Sunday, April 10, 2011

Turning Back Time (3/5)


Chapter 3
‘Late Night Talks’



Let thy heart be strong,
For the good shall announce righteousness to the good;
The righteous with the righteous shall rejoice,
And shall offer congratulation to one another.
~ LXXXI. The Heavenly Tablets and the Mission of Enoch, The Book of Enoch~

An hour later the house was quiet as Dean walked out of the back room and towards the living room. He was startled to find Jo awake and cleaning her rifle. He raised an eyebrow.

“You’re still up.”

She glanced at him briefly before looking back down at her gun.

“Looks like.”

Dean rubbed the back of his neck before walking over and sitting in one of Bobby’s desk chairs. Jo didn’t acknowledge Dean’s presence and he wasn’t exactly sure what to say. He opened his mouth a few times before closing it again.

Jo watched him out of her peripheral vision and she tried not to smirk as he struggled for words. Finally after a minute or so of him floundering she rolled her eyes.

“Why don’t you start with Jo, ‘I’m sorry for being such a cocky son of a bitch and thinking that every female in the world, including you wants my hot body.’”

Dean grinned.

“You think my body’s hot?”

She looked up from her gun and there was a glint of amusement in her eyes as she shook her head.

“Wow…that’s all you got from that sentence? You really only got a one track mind huh? Well sorry there Deano this girl doesn’t do End of the World sex…I have more self-respect than that. You’ll have to go find yourself a nice leggy bar slut if you want a good roll in the hay.”

Dean’s smile never left his face and Jo frowned.

“What?”

He shrugged.

“Nothin’…listen I’m sorry about before. No clue what I was doing. Must have been too much beer or somethin’ we okay?”

Jo watched his face and tried to figure out what he was playing at, but he seemed sincere enough. She shrugged.

“Sure.”

“So…”

Dean’s voice trailed off and Jo chuckled.

“You’re kinda bad at the small talk. Do you need somethin’?”

He frowned.

“What? No. I just…I’m up and you’re up…thought maybe we could catch up. Uh, how’s hunting with your mom?”

Jo shrugged as she glanced back at her gun and started putting it back together.

“It’s decent. She’s been pretty good about treating me like an adult for once, which is nice. She’s given up trying to get me to stop, so I guess I can’t complain. How ‘bout you and Sam? Things been good?”

Dean made a face as his elbows leaned on his knees.

“We’re better than we were.”

She nodded, noticing that was all he was going to say on the subject. Silence filled the room again and Dean leaned back in his chair watching Jo. She could feel his eyes on her and it was really starting to bug her. She wasn’t sure what was going on with Dean, but something was definitely up.

“Jo…”

She turned to him and the look on his face was conflicted. Though the tone of his voice was light she could see the seriousness in his eyes.

“Do me a favor tomorrow?”

She raised an eyebrow and he was quiet for a few seconds while he gathered his thoughts.

“If anything happens to me…promise me you’ll leave me there.”

“Dean…”

“No…Jo please…just don’t come back for me…keep going. It’s important alright?”

Jo could see the insistent look on his face as he spoke and she furrowed her brows. How could he ask her to do that? There was something in his eyes that made her hesitate before speaking.

“If it was me…would you leave me behind?”

Dean’s mind flashed back to the hellhound attacking Jo. He remembered calling out to her and grabbing her before rushing into the hardware store. No…he wouldn’t have left her…not until they knew it was too late. He closed his eyes as he saw himself and Sam getting out of the building before the whole thing blew.

Jo watched Dean close his eyes as a look of pain seemed etched into his face. When his eyes jerked open they were swirling with emotions Jo had never seen before. There were so many she couldn’t distinguish one from the next. He swallowed hard and gave her a tight smile.

“Fair enough...how about you watch my back and I’ll watch yours?”

“Isn’t that what we’re already doing? Dean…what’s going on with you tonight? You were fine earlier…is…did somethin’ happen?”

Dean chuckled and looked down.

“You know…I’d like to know that myself. It’s late…we should probably get to bed…get some rest…”

His voice trailed off and Jo grinned.

“You’re bed or mine?”

Dean’s head jerked up.

“Seriously?”

Jo let out a deep laugh before putting her gun aside and standing up. There was amusement in her tone.

“No not seriously. Come on Dean…this thing with us…it’ll never be anything. We both know that. Why complicate things?”

He watched her and his chest ached slightly at her words. She couldn’t really believe that. Sure Dean did or at least he used to, but now he wasn’t so sure. After everything that happened he wasn’t sure what he was feeling. He gave her a slight smirk.

“Well it won’t complicate things if we’re all dead tomorrow.”

She shook her head and he shrugged.

“I had to try right?”

“It’s late…I’m gonna head up. You…good down here?”

Dean nodded. He watched her head up the stairs before rubbing a hand over his face in frustration. Things would be so much easier if he could just tell her what was going on. They’d also be a lot easier if his emotions would keep themselves in check.

He was tired of the feelings that went through him every time he saw Jo. It was like losing her had made him realize how much she meant to him, not that he’d ever admit it. Dean grunted before getting up and making his way upstairs to the room he was staying in.

All he needed to do was keep Jo from dying tomorrow. If he did that then everything would go back to normal. Death would still be released, but at least they’d have Ellen and Jo back to help fight. He plopped down on the bed over the cover and shut his eyes. Just go to Carthage…kill some hellhounds…save Jo…and attempt to kill the devil again…Simple enough…


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