37. Decoders

In the end, we ship Claire off to Jody Mills, someone we all agree will take good care of her. I get a goodbye out of Claire, although I know my exposure back at the barn didn't do me any favors, or her. If she's the kind that grows up to be a hunter, she'd be the one to kill me. I'm sure she's feeling something along the lines of she wants to kill me because I couldn't save Amelia.

That bridge will get crossed should it ever reach that point.

So, a few days after we shipped Claire away, Sam and I decide it's time to check in on our imprisoned witch, Rowena.

"Nothing?" I say as I stare down the redhead. "You've got nothing?! Rowena, it's been days! You said the codex would crack the code."

"I am an artist, Josette," Rowena drawls. "These things cannot be rushed. Perhaps if I weren't chained up...I'm really not at full strength."

"Yeah, and you won't be at full strength," says Sam. "No witchcraft. Look, we need the cure for our brother from the book, and if you're stalling..."

"Why on earth would I stall?! I want the Mark off your brother for my own protection! I want out of these chains and out of this pit, and I want you to hold up your end of the deal and kill Crowley. You do remember the deal, do you not, Samuel?"

"Believe me, we have no issue killing Crowley!"

"The problem is, the language Nadya used in the codex is damn near indecipherable. She was a gifted witch but a selfish pig. Once she cracked a code, she then coded its secrets for herself."

"So...Now we need to break a code to...break a code?" I ask.

"Quick, aren't you?"

"Listen, Dean gets worse every day. Get this done."

"You won't forget the grocery shopping, will you?"

I roll my eyes. "No." I should poison your food once this is done.

"What, you weren't up for scare tactics with her?" Sam asks me once we're out of the room.

"Why try? I'm sure demons don't bother her." I shrug. "And I'm not feeling trying to scare the word of God into her." I rub my eyes. "I know demons don't sleep, but God, does she exhaust me."

"You and me both, Jo."

We both climb into my truck. "You know, I'm amazed Dean hasn't figured us out yet."

"He's wrapped up in other things, and you know that."

"I don't know how much longer we can keep this from him, Sam. Something's bound to give, and when it does, shit is gonna hit the fan."

* * *

"I don't need to be guided, Jo, I'm not blind," Sam insists tiredly.

"Well, considering your lack of sleep made you nearly fall down stairs and bump into walls, I beg to differ." I snort as I hover over Sam down the bunker steps. Dean's in the bunker library, a laptop in front of him. He notices us coming in.

"Wow," he says. "Well, you look like crap on toast."

"I just haven't...really been sleeping well," says Sam.

"There a woman you haven't mentioned?"

"A woman?" I ask, tilting my head.

"Well, I'm just saying. You two weren't here when I went to bed last night. You've been running off on your own a lot these past couple weeks."

"We do that."

"You actually don't."

"And why are you looking at me like that? He asks me to come along." I shrug. "And no, get your mind out of the gutter. Sam's not seeing anyone."

"Oh, so you two are going out and doing stuff together now?"

"Well, he needs a ride, and I won't let anyone touch my truck but me. He's lucky if he comes back alive from taking Baby out without your permission." I sniff. "I mean, I don't go where he does. I've got my own stuff to enjoy."

"Like secret meetups with Cas?"

I roll my eyes. "I sense jealousy, Dean."

"Not jealousy. Just trying to make sense of you two crazy kids sneaking out a lot recently."

"Okay, officer." I roll my eyes. "Besides, we don't always do the exact same thing at the exact same time. Remember when you went off and snuffed that vampire nest by yourself?"

"Have you been snuffing vamps' nests?"

"No," says Sam. "W-we've...What is that? What are you doing?"

"So, those goons that were after the book, the, uh, the Stynes," says Dean, "well, the one that we killed said that he had a big family. So if there's more out there, I figure we should probably get to know as much as we can about them."

"And?" I ask.

"Well, that's pretty much what we do know, that they screwed with financial markets, they helped Hitler get started, along with God knows what else...probably disco. But you go back to the eighteen-hundreds, and the trail goes dead. There's nothing in the research, there's nothing online. It's like the family just popped up one day."

"Families don't usually do that." I shift my weight.

"No, they don't. Hasn't been a total waste of time, though. I think I caught us a case. There's a mention online of a murder in Omaha. Victim's eyes were cut out. Janitor runs in just as the killer jumps out the window."

"That's it?"

"Well, the window was on the third story. Look, guys, I'm just trying to stay busy here, okay? Unless you have bigger fish to fry."

"No, I-I'm sold," says Sam. "I'm in."

"I'll get back to you on that," I say.

"Why's that?" asks Dean.

"I've just been feeling a bit off lately." I clear my throat. "Just personal things. Nothing to worry about."

"Okay then." Dean gives me a weird look. "All right, well, I'm gonna hit it. You probably should, too, Sam. We'll leave first thing in the a.m."

I sigh through my nose once Dean is out of earshot.

"I'm gonna call in a favor," Sam tells me.

"Just what 'favor' are you calling in?"

"If Rowena can't break the codex, I know someone who might be able to do just that."

"Who would that be?"

"Charlie."

"You think she'd be onboard for it?"

"It's to help Dean, I know she will be."

"All right, call it in. Text me when you know something."

"You don't want to come with? Odds are we'll be bringing her to Rowena after if she agrees to this."

I purse my lips. "You sure we can trust Dean to stay asleep here?"

"We got to."

"All right, then. Let's go."

* * *

"Hey, Charlie," Sam greets the redhead casually as we're at a rest stop in the middle of the night. Yeah, because that's not suspicious at all.

Like the past few times, I had to drive us to the meetup. Sam called Charlie just before we'd left the bunker.

"Hey," she responds. "It is you guys. Why are we meeting here? I could've come to the Death Star."

"No, no, this is, uh...this is better, actually. We're not gonna be working in the bunker, so..."

"Uh-huh. What is this about, again? You were kind of...vague."

"Okay," I say, "so, here's the thing...Dean isn't getting any better. We feel like if we don't get the Mark off his arm, it's gonna eat him up."

"I get it, but what are we gonna do about it?"

"We got ahold of a codex which is sort of a collection of supernatural code-breaking tools, and it should help crack the Book of the Damned."

"That would be awesome if the book, you know, actually existed."

"It does," Sam tells her awkwardly. "Uh, I um...I swapped it out right before it looked like I burned it."

"Okay. Well, Dean wanted it burned, so is he pissed?" We both give her a look. She gives one of exasperation. "Of course. He doesn't know. Geez! The three of you."

"It's not like he's given us much of a choice, Charlie," I say in annoyance. "He's not himself. He's not. He would try and stop us. He's given up. Look, we called in an expert to...to use the codex, but it turns out it's sort of...encoded also."

"So I thought you might help...move things along faster," says Sam.

"Behind Dean's back," Charlie snaps. "After Dean told us the stupid book would kick our asses if we mess with it. I...is there any part of this that doesn't reek?"

"Did I mention you'll be working with one of the most dangerous witches in the world?"

"I don't know, you guys." Charlie looks very uneasy.

"As far as we can tell," I say gravely, "this is...our only shot at saving him. If we don't take it...He's gone."