A/N: Guess who's back? Thanks for being patient while I got back into the swing of things. I hope those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving had a wonderful holiday. Thanks for reading. It's you guys who have kept this story going:) Enjoy!

MJ's left hand rested on the table, her fingers drumming out a constant, nervous rhythm as she anxiously awaited Dean's return. Sam sat across from her, perusing the menu and trying unsuccessfully to act casual. As MJ turned and scanned the parking lot for the fiftieth time, trying to catch a glimpse of Dean, Sam's irritation got the best of him and he reached out, covering her hand with his, halting her incessant tapping.

"Relax."

She shot him a look. "Look who's talking." She muttered before returning her attention to the parking lot. "What the hell is taking so long? What could they possibly be talking about?" She complained.

"He's only been gone ten minutes. And, uh, there was kind of a lot to fill Jenna in on." Sam's eyes returned to the menu, but his focus was on MJ. He was just as unnerved as she was. During their talk last night, Dean had insisted on being completely up front with Jenna about everything that had happened, starting with John returning, and not skipping any of the gory details. Well, except the part where there was a demon after MJ. Sam had made a feeble attempt to persuade his brother to edit the story, but Dean had been adamant that they wouldn't be doing MJ any favors by downplaying what happened. Sam couldn't argue with that. The problem was Jenna's report to the Judge was coming due and Sam was worried that recent events could affect her opinion and the Judge's decision about MJ's placement. Sam ran a hand through his hair, thinking that lately it felt like they were on the verge of losing MJ more often than not. MJ was clearly concerned about this as well.

But Sam had something else weighing on his mind. He and Dean had also decided that if they were going to keep MJ safe, then she needed to know about this demon or whatever it was that was supposedly after her. Otherwise they knew she would fight them on the new rules they were about to lay down. She'll probably fight us anyway, Sam thought shaking his head slightly. She was so much like Dean.

MJ's head shot up as Dean finally made his way back inside and joined them at their table, giving Sam a quick look that said, we're all good. Sam relaxed slightly, at the news that Jenna wasn't freaking out over what had happened.

"What did she say?" MJ asked, before Dean was even in his seat. Just then the waitress approached to take their order. MJ started drumming her fingers again at Dean's long winded breakfast order. Sam gave her an annoyed look that she just returned, drumming her fingers more rapidly. When the waitress finally walked away, it was Dean's turn to halt his sister's fingers. He turned to her, his hand still covering hers. "Quit it or we're switching you to decaf."

"Dean, would you just tell us what she said already?" MJ begged.

Dean released her hand, picking up his coffee cup. "Well, she wasn't happy about what you did, but she's not hauling you off to foster care." He said before taking a sip. "She wants you to call her so she can talk to you about…what happened with your mother. And she's calling in a favor so you can uh…kite with a therapist." Sam and MJ gave him matching baffled look.

"Kite?" Sam asked.

Dean groaned. "You know, like talking on the computer so she can see you."

"Skype?" Sam asked, trying and failing to hide his grin.

"Whatever. It's not common for therapists to do that, but she was willing to try and arrange it for us since it would be impossible for you to see someone on a regular basis face to face."

MJ made a face.

"I don't want to hear any arguments about it." Dean said pointing a finger at her.

She held her hands up, palms toward Dean. "I didn't say anything."

Dean took another drink of his coffee, giving Sam the 'it's time' look over the rim of his cup. Sam took a deep breath, folding his hands together on the table. Dean had been annoyed that Sam had left this morning, leaving Dean to do the dirty work and talk to MJ. Dean had decided Sam's punishment was that he had to be the one to fill MJ in on everything John had told them. Sam hadn't argued, but the truth was he hadn't left because he was afraid to talk to MJ about what had happened with Wendy. He left because if Dean was ever going to gain MJ's trust, he needed to be able to talk with her about uncomfortable things without Sam there to back him up. Clearly it had worked, because Dean had dragged the truth out of her and the two were on speaking terms. Sam considered this to be progress.

Sam cleared his throat, shifting his gaze to his sister. "There's something else we need to talk to you about." He began. He saw the alarm return to MJ's eyes. He wandered what she might be anticipating, and hurried to continue to save her from even more anxiety. "When Dad was here, he told us that there's a strong possibility that there's something, maybe a demon…looking for you. We don't know who it is or what it wants, but we have to assume it's a threat. We need to be really careful."

MJ was shaking her head. "Wait." She said, fixing Dean and then Sam with a frightened look. "Looking for me? What does that mean? And how does Dad know this?" She looked back to Dean, waiting for a response.

Dean sighed, a resigned look on his face as he turned toward MJ. "Wendy called Dad about a month ago and told him the reason she took off was because something was after you and it was going to try to use her to get to you. She said she needed to stay from you. We don't know what he wants with you."

MJ just stared at Dean, a frightened look on her face, trying to take all of this in. When she finally spoke, her voice was small and shocked. "Was it…the demon?"

Dean shook his head. "No Dad thinks it is a demon, but not the demon." Dean slid closer to her on the booth seat, placing a hand on her knee. "Listen uh, Dad said Wendy told him that this thing had come for you once before. Do you remember anything like that?"

She just shook her head, her face still full of dread.

Dean gave her knee a reassuring squeeze. "Hey. We're not gonna let anything happen to you, okay? Whatever this thing is, it's not going to get anywhere near you."

MJ looked down at her hands, gripping her coffee cup and gave a feeble nod.

"We'll figure this out, okay?" Dean cleared his throat and moved away from MJ as the waitress reappeared with their breakfasts. When she walked away again, Dean continued. "That's part of the reason things need to change around here. You thought you couldn't get rid of us before, we're gonna be up your butt 24/7." He said stuffing bacon into his mouth. "No more going for runs on your own or hanging out at the motel without one of us. You'll have to tag along wherever we go. And obviously, no more stunts like you pulled last night, although I sincerely hope that goes without saying."

She nodded quickly. "I know." When she finally looked up at them, Sam was surprised to see an expectant look in her eyes. "So if I have to tag along with you guys on all of the hunts-"

"That doesn't mean you'll be fighting with us. You're gonna be on the sidelines as much as possible." Dean interrupted her.

The excitement in her eyes vanished.

"But you are going to memorize some exorcisms. It won't hurt for you to be prepared, to know how to defend yourself. It can be part of your lessons with Sam." Dean said, waving his fork toward his brother.

"Lessons?" She asked, pausing with a forkful of scrambled eggs halfway to her mouth.

Dean nodded. "You need to get going on your school work. We decided Sam will work with you for an hour or two every day to get you caught up."

She sighed. "I can live with that."

"Are we clear on everything?" Dean asked her.

MJ exhaled. "Yeah." She said, picking up her knife and spreading jam on her toast. "I'm actually relieved."

Sam gave her a questioning look. "Relieved?"

"Well, yeah. I didn't know what you were going to come up with, but I guess it seems…reasonable. I mean I'm a little freaked out about this demon business. But at least I know Jenna's not putting me in foster care. Plus it's such a huge relief knowing that my mother's alive." As soon as the words had left her mouth an odd look came over her face and her knife clattered onto her plate. Her cheeks grew crimson as she looked up first at Sam and then Dean.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

"You've known for nearly 24 hours that my mother is still alive and you waited until now to tell me?" When neither of them answered she continued, tears springing to her eyes. "How could you keep that from me? You know how worried I was that something had happened to her."

"Whoa. MJ, we weren't trying to keep it from you. It's just, with everything going on with Dad and this demon business, there wasn't time to sit down and talk about it." Dean defended.

"There wasn't time?" She practically shouted. Sam glanced around the busy diner, noticing several people were looking at them. "Jesus, Dean, do you even care? She's my mother."

Dean set his fork down, fixing MJ with an exasperated look. "You know honestly MJ, I was a little preoccupied tracking your butt down!"

"Guys, let's take it down a notch." Sam said. If either of his siblings heard him, they chose to ignore him.

"You should have told me as soon as Dad told you. Shit, he should have told me himself." MJ ranted.

"Well, I'm sorry I wasn't jumping for joy at finding out that the woman who pimped you out and then abandoned you for four months was alive and well. That's not really cause for celebration in my book." Dean said in a harsh whisper.

MJ just looked at him for a moment. "Let me out." She finally said, a lone tear making its way down her right cheek.

Dean didn't budge from the booth, blocking her in.

"I'll scream." She threatened in a quiet voice, eyes locked with Dean's.

"Hang on!" Sam shouted at them. "That's enough. Both of you just calm down. MJ you're not going anywhere. Didn't we just get done telling you that you can't go off on your own, not even for a minute?" Sam turned to his brother, giving him an admonishing look that said fix this. "Dean." Was all he said to him.

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "I'm sorry. It's not like I hoped that something bad had happened to Wendy. I just didn't even think about how important it would be to you to know she had contacted Dad. I should have realized how much that would mean to you and told you right away."

MJ didn't say anything, but she stopped trying to get out of the booth and looked down at her half eaten breakfast, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Are we cool?" Dean asked after the waitress returned to freshen their coffees.

At MJ's nod, Dean continued. "I got a call from Bobby. He thinks he has a case for us. Lincoln, Nebraska. Three women have been murdered in their homes. In all three cases, their doors were locked and there were no signs of forced entry."

"How were they killed?" Sam asked.

"Their hearts basically exploded." Dean answered, matter-of-factly.

"No, that doesn't seem strange at all." Sam said sarcastically.

"I think it's worth checking out." Dean said, pulling out his wallet. He tossed money down on the table. "Better hit the head. Got a long drive ahead of us." He said, standing up.

Sam nodded, heading toward the bathroom. MJ stood and began to follow Sam. Dean stopped her, sticking out his arm in front of her. "Listen, I can't help but be angry with her, MJ after what she's done to you."

"I know." She said simply.

"And I am sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."

"I get it, Dean." She looked up, meeting her brother's eye. "But no matter what she did, she's still my mother." She headed off to the bathroom, leaving Dean looking after her, a contrite look on his face.

Sam was waiting for her in the short hallway where the bathrooms were located. "I'll meet you right here." He said before pushing the door to the men's room open and stepping inside.

MJ rolled her eyes as she stepped into the bathroom. They weren't kidding about being up her butt. She splashed some water on her face and combed her fingers through her hair. She was dreading the long car ride to Nebraska. Normally she didn't mind the long drives, had become used to it, but today she was sure she would spend the hours thinking about what Dean and Sam had just told her. Imagining what kind of horrible creature would find her and…She shook her head, grabbing paper towels and drying off her face. She couldn't afford to think like that. She needed to just focus on this new case, her school work and learning how to better defend herself. This, she knew would be her best distraction. Dean had taught her the basics the first few weeks she was with him, but she knew there was so much more her brothers could teach her. She pulled open the bathroom door and made her way into the hallway, wondering if Dean would let her learn to shoot a gun, when her phone buzzed in her jeans pocket. She looked down to retrieve it and ran face first into something solid with such force that she stumbled backward, flailing as she tried to regain her footing. She landed on her butt, on the floor, looking up to see that the something she had run into was actually a person. A tall, blond guy, who looked as surprised as she was.

"Geez." He said looking down at her. "You okay?" He extended a hand to her.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry." MJ said reaching out to accept his hand. The moment he grasped her hand in his, the room seemed to tilt and everything went blurry. MJ was bombarded with fleeting images flickering in front of her eyes. A roaring filled her ears. She couldn't breathe. She knew what she was seeing wasn't really happening, but it seemed so real. She tried to focus on each image before it disappeared only to leave another in its place. She saw a blond man, who she recognized as the same man standing over her, descending on a woman. The woman looked terrified. The image shifted. MJ saw the same frightened woman, this time with her arm in a cast, running down a hallway, the blond guy pursuing her, fury plain on his face. Another shift and the woman was cowering on the floor, her arms over her head while he hit her again and again. Then, as suddenly as they had begun, the images stopped, and the room slowly came back into focus. The floor felt steady underneath her once again, and she took a gasping breath, realizing she hadn't been able to breathe since she took hold of the man's hand. The roaring quieted, and she looked up at the man. She quickly yanked her hand free of his.

"Get away from me." She managed, still trying to catch her breath. She scooted back away from him.

The man took a step toward her, looking confused and alarmed. "Hey, I'm just trying to help."

"I said get away!" MJ was panicking, her back was now against the wall, and she couldn't seem to find the strength to get to her feet.

"MJ?" The first thing Sam saw as he opened the door of the men's room was MJ sitting on the floor. He registered her petrified expression before he realized there was someone else in the small hallway. He turned toward the man standing over his sister. Confusion gave way to anger as Sam approached the man, shoving him back, away from MJ.

"Get away from her!" Sam growled before crouching down in front of MJ. "Are you okay? What happened?" He asked, looking her over. She didn't look hurt, just scared as hell.

"Hey, it was just an accident, man. Then she freaked out when I tried to help her up." The man argued, clearly irritated.

"I'm okay, just please get me out of here." MJ said urgently.

Sam pulled her to her feet, gripping her arms tightly. She wobbled, and Sam had to steady her to keep her on her feet. "What did he do?" He spat, wanting answers for why his sister was in this condition.

"Hey, Pal, I just told you, I didn't do anything. She just went ballistic!" The man tried again. Sam didn't bother turning to look at him, but could tell from the man's voice that he was getting anxious. Good, Sam thought. He should be worried.

"Are you hurt anywhere? Tell me what happened?" Sam asked, still gripping her arms tightly.

"Fuck it." He heard the man mumble behind him before turning to walk away.

Sam released his hold on MJ and turned, intent on keeping the man here until he had some answers, but MJ pulled him back toward her, gripping a handful of his shirt sleeve with her fists. "Sam, please. Just get me the hell out of here!" She begged. When Sam turned back to face her he could see she was near hysterics. Her face was ashen and sweaty and she couldn't seem to catch her breath. Sam heard the man turn and bolt, but knew he couldn't follow him and leave MJ alone. Where the hell is Dean? He thought as he placed his arm around her waist and pulled her arm up over his shoulder, half carrying her through the diner and out the door into the parking lot.

"Do you want to sit for a minute?" He asked her, canting his head toward a bench in front of the restaurant.

She shook her head quickly. "Just help me get to the car." Sam bit his tongue. He considered stopping, sitting her down on the bench and refusing to go any further until she told him what had happened inside. He kept moving though, seeing the Impala a short distance away, Dean pacing beside it, his phone to his ear.

"Okay just a little further." Sam said to her.

Dean looked up as they approached the car, and stopped dead in his tracks when he took in MJ's appearance.

"Shit." He cursed, quickly snapping his phone shut and grabbing MJ's other side when they drew level with him. "What the hell happened?"

Sam pulled the back door open, guiding MJ inside so she was sitting sideways on the seat, her feet on the ground.

Sam was hovering over MJ, who looked up meeting his eye, still looking frightened but nowhere near as panicked as she had inside.

"What the hell went on in there, Sammy?" Dean stood beside Sam, his eyes on MJ, but his question directed at his brother.

Sam crossed his arms over his chest his eyes never leaving MJ. "That's exactly what I'd like to know."