It really shouldn't have been so surprising that Ellen knew where Jo was, but it was pleasant anyways as Alyssa got out of the car and headed into the bar. It was a long enough drive from Nebraska all the way out to Duluth, Minnesota but it was worth it to see Jo. She double checked the name of the place before she walked inside. Jo was just calling out, warning or perhaps reminding the last patrons that they were closing up soon. Alyssa still wasn't entirely sure of who's idea it was that sent her here, whether she wanted to see Jo or whether Ellen had merely sent her to check up on her daughter but either way was fine with her. Those first few weeks at the Harvelle's had gifted her with a friendship to the youngest.

"Aly!" Jo exclaimed, waving as Alyssa headed over to her. "What are you doing here?" her smile fell, "How did you even find me?"

"What, you thought you could escape Ash?" she teased. No one could disappear that well on Ash –there was always a trail or something that he could follow them with.

Jo sighed, "No, well I had hoped." She managed another smile, "Did Mom send you here to babysit me?"

"Not really sure, actually. I can't tell if it was my idea or hers that I come see you –but I'm not complaining!" She grinned at her friend.

Jo laughed, "It's good to see you too."

Chapter Three, Call Me When You're Sober

Alyssa washed her hands, glancing at her appearance as she grabbed some paper towel to dry them. The black dye was still hiding her blonde roots, but she knew it wouldn't be long before she needed to dye it again. She gingerly set a hand on her head, touching the dry strands wistfully. She missed her natural hair color and how her hair used to be so silky smooth and soft to touch, now it was practically coarse and a dried out mess. She sighed, knowing that the loss was a little one.

She moved back towards the bar area, spotting Sam and Jo. She frowned a little, noticing the way Sam was leaning closer to Jo. A pang hit her, harder than she had ever expected anything to ever really hurt again. It shouldn't have been quite so surprising that Sam was trying to move on from Jess. It had already been a year.

Sam laughed and drew back, "Boy. You're really carrying a torch for him? I'll take that as a yes. It's too bad, 'cause see Dean he likes you, sure, but not in the way you'd want. Little Kat already has that spot taken, or didn't you know?" He paused then, and Alyssa wished she had stayed in the kitchen for longer. "I'm not trying to hurt you Jo, I'm telling you because I care."

Alyssa frowned, about to take a step, determined to stop this. Whatever it was. Something in her gut told her that this wasn't the way things were supposed to be and the way Sam was looking at Jo was enough to warrant an intervening presence. But then she noticed Jo's signal. It was something she had taught Alyssa back when she first started working at the Harvelle's and they were worried about a guy getting a little carried away. There were three signs; one meant that they were fine, two meant to be watching him and three meant go get help. Jo's fingers flashed a two –don't intervene, but keep a close eye in case the other needed help. Alyssa settled back uncomfortably, not trying to focus on ignoring their conversation but watching Jo and Sam's body language to tell if her friend needed help.

Alyssa was standing in the shadowed area that led to the kitchen, not particularly concerned if Sam did happen to look over and notice her. She hadn't heard much from either him or Dean since he'd left to go to Indiana. She relaxed when Sam got up and turned to leave, watching Jo with concern. Whatever Sam had said, was more than unnecessary. Suddenly Sam turned back, crossing over to Jo in a matter of seconds and grabbing her. Alyssa froze in shock for a moment, long for Sam to have Jo pinned against the bar. Her eyes locked onto Alyssa's as she grabbed onto the beer bottle, a silent plea in them as she attempted to swing it at Sam. He easily pinned her arm, shattering the bottle harmlessly before he slammed her head against the bar.

Alyssa wasn't a hunter. Sure, she spent her fair share of time around them and they had all taught her a few tricks. More than a few. However, she was average height and Sam was a giant. And all of her tricks were for killing monsters. Sam was still Sam, still essentially human. She couldn't fight him, not without losing. So she dialed the only number she knew who could help her, a number Ellen had given her before she left, while she raced into the kitchen and grabbed the nearest container of salt.

"Sam?" the voice was familiar, and evidently very worried about his brother. If he'd bothered to check his caller ID he might have realized that it was an unknown number.

"He's here! Duluth, Minnesota, at the Duluth Bar! He got J-" Her salt line wasn't complete and Sam slammed the door open, scattering what little she had managed to make a line out of.

Sam grabbed her, shoving her against the kitchen table. Alyssa let the cell phone drop from her hands and Sam crushed it under his boot easily, scoffing. "What kind of a fight was that? Pretty pathetic I'd say."

Alyssa didn't bother to say anything, knowing it wouldn't change anything as she studied his facial expression, not fighting his bruising grip. Was Jo okay? She hoped that she would be.

"Oh sweetie, what good did you think it would do?"

"Get out of him," Alyssa growled. There were a lot of things Alyssa didn't know about, but there was one thing she had learned to recognize. Where other hunter couldn't pinpoint what was wrong with Sam, because of the many possibilities, the only monsters Alyssa really knew anything about were the ones that had been chasing her for a year.

The demon blinked, eyes flashing black like they always did. "And how would you know it isn't me?" Alyssa struggled then, trying to put a little distance between the two of them as Sam moved closer towards her. "Hmm little Sammy here doesn't seem to think you're a hunter… you keeping secrets?"

"As if I'd tell you anything!" Alyssa snapped. It was more than fool hardy, the little room she'd managed to acquire was lost as the demon slammed her against the table, pinning her there without even having to use any supernatural power. Sam was strong enough on his own.

"Hmm… Alyssa, Alyssa, Aly- ohhhh." In Sam stopped to chuckle, "The Alyssa Jones, right here before me. Wow, guess I can count myself lucky huh?"

She froze, staring up into Sam's green eyes. In the back of her mind that fear pounded, telling her that she should be running. She couldn't stay at the Roadhouse, it wouldn't be right if she did that.

"Oh sweetie," the nasty tone that Sam's voice had was downright chilling. "I'll be telling the boys downstairs about you."

For a moment, she was trapped right where the demon had her held. She didn't want to hurt Sam but she had to get away before this demon called back-up. Alyssa didn't know what was so special about her, but ever since the night Sam left, these things had been after her. And a part of her suspected that it was due entirely to Sam and that was not the reason she was mad at Sam. She was furious with her once-friend because he had abandoned her, and not only had he done that, he had left her with the blame for Jess's death. Not intentionally, never Sam –but the FBI were tracking her down because she was listed as a suspect. If Sam had spent even five more minutes around? Maybe things could be different. But as things currently stood, Alyssa could never be herself again. And to top everything off, the FBI agents who she had encountered in Arizona were not actually people. Well perhaps they were, but they had demons controlling them that seemed unusually interested in her.

Alyssa wasn't going to give them a chance to find out much about her. She had nearly been killed. And the only hope she had left, was that Sam would fix up the misunderstanding. But when she tried to call him, she couldn't get through and by the time she could, she discovered that the number no longer belonged to Sam Winchester. So she was a little more than pissed off at this point with Sam. Sure, he had his reasons. But she had her own too.

The next thing she knew, Sam had grabbed her a fistful of her hair and slammed her head against the table much as he had done to Jo earlier. Alyssa struggled futilely against the walls of blackness that descended, until they consumed her and left her in the confines of unconsciousness. She didn't wake up until there was a thundering groan as a car started up. There was a pulsing ache behind her eyes, a headache ready to turn into a migraine, and her hands and feet were tied. Duct tape seemed to have been plastered over her mouth and she was lying in the backseat, stretched out across the leather seats.

Where was Dean? She wondered. Where was Jo? Was Jo even alive? She shifted, testing the strength of her bonds to find that there was nothing she could do to escape them. Her encounter with the demons in Arizona was a little different, having left her close to death before she'd gotten away but here she was simply trapped. Alyssa kept still, trying to clear her thoughts and focus them so that she could think of a way out of this situation. Because that was the best hope she had right now.

The drive was long and uncomfortable. And it was almost a relief when the car finally came to a stop, as Alyssa waited for her opportunity to try and break free when the demon went to release her. Instead, she found that the demon was getting out of the car, locking the doors and leaving her behind. Knowing that it was futile but desperate to do anything, she waited until she was relatively sure that Sam wouldn't be returning anytime soon before she tried to kick the nearest window out. It didn't budge at all. And it was more exhausting than anything else. But that didn't diminish her fear or even reduce it.

Alyssa whimpered around the tape, feeling it pull uncomfortably much as the rope chafed her ankles the more she kicked at the window. She finally gave up, resting her feet against the window, panting heavily. If she had even felt the window so much as move, then the hopeless feeling she had been fighting might not have been so bad. But as it was, there was no opportunity for escape here. That was, until the car door was unlocked and then opened rather unexpectedly.

"What the hell –" Dean stopped himself, shaking his head. He yanked a knife out of his back pocket and sliced through the rope on her hands. And then he turned away and all but jogged into the house –leaving Alyssa to finish the rest of her situation on her own.

Which was perfectly fine as well, considering her hands were free. The first thing she did was try to ease the duct tape away, hoping that her perspiration would loosen the adhesive. It didn't, at least not enough to make a difference and she felt stinging tears come to her eyes. The demon was one clever bitch, since she had duct tapped across her mouth with an X shape. Not only that, but it was going to take a while to work the duct tape off considering she could barely open her mouth so that she could even try to work on the adhesive. Because that was supposed to work –she'd read more than one account about the liabilities of duct tape and the dangers it posed for an essay.

She worked on removing the knots from her ankles, sitting up and easing herself out of the car. Her whole body was stiff. She stood up, working on stretching and getting the kinks out of her body. Alyssa looked at the auto wrecker's in front of her, watching the house cautiously. Dean could probably handle Sam, but he could use a hand. However, she was likely to be more of a liability than an aide. And if he did manage to save Sam, there was the distinct possibility that he could need help after that. Never mind the fact that Alyssa was going to need help with the duct tape. So long as she had some lotion or something, it wouldn't be too bad to get the tape off.

She entered the house cautiously, following the tormented scream to see an older man pressing a hot poker to Sam's forearm. For one moment, she was left standing there in absolute horror, watching as the black smoke billowed out from Sam. Her heart pounded inside her chest and she found herself collapsing back against the floor. It had been a very long night. And it wasn't about to get any shorter, she gathered as she watched Dean throw a nasty right hook in Sam's direction before he passed out.

And then, it seemed to be a flurry of movement as the older hunter and Sam both realized she was still present. If she had been standing a mile away from Sam, she still would have been able to see the guilt. His shoulders dropped, and he had that hurt puppy-dog look on his face that made it unbearable. Alyssa may not have caused him the pain and sure he was inflicting it on himself, but she didn't need to see that. Some vengeance seeking ex-friend she was. She sat down on the chair that the older hunter –Bobby, she learned his name was –offered her. He handed her an old bottle of lotion and she started applying it.

Sam tried to divide his time between his brother and Alyssa, but he seemed to spend more time at Dean's side. Probably because he didn't feel quite so guilty over that one, and Dean was in rougher shape than she was anyways. Duct tape was nowhere near the same level as a gunshot wound and a couple of head punches. By the time she had the duct tape off, Sam and Dean were ready to go and she placed a quick phone call first to Jo and then to Ellen. And then she was ushered into the backseat of the Impala again, with both of the brothers for a long drive back to Nebraska. Most of which she wasn't going to remember later. But there was one snippet of conversation she overheard, somewhere in her exhaustion that stuck with her.

"Sam... you have to know something about her."

"I told you Dean, we haven't seen each other since college. It's not like I can just go up to her and ask -she's made that clear."

"She's just gonna keep popping up under foot -at least take the time to teach her something before she gets killed."

"Oh yeah?" Sam sneered. "Like the other hunters or Ellen haven't taught her a thing or two?"

"Well yeah, because I mean think of what Gordon could teach her. Or Jo. You teach her, you teach her right. Who knows what those assholes could teach her."

"Dean, drop it." The weariness and pain in those three words was surprising. "It's too complicated. And anyways, she's made it clear she doesn't want anything with me."

Could things be different, then? Right now, could this very conversation turn into something entirely different? It had always been too much to hope for. Sam had Jess, Alyssa had Brady. It had been impossible. Had been. But had been's didn't account for much now, when they weren't in the way. And it wasn't as though she had miraculously forgotten that Sam's negligence had caused this trouble in the beginning. It was just that, it suddenly didn't seem to matter quite so much. Because Sam probably had a reason. And he certainly wasn't forgiven -but it was past time for them to sit down and talk about it.

And just as this gets good... It's time to introduce Dean's girl next chapter. Enjoy ;)