Title: Consequences of Action

Chapter: 4

~~~~~~~~~~

Since he could tell that Jo was dying to take a long shower, Dean left her in his and Risa’s cabin, promising to come back in about half an hour with food. He headed to the dining hall and was somehow unsurprised when Cas showed up while he waited for the food to be heated and boxed up.

Castiel leaned against the table, back to it, and without preamble said, “Jo spent the night with me.”

Dean eyed him a moment. “Yeah, she stayed at your favorite campsite.”

“No, she spent the night with me, Dean.”

He blinked, considering the words and how they’d been said. It sounded like there was a little bit of gloating in Cas’s tone. “You mean with you, with you? As in ‘beast with two backs’ with you?” Dean completed the words with a hand gesture to illustrate what he meant.

Cas nodded, looking exceptionally pleased with himself. There was a satisfied gleam in his eyes and the barest of smirks upon his lips. “Yes.”

Yup, definite gloating. He wasn’t about to begrudge Castiel a spot of that. Dean also leaned against the table. “Huh. You got her knees apart? Because I thought they were superglued together.”

“Superglued?” He chuckled at that. “No, no superglue. I didn’t have any trouble getting her knees apart.”

“Hey, more power to you, buddy.” Dean crossed his arms. “I thought Jo had that whole abstinence thing going on.” She’d been adamant the last time they’d met that she wasn’t one for a quick roll between the sheets. She wanted more than that. Or she had back then.

“She did. Until last night.”

“What happened to change her mind?”

“The power of my awesomeness overwhelmed her.”

Dean started laughing at that.

“Why are you laughing?” Castiel arched a brow. “Am I not awesome?”

“Sure. You’re king of awesome. Now what really happened?”

With a quick grin, he was shrugging. “Honestly, I’m not sure why she said yes, but…we’re going to pursue it.”

“Yeah? What’s Jimmy have to say about it?” He knew Jimmy likely had an opinion formed about Jo.

Cas snorted, glancing behind him into the kitchen. “A lot. As usual. He likes her and completely approves of shtupping her and more, whatever that means.”

Dean knew Castiel knew exactly what the slang term meant. He’d told Cas himself the meaning of the word. “Hey…can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Isn’t it sort of, I don’t know,” he shrugged, “creepy, to have him awake when you’re going at it with some chick?”

Cas turned his gaze to the floor and shook his head, sighing. “You’re going to keep asking until I tell you, aren’t you?”

“Would I do that?” Dean had asked him that before and not once had Castiel actually answered him about it. The situation with Castiel and Jimmy was a source of great curiosity to him and while he knew a lot about it, there were some parts of it he didn’t quite understand, like how Jimmy could stand being unable to do anything.

“Cheerfully.” He looked back up. “I don’t think creepy is the right word. More like different. A lot of conversation when he’s awake like, ‘touch her there’, ‘do such and such’, and ‘aww, come on, it’s not like I can do it myself, you’re such a selfish bastard’. That sort of thing.” His brows raised and something in his overly innocent stare clued Dean in.

Cas was joking.

Dean scowled. Some days he regretted all that painstaking time he’d taken teaching Cas how to joke around. Castiel’s jokes tended to be hit-or-miss. Either you got his jokes or you didn’t. He’d also ceased to explain them all the time, taking Bobby’s words on the subject to heart: ‘if you have to explain it to your audience, idjit, it’s not funny.’. The result was that occasionally Castiel would crack a joke, wait a beat, then laugh, shrug, and move on. “You suck, you know that?”

He snickered. “Seriously, I don’t even know he’s awake unless he says something, and usually he doesn’t announce his presence. If he’s awake then, it’s by accident. He does like Jo though. He made some remark this morning about her having Veronica Lake hair.”

“Mmm. Veronica Lake. Forties pin-up. Sexy dead chick. Hair half covering her face…. Very nice.”

“Yeah. Well, I’m breaking up with the others,” Cas announced, “and seeing Jo only. Starting today.”

Dean stared at him. Castiel was giving up his women for Jo? After only a few hours with her. Interesting. And strangely swift. “No, that wasn’t bizarrely quick, since you asked.”

“I didn’t ask.” Cas frowned, standing up straight. “Why should I waste time with the others when it’s Jo I’m interested in?”

“I know you didn’t ask. And you’ve nothing to break-up from. It’s all physical with them, right?” Except for Natalie, but then she and Cas could only talk about the cosmos and understand each other.

One hand raised, forefinger and thumb stroking his chin a moment. His eyes narrowed in thought. “I should be considerate of their feelings, firm yet gentle. They should understand that while I do like them all, I don’t feel the sort of connection -- ”

“It’s not them, it’s you. Geez, Cas, it’s not like you were actually dating any of them. You had a screw here and there and looked at stars with Natalie. Just tell them all you’re not interested in them anymore.”

“I plan to.”

“You just met Jo again, you know.”

Castiel turned to face the table, resting his hands on it. “I felt something, Dean, and she did too. I didn’t try to talk you out of seeing Risa even though you fought constantly when she first got here.”

Dean held up his hands. “All right, I can take a hint. I’ll butt out.” Behind them, a full box of food was set on the table and he turned, looking inside it. “Biscuits, too? Great. Thanks.” Hefting the box, he turned. “Been good talking to you, Cas, but I’ve got to get this back.”

“Sure. I’ll get started on Jo’s cabin.”

At his cabin, Dean found Risa waiting outside. She was sitting on the bench along the side, waiting with her feet tapping. When she saw him, she stood.

“So, what’s the deal with her? She’s not staying here with us.”

Dean set the box of food on the steps and hooked a hand about Risa’s arm, urging her to move away from the cabin with him to a spot where he didn’t think Jo would overhear them. He could see Risa needed answers immediately, fear flickering in her eyes. She was really worried about Jo. He smothered a sigh. Sometimes he’d like to find that ex of hers and give him a good beating for what he’d done to her. “She’s an old friend from before and, just so you know, I propositioned her a couple times back then and she turned me down flat.”

A couple times? A couple didn’t really describe with much accuracy how often he’d tried to get Jo into bed. He’d pulled every persuasive trick in the book, given every smooth and not-so-smooth or even subtle pick-up line in that attempt, to which Jo’s legs remained firmly locked together.

One time, he’d thought he might succeed.

They’d been in Oregon, just the two of them, celebrating after dispatching several demons. Ellen, Bobby, and Castiel had been at Bobby’s, Bobby and Ellen watching Cas recover from a concussion of all things. While Bobby had maintained Castiel’s skull was too thick for there to be any damage, Ellen had admitted to worrying. Cas had all the symptoms of a bad concussion: headache, dizziness, double vision, an inability to concentrate, and he hadn’t remembered what had happened. It had taken Bobby and Ellen combined, along with a set of handcuffs that were creatively etched with symbols, to keep him resting. Bobby had reasoned that that handcuffs would work because Cas wasn’t likely to zap himself away and leave his arm there. Dean and Jo had exited the house to Cas’s irritable strains of ‘I don’t require rest. Release me at once.’.

With the job over, Dean had taken Jo to dinner. A nice place, not their usual cheap truck-stop food. After that was a movie and he’d finally coaxed her back to his room. Jo had insisted on two rooms despite his rather well thought out, persuasive, and excessively reasonable argument for one room. They’d had a few drinks and when he’d leaned over and kissed her, she’d kissed back. She’d let him lay her back on his bed and take a few liberties, but only until he’d reached to open the buttons of her blouse.

She’d taken his hand in hers and repeated that word he’d gotten very used to hearing from her lips: ‘no.’.

All of the sweet talking in the world hadn’t budged her.

“I don’t do that anymore,” she’d said, all regretful sweetness.

“There was a time you did,” he asked, wondering how he’d missed it and what the hell he’d been thinking not to take advantage of it when it was there.

Her smile had faded a fraction, hand releasing his to raise and caress his cheek. “Wrong time, wrong place, remember?”

He had and still did. Jo all flirtatious and his for the taking and him not ready to take. A missed opportunity that would never ever come again. “I do.”

“I’m not that girl anymore, Dean. I haven’t been for years now. I want something more than you’re able to give me.”

A truth that had hurt at the time.

Apparently, she’d changed yet again if she was willing to give to Cas what she’d refused with such adamancy to give to him.

However, Dean couldn’t find it in him to be bitter or regretful about his relationship with Jo, merely curious as to what had caused such a shift in her moral compass.

“She turned me down pretty forcefully, Risa, as in no way I could mistake it for anything else. We parted as friends only, like we usually did.”

“Seriously?”

“She spent the night with Cas last night, okay? It’s my understanding that they’re going to continue their physical connection and he plans to give the fab four the heave-ho sometime today. Now, I need to hear her story and while I don’t care if you stay, Jo might not talk freely with a stranger around.”

Risa crossed her arms and fixed him with a cool stare. “She sleeps on the couch and two of his four are anything but fab.”

“Obviously she’s on the couch. The only woman in my bed is you. And she’s only staying until Cas has her cabin ready, which I’m guessing will likely be tomorrow.”

She pursed her lips, expression softening a tad. “I want to meet her.”

“I’d planned on it. I brought some food for her, so we’ll talk while she eats and I’m going to try to convince her to lie down for awhile. She’s so wiped she’ll probably drop after her shower and a heavy meal. Then, in a few hours, I’ll bring you in to meet her.”

Risa stepped close, hands raising to rest on his ribs beneath his jacket. “It’s been a difficult few days, what with the Colt and Lucifer…. The way you and Castiel -- and Bobby before he died -- talk about Jo and Ellen Harvelle….” She sighed. “I know she means a lot to you.”

Dean embraced her. The worry and fear were there on her face though she tried to hide it. He could always see what she tried to hide, even when no one else could. “You have nothing to worry about. You’re everything to me, Risa. You know that.”

“I can’t help the worry, but I did take care of settling her people before coming over here and didn’t dump it on Castiel. Is that or is that not progress?”

“It’s progress.” He kissed her, a brief tender caress to soothe her. “Why don’t you wait out here for me? I’ll get Jo settled in for a bit and then you can take me around to meet some of her people.” He loosed her from his arms and reached for the box. When he straightened, she’d returned to the bench and was taking a book from the pocket of her jacket. Dean watched her a moment, wishing he could reach out and take that insecurity from her, but he couldn’t.

He headed up the steps, across the porch, and into the cabin.

~~~~~~~~~

Jo’s mind seemed to turn off completely as she stood under the shower spray. She wondered who the woman was that lived with Dean and what she thought of Jo showering in her bathroom. It was obvious a woman lived here. Her toiletries and personal items were everywhere. Jo had noticed jewelry, clothes and more. Even though she wanted to think about it, she couldn’t, her mind refusing to think anymore for awhile. She was glad for the shower. The water was a heavenly warm spray and it was nice to really be alone for a few minutes.

She took her time, as Dean had suggested, and when she emerged from the bathroom dressed in clean clothes, he was back, laying out a meal for her on the table by the south window.

“It’s Bambi stew, but we take what we can get, right?”

The bowl that Dean gave her was huge, accompanied by biscuits that were warmed and fresh butter. Fresh butter, she thought, then remembered Cas’s remark about chickens. Maybe they had cows here too. There was also coffee, that both smelled and tasted every bit as good as Mya’s, liberally laced with whiskey.

He told her about the camp, basics really so she could eat. Her guess had been correct. They had a few animals at one end and a large garden that yielded a few decent seasonal crops. Most everyone had some sort of job to do, mostly to keep people going.

In turn, Jo told him about 2011, chronicled her life and that big long journey for him. She explained Ellen’s death and the horrible things they’d witnessed.

“You’ve been wandering like Moses and the Israelites, huh?”

Jo yawned, beginning to feel sleepy despite having been awake only a few hours. She felt as though she could sleep for days. “I suppose. You know, I kept thinking that it couldn’t get worse, but then it did. That earthquake in Illinois? The one that damn near made a second Grand Canyon? We were this close,” she illustrated with thumb and forefinger about an inch apart, “to being caught by it.”

“You’re here now.”

“Finally.”

“I’m gonna guess that you haven’t been sleeping well for months.”

“No, not really. When you have to keep one eye open, it’s hard to rest.” She yawned.

“You stayed at Cas’s campsite last night. Get much rest?”

Jo avoided his eyes, pretending she had some coffee left in her cup. “Not too much, no. I still had people to look after.”

“Uh-huh.”

Something in the way he made that noise of agreement made Jo think he did know already that she’d been with Castiel. Under his steady regard, Jo began to feel vulnerable again. “So….” She picked at a biscuit, fingers pulling it apart. “What’s up with Cas?”

Dean stretched his legs out and crossed his ankles. “What do you mean?”

Jo raised one shoulder in what she hoped was a casual shrug. “Oh…he said something about having a couple…or four…girlfriends?”

His feet jiggled back and forth as he stared at her. Just when Jo began to feel uncomfortable beneath that stare, he blinked and smiled. “I wouldn’t call them girlfriends, not in the usual sense. I’m pretty sure the only one he’s had any real conversations with is Natalie. Cas has been going for the ‘no strings’ approach with women for awhile now.” Crossing his arms, he shrugged. “Once he lost those powers, women really started noticing him. It was freaky there for a few months. Everywhere we went, he had women hitting on him. Women like Cas. Cas likes women.”

“He’s not serious about any of them?”

“Oh hell, no. He’s been drifting along these years, sampling a good cross-section. Kind of like I used to.”

A good cross-section? And she’d been reckless enough to have sex with him without a condom? Jo pushed the shredded biscuit to one side of the plate. “Doesn’t he worry about diseases?” Subtle, Jo. Real subtle.

He leveled another long stare at her. Jo would almost swear he definitely knew she’d been with Castiel the night before. “No. Cas doesn’t get sick, not like that. He can get drunk, high…and has, but never sick. We had a flu bug here awhile back and all of us had it except him. He never has colds, flu, allergies, nothing like that. Don‘t ask me to figure out why. That’s just how it is.” He uttered a low laugh. “I made him get tested a few times. You should have seen me, Jo, giving him the whole STD talk about being careful and responsible and the entire time, he just stared at me real cool. You know, like he used to when he had the angel wings on? Then he looked at me like I was a complete idiot and told me I was being ridiculous because of course he’d weighed the consequences of his actions quite firmly in his mind before engaging in unrestrained sexual activity and would take all of the proper precautions to guard against infection.”

She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or not.

“Go ahead. Laugh. It’s funny. Cas had quite an attitude for months, but he’s not nearly as wild as he was. I actually got worried, wanted to stage an intervention even. Bobby kicked that idea right outta me, I tell you. He said a guy has to sow some oats sometime and Cas had a lot of years to make up for. Besides, I oughtta understand seeing as how I’d sown more than my fair share over the years.”

“That sounds like Bobby. No intervention, then?”

“Nah. Cas pulled through it. Takes pretty good care of himself now, even with the girlfriends.”

“He’s clean then,” she ventured, half holding her breath.

“Squeaky.”

“You’re positive.”

“Absolutely.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, good. That’s…good.” Jo rubbed her palms on her thighs.

“So you said.” His head dipped in a nod. “Any reason?”

“What? Oh, no.”

“That’s an awfully quick denial.”

“I’m just curious is all.”

His grin widened, eyes crinkling at the corners. “Okay, Ms. Curious. Anything else you want to know about Cas? Because I might know some even more personal things….”

“Not at present. I’m good.”

“I’m sure you are.”

The words could mean one thing, but his inflections upon them implied a less than innocent meaning. Jo opened her mouth to retort, then laughed, and shook her head. “The more things change --”

“The more I stay the same,” he finished for her with an unrepentant gleam in his eyes. “It’s good to have you with us here. Now, your people are all settled, resting themselves. Why don’t you lie down on the couch for awhile, get some shut-eye?”

Jo slid the plate away, fully abandoning the remaining food and contemplating the suggestion. Would taking a couple hours more to rest be lazy or merely a good example to her people should they ask about her? They were as stretched sleep-wise as she was. “Do I look that tired?”

“Exhausted, like you’re running on the fumes of fumes.”

“Got a blanket?” She leaned back.

Dean got up and went to the bed, drawing the blanket off the end of it. “Here.” He handed it to her. “Take as long as you want. No hurry.”

She waited until he’d gone out the door before lying down.

~~~~~~~~~

While Dean was talking to Jo and Risa sat outside the cabin worrying needlessly, Cas oversaw the cleaning of one tiny cabin in the cluster of small buildings near his own cabin. The cabin he chose for her was big enough for a bed with a small table beside it and perhaps a trunk at the foot of the bed. There were hooks on a strip of wood on the wall from the door to the corner, then around to the end of the bed.

Castiel made a mental list of everything she’d need. Some sort of curtains for the two windows, a lamp, sheets, pillow, blanket, bedspread. A rug for the floor beside the bed. With his list made, he went back across the camp to see Chuck.

When he came through the door, Chuck had a large box sitting on the table. Cas glanced at it, then rapped on the tabletop with his knuckles. “Chuck! You here?”

He emerged from the back room, swaying just a little and clutching his head. “I’m here. Please don’t shout again, okay Cas?”

“Sure. Whatever. I need --”

“Everything’s right here for you like you wanted.” Chuck went to the box and peered inside. “Bedding, a lamp. We got in some crazy pink retro curtains she’ll love so I threw those in too. They’re like tie-dye.”

Cas looked over his shoulder, then back at Chuck. Like he wanted? “Um…Chuck?”

“You can come back for the rug and comforter. I’ve put them aside and marked them as taken.” He scratched his temple with one finger. “Oh, and there’s a cinnamon scented candle in there, too. She likes those. It reminds her of when she was little and Ellen used to keep a cinnamon candle burning in their kitchen. It’s a comfort thing. She needs that right now.”

“I haven’t been in here yet today.”

“Uh-huh.” Chuck waited for him to continue. “And?”

“How did you know I needed these things?”

“Oh. Well…Dean said you were bringing Jo…”

Castiel raised his brows, staring at Chuck as he spoke, waiting patiently until Chuck began to stammer.

“You’d be getting a cabin ready for her and…well, of course she’d need…um…I…you see, Cas….”

“How,” he asked in a firm tone.

Chuck caved, giving the lodge a furtive sweeping glance. “Because I saw it, okay?”

“You saw it?” He blinked. “You’re having visions again?” Why? The world was ending. There was no need for Chuck’s visions because there’d be no future generations to read about them.

“For awhile now,” he admitted, hanging his head as though ashamed by it. “They started back up when Risa showed up and at first I thought I was really having dreams, but then the headaches came back and I was compelled to write it all down. Everything started coming true. I’ve gone through so many packs of college ruled paper it’s not even funny.”

The implications of that floored him. “Current events?”

“It was Risa and Dean to begin with, but it wasn’t enough. I had to record everything from my last stopping point….” He glanced away. “You know. Sam.”

Chuck’s visions had finally stopped when Sam had said yes to Lucifer. At the time, Castiel had assumed that was because there wasn’t much future to record. “How did you know about Jo?”

“I told you. I saw it. I saw it all. Ellen’s death, Jo’s promise to her, these past months for her. It’s all a part of my visions. And, uh, I saw the two of you. Together.” He licked his lips. “Last night.”

Together? Oh. “Tell me I wasn’t full frontal.” He didn’t really want to know the answer.

Chuck winced and said in an apologetic tone, “I’m afraid so, Cas.”

“Okay,” he said with more than a little unease. Now he knew how Dean had felt years earlier. “I’ll just take the box and get Jo’s cabin ready for her.”

“Yeah. If it makes you feel better, it makes me uncomfortable, too.”

It didn’t, but it was nice to know.

There were huge implications to Chuck’s returned visions that gave Castiel a hope for some sort of future for humanity. It meant there’d be people around to read about them. Thinking along those lines led to further wonderings. Chuck was a prophet, with prophetic powers granted by heaven, so what was going on in heaven?

He glanced skyward. This news fueled his speculation. He knew he’d never return there, he’d gone too far from what he’d been to return, but if Chuck was seeing him, then he’d some role to play. Him and Jo both. Cas ruminated upon Chuck’s admission. He’d seen Jo’s life from Ellen’s death to present. Jo, then, had to be important in some way. Chuck only chronicled the important things, even if those things didn’t seem important at the time.

He was up on a ladder, still thinking about that, when a voice intruded.

“Pink curtains?” Natalie stood in the doorway, observing his efforts to hang a curtain rod over the south window. “Man, those are wild.”

“Hi.”

“Hi back.” She leaned against the doorframe. “What’s her name?”

“Jo.” He reached for the curtains. Chuck and Natalie were right. They were wild, a swirl of pink, orange, purple, and yellow. “Joanna Beth Harvelle.”

“She’s the one at Dean’s right now?”

“Yes.” He set the rod in place and climbed down from the ladder. “Doesn’t look too bad, does it?” The folds of the curtains adjusted easily along the rod.

“Looks good. Is she the Jo? The one from before that you and Dean sometimes reminisce about?”

“Yes, she is.” He put the tools he’d been using back in the case and snapped it shut. While hammered, he and Dean had been known to discuss past events and people they’d both known. “She certainly is.”

Natalie came forward and picked up the pillow on the bed, squeezing it in her hands, then setting it back down. “You’re giving up one of your pillows?”

Jo had liked the pillows and if having one would make her comfortable, he’d gladly give one up. “She likes them. I can take them or leave them. I don’t mind giving her one. Or two if she wants two.”

With a slow nod, Natalie turned to face him. She slid her hands into her pockets and tilted her head a little to one side. “Go ahead.”

“Go ahead and what?”

“Say it. It’s okay, really. It’s all over your face when you say her name, Cas.”

She didn’t look upset or even hurt. “It is?”

“Definitely. You’ve fallen hard and fast, poor baby.”

He sat on the end of the unmade bed and looked up at her. “I can’t see you anymore, Natalie. I told Jo on the way here that I’d commit to her and only her.”

Her gaze dropped to the floor. When she looked back up, she gave him a sad smile. “There. That wasn’t so hard, was it? You know, I never thought I’d see this day.”

“Thank you, Nat.” He wasn’t sure whether to feel insulted or not.

“No, I mean you committing to one person with such certainty, like Dean did to Risa. You know what you want now and it’s her, end of story. I can see it without even having to look for it.”

He thought about it a minute. She was right. He’d made up his mind. He wanted Jo. “You’re not hurt?”

“I’m a little sad, but I plan on liking her and being happy for you. Besides, you and I were friends more than anything else anyway.” She gestured at the room in general. “Need any help?”

“No, I just have to make up the bed and it’ll be ready.”

He’d worked quickly to get it ready for Jo, wanting her to have a place all her own, since she’d never had one before. The cobwebs were gone, the windows washed, the curtains hung, and the rug laid out. He’d placed the table by the bed, with the lamp and candle on it, and once the bed was made, she could move in.

But there was still one thing he needed to finish today, something he’d promised Jo he’d do by dinner. “You know where I can find Carrie, Kylie, and Vanessa?”

“Carrie is on perimeter duty, and I’m not sure where the other two are.” She stepped towards the door in slow strides before looking back over her shoulder at him. “You do know that Van’s gonna cry, right? And try anything to make you stay with her?”

Vanessa was a tad clingy, but up until now it hadn’t been a problem. “I’ll break it to her gently.”

Natalie laughed. “No, go with the Band-Aid approach: fast and firm. Tell her and stick to your guns.”

She’s right, Jimmy spoke up. Vanessa doesn’t need gentle on this, Castiel. She needs a quick break-up because she’s the type to use crying as blackmail if you show any sort of weakness. I did tell you that months ago, if you remember, but no, you just had to start seeing her.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The sole reason Chuck hadn’t told Dean about his visions was that he didn’t want to give false hope. He didn’t know why they’d returned, but at this point, he didn’t really care.

Chuck wrote in secret -- at night and whenever he happened to be alone, getting back into the habit of carrying a notebook around with him wherever he went. He chronicled the time since Sam’s fall, which, of course, included Dean and Risa. When he’d first written those scenes of them in love, he’d thought for sure it was his overactive imagination. Dean and Risa? Come on. Yet, to his amazement, each scene had unfolded before his eyes. He’d never expected to ever see Dean fall in love, especially at the end of the world.

He wrote in detail for some parts, like the preparations for the camp and the political world events. In others he was able to gloss over weeks at a time. There had to be a solid basis in world events so future readers, if there were any, could place exactly when things took place.

But then, he’d had to go back and add in Jo Harvelle. He’d written of Ellen’s death and that promise Jo had made that ultimately finished skewing her ability to be intimate with a man. Chuck knew everything Jo knew about her reasons for behaving as she did and, unencumbered by her memories and feelings, he could see things she didn’t.

She hated being in charge of others. She hated needing to be in charge at all hours of day and night. It had changed her and not in a fully good way, instilling in her a strong, almost pathological need for control in certain areas of her life. She had to convince herself she was being coerced into sex just to begin to enjoy herself. Jo had to feel that the man she was with was taking full control over what was happening away from her. It wasn’t a want, it was a genuine need.

Like last night. She’d wanted to have sex with Castiel, but rather than come right out and say it, then just do it, she’d asked him to playact a coercion scenario so that she could let herself relax. She’d needed that scenario.

It made his head hurt just thinking about that one and how she’d ended up that way.

Even before Ellen’s death, she’d been sliding towards that sort of behavior, preferring to be chased by the men she was interested in. It was part of why she and Dean hadn’t clicked there in the Roadhouse. She’d wanted him to chase her and Dean hadn’t been in any shape to do that. By the time Dean had finally been ready to chase her, Jo had changed. She’d only wanted to be chased by someone serious about the chase.

Chuck sighed.

It had been bad enough seeing Risa and Dean, but now he had to see Jo and Castiel, too? This prophet stuff was a pain sometimes. He despised having to witness private moments. It embarrassed him beyond mortification. Private moments were supposed to be private, not…written out for all the world to read.

From experience, he knew he had to simply grit his teeth and endure it all, doing a job he’d never wanted and thought had ended.

~~~~~~~~~

While he waited for Jo to freshen up after her nearly three hour nap, Dean recalled the day he’d proposed to Risa. They’d been on a blanket on the dock at the lake, taking a break and lying side by side watching the clouds in the sky. He’d raised up on one elbow to look down at her. Risa amazed him. She was a constant mystery, ever-changing. He never knew who she was any given day. The prospect of spending the rest of his life with her, however long or short that was, didn’t fill him with panic. All it did was make him think he’d never have enough time to know all of her.

If what he felt was love, then he was hooked. Sign him up for the long haul, baby. He wouldn’t have time to think of another woman because it’d take lifetimes to figure Risa out. He wanted to be with her.

He remembered telling her all of that, his heart beating fast in his chest as he asked her to marry him and make it official. Then in the same breath, he’d asked if she’d be okay with trying for a baby as well. It was a stupid, reckless idea, bringing a child into a world that was on a one track ride to destruction, yet Dean was almost desperate for just that. He wanted to cram a lifetime of experiences with her into whatever time was left and know that, at least for awhile, they’d created a new life between them.

She’d agreed to both, yet thus far, they’d had no success on the latter. No one had. For the past year, there’d been no pregnancies or live births, as though heaven had run out of souls. Still, they tried and had an awful lot of fun together in the process.

Jo stepped from the bathroom and moved to the couch, sitting back down. Her gaze flicked to the doorway, where Risa waited. “You wanted me to meet someone?”

“Yeah, I did.” Dean was strangely nervous to introduce Risa to Jo. He put his arm around Risa and led her across the cabin to Jo, then cleared his throat, swallowing past his nervousness. “Jo, I’d like you to meet Risa.” He slid his hand along Risa’s waist in a warm caress. “My wife.”

Jo looked from him to Risa, a slow smile forming, a twinkle of delight in her eyes. “Dean, that’s great. How long?”

“About four months,” Risa answered in a slightly combative tone. It’d take awhile for her to warm up to Jo. Once she realized Jo was interested in Castiel only, she’d perk right up. He knew it. Risa had been engaged to a guy once who’d cheated on her every chance he’d gotten, so it was understandable that she remained wary of any women Dean was friendly with, afraid of being hurt again.

“Congratulations. I’m happy for you.”

Risa moved to the couch, joining Jo, sitting on the very edge of the cushion. “Dean tells me you’re old friends.”

“Like family.” Her tone was neutral. Dean could see her reading Risa’s manner, see a click of understanding and then Jo was smiling wider, turning her attention solely on Risa. “Tell me about your wedding. What was it like?”

“Uh….well…” Risa glanced up at Dean, then back to Jo. “It was on the dock where he proposed.”

He waited, tuning out the conversation as Risa began to warm to Jo, telling her about their wedding. When it began to wind down, he crossed his arms. “Ready for a tour of the camp, Jo?”

“Are you kidding?” She stood. “I’m dying to see this place.”

“Good. Cas is meeting us outside the dining hall in five minutes, so let’s get moving.”

Dean took Risa’s hand in his and the three of them headed across the camp.