"Ugh. Seriously, dude? Can you just get to the part where you say, 'And I was a sad little vampire who wanted to blame all my problems on someone else'?" Jovi interrupted, knowing full well she might get punched in the face for her troubles.

But when you're tied up and bored, sarcasm becomes a coping mechanism.

But no! Henry just had to continue with his sob story. "You see, Rich"—because all the best vampires are named Rich —"was tracking you for months. Watching you."

"Well, I was just gonna kill you outright. But, of course, you just were so miserable and alone, it would have been a mercy killing, right?" Both men chuckled, Jovi's face fell as she realised that Alex had been played by Henry the whole god damn time and the Winchester girl she going to cut the bastards head off. "I wanted you to be happy first, I wanted you to have something precious so that I could take it from you"

Jovi bit her lip glaring daggers at the two, it did get her thinking about Blake and Kat though. She didn't want to believe they'd ever turn on her like that or turn out to be the thing her family hunts from her observations they were complete normal human beings

"So...he turned the most popular kid in school and sent me after you. I'd build you up, then chop you down piece by piece." Henry said his face level with Alex's a wicked smirk on his face.
"I'd take your teacher, your boyfriend, your family, and then... feed you to my nest."

Jovi's eyes flicked toward the toolbox. She focused, her hand twitching, trying to use her powers to nudge it closer. Because when you're stuck in a villain's lair, you either break free or die trying.

The toolbox twitched.

The hammer inside moved.

Jovi's lips curled into a small, sly smile.

"The fuck?" Ares whispered referring to what Rich had just said which was barely audible but Jovi caught it, she had a feeling that when this was over she wouldn't be able to go back to her normal apple pie life and that made her heart drop more and more.

"nothing? None of it was real?" Alex turned to Henry, her voice cracking.

"Seriously, Al?" Henry chuckled like the sick fuck he was. "you were a complete freak. I mean, you were an angry loner creeping around the school like some kind of trench coat mafia"

"Oof," Jovi muttered under her breath. "Way to roast her self-esteem, dude."

"You're gonna burn in hell, you sociopath!" Claire spat, and while Jovi would never admit it, she did get a little satisfaction from the sheer spite Claire threw in that sentence.

"Yup. And trust me, it's not as fun as it sounds," Jovi added with a smirk, just as Henry held a finger to his lips.

"I'm not about to be silenced by some Prince Charming looking mother-" Before she could finish, bam — a punch to the face. Jovi's lip split, blood trickling down her chin. She groaned, her nose aching. "Oh, come on! I didn't even get to finish my line."

"hey, don't touch her!" Ares yelled, his voice cracking with anger. Henry ignored him as he stared at Alex emotionlessly. "I could never date someone like you"

Alex, ever the bold one, spat right in Henry's face.

"stop it!" Jody yelled desperately. Just as Henry lunged for Alex, Rich pulled him back. "don't mess with this one. Henry's got a real mean streak, you know?"  Yeah, no kidding. Jovi was officially out of sarcasm for these guys. Rich decided to up the creep factor. "You know, this one couldn't just kill Mr. Phelps. Oh no. He had to run him up a flagpole for the whole school to salute."

"Well, she saw him, didn't she?" Henry shot back, shrugging like he wasn't the walking embodiment of every bad decision ever made.

Jovi blinked. She'd seen a lot of messed-up stuff, but this? This was a whole new level of psycho. "you brought a lot of cops, but Henry's young — he'll learn" And then it was Claire's turn to shine — or struggle. Rich grabbed her like she was a ragdoll. "Get off of me!" she screamed, thrashing against him.

"They know we're here! Those FBI agents? They're hunters! And you just kidnapped one of their kids!" Jody pointed to Jovi with a 'you're-so-screwed' kind of energy. "They know you killed Phelps! They killed Alex's entire nest! Just ask her!"

Alex nodded, stammering, "I-it's true. They're coming for you!"

Rich wasn't having it. "Shut up!" he snarled.

Jovi, meanwhile, was having the time of her life — well, if you define "time of your life" as being tied up while throwing sass at bloodsucking psychos. "Oh, you should start running now. You're royally screwed, buddy!"

Henry, apparently done with Jovi's mouth, turned to her with a smirk. "Touch her, and I swear to God—" Ares growled, his glare sharp enough to cut through steel.

Henry didn't care. He turned back to Ares, his voice dripping with condescension. "Ares, I thought you were better than this. Acting tough isn't going to get you the girl. Especially not when she's gonna die."

Ares' expression didn't change, but his tone was ice-cold. "Go fuck yourself."

Henry, the killing and running all the time—you don't want that!" Alex yelled, trying to appeal to whatever shred of humanity might be left in him.

But Henry was beyond reason. "You did this! You did this to all of us!" he shouted, his anger bubbling over.

Rich, the human equivalent of nails on a chalkboard, dragged Claire over to Alex, smirking like the creep he was. "You are gonna watch everyone you love die."

Claire, being Claire, didn't miss a beat. "Check your intel, you pig! Alex hates me."

Rich tightened his grip, making her cry out in pain. Alex, panicked and desperate, spat out, "I-I'll help you! Let them go, and I'll lure for you. You know how good I am! I kept a whole nest alive for eight years. A-and you can feed on me when the hunting goes dry... and it goes dry, I know."

Rich tilted his head, considering. "You know, I might just take you up on that..." The tension hung thick in the air — until Rich suddenly sank his fangs into Claire's neck. Her scream shattered the silence.

"No!" Jovi and Ares both yelled, pulling against their restraints like their lives depended on it.

And then... WHAM!

A hammer flew through the air like Thor himself had thrown it, smacking Rich right in the side of the head. Claire crumpled to the floor, still breathing but barely. Rich stumbled, and Henry scattered like the coward he was.

Enter: Uncle Sam.

Jovi's eyes widened as her uncle stormed in like an avenging angel. "Uncle Sam!" she shouted in warning as Rich lunged at him with a sledgehammer.

"Behind you!"

Sam ducked just in time, the sledgehammer missing him by inches. But Henry wasn't done being an asshole. He swung a plank of wood, knocking Sam straight into the abandoned pool.

Claire!" Jovi whispered, loud enough to get the other girl's attention. She nodded toward the discarded hammer. Claire, catching on, crawled toward it.

"I think I almost got a hand free," Ares muttered, his voice strained.

"Well, don't stop now!" Jovi snapped, yanking at her own restraints.

Claire, hammer in hand, snuck up behind Rich, who was about to finish Alex off with Sam's machete. Without hesitation, she swung the hammer into his back.

"Nice," Ares muttered with a grin.

Before Rich could retaliate, his head was sliced clean off.

Cue Dean Winchester, standing there with his trusty blade, looking like the badass he was. Kat followed behind him, pale but determined.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Kat muttered, gagging as she took in the carnage.

"Dad!" Jovi cried, her relief palpable.

Dean's eyes locked onto his daughter. "You okay?"

Jovi gave him a deadpan look. "What do you think?"

Kat rushed over to help untie the teens while Dean checked on Claire, his sharp eyes zeroing in on the bite marks. "Did you drink their blood?"

"No," Claire said firmly, though her voice wavered.

"We are so happy to see you," Ares said to Kat as she cut Jovi's restraints with the switchblade Dean had given her.

"Likewise. By the way, Jovi? Your family's insane... in both good and bad ways," Kat quipped.

"Tell me about it," Jovi muttered, rubbing her sore wrists.

Kat raised an eyebrow. "Also, we're having one hell of a conversation after this."

"Fair enough," Jovi said, knowing there was no escaping that particular interrogation.

"Ow! Dean!" Jody's cry send the man running to her side as she struggled to get up, Ares rushed to help Dean throwing one of Jody's arms over his shoulder. "it had to be the leg, I'm gonna need bionics" Jody said leaning on the two.

Sam threw Henry onto the ground in front of Alex. "He's all yours."

Henry sneered up at her, his cocky attitude still intact. "I should've tapped that when I had the chance."

Alex didn't hesitate. She punched him square in the jaw. Jovi followed up by grabbing the machete and slicing his head clean off in one swift motion.

The two girls exchanged a look, a silent understanding passing between them.

☆

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒕 of burned bacon and disappointment. It was the next morning, and Jody's house looked like a rehab center for traumatized teens and injured hunters. Everyone was patched up, emotionally hungover, and trying their best not to think about decapitated vampires. Kat had crashed for the night, because, you know, two vampires and a whole existential crisis in one evening tends to make you rethink sleeping alone.

Jovi spent the night giving Kat a SparkNotes version of her entire supernatural soap opera of a life. She even suggested Kat dive into the Supernatural books if she wanted the full backstory — because what says "welcome to my world" better than Chuck's weirdly invasive fan fiction? Kat, to her credit, didn't call Jovi insane. Hard to argue when you've seen fangs up close and personal.

The teens decided to "thank" Jody by cooking her breakfast, which was generous, if not a little misguided. Ares was on dish duty, Claire was plating up pancakes, Alex was setting the table, and Jovi and Kat were wrestling with a flour-covered kitchen island that looked like it had been hit by a snowstorm.

Jody hobbled into the room on her crutches, eyebrows raised. "I thought I smelled burning bacon. You guys cooked?"

"We tried," Claire admitted, placing a questionably pale stack of pancakes on the table. "The pancakes might be a little... raw."

Kat smirked, pointing a flour-dusted finger at Ares. "Blame Gordon Ramsay over there. Apparently, he thinks he's a chef."

Ares turned from the sink, looking genuinely offended. "They don't need to be cremated, Kat."

"They don't need to be raw either," Jovi added, grinning.

Alex, the peacekeeper of the group, chimed in. "We wanted to do something for you. All of us."

The teens turned their collective puppy-dog eyes on Jody, who immediately looked like she regretted her life choices. "Stop looking at me like that," she muttered, shifting uncomfortably. "I feel like Tiny Tim."

Alex then spoke up. "I'm sorry he hurt you—all of you," she said, her voice heavy with guilt.

"Hey, we're fine," Claire replied, sliding a plate of pancakes toward Jody. "We're in, like, six whole pieces. More or less."

No, it's not," Alex argued. "He almost killed you because of what I did."

"Correction," Jovi interjected, sipping her orange juice like it was tea and she had all the wisdom in the world. "It's for what those vamps did. You were a kid. You had to do whatever they said."

"Alex, you were ready to give up your life for us. That's goodness, and that's what's scary about family. It gives you so much to lose" Jody smiled softly, looking around at the ragtag group of teens who had somehow become her extended family.

After breakfast, Sam and Dean rolled up, looking like they'd barely slept but were running on caffeine and stubbornness. The teens and Jody headed outside seeing Dean speaking with Claire while Sam helped Jody down the door step. Sam pointed at the multiple containers on his hands as he looked at Dean "dude, we got ribs and uh two tubs of sauce 'cause you're not touching mine"

Dean grinned, practically fist-pumping the air muttering a small. "yes"

"Made them for dinner last night, but didn't get to eat it. What with the multiple kidnappings and all" Jody told them lightheartedly before Sam walked away towards Alex with Claire following, Dean chuckled before turning to Jovi. "Jov, can I talk to you for a sec?"

Jovi followed him a few steps away, tilting her head. "What's up?"

Dean hesitated, his gaze softening as he looked at her. He noticed how her eyes had regained a spark of life he hadn't seen in years. Here, surrounded by friends and stability, she was healing, over the years with her being on hunts with them he had to sit and watch as all her excitement and joy died but here she was with that aura slowly returning. He also thought about his conversation with Kat, he was going to have to let her go at some stage and maybe right now was the time to do that — give her an option for her future.

"I think you should stay here," Dean said, his voice steady but tinged with sadness.

Jovi blinked. She thought if anything her dad was going to want her with him where he can keep an eye on her after yesterdays fun fiasco. "You do?"

Dean nodded. "You're happy here. You've got a life—friends, family, even a boyfriend." He smirked slightly at the last part, but his eyes were sincere. "I can't take you away from that."

Jovi's face softened, a sad smile tugging at her lips. "I'm glad you said that because... I kinda didn't want to leave either. Kat needs me, and Jody could use an extra set of hands. Plus, someone's gotta keep an eye on things around here in case, you know, something creepy crawly shows up."

Dean smiled, pride shining in his eyes. "Come here."

Jovi grinned, stepping into his embrace and burying her face in his chest. Dean planted a kiss on her head before resting his chin there. "I'm so proud of you," he murmured.

Jovi felt her heart swell, hearing a 'I'm proud of you' from her family was pretty rare unless your counting the amount of times one of them had almost died but Jovi didn't count those. She held onto this hug for as long as she could not knowing when the next time she was going to see her father was so she held onto the moment like a lifeline.

"promise you'll visit?" Jovi asked as the two pulled away. "promise" Jovi held out her pinky with a grin, Dean almost forgot how seriously she takes her pinky promises. He smiled locking his with hers "you know your 16 right?" He said mockingly, she scoffed. "never too old for a pinky promise"

He laughed before nodding to her to go say her goodbyes to Sam his eyes caught Ares who was talking to Kat and Jody, he sighed walking over. "Ares, a word?" The boy nodded following after Dean. "sure" Kat laughed trying to cover it with a cough watching as they stopped a few feet away knowing this had to do with their conversation.

Dean crossed his arms, his expression somewhere between stern and soft. "take care of my daughter and keep an eye on that Blake kid for me" Ares smiled mischievously as he responded.  "Dean you know ill happily beat Blake up if he hurts Buffy" though Ares spoke in a sarcastic and unserious tone Dean knew he meant it and he could rely on Ares to watch out for his daughter.

Dean cracked a small smile. "Good. Take care, kid."

Jovi watched from beside her friends as the impala began to disappear into the distance making her let out a deep sigh, she already missed her dad.

"You know, you're kinda a freak" Jovi's head snapped to her side seeing Ares standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes locked onto the impala. "And your not?" Jovi responded defensively but Ares cracked a smirk.  "well I'm not the one slaying vampires and using her mind to throw hammers at them"

Jovi rolled her eyes, her jaw clenching in annoyance. "Any more harsh digs to throw Cassidy?"

Ares eyes widened mockingly as he responded teasingly. "wow and we're back to the last names? I'll have you know Winchester that I think you should totally join the X-Men but ill also hold my hands up and admit you caught me a little off guard with the powers you've failed to mention but I think they're pretty awesome"

Jovi paused blinking a few times, awesome? So he didn't think she was some freak that needed to be locked away? Jovi glanced up at the boy her expression softening "so I'm not being burnt at the stake then?"

Ares grinned. "no, but I will be abusing these powers of yours. Do you think you can make Aria fall in love with me?"

That was enough for Jovi, the girl scoffed rolling her eyes once more before turning on her heel. Ares then called after her "Jovi! Wait—can you?!"

"Please?"

☆

Merry Christmas and happy new year to anyone who celebrate! Also I know Jovi could've ended the vampires in two seconds but I didn't want to take away from Alex and Claire's little moment and also this episode would've been over within 5 minutes...
Hope you enjoyed!