likethegun | Out in the unexplored woods, Friday evening

Things with Peter definitely hadn't gone the way Sam had planned, but he wasn't about to start acting defeated. He was sure it would only be a matter of time before Dean and John found out about what happened, so for now, Sam was content to wait and see what would happen next. If Dean found him before, he could find him again, and this time, Sam wasn't sure if he'd let him get away without having some fun.

	Jo's day hadn't exactly been going to plan either, what with Jet suddenly deciding to start playing hide and seek. Which was why she was tramping through the woods alone, looking for him.
	Sam wasn't surprised to hear the sounds of someone else out in the woods, but he did look surprised for a moment when he saw who had joined him. "Hey Jo," he said, giving her a friendly smile. "What are you doing out here?"
	"Hey, Sam," Jo replied, slightly distracted as she scanned the undergrowth. Finding a spotted dog in the mottled shadows was even harder than it sounded. "Have you seen Jet around here anywhere?"
	"No, I haven't. Did he get away from you?" Sam asked, sounding sympathetic as he glanced around.
	"Yeah," Jo said. "And then he runs, and he runs and just never seems to get tired. Know what I mean?"
	"I think that's how a lot of pets act," Sam said. Some of the people around here had that same problem, it seemed.
	"Be nice if he chose to do while it was light out though," Jo muttered under her breath.
	"You wouldn't want to have things too easy, would you?" Sam said, smirking.
	"There's a difference between easy and not breaking your neck in the dark," Jo pointed out, casting a glare in Sam's direction. "Even if some of us have less way to fall."
	"Much less of a way. You're safer than I am," Sam said, before smirking again. "I can help you look, if you want me to. Since I'm already out here."
	"Thanks. What are you doing out here anyway?" Jo asked. "Since you don't seem to have dog troubles of your own."
	"I'm just out for a walk," Sam said casually. "I needed some fresh air away from everyone."
	"Well, you're definitely in the right place for that," Jo said. "Seems like it's just you, me and the teal deer."
	"Seems like," Sam said, giving her a warmer smile. "I've got to say, that's a whole lot better than just being by myself."
	"I never knew you liked the deer that way," Jo joked, grinning.
	"Jo, you know I wasn't talking about the deer," Sam replied.
	"Well, I'm afraid that Jet just isn't that kind of dog," Jo tried again with a certain amount of forced lightness, because there was just something about that that put her back up.
	"Is it really that hard for you to believe I might actually enjoy being around you?" Sam asked.
	"No," Jo replied. "I mean we're friends, right?" It was just that friends were supposed to respond to jokes just a little bit differently than this.
	"Yeah, definitely," Sam said. But as he took a few steps closer to her, his expression got more serious. "Do you ever think we could be better friends though, you and I?"
	"Sometimes, I guess," Jo replied as casually as she could manage. "I mean our dads were pretty close, so we're almost cousins. In a way."
	Sam laughed softly. "Yeah, that's definitely not how I think about it," he said, reaching over to try to encircle her wrist with his hand.
	That was most definitely Not Okay. "Well, you never met my dad, so I can see how you'd think that," Jo said, doing her best not to show it as she reached behind her back with her other hand, curling her fingers around the hilt of her knife.
	"I'm sure he was a great guy," Sam said, moving closer still, too focused on keeping her attention to notice anything she might have been doing behind her back. "You know, until all that stuff happened with my dad."
	"Hunters die. Even good ones," Jo said, trying to keep some space between them as she slipped the knife out of its sheath. "Job hazard."
	"And yet you're still willing to take on the job, even knowing that," Sam said.
	"Yeah," Jo replied. "Even then."
	Sam gave Jo an almost sincerely sad look. "I don't know, I'd hate to see you get hurt, Jo," he said, and this time, instead of moving towards her, he tried to pull her closer.
	Jo really didn't have the height or leverage to stop him. "I can take care of myself," she protested anyway, doing her best to keep her knife out of sight as she brought the hand holding it around to her side.
	"But you don't have to," Sam said, reaching up to try to stroke at her hair. "I can help you, if you'll let me."
	Skin crawling, Jo flipped the knife around so the tip was pointed towards Sam's leg. "Sam, this isn't funny any more."
	"I'm not trying to be funny," he said, glancing down and finally spotting the knife. "And neither are you, apparently." With more force than he might have normally had, Sam grabbed for Jo's other wrist, trying to twist her arm so she'd let go of the knife.
	Jo yelped, trying to get at least one good slash in before she dropped the knife.
	Sam winced in pain and hissed as Jo cut him, and when the knife hit the ground, he tightened his grip on her arms and went to shove her back hard against one of the trees. "It really would have been better if you'd played nicely, Jo," he said.
	Jo swore as the back of her head hit the tree with an audible thump. "I doubt that," she said, aiming a knee at his groin.
	Jo certainly knew how to fight back, Sam couldn't deny that. But he was fast enough now to move so she only hit him in the leg, and when that still hurt, he pushed her back against the tree again, trying to hit her head harder.
	And the fact her vision was now blurred was so very far from good it wasn't funny. Blinking and trying to focus on Sam, Jo mumbled "Christo," not sure what result she wanted.
	Sam groaned in pain at how that word burned through him, and glared at Jo as his eyes went black. "Your daddy taught you well," he said, his hand sliding up her neck. "Just not well enough." He threw her back again, determined to knock her out.
	Jo couldn't really reply to that, since for her everything else went black too.
	Sam smirked as he picked Jo up and carried her over to one of the smaller trees. For once, he was grateful that dressing like a Winchester meant having extra layers on, and he didn't waste time in putting the flannel shirt he'd been wearing to better use in tying Jo's wrists behind her around the tree. It wouldn't do to have her able to get away before she woke up, after all.
	Fortunately for Jo (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it), wakefulness came sooner rather than later. She wasn't exactly happy to find herself tied to a tree though.
	Sam was checking one last time to make sure the knots were secure when he saw Jo's eyes open. "Welcome back," he said.
	Still groggy, Jo tugged ineffectually at the knots. "Wish I could say I was happy to be here."
	"You should be," Sam said, going over to pick up Jo's knife from where she'd dropped it, before crouching down in front of her. "Because you and I have something important to discuss. What exactly did your mom tell you about how your dad died?"
	"Not much," Jo said, glaring at Sam. "They went on a hunt. Something went wrong. Your...Sam's dad came back, mine didn't."
	"Didn't you ever ask why?" Sam replied, carefully brushing Jo's hair away from her face with the tip of the knife. "Why my dad came back, and yours didn't?"
	Jo didn't let herself flinch away from the knife. "I asked your dad," she said, "He said it was an accident, that it was quick. What's it to you anyway?"
	"I think you deserve to know the truth, don't you?" Sam asked, almost impressed by how she stayed still.
	"I know I'm not going to hear it from a demon," Jo replied.
	"We don't always lie, Jo. Not when the truth is better than fiction."
	"Hell must be pretty damn cold then," Jo retorted.
	"Very funny," Sam said dryly, before standing up again and walking around her. "On your dad's last hunt, he was the bait," Sam said, not terribly concerned about whether or not she actually wanted to hear this. "He was supposed to lure the thing they were hunting in so John could kill it, but John was too eager. He came out too soon, and the thing got your dad first."
	"So he screwed up," Jo said, determined not to let him know how she felt. "Explains why he didn't come around much after."
	"Well, that might not be exactly why he didn't come around," Sam said, leaning in closer so his mouth was right by Jo's ear. "The thing attacked your dad, but it didn't kill him."
	It wasn't a knife, but Jo didn't let herself flinch this time either. "You're lying."
	"No, I'm not." Sam circled in front of her again with a feigned look of concern. "He was on the ground, all clawed up and bloody, begging to see you and your mother one last time. And then my dad shot him," he said. "Just went ahead and put him out of his misery."
	Jo shook her head. "You are. All demons lie." Way to sound confident there, Jo.
	"It's true," Sam said, leaning in and taking on a singsong tone. "My daddy shot your daddy in the head."
	"I don't believe you."
	"You might not believe me now. But it'll only be a matter of time," Sam said confidently. "For now, I'm happy with you being bait, just like Daddy." He took the last strip of cloth he had and went to press it into her mouth like a gag.
	Jo attempted to snap at Sam's fingers, but her reaction time was still off and she ended up with only a mouthful of cloth instead. Dammit.
	Dean and his Dad had split up as they searched for Sammy and it was just his luck that it was Dean who found him first. Apparently getting his torture on. "Dude," Dean said, stepping out in the open. "Don't you think that's a little more kink indulgence than is good?"
	Sam had to work fast to keep from smirking at Dean's arrival, and put on a nervous expression instead. "Dean? That's--it's not like that. I think there's something wrong with me."
	"Yeah, we're in agreement there," Dean said, stepping closer.
	Sam stayed still as Dean came closer, but kept his hold on Jo's knife. "We are?" he asked.
	"The Sammy I know isn't really into the whole forced bondage thing. Not to mention all the other shit you've been pulling." Dean's hand slid into the inside of his jacket.
	Sam's grip on the knife tightened, even as his expression changed to something sadder. "What shit? Dean, I don't know what you're talking about."
	"Yeah, pull the other one." Another step closer. "You never could lie to me, Sammy, not for long. And you know what?" His hand tightened on the flask he was carrying. "I'm also pretty damned good at figuring out when it's not actually Sammy I'm dealing with." He whipped the flask out and sent a steam of holy water into his brother's face. If this didn't work like he was expecting it to, Dean was seriously going to freak.
	Luckily for Dean - and unluckily for Sam - it worked just like he was expecting. Sam tried to cover his face, but he was too slow, and the holy water burned so badly that he dropped the knife. As the pain subsided, Sam looked up again and glared at Dean, his eyes totally black.
	"Yeah, that's what I thought," Dean said. "Get the fuck out of my brother."
	"He's mine now," Sam said, nearly growling. "And you're not going to get him back." With a flick of his head, he tried to push Dean away, and took off running deeper into the woods.
	Dean stumbled back and swore as he watched Sammy take off. "Crap." He needed to go after him but he paused long enough to cut through Jo's bonds and ask, "You okay?"
	Jo spat to get the taste of the gag out of her mouth. "I've been better," she said, ducking to pick up the knife. "You gonna to exorcise the son of a bitch?" That last part referred to the demon...probably.
	"With extreme prejudice," Dean said firmly.
	"Good," Jo replied flatly. "Lying bastard."
	"It's a demon," Dean said. "When do they ever tell the truth?" He was already looking in the direction not-Sammy had run. "And they need to stop fucking possessing people I care about."
	"Never," Jo said, wishing she sounded just a bit more confident than she did. "Right?"
	"I haven't actually hooked one up to a lie detector, but they're so busy messing with people's minds, they wouldn't know the truth if it bit them." Dean started backing up. "And I gotta go after him. Don't want him to get too big a lead."
	"Right," Jo said, nodding. "You do that. I'll just...head back to the school. You know?" Besides it wasn't like Dean was the Winchester she really wanted to have a conversation about the truthfulness of demons with.

[Preplayed with

wannabehunter and

saltandammo. Rated V for "Violence, language, and mindscrews, oh my!" and N for "No, we haven't been saving up these icons, really!" NFI, NFB please, OOC comments are awesome!]