Sunday Bloody Sunday
U2
1:40 —————•———————
𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒏

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎
𝑺𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 10 : 𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒅𝒆

☆

Jovi stood opposite her father, her fists up high, wrapped in gauze and tape. Her long golden hair was pulled back in a ponytail, she wore sportswear which consisted of black leggings and a sports bra. Dean was stood opposite her sporting a pair of punch mitts, wearing a grey zip up hoodie and black joggers. These kind of practice sessions didn't happen often but it was usually when Dean wanted to make sure she could still hold her own and after he was ambushed by Rowena he just wanted to make sure Jovi was able to protect herself in case she was next on the list. As for Jovi, she didn't completely mind this particular workout mainly because she got to take out her anger towards Metatron on the gloves which was definitely a more healthy way of getting it out - not that her dad knew that. But she was still going to complain because now she was tired. hungry and sweaty and she was sure if her dad wanted to do anymore boxing practice she was gonna purposely miss the gloves

"Come on, Jov. You can do better than that" Dean said noticing how she was no longer hitting the gloves with force, now it was very half arsed. Jovi dramatically groaned putting her hands on her hips "as much as I appreciate the involuntary exercise, I'm tired and hungry and now I also need a shower so I'm finished" Dean rolled his eyes at her dramatics, Jovi was good in hand to hand combat and she had a strong punch but sometimes he wished she'd reel in the teenage girl angst and realise how important it is that she can protect herself in case of emergency "couple more and you can go, deal?" He negotiated hoping she'd just agree and not argue, Jovi narrowed her eyes with an annoyed frown "fine but don't expect great things" she muttered getting back into her fighting stance, Dean couldn't fight the victorious smirk off of his face. It felt great not having to argue with his teenage daughter who had answers for everything.

☆

Jovi walked into the library first just as Sam was finishing up a call, she took a large swig of her water before collapsing in the chair opposite him "Sammy, exercise is not for me. I was made to eat burgers and hunt things not sweat" Jovi complained waving her hand for emphasis making Sam laugh "it's good for you, Jov" her uncle replied Jovi shook her head in disagreement "tell that to my aching knuckles" Dean then entered the room carrying his own flask "you still have a good right hook though" he complimented walking over, Jovi scoffed lifting her water to her lips "duh, of course I do"

Sam then glanced up at Dean "so, I've been checking through everything again, double checking, and triple checking and—"

"The mark is a curse" Dean cut Sam off but his younger brother didn't pick up that Dean was actually telling him a new piece of information as he responded "yeah, tell me about it"

Jovi tilted her head noticing the look on her fathers face "no, Sam, it's a...it's a actual curse" Dean said slowly eyes barely meeting the twos, Sam furrowed his brows "what are you talking about?"

"Crowley told me or rather Rowena told him after she tried and failed to kill me" Dean explained sheepishly as he finally met their eyes, Jovi blinked sitting up "I beg your pardon?" Dean sighed taking a seat next to Sam "the mark protected me. Rowena doesn't really have beef with me, she was pissed at Crowley because she thinks he's going soft"

"She's not wrong" Sam cut in, Jovi also had to agree with them. Since he'd been humbled by demon Dean he seemed to have become less of an problem

"Yeah, well, after he and mommy dearest got into a fight —"

"Mommy dearest?" Sam questioned raising a curious brow, Dean paused looking between his daughter and brother "Rowena is Crowleys mother"

Jovi's jaw dropped "shut up"

Dean hummed nodding "more about that later. So, then he came and told me what she had said...the mark is an actual curse" Jovi's heart dropped, emotions like shock, sadness and disbelief flowing through her. She looked back down at the table processing that information, how the hell were they supposed to break a curse? That definitely made things more complicated "so, anyway, I'm sorry. I probably should've told you both that..."

Sam who was in the same state of shock as his niece after a pause replied "yeah" his phone then went off, Dean grabbed it before Sam could putting the device to his ear "Winchester accounting, how may I help you?...Charlie? What's going on? Where are you?"

Jovi leaned forward concern on her face as she gestured for her dad to put it on speaker "speaker!" She whisper yelled, Dean took the phone from his ear putting it on speaker so they could all hear "...outside of Bill and Ted's" Charlie's voice came through the small device, they all leaned towards the phone "okay, hey, hey, take a deep breath, kiddo. Uh, we're all sitting here, tell me what happened. Why are you bleeding?"

"I — uh — I got shot" all three Winchesters pulled the same face, heads all shooting up in shock and concern "did you know dental floss works great on stitches? I only passed out twice and I'm pretty sure my wound is now minty fresh" Charlie breathed out, Jovi leaned across the table "Charlie, girl, you probably need to go to a hospital"

"No, no, I'm fine, Jov. I just got to get someplace safe, these guys are still after me"

"What guys? Who?"

"S-Some southern fried d-bags, they've been after me since I dug up The Book of the Damned" Charlie told them, Jovi's face perked up looking to her uncle who's greyish green eyes were locked onto the phone "you found it? Where?"

"After some near misses and some broken into museums, I found historical documents that led to a monastery in Spain. It burned down years ago, left for dead but uh, I had this hunch about it, turned out I was right" all Jovi got from that explanation was that Charlie found the book and she went to Spain without her which she found rude...where was her invite?

"Okay, Charlie, what does it say about the mark?" Dean questioned

"I have no freakin' idea. The language it's written in, I've never seen anything like it. I, uh — I found some research notes in the monastery crypt, though, by the friar that buried it. The book of the damned is a spell book for creating or undoing any kind of damnation there is, we translate this thing, I think we can get the mark of cain off you, Dean"

Hope ignited in Jovi's chest at the thought of ridding her father of this curse for good, Dean breathed out his face full of relief "Charlie, you're a genius"

The woman chuckled "a genius fugitive. I — these dudes following me, they are well trained, one of them keeps talking about his family"

"Family? Did you get a name?"

"No clue, I — I spotted a tattoo on one of them. Might be a family crest, it seemed occulty. Soon as the book was out of the ground they were all over me, I, uh, I don't know how much more running I got left in me. They're tracking the book somehow" Charlie said the exhaustion was clear in her tone, Jovi felt bad for the red head seeing as she was doing all of this for them. Sam leaned down to the phone "all right, then we need to get you off the grid. Charlie, Where are you right now?"

"Uh, just south of Des Moines"

"Uh, okay, you know what. Our friend Bobby has a whole bunch of cabins scattered all around, places for hunters to crash. You know, it's not much but there's some gear and lore books - stuff to keep you busy till we get there" Dean told her

"Okay, bring snacks and every men of letters decoder ring there is. This book is old and scary and I've never seen anything like it".

☆

Thin Lizzys : the boys are back in town blared through the impala's speakers as they drove to Bobbys cabin. Dean was happily hitting the steering wheel along to the beat, Sam and Jovi grinned their shoulders shaking with mirth. Dean took notice of their chuckles "what?" Sam shook his head with a half smile "nothing" he then leaned forward turning off the radio "we just haven't seen you like this in a while, that's all"

Dean pulled a bitch face "it's a good song, man, shut up"

Jovi leaned forward in her seat, the girl had now showered and changed in a simple pair of jeans and a hoodie. The hood currently up sitting on the back of her head letting strands of hair fall out at the front "hey, we never said it wasn't"

"Look, guys, it has been one crap sandwich after another for the past few weeks. okay?" Dean peered over at Sam "You heard Charlie, we got a shot at fixing this thing so if that don't put gas in your tanks, well"

"If by 'shot' you mean spell in a book that we can't read that's currently being tracked—"

"Way to be a Debbie downer, Sammy" Jovi spoke rolling her eyes "were due for a win, okay? Overdue" Dean added his eyes focusing on the road ahead "I'll tell you another thing, if this actually does work, we're gonna take some time off" he suggested Jovi's face lit up with excitement "like a vacation?" She asked arms resting on the front bench of seats, Dean hummed "and I'm not talking just like a weekend in vegas or sitting in some crap motel watching pay-per-porn-"

"Speak for yourself" Jovi cut in shaking her head in disgust, Dean winced at his choice of words. He sometimes forgets to think before he speaks, she was now old enough to know what he's talking about and he hated it, though he only had himself to blame for his choice of words "no, I'm talking about a beach. Drinking verbenas, go for a swim, mingle with the local wildlife"

Jovi gasped "we should go to Hawaii or Mexico or Texas apparently has nice beaches" the girl was now getting excited the multiple options running through her head, Dean smiled small picturing the calmness of the places she was suggesting "when was the last time any of us was on a beach?" He asked eyes darting between Sam and Jovi "never" the two answered

Dean nodded "never. Sand between our toes, Sammy, Jov. Sand between our toes" the man leaned forward turning the radio back on the boys are back in town continuing to play.

☆

The three arrived at the cabin the next morning finding a red car parked outside, they rushed up to the door each carrying a bag or a box "Charlie?!" They threw open the door only to find the red head sat at a table, she gasped shooting up awake "merry Christmas!"

"A bit late to that one, Charlie" Jovi said smirking at the woman laughing at Charlie's bed head and confused expression "hey" Dean said moving past his daughter and towards Charlie who went straight to hug him "were you followed?" Dean wrapped a arm around her as he responded "no, no"

Sam went next hugging her "how you feeling?" Charlie broke away from the hug as she replied "Um, I may have just passed out, but better"

"Well that's a good sign" Jovi spoke as she wrapped a careful arm around her friend, after a second they broke away. Dean looked down at Charlie asking "where's the book?"

"Okay, here's what I've learned so far" Charlie began to explain the books backstory handing them the old book, Jovi couldn't help but grimace at it. Each page was made out of skin and written in blood, she didn't want to touch that damn thing. She watched as her dad flicked through the pages seeming to be in his own world, she furrowed her brows "dad?" He didn't even look up, she looked at her uncle with a concerned expression "Dean?" Sam tried this time but he still didn't get a response "dad!" Jovi raised her voice finally snapping Dean out of his trance but he looked around confused before his forest green eyes met the book in his hands, he quickly closed it "I don't think it's a good idea that I touch this" he handed it over to Charlie as a far away look came over his face a silence came over them, the three looked at Dean confused and concerned "I'll go get the rest of our crap" he said before leaving the cabin

Charlie turned on her heel looking between Jovi and Sam "what the hell was that?"

Jovi sucked in a breath while Sam sighed "He's not getting better. He's trying to cover, but...we need to find that cure fast"

☆

They'd been going through all the men of letters files and books to try and decipher the book but it wasn't really going to plan, Jovi was bored out of her mind. She was currently laying upside down with her legs over the back of the sofa her head hanging off of it with a file in her hands that she was currently skim reading. The others were having a conversation about the family that were going after Charlie - The Stynes, basically the book was the source of their family's power and fortune but they'd lost it 100 years ago. Jovi only zoned back into the conversation when Dean's voice rose "you guys don't understand. The books been calling out to me ever since I laid eyes on it okay? Calling out to the mark. I can hear it like it's alive, it wants me to use it, but not for good"

A frown came over not just Jovi's face but Sam and Charlie's too "look, I wanted it to be the answer too, okay? I really did. But we have got to get rid of that, burn it, bury it, I don't give a damn. We'll just have to find another way to fix the mark" Sam narrowed his eyes at his brother speaking with some annoyance in his voice "like what?"

Dean shook his head avoiding his eyes as he sipped his coffee "I don't know"

Charlie tilted her head "so you're giving up?"

Dean pulled a face "Charlie, I don't have a death wish, even if I did, I can't die — not with this thing on my arm. What I can do is I can fight it as long as I can until—"

"Until what? Tell me" Sam demanded standing up, Jovi stayed quiet slowly sitting up watching the two with caution "until what Dean? Until I watch you become a demon again? Until you try to kill your daughter again? Until then? I can't do that, I won't do that" Sam snapped jaw clenched and eyes focused on Dean with anger stirring in them, Jovi could see the multiple emotions coming across her father's face. She looked down at her nails finding them real interesting in this current moment "well, then you'll just have to lock me up. Bind me to the bunker like you did last time and maybe Jovi can stay with Jody in the meantime" Dean suggested eyes flickering over to his daughter who's head snapped up, a betrayed look falling onto her features "you can't just ship me off" she spoke for the first time "if it's protecting you, I can" Dean responded with the same argumentative tone she'd used. Before they could argue Charlie stood up "that doesn't solve anything"

Dean looked away from the red head "look, just let us translate the book, okay? If there's a cure, we'll do it and deal with the consequences later. I can't lose you, and Jovi needs her father" Sam declared, Dean nodded looking from his feet to his brother "really?"

"Yeah, really"

"You change you're mind on that 'cause that's not what you said last time" Dean said with venom in his tone, Jovi swallowed harshly clenching her jaw playing with her necklace anxiously. She hated when they argued because it never ended well, and majority of the time someone ended up leaving  "oh, come on, man. You know I didn't mean that"

"This is my cross to bear, Sam! Mine! And that book is not the answer, now we got to destroy it before it falls into the wrong hands and that includes me!" Dean yelled as he glanced between them all, Charlie avoided his eyes "I'm gonna go for a drive" he announced before looking to the red head "uh, Charlie. I forgot to pick up you're snacks"

"Dean, look-"

"We'll figure out another way and Sam, I'll get my vacation. But not today, not like this" Dean told them grabbing his jacket, Jovi stood up grabbing her hoodie "I'll come" Dean paused sighing heavily "jov-"

Jovi shrugged innocently "I just want a slushy, chill" she told him before opening the door walking out to the impala leaving her father to follow, really she did want her slushy but she also wanted to keep an eye on her father.

☆

The ride to the nearest store was silent other than the music playing faintly through the stereo, Jovi didn't want to piss him off anymore so she stayed quiet. They walked into the store Jovi practically skipping over to the slushy section, she grabbed a cup filling it with the strawberry flavour while her father spoke with the cashier. She put a straw in her drink before walking over to her dad "must her awful lonely out here all by yourself" Dean spoke subtly nudging Jovi eyeing the mirror above them while the cashier grabbed their change, she looked up catching sight of the dead guy on the ground. Her eyes widened stopping sipping on her drink "oh, I get by" the man in the trench coat responded, Dean pulled Jovi behind him before he pulled his gun out aiming it at the man "don't move" the man just looked at them blankly "hands where I can see them" Dean ordered the man only looked at them with a weird smirk "don't you want your change?"

The guy threw the change at Dean while Jovi felt a sharp pain on her head sending her to the floor before Dean was grabbed from behind both his arms locked between the mans who'd grabbed him "Jovi!" He tried looking to her only being able to see the spilled slushy, she groaned her head spinning. There was a throbbing sensation that made it hard for her to see straight, her ears were ringing too

"Now, who might you be?" He spoke eyeing Dean but the man didn't answer, his eyes found the scar on his arm "well, hello there" he pulled Deans sleeve down revealing the full Mark of Cain, he stepped back eyeing Dean "where'd a back road nothing like you get their hands on something like that?"

Jovi tried pulling herself to her feet but the minute she lifted her head she felt like she was about to pass out "what's it to you Mr Styne?" Dean responded sarcasm lacing his tone, the man in the trench coat chuckled "my friends call me Jacob"

"Well, I ain't your friend" Dean hissed, Jacob chuckled once again before he looked back at what Dean had picked out picking up one of the sweet packets "these wouldn't happen to be treats for a red headed little gal, now would they?" Dean didn't respond "y'all hid the book, didn't you? Lead lined little number I'm guessing"

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about" Dean told him keeping a straight face, Jovi took a deep breath trying to focus her vision so she could reach for the switchblade that was always in her pocket "you don't?" Jacob turned pointing his blade at the dead man "see that? That man back there, well, he said the same thing as all the others at truck stops and gas stations up and down the way. Nobody had seen that redheaded girl and then a man bearing that mark comes in here, to me" Jacob laughed psychotically "well, there's coincidence and then there's just providence. See, the book of the damned it wants to be found, it wants to come home. Let me guess,