Twenty – The Calm before the Storm

"No, no, you're doing it wrong." Jo pulled the gun from Jessica's hand and showed her how to properly load it. "Salt bullets won't kill a demon, but they'll sting like hell."

"Not even a headshot?"

"Never seen a demon get a headshot with a salt bullet, so I can't say for sure." Jo went back to checking ammunition for herself and Jessica. The group, save Crowley, was going to be armed with guns. Jo pulled Jessica aside to show her some quick, crash-course pointers while the rest finalized the plan details.

"You think this is gonna work?"

Jo sighed. "Honestly...it's up in the air. Demons can't be trusted, so if Crowley backstabs us, we might as well be ready to go back to Heaven."

"But we can trust Meg."

"Well, she's MIA right now, and so is Cas." Jo wasn't sure if Cas had left willingly, or if something had called for him and poofed him out of the bunker. It worried the group, because he still hadn't returned, and they needed his firepower.

"Maybe Cas went to go find her." Jessica shrugged. "They seem to have something between them. I wanna say it's kind of cute."

"Don't make me throw up, Jess."

"Do you think Sam's gonna be up for this? I mean, he's gonna be facing his brother, but it won't be his brother."

Jo tucked some rounds into any pockets she had on her. "You're never really prepared to go against a monster inside of your family. It's one of those things you don't think could happen until it does. I think he can handle it. If not, you're gonna have to step up. I'll be close by for backup if you need it."

Jessica snorted. "Meg would totally take a crack at my skills right now if she heard you."

"Yeah, she would."

"Are you going to be okay, if you face Dean?"

Jo avoided Jessica's eyes. "Yeah. It won't be pretty, either way. When we get him out, if his body's beaten up, he'll understand. He'd do the same for us."

"Hey, guys!" Charlie ran into the doorway. The two blondes turned to the redhead. "Cas is back."

As Charlie scurried off, Jo and Jessica grabbed the last of their ammo and ran after the redhead. As they entered the library of the bunker, Cas was making his way through the war room, with Meg in tow.

"Holy shit," Jo murmured. I guess Jess was right.

"Did you bitches miss me?" Meg snickered.

"Okay, that's a line I would use, and I don't appreciate you sounding like me right now," Charlie quipped.

"Good to see you, too, red." Meg acknowledged Jo and Jessica. "I see the team hasn't rolled out yet, so we got back at a good time." When the demon's eyes fell onto Crowley, she lost her triumphant-return demeanor. "Um, what is he doing here?"

"Um...surprise?" Cas told her, giving her a weak, apologetic smile.

The demon's eyes turned black. "You didn't tell me Crowley was going to be here. I should have told you to leave me in the woods."

"He's our diversion for Bela," Sam told her.

Meg let her eyes revert back to her vessel's normal color. "Uh-uh, no way. You can't trust this snake."

"Missed you too, skank," Crowley muttered. "I know Castiel will fry me if I so much as betray you lot, so calm yourself. I've already picked the location to lure Ms. Talbot to for my diversion. I'll chat her up, and when you find the shot, you take it. There's no doubt she's going to have help."

"We'll take care of Claire and Alex," said Jody, gesturing to Charlie.

"We'll get Dean back," Jo said firmly. "Jess, Sam, and I will head that. In the meantime, Crowley will try and hold off Bela, regardless whether or not she knows her minions are being attacked. Hopefully we can get everyone demon-free before she goes on the offense."

"If you get your shot at her, take it," Cas added. "No hesitation."

"So, can you and I head this first strike on her personally?" Meg asked the angel. "I'd love to get my hands on her."

"What'd she do to you?" Jessica asked curiously.

"Oh, she gave me a boring villain speech and then had her dopes try and execute me in the woods. Fun times, especially when they both got killed. So, where is this arena?"

"Crowley chose a cemetery," Charlie deadpanned.

"You all opposed Hell very quickly," Crowley retorted. "Besides, all the best kind of fun happens at a cemetery."

"Yeah, uh, murder by the supernatural." The redhead shivered. "Not sure how that's considered 'fun'."

"Depends on your perspective."

"If we're all done picking at each other," Jo cut in, "let's move out. Crowley already gave us the cemetery name, so it's a matter of getting there and setting up."

"Um, if you haven't noticed, G.I. Jane, the Impala is not a clown car," Meg drawled.

"I brought my truck," said Jody. "There's more than enough room between the two vehicles."

"Crowley can get there on his own," said Jo.

"You won't even offer me the trunk? How rude of you," Crowley drawled.

"I think I'll stay with my current mode of transportation," said Meg, who looked to Cas. "We'll get there long before you will. Castiel, would you be so kind to get me to this cemetery?"

Jo raised her brows at how sickening sweet the demon's voice sounded when talking to Cas. It was almost like...

Nah, she's not sweet on him. She doesn't have feelings for him, save lust. It made Jo's stomach turn over.

"Okay, kiddos, no more messing around. This is the big leagues, the big finale, let's hope." Meg looked to each of the group. "See you there."

Just as Meg and Castiel vanished, Crowley did too, leaving all humans in the room to pack up their things and exit the bunker.

The temperature was cooling off, and the sun was getting lower. No doubt by the time the group reached the cemetery, it would be nighttime. Prime time to pick a fight with a demon who'd sworn to wipe out hunters' existence.

"You have the recording?" Jessica asked Charlie.

"Recording?" asked Jody.

"Exorcism," Charlie quipped. "Figured instead of wasting our breath chanting it, we can have it at the ready without screwing up the words."

There was no discussion, but Sam took up the mantle as the driver, with Jo in shotgun. Jessica and Charlie got themselves situated in the backseat. Jody drove behind the Impala in her truck.

"Give me a sec," said Charlie, who was putting in the cemetery in her phone. "Don't want to strand them with her." She handed the phone up to Jo, who was going to be the navigator.

"On a scale of one to ten, how hard do you think this is going to be?" Jessica asked seriously.

"It's up there," Sam murmured. "But we'll see once she shows, and whoever else she's got with her."

The four lapsed into silence, the severity of the situation hung over their heads. Jo could sense the worry in the car. She knew Jody had to be feeling on edge, too, in her truck. It was understandable, she had two adopted daughters possessed by demons. Any mother with children, blood or not, would go to the ends of the earth to save them. Mom would too.

Jo held the emotion down in her body as she was reminded of her mother, Ellen Harvelle. She was one of the toughest women Jo had ever known, and a damn fine hunter. She took shit from nobody and had the bite to match her bark. But her one vulnerability was always her daughter.

A headache formed in the front of Jo's skull. Though she'd died before the bomb was set off for the Hellhounds, Jo had known that her mom refused to leave that place without her. Where Jo went, her mother went.

Unfortunately, they both went to Heaven. But Jo came back. Why couldn't Cas bring back Mom, too? She'd be a great help. Through the mirrors, she looked at the crew in the car. Sam, whose brother was possessed. Charlie and Jessica, who came back from the dead. Jody Mills, in the truck behind them, whose adopted daughters were possessed.

Five different people, interconnected by the name of Winchester.