'd been back in the hallway, but now she did. She felt the exhaustion wash over her, not physically, but emotionally. Physically Jo was fine; all of her human needs (like sleep, food, water, etc) had vanished since she first appeared in the hallway, which she didn't particularly miss. Jo's emotions, however, were wearing out; the determined attitude she once possessed was fading rapidly and she was losing hope. All Jo wanted was Dean and maybe a nice bath, preferably simultaneously, but instead she was stuck in this godforsaken hallway.

"Where is it? Why are you hiding him?!" Jo screamed, praying that once, just once, the Voice would answer her questions. She'd holler at the Voice every now and then, but it never answered; Jo never really expected it to, but it was worth a shot, right?

Jo punched the floor once more before sitting up, angry tears running down her face. She wiped the tears hastily as she continued slowly down the hallway, staring blankly into the windows she passed. Jo was about four doors down when she saw something that made her halt. On the other side of the door laid an elderly woman. She was lying on a hospital bed with what looked like a translucent skeleton hovering over her. Jo screamed and pounded on the door, but the door vanished seconds later. Jo's heart raced and her brow furrowed with confusion. In all of the doors, she hadn't seen anything remotely supernatural, but now…

"Hey!" she shouted, hoping the Voice wouldn't notice how shaky she sounded, "What the hell was that?!" As always, there was no reply. Jo huffed as she moved on down the hallway, nervously playing with the torn edge of her tank top as she walked. She walked for what she guessed was about five minutes before she discovered the door she'd been searching for this whole time.

Dean was lying on his back in the bed of one of Bobby's spare rooms with a worn out book titled Ghosts and Apparitions of Ancient Egypt resting on his chest. Dean himself was fast asleep, his mouth hanging open and, although she couldn't hear it, Jo was certain he was snoring.

Jo smiled at his sleeping form as she placed her hand on the doorknob, twisting it gently and expecting it to swing open into Dean's world as seamlessly as it had last time.

Naturally, the door didn't open.

Jo swore loudly. "Hey! Mind unlocking the door?"

No answer.

Jo groaned. She threw herself against the door, yanked the doorknob and pounded her fist against the window until her knuckles bled. She considered picking the lock, but she didn't have anything to pick the lock with…or did she?

Jo pulled up the leg of her jeans and retrieved the paperclip she'd used to fix her old anklet a few months back. Grinning triumphantly, Jo stuck the paper clip in the lock and started working. After a minute or two of struggling with her paperclip, Jo was finally able to unlock the door. She stood up with a triumphant grin and looked in the window-finding Dean still fast asleep.

Jo opened the door softly, not wanting to wake Dean. She glanced at the clock: 7:24. Judging by the light outside, it was 7am. Jo grinned; 7am was a perfectly fine time to wake someone up! Trying to be as quiet as she could, Jo crept closer to Dean's bed, staring at him for a second more before sliding into bed next to him.

Jo carefully picked the book up off Dean's chest and set it on the night table before lying on her side and tucking herself under his arm. She rested her head on Dean's shoulder, inhaling his strangely sweet motor oil and whiskey scent. Dean's arms immediately wrapped around Jo, pulling her closer. He turned his head towards Jo, burying his face in her hair and softly kissing the crown of her head. Jo smiled into his chest as she closed her eyes and snuggled closer. "Good morning," she whispered.

Dean smiled. "Mmm, good morning, Jo… Jo!?" Dean's eyes flew open as he sat straight up, taking Jo with him.

"I was wondering when you'd notice!" Jo laughed, giving him a peck on the cheek.

Dean scooted back to lean against the headboard, pulling Jo over so she was straddling him. Jo grinned at Dean for a second before putting her hands on either side of his face and giving him a long, sweet kiss. After a minute or two of kissing and marveling at the feeling of having her back in his arms, Dean just rested his forehead against Jo's and stared into her dark brown eyes. "I can't believe you're here," he whispered with a grin.

"Me either," Jo answered honestly, smiling and bumping her nose against Dean's.

"God, I missed you."

"Not as much as I missed you," Jo whispered with a sad smile. Dean pulled his head back and gave her a small kiss. Jo crawled off of his lap and sat next to Dean, his arm slung casually over her shoulders. "So what've you been up to lately?"Jo asked, playing absentmindedly with his free hand, "I'm surprised you're still here."

Dean watched as she traced little circles on the inside of his palm. He shrugged as he replied. "I haven't done anything really. I told Sam and Bobby that I saw you and they both think I'm insane."

"So no hunting then?"

"Nope, Sammy's gone a couple times, but apparently I'm too 'emotionally unstable'," Dean said, rolling his eyes and freeing his hand briefly to make quotation marks in the air.

Jo smiled as he placed his hand back in hers. "Well, just wait til they find out that they're the crazy ones."

A grin spread quickly over Dean's face as he leapt up from the bed. Jo squeaked in protest when Dean grabbed her, slinging one arm under her knees and one around her back so he was carrying her bridal-style. Jo threw her arms around Dean's neck, kicking her legs and shrieking. "Where are you going?"

"Come on," Dean said with a grin as he marched down the hallway with her.

"I don't think I have much of a choice!" Jo laughed, clinging to his body for dear life.

As they made their way downstairs, Jo could faintly hear Bobby and Sam discussing a potential case. Dean was so excited he practically ran into the living room where the two were talking. He cleared his throat loudly, causing Bobby and Sam to turn their heads. Jo watched their jaws drop when they saw her resting in Dean's arms.

Jo's cheeks burned red as she said, "Dean, put me down!" Dean obliged, setting Jo down gently and grinning over her head at Bobby and Sam. "Uh, hi guys," Jo said, flashing a smile and tucking an unruly strand of hair behind her ear. She took a step towards the men and was greeted with a small handful of salt thrown at her face which was followed by a large splash of holy water. Jo sputtered slightly and wiped her face with her hands.

"Dude!" Dean protested.

"Thanks for that, Sam," she said, her voice laced with sarcasm as she accepted a hand towel from Dean.

Sam smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

Jo moved forward to give Bobby and Sam each a brief hug before returning to Dean's side. Jo bit her lip and looked down, trying to contain the smile and blush that threatened to overtake her face when the still-grinning Dean threw his arm over her shoulder again.

"It's good to see ya, kid," Bobby said, "but why are you here?"

Jo sighed. "Honestly, I have no idea."

"Where were you before this?" Sam asked. Jo did her best to explain the hallway and the Voice; she wasn't reassured when she saw the confused look on the men's faces.

"So this Voice, it just calls you when it wants you to go back?" Dean asked, his brow furrowed.

Jo nodded. "Yeah, that's what happened last time anyway," Jo replied. "Something tells me you guys have never heard of anything like that," she added dismally.

"Can't say that I have," Bobby said, rubbing the back of his neck. "You know how long you'll be here?"

"No clue."

"Then we'd better get to work,"

Sitting at the rickety dining room table with a gigantic pile of books, Jo spent the next half hour being interrogated by Dean, Bobby, and Sam (but mainly Sam). Jo answered dozens of questions about the hallway and the doors and what had been going on inside of each door. Bobby identified the flying creature Jo had seen as a reaper, although no one had any clue as to why she would've seen one in the first place. Dean sat next to Jo the entire time, either with his arm around her shoulders or holding her hand. He just couldn't seem to get enough of her, not that Jo was complaining. Dean was her safe haven.

He was her home.

Eventually, Jo couldn't stand spending another precious minute talking about the hallway. "Thank you, gentlemen for listening to my tales, but I'm about to blow my brains out. Mind if we continue this conversation later?" she asked, standing up.

"Uh, yeah. Sure," Sam answered, turning his attention to one of the ancient books in front of him.

Bobby couldn't help but smile when Dean and Jo left the table holding hands and grinning at each other like a couple of love-struck teenagers. Bobby was no matchmaker, but he'd always thought Dean and Jo would be good together. The rational part of Bobby's brain wanted to protect Dean, knowing that whatever was going on with Jo wasn't going to end well, but a bigger part of him, the almost fatherly one, loved seeing Dean so utterly delighted. Bobby hadn't seen Dean this happy in a long time and he wanted his boy to enjoy it, even if it later meant heartbreak. Might as well let the two be happy, at least for a little while.

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Dean led Jo outside to show her the VW Rabbit that he'd smashed a few days ago, which he now referred to as 'Jo's car'. Jo beamed as she once again circled the car, trailing her hands up and down the newly smoothed doors. "I'm impressed, Winchester," Jo said with a grin, turning back to Dean and throwing her arms around his neck.

Dean smiled back, putting his hands on her hips to pull her closer. "I'm glad you like it."

"You must've spent a lot of time working on it. Last time I saw it, it looked a little worse for wear," Jo said.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure working on this car is what's been keeping me sane," Dean said with a slight chuckle.

"Does it run?"

"Not yet," Dean replied somewhat sheepishly, "but the radio works." He pulled away from Jo and crawled into the tiny car, twisting the key that was already in the ignition. After punching a couple of buttons, a static filled version of "Can't Fight This Feeling" blasted from the Rabbit's tinny speakers. Jo felt a grin spread across her face as Dean got out of the car and sauntered towards her. He extended one hand as he asked, "May I have this dance?"

"Yes!" Jo laughed, taking his hand as he spun her towards him. Dean held her close as they danced, filling the crisp November morning with the sound of their slightly off-key voices as they both sang along at the top of their lungs.

At first they waltzed, or at least tried to; neither of them were very good dancers, but they couldn't have cared less. The waltz eventually evolved into a sort of salsa, which quickly turned into more of an interpretive dance. By the time the song ended, they both were laughing so hard they had tears streaming down their faces.

Sam and Bobby watched them from the kitchen window. "They sure are idjits, aren't they?" Bobby asked with a sad smile. "I don't think I've ever seen Dean laugh that hard."

Sam shook his head. "Me neither…" he added dismally. "Bobby, what's gonna happen if we can't find a way for Jo stay?"

"I don't know, Sam; I really don't know."

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