Epiphany

Part 2

     Jael and Sam were still up when Dean and Cas returned. Jael smiled as they entered the library. They were dirty and ruffled, and Dean's eyes looked exhausted.

     "Hey, guys," she greeted cheerfully. "How was the hunt?"

     Dean didn't answer but instead walked right past the table and down the hall to his room without so much as a glance in their direction. She turned her gaze to Cas, eyebrows raised questioningly.

     "It was a difficult hunt," Cas said in his usual rigid tone.

     "What happened?" she questioned. Jael cast a glance to Sam who was still seated across from her. She could see the same concern she felt written in his eyes.

     Before Cas could respond, they heard Dean's bedroom door slam from down the hall. Heavy footsteps echoed on the walls as they neared the doorway. He rounded the corner, walked straight past them again ignoring everyone as if the room were empty, before stalking up the metal stairs to the front door. He slammed it behind him, the sound causing Jael to jump a little.

     "Maybe you should ask him yourself," Cas suggested before walking out of the library to his bedroom.

     Jael and Sam looked at one another with worry. She sighed as she got up from the table. "I'll go talk to him," she said. Jael made her way outside with two beers in hand. The air was cool, an obvious sign that fall was nearly there. She shivered slightly at the sudden temperature change as she let her eyes adjust to the darkness. The moon was just bright enough that she could make out the outline of Dean as he rested against the hood of the Impala.

     Jael made her way over, coming to lean against the hood beside him. She handed him a beer, which he didn't refuse. She was silent for a moment as she listened to the crickets chirping in the night. An airplane flew overhead and an owl hooted in the distance. She glanced up at the night sky. Stars twinkled in the vast openness and the moon was full. She shivered again as she realized that tonight was nearly the same way it had been a year ago when Dean had bared his heart to her.

     She glanced over at Dean who sat rigidly on the hood, staring straight ahead. "Hard hunt?" Jael questioned lightly. He grunted in response.

     "What happened?" she asked tentatively. Dean was silent.

     Just when she thought he wouldn't respond, he spoke, his voice a rough and gravelly whisper. "He said he'd hurt her," Dean said his voice monotone.

     "What are you talking about?" she questioned in confusion.

     He finally turned to look at her. "Margo. That son of a bitch vamp said he'd hurt her if we kept working this case," Dean said his tone a little louder now, rage filling his voice. Jael couldn't see his face, but she knew if she could, she would see the hardness that dripped off of every word.

     Right. Margo. Jael had forgotten about her and the love Dean had held so ardently for her. He had left her without saying goodbye, and it had taken him years to come to peace with that.

     "But how could he have known about us working this case?" she asked.

     "Because he's apart of it!" Dean snapped, his sudden rise in pitch causing her to jump. "Because this thing is bigger than we thought. Because every damn time we think we're close to something things change. We're not hunting just one monster, Jael. We're hunting a fucking gang of them!"

     Jael felt her stomach drop as cold fear pricked at her insides. It all added up now. Dean was right. This was so much bigger than any of them could have expected.