Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who took the time to post a review or to favorite or follow this story. Please keep it up. While I write largely for my own enjoyment and to see the stories that are rattling around my head in print form (and it usually takes me a few tries to settle on the version I like best), I really like knowing other people are enjoying my work too.
CHAPTER 4
Jody pulled into her driveway and parked beside the Impala. She frowned when she saw Sam leaning against the vehicle's hood, studying something on his phone. Grabbing the hunting knife from the seat beside her, she exited her vehicle and headed in Sam's direction. "What's going on?" she asked as she approached. Since she didn't see Dean and Krissy, she assumed they were in the house, and she was curious why Sam wasn't with them.
"Hey, Jody. I didn't expect you so soon." He said looking up. He glanced at the time on his phone and realized it had been close to an hour since they had left her office. "Guess time flies," he said with a shrug of his broad shoulders and a grin that caused his dimples to appear.
"Don't make me ask again, Sam," Jody responded a little impatiently. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the tall man.
"Ask what?" Sam sounded a little confused.
Jody shook her head in disbelief. For such an intelligent man, Sam Winchester could be really dense at times - only she didn't know if he was truly that clueless or if it was a totally feigned act. "Why are you out here? Where are Dean and Krissy?"
"Oh," Sam said, blushing a bit in embarrassment at his lack of understanding. "Dean and Krissy are having a … um … discussion." He shrugged again. "I'm giving them some privacy. " He held up his phone. "Dean will text me when they're done."
"A private discussion?" Jody questioned. She knew enough hunters and hunting families to know how disciplinary matters were handled. She'd seen enough in her office to know that Dean Winchester was no exception to that rule and had a pretty good idea what was happening between him and Krissy. "I take it she got to strike three?".
Sam grinned slightly. "You could say that. She somehow thought it would be a good idea to throw something at Dean's head in an attempt to run off. Needless to say, he didn't take that very well."
"I can only imagine just how well he took that," Jody responded. "Oh," she said, as she noticed Sam eyeing the towel-wrapped knife in her hand. "I took this off Krissy when I arrested her. I figured you or Dean might want to hang onto it and give it back to her when she's ready." She held it so she could study the handle a moment. "It looks like it's a good knife."
Sam accepted the hunting weapon from her and tested its balance and weight. Even with the protective covering around the blade he could tell it was perfectly balanced and would be easy to weild. "I wonder if it belonged to her father," he mused as he moved to the rear of the Impala and opened the trunk. He glanced over at Jody as she moved to join him. Her eyes widened when she saw the arsenal hidden there. He opened a couple of different boxes until he found one with a foam lined compartment that would hold the blade and protect it from damage. He removed the towel covering from the blade and laid the knife in the box and, after closing the lid and fastening the latch, he stepped back to close the vehicle's trunk before handing the towel back to Jody.
"So how do you and Dean know Krissy?" Jody asked as she moved to toss the towel through the open front passenger window of her cruiser and then to lean against the back of the Impala. She figured there was a story there.
"We really don't, or at least not that well," Sam replied. "We first met her right after Bobby died. Her dad, Lee, was a hunter and had given her Bobby's number to call if she needed help. She called, and I answered the phone. Her dad had gone off on a hunt and hadn't returned or checked in. I went to see what I could do to help while Dean stayed behind at Bobby's." Sam shrugged, remembering what had happened. "I did some investigating and discovered that Lee had gone after a group of vitala. I gave her Dean's number in case I didn't check in or return within a couple of days and went after him."
He hung his head and smiled sheepishly as he described what had happened next. "I managed to get caught by the same group of vitala who had taken Lee. We were trying to figure out how to get free when Dean showed up to get us out of there. Krissy managed to sneak in and kill one of the vitala, too. Afterward, Krissy told us she and her dad were getting out of the life."
Jody turned to face Sam and studied him for a minute. "There's more to that story, isn't there?"
Sam grinned, causing his dimples to show in his lean cheeks. "I found out from Dean later that when I didn't check in on time Krissy called him. He went to her place and found out from her where I'd gone. He tried to leave her behind, too, but she … ah … forced him to take her along - at gunpoint, apparently."
"Really?" Jody asked, not quite believing what she'd heard. Somehow she couldn't picture Dean Winchester letting a teenage girl give him orders, even if she was holding a gun on him. She'd pictured him more of the type to snatch the gun from her hands, then turn her over his knee for daring to pull it on him.
"Dean said it was easier and faster to just take her along than to fight her, plus he was pretty sure she'd just follow him if he didn't. He figured if he took her with him, he could at least keep an eye on her." Sam gave a quick snort of laughter at the thought. "When he found where Lee and I were being held, he handcuffed her to the steering wheel of the Impala. Even though Dean took her lockpick from her, she used a bobby pin to pick the lock on the cuffs and was able to free herself just in time to show up and get in the way. Let me tell you, Lee was less than happy that Dean had brought her along, and Dean wasn't too happy with her either."
Jody grinned. "I'd bet. I wish I'd been there to see Dean's face when she showed up." She paused a moment. She knew that couldn't be the only time the Winchester brothers had met up with Krissy Chambers. The way they'd interacted and Krissy's insistence on calling Dean had indicated that.
"That's not it, is it?" she asked.
Sam shook his head and his expression turned serious. "Last year we ran into Krissy again at a vampire hunt. She told us Lee had been killed by a vampire, and she'd been taken in by a hunter named Victor Rogers. He was training her and a few other kids to be hunters. He referred to them as the next generation of hunters - an army of well trained soldiers." The scowl on his face as he spoke of Victor Rogers told Jody exactly how Sam had felt about the other man and his well trained army.
"To make a long story short," Sam said, not wanting to go into a lot of detail about Victor and that whole mess, "Victor ended up dead. We offered to take Krissy to her aunt, but she wanted to say there with her friends. She said they would take care of any vampires that showed up locally, but they wouldn't go looking for a hunt. Dean told me he wasn't all that happy about it, but he didn't figure there was all that much he could do beyond having Garth check in on them periodically. We hadn't heard anything from or about her until you called Dean this morning."
Sam paused as his phone dinged to signal an incoming text message. "Looks like it's clear for us to go in," he said, as he read the text.
"Yeah, I figured that," Jody responded as she nodded toward the front porch. They watched as Krissy paused to wipe tears from her face with her shirt sleeve and then rubbed at her backside. She then began sweeping something up on the porch floor.
Turning back to Sam, Jody asked, "you know what she threw at Dean?"
"No, I don't," he responded thoughtfully. "He caught her at the front door, so it may have been something around there."
Jody was silent as she continued watching Krissy clean up her mess. She stiffened when she recognized a larger piece of vase the teenager had picked up and put in her dust pan.
"You okay?" Sam asked, concerned at Jody's sudden reaction. "What's wrong?"
"I think I know what she broke," Jody said quietly. "The ceramic vase beside the front door. My husband bought it for me a few months before he died."
Sam grimaced. Of all the things Krissy could have thrown at Dean, it had to be that, he thought. He sighed and said, "I'll let Dean know." He began composing a text message for his brother.
Jody watched Krissy for a few more seconds. Seeing the teenager again rub her backside, Jody made up her mind. "No, that's okay, Sam. You don't need to tell him."
Sam was confused. He'd seen Jody's reaction to realizing what it was that Krissy had broken. He knew that Jody had been satisfied, if not a little pleased, to learn that Krissy had paid the price for her behavior that day. Why, all of the sudden, was she willing to ignore what he saw as the teenager's most egregious behavior of all?
"You sure, Jody?"
"Yeah, I'm sure," she responded with a sigh. "It's obvious Dean took busting her backside seriously. And knowing him, if you tell him, he'll just spank her again. She's not endeared herself to me, that's for sure, but I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt that she didn't intentionally mean to break the vase, and she's already paid the price for doing it." She paused for a moment to consider her next words. "Besides, she's been punished for it once. Punishing her again won't fix anything. The vase will still be broken."
Sam studied his friend for a moment, then shrugged. "If that's how you want it." He straightened from where he had been leaning against the Impala. "I guess it's time we head in."
A few minutes later Sam and Jody entered the kitchen. Sam immediately spotted the full pot of coffee. He moved to grab a mug from the cabinet above the coffee maker and turned to Jody, "you want some?"
"God, yes," she replied as she sat down at the table. She usually didn't work the night shift, but she had filled in for a deputy who had to be out with a family emergency. Normally, she'd have been home and in bed asleep by now, but dealing with Krissy had delayed her much needed rest. She'd need the caffeine to get through the upcoming conversation.
She gave Sam a grateful smile as he placed a steaming mug of coffee with just the right amount of creamer in it in front of her. He took a seat at the table as well, and sighed as he took a sip of the strong brew. It had been a long day for him as well.
A few minutes passed in companionable silence before Krissy, followed closely by Dean, entered the kitchen through the hallway that connected the room to the rest of the house. Dean directed her to the trash can under the sink as he went to get himself a cup of coffee.
Sighing heavily, he sank down into one of the chairs at the round kitchen table and took a sip from his mug. "Come take a seat," he directed Krissy as she put the broom and dustpan back into the closet where she'd found them. Once she was seated, he pinned her with a look. "Don't you have something you need to say?"
Krissy shifted in her seat, trying to find a comfortable position on her sore backside. Dean had done a thorough job, and it seemed like there wasn't a single spot that didn't protest at being in contact with the hard wood of the chair. Her discomfort was only compounded by the realization of what Dean was expecting from her.
When she didn't immediately respond, Dean narrowed his eyes in an expression that warned her to not make him have to repeat himself. Signing inwardly, she closed her eyes for a moment before turning to Jody, "I'm sorry for throwing the vase at Dean and breaking it." She glanced at Dean, who only made a waving gesture with his hand indicating he wanted her to continue. "I'll accept any punishment you see fit to give me or do whatever else you want in order to make up for it." She again glanced at Dean and his short nod told her that he found her apology to be acceptable.
Jody studied Krissy for a moment and saw true remorse in the set of her features and in her body language. The part of her that was hurting at the loss of the gift given to her by her husband prior to his death wanted to see her suffer for causing that pain, but the part of her that had been the caring mother knew that additional punishment wouldn't bring the vase back and would only serve to cause Krissy to suffer further.
"That vase meant a lot to me," Jody said, pinning the teenager with a look. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dean stiffen, as if he were preparing to haul Krissy to her feet and mete out further punishment then and there. He was reacting just as she'd expected. She'd also watched as Krissy's face fell. The teenager looked even more crestfallen, if that was even possible. Jody didn't miss the look of fear that crossed the girl's features as she stole a glance at Dean. Her reaction told Jody everything she needed to know.
"I really am sorry about the vase," Krissy said, interrupting Jody before she could speak again. She was, not just because that was the reason Dean had spanked her rather than letting her off with, as he'd said, a stern lecture and a warning. But, she could tell how much it really had hurt the other woman.
Jody nodded, "I appreciate that. Okay," she leaned forward to place her arms on the table. She was holding her coffee mug between both hands and raised to take a sip while she collected her thoughts. "I do believe your apology was sincere and that you truly are sorry for breaking that vase. I'm not going to insist on you being punished further for it. However," she continued, "I'm going to employ Dean's three strikes method, and you've already got your first two strikes. I figure we'll be seeing quite a bit of each other in the future, so you'd best be on your best behavior when we do. One more strike, and I'll be the one to punish you. Is that understood?"
Krissy let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "Yes, ma'am," she quickly responded. She didn't know if Jody meant she would spank her or punish her in some other way. At the moment, though, she wasn't eager to find out. All she knew was that she'd had enough of hunter displicine for one day.
Jody nodded and turned to Dean. Seeing the expression on his face, she pointed her finger at him. "I mean it, Dean. What happened with that vase is between her and I, and I've dealt with it. It's over, got it?"
It was Dean's turn to reply with "yes, ma'am" and a cheeky grin.
"Okay, now that that's settled, I have some questions for you, Krissy," Jody continued, turning back to the teenager.
Krissy nodded. After the reprieve over the vase, she was willing to tell the sheriff anything she wanted to know - it just didn't have to be the complete truth, she reassured herself.
"Why were you hunting vampires in my town?" Jody didn't waste any time getting down to business.
Krissy was startled by the question, looking first at Dean and then at Sam for guidance as she wasn't sure just how much information she should reveal.
Dean nodded in reassurance as Sam gave a brief smile. "Jody is a hunter," he said in a matter of fact tone.
"And we trained her," Dean said, interrupting whatever Sam was going to say next. "So answer her question." He was interested to hear what she had to say, and he knew Sam was interested as well.
Realizing she wasn't going to get out of it, Krissy sighed. She began picking the cuticle on her left thumb as she began talking. "I know I said I wouldn't go looking for vampires to hunt." She glanced over at Dean and had no trouble reading his hard expression. He still thought she'd played him so he'd leave her alone. "But," she continued, "I kept seeing stories on the Internet that looked like vampire activity, and no one seemed to be doing anything about it. " She shrugged as though that reasoning should have been self-explanatory. "I decided it was time I did something to stop it."
The room was quiet as all three adults studied Krissy. Finally, it was Sam who broke the uncomfortable silence. "Did you think to tell Garth when he came to check in on you? Or to call me or Dean? You have both of our numbers."
Krissy just shrugged in response. "I don't know," she replied.
"A shrug and 'I don't know' isn't an acceptable answer," Sam said, his voice taking on a stern edge. "Please answer my question."
Krissy wasn't the only one slightly surprised by Sam's line of questioning. Jody was seeing the younger Winchester brother in a different light. In her experience, he'd been more laid back and less intense than Dean. But, she'd always sensed there was something more serious hidden under the calm exterior he tended to show the world. She'd just never expected to see it, especially in this type of situation. She looked over at Dean to check out his reaction to how his brother was handling the teenager and saw that his stern expression hadn't changed. He was glancing back and forth between his brother and Krissy just like he had expected this to happen. Maybe he had, she thought.
When Krissy didn't respond quickly enough for his liking, Dean slapped his hand on the table to gain her attention. "Sam asked you a question. Answer it."
The cuticle on Krissy's left thumb again captured her intention. She'd picked it to the point it was now bleeding slightly. She licked her other thumb and held it over the wound to stop the bleeding. "I thought I could handle it," she responded quietly.
"You thought you could handle it?" Sam repeated. His voice remained stern, and he shook his head at her answer.
But it was Dean who picked up the conversation. "Exactly what made you think you could handle a single seasoned vampire by yourself, much less a nest of them? Victor barely taught you the basics, and all the vamps you took out with him were newly turned." He scoffed at what he viewed as idiotic behavior on Krissy's part. "I'll tell you one thing, little girl," he said in a hard voice. "That kind of thinking ain't gonna fly with us."
Jody had been watching Krissy's reaction to first Sam, then Dean, scolding her. She realized all they were accomplishing was causing Krissy to close off, and that wasn't helping matters. Deciding a change of topic was in order she asked, "Where did you get your information about the nest here in Sioux Falls?"
Krissy glanced at Sam and Dean before turning to meet Jody's gaze. "There are a couple of Internet forums and chat groups that track information about the Supernatural. Usually the information on them is pretty accurate. There have been a couple of times where it's been wrong," she reluctantly admitted.
"A couple of times?" Jody followed up. "When?"
Again, Krissy shrugged. "Well, when we were at your office, you said that the nest here had already been cleaned out. As of the day before yesterday, it was still being reported as an active nest. One other time I got to where they said there were a couple of vamps, but they had moved on."
Jody nodded. "A couple of other local hunters and I cleaned that nest out last week. Did the Internet sources give the exact location of the nest, or did you talk to someone here in town?"
Krissy shook her head as she said, "I didn't talk to anyone. Someone going by Vampstriker posted the location. I don't know who that is," she said, anticipating Jody's next question.
Dean started to comment about the fact that Krissy hadn't spoken to anyone about the vampire nest, but instead had relied on questionable Internet information as her only source, but a slight shake of Sam's head had him holding his tongue. He did mentally file that information away for later reference, though. He would definitely be discussing that bit of information in more detail with Krissy at a later date.
Jody nodded as she pulled a small notebook out of the breast pocket of her uniform and took note of the username Krissy supplied. "What are the names of the websites you use?"
Krissy sighed again. She felt like she was wrongfully revealing a source, but a glance at the expressions on the faces of the three adults quickly told her she really didn't have a choice. She reluctantly gave the names of the websites to Jody and watched as she wrote them down. Krissy had no doubt that the sheriff would be doing some investigating of her own very soon.
"Okay," Jody said as she flipped the notebook closed and slipped it back into her pocket. She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. "Just what are your plans from here." She knew she didn't have to specify what plans she wanted to know about.
Dean exchanged a look with Sam before turning back to study Krissy as he answered Jody. "We haven't got it all figured out yet, but Krissy will be coming back to the bunker with us. She'll be going back to school, and Sammy will be making sure she takes that seriously." He nearly grinned at the scowl that crossed Krissy's features as he said that. "We'll also be training her to be a hunter and making damn sure she ain't out tryin' to get her damn fool self killed any time soon."
Jody nodded. That was what she had expected to hear. She knew the Winchester brothers well enough to know that if they decided to take on a responsibility they went into it wholeheartedly. She did have to admit, at least to herself, that she'd had some reservations about whether Dean and Sam were up to the task of taking on a recalcitrant teenager who had enough attitude to spare. While she still had some concerns about exactly how they were going to work things out, she now felt confident that they'd do right by Krissy. She nodded in agreement.
Jody yawned hugely. Her lack of sleep was starting to catch up to her. Turning to Krissy, she spoke in a serious tone. "I think you know these guys well enough to know you can trust them. Otherwise, you wouldn't have had me call Dean to come bail you out. They have your best interest at heart and will do right by you. Trust them, and do as they say. They really do know what they're talking about. If you need anything, even if it's just to complain about how much of a pain in the ass Dean is being," she said with a grin and a wink, "I'm just a phone call away, okay?"
Krissy was uncertain how to respond to Jody's statement and offer. She wasn't sure that what the Winchesters had planned for her was a good thing. She'd gotten used to her independence while living on her own with Aiden and Josephine, and she was sure the Winchesters wouldn't let her have that much freedom. It wasn't like she had much of a choice, though. Sam and Dean weren't going to just let her go back to her old life. Reluctantly she gave in, at least for the moment. "Yeah, whatever," she replied as she slumped back in her chair.
"Hey!" Dean said sharply. He didn't appreciate the attitude Krissy was sporting so soon after getting her tail tanned, and he was ready to treat her to round two if she didn't straight up quickly. He was just about to open his mouth to tell her just that when Sam rose to his feet. Instead, he gave the teenager a look that clearly said they weren't finished discussing the matter.
Sam inwardly groaned at both Krissy's response and Dean's reaction. He knew another fight was brewing between them, and that was the last thing Jody needed at the moment. He could tell the woman was practically asleep on her feet. Rising to his feet, he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for everything, Jody. We really appreciate it." Turning to pin first Krissy, then Dean with a hard look, he continued. "We're going to head out so you can get some rest. Call us if you need anything."
Dean stood and moved around the table to give Jody a pat on the back. "Yeah, what Sammy said." When Jody started to stand, he put a hand on her shoulder to hold her in her seat. "Stay put," he said. "We can walk ourselves out." Jody nodded in appreciation.
He moved to where Krissy was sitting, grabbed her upper arm and pulled her to her feet. "Come on," he ordered.
Seeing that she had no choice but to obey, Krissy followed Sam out of the house to the Impala. Dean walked closely enough behind her the entire way that he could have reached out and grabbed her at any moment. Even if she had thought to try to make a break for it again, she wouldn't have gotten very far. When they reached the vehicle, Sam opened the back passenger door and waited for her to slide into the seat before closing it.
A few minutes later, Dean pulled out of the driveway and headed up the road. "Where's your stuff, Krissy?" He knew without asking that whatever weapon Jody had taken off her wasn't the only thing she'd traveled with. He made a mental note to ask Sam if Jody had turned the weapon over to him while they'd talked outside.
"It's in the trunk of the car I drove up here," Krissy replied. Sam sensed a tone of nervousness in her voice. He chalked it up to the uncertainty of their new situation. He didn't know that Krissy was halfway tempted to forfeit the clothes and other stuff she had stashed there rather than let Dean see the car she'd stolen to drive there from Kansas.
"Where is it?" Dean demanded, and she knew he wouldn't just let the matter go.
Sighing heavily, which caused Dean to eye her through the rearview mirror, she said, "it's parked in a stand of trees about half a mile from the house where Jody caught me."
"And where is that?"
Reluctantly, Krissy recited the address and watched as Sam keyed it into his phone's GPS. The device's digital voice told them their destination was ten minutes away and instructed them to turn left at the end of Jody's street.
Ten minutes later, Dean slowed to a stop in front of the Michelson house. "Okay, where from here?" he asked.
Once again, Krissy debated giving him false directions and then acting as if the car had disappeared from where she had parked it. She had a really bad feeling about how this was going to turn out.
"Krissy," Dean growled when she didn't answer right away. "Is there something I need to know? 'Cause your lack of cooperation is making me suspicious."
"Keep going down this road," Krissy said, not answering Dean's last question. "In about half a mile you'll see a dirt road off to the right. It's hidden and easy to miss."
Dean pulled the Impala back onto the road and followed her instructions. At the half mile mark he slowed. Spotting what was little more than a dirt track on the right, he stopped and pointed it out. "There?"
"Yes," Krissy replied. "Follow it for about five hundred feet or so, and you'll see the car in a clearing.
"What the fuck?" Dean said in surprise as he pulled into the clearing and spotted the late model Ford Mustang Shelby parked there. Turning in his seat, he glared at Krissy. "Running off to hunt vamps on your own wasn't bad enough? You had to add grand theft auto to the mix? There's no way that car wasn't reported stolen the minute its owner missed it. You're damn lucky you made it here without being stopped." He climbed from the Impala and moved to the rear of the vehicle and opened the trunk. He glanced up as Sam came to join him then rummaged around for a few minutes. Tossing a tshirt to Sam, he opened the rear driver's side door of the Impala. "Get out," he ordered.
Krissy hesitated out of fear of what Dean might have in mind. "Get out of the car, now," he repeated. "Or do you want me to help you out?"
Krissy shook her head. She was pretty sure she didn't want the kind of assistance Dean was offering. "No," she answered as she slid across the leather seat and climbed out of the vehicle.
As soon as she was out of the vehicle, Dean grabbed her upper arm and turned her sideways before landing three hard swats to her backside. "That was for your stupidity," he said pointing a finger in her face after he let her go. "If you have to steal a car to get you to your hunt, take a junker that isn't going to be missed."
Sam stepped up behind Dean. "Not that he's saying that it's acceptable to steal a vehicle in the first place."
Dean looked over at his brother and saw the expression on his face. "Yeah, what he said. Go get your stuff out of the trunk and bring it here," he directed, giving her a light shove to get her started on her way.
"That everything?" Dean asked when Krissy approached with her duffle bag and a backpack. At her nod he took the bags from her and passed them off to Sam in exchange for the t-shirt he was still holding. "Take this and wipe down every inch of that car. Don't miss any surface, and pay special attention to the door handles and steering wheel. We don't want any fingerprints left behind."
Dean followed Krissy as she moved to comply with his order. He wanted to make sure she did a thorough job of removing any trace of evidence that could tie her to the vehicle. When he was satisfied with her work, he took her by the upper arm and practically dragged her back to the Impala.
"Get in," he ordered. After she'd obeyed him and he'd closed the door, he turned to Sam, who was now leaning against the vehicle. "Do we let Jody know?"
Sam shook his head. "She may have turned a blind eye to Krissy being a runaway and hunting, but I doubt she'd ignore the theft of something that valuable." He straightened and moved around the vehicle to the passenger door. He opened it and stood there for a moment. "If the tip comes from us, she'll know Krissy was the one who took it. I say we leave it here and see if we can find a payphone somewhere along the way and call in an anonymous tip." He'd thought about suggesting they just leave it there to be found by the next person who came along, but Krissy had picked a good hiding spot for it. Sam doubted anyone had been in that clearing for years. While he wasn't as into cars as Dean, in his opinion, it would have been a sin to leave that machine to the mercy of the elements.
Dean nodded his agreement. "Come on, let's get out of here."