Authors Note: A light bit of fluff before we get back to the angst.

Fate, God, and Karma

John had stayed at Bobby's a few weeks and at the end of it, they were something like friends again, though it was friends with resentment, because Bobby was still clearly angry with him. At one point, he'd suggested that shooting John in the other leg might make him feel better, but John didn't think he was really serious. Mostly, anyway.

So, after those few weeks, they shook hands and John went back to the Roadhouse to finish healing up. He'd even been sleeping in the boys' room instead of his truck, because they were out hunting and Ellen insisted they hadn't been having sex in the bed. Yet. Jo had jumped in, saying that was Sam's doing and Ellen looked surprised and John really just didn't want to know.

Thankfully, Bobby had gone for a clean shot, straight through, nothing that wouldn't heal completely with a little time, and as he rounded out the second month of down time, he wasn't even limping anymore and the boys were heading back to meet up with him. Of course, John suspected they'd have been heading back anyway, because he'd woken up that afternoon to Ellen yelling something about what the hell was Dean thinking and he thought he heard the words bank and FBI and "I have my sources, which are apparently a hell of a lot better at calling me with important god damned news that you are, Dean Winchester."

Chuckling to himself, John leaned against the weapon's shed and stared off at the expanse of dry grass land. Parts of Nebraska were rich with green, rolling hills, but Ellen and Bill had picked just about the most barren spot they could. There was something about it, though, something that was just as beautiful as lush greenery.

With a sigh, John dropped his head back and pulled his jacket tighter around himself. It had been a long, hard couple of months. He'd had time to think, but he still wasn't sure how he felt about it. He was proud of Dean and Sam both. They were good boys, good Hunters. He saw himself in Sam and Mary in Dean and every once in a while they would do something and he'd see the kids they'd once been, before he left.

But the incest… he just couldn't quite wrap his head around that. Even with the space away from Dean's constant teasing and lewd comments, it was still hard. Strange thing was, he couldn't think less of Dean for it. He thought maybe he should, but he just couldn't. So, he wasn't going to say anything. He wasn't going to rise to Dean's bait when they got there, because he knew Dean would start poking at him the second they stepped out of the car.

"John?" He lolled his head to the right in time to catch Ellen coming around the corner. "There you are. I was wondering where you'd got off to."

"Just taking a moment to get some peace and quiet before they descend."

She chuckled and took a spot up next to him, "They do make a ruckus."

They stood in silence for a while, before Ellen spoke again. "You planning on going out with them this time?"

"'Course. Hasn't felt right letting them go off on their own the past few months."

"Oh, you worry too much about them." He looked at her sharply, but she didn't so much as flinch. "Oh, I yell at them plenty, but, truth be told, they are more than capable of taking care of themselves. In fact, half the time I yell at Dean, it's just to keep him humble."

His mouth twitched involuntarily. "The other half?"

"The other half is when the boy doesn't have the sense god gave a spider monkey."

Laughing, the tension eased off him and he shook his head. "You are a wise woman, Ellen Harvelle."

"I do try." They turned to face each other and John's smile faltered. They hadn't been flirting. They hadn't even thought about it. Ellen certainly wasn't entertaining the idea of getting involved with any other Hunters and John had too much to deal with as it was to even think about a relationship on any level.

Later he was going to blame it on the setting sun and the casts of purple and pink across her face and the soft look in her eyes at that particular moment. He would say it was a second of insanity brought on by only having been with a hand full of women since the disastrous incident in Minnesota that resulted in Adam, which he didn't think he'd ever tell Sam and Dean about.

Ellen just let herself get caught in that look in John's eyes. With four kids and a bar to run, it had been a long time since she'd been alone with a man and longer since she'd had one around long enough to give her that particular look. The one that said she was more than just a hard woman leading a hard life, more than just someone to respect.

John's hand touched the side of her face and she thought, just for a moment, that maybe they shouldn't. Then his lips brushed hers and the thought fled, along with her good sense and where did that leave her on lecturing Dean when she couldn't even sum up enough to do anything more than open her mouth under John's probe and shudder when his hand touched her hip, slipping up under shirt to cup her waist. Skin to skin and it had been so damn long.

She sagged against the wall and John took her lead, following her with his body and moving to grip the back of her head, just at the nape of her neck. His weight was warm against her and she was aware of just where his burgeoning erection was pressed against her lower abdomen.

With shaky fingers, she unfastened the two buttons holding his over-shirt closed and got her hands under it, grabbing the waist of his jeans, working the fastenings and the zipper with ease she didn't even know she still possessed.

Then fate and god and karma caught up with her.

"Ellen, we're ho… oh, my god!"

For several seconds, all she could manage was to stand there, sure that her stunned expression was a perfect match for Dean's, who was standing just as stock still at the edge of the shed.

Then Dean snapped out of it and fate and god and karma decided to deal her another blow. "Sam?!"

Ellen and John jumped apart, pulling their clothes down and brushing them straight like that was going to make the whole thing look any better. Like Sam wasn't going to figure out in about two seconds what people did behind sheds that would get Dean in a twist.

"What?" Sam's voice wasn't too far off and followed by a car door shutting. Had she really missed that car pulling up? Dean's music alone could usually be heard a mile off, let alone the engine he had on that thing.

"Get over here!"

"I'm hauling our five bags of laundry, you get over here!" But his voice was already closer and a moment later he came around the corner, five duffels draped over his broad shoulders and a clear look of annoyance. "What?"

Dean pointed forward, accusingly, "Dude!"

Finally Sam looked over and for a second, he didn't get it. For one shining second, he looked at them and smiled like he was gonna say hello, then he caught on. His smile faltered, his mouth set in a surprised 'oh,' before the grin was back, full faced and dimpled. "Come on, Dean."

He used his one free hand to take Dean's arm and Dean pulled out of the lose grip after only a few steps. "What?!"

Sam was still smiling that smile that was all kinds of too happy for Ellen's liking, especially considering the situation. "I said, come on. I'm starving and you promised to cook something."

"Only because you said you didn't mind getting poisoned and that is not the issue here. They were…" the finger was back, "kissing."

"That's all?" Dean faltered and Ellen, who'd just about gotten her voice back, suddenly lost it again. "Dad, seriously, Winchester name on the line."

Then he threw Ellen a wink and was pulling Dean off again, only this time he was keeping the grip hard enough that Dean couldn't pull out and Ellen could hear them talking, but not what they were saying, because she was too busy pinching her nose between her fingers.

John stared at her for several minutes, working through what just happened. Finally, he gave up. "Ellen?"

"Hm?" She didn't look up.

"What was that?"

She did look up now, "That was me owing Sam one."

"One what?"

"Free pass." She shoved one hand through the loop of her well worn jeans and ran the other through her hair, "We aren't the first ones to get caught back here and Sam was just reminding me of that. Consequently, it would probably be a good idea not to come back here unless you know exactly where they are."

She started to walk off, but a hand on her wrist stopped her and she looked back, raising an eyebrow at John who just smiled back. 'What the hell,' she thought as he pulled her back to him. She'd worry about hating herself in the morning.