Title: Lost and Found

Chapter: 38

~~~~~~~~~~

Of all the things Lisa had been expecting to see, Sam Winchester showing up wasn’t one of them.

Sam Winchester, the man who’d always been there between her and Dean; the one first in Dean’s thoughts and always there. The man who’d taken Dean from her. There was never a moment when Dean hadn’t thought about Sam. That faraway gleam he’d get in his eyes had meant his thoughts had turned that way. A man was supposed to have his girlfriend in his thoughts constantly, not his own brother, but Dean had always thought about Sam. It wasn’t normal.

A sliver of annoyance twined with jealousy pierced her deeply and lodged inside her as the memory of that welled up. To make matters worse, Dean hadn’t talked about Sam to her. She’d been willing to listen, to hold him and help soothe that ache, but he hadn’t said more than a few words about Sam, giving her the bare bones of information, like he hadn’t trusted her with anything more.

Sam Winchester and a pretty blond woman, his…. What? What was this woman to him? She gave the woman a thorough once over, noting the pregnant belly and the wedding ring on the hand she rested on that stomach. She saw the way Sam touched her and how at ease they were, standing close together. Sam and his…what?…wife? This must be his wife. The ring, the belly, the gentle manner. This woman was his wife, right? She made a guess at the name, smug satisfaction in being right rising up.

Why would Sam and his wife come see her? Why wouldn’t Dean himself? Did he think she wouldn’t want to see him? Of course she’d want to see him. Despite the way they’d ended, he’d remained one the best parts of her life. It would have been nice to see him again and thank him for bringing her son home. She could thank him well, since she was again single.

Or was it Sam again, refusing to let Dean be the one to talk to her, keeping Dean away from her? It was always Sam.

She didn’t really want to let them in, but knew they’d probably stand there until she did. She listened with half an ear to what they said, an outrageous story about witches and sacrifices and Ben….

Ben’s stories. He told some wild ones these days. Were they aware of that? Did they have any idea that her sweet boy had become a handful she didn’t even recognize some days, full of attitude and lies? Ben was trying to get attention and they were giving it to him by indulging his stories. She’d have to come up with some sort of punishment for ditching the camping trip. Lisa let loose an internal sigh. Punishments were getting harder to think of the older he got. Maybe she’d get his dad involved, since Bryan insisted he wanted to be in Ben’s life. Why he couldn’t have decided that years ago was beyond her.

But who was Jo to even think about tearing into her like she was obviously planning to do? What did she care? Why did Sam’s wife give one hoot? Or was she just as rabid and possessive about Dean as Sam was?

Her shoulders tightened with tension and Lisa had the strangest feeling she’d missed something crucial, yet couldn’t figure out what it could be.

Jo didn’t know about her life with Dean. They’d been happy. They had.

She shifted uncomfortably and forced herself not to step away when Jo moved in close. Well…she’d been happy. Very much so. She’d had Dean, the Dean, with her as hers, sharing her life and turning the best nights of her life into the best year. Her reformed bad boy, retired from that life he’d led. A responsible man who still made her heart go pitter-pat when she thought about him; who’d let her guide him in stepping fully into the normal life.

Maybe Dean had had a little bit of a drinking problem, but it had never interfered with their lives. It had never been a real problem. He’d been functioning. He’d held down a real job and never been a mean drunk. He’d kept it under control and he’d seemed happy. He’d gotten through the days. A few nightmares occasionally, but who didn’t have nightmares? And what was wrong with him trying to better himself anyway? If he wanted to tuck in his shirts and have the neighbors over, then why shouldn’t he? Not to mention he’d been in real pain over the car.

The Impala, as Jo reminded her. She knew perfectly well that he liked his car and that it meant a lot to him. It would have been hard not to see it. They’d put it in storage for that reason. Lisa had hoped that it being out of sight would help Dean, that putting all of it out of sight would make it go away for him. He’d just needed to remove himself from the past and Lisa had helped him with that. She’d done everything she could to help him retire completely and sever the ties to the life he’d left. It was what a good girlfriend did: help her man accomplish his goals, a thing Jo obviously didn’t understand. She didn’t get that Lisa had given Dean what he’d wanted from her. The apple pie life, he’d called it. Normality on a silver platter tied up with ribbons. She’d been his apple pie.

Only Sam had shown up, the worm in one of those apples. Supposedly dead Sam who’d let his brother believe he was dead for a year. Inconsiderate, selfish Sam, taking Dean away from the life he’d worked hard to get, ripping him away from Lisa and back into hunting. If Sam had stayed away, Dean would have healed eventually. He would have forgotten about that other life. He would have settled down into a normal life. With her.

But Sam had dragged him away from her and Jo was talking like Sam’s control over Dean was no big deal, like it was a good thing. Sam said jump and Dean did.

She had wondered though, what would have happened if she’d played her cards differently, if she’d maybe let Sam into the house and talked with him. What if she’d explained to him that he needed to let Dean have his own life? Or just how much Dean had meant to her and Ben? Would that have made a difference? Would he have cared that they’d needed Dean too? She suspected nothing would have been different and Sam still would have taken Dean away.

Jo stormed out and Sam remained, talking in a calm tone about things that shouldn’t be happening. Covens, witches, and sacrifices. He was acting like he cared about what happened to her and she knew he didn’t. If he’d cared about anyone but himself, he never would have taken Dean away to begin with.

Jealousy filtered through her veins, steadily moving through her.

Why should she believe a word he said?

Covens, witches, and….

She couldn’t handle it. This wasn’t happening. No. There wasn’t anything out there watching her. It was a story. It had to be. She had a normal life, with an emphasis on the word. She didn’t have that…that freak life of all the weird creatures of the world. She had normal and that was that. There was nothing out there.

Lisa sent him away. She expected him to storm out like his wife had done, but he didn’t, saying a final few words in that gentle voice with the false expression of caring, and closing the door so softly she had to follow him and make sure he’d actually left the house. He had. She watched him get into a car and sit for a minute, talking to Jo before driving away. Lisa remained at the window, making sure they were gone. When the car had disappeared around the corner, she stood still in the window, staring at the street. The trees in neighbors yards looked suddenly sinister. The houses that were closed up tight to keep the air conditioning inside looked empty, making her feel like she was the only human being on the block. The friendly block was no longer friendly.

Damn Sam Winchester. Now she’d be seeing goblins in the shadows.

Still…it was prudent to make sure the locks were all on. It was good common sense. Not that she believed them. She didn’t, but checking the locks was something she should do anyway. Lisa made her way around the house, checking the locks on the doors and windows. Only when she was sure they were locked and no one -- or thing, she admitted silently to herself -- could get in did she pick up the card Sam had left and take it to the couch, sitting on one cushion and staring at it.

It was like the ones Dean had had that never showed their real names. This one read ‘Sam Wesson, FBI’ with a number below it. It looked every bit as real as real business cards. She wondered if Dean had cards to match that read ‘Dean Smith’ -- Smith and Wesson.

She touched the print, her glance turning briefly to the cell phone and cordless on the table.

Remorse flickered inside her. She shouldn’t have argued with Jo. It was easy to become emotional while pregnant and she shouldn’t have deliberately goaded her like that. It wasn’t good for the woman or the baby and had been a childish thing to do. For all she knew, she’d just complicated Jo’s pregnancy and she wouldn’t wish that on anyone, no matter how much she might dislike the woman on sight. Some women were delicate that way while pregnant. Was Jo? As upset as she’d gotten, perhaps she was one of those overly emotional women.

I should have known better, she thought.

The woman just got on her nerves though, with her insinuation that Lisa hadn’t known Dean.

Of course she’d known Dean. He was a good man. Whatever else there was, it was fundamental to him. He was good. What more had she needed?

Perhaps she should call and apologize to Jo. Or maybe…. She’d call Dean about Ben and tell him she was sorry if she’d upset Jo; that the moment had been emotional, and ask him to relay the apology to Jo. Yes. She’d do that. Then she wouldn’t have to talk to Jo herself.

Lisa picked up her cell, found the number she’d never deleted and dialed. She sat up very tall on the couch cushion, teeth grazing her lower lip. Her heart quickened with the anticipation of hearing Dean’s voice. He’d always had such a sexy voice. Disappointment quickly prickled at her however. She slumped a little. It was out of service. It shouldn’t surprise her. She knew Dean had changed cell phones often in his line of work out of necessity, but it did surprise her. Shouldn’t, yet still managed to. She couldn’t call him and tell him she hadn’t meant to upset Jo. She couldn’t call and talk to him about Ben. The only link she had to him was Sam.

Damn.

Sam. There wasn’t a way to get around him, was there?

She tossed the phone back on the table with a grimace and mulled over what they’d said, going over the details. In the back of her mind was the slightest idea that Sam and Jo come out of a genuine desire to help her, but then…when had Sam ever helped her? He’d pulled Dean away from her.

She set the card on the coffee table beside the phone. The number on it seemed to sear into her mind.

What if what they’d told her was true? What if Ben really had seen someone who looked just like her? What if he’d seen something that terrified him to the point he’d drive hours to…where?…South Dakota?…on the off-chance he’d find Dean? That was taking a big chance, with a lot of factors involved. What if her son, as much of a surly stranger he’d become these days, was really trying to save her life? What if Sam really had uncovered something even greater than what Ben had seen and had come to protect her? What if there were events out of her control happening right now and she was going to find herself in the middle of yet another supernatural thing?

Her blood seemed to turn into icy sludge inside her and she shook her head over and over.

No. It couldn’t happen. When Dean had left her for Sam all of those things had gone with them. She had a normal life, with normal things, not…that life. Nothing strange had happened since Dean had said that last goodbye in this very house. They were imagining it, or listening to Ben’s stories.

Dean was keeping Ben safe. That was what Sam and Jo had told her. It wasn’t doing any harm for Ben to spend time with Dean, was it? It never had before. It was good for him to be around a man like Dean, a caring man who knew right from wrong, who knew what it had been like to be a teenage boy with an attitude. Ben could spend time with Dean, the next few hours, maybe the next couple days. Maybe Dean could straighten him out a little, since she couldn’t seem to anymore and Bryan was coming in too late to really bond with Ben like he should have. Like Dean had been able to. Then, she’d text or call Ben and tell him to come home. She’d tell him he was busted and that he was grounded or something. Dean would make sure Ben was okay. He always had….

Except for once. That had been a fluke though. In the time she’d known him, it had only happened once and Ben had forgiven Dean for shoving him. Dean was a protector. He’d keep Ben out of harm’s way -- if there really was any harm out there and not a simple story, which it likely was.

As for herself….

After much thought, she decided not to run errands after all. It wasn’t because she believed what they’d said. No. She simply…didn’t feel like going anywhere anymore. And maybe she wouldn’t feel like going anywhere tomorrow either…all the way into July third.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dean wasn’t just watching Ben. Gwen knew that. She wasn’t stupid. Dean was there to protect her as well and she just let the issue go. Sam and Dean were going to do it whether she liked it or not, so she’d suck it up and accept staying in the motel room with Dean’s protection. For now, anyway.

By tacit agreement, Gwen kept Ben busy while Sam and Jo went to talk to his mother and Dean did the ‘great protector’ thing. She got Ben involved in a complicated, convoluted card game that she, Mark, and Christian had played when she’d been Ben’s age -- a game with shifting rules that required a fair amount of concentration. All the while they played, she chatted him up, asking basic questions about the town, the house, his friends, and other things. She tried to be subtle, getting a picture for what was around and the sort of response they could expect from neighbors and so on. Anything that might be useful.

“So this friend. Tommy? Where does he live? Close to you?”

“She lives a couple blocks over.”

“She?” Brows raising, Gwen looked over at him. “Your best friend is a girl?” Interesting. “Is Tommy short for something?”

“Tomeika. But it’s not like she’s a girl, you know? She hates all of the silly things her mom’s always trying to get her to do.”

A crooked grin tugged at her lips. Sounded slightly familiar. “I see. You texted her since we hit town?”

He froze in the act of setting cards down. “Texted?”

Gwen snatched up the cards he was laying down and placed a couple of her own on the table. “Come on, Ben,” she said, sitting back. “I’m not dumb. A guy your age doesn’t go anywhere without his phone. I assumed you’d kept it powered down most of the time so far to save battery, but no way you don’t have one on you.”

Ben glanced at the other room. Dean was pacing in there for the moment. He searched his jeans pocket and set the phone on the table. It was a fairly new model, one Gwen herself had been looking at. “I texted her in the bathroom a little bit ago.”

“Anything about what’s going on?”

“Yeah.”

“Were you planning on telling us?”

There was a guilty shifting in his eyes that Gwen read fairly easily. He’d planned to give them the slip and go off with Tommy to try to save the day. Typical teenage boy with a yearning for adventure. “Of course.”

“Uh-huh. What’d Tommy have to say?”

“She’s been watching the house, following mom, that sort of thing.”

“Wouldn’t your mom be suspicious about her doing that?”

“Nope. Tommy’s like all over town anyway. She wouldn’t think anything of it. Anyway, Tommy said she took some pictures of the pod mom. Do you want to see them? I could have her come here?”

“Let’s talk to Dean, Sam, and Jo about it, but probably it’d be a good idea. We might see something on the pictures you two wouldn’t notice.”

“Like what?” He leaned forward, very interested in her answer.

Gwen shook her head. “No way am I telling you squat. Dean would kill me.”

“You’re not afraid of Dean.”

She laughed. He was still hoping to get details. “Not really, no. Don’t tell him that. I don’t want to tick him off too badly any more often than I have to. Besides, you try working with someone you’ve pissed off. Not pleasant.”

He picked up a whole row of cards and began laying down pairs. “Do you like being a hunter?”

“Very much, but this life isn’t for everyone. Ben, I grew up in it. My family trained me from the time I was little to do every aspect of this job. It’s a hard life that can quickly take it’s toll. A lot of hunters are solitary, rarely taking partners, living on the road, drifters more than anything without the comfort a steady income can bring in. We live with little, make do more often than not, sometimes go to bed hungry, and always sleep with one eye open. It’s physically exhausting and extremely dangerous. Any one of the things we hunt could kill us. Even ghosts can do major damage.”

“But you live with Dean, Jo, and Sam. You’re not on the road.”

“Didn’t always live there. I was on my own for awhile. I worked with Jo’s mother and later met Jo. The three of us were a team, pooling resources and money. We’d meet up with Sam and Dean and it took time, but we all became more to each other. We became a real team.”

“Dean married Jo.”

“He did.”

He studied his cards a moment. “Are you marrying Sam then?”

“If he asked me, I might.”

“You could ask him. Girls can do that.” He looked around the room. “I mean, if you can do this job, you can ask him to marry you.”

She took the cards he hadn’t and set down pairs from her own hand. “I suppose I could. Don’t know yet if I want to get married. Maybe some day.”

He leaned back in his chair to see into the other room. “Are Dean and Jo going to raise their baby as a hunter?”

“That’s a very good question and one I don’t have the answer to. I don’t think they even know.”

“Can they be hunters and not raise a hunter?”

These were actually decent questions and she set her cards down and folded her arms on the table edge. “Why are you so interested?”

He shrugged.

Gwen thought a moment and decided to lay it on him. Hard. Dean wanted Ben to lose interest in hunting, she’d do her best to discourage him. “Okay. Here’s a general answer from what I’ve observed over my lifetime. It’s possible to be a hunter and raise your kids not to be. I’ve seen it. I know a woman whose dad was a hunter, but she’s not. She went to college and the last I heard, has a husband and family somewhere in California. However, kids that see it and grow up in it do tend to gravitate towards it in some capacity. While it is possible to raise kids out of it while being in it, it’s just not probable or doable for most couples.” She licked her lips and leaned forward slightly. “Ben, this isn’t a kind life. It’s hard, very exacting, and even cruel. We have no life insurance plan, no medical or dental, and we probably won’t live to retire. It’s thankless most of the time.”

He studied her closely. “Then why do you do it?”

“Someone has to. Someone has to beat back the bad things and make the world safe for everyone else. Yes, it does have the hero factor going for it. There’s nothing like going in and saving a life or several lives. The problem though with stepping into it for the hero factor is that we don’t get media recognition for what we do. I don’t know that I’d want to do it if we did. We don’t get the hero’s day where everyone applauds us. We do the job, get the hell out of Dodge as fast as possible once it’s done, and move on to the next town. We leave messes behind, Ben. Orphaned children, broken families…demolished buildings.” She and Ellen had been involved in one of those. The explosion had likely been seen for miles. “Anything you can think of as a consequence, we leave it behind at one time or another. We’re the underbelly of heroes, way down in the sub-sewer. You want to do this job? I know you’re interested in it. It’s obvious. Just don’t expect to be accepted as a hero, not even by your own family.”

“Are you by yours?”

“My whole family did this job. I’ve done good deeds, but I don’t think of myself as a hero. Dean and Sam don’t think of themselves as heroes. They’re hunters, men doing a job that no one in their right mind really wants to do. Sure, they saved the world…but no one is ever going to know about it. History books won’t record that Sam and Dean Winchester saved earth and every life on it. They have the background, I have it, Jo has it, and truthfully, the ones that come into it from a normal life come because of personal tragedy and no longer have a family. Keeping that in mind, let’s look at this from what I’ve learned in my life. Say you graduate high school and decide to be a hunter. You set out on that path, do some jobs, earn some respect from other hunters, learn the ropes. Now think about how your mother reacted to what you tried to tell her here.”

His gaze fell to the table, sad and hurt.

“Disbelief, you said. She didn’t want to see it or hear it. Now imagine that every time you tried to spend a weekend or holiday with her when you’re grown. She’s like this now, think about how worse it’d be if you were a full hunter. You couldn’t talk to her, it’d become a wedge between you, and you’d end up staying away more often than being near her no matter how much you love her because of that. On the flip side, you might leave altogether, sending a Christmas card once a year because the things you hunt are too dangerous and they might just kill her to hurt you. You’d leave and you’d be doing it out of love, and she might not understand it.”

He flinched.

“Ben, there’s a good chance you’d lose your family -- mother, grandparents, aunt, cousins, all of them. You’d do it because you love them too much to see them hurt because of you.”

“There’s still that danger with those raised in it.”

“It’s less because we understand the risks. We grasp all of them and accept it. It’s our life. It’s how it has to be.” Gwen thought she could actually see the breaking of that dream of his right before her eyes. “Look, I know it sounds exciting. Believe me, I wasn’t immune to that call myself and I know Jo wasn’t either. You think long and hard about the consequences of choosing this path before you ever step foot on it because once you start, the danger begins and it’s always there in some form or another. You will lose your family, Ben. One way or another, you’ll lose them all. It’s just a matter of when and how. Does doing this job outweigh everything else for you? Could you say goodbye to your normal family, all of them, and let them go?”

He swallowed hard.

“We make personal sacrifices all the time. Our happiness, our health, our safety. Can you give up everything for a world that won’t know about you and won’t ever thank you?”

She heard the door to the other room close and Sam came through the doorway. He came to her and bent, kissing her quickly in greeting. Gwen could see on his face that whatever had happened hadn’t been good. His expression was grim.

“What happened,” Ben asked. “Is she with you? Did she believe you?”

“We’ll convene the war council in a few minutes,” he replied and reached past Gwen for his laptop bag.

Ben slid his cards across the table. “I don’t want to play anymore.” There was a solemn gleam in his eyes that mixed with the sadness already there and Gwen caught the secondary meaning of the words. She’d burst his bubble. He was reconsidering his idea of hunting.

“I know,” she replied gently.

He was going to think about what she’d said and chances were, he’d let the dream fade. It was best if he did. While she thought he had what it took to survive as a hunter, he’d end up losing the mother he was trying desperately to save at present. He’d save her now only to lose her then. In a few months, he’d look hard at something else and wouldn’t look back.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sam was in love with Gwen. It wasn’t the news itself that shocked Dean, but that Sam had admitted it out loud. He’d admitted it and the fact that he’d do anything to protect her, even endanger a civilian teenager. Dean had known Gwen was good for Sam and him for her, but he hadn’t noticed just how deeply Sam had become attached to her. It was a good thing and at the same time, if Sam didn’t learn how to reign that in, it was going to be a very bad thing that could cause plenty of trouble in the future.

He had no advice for Sam on balancing that either, because he was still trying to balance it himself in regards to Jo.

Like now.

Dean was anxious the entire time they were gone. In every scenario he’d come up with, it had involved him there with Lisa and Jo, not here in the motel rooms with Ben and Gwen. He paced between the two rooms they’d gotten, moving back and forth, waiting for Sam and Jo to return. They should be okay. Whoever was watching Lisa couldn’t know who either of them were. Could they? If they knew who Gwen was, it was possible they might know who Sam was, but not Jo. She should be safe and Sam would do his best to keep her safe. It was Lisa who was being watched.

He went to the window and flipped the curtain back. Nothing. Dean let it drop back in place and returned to pacing, resisting the urge to call both of them.

It had been an hour. Where were they?

The outer door opened. He whirled.

A part of him expected them to walk in with Lisa between them, while the rest of him knew she wouldn’t come with them. He’d known she wouldn’t. She’d never seemed to ever really grasp the potential danger to herself, making him feel like he was overreacting and being unreasonable while claiming she knew he was the expert on those matters. He remembered one moment where he’d felt very inadequate and silly….

Sam and Jo came in, Sam moving past him and into the second room. Dean heard Ben ask what had happened and Sam tell him they’d all talk about it in a few minutes.

Jo though…. She moved to the table, averting her face from him, but in the seconds he’d seen her eyes he’d noticed that she was upset. It was there, clear to him. Jo was upset and trying to mask it. “Jo?” Going to her, he grasped her arms and bent a little to see her face when she looked down. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Forget it.” Her voice had that flat inflection she used when she was trying to pretend whatever it was didn’t matter, but he could hear the difference. He heard the pain that was there. “It’s not important.”

“Bull. It upsets you, it’s important. What happened?” She continued to deny it wasn’t important and out of frustration, he called out, “Sam?”

He appeared in the doorway between the two rooms. “Yeah?”

“What happened to upset my wife, and if you say ‘nothing’ I’m going to start swinging.”

“Dean….” Reluctance slid across his face.

He was getting bad vibes about it now. “Spill.”

With a glance behind him, Sam closed the connecting door, shutting Ben and Gwen from the conversation. Not that they were paying attention. They’d been playing some complicated card game that had no set of rules that Dean had ever heard before. It was a game she claimed Neal and Patricia Campbell had made up. “Lisa said some things while we were talking.”

Tension curled in his lower back. “What things?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Jo insisted. “I said things right back at her. I wasn’t at my conversational best. I was a little bit of a bitch.”

“Tell me what she said.” He glanced back and forth between them. “One of the two of you loosen your lips. Now. Sam? What did she say to upset Jo?”

Sam put his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and leaned against the wall beside the door. “She…told us you had a happy home with her, a good year, and you weren’t happy to leave to hunt with me. She was,” he sighed, “adamant.”

“She said that? It was happy? That I was happy?”

“She did.” Sam met his gaze squarely.

He let loose with a mental round of cursing that would have turned the air blue had he verbalized any of it. What on earth had gone on there? Why had Lisa felt it necessary to say that to his wife? His pregnant wife at that? What was wrong with her? He was of half a mind to go there and discuss the inappropriateness of that with her. If she wanted to remember their time together as only happy, that was her prerogative, but to say it to Jo? Not appropriate at all. Maybe he should have overruled them and gone anyway.

Putting his arms around Jo, he hugged her tightly to him before leaning back a fraction and tipping her chin up with one hand. “You know all about that year. I told you everything, from the point the cage snapped shut on Sam to the moment I said goodbye to Lisa. I was a broken wreck the entire year, Jo. She knew that. She saw it every day. She knew I was in pain, that I wasn’t dealing with anything, and she knew things weren’t the best between us and hadn’t been, no matter what she might say now. Yeah, there were good days, but there were a lot more bad ones.”

Jo grasped his t-shirt.

“My happy home is with my brother, my wife, and our family, which includes Gwen, Bobby, Ellen, and definitely this baby.” He lowered his hand to touch her belly. “I’ve never been more content than I am now and the day you became a permanent part of my life I saw a whole new world open up in front of me. You know this.”

“I know.” She nodded, relief in her eyes. “I do. It’s just…these damn hormones.” She pressed closer. “They make me weepy and sometimes I think my common sense has disappeared altogether.” Jo licked her lips. “Dean, she sounded so certain.”

Well, it had been a good year for Lisa. She’d said that once. The best year of her life -- wrapped in the worst of his, an agonizing year with a huge essential piece of him missing: Sam. “Lisa….” Dean sighed. How did he put this? “She has her own way of processing things.” He looked at Sam. “You know I’m happy now, right? I’m happy hunting with you. I want to do this.”

Sam had no doubt in his eyes. “I know. We had that talk months ago. We’re square, Dean. Have been for a long time now.”

It had been part of their reconnecting plan way back when. They’d had that Oprah-Dr. Phil-chick flick talk and cleared the air. A fresh beginning, getting to know each other again and then…Cas had found Jo and the rest was good history. “Whatever I had with her doesn’t mean a thing now, Jo.” He kissed her and didn’t release her fully when he pulled back. “I’m going to guess that she didn’t believe you.”

Sam pushed off from the wall and reached for the door. “We should do this with all of us in the room.”

He walked with Jo into the other room, keeping an arm around her. What they reported was no surprise to him or Ben and soon they were deep into planning how to save Lisa’s life.

~~~~~~~~~

She’d messed up. Maybe if Jo hadn’t let her personal dislike of Lisa get in the way, they could have convinced her to be cautious.

Sam tried to make her feel better, but it didn’t work completely. She kept going over and over the conversation with Lisa, picking out where she should have backed down and where she should have just shut her damn mouth. As much as she’d matured over the years, she still had trouble occasionally with her temper and mouth getting in the way.

It was just that she continued even now to get a rush of anger when she thought about the woman. What she’d told Sam was true. She hadn’t been able to get the words out of her mind and had only seen red. There was no way Jo would ever like Lisa Braeden and in no world would they ever have been friends.

But she’d save her life if she could.

“How did it go,” Gwen asked, gathering up the cards into a pile.

Sam crossed his arms. “She didn’t believe us, or at least that’s what she said. I think it’s more that she’s afraid to believe us.”

Ben slid a few cards Gwen had missed across the table. “See. Dean should have been the one to go. I knew it. She would have believed him.”

Jo faced him. “She didn’t believe you and you’re her own son. She didn’t believe me and Sam and we both tried to tell her. Why do you think she’d believe Dean?”

“He lived with us.”

“You live there.”

“He’s a hunter.”

“Sam and I are hunters.”

“He’s an adult.”

“That doesn’t wash either. Sam and I are adults.”

“He was her boyfriend.”

“He’s not anymore.”

“He knows this stuff.”

She shrugged. “So do Sam and I.”

Ben looked down at his hands and when he spoke, his voice was low. “She’ll believe him…because I have to think she’ll believe one of us. I have to believe we can save her.”

“Ben….” A range of emotions passed through Dean’s eyes. Regret, indecision, sadness. Slowly, he knelt in front of Ben. “You said it was like she didn’t remember. Well, I’m sure she does remember, she just doesn’t want to acknowledge the things are out there and she might have one more brush with them.”

Jo knelt as well and stretched out a tentative hand to touch Ben’s “Her reaction is a common civilian reaction.” To a first-time brush maybe. She didn’t mention that, however. “I’ve seen it before. We all have.” She saw Ben’s gaze raise to Sam and then Gwen and didn’t turn her head to see if they nodded. “She doesn’t have to believe us for us to save her life.” It’d help if she did, of course, though it wasn’t necessary. Her phone rang and she squeezed Ben’s hand. “Excuse me, okay?” She went to the far side of the room and answered, turning her back to the room. “Mom? Hi. Are you back already? Thought you were going to be gone longer.”

“We’re back. Was an easy pick-up all things considered.”

“All things considered?”

“A live showing of grumpy old men all the way there, during, and back. Bobby I can deal with. Rufus I can deal with. Together?” She snorted. “Would it be wrong to shoot them both?” Ellen cleared her throat. “Where are you? We stopped by the house and it was all locked up. Don’t you have a doctor’s appointment this week?”

“Long story and we’ll be back before it.”

Sam approached her. “Let me talk to her a minute.”

“Mom, Sam wants to talk to you. Hold on.” She handed him the phone.

“Ellen, hey…. Sort of…. Can you check something for me ASAP?…. Bobby has a few books on demon names. Would you look up Molek for me, see what you can find? I tried online and didn’t come up with much. Think I need a…. Right. You got it. I think he’s the one the witches are trying to free from hell.” He continued, mentioning the Hotchkiss mansion.

When Jo had concluded her own chat with her mother, she looked at Sam, raising a brow. “Molek is a demon? I thought it was a god we’re trying to stop them from raising.”

“He’s either one or the other. Might as well be prepared.”

“Maybe that should be our group motto,” she suggested. “Always be prepared.”

He laughed. “It’s good common sense anyway.”

They agreed to meet Ben’s friend and all but Gwen were surprised to find that Tommy was a girl. A very busty girl with curly dyed red hair, an all black ensemble (a worn Lara Croft Tomb Raider t-shirt and jeans), and a ton of attitude. Jo smothered a smile when three pairs of male eyes fell to Tommy’s bust line. A faint grin played at the corners of Ben’s mouth. Dean and Sam exchanged a long amused glance, then looked down at Ben. Jo decided it was obvious why Tommy was Ben’s best friend. She thought that sometimes, it all really did go back to breasts.

“I can’t stay,” Tommy said, tossing a set of keys on the table. “Here’s the keys to my mom’s other car. It’s newer, so it’ll run better. Takes premium though. I gotta get back. The parental unit is making me go to my dad’s. She called from port, thinks I’m gonna throw a party or something.”

Or maybe give people she’d never met free access to her mother’s cars?

“Like I’d associated with the unwashed masses in this podunk town.” Tommy rolled her eyes. “Please. So….” She flicked a finger at the key ring. “The extra house key is on that ring. Help yourselves to the food. Don’t worry about leaving a mess. I never do. Just if you stay, vacate within a week and don’t use her perfume. She gets pissy for some reason when you use it to wash the neighbor’s Chihuahua.” She pronounced it ‘cha-wee-wee.’

“I don’t think we’ll be staying at your house, but that’s a nice offer,” Dean told her.

“You can stay there, you know. Not like either of us is using it at present.” She socked Ben in the arm, which began a long ritual of punches and hand movements and ended with them staring at each other with bright red faces and goofy grins.

Oh my God, Jo thought. Tommy’s not just his best friend. She was his girlfriend. The idea that Lisa likely had no idea made her grin. It was an evil little grin and she knew it, not bothering to tone it down any.

It also amused Jo a little at how free Tommy was with her mother’s possessions. Need another car? I brought the keys. Want some food? Here’s the house key, rifle through the fridge. Teenage disdain and rebellion out full force. She left a flash drive with pictures that Jo snatched up and immediately got busy on while Gwen and Sam started going round and round on Gwen participating in the stakeout. Dean’s conversation with Ben was peppered in between the disagreement.

Jo wasn’t going on the stakeout due to the fact that the baby kept her taking a bathroom break about every hour on the hour. Taking part in a stakeout wasn’t on her list of available activities at present.

“Sam and I’ll take first watch.” Gwen got up from her chair.

Sam shook his head. “No, I’ll take first watch alone.”

“Best friend, huh?” Dean crossed his arms.

“No, I’m going with you,” Gwen told Sam.

Ben grinned. “I hit the jackpot with her. She likes all the stuff I do and she’s not all girly.”

Sam took a step towards Gwen. “You’re staying here.”

“It’s a stakeout. It’s not like we’re charging into --”

“It’s too dangerous for you,” Sam insisted.

“Jackpot, Ben,” Dean asked.

“What? Didn’t you see her? She’s hot and awesome! Can’t I like a girl who likes what I do?”

“Dangerous!” Gwen put her hands on her hips. “You’re being a caveman.”

The word made Sam flinch, blink, then nod slowly. “I am, aren’t I?”

“You sure are.” Gwen moved closer. They were pressed together now, Gwen’s head tipping back to look up at him. “I’m going, I’m working a shift, and you need to deal with it. It’s my job, too, Sam.”

He was hating to do it, the conflict on his face. Finally, he sighed. “I don’t like it.”

Dean pulled out the chair beside Jo and sat, legs stretching out. “Your mom know Tommy’s more than a friend?”

“God, no! She’d freak! Don’t tell her.”

Jo let her grin return and looked at them. Dean quirked a brow at her, a gesture that indicated he fully understood her smirking satisfaction, and in a wry voice said, “Oh, I don’t think anyone here is going to tell her.”

“I’m not asking you to like it, Sam, just to get out of my way and let me do my job.”

Sam and Gwen left together within five minutes and Jo continued to work on the pictures. She hoped there was something there to help them, but didn’t have high hopes.