A couple of days later, Jean pulls into the driveway of Nick's house and parks her Mustang next to his old Dodge truck. As she's getting out of her car, the front door of the house opens and Nick steps out. He let's out a low whistle in appreciation as he approaches Jean and her car. "You didn't tell me that you have a '68 Mustang."
Jean smirks at him, "That's because I didn't want you to love me for my car." She walks to the trunk, opens it, and picks up her three duffel bags. "Her name is Sally, by the way. I rebuilt her from scrap myself."
Nick raises an eyebrow in amusement, "Really? Mustang Sally?"
"Yep," Jean closes the trunk and turns to face Nick.
Nick looks at Jean more carefully, noting the dark shadows under her bloodshot eyes and how her clothes hang loosely from her frame. She looks like she's on the brink of collapsing. He frowns, "How are you doing Jean?"
Jean shrugs, "Haven't been able to sleep much because I've been having nightmares. Other than that...I'm excited about moving in." She gives Nick a small smile before adjusting the straps of the three bags slung over her shoulders into a more comfortable position.
Nick asks her, "Is that all of your belongings or is there a moving truck coming?"
"Nope, this is everything I own. Being on the road all the time, I never really owned a lot of things."
Nick's frown deepens, "We'll have to get you some more clothes."
Jean yawns loudly, "Can we do it some other time? I'm exhausted."
Nick wraps an arm around Jean's waist, "Of course. I've cleared out a couple of dresser drawers in the bedroom and made some space in the closet. Why don't you put your things away then try to get some sleep. Meanwhile, I'll start dinner and wake you when it's done."
"Sounds great." She kisses him on the lips before saying, "Although I have to warn you that if you're not careful, you're gonna spoil me."
Nick laughs and releases Jean before opening the front door and allowing her to enter first. While Nick heads for the kitchen to decide what to cook for dinner, Jean walks up the stairs to the master bedroom. The master bedroom is large, but sparsely decorated. There's a queen sized bed opposite of the door with two small oak nightstands on both sides of the bed. A long oak dresser is pushed up against the left wall next to a set of sliding glass doors that lead out to a small balcony. There are long white curtains that cover the balcony doors along with white vertical blinds. On the right wall are two doors, one that leads to a bathroom and the other a small walk-in closet. Jean sets her bags down on top of the queen sized bed on before opening the bag with all of her miscellaneous items in it and pulling out a piece of white chalk. Taking advantage of being alone, she gets down on the wood floor and squeezes herself underneath the bed. She quickly draws a perfect Devil's Trap then slides back out. Just because she's no longer hunting doesn't mean that she isn't going to be cautious. She stands up and starts to unpack her things; putting her underwear in a dresser drawer and hanging her clothes in the closet.
Jean has just finished putting the last of her clothing away when a pair of arms wrap around her waist from behind. She jumps slightly, but relaxes when she reminds herself that it's just Nick. She smiles as he begins to kiss her neck, "Are you almost done?"
She picks up her bag of various bathroom items, "Almost, I just need to put this stuff in the bathroom." She pulls out a bag of maxi pads and she hears Nick groan. "Oh, don't worry. It's not yet time for me to change into my alter ego, the evil Crimson Surfer. This is just where I used to hide my candy from Dean." She puts her hand into the open bag then pulls out two full sized chocolate bars. "It's the only place he would never dare to look." She stares down at the chocolate with a heartbreaking look of sadness on her face.
Nick clears his throat, snapping her out of her thoughts. "I've already cleared some space for your stuff in the bathroom."
"Thanks, Nick." Jean walks into the bathroom that's attached to the master bedroom. The bathroom is a good size with a pair of sinks on the left wall next to a medium size shower with a frosted glass door. Opposite of the door to the bedroom there's a small window with grey and white curtains. Across from the twin sinks and the shower, there's an old-fashioned bathtub and a toilet. Jean enters the bathroom, admiring the grey vinyl flooring on her way to put her deodorant, toothbrush, body wash, toothpaste, pads, perfume, and hairbrush away. "So have you decided what to make for dinner?"
Nick leans against the doorframe and when Jean bends over to put her pads in the cabinet beneath the sink, he gets an excellent view of her rump. "Hmm, I was thinking about steaks, salads, baked potatoes, and for dessert...cheesecake."
She walks over to him, wraps her arms around him, and says "Now you're just trying to spoil me." Nick grins at her and she kisses him passionately. He cups her right cheek in one of his hands, places his other hand on the small of her back, and pulls her up against him. Jean breaks the kiss to ask him, "Why don't we take this over to the bed?"
Nick places a swift kiss on Jean's lips before saying, "I'd love to." He then leads her over to the bed, "Which side of the bed do you want, baby?" Jean walks around to the left side of the queen sized bed and opens the drawer of the nightstand. She then removes her pistol from the small of her back, "Is that a gun?"
"Yes," Jean replies while sliding the magazine out of the gun. "I'm sorry, I should've mentioned that I kept my pistol. Is that going to be a problem, handsome?"
Nick grins and playfully holds up his hands in mock surrender, "No. Absolutely not. As long as you're holding that gun, nothing is a problem to me."
Jean chuckles, "Then get over here and kiss me." She carefully sits the pistol in the drawer and as she puts the magazine down next to it, Nick places his hands on her hips. He kisses and sucks at her neck causing her to moan in pleasure. She presses her body up against his. Nick slides his hands upwards from Jean's hips and under the helm of her T-shirt. He pulls the shirt over her head then kisses down her neck to her collarbone. He wraps his left arm back around her waist while he uses his right hand to undo the clasp of her bra. Jean tangles her fingers in Nick's dirty blonde hair, "I thought you were gonna cook dinner?"
Nick slowly kisses back up to her neck then nips at her right earlobe. "There's something much more important that I need to attend to first. Then I'll have to go to the store."
After making love, Jean is lying next to Nick with her head resting on his chest and running her fingers through the soft, silky hair on his chest and abdomen while Nick's arms are wrapped around her. She is completely spent and is struggling just to keep her eyes open. He places a gentle kiss on her forehead and she sighs in contentment. He shifts as he reaches down to remove the condom then throws it away in the small trash can beside the bed. Once Nick settles back onto the bed, Jean nuzzles her head into his chest as her eyes finally close and she drifts off to sleep.
Nick waits for about ten minutes before gently removing her head from his chest and placing it back down on a pillow. He then gets out of bed and; after using the bathroom and cleaning himself up; puts on his clothes. He leans over the bed and kisses Jean on the cheek before leaving the bedroom. He exits the house, climbs into his truck, then drives to the closest grocery store.
*******************
Jean shifts her weight from one foot to the other as she waits nervously by the door to the middle school gym for her date to the eighth grade Valentine's Day dance to arrive. She's wearing a secondhand purple knee-length swing dress with long solid lace sleeves with matching ankle buckle strap gladiator sandals. She still can't believe that Josh Oakley, the cutest boy in school and star basketball player, asked her to go to the dance with him. He's the first boy that Jean has ever had a crush on. She was so excited and happy when he asked her to go to the dance with him.
As she's waiting for Josh, Dean walks up to her with his arm wrapped around Rebecca Melbourne, a beautiful black haired, blue eyed girl who is a cheerleader. Rebecca is wearing a short, pink halter top dress while Dean is wearing his usual attire: blue jeans, a plain black t-shirt with his leather jacket over it, and the necklace with the strange pendant that Sam gave him for Christmas two years ago. "Hey, Jeanie," Dean greets his twin, giving her a strange look.
Jean gives them a small smile, "Hi, Dean. Hi, Rebecca. What's with the weird look, Dean?"
"It's just really, really weird seeing you in a dress. I'd forgotten that you're actually a girl."
Jean playfully punches Dean's arm, "Very funny. I'm surprised that you actually decided to come...Did dad tell you to keep an eye on me?"
"No. Rebecca wanted to come and I figured it'd be an excellent opportunity for a little make out session."
Jean makes a face of disgust, "Ew, too much information Dean."
Dean chuckles, "We'll see you inside. And tell this Josh guy that I'll kick his ass if he tries anything with you."
Jean just rolls her eyes as Dean and Rebecca make their way inside of the gym. Jean continues to wait outside for Josh for twenty minutes, until she starts to shiver from the chilly air. She enters the dimly lit gym and her ears are immediately assaulted by a crappy love song. The large gym has been decorated with pink and red hearts and streamers along with cupid cardboard cutouts. Thinking that maybe Josh arrived at the dance before her, she walks around looking for him. She finds him out on the floor dancing with a pretty blonde girl. She shouts his name while stomping over to him, "Josh! What the hell?!" By now half of the people in the gym have stopped what they were doing to see what's going on between Jean and Josh. Jean notices Dean stepping out from behind the closed bleachers, a large frown appearing on his face when he sees Josh with his arm wrapped around another girl.
"Uh, hey, Jean. I, I meant to tell you that, that Debbie asked me to the dance, so, I, uh, decided to go with her instead."
Jean is hurt and her face clearly shows it. Dean starts to make his way towards them, ready to beat the crap out of Josh when Jean's expression turns from hurt to anger; a look that Dean is all too familiar with. Jean moves closer to Josh then slams her knee up into his crouch. Josh cries out in pain and drops down onto the floor cradling his manly parts. One of the teachers that is chaperoning the dance is walking towards the commotion as Jean turns on her heels and begins to walk away. The teacher yells at her to come back, but she ignores her and continues walking towards the doors.
Once she's outside and away from prying eyes, Jean stops and let's a couple of teardrops fall. She jumps when an arm wraps around her shoulders. "Are you okay, Jean?" Dean asks her pulling her into a side hug.
She let's out a small sniffle, "I, I genuinely thought that, that he liked me, Dean."
Dean holds his twin sister tighter against his side, "Hey, forget that jackass. You don't need him when you've got the best older brother in the world!"
Jean huffs, "You're only older than me by thirty minutes Dean."
"Still counts," he begins to lead her away from the gym. "We're not expected to be back at the motel for a couple more hours, how 'bout we sneak into a R-rated movie? I heard Leprechaun is playing at the local theater."
Jean looks at Dean, "What about Rebecca?"
"You're more important to me."
Jean smiles at him, "Thanks, Dean. I have to admit that this whole experience has put me off dating for a long, long time."
Dean laughs, "I'm sure dad will be glad to hear that...hell, I'm glad to hear that." Jean playfully elbows him in the ribs. "But seriously, Jean, you do know that I'll always be there for you, right?"
Jean's smile widens, "I know. And I'll always be there for you too, Dean."
"Okay, enough with the chick flick moment. Let's go see Leprechaun! Woo!" Dean cheers causing Jean to laugh.
Everything suddenly changes and Jean finds herself surrounded by darkness. Lightning flashes allowing Jean to see a hundred massive black chains in the area. The chains are hanging by nothing, as far as Jean can tell, they just seem to come out of the darkness itself. "Help! Somebody, please! Help me!" A very familiar voice calls out from the center of the chains.
Lightning flashes again and Jean can see that there is a man in the middle of the chains. At the end of the chains are large meat hooks which are skewered through the man's body. Another flash of lightning reveals the man's face. "Dean!" Jean yells in despair and tries to rush over to him, only to discover that she can't move. Dean screams, his face twisted in pure agony and blood bubbling up from his mouth. "Dean!"
"Help me!"
**********************
Jean jerks awake breathing heavily and sweating profusely. She sits up in bed and covers her face with her hands as she breaks down in heartrending sobs. There's the sound of footsteps hurrying up the stairs and a few seconds later Nick enters the master bedroom only to see Jean sitting up on the bed, crying her eyes out. He goes over to her, sits down on the bed, and pulls her into a loving embrace. "Jean, what's wrong?"
"I had another nightmare about Dean," she manages to say through her sobs.
Nick begins to run his hand through her long red hair, "Shh, it's okay. Everything is going to be okay, baby. It was only a nightmare." He places a gentle kiss to the top of her head and continues to whisper comforting words to her while holding her tightly.
The next month is really rough for the couple. Jean frequently wakes up screaming and crying in the middle of the night and Nick will comfort her until she calms down. Once she does, the two will usually lay back down and when Nick falls back to sleep, Jean will make her way downstairs so that she won't disturb him again. She spends the next few hours watching TV and drinking until Nick gets up to go to work. Nick will always give her a kiss goodbye, telling her to try and get some more sleep, before leaving the house.
Throughout the day, Jean will try several times to go to sleep, but because of the nightmares she barely gets three or four hours of sleep per day. She usually gives up trying to sleep around five p.m. and starts to cook dinner for her and Nick.
Cooking has always been a skill that Jean hasn't had a lot of opportunities to practice and the first time she ever tried to cook for Nick she ended up burning the food. To Nick's credit, he at least tried to eat what Jean cooked, but when she took a bite and nearly choked on it, she asked him if they could order delivery instead. Nick had never been more relieved in his entire life. He agreed and, to make her feel better, told her that when he and Sarah were first married she couldn't cook either. So he already knew all the best restaurants in town that deliver. Now, three weeks after that first attempt, Jean's cooking has improved immensely, thanks to practice and the magic of cook books.
********************
For the first time in a little over a month, Jean is standing outside of Lucifer's cage. "You look dreadful, kitten."
Jean scans the inside of the cage until she spots the shadowy figure and glowing crimson eyes of Lucifer. She crosses her arms over her chest, "That's because I've only been getting about three hours of sleep a day due to the nightmares of Dean being ripped apart by hellhounds or being tortured in hell."
Lucifer is slightly surprised, "You've been dreaming about Dean's torture?" He pauses for a moment before continuing, "That's odd, but since you're his twin it's not impossible." There is silence between the two for several minutes before Lucifer approaches the bars of the cage. "Come here, kitten."
Jean turns her back to him, "No. I'm mad at you "
Lucifer sighs. "I guess I should explain why I am so...protective...of you."
Jean raises an eyebrow in interest, "I'm listening."
"Before I was cast out of heaven, I was always second best to my older brother Michael. Michael was always Daddy's perfect soldier, always following orders to the tee. Dad always took his advice over mine." He tells her bitterly.
"You sound like Sammy when he's angry at Dean."
"Mmm, yes. There is a reason for that." Lucifer replies, sounding rather amused.
Curiosity now fully peaked, Jean turns around and asks, "And what would that reason be?"
"You'll find out in time, kitten." He leans against the bars of the cage, "Anyway, you can imagine how I felt when I was given an etam; the highest honor that an angel can receive; and Michael wasn't. You're the only thing that has ever been given to me and not to Michael. Especially after I was shoved into this cage. Now, I will admit that I wasn't overly fond of having a human as a mate at first. I thought it was Dad's way of punishing me further, but in time I came to realize what a true blessing that you really are. So, of course, I'm going to be protective of you."
Jean walks closer to the cage, "I suppose that I can understand. And I admit that I shouldn't have kissed Gabriel, whether I was drunk or not. I was wrong for doing that and I'm sorry." Once they both 'apologize' to the other, they relax around each other again. "I have to ask, Luci...why are you so much more possessive of me when I'm around Gabriel, but not when I'm with Nick? I've done so much more with Nick than with Gabe. Hell, I'm sharing a bed with Nick right now." At this information, Lucifer's wings rise and his feathers bristle in anger, "But you have yet to say anything about him."
"It's because Nick is merely a human and once I'm free I can still claim you as my mate. But if you had bonded with Gabriel, that would be it, you would be his mate. An etam can only bond once and vice versa. Even if your ugear was to die you wouldn't be able to bond with another angel...and that's only if you survived the loss of your ugear, which you most likely wouldn't." Fast as a striking snake, Lucifer reaches through the bars and grabs Jean's hand then pulls it inside of the cage. "Speaking of Nick....Perhaps you should try to distance yourself from him a little. All that will come from this relationship for you is heartache. Nick will never love you like he loved his wife and you will only find yourself living in the shadow of a dead woman."
*****************
Jean is just about to angrily retort when she's suddenly woken up by the loud buzzing of Nick's alarm clock. He unwraps his arms from around her waist, rolls over onto his back, then reaches over to turn off the obnoxious alarm. He sits up in bed and looks over at the left side of the bed. "Jean?"
"Hmm? What is it, honey?" she sleepily replies.
"Did you sleep throughout the night?"
"Yeah." Jean rolls over so that she's facing Nick.
"So you didn't have any nightmares?"
"No."
Nick smirks and grabs Jean's hips. He lifts her up off of the bed then pulls her on top of him. She straddles his waist, "So we both got a full eight hours of sleep? This calls for a celebration." Jean intertwines her fingers with Nick's and lifts his hands to her lips. As she kisses his hands, his wedding ring gleams in the new dawn's light filtering in through the partially open blinds of the balcony doors. This reminds her of what Lucifer told her and she frowns. "What's wrong, baby?"
Jean shakes her head, "It's nothing, honey." She leans down, captures Nick's lips, and after Nick slides on a condom, they make passionate love to each other.
A month and a half later and everything is going very well between Jean and Nick. With Lucifer appearing in her dreams again, Jean has stopped having nightmares and has been getting a lot more sleep.
Since she's actually getting a full night of sleep now, Jean decides it's time for her to get a regular job. She manages to get one in Dover at a gun store. At first the owner isn't sure about hiring her, but she quickly impresses him with her knowledge of guns, knives, and even bows and he hires her on the spot.
On the early morning of September 18th, when Lucifer visits Jean in her dreams he is in an extremely good mood.
*****************
Jean stands just outside of the cage listening to Lucifer's happy humming. She chuckles drawing Lucifer's attention to her. "You're in a very good mood tonight. Can I ask you why?"
His hand shoots between the bars and grabs one of hers, a jolt of electricity going through her just like every other time that he touches her. He tugs her closer to the cage then places a chilly kiss to the pulse point of her wrist. "The first seal has been broken and soon I'll be by your side in reality. So, of course, I'm in a very good mood." Behind him, his wings flare open in a mating display.
Jean smiles at him and is about to ask him what he means by the first seal being broken, but before she can she's woken up by a strange yet familiar, high pitched noise.
******************
Jean slowly opens her eyes while rolling over on to her other side causing Nick to shift in his sleep. Thinking that the high pitched noise is her alarm clock going off, Jean slams her hand down on the snooze button. However, the noise continues and she sits up in the bed. Looking at the silent alarm clock, Jean notes that it's only five in the morning.
Grumbling under her breath, she picks up her new cell phone thinking that the noise is from an emergency alert, but it's not. She places her phone back on the nightstand before focusing on the noise in an attempt at pinpointing the noise. It sounds like it's coming from far away, so maybe it's some kind of siren. All of a sudden, the noise fades and instead she swears that she hears a faint voice say, "Dean Winchester is saved." The noise and voice then completely stop.
Jean frowns, "Huh, that was weird." She stands up then makes her way over to the bathroom to relieve her bladder and start getting ready for the day.
A week later, Jean has the day off from work and is spending it by doing chores around the house. She is sitting on the couch in the living room folding laundry while watching television. The original Star Trek episode with the tribbles is on and Jean finds herself totally engrossed in it. Suddenly, the TV and lights start to flicker and when Jean exhales she can see her own breath. Recognising the signs of a spirit being nearby, she quickly stands up, but is violently thrown across the room. Her back slams against the small entertainment center that the TV and DVD player are on causing them to fall on top of her. She cries out in pain as the screen of the TV shatters and she receives a light electrical shock. She quickly shoves the broken TV off of her.
"Jean Winchester," says an unidentified female's voice. "Oh, how long I've been waiting for this moment."
Jean looks up and sees a young woman around the age of 22 with shoulder-length blonde hair and hazel eyes standing a few feet away from her. Standing next to the unknown blonde woman is the strawberry blonde haired woman from Florida that Jean couldn't save from the vetala. Jean frowns and points at the strawberry blonde, "You, I remember." She then points at the taller blonde, "You, I don't."
This seems to piss the blonde ghost off and she screams at Jean, "Of course, you don't remember me! You forgot about me when we were hunting that wendigo, too!" She flings her arm to the side, tossing Jean against the wall. "I'm dead because of you! You left me to die!" She moves her arm to the right causing Jean to fly across the room and smash into an end table, breaking it and shattering the lamp that's on it. Shards of broken porcelain from the lamp cut the exposed skin of Jean's face and arms. "Do you remember me now?"
Jean groans in pain, but manages to get to her feet. "Rachael McAlester."
"Ding, ding, ding! Right you are, bitch!" Rachael McAlester was a hunter that Jean used to occasionally work with alongside Rachael's father. Seven years ago, Rachael was killed when she and Jean were hunting a wendigo. Jean had to go buy another flare gun since Rachael didn't have one of her own and insisted that she used Jean's. Normally, Jean would've used the butt of her gun to break the nose of the snobby blonde, but Rachael's father was a good friend of her own father and John would've chewed her ass out if she had. Jean told her not to go after the wendigo alone, but Rachael didn't listen.
"Yeah, I definitely remember you, Rachael. And I remember exactly why you died." As Jean is speaking, she's slowly moving towards the fireplace where there is a set of iron fireplace tools. "And it wasn't my fault you died. I told you not to go after the wendigo alone, to wait for me to get back, but because of your own pride you decided not to listen and ended up getting yourself killed."
Jean goes flying across the room once again only this time it's the strawberry blonde ghost that sends her flying. The back of Jean's head hits the wall hard enough to leave a hole and Jean falls to the floor dazed. "It is your fault that I'm dead though! You knew what that guy was and you didn't warn me!" She lifts her arm and sends Jean flying again, this time Jean feels a rib crack as her left side hits the bricks of the fireplace. "You could have easily saved me at that abandoned store if you hadn't been drunk!"
Jean groans in agony, her arms folded across her sternum. She struggles to sit up, "You're right...Your death was my fault." Jean leans back against the wall, but keeps looking down at the floor, unable to look the ghost of the younger woman in the eyes. "I was in no condition to be hunting at the time. I'm so sorry that I couldn't save you." Jean tries to take a deep breath, but it hurts too much. Jean then looks Rachael in the eyes, "See? That's a legitimate reason to be pissed at me. Rachael, you were a stupid, prideful, and ill prepared bitch that is why you are dead...none of which are my fault."
Rachael is now extremely angry, "I wanted to prove to my father that I was a better hunter than you. That's all I wanted. Ever since you hunted that banshee with us, he would not shut up about you. 'Jean Winchester is a fantastic hunter.' 'Why can't you be more like Jean Winchester, Rachael?' Everything that I did my father would tell me that you could have done it better!"
Jean slowly reaches for the fire iron, "Look, I'm sorry that you had a shitty father and I can relate to that." Jean's hand wraps around the handle of the fire iron. "I'm sorry that you died, but the truth is the only person responsible for your death is you. You knew how dangerous wendigos are, that even the most experienced hunters need backup when hunting them, but you decided to go after it alone."
"Shut up!" Rachael shouts and rushes at Jean. Jean swings the fire iron and the ghost of Rachael disappears. However, Jean feels something ice cold start to pierce into her chest causing her to drop the fire iron as she struggles to breathe. The strawberry blonde ghost has her hand over Jean's heart, the tips of her fingers digging into Jean's flesh. Jean notices a strange mark on the ghost's hand, almost like a brand, just above the thumb. Jean screams in pain as the ghost's fingers dig deeper into her chest. Jean feels Lucifer's grace stir inside of her in response to the threat and it quickly rises to the surface turning Jean's green irises crimson. She watches as a bright crimson orange light travels from her chest and up the ghost's arm. The ghost screams as the crimson orange light obliterates her.
Moving as quickly as she can, Jean gets to her feet, picks up the fire iron, then stumbles to the kitchen where there's a large container of salt stored inside of the pantry. She's almost there when Rachael reappears and flings Jean backwards causing her to fall on to the living room coffee table. The table breaks in half and there's a loud snapping sound as Jean's left forearm breaks. She cries out in pain while Rachael approaches her. "I've already killed my father and once I rip your heart out from your chest I will finally be able to rest in peace."
Rachael is now standing over Jean, but before Rachael can attack again, Jean rolls over onto her back then swings the fire iron at Rachael with her good arm. The ghost dissipates again and Jean, ignoring the intense pain that her entire body is in, quickly gets to her feet. Holding her left arm against her sternum and now limping, Jean makes her way into the kitchen. She places the fire iron on the kitchen counter, grabs the container of salt from the pantry, and barely manages to finish pouring a salt circle around herself when Rachael reappears. Rachael's face is twisted into an ugly expression of pure hate. All of a sudden, the kitchen windows explode inwards and a strong gust of wind begins to blow away the salt. Jean picks up the fire iron again and prepares to swing it. The circle is broken and Rachael rushes at Jean in a rage. However, before she can reach Jean, a blue-white fire consumes Rachael and destroys her.
Jean releases her grip on the fireplace poker, allowing it to fall to the kitchen floor. She covers her mouth when she starts to heavily cough and blood covers her hand. She looks at the blood as she tries to take a deep breath, "Damn, I've really gotten rusty." She mummers to herself before collapsing to the floor and passing out from the pain.
Forty minutes later, Nick arrives home from a long day at work. He walks through the front door and panics when he sees the destruction in the living room. "Oh, God...please, not again. Jean! Jean!" He runs through the house looking for Jean, checking the master bedroom first since that was where Sarah was when she was murdered. Finding the room untouched, Nick searches the rest of the rooms before heading downstairs to the kitchen. There he finds Jean on the floor, blood seeping from cuts on her face and arms. "No, no, no! Jean!" He rushes over to her and gently gathers her into his arms. "Come on, baby, say something. Anything. Just let me know that you're okay."
Jean moans and her eyes slowly open, "Nick?"
"Oh, thank God! I thought I had lost you like I lost Sarah." He holds her to him tightly, but relaxes his grip when she hisses in pain. "I'm sorry. Where does it hurt?"
"Everywhere, but my left arm is the worst. I think it's broken. And I'm having trouble breathing."
"Can you walk?"
"Yeah. At least I think so."
Nick carefully helps Jean to her feet as he asks, "What happened?"
They start to walk towards the front door, Jean limping due to a large cut on her left thigh. Nick wraps an arm around her waist to help her walk, "A couple of women from my past decided to stop by because they wanted revenge for something that I didn't do."
"Uh, okay. Should we call the police?"
"No, I'm pretty sure that they aren't going to come back. Hold on a second, I need to get my phone." They stop beside the broken coffee table and Nick bends down to pick up Jean's cell phone. He hands it to her and she puts it in her pocket. "But if it will make you feel better I'll call my uncle Bobby and have him go after them."
"I will definitely feel better knowing that your gun-loving, grouchy redneck uncle is looking for these women."
"Grab my car keys, please. We'll take my car since I know that I can remove bloodstains from the upholstery." Nick grabs Jean's keys from one of the key hooks by the door. They leave the house and he helps her into her Mustang. He then gets behind the wheel and starts the engine. During the drive to the nearest hospital, Jean passes out again despite Nick's attempts at keeping her awake.
When she finally regains consciousness, her left arm is in a cast and the worst of her cuts have been stitched closed. She looks around the room, spotting Nick sitting in one of the chairs while flipping through a magazine. "Nick?"
Nick looks up from the magazine, putting it down before standing up and walking over to Jean's bed. He leans down and captures her lips with his, "I'm so glad you're okay, baby. I was really worried."
"What time is it?"
"Almost noon. You've been asleep for over twelve hours." Jean struggles to sit up in bed but Nick stops her. "You need to relax, Jean. The doctors said that a couple of your ribs are fractured and you have a concussion as well as a broken arm. They want to keep you here at the hospital for a few days because of how severe the concussion is."
She nods her head, "I'll relax after I call Bobby." She manages to sit up and removes the scratchy hospital blanket from on top of her. Her stomach let's out an audible growl, "I also need something for this rumbly in my tumbly."
Nick chuckles, "I see the morphine is working. You go ahead and call your uncle and I'll go find you a pot of honey, Pooh Bear." He pulls Jean's phone out of his pocket and hands it to her. He then kisses her, "I'll be back."
As soon as Nick leaves the room, Jean dials Bobby's number that she has memorized by heart. It rings three times before the familiar gruff voice of Bobby answers, "Hello."
"Hey, Bobby. It's Jean."
"Jean?!" There's a couple of muffled voices in the background on Bobby's end, but she can't quite make out who they are or what they're saying. "What's going on?"
"That's what I would like to know. Yesterday, I was attacked by the crazed ghosts of Rachael McAlester and the woman that I couldn't save down in Florida a few months ago. They were going on about getting revenge because they blamed me for their deaths. Then just as suddenly as they appeared, Rachael's ghost was destroyed by a blue-white fire. Do you have any idea what the hell is going on, Bobby?"
"Shit...are you alright? Did the spirits have marks on their hands?" And what about the other spirit? Was it destroyed too?"
"Yes and yes."
There's some more indistinguishable muttering in the background, "Your sister was attacked by a couple of witnesses." More muffled muttering and some shuffling on Bobby's end, "Okay, okay. I'm putting it on speaker, just cool your jets, boy....There."
"Jeanie, are you okay?" A new voice asks and Jean's mouth falls open in shock as she recognizes it as belonging to her twin brother, Dean.
"Well, other than a broken arm, a few fractured ribs, and a concussion I thought that I was okay, but obviously I hit my head way harder than I thought since I could've sworn that I heard Dean's voice just now. So either the drugs the doctors have been giving me are really fucking badass or something is really, really wrong with me."
"There's nothing wrong with you, Jean. It's really me," Dean's voice replies.
"It really is Dean, Jean. Bobby and I did all the tests," Sam says.
"How?"
"An angel named Castiel busted me out of hell and fixed up my meat suit. I tried calling you several times when I first got up top, but your phone wasn't in service. What happened? Why the hell weren't you with Sam while I was gone?!"
Jean raises one of her eyebrows, "Yep. It's definitely you, Dean. If you really want to know why I wasn't with Sam, why don't you ask Sucker-Punch-McGee yourself?"
"I'm really sorry about hitting you, Jean. I wasn't really thinking straight at the time." Sam apologizes feeling genuinely sorry for punching her.
"You've already been forgiven, Sammy. Now, will someone please tell me what's going on with this whole vengeful ghost thing?"
Bobby tells her about the rising of the witnesses; how those who died a supernatural death had been forced to come back as ghosts by a powerful spell cast by Lilith. Sam, Dean, and Bobby managed to cast a counterspell that sent the witnesses back to where they belonged.
Dean then informs her that, according to Castiel, the rising of the witnesses is a sign of the Apocalypse and one of 66 seals that, when broken, will free Lucifer from his cage. And now Lucifer's happiness in Jean's dreams makes sense to her.
"Are you kidding me? I quit hunting for a few months and you two idjits start the end of the world?!" Jean teases her brothers.
Bobby laughs while Sam and Dean huff in annoyance. "Whatever, just get your ass back to Bobby's. The Apocalypse has started and it's all hands on deck." Dean demands.
Jean hesitates for a moment before answering Dean, "I'm sorry, but I'm not coming back." There is a heavy silence on the other end of the line and Jean looks up as Nick enters the hospital room holding two bags of fast food. "I'm really happy living with Nick and I plan on staying with him. That is...as long as he'll still have me."
"Of course, I still want you, baby." Nick places a bag in her lap then kisses her on the forehead. He opens the bag and pulls out a cheeseburger and fries.
"Yay! Cheeseburger! Sorry guys, but I've gotta go. Nick is back and he brought delicious food. But let me give you my new number in case of an emergency." After giving her number to Bobby and her brothers, Jean says goodbye to them and enjoys her meal with Nick.