20. Berto's Ale House

We find ourselves at Berto's Ale House. Of course, before we even get to Charlie's business, she asks about me. I tell her what she needs to know, leaving out the fact that I'm a Hell escapee and as a result of that I'm a demon. In turn, I give her the time to catch us up on what the hell we're getting ourselves into.

"Let me get this straight," I say carefully, as I'm sitting beside her. "There're two of you—one good, one...bad?"

"Yeah, what, dick you is some sort of ninja?" asks Dean.

"She is a badass, yeah," Charlie admits.

"O-okay," says Sam. "Hold on. Back up. We were there for Dorothy, Oz, yellow brick road. B-but then..."

"War." Charlie shivers. "The war for Emerald City. It was awesome. Until not so much. We were gonna lose, so I made a deal with the wizard...of Oz. Wears a hood and a creepy mask, kind of a jerk—good times. He said for us to win, I had to unleash my true darkness, which he meant literally. He used the inner key of Oz. It opens a door to your soul and lets the darkness out. Uh, we're still connected physically. If you hurt her, you hurt me.

"But bottom line, she's bad, and I'm good. And let me just tell you, being good is really annoying. Normally in a place like this, I'd be pounding Harvey Wallbangers and checking out the bartender's ass. Now all I want to do is sip club soda and send her to college."

Well, that speech alone tells me a few things. One, the Emerald City is real. It might as well be at this point. Two, I missed an opportunity to meet Dorothy. Three, Charlie has a thing for women. Is it bad that I'm wondering if she'd find me attractive if both halves of her were mixed together again?

"Okay, uh...good Charlie," Dean says after a minute. "So, why is dark Charlie gunning for revenge?"

"She's trying to win me back. Dark Charlie won the war single-handedly."

I nod. "That is pretty badass," I admit.

"But...She did some truly awful things. But I told her I didn't want any part of her near me again, ever. Going after the person who mur—mur—uh...Who took my parents away is her messed-up way of showing me how close we are, or—or could be. I keep calling her 'she,' but she's me. I'm the one doing this."

"Charlie, that—that's not who you are, okay? It's—it's a twisted version of—"

"Me. I've been following her so I can catch her before she does something stupid a-and just lock her away forever."

"Uh, Charlie?" says Sam. "That's not an answer."

"Sam's right," Dean agrees. "We'll go back to Oz, and we'll—we'll get the key from the Wizard of Douche, and we'll put you back together."

"Even if I did want her back...Look, dark me broke the key," Charlie explains. "There's no way to get back to the wizard."

"Okay, okay," I say, rubbing my temples, "first thing's first. We need to find dark Charlie before she finds the drunk driver. So, we know Barbara gave up her old bank statements, right? That's what Sam told us. That means dark Charlie will probably follow the money back to whoever made the payoffs."

"That's what I would do."

"All right."

"I'll get some refills," says Dean.

"Actually, mind if I do it?" I ask.

Dean looks at me oddly. "Go ahead."

I nod, taking the glasses back to the bar. I order another round, tapping my fingers against the bar while I wait.

"We've really got to stop meeting like this."

I frown. How did I let him sneak up on me? I don't acknowledge his presence. "This is twice now," I deadpan. "You're following me, aren't you? Lying in wait?"

"Oh, no. I'm minding my own business. You just have a tendency to gravitate towards me."

I snort. "Not likely. If anything, it's the opposite." Begrudgingly, I half turn to look at Franco. "Look, I know what you're waiting for. My 'ah-ha' moment where I embrace the dark side. It's not happening."

"I think it has, you just haven't admitted it to yourself yet. There's something different about you." That stupid smirk that comes onto his face really annoys me.

I step back as Franco takes a step towards me. I'm tempted to cause a scene. "You don't know anything about me."

"I know you were able to break out of Hell."

I can't hold the surprise back from my face. "That wasn't you who did the jailbreak?"

Franco chuckles. "No, you did that."

Then how come I don't recall that? Is that buried somewhere in my head? Is that permanently erased? "Then how'd you end up topside?"

"We made a pact. You got me out, I got us both out. I knew the way back to Earth. And look," he gestures around us, "it worked."

I quirk my mouth in question. "How do I know you're not lying?"

"I haven't lied to you, Josette."

I cringe. I feel like he should be calling me "Aves". Hearing a demon say my name so casually makes me writhe inside. "I thought that was a demon thing?"

He shrugs. "Look, we're bad, but some of us are...better than others."

"Why'd you insist on helping me? Did you know who I was in Hell?" I swallow. I know for a fact that before whatever happened, I knew who I was. I knew who my family was, I knew my background. I knew what I'd gotten myself into in that recent year.

"I'd heard you when you were being tortured. I kind of ignored it when you made a run for it."

"You didn't think to kill me," I say slowly. "Why?"

"Like I said, being able to breathe fresh air was more important than leaving a Winchester in Hell."

I'm not sure I should be flattered by a demon sparing my life. Just then, by God's gift, the bartender comes back with the refills. I nod to her in thanks. As I reach for the drinks, Franco grabs my arm. I give him a malevolent look.

"Get any closer, and I'll break your nose," I say as he leans in towards my ear.

"When you realize your calling, contact me. I'd be happy to take you back in."

"Not on your life." Swishing my hair to purposely get it into his face, I take the refills and rejoin Charlie and my brothers. "What'd I miss?"

"We got something," says Sam, who glances at me long enough to put his eyes back on the laptop screen. "Russell Wellington. And according to his personal records, he had a-a car that was reported stolen the—the week of the accident, a-a car that was never recovered. And after the supposed 'theft,' he went on a sabbatical from work for two weeks and returned to work with bruises and a broken ankle."

"So this is him," says Charlie quietly. "This is the man who, uh..."

"And you're done," Dean says abruptly, shutting the computer. "Sam. Jo."

"Hey, dudes. Dudes." Charlie looks at the three of us. "Secrets are bad."

"Charlie, I don't think you should be anywhere around this piece-of-crap salesman," Dean says.

"And—and I don't think that finding dark Charlie and locking her up is gonna work," says Sam. "I mean, she may be...dark, but she's still a part of you."

"You're right," Charlie sighs. "I hate it, but you're right. Okay. Let's go to the bunker. Baum used the key to Oz. Maybe there's something in the Men of Letters' files about the key. If we fix it, we can get back to Oz."

"All right, you guys dig into that," says Dean. "I'm gonna keep an eye on Russel and, uh...wait for dark Charlie to show up."

"Are you sure?" I ask. "Dean, maybe—maybe I should be the one...or Sam..."

"No, no, no, no, no. I got it. It's, uh—I just can't believe I have to...protect this piece of crap."

"No, you got to protect them both. I mean, if dark Charlie gets hurt, then..." I look to Charlie, who's a few inches shorter than me, making me feel like a giant in comparison.

"So do I," Charlie says. "So...be careful."

"Got it," says Dean.

Charlie waits until Dean's long gone to ask: "Is he okay?"

"Uh...We'll explain on the way," I say. "Come on."

**That moment when Jo wonders if Charlie would find her attractive XD

And yes, Franco just can't seem to let Jo go. Or, is it the other way around like he thinks? [dramatic music]**