(Sam and Jess)
The sun rose early. Sam finished off a mug of coffee and put it in the sink. "Thank you, Marie. Breakfast was amazing."
Marie finished packing a cooler. "Thank you, Sam. I hope Krissy isn't too much of a handful for you two. We are going to miss her."
"She seems smitten with Jess. I think it is great that you took Krissy in." Sam said.
Marie gave him a warm smile and shut the cooler. "Our door is always open."
Jess was amused at Krissy's reluctance to wake up.
Krissy rolled into her blanket and ignored Jess.
Jess sighed. "Alright. Do you want to stay in your pajamas?" She didn't get an answer so she let Sam know that Krissy should still sleep in the car. She put Krissy's stuff into the car and situated a pillow to support Krissy's head.
Rod carried Krissy out, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "You be good, okay?"
Krissy was too sleepy to reply.
With everything packed away, Sam started the car and pulled away. He called John to check in and could tell that there was a change in tension.
"Taylor and I are on our way to find Jo." John said.
"She ran off again?" Sam asked.
"Yes, I'm going to give Ellen another call. Let me know when you stop." John said.
"Will do." Sam said and hung up the phone.
(John and Taylor)
Taylor woke up and felt like death. He cringed. It was appropriate that he felt like death. He sat up and immediately slid back down in the seat.
"Are you hungry?" John asked.
Taylor nodded. "Yes."
"We will stop for food." John said.
Taylor rubbed his neck. He had fallen asleep with it at a weird angle.
John fumbled around in the glove box and found a bottle of pills. He tossed it back to Taylor. "For... your neck."
Taylor thanked him and took two with a bottle of water. "I tried to message Jo."
"Ellen did too. You have a connection to her. You can track her." John said.
Taylor stretched. "Kate is the best at finding people."
John swallowed hard, remembering the fear he felt when she couldn't find Taylor.
Taylor sighed. "I'm really sorry, dad."
John glanced in the rearview mirror. "When we find Jo, we are going to have a talk."
Taylor's eyes widened.
"I have something I need to say to both of you. Just a talk." John said.
Taylor shifted. "Thanks for not sending me back."
"Son, you aren't stepping out of my sight until I am convinced you are not going to do something like that again," John said.
"So does this mean I don't have to go back to school and can just stay on the road?" Taylor asked.
John snorted. "If it takes you that long to earn my trust back you can assume you won't sit comfortably until then."
Taylor grimaced. He sent Jo another message, begging her to respond. His stomach growled loudly and he realized just how hungry he was.
John found a place to eat and stopped the truck. He asked Bobby to call around and ask if anyone had any idea where Jo was. He didn't think she was in as much danger as Taylor had been in. That didn't mean Ellen wouldn't worry herself to death.
(Bobby's house)
Dean slept like he hadn't slept in a week. The ordeal with Taylor aged him a few years. Seeing Kate face down Abaddon was scary but he had eyes on her. It happened so quickly that he didn't have time to fret. Not knowing where Taylor was for hours was harder in some ways.
Bobby greeted Dean with coffee.
Karen smoothed Dean's hair down a little. "I take it you slept well."
"I really did." Dean said.
"The house is too quiet." Karen remarked.
Bobby grumbled.
As the hours ticked by, Dean wondered if Kate was okay. He decided to check on her. He could hear faint music as he walked up the stairs. He gently knocked on the door. "Hey, kiddo, can I come in?"
"Uh, yeah." Kate said.
Dean cracked the door. "What is up with the depressing music?"
Kate gave him an annoyed look.
"Fine, I won't make fun of you. What are you drawing?" Dean asked.
Kate rolled off of her stomach and sat up. "Did you need something?"
"I wasn't sure if you were sleeping in. Yesterday was rough. I wanted to check in." Dean said.
Kate nodded. "I'm okay. Thanks."
Dean chewed the side of his cheek. "You seem kind of mopey."
"Oh my god, Dean. I'm not mopey. I'm drawing and listening to music." Kate snapped.
"You don't need to bite my head off." Dean scolded. "I am honestly just trying to make sure that seeing Taylor like that didn't trigger something."
Kate's face melted from a glare to wet eyes and a trembling lip.
Dean tilted his head and held his arms out.
Kate dove into his arms and cried.
"He's okay. He even survived dad." Dean said.
Kate sniffled. "We are allergic to qareens and we didn't even know and then we could be allergic to anything and die."
Dean furrowed his eye brows. "Allergic huh?"
Kate pulled back. "We have a bad reaction to it."
"I know, I was just teasing about the choice of words."
Kate scowled. "Well don't. I was being serious about it. Forget it."
Dean knew a trap when he saw one. "I am going to give you some space before I make this worse."
Kate laid back down on her bed. "Turn my music back on."
Dean did and shut the door. He blew air through his nose and sought refuge in the kitchen. "I don't know what just happened."
Karen sat down. "What?"
"She was depressed and then angry and then sad and then crying but also angry and then snapped at me," Dean said.
Bobby had to chuckle at the shell-shocked look on his face. "Is this anything like the 'Jenny incident' from middle school?"
Dean's cheeks turned bright red.
Karen smiled. "Please enlighten me."
Dean swore under his breath.
"This idjit made a girl mad by being a typical dumb teenage boy. Then he was airheaded enough to ask her if she was on the rag because she was 'being crazy'. She slapped him across the face and he wore a handprint for quite a while. He tried to come home after school and tell me he got into a fight." Bobby said.
Karen found the story amusing.
"Well, she was being crazy." Dean said. "I still don't know what I did to make her that mad."
"No, but you learned not to ask stupid questions." Bobby said.
Dean nodded and leaned back in his chair. He sent Jess a message that simply stated, "Help me!" in bold letters. "I'm going to go work on my car, far, far away from, " He motioned toward the stairs, "That."
(John and Taylor)
Although things were tense at first, Taylor realized that John was more active in conversation than normal. He was chatty while they ate and they got to talk about things that they hadn't before.
"Do you think Jo is okay?" Taylor asked.
"I don't know. I don't think she is in the same shape you were in. I think she is off on a goose chase because she is mad at Ellen." John said.
Taylor was glad that John was helping look for her. He was good at tracking. "Can you teach me how to track better?"
"Well, you're a good tracker." John said.
"With deer." Taylor said.
"I'll teach you a thing or two. I also want you to do more research into creatures. Not having backup is what put you in danger. However, not knowing what you were up against did as well." John said. "I didn't think it was a qareen at first but I knew something didn't add up."
"Yeah, that sucked. Had it been a shifter, I would have had no problem ganking it." He looked up at John. "Not that I am being cocky. I'm not being cocky. I'm soooooooo not being cocky."
John snorted. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir." Taylor said with a sheepish grin.
John handed him his journal. "Read. We will find you a journal when things calm down."
Taylor read through John's journal again. He wanted to memorize it. "What if you run out of pages?"
John scratched his chin. "I'll cross that bridge when I get there."
Taylor found a page on qareens and studied it. They were similar to shifters. "Huh, so they are a type of djinn."
"Yes. Is that what you were thinking?" John asked.
"I started to get woozy and feel like I was tripping. I thought there were some hallucinogenic properties. I thought djinn threw you into a dream though." Taylor said.
"Some do. Some can send you into a nightmare. A qareen can read your mind and change into something that you are scared of or that you desire." John said.
"What did it change into here?" Taylor pointed to the page that John had written.
John sighed. "Mary. That is how I knew it wasn't a shifter."
"Right, because a shifter has to touch the person first," Taylor said.
"With these new creatures coming up, we have to be more careful. When Dean and I were hunting a wendigo a while back, there was a miniature one. We still don't know what that was. It died by fire. It wasn't aggressive like the freaks are. It was odd."
"Maybe they evolve," Taylor said.
"They do but over thousands of years," John said.
Taylor flipped through the empty pages of John's journal. "Looks like you're going to need more paper."
John narrowed down an area that Jo could be in. Ellen could put the fear of god into hunters and had quickly gained information on where Jo had gone.
Taylor was nervous. John was prickly with runaways due to Taylor's own disappearance. "Uh, dad... what are you going to do when we do find her?"
"It depends on what is going on when we get there." John said.
"Yeah but.. she is Ellen's daughter and stuff." Taylor said.
John looked at him from the side of his eyes. "I don't know. I don't plan on going in swinging."
Taylor relaxed slightly.
"I think you both should spend some time at your grandparents' house."
Taylor snapped his head around. "Why?"
"She and Ellen are at each other's throats. Some distance would do some good. You can spend some time together. I think she needs that as much as you do. I'm not banishing you." John said.
Taylor knew John's trust in him had been tainted yet again. "Not because I didn't follow orders?'
"No. We talked about that."
Taylor messaged Jo again. He used the skills that Kate taught him to try to connect with Jo. He had some cool abilities but so did Kate. He didn't know if there was a rhyme or reason to it. Did they have abilities already programed into their genes that just came out at different times? Could they learn the same abilities from each other? "You don't have any pages on us."
"I do. I have old ones on Sam and Dean. Then I have added a few more when we got Kate and then you." John said.
Taylor flipped back through and read the ones about himself. "You were worried about Craig from the start."
"I was. I tried to help him. I shouldn't have. You didn't need to suffer as long as you did." John said.
"I appreciated it. At the time I thought he was my dad. While those things hurt, I don't regret them happening. I guess I wouldn't be me without them. If he wasn't a jerk, you guys wouldn't have felt bad enough to let me stay." Taylor said.
(Sam and Jess)
Krissy gained all of her energy at once. She woke up and looked around. "Are we gonna see my dad?"
Jess turned around. "We are! We just have to do a lot of driving."
Krissy looked out the window. "I'm hungry."
Sam looked in the mirror. "What do you want to eat?"
"Um, waffles with a funny face." Krissy said.
Sam chuckled and found a place to get breakfast. He got Krissy out and put her on the ground.
"I can't eat in my pjs." Krissy said, cheeks turning pink.
Jess took her hand. "Then you can change." She grabbed an outfit out of Krissy's bag and carried it and Krissy inside.
Sam got a table and ordered coffee for himself and Jess. He got orange juice for Krissy and a hot chocolate as well.
Krissy skipped out of the bathroom with fresh clothes and pigtails. Jess fixed them exactly how she liked them. Maybe Jess could show her dad how to do it because he wasn't that good at it.
Jess put Krissy's stuff back in the car and joined them. They had a peaceful meal. Krissy was adorable and enjoyed her special waffles with a face. Jess looked through pamphlets at the checkout. They had some extra time as Lee would need a chance to get on his feet after being released. She talked Sam into stopping at one of the attractions.
Sam was okay spoiling Krissy but was mostly happy that Jess had something else to focus on. He would agree to anything she wanted. They still hadn't gotten an update from Ross. "Which one are you wanting to go to?"
"Hmm, aquarium or museum?" Jess asked.
Krissy brightened. "Quarium!"
They drove over to the aquarium and bought tickets.
Krissy loved that Sam was so tall because she could sit on his shoulders and see everything and no big kids got in her way. She loved the sea turtles. She spent the longest time watching them. She was not a fan of the sharks, claiming that she wasn't so sure the glass was thick enough.
Sam was just as amazed. most of the animals he had only seen in movies or pictures.
Jess mainly watched Sam and Krissy. She had been to many aquariums but the looks on the other's faces made her happy.
Krissy spotted a turtle stuffed animal at the gift shop and turned puppy eyes that rivaled Sam's on both Sam and Jess.
Sam melted. He paid for the stuffed animal and handed it to her.
It didn't take long on the road before she was passed back out in her car seat with her new stuffed animal tucked under her ear.
"Can you believe she about broke John?" Jess asked.
Sam smirked. "Yes. She is just being sweet because we haven't asked her to do anything she doesn't want to do."
Jess scrunched her nose. "Nope, she is a doll."
(Dean and Kate)
Kate finally went downstairs. She was hungry. She was still moody but self-aware.
Karen made her a sandwich and chatted with her. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I want to scream," Kate said.
"It will pass." Karen reassured her.
Kate felt like she was going crazy. She was miserable and wanted to roll into a ball. She didn't mean to snap at Dean but everything felt like it was grating on her last nerve. She decided to find him outside.
Dean stood up and smacked his head on the open hood of the car. "Son of a bitch." he growled and rubbed his head.
"Here, let me." Kate said. She touched the small knot and healed it.
"Thanks." Dean said.
"I'm sorry I'm moody." Kate said.
Dean eyed her. "It is okay."
"I guess I don't know where my head is." Kate said.
"I was completely level headed as a teenager," Dean smirked. "Sammy was a moody brat. So, I'm used to it."
Kate rolled her eyes. "Jerk."
Dean dropped a small screw into the engine of the car. "Bring your tiny hands over here. Can you grab that?"
Kate hovered her hand over the compartment and pulled the screw out without moving her hand.
"Huh, I forgot you could do that." Dean said.
"That is easier than it normally is. I guess I can control it more."
"Take a seat on the toolbox. Tell me what is on your mind." Dean said.
Kate sat down and soaked in the rays of sun that peaked through fluffy white clouds. "I don't know anymore."
"What was that about being allergic to stuff?" Dean asked.
"Part of me feels invincible and part of me feels like I'm going to die young. It may be harder for us to die but there are going to be a lot of people and creatures that want us dead. So I go back and forth between those feelings. Part of me doesn't care if I die and the other part is scared. Would I go to heaven or would I get sent somewhere else? I haven't made the best choices but beyond that, I'm not supposed to exist. Angels hunt Nephilim. I don't think they'd be happy about us being upstairs either. I also have demon blood in me still. So, I guess not knowing scares me."
Dean was trying to keep up but Kate's moods and thoughts were on yet another turn. "I know for a fact that you get to turn 19. That gives you a few years to not even worry about it."
"How do you know it is me though? It could be something claiming to be me." Kate said.
Dean ruffled her hair. "Because I know you. You are uniquely Kate and nothing and no one could copy that."
"A qareen could." Kate said.
Dean rubbed his face. "I guess they could but we know that older Kate and Taylor really are you guys, just older. I gave Taylor a note the other day and asked him to time travel back at a specific day and time."
"What? You didn't tell me that!" Kate said.
"Yep. So, stop worrying." Dean said.
"That covers Taylor. It doesn't do anything to prove I'm me." Kate said.
"Kid, I know older you is you because you are you. I don't know how to explain it. You still go toe to toe with dad and survive it."
"That doesn't sound like me." Kate grumbled.
"Bullshit. You told him to be quiet and he was fine with it. You have even stabbed him and not only was he okay, but he was also happy about it. No one else can do that. Nothing else can do that. So there, that is my proof."
"That is out of context. I threw a knife at him because he was possessed. That doesn't count."
Dean snorted. "You have a way of doing things in a way that makes it hard to get mad at you. We know this. It is a real thing."
"You're jealous because you aren't smart enough to get around things," Kate said with a giggle.
"You're annoying. You'd find a way to steal his truck and make it okay."
"Oh! I could swear at him." Kate said.
"No way in hell would you get away with that unless you were possessed or out of your mind." Dean said.
"Uh-huh. You can't tack on a bunch of rules." Kate said.
"Yes, I can." Dean teased. "You can't get injured and swear at him. He will forgive that."
"Fine," Kate said. "Ruin all of my fun."
Dean snorted. "Yeah, fun. Don't get yourself skinned trying to prove a point."
(John and Taylor)
Taylor helped track Jo to a nicer bar. Taylor was told to stay in the truck and was under a variety of threats on his life if he chose to leave the truck. He didn't need the threats. He slid down in his seat and closed his eyes. If a disaster occurred outside the window, the people outside would be on their own because his ass was not leaving that truck seat until John told him to.
John entered the bar and scanned the main room for Jo. It was packed and not the place she needed to be. He saw a young looking couple in one of the booths and walked over. He placed his palms on the edge of the table and glared at the guy sitting next to Jo.
The guy froze underneath John's glare. He removed his hand from Jo's leg.
"Get out of here." John said.
The guy scooted away from Jo. "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. Leaving now, sir." He all but ran as soon as he was free of the table.
Jo's eyes drove daggers into John's. "Why the hell are you here?"
John eyed her. "I could ask you the same thing. How old did you tell him you were?"
Jo rolled her eyes and started to make a break for it but John grabbed her arm. "Let go of me!"
John got close enough to be heard by her and only her. "Your mother is worried sick. Beyond that, I spent the previous day tracking Taylor down as he went missing as well. See, the difference is I found him without a pulse in some creature's basement. I'm tired. I have no patience left. So, you can walk or I can carry you."
Jo was instantly worried about Taylor. She let John lead her out of the bar and ran to the truck when she saw Taylor. She opened the door and hugged him. "Are you okay? What happened?"
Taylor's face turned pink.
"Get in the truck." John said.
Jo started to snap at him but decided not to.
John drove to a motel and paid for a room.
Jo was hesitant to follow them to the room. "I already have a room."
John turned to look at her. "I didn't ask."
Taylor squeezed Jo's hand and shook his head.
John didn't know why Jo was in that bar. He didn't know why she was with someone that was clearly several years older than she was. Not to mention, she was underaged. He looked at her for a moment. "Where are your clothes?"
Jo tugged the hem of her dress down. "Uh, in my room."
John nodded. "Where?"
Jo gave him vague directions.
John shook his head. "Taylor, she can borrow a shirt and shorts from you."
Jo scoffed. "No thanks."
John looked very tired. "You haven't stopped yanking the edge of your dress down since we got here. If it was long enough you wouldn't be messing with it. As I said, I'm out of patience. So change into the damn shorts."
Jo moved quickly, catching the T-shirt and shorts that Taylor threw to her. She didn't know what to expect. She knew her mom was angry. John acted angry. He was probably just inconvenienced. Why did he keep showing up anyway? Taylor was her brother but as far as she knew, Ellen and John hated each other.
John walked outside to call Ellen. He formed a plan with her and got her permission for a difficult talk he needed to have with both kids.
Jo joined Taylor again. "So, what happened?"
"I went after a shifter but it wasn't a shifter and I got my ass handed to me." Taylor said, ruefully.
"By John or by the non-shifter?" Jo asked.
Taylor grimaced. "Both."
Jo had opinions but the look on Taylor's face told her to keep them to herself.
John ordered pizza and sat down at the small table in the room. "What were you doing at that bar?"
Jo stiffened.
"It is a question, Jo." John said.
"Why does it matter?" Jo asked.
"I'd like to know. Your mother wants to know. You are not old enough to be in a place like that. Was this a hunting thing?"
Jo looked away from him. It wasn't a hunting thing. She was just tired of the constant rules and fighting with Ellen. She loved her mom but she needed room to be free.
John saw that he wasn't going to get anywhere with Jo. "Ellen and I talked. I need to have a talk with you."
Jo gave Taylor a worried look.
"A talk. You will eat. I will talk. Then, I will answer questions." John said.
Jo tried to act like she wasn't hungry but was never able to keep herself fed when she ran off. She ate one piece slowly and then eyed another piece.
John pushed the box closer to her. "We aren't staying here except overnight. I don't want leftovers." He watched both kids. "You may be wondering why I keep getting called in to pull you out of places."
Jo nodded.
"I mentioned some of this to Taylor a long time ago, when we found out who his father was. I'd appreciate if you gave me the benefit of getting to the end of the story before you got upset. Now, if you decide you don't want to stay, I can have Castiel or Kate take you back."
Jo felt uneasy.
"Bill and I were hunting partners for years. I'd go as far to say as he was the best partner I have had, aside from Bobby. We made a good team. He was a friend too. I don't have many of those in this life. Of course, you were so young back then that you probably don't remember. Did your mom tell you anything about how he died?" John asked.
Jo sighed. "A hunt gone wrong."
John looked at the wall, trying to find words that didn't want to come. "I was with him on that last hunt. We misidentified a creature and I made a bad call. He was caught off guard."
Taylor knew that much.
Jo didn't. "Is that why mom doesn't like you?"
"Well, part of it. She and I always butted heads. Bill claimed we were just enough alike to never be able to be around each other too long. Now, I don't know about that. As for her not liking me, she is hurting. No matter what happened, I was the one that told her that Bill had died. I never fought her on forgiving me. I never got over Mary. I didn't expect her to get over Bill. It is more complicated than that though." John took a deep breath.
Jo urged him to continue.
"Your dad was hurt. We were deep in the backcountry. I wanted to leave to get help but he stopped me. I think he knew. No, I know he knew. Even if I had gotten help, there was nothing that could be done."
Jo stopped him. "What kind of hurt was he?"
John shook his head. "You don't want to know. I'll respect your right as his daughter to know if you insist but I think it is best if you don't have that floating around in your head."
Jo nodded.
John bounced his leg. He swallowed hard and got up to pace around. He mentally kicked himself for being weak. He decided to sit back down. "He said a few things to me. He made me swear on my life to look out for you and your mother. I have. I've just done it from afar so I keep my head on my shoulders. He said that you were the best thing that had ever happened to him and he would come back and haunt me if anything happened to you." He blinked away a tear. "He was in so much pain. He asked me not to leave him like that."
Jo traded looks with Taylor. "Did you have to..."
"Yes. Jo, Taylor, believe me, I wish I had been able to get help. I hated myself for a long time."
Jo slid off the bed and tentatively stepped closer to John. She awkwardly reached for a hug and relaxed when he accepted. "Did he say anything else?"
John let her go. "He shared some memories of you being a handful and told me to make sure you didn't give your mama too much trouble."
Jo's face turned red.
"So that answers your questions about why I keep showing up." John said. "Ellen and I stayed away from each other, although I did make sure things stayed safe. Ellen has her way of coping and I respect that. She met my boys again and then Kate. That changed her view of me." He motioned to Taylor. "And then Taylor came along and we found out that he is Bill's son. Things changed. I don't think I'll ever be able to be in a room with her and know for certain she won't try to shoot me but we can work together to make sure that you kids grow old and stay healthy."
Jo sighed. She missed her dad. She wanted to be angry at John. Seeing his face told her that he really did try to save her dad. "I got mad at my mom again. I wasn't trying to hunt. I was just letting off steam."
"In a bar, in another state, in that dress?" John asked.
Jo fidgeted. "Yes."
"I don't think I need to go into how dumb that was." John said.
"No, sir." Jo said with a sigh.
"Taylor, you scared me yesterday. I made that clear. I relived part of what happened with Bill. I knew that the creature wasn't a shifter before I found you. I knew you couldn't fight it. I never want that to happen again. That is why I drill this stuff into your heads. Jo, the same goes for you. You weren't hunting this time but last time I picked you up, you were. You have to be smarter than that."
Jo looked at John differently. "I should probably talk to my mom."
"She and I already came up with a plan but you do need to tell her that you're okay," John said.
Taylor stiffened. "What plan?"
"You two are going to go to Rod and Marie's for a few days," John said.
Jo tilted her head. "We are?"
"You need your space. It is safe there. Now, if I have to turn around and collect you from another bar, I'm going to take Ellen up on her offer." John said.
Jo didn't like how that was worded. "Um, I'll stay."
"Call your mom," John said. "I'm going to get your things. Give me your key."
Jo handed over her key.
"Neither of you will step out of this room, do I make myself clear?"
Both teenagers quickly assured him that they would stay put.
Once he was gone, Jo looked at Taylor. She didn't know how to feel.
"Are you okay?" Taylor asked.
"Yeah, are you?"
"Yeah," Taylor said.
Jo smirked. "I guess dad was right about him and my mom."
"Both are scary as hell when they are pissed?" Taylor asked.
Jo nodded. "Your grandparents are more chill, right?"
Taylor smiled. "Yes."
(Kate and Dean)
Kate stayed with Dean for most of the afternoon. She was still moody and exhausted.
Dean had gotten a message from Jess that suggested chocolate and a chick flick. He scoffed. "How do you feel about a chick flick?"
Kate raised an eyebrow. "Could you sound less in pain when you ask that?"
"No," Dean said with a grunt.
"Why the offer?"
"Well, it is obvious you are going through... um... something. You are a little moody. Jess said this may help." Dean said.
Kate studied him. She knew what he thought she was going through. Maybe she was. She'd use it to her advantage while she could. "Can we get a ton of snacks?"
Dean hopped up. "Now you've piqued my interest."