A sign of the times
Harry Styles

4:18 ———————————•——
𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏?
𝑾𝒆'𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆
𝑰𝒕𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘

𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈...
𝑺𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 11: 𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒅𝒆 17
𝑹𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒕

☆

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 and Ares Cassidy were currently fighting for their lives in was dark and looked as though it was on the brick of collapse, a young couple was hung up by their wrists in metal chains, small cuts and bruises littering their faces. Sam and Dean took the bigger werewolves on, Jovi and Ares were left with the other.

Jovi gripped the silver knife in her hand, twirling it once for dramatic effect. Ares stood beside her, looking all tense and ready for action — adorable, really. The werewolf looming over them decided it was dinner time and lunged straight at Ares, grabbing his wrist in a vice grip. The poor guy grimaced, struggling against the beast's strength.

"God, dog's breath," he muttered, his face twisting in disgust.

Jovi internally snorted. Wow, insightful observation, Sherlock. Maybe if you ask nicely, he'll start chewing gum before attacking. Ares, being all gallant and heroic, tried shoving the werewolf back. Yeah, that didn't work. Instead, the thing chucked him to the floor like a used napkin.

Jovi sighed dramatically. Right. Guess it's my turn.

The werewolf spun towards her, swinging a meaty fist, but she was already moving. She dodged easily, switching her knife to her dominant hand before slashing upwards in a brutal uppercut, the blade biting deep. The wolf stumbled, gasping, but she wasn't done. She grabbed his shoulders, slammed her knee into his stomach, and, with a final, satisfying thrust, drove the knife straight into his heart.

The werewolf locked eyes with her, gasping as his body gave out. "Yeah, yeah. Down you go" she muttered as he collapsed in a heap.

Just as the body hit the ground, Sam and Dean finished off their own wolves. Jovi, still barely winded, rolled her eyes. God, was that it?

With a casual motion, she used her foot to flip the werewolf's corpse over, then yanked her knife free from his chest. Ares, still panting from his very brief, very unsuccessful fight, gawked at her.

"You're making me look really bad," he said between breaths.

Jovi grinned, wiping her blade on the werewolf's shirt. "Maybe that's because you are?"

Ares shot her a bitch face — eyebrows scrunched, lips pursed, the whole nine yards.

"Don't worry, Bieber," she added, smirking as she extended a hand to him. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it soon."

"Whatever, Buffy." He huffed, but took her hand anyway.

Sam, still catching his breath, fixed her with a look of disbelief. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

Jovi met his gaze and shrugged. "Sammy, how many times am I gonna have to tell you that Black Widow is my literal idol?"

Sam just stared at her like she'd grown another head. Before he could say anything, Dean cried out as a loud gunshot rang through the house.

The world tilted. Pain exploded through Jovi's stomach, hot and immediate, like someone had just shoved a burning poker into her gut.

Oh. Well. That was inconvenient.

Her legs gave out, and suddenly, Ares was catching her, lowering them both to the ground. She blinked up at him, her vision already swimming.

Sam's hands were hovering over her now, his face pale, panicked. Her uncle never panicked. That was so not a good sign.

Dean charged forward, and before Jovi's consciousness could slip, she saw him drive his blade deep into the werewolf who'd just shot her.

☆

48 hours earlier...

Jovi bopped her head along to the music blasting through her headphones, completely ignoring the mountain of research she was supposed to be doing. Her back was comfortably leaning against her dad's arm, head resting on his shoulder, legs kicked up onto the table like she owned the place. The laptop in her lap was open to a search on The Darkness— though, if she was being honest, she'd zoned out at least twenty minutes ago. Sam sat across from them in an armchair, hunched over his own laptop, looking like a man who'd had way too much coffee and not enough sleep.

"How's it going over there?" Sam asked, glancing over at the father-daughter duo.

"Same," Dean answered without looking up, flipping through a book with all the enthusiasm of a guy who knew he was getting nowhere.

Jovi, however, didn't respond — she was too busy miming the lyrics to In the Night by The Weeknd. Classic rock was still her ride-or-die, but she liked variety. Sue her.

Dean must have noticed her lack of input because he nudged her shoulder. "Anything?"

She just shot him a thumbs up without looking away from her screen. She had no idea what she was agreeing to.

Dean sighed, turning back to Sam. "And you, anything?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Jovi perked up slightly, mostly because Sam actually sounded interested in something, which was more than she could say for herself.

"Yeah? On Amara, Lucifer, Hand of God?"

"No, no, it's a—it's a case. Werewolves, looks like. A pattern of missing campers—five in the last three months."

Dean barely reacted, already looking back down at his books. "So they got lost."

"That's what the rangers thought too, until a couple of days ago when they found a body—"

"Let me guess." Jovi finally spoke, deadpan. "Minus a heart?"

Sam shot her an unimpressed look but nodded. "Yeah. Now, they're calling it an animal attack, but—"

"Alright, well, we make a call and put somebody on it," Dean said, completely disinterested. He met Sam's gaze like he was daring him to argue.

"Yeah, but..." Sam exhaled heavily, closing his laptop. Oh boy. Here comes the motivational speech — Jovi thought to herself. He turned to Dean. "We'll get him back."

Dean's jaw tightened. "How?"

"I don't know. But we'll figure it out. In the meantime, we gotta get out of here. Clear our heads. I mean, this is a case. Let's do what we do—let's work it."

Dean shifted his arm, unintentionally knocking Jovi backward. With reflexes he probably didn't even realise he had, he caught her before she could completely fall off the chair, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her forward.

Jovi gripped his arm, looking up at him with an annoyed glare. "Dick," she muttered.

Dean just laughed.

Then the bunker door opened, and a voice echoed through.

"Hey, Winchesters! Guess who Jody had enough of?"

Just like that, whatever amusement Jovi and Dean had disappeared. At the top of the staircase, carrying a duffle bag and wearing a grin that made her want to throw something, stood Ares Cassidy.

"God dammit," Jovi groaned, smacking her forehead against Dean's arm.

Dean shot Sam a look. "Did you know about this?"

Sam shrugged, a smug smirk tugging at his lips, clearly enjoying their suffering. "Jody shot me a text."

Dean's glare could have melted steel.

Ares finally reached the doorway, clapping his hands together. "So, what's happening?"

Jovi sighed, dramatically tilting her head back. "Fantastic. The stray followed us home."

☆

𝑱𝒐𝒗𝒊 𝒈𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒅, her breath coming in sharp, uneven bursts as she pushed herself up in Ares' shaking arms. Her fingers trembled as she pressed them against her stomach, feeling the wet warmth of blood seeping through her shirt. Her head swam, her vision blurring at the edges. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, pain radiating from the bullet wound with every tiny movement.

"Holy shit," Ares whispered, eyes wide with fear. His heart pounded so hard it hurt. As much as he and Jovi bickered, he didn't want her to die. He couldn't let her die. He had no idea what his life would look like if she wasn't in it, and he sure as hell didn't want to find out.

Jovi gritted her teeth, a low groan escaping her as Sam pressed down on the wound. Her entire body tensed, pain flaring so intensely that it made her dizzy. Sam muttered apologies under his breath, but she barely registered them over the sharp, burning agony radiating from her side.

Dean was already at her side, fumbling with the first aid kit. His hands shook, his breathing uneven. His heart felt like it was going to explode. Not her. Not his baby girl. He couldn't lose her. Not now. Not ever. The thought alone made him feel like he was suffocating. "Okay, okay," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. He had to keep it together. He had to fix this.

But Jovi wasn't listening anymore. A deep, desperate instinct clawed at her brain — something just out of reach, something she should know. And then it hit her.

She could heal this.

Right?

She barely understood how she knew that, but she did. She swallowed hard, forcing past the nausea and pain as she raised a shaking hand over the wound.

A soft, humming sensation pulsed from her fingertips. Sapphire blue light flickered to life, swirling weakly in her palm like a dying flame.

Jovi clenched her jaw, focusing through the pain, through the fog in her mind. Come on. Come on. She was sure she could do this. Her mind was screaming at her, you've done this before. Just remember.

The glow intensified, brightening for a fraction of a second—

Then it sputtered out.

Jovi gasped as a sharp jolt of pain ripped through her. It was like something inside her shattered, her vision darkening as a fresh wave of agony slammed into her.

Her body lurched, her fingers digging into Ares' arms.

"Jovi? Jovi!" Ares' voice was frantic.

She gasped in ragged breaths, her fingers twitching as she stared at her hands in horror.

Why wasn't it working?

Dean barely noticed what she had done — he was too focused on the fact that she suddenly looked even worse. Her skin was paler than before, her breathing shallower. His panic spiked.

"Jov, hey, hey," he called, lightly tapping her cheek to keep her conscious. "Stay with me, okay?"

Jovi barely heard him. Her chest tightened, her whole body screaming from the strain. She felt wrong, like something inside her had locked up.

She looked at Dean, her voice barely above a whisper. "I— I can't—"

"That's it. We're getting this bullet out now," he said, his voice rough with fear.

"dad, they, uh" Jovi grunted out her finger weakly pointing to the tied up couple. Dean barely looked. "Okay, just hold tight, you two, okay?" His focus snapped back to Jovi as he ripped open the kit, pulling out supplies with frantic hands.

He met her gaze, his green eyes full of a terror he wasn't even trying to hide. "All right, listen, we gotta get that bullet out of there, okay?"

Jovi nodded, her throat tight. She was trying to be brave, but her eyes were glassy, her skin clammy.

"This is gonna hurt like hell," Dean warned, heating the tweezers with his lighter. He glanced at Ares. "Kid, hold her still."

Ares tightened his grip, his hands secure but trembling. "Got her."

Sam stuffed a wad of cotton into Jovi's mouth. "You're gonna wanna bite down on this." He took one of her shaking hands removing the other from the wound giving Dean space to work.

The second the tweezers touched her wound, Jovi screamed.

The sound was muffled, but it still tore through the room like a gunshot. Her entire body jerked violently, her back arching against Ares. He held on tighter, his jaw clenched.

"It's okay, it's okay," Ares murmured, though his voice shook.

Jovi's head snapped back against his chest as fresh tears spilled down her face. The pain was unbearable, worse than she had expected, worse than she could handle. She thrashed, her hands tightening around Sam's hand and Ares arm — at anything to ground herself.

Dean winced, his hands steady but his heart shattering. She's in pain. I'm hurting her. I have to. I have to. "Almost got it, babygirl," he muttered, his tone thick with emotion. "Just hold on."

Jovi sobbed harder as he pulled at the bullet. Sam whispered reassurances, but even he looked sick. Ares was silent, his grip unrelenting, his whole body tense with focus.

Finally, Dean yanked the bullet free.

"Come on, come on—ah, look at that, huh?" He held it up, blood-covered but out.

Jovi cracked one eye open, panting heavily. She spat out the cotton weakly.
"Hey, you know what?" Dean forced a smile, desperate to lighten the crushing weight on his chest. "We gotta keep that one. That one's gonna be a little memento. We'll laugh about it some other time."

Ares let out a breathy chuckle, but his eyes were still full of worry. "You could put it on a necklace. At least it'd be unique."

Before Jovi could respond, one of the captives spoke up.

"Guys? She ain't doing so good."

Dean's stomach plummeted.

"I got it," Sam said quickly, moving to help the couple while Dean focused on his daughter.

"You did so good, sweetheart" he murmured, opening a fresh bandage.

Jovi sniffled, blinking away the tears still spilling down her face. "It hurts," she whimpered.

Dean swallowed hard. "I know, I know. I gotta patch this up, though, okay? I promise it'll all be over soon." His voice was gentler now, soothing, but he was barely holding it together. He carefully placed the bandage over her wound, making her groan in pain.

Her hands shot up, gripping Ares' arms again as another wave of agony hit.

Sam spoke with the couple, undoing their chains. "Is there a landline in here?" Dean asked.

"You don't have a cellphone?" the boyfriend responded.

"There's no service for miles," Ares muttered, looking up at the adults.

Dean barely heard them. He was looking at Jovi, at how exhausted and small she looked. His baby girl, always so fiery, so untouchable — reduced to a trembling mess in Ares arms.

"I had a signal back at the car, a couple miles back," Dean finally said. He hesitated, looking between Jovi, Ares and Sam."Okay, listen to me. I'm gonna go for a signal, and we're gonna get you a real doctor. You're gonna be just fine." He forced a smile.

Jovi's voice was small. "Okay."

Dean turned to Sam, who nodded. "We got her," he assured.

Dean lingered for just a second longer before turning to leave.

But then—

"others?" Sam questioned his eyes wide as he looked up at the couple that were attempting to leave with Dean.

Dean whipped back around. Ares inhaled sharply, his breath unsteady.

Dean turned to the couple, voice deadly serious. "Okay, listen. My daughter's been shot, and we can't leave the her here alone."

Jovi, barely conscious, forced herself up and out of Ares lap. "I'm fine."

The second she tried to move, all three of them moved to catch her.

Dean held her up. "No, you're not." he looked to Sam as if to ask what to do but his brother shrugged in a way that read 'we can't stay here' Dean looked at his daughters brave face before eyeing the couple "okay, guess we're going. Let's go".

☆

𝑱𝒐𝒗𝒊'𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 too heavy, her body barely registering the movement as Dean carried her through the woods. She rested her head against his shoulder, her arms weakly hanging onto him, her fingers barely gripping the fabric of his jacket. Every step jostled the wound in her stomach, sending sharp waves of pain up her spine, but she was too exhausted to react much beyond a quiet whimper.

Her stomach churned, nausea creeping up her throat as she fought to keep her eyes open. Stay awake. Stay awake. The darkness tugged at her like a rip current, threatening to pull her under, but she couldn't let it. She couldn't black out — not here, not now.

Up ahead, Sam and Ares walked side by side, their flashlights cutting through the dimness of the early morning. Corbin and Michelle led the way, but Jovi barely noticed them. Everything was getting harder to focus on, the edges of her vision blurred and hazy.

"Anything?" Sam asked, glancing over at Dean, who held his phone in one hand, his knuckles white from gripping it so tightly.

"No, nothing yet," Dean muttered, frustration creeping into his voice. "Sun's gonna be up pretty soon."

Jovi groaned, the pain in her stomach now radiating to her ribs and lower back. Her head spun violently, and a fresh wave of dizziness made her body go limp for a second.

"Hey, hey, hey, stay awake, Jov," Dean urged, shaking her lightly in his arms.

A soft sob broke past her lips before she could stop it. "Everything hurts," she choked out, her voice barely above a whisper.

Dean's stomach twisted at the raw pain in her tone, his grip tightening around her. He hated this. Hated seeing her like this — so fragile, so weak, so unlike her. His baby girl was tough, stubborn as hell, always ready to throw a punch. But now? She was barely holding on, and it was killing him.

Ares glanced over his shoulder, his face softening at the sight of Jovi curled into Dean's chest. His heart twisted painfully.

This was his fault.

If he'd just seen the bastard with the gun, he could've shoved her out of the way. He could've taken the hit instead. It should've been him.

Jovi had so much to live for — family, a legacy, a real place in this world. What did he have? He was just a runaway, barely scraping by in school, parents who barely cared for him, pretending he was something more than a lost cause.

A bitter taste filled his mouth as he swallowed hard. If she didn't make it—

No. He couldn't think like that.

Dean clenched his jaw, adjusting his hold on Jovi as he kept walking. "I know, babygirl," he murmured, his voice thick with emotion. "Just hold on a little longer, okay?"

Jovi hummed weakly in response before turning her face into his neck, her warm breath ghosting against his skin. Dean shut his eyes for a moment, just one second, fighting back the sting in them. His chest ached so badly it felt like something was breaking inside him.

Sam swallowed hard, his own jaw tight as he glanced between his phone and his niece. He hated feeling this helpless. Every second wasted was another second Jovi was bleeding out in his brother's arms. He exhaled sharply, looking back down at his phone, desperately trying to find even a single bar of service.

Then—

"Guys, over here!"

Corbin's voice cut through the heavy silence, making all their heads snap up.

Jovi forced herself to lift her head from her dad's shoulder, her body screaming in protest. Her tired, glassy eyes flickered up the hill, spotting the cabin nestled between the trees.

Her breath hitched.

"Hey, look at that," Dean murmured, relief creeping into his voice.

Ares let out a shaky breath, gripping his flashlight a little tighter.

Sam pushed open the door, holding it wide as Dean hurried inside with Jovi in his arms,