The Universe's Mixer

The last thing Jo remembered was resting her head on her mom's shoulder. She had been exhausted and she knew she had fought the good fight. She was just going to close her eyes for a few minutes, and open them again when the hounds came. She wasn't going to let her mom face the hounds alone.

When she did open her eyes, however, she wasn't in a hardware store. In fact, the first thing she noticed was that she could feel her legs again. Then there was the smell. Wood paneling mixed with stale cigarette smoke and whiskey. Home.

Her eyes darted around the room as her surroundings started to sink in. She was lying on a floor. A bar floor, to be exact. She turned her head ever so slightly, instantly recognizing the counter at the Roadhouse.

The Roadhouse? Jo frowned. The Roadhouse had been destroyed almost three years ago. It couldn't be.

She sat up slowly, her head spinning ever so slightly but otherwise feeling a whole lot better than she had just an hour ago. Her hands went to her neck, feeling not a gaping wound but the slightest outline of a scar. She lifted the bottom of her shirt and looked down at her side. More scars. Just barely ridged and faded as though she'd had years to heal. Or as though her injuries hadn't been that bad to begin with.

Her eyes closed again as she tried not to think about the memory of the hound's teeth tearing into her. Of the numbness that started to spread, dulling out the intense pain. The feeling of the life slowly draining out of her.

"The other side?" she wondered out loud, her throat dry and cracking on the words.

If it was, well, she wouldn't have expected to end up at the Roadhouse. As much as it had been her home, she'd also fought tooth and nail to get out of it. Then again, with everything she'd learned about angels over the last two years, she wouldn't put it past Heaven to not quite be all it was cracked up to be.

Zoe stared at herself in the mirror. She fixed her hair, then looked at her dress. It had been some time since she cared about someone and how she looked for said someone. She rarely bothered with dressing up; the dinner was already in the oven, remaining warm. It wasn't anything overly fancy, but it was actually something different. A stew with cornbread. It was something more suited to his upbringing perhaps. Yes, she'd taken the time to find out what he might have eaten before he came to the City.

The dress tight in just the right places, hung in others, cut just right to show exactly how female she was. Her hair had been straightened for a slightly different look. She was a woman tonight, and she partially wondered if he would even notice or care about the difference. There was some part of her that wanted to throw it all out and not worry about it.

For once Zoe Washburne was making a conscious effort to be something more. Or something different. Now she just had to wait for him to show up.

Jake had finally seemed ready to move out of Wayne Manor and into a new place shortly before Christmas. They'd found a townhouse that had just enough room for them both to have their space, but was small enough to be cozy. It even had a tiny back yard. It was a new start for them, and Dinah only hoped that it went well. She had gone all out with decorating and there were more than a few presents under the tree for Jake. She couldn't help herself-she'd wanted to give him the type of Christmas that every kid deserved to have. Especially after the year he'd had.

Christmas Eve presented an opportunity to give Harry the chance to meet Jake. He'd asked about it months ago, and while she'd agreed to it there had been a part of her that had been hesitant. She didn't want to introduce them and then have things not last. So she'd waited. But she wanted to spend the holiday with both Harry and Jake so now was hopefully a good time. She was just a little nervous that they might not get along.

Dinah was just waiting for the oven to finish cooking the lasagna. She'd gone with lasagna mainly because it was the only thing she could make without screwing it up. Her dad had been a great lover of lasagnas and so had taught Dinah to make them during the weekends that he'd spent puttering around the kitchen, making his favorite dish. Unfortunately, that hadn't translated into cooking anything else and with how busy both her parents had been during the week, there had been a lot of takeout and frozen pizzas growing up.

She turned to Jake once he entered the kitchen and gave him a reassuring smile.

"You'll let me know if you start to feel uncomfortable tonight, right?" she asked Jake. She'd already made it clear that she had no problem asking Harry to leave if Jake was stepping too far out of his comfort zone. She knew Harry would understand, and she wanted Jake to feel safe in his new home.

( And to all a Good Night )