Two – Lumber Mill Crime Scene

Jo really felt naked when unarmed. It wasn't that she didn't trust Cas; she wasn't sure she could trust the other three women he'd recruited for this Winchester rescue mission. She especially couldn't trust the black-eyed bitch. That bitch had been the reason Jo had been a chew toy for some rabid Hellhounds.

Cas led the five of them into a storage barn in the lumber mill. The inside was pitch-black, and Jo found herself being stepped on and bumped into.

"Humans," she heard Meg grumble.

"Found a switch," called Charlie. Jo blinked her eyes, adjusting to the high lighting in the storage building. Logs upon logs as long as a football field were stacked neatly, held in a bunch by thick ropes. Imagine if one of those got set loose in here...

"This is where they told you to be, Cas?" asked Jo.

"Yes." The angel moved ahead of the four women. "And all I found was everything except them and what, or who, took them."

"Any theories?"

"None."

"Well, they put up a fight," said Charlie, who was on the ground, seeing scuff marks on the floor. "They must've been ambushed."

"Here's something," Jessica said. Jo looked to see Jessica have a bullet shell between her fingers.

"There's more over here," called Meg, who branched off from the pack a bit.

Jo tried to put herself back into the hunter mindset. If she were Sam and Dean, what were they hunting? What required them to fire a gun? It had to be something threatening, but that didn't narrow down the list much. There was no close-range weapon like a knife to suggest there was a point-blank struggle. But that doesn't mean anything, whoever took them probably took those with them.

"Any tracks?" asked Jo. "Any presence you can use, Cas?"

"None." The angel frowned.

"Some use you are," said Meg.

"Well, can you use any presences for tracking?"

"No."

"I freed you from Purgatory, Meg, I can throw you back in without blinking."

"Aw, but I thought we had something special."

Jo felt the urge to gag.

"Great, so all we've got are marks and shell casings," Meg drawled.

"So far," said Charlie. "We need to cover all of this lumber mill to make sure. Cas, did you see their car anywhere?"

"No," said the angel.

"Wait..." Jessica murmured. Jo looked at her. "I saw tire tracks leaving the mill the way I came in."

"And you think it was theirs?"

"It still doesn't help us narrow the list any," said Charlie. "Magician or not, they know how to drive."

Jo pursed her lips. Meg, she hated to admit it, had a point. All they had to go on were shell casings from a gun and evidence that suggested a struggle. No blood spots on the ground, no ransom note. We've got almost nothing to go by. Where do we even start?

"The only way we're gonna find any clues is if we go back to home base," Charlie decided. "Problem is, none of us came in a car."

"I took that into consideration," said Cas. "I've got a ride for the four of you to take. Charlie, you know where the bunker is?"

Charlie nodded. "I'll drive."

"Good. You four head there, I'll meet you."

"Why not just zap us there yourself?" Meg asked.

"I'm not as strong as I used to be."

"Or you could just admit you're a wuss." She shrugged.

Jo rolled her eyes. "All right, let's get out of here and go to this...bunker place."

The five of them left the lumber mill. Surprisingly, Cas didn't poof away, he escorted the four ladies to the vehicle. It was no Impala, but the car would do nice enough. It looked fairly new too.

"Did you steal this?" Jo had to wonder aloud.

"It doesn't matter how I got it," Cas said quickly. So that's a "yes", then. "You have something to drive."

"I call shotgun."

Charlie climbed into the driver's side, Jo in the passenger's side. Jessica and Meg went into the backseat. Looking over her shoulder, Jo could see Jessica shrinking into the car door as far away from Meg as possible.

"He even left us phones," Charlie exclaimed. "He really went all out."

"Makes you wonder just how he got these," Jo murmured as she received her phone.

"Oh, he stole all this. That's a given. Now, let's go."

"You sure she should be going to the 'home base'?"

"You know, it's probably a long drive to wherever we're going," said Meg. "So unless you want to get out of this car and go a few rounds, I suggest you shut your mouth."

"Guys," Jessica moaned from the back. "Can't we just...Just let Charlie navigate in peace, okay?"

"Look, nobody said you had to join the bandwagon, Malibu. Better get out now unless you want to tuck and roll."

"I'm not leaving."

"Why not? Bet you had a nice gig in Heaven."

"Whether I do or don't, that's none of your business."

Jo smiled thinly. Jessica was slowly starting to get comfortable, she could tell. Her color was returning to normal, though she still looked pretty pale. Well, knowing that your world was intertwined with another that was only known to be fiction was a tough pill to swallow.

Charlie started the car, and Jo was given the coordinates to put into her phone. She stuck it in one of the cup holders so Charlie could keep an eye on it as she pulled away from the lumber mill.

"So, where exactly is this place?" asked Jessica.

"Kansas," said Charlie. "Better get comfortable now, ladies, it's going to be a long drive."

"If anybody decides to do carpool karaoke, I will personally rip out their vocal chords," Meg threatened the group.

It started out as a quiet drive in the night. The four women focused on their individual thoughts. Jo kept looking out the window, wondering about Sam and Dean. What trouble those two got themselves into this time. They seemed to get into everything known to man, and even when they didn't get into something, they ended up in something anyway. Maybe that was the hunter way, or it was maybe just a Winchester thing.

After some time, Charlie put on the radio without asking permission of anyone else in the car. Jo heard light snoring behind her; Jessica was asleep against the car window. Jo knew Meg wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. Demons never slept, that was just fact. Well, if she never sleeps, I won't. Out of the three women in the car with her, Jo distrusted Meg the most. And she bet her second chance on Earth that Meg knew that.

"So...you three were pulled from Heaven?" Meg was the one to start conversation.

"What's it to you?" Jo asked, half weary. "You writing our biographies?"

"I can't ask an honest question?"

Are demons even capable of being honest?

"Look, I'm not happy about this team up as much as the next woman in this car," Meg continued, "but for some damn reason our mutual angel Castiel believes we're these knuckleheads' only hope."

"Well, I can understand why Charlie and I were recruited," Jo said. "I'm not quite sure why Jessica is here. And I'm not sure why he pulled you from whatever hole you came out of, either."

"You heard the angel, I can help."

"How so?" was Charlie's question.

"I have my ways. I have something that you three lack."

"Black eyes and no soul?"

"Connections that you wouldn't have even in other worlds."

"Even if that was a last resort, we wouldn't take it. We've dabbled in enough of this."

"Oh, come on, like Rocky and Bullwinkle haven't done their fair share of team ups with demons like me," Meg said. "I'm just saying, we'd get somewhere faster if we chose my way."

"Bet it would cost us an arm or a leg, or our lives," Jo muttered. She saw Charlie yawn. "You want me to take over?"

"N-no, I got it." Charlie waved Jo off. "I've pulled all-nighters before. I can do it."

"Yeah, but driving all night?" Jo looked out the window for any billboards to figure out where they were. "We need to stop somewhere." She found a yawn escaping her.

"You know—" Meg started.

"You're not driving. You'd dump us off somewhere the second we all fall asleep. Hell, we'd be lucky if you dumped us somewhere and let us live."

"Ye of little faith," the demon said dramatically. "Working together requires a pinch of trust."

Trust a demon? Not likely. "Keep driving just a little longer, Charlie. There's a motel coming up."

"G-good," yawned the redhead. "M-maybe you're right, Jo. We can finish our trip in the morning."

"Lightweights," Meg grumbled.

It was lucky for the four of them that Charlie pulled into the motel parking lot, because she dozed off a few times and nearly made them collide with oncoming cars. Jo had to steer her straight, and the last time, it woke Jessica up. So now there were three tired, groggy women, and one demon who was a half second away from killing them out of sheer annoyance.

"He gave us a car, and phones, but no IDs or money?" Charlie whimpered as Jo dug through the glove compartment of the truck. "Well, this sucks. What do we do now?"

"Oh, we're staying here," Meg said adamantly. "I'm not dealing with the three of you like this." She hopped out of the car. Charlie and Jo looked at each other before following the demon. Jo heard Jessica hobble out behind. Charlie made sure to lock up.

"What are you doing?!" Jessica hissed at Meg as she approached a door.

"Getting us a room." Meg grabbed the knob and twisted. The door unlocked and slid open. The knob was dented when Meg removed her hand. "You're welcome." She gestured for the three of them to head inside.

"If we get caught..."

"Relax, Malibu. We keep to ourselves and lay low. So don't go singing to anyone in the meantime. The second you're up, we head to Kansas."

Jo, Charlie, and Jessica all moved into the room. Jo flicked on the light. The motel room had two beds to fit two each, a small bathroom, tacky-looking bed sheets and wallpaper. At least there was a TV, although Jo was sure the signal was going to be crappy.

Jessica nudged Charlie towards a bed, to which both collapsed on. Jessica's tall frame took up most of it.

"So, I guess this is our lives now?" Jessica mumbled, her eyes closing. "We break-in and steal things?"

"Nobody said this was going to be easy," Charlie sighed, yawning again. "Jo, come on. You need to sleep."

"I'm fine," Jo lied. Truthfully, she felt mentally exhausted.

"You want me to stand guard outside the door?" Meg leered. "Because I know I'm the reason you don't want to sleep."

"I guess that would help. I'd rather not have the feeling I'm being watched."

"Trust me, it's not a hobby of mine to watch humans sleep." Meg rolled her eyes. "Go. Pass out." She waved towards the bed. "I'll make sure nothing comes to kill us."

Jo kept her eyes on Meg until the demon shut the door, leaving her with Charlie and Jessica. Charlie was already fast asleep, curled into a ball and hugging the pillow tightly to her. Jessica looked at Jo wearily.

"This is what you deal with?" she said groggily.

"It's a hunter's life," Jo said, shrugging, as she shuffled to the other bed. "It's something you accept. Believe me, there are things just as bad as her. Some worse."

"I-I believe it." Jessica rubbed her eyes.

"How do you know Sam and Dean, anyway?"

Jessica didn't meet Jo's eyes. She licked her lips. "I...I knew Sam. From college. We were together."

"Oh. Well...whatever happened, I'm sorry."

"Thanks."

"So that's why you're here. Because of Sam." That piece fit Jessica, Jo thought to herself. She must have loved Sam deeply if it was enough to bring her down from Heaven.

"You must be here because of both of them."

Jo nodded. "I've known them for a while." She thought about the brothers, about Dean. She held back the tears, remembering the night she'd died. How she had given Sam and Dean their shot at killing the Devil by sacrificing herself. How her goodbye with Dean led to a kiss, a kiss that Jo had certainly wanted for some time.

She was never good with emotions, or expressing them. Well, not the fuzzy kind. Jo would tell you what was on her mind and if your idea was a stupid one in a heartbeat. But when it came to being vulnerable, it made her uncomfortable. It wasn't normal for her. She was a hunter; she was tough, strong. She had a hard shell, because the world she had come to know held no place for people who rolled over and showed their soft bellies.

"I'm sure they'll be in for a shock when they see us," Jessica murmured.

Jo sniffed. "Yeah, I'll bet." Would the boys believe it, if they saw them all again, alive and breathing? Just what were they walking into, by lending a hand to Cas?

Were they going to be on a wildgoose chase, with the end result being two dead hunter brothers?