Okay so, I have sucked at updating recently...oops and apologies. So, to make up for it, here are two chapters! Yay! I hope you enjoy them, as they've been fun to write and hopefully got us out of a slump.

Hope everyone has had a safe and happy holiday season! Leave your thoughts if so inclined, and cheers to 2025! :)

Chapter 7

Jo had managed to convince Millie out of the confines of the bathroom with the promise of Irish coffee. Having established that the girl was twenty-one - and Jo admitted to herself that she had well and truly done worse things when she was much younger than that - she felt comfortable enough to bribe her with the same. She'd even agreed to lend her some of her own clothes, noting that the girl looked like she was about five years behind on decent sleep. Apparently angel time warping really took it out of a person.

They emerged from the bathroom at the exact moment that Sam and Dean walked into the house, their intense conversation in the yard apparently having reached its conclusion. Dean's eyes met Jo's as they stared at each other from opposite ends of the hallway. Sam's eyes fell on the girl at her side. Jo noted the awe that was in his eyes as he looked at her, and wondered when exactly that had appeared in his repertoire.

To her credit, Millie said nothing, appearing just as confused as Jo that the previously analytical and suspicious gaze that Sam had held her in - though he had tried valiantly to hide it - had been replaced with an emotion she couldn't quite comprehend.

"You guys okay?" Jo asked, noting the odd air that existed between the brothers.

Rather than answer her question - really, ignoring her altogether, which succeeded only in debating whether it might be appropriate to shoot him, at least in the foot, nothing fatal of course - Dean focused on the girl beside her, "Kid, come with us for a minute."

Millie glanced at Jo, but nodded, following dutifully after the two brothers, glaring at the floor. Unable to contain it, Jo raised her hand up and groaned in frustration, growing exhausted of the chaos that was surrounding her but hadn't yet drawn her in. She glared at Dean who shot her a final look as they left the house.

"Wait-" Ellen protested in a last ditch effort. She was met with no success as the brothers and Millie were already out the door.

"I'm going to start strangling people if they don't start talking," Jo grumbled, moving into the library with Bobby. The old man said nothing, just bobbed his head in tired agreement before returning his attention to the text on his desk.

X - X - X - X - X

"You okay?" Dean asked, touching Millie's elbow as she leant against the Impala. Both of them - Sam and Dean - were looking at her like they were waiting for the moment that she finally collapsed. Like they were prepared, or anticipated at least, her having a total breakdown. Mostly she felt exhausted, and she'd been almost fit to scream when the brothers had stopped her from enjoying the Irish coffee that Jo had promised her. She really couldn't catch a break.

"So, look-" Dean said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Sam knows, alright. I told him."

Millie's eyes widened, and she looked at her 'uncle'. The man in question appeared not to know what to say to her, instead gave her a tentative smile which she found almost more disconcerting than the wariness that she was used to. Millie was fast growing tired of having to reintroduce herself to her loved ones, and thought that she might add angels to the top of her hitlist, particularly the category of most hated supernatural entities. Except for Cas of course.

"Figured we could use some more heads on this," Dean continued, seeming not to notice the sour mood that she had befallen her. Millie nodded in agreement, reflexively flicking her phone over, the screen flashing to life. Rather than her dog this time, a picture of herself and her mother on their recent trip to Boston flashed to life. She swallowed, a pang of sadness washing over her. She whined, "I have to get home. My Mom is going to-"

Dean nodded, "We will get you home, I promise."

She met his eye and nodded, glancing down at the phone as the screen flashed a battery icon at her and subsequently faded into darkness. She groaned, "Oh for fuc-"

Sam stopped her, asking, "That your phone?"

She looked up at him, bobbing her head, cautiously, "Yeah. Why?"

Sam held out his hand to her. Millie placed the now useless device in his open palm. Sam turned it over. The model was far more technical looking than his own, and he decided that whatever charger he might have would not work on hers. However, he was determined to forge some sort of trust between them, and figured that his days of mending Jess' laptop back in College might finally come in handy. He offered, "Reckon I can work something up for it. Get you some battery life back."

Millie offered him a shy smile, unconvinced, "You think?"

Sam shrugged, saying kindly, "Worth a shot."

She nodded in agreement, though grateful for Sam's perhaps misguided intention to build her a phone charger, she doubted that he would have any luck in doing so.

"So…what's the plan?" Millie asked. "And please tell me it doesn't involve any more random fake identities-"

Sam smirked, swinging his head in a mocking gaze at Dean who met his eyes unamused. Dean directed his next instructions at Millie, "Tell Sam everything you told me. Or just the important bits."

"Right-" Millie said, arching an eyebrow at him, a gesture that reminded him of a certain other blonde, "- well my name is actually Mary Ellen Winchester. An archangel was being a bitch and zapped me to and alternate universe, like, thirty years in the past, and time travel makes me want to vomit. I'm twenty one. I live in Lawrence with my Mom, whose in there-" she pointed unimpressed at Bobby's house "- and has no idea who I am. In my world, my Dad is dead and I'm a pre-law college student."

Sam gaped at her, shooting a cautious glance at Dean who now looked now nauseated and furious. It was a strange combination of emotions that Sam was loathe to admit he had seen on his brother's face several times over the previous five years in particular.

"When Gabriel zapped us this last time, he showed us what happens when you go to Carthage to hunt Lucifer-" Millie explained, feeling the pit in her stomach drop further as she thought about the horrific, nightmare-fuel scene that had been proffered to her and Dean "-and he showed us how my Mom and Ellen are attacked by hellhounds and-"

She stopped herself, feeling the lump in her throat. Sam had heard enough of the story from Dean, which had been absolutely corroborated by Millie, to know that Ellen and Jo would - in this timeline it seemed - meet an ultimate and unjust end in Carthage, a town in Missouri where they would all be drawn to fight the Devil.

"I see that there has been a change in circumstances."

The sudden appearance of a trenchcoat-wearing angel had caught all three of the Winchesters' attention. A wave of relief washed over Millie as she watched Cas come to stand between Sam and Dean who had stepped aside as if to ensconce him in their circle. Both of the brothers looked less than surprised about his sudden appearance, Dean looking unimpressed that now he had decided to make an appearance, and Sam shocked that the angel had materialised at all.

"How strange," Cas frowned, not altogether surprised to see her - or so Millie suspected - but also not thrilled about her presence either. He was, as ever, indifferent, it seemed.

"Care to add your two cents to the conversation, then?" Dean growled, looking disdainfully at the angel who failed to recognise his intense irritation. He'd been yelling on angel radio since the first time Gabriel had zapped him into another dimension. Yet, Cas had failed to respond to any of his calls. "Where the hell you been anyway?"

Cas cocked his head to the side and his brow furrowed as he surveyed the furious hunter, totally aware that Dean was still in possession of his faculties and had been well aware of the angel's intention to track down the Colt, "Looking for Crowley. I can hardly say the same for you."

Ignoring the blistering glare that Dean held him in, Cas turned his attention back to Millie, stating simply, "You don't belong here, do you?"

Millie nodded, the angel inadvertently also eluding to the fact that he had no knowledge of her presence in the timeline, or apparent information as to from when she had been dragged by the archangel.

"We have to stop it Cas," Sam began, "What happens to Ellen and Jo-"

Cas glared at Sam, "You cannot stop what has been started-"

"Cas it ain't happening," Dean interrupted, glaring at the angel, "There is no way we're walking into this fight knowing that Ellen and Jo die there. It won't happen."

Cas frowned, and for all his worth, he wondered what the hell Gabriel had been thinking when he decided to wrench the offspring of Michael's vessel from another timeline. He was fast growing tired of the archangel's messing with the ordained order of things.

"You cannot reveal any of this to Ellen and Joanna," Cas implored them. "It could have…unknown consequences."

"Uh huh, sure. Because the angels and Heaven have done so much for us," Dean growled. "Not happening. Tell us how to get her home too."

Cas examined Millie who had remained silent since his arrival. Cas knew better than to reveal the extent of his frustration to Sam and Dean whose knowledge of alternative timelines, of different possibl ematerial outcomes, would only distract them from their goal which the angel knew needed to be entirely focused on dealing with the Devil at hand, so to speak. The appearance of this young woman was entirely inconvenient to keeping the brothers focused, as far as Cas was concerned.

"I will attempt to return you to your own time, Mary-"

"It's Millie," she interrupted, glancing at Sam who nodded his head in agreement, ever her supporter. "My Mom only calls me that when I'm…in trouble."

Cas continued, unpertruebed, "-however I suspect that, as we are dealing with an archangel, I won't simply be able to return you on my own volition. It seems you have a…purpose to fulfil here."

Millie frowned at him, "Any idea what that is?"

Cas shook his head, "I cannot comprehend Gabriel's motivations as we have a very clear goal at this time. We cannot afford such a distraction."

"Easy Cas," Dean warned, watching how Millie's face had fallen at the implication. That she was a distraction from the mission at hand - which whilst he agreed this was true, he would not have such a burden placed on her shoulders when none of the current situation was of her doing.

Cas ignored him, "I will find out as much as I can about your purpose here, Mary Ellen, if for nothing else, then to get you home before the path can be changed indefinitely."

Then he was gone. Sam whirled around as if trying to find the angel. Dean's head fell back and he muttered, dumfounded, and frustrated, "Son of a bitch."

Both brothers watched her for a moment, totally out of depth and unsure of what to do. It was Sam who spoke next, "We can't do this any longer."

Dean's head whipped in his brothers direction, and he appeared momentarily hostile, as if anticipating that his brother was going to make some declaration that he agreed with Cas' designation that she were a distraction, and that they should simply return to what they had been doing before, working only on stoppping the Devil.

"I'm all ears," Millie sighed.

Sam focused on her, "We tell them the truth. All of it."

Dean guffawed, "Bobby. And Ellen and-"

"And Jo," Sam finished. "They deserve to know. And maybe…we might be able to change it. With all of us. Maybe they might not go-"

Millie chuckled, interrupting Sam's train of thought, "You've met my Mom, right? Stubborn is basically her middle name."

Dean allowed himself a brief smile in her direction, finding another link between them, having made a similar observation regarding the blonde hunter. Sam too, seemed amused by her characterisation of Jo, and continued, "Plus, you're proof. They'll have to believe what we're telling them with you sitting in the kitchen, Millie."

"You think that, maybe me being here, is to convince them that it's true?" Millie questioned. "Or to believe the angels, or somethin'?"

Dean groaned, shrugging his shoulders, "I've got no clue. But we're gonna give it a shot anyway."

X - X - X - X - X

When the three had returned from there discussion in the yard, all looking like they were equal parts exhausted, furious and nauseated, Jo was prepared to unleash Hell and demand answers. Ellen and Bobby had all but green lit her gung-ho approach to an ambush of the Winchester brothers. However, such had not been necessary as Dean had insisted that Ellen, Bobby and Jo all take a seat around the kitchen table. Jo raised an eyebrow incredulously at Dean as he set the shot glasses down in front of her and promptly filled them with tequila. He shook his head, "Trust me. You're going to want this."

Jo's brow furrowed, "Take your word for it."

She watched as Sam leant against the door frame whilst Millie boosted herself up onto the kitchen counter beside the refrigerator. She glanced at Jo, offering her a small, sad smile that Jo didn't quite know how to read. Jo watched her nervously picking at the cuticles around her nails as her eyes bounced nervously around the figures in the room, anticipating a reaction of sorts, Jo suspected.

"Alright so," Sam began, noting how his brother had failed to do so, despite having directed everyone into the room. "Seems that Gabriel had a bit of a message for us."

Sam appeared unwilling to continue, and nodded at his brother. Meeting Jo's eye, Dean grimaced before focusing on the bottle of tequila in the centre of the table.

"Wow," he mumbled. "This is- a lot harder than I thought it was gonna be."

Beside her, Ellen nodded encouragingly in his direction. Despite her own irritation, Ellen sensed the unease that had befallen both boys and wanted to offer them whatever support they needed. And she doubted that she would be able to protect her daughter without knowing the entire story of what they were facing. She said, "Out with it honey. Christmas is coming."

Dean smirked, bobbing his head, "Alright, well, Gabriel…he's an archangel. He was the one that was messing with me a couple weeks back. He ugh…when I was asleep- I mean I wasn't really asleep. I was…somewhere else. About thirty years from now."

Jo blanched, her mouth dropping open and her brow furrowing. Bobby however, shouted, "The hell, boy?! You're telling us this now-"

"Let him keep going, Bobby," Ellen snapped. "He's just started the whole thing."

Dean continued, apparently having commenced the story, he now felt compelled to finish it. He pointed at Millie, "This is…Mary Ellen. She is from that future."

It was Ellen that now stared egregiously at the girl in question who swallowed visibly at the scrutiny she was placed on her. Jo too, looked at the girl and noted how she now appeared to be intently focused on Jo's reactions.

"That can't be true, Dean-" Ellen insisted.

"It is," Millie piped up. "All of it. I- I can show you."

She hopped down from the counter at the same time she pulled a small cream wallet from her jacket pocket. Millie focused on her ID, pulling it from the card slot and placing it down in front of Jo, Ellen and Bobby. It was Jo who reached out and held the card up to her face. It was indeed a Kansas driver's license. But it was the name that immediately caught Jo's attention and her mouth dropped open.

Mary Ellen Winchester.

"You- You're- You're…related?" Jo stammered, at the same time Bobby snatched the card from her hand, "Gimme that."

Mary glanced at Dean, "Yeah. We are."

"Jesus," Bobby grimaced, glaring at the licens an then the girl, before handing the card to Ellen who had been holding her hand out for it.

Jo focused her attention back on Dean who now looked a mild shade of green as he continued, "What he showed me that time…was a version of what happens when we go hunting for Lucifer."

With the mention of the Devil's name, all interest in the license had been captured, and

"Gabriel brought me and…Millie-" he gestured at the girl to explain without saying who he was referring to "-to Carthage and showed us. What he showed us was…that Ellen, you…"

Jo frowned, her heartrate jumping as Dean struggled to continue the sentence. Her mother sat quietly beside her, unmoving.

"Ellen, what he showed us was that you…die in Carthage, when we go after Lucifer."

Ellen said nothing. Jo however, shook her head vehemently, "That can't be true. Dean, it's all bullshit made up by the angels. They've got an agenda-"

"Jo," Dean insisted, begging her to stay with him, "There's more, okay?"

Jo nodded and she reached for one of the shots of tequila on the table. Her mother stopped her however, grasping onto her wrist and holding it to the top of the kitchen table. Jo felt her squeeze her wrist as she stared past Dean and out the kitchen window.

"This last time-" Dean continued, now unable to look anywhere else but at Jo, "-was that when we go to Carthage…you both…die."

Jo's heart pitched. She was going to die. The thought festered in her mind unbidden and she felt her lungs seize at the idea. Ellen now was unable to comprehend anything she had heard and pushed herself away from the table. Ellen stood with her hands on her hips glaring at the boys. Jo could see her hands shaking.

"We're not going to let it happen," Sam promised them.

"It can't happen," Dean agreed.

"Because of me," Millie interrupted, now having adopted the same green shade as Dean. "Because if you die… I won't ever exist."

"What?" Jo demanded.

Millie looked uncertainly at Dean who nodded at her. Millie took a deep breath, "My parents aren't…those people- I made them up because-" she looked at Jo "-you're Joanna Harvelle, and where I'm from…you're my Mom."

Jo's mouth droppped open and Ellen's eyes went impossibly wide. She whipped her head back and forth between the young woman and her daughter, noting immediately the. The only difference was the flecks of green in Millie's eyes that distinguished them from Jo's deep brown. And her surname, of course. Millie was her granddaughter - supposedly - and Jo-

Having apparently read Ellen's mind, Millie added, "And Dean is…my father."

Millie's heartrate rocketed having all of them staring at her with suspicion and shock. She then began to ramble, "It wasn't all a lie. The last time I saw my Mom was the flashback in Carthage with Dean and Gabriel when you were attacked by the hellhounds in my timeline-"

Bobby guffawed, reaching for a bottle of Jack Daniels, "Son of a bitch."

Jo's eyes met Dean's. He was telling her the truth. For all his colourful faults, she could tell that there was no mincing of his words, that what he was telling her was the truth. Dean seldom said things he did not mean; however, long it might take him to get to the truth was an entirely different matter altogether. And she could sense that from him now.

Jo shoved her chair back from the table. She dared a glance in Millie's direction as she left the table, finding that the girl looked equal parts defeated and unsurprised by her response.

"Jo-" Dean began, moving to block her path. She darted past him as she bolted up the stairs, the bedroom door slamming shut behind her.