Hello my lovelies! I'm sorry it took me so long to update! I have a long list of excuses, but I will spare you and just let you go on with your reading. :)

Sam couldn't remember the last time he and Dean had had separate motel rooms. Maybe they never had. It was Sam who insisted that Dean get a separate room. It was Dean's first Valentine's Day with Jo and Sam didn't want to be anywhere near their inevitable, ah hem, celebrating. In fact, Sam even went as far as to make sure Dean and Jo had a motel room three doors down from him. Sam wanted to be close to his brother just in case they had some kind of emergency, but he'd gotten quite an earful staying in the bedroom next to them at Bobby's and Sam was more than delighted to spare himself that horror.

Dean had summoned Castiel sometime last week, filling him in on Jo's return and their quest to find the Horsemen. Cas had promised he'd let them know if he found any clue to the Horsemen's whereabouts and he'd kept that promise, appearing early this morning and telling them where Famine was headed. So Sam and Dean had packed up and headed to the town. They'd gone their separate ways (Dean heading to the morgue to confirm what they already knew and Sam to interview the roommate of one of Famine's victims) and Sam had stopped to grab a few burgers, knowing that his brother was just as hungry as he was. As he approached his brother's door, he could hear the loud voice of his brother accompanied by another voice that could only belong to Jo Harvelle. Sam took a deep breath to prepare himself for the war that was sure to be occurring inside as he gingerly swung the door open.

The two were standing on opposite ends of the room, Jo with her arms crossed stubbornly over her chest in a way that made her look entirely too much like her mother while Dean paced back and forth in front of the door like a madman. Neither did as much as flinch when Sam walked into the room.

"For the last time, Dean, I'm coming with you," Jo declared firmly, all traces of affection she'd once shown Dean gone and replaced with a murderous glare.

"No, you're not," Dean responded just as firmly, pausing to pinch the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger, a clear indicator that he was insanely stressed. Sam set the greasy bag of fast-food down on the counter of the kitchenette, his eyes never leaving the bickering duo. He felt like he should say something, but the fear of what an angry Dean (or worse, an angry Jo) could do to him caused him to keep his mouth shut.

"Why!? I'm not just some kid anymore, Dean; I've been hunting for years and I can take care of myself!"

"Jo you're dead!" Dean hollered.

"Which is exactly why I'd be the perfect hunter! There's no way he could hurt me because there's nothing to hurt!"

"She's got a point, Dean. I mean, I doubt Famine's powers will have any effect on her," Sam added from his perch on one of the beds. He would've explained further, but the look of death his brother was shooting his way cut off all comprehensible thought.

"Shut up, Sam!" Dean roared. "What if he finds out about you? What if he learns about Tessa–?"

"He won't!" Jo interrupted hastily. "We'll kill him before he gets the chance to find anything out."

"Do you have any idea how insane you sound?!"

"Do you have any idea how insane you sound!?"

Gathering up what meager courage he had, Sam stood up and positioned himself between the enraged couple. "I think you both just need to calm down for a second."

"Dean, what's the real reason why you don't want me to go with you? Worried your manhood would be threatened by a girl tagging along with you?" Jo sneered, leaning around Sam to throw a glare at Dean. "Or is it that you don't think I could handle it because I'm just some innocent girl who needs to be protected? Here's a newsflash for you, buddy, I don't need you to protect me. I'm more than capable of protecting myself!"

Dean ran his hands through his hair as he resumed his pace around the motel room. "That's not what this is about, Jo."

"Then what is it about!?" Jo screamed, walking completely around Sam so she was standing mere inches away from Dean.

"Because you're my weakness, Jo! Don't you get it!?" Dean exclaimed, grabbing Jo by the shoulders and shaking her lightly. "Tessa said that Famine brings out the things people really starve for in themselves: sex, attention, drugs, love… Hell, even Cas's meat suit is craving red meat." Dean placed his hands on either side of Jo's face, tilting it up and staring into her eyes. "If you were in that room with me, with Famine, there's no telling what I'd do to you, what he'd make me do to you." Dean's hands trailed down Jo's arms and he held her hands, letting his head drop as the terrors of the endless ways he could hurt Jo flashed through his mind.

Jo's hands freed themselves from his grasp and moved to tilt his face upwards, meeting his eyes once again. "You can't hurt me, Dean. I'm dead, remember?" she said softly, finally seeming to understand why Dean wanted to keep her out of this hunt.

"This bastard is affecting everyone and I just – I don't want to risk it, not with you. Please Jo, stay out of this one," Dean begged.

"Okay," she whispered, leaning forward and resting her forehead against his. Dean breathed a sigh of relief. "But I demand helping with all of the future hunts," Jo insisted, pulling her head back and giving him a fierce look.

The tension in the room immediately lessened as Dean rolled his eyes and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "You're a tough negotiator, Harvelle." Jo just arched her eyebrows and tilted her head slightly, daring him to say no to her. "Fine, but just as long as they aren't cases with the Horsemen, got it?" Dean asked, extending a hand.

"Deal, but I like to seal my deals crossroads-style," Jo said, flashing an impish grin before pulling Dean down into a ferocious kiss. Sam's eyes widened.

When the two broke apart, Dean had sort of a dazed look in his eye. "Are there any other ways you'd like to seal this deal?" he implored, arching his eyebrows seductively.

"You know it," she breathed, leaning towards him to press a heated kiss against his lips as she pushed him towards the bed, obviously forgetting that there was a third person in the room.

Sam let out a strangled yelp as he fled the room. He could hear Dean and Jo's faint chuckles as he darted down the hallway, clutching his hamburger bag for dear life.

#.#.#.#.#

The past 24 hours so didn't go at all how Dean expected. Famine was far more powerful than he'd imagined (Dean was extremely glad he didn't let Jo go in there with him), the number of deaths was unreasonably high and Sam… God, he didn't even want to think about Sam. His wails echoed through the walls of Bobby's house and, although Cas reassured him that it wasn't really Sam, that is was just the demon blood talking, every single one of his little brother's shrieks pierced Dean like a knife.

Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Sam with the gory ring-shaped stains of demon blood circling his mouth and blood dripping from his nose as he exorcised all the demons that were inside Famine. Dean would never admit it, but he was afraid of his brother. He'd never fully seen what Sam was capable of and it scared him shitless. He never wanted to see his brother like that ever again.

Wandering outside, Dean paused at the Impala to take a swig of whiskey, but, as he raised the bottle to his lips, he had the overwhelming urge to be sick. So he set the bottle down while tears built up, obstructing his vision.

#.#.#.#.

Dean knew Jo was behind him before she wrapped her arms around his waist.

Okay, I know it wasn't the best chapter, but bear with me. The second part of this chapter will be better! I'm hoping to update again sometime this week. Tell me what you think!

xoxo Zabby