InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "nolite bastardes carborundum"

ashtoashes (ashtoashes) wrote in wariscoming,
@ 2010-09-15 17:34:00

Entry tags:

ash, jo harvelle

Who? Ash and Jo
What? Reunion, or something like one.
Where? Jo's hideout in an empty church.
When? Just after he came back from the dead.
Rating? Probably mild.

So - he was back from the dead, apparently... which was cool, he’d always thought he’d died too early, gone out too soon, missed too much of the excitement. Less cool was that he’d landed in Kansas in the middle of a demon infestation or something. Which was bad, since he didn’t have anything with him - apparently arriving fresh out of Heaven meant he didn’t bring anything with him but clothes, which ...well, at least he wasn’t wandering around Lawrence naked.

Too bad it was a demon invasion, though - that meant even if he had a weapon, he probably couldn’t use it, ‘cause he’d just be hurting the hosts, nothing else, nothing useful. Zombies, or something, he could handle - just blow off their heads, or take a crowbar to them, something like that. Simple - messy, but simple. Not that he’d ever done it, outside of video games, because zombies weren’t that plentiful, but... whatever, he could totally handle a zombie apocalypse.

Heading to the address Jo had given him, he tried not to attract attention from any of the people milling about. The last thing he needed was to lure people along behind him, lead them right to Jo’s door. If he knew her (and he did, had spent at least ten years around the kid), she’d be taking charge of the situation, holding down the proverbial fort while hell crawled up and down the streets, and the last thing he wanted to do was test her ability to handle the situation by bringing her more demons.

She’d said she wasn’t doing great, which meant this was probably starting to wear on her - Jo was a tough little thing, sure, but she wasn’t made of stone (or at least, she hadn’t been last he’d seen her, but he doubted she’d turned out that way, anyway) - and he hoped he’d be able to help, somehow.

Partly because he was sure if he let something happen to Jo now that he was alive, Ellen would kill him all over again.

Arriving at a church that matched the address given to him, Ash hesitated in front of the door. He was pretty sure he shouldn’t just walk in - Jo said she was with civilians, which meant they were probably jumpy as hell and possibly armed, and he really didn’t feel like getting killed again just yet, so he knocked, instead, and waited for someone to let him in.

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harvelle
2010-09-16 03:01 am UTC (link)

She was waiting near the door for him. It probably hadn't been the best idea to tell him where she was, she should have met him somewhere, made sure it was really him, but her joy at seeing him - the one person who'd been almost as close to her as her mom, he was like a brother to her - had overridden her sense, and she had leapt at the chance to see him. She had taken the precaution of sending the rest back into the main room of the church - they had pushed the pews aside and turned it into a sleeping area. Hell, it was an everything kind of room. She'd put Roger in charge of a quick supply run, and wasn't sure who would be at the door when it was opened again.

When the knock came, she was alone by the door. She reached out and pulled it open slowly, then stepped back. There was a salt line and a trap on the floor, and in her hands was a shotgun filled with actual bullets, rather than rock salt rounds. They hadn't been working, so she had switched a couple of hours before. She hadn't yet had a reason to use it, but she was ready if she needed to.

"Ash." She spoke quietly as she saw him, and for a moment smiled, but then stepped back again, still holding the gun. "You can come in...if it's really you." She was studying him closely to see if his eyes changed, but they didn't...yet.

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ashtoashes
2010-09-16 03:14 am UTC (link)

The door opened, and Jo came into view, talking and then stepping away and leveling a gun at him, and he held up his hands, palm-out and empty while he flashed a nervous but no less genuine grin. Her eyes weren’t black - she wasn’t possessed, that was good. He was glad - she didn’t need more crap to deal with at this point, seriously. Besides, if Sam was right, there were no demons, which meant Latin would do nothing, and if he was reading this whole thing right, if he thought she was a demon, she’d have thought he was, too, which would have meant that she’d have been attacking him, trying to get a demon out of him that wasn’t even there...

“It’s me,” he responded, stepping in through the doorway - into the trap scribbled there, over the line of salt. She was taking all kinds of precautions, and that was good, even though at this point he was kind of leaning towards Sam’s information, which said that there were no demons, that it was all a trick.

Once he was inside, he raised his eyebrows and tipped his head slightly, an unspoken can we stop with the gun now? and his posture shifted from hands out, I’m totally harmless to arms out for a hug. He hadn’t really gotten to see her when she got to Heaven - she’d been in her own, and by the time he’d gotten himself over to see her she was just about to poof back to Earth, and that was great, but it did mean he missed her. All that crap about not missing people when you’re in Heaven? Complete bull.

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harvelle
2010-09-16 03:25 am UTC (link)

When he was able to step over the salt line and through the trap, she slowly relaxed. It didn't matter what Meg and whatever demon had Sam said. Some things still worked. No demons had gotten into the church since she'd drawn the salt lines and traps at the entrances, so she believed that those still worked. She lowered the gun and stepped past him to push the door shut and draw a bolt through it again to make sure no demons tried to get in behind him, then stepped back to him again, facing him.

"Ash..." She said again, and this time she smiled brightly, setting the gun aside and stepping forward to wrap her arms tightly around him, closing her eyes and pressing her face against his shoulder. She wanted so desperately to cry, but she forced that aside for now - if she didn't, she'd never hear the end of it from him.

"I'm so glad it's you."

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ashtoashes
2010-09-16 04:54 pm UTC (link)

It didn’t matter that it was Jo holding the gun, being on the wrong end of one made him nervous, he’d seen too many people get holes shot through ‘em on accident for that to be a comfortable thing, even when it was Jo or Ellen - so he was definitely pretty relieved when she stopped pointing it him. She moved past to shut and bolt the door, and then set the gun aside and moved in for a hug, holding on tight, and he hugged her back, one hand patting at her back absently.

>"I'm so glad it's you."

“’Course it’s me. I’m too awesome to be duplicated,” was probably not the most comforting response he could offer, in terms of sensitivity, but it wasn’t out of place, for the way he worked, the way they worked. Sure, he’d kick anything’s ass if it came near her, if it hurt her (which meant finding that Meg demon was definitely top of his To-Do List as soon as this thing was sorted out), if someone upset her... typical older brother behavior - but that didn’t mean there was over-sentimental sappy crap all over the place, because neither of them were that soft.

Although he had a feeling coming back from the dead was going to break that rule, but this probably wasn’t the time for that, was it?

“So, these demons,” he patted her on the back one more time before he let go - not actually moving away, in case she wasn’t done with the hugging thing yet, because sometimes chicks did that (ordinarily he wouldn’t throw Jo in the chick category, but again, back from the dead meant things were different, and for hugging maybe she was, he wasn’t sure), but he wanted to give her the option of moving away, if she wanted to. “How long ago’d this all start?”

Business first - they’d deal with the coming back from the dead thing later, he figured, preferably over some drinks, once she was more calm, and this was all over. Besides, demons-that-might-be-illusions kinda ranked a little higher on the scale of weird shit happening than coming back from the dead did, right?

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harvelle
2010-09-16 10:00 pm UTC (link)

Holding on for just a few seconds longer than necessary because she just needed someone who might understand and she was just so exhausted from not having slept in several days, Jo took a deep breath, and smiled faintly. How was it that even coming back from the dead, he could still smell like PBR & Cheetos? Just another mystery that was Ash, she figured.

The petite blond took a couple of steps back from him after a moment and picked up her gun again as he asked about the demons. They could always have later for talks and drinks and hugs, right? If they made it through this alive. Pushing her free hand through her hair, she moved to walk down a side hall to where the priest's office was, which she'd been sort of using as an HQ for herself and Mary. A nod of her head to him indicated that he should follow.

"A few days. Chuck - he's a prophet -" and possessed, but she wasn't going to go into that - "got a message from up there," and she paused to gesture towards the ceiling, obviously meaning heaven, "that the city was about to...well, be overrun with demons. And that the complex wouldn't be safe from them either...which doesn't make sense, unless someone messed up the traps or salt lines after Dean and I checked them that night." She shook her head absently, then continued. "It pretty much started the next day. People everywhere were getting possessed. I headed out to find Mary Winchester, who was stuck somewhere, and ran into Sam as we got there...and even he was possessed." The blond frowned a little, but shoved her feelings about that aside. As they entered the office, she sank onto the small couch within, crossing one leg under herself and leaning the shotgun against the wall.

"We haven't made it to the complex since, or the Roadhouse. Mary and I started scooping up civilians as we saw them, and the other day we made a run here because the place we were in was about to get overrun. We've been here since." She sat stiffly, trying to be careful of the ribs that were bruised - possibly fractured - but she didn't mention that right now. Now that her right hand was free, it rubbed her left wrist absently, which he could see now had a stiff bandage wrapped around it to keep it from moving too much, due to the sprain to it caused by the demon possessing Eliot.

"It's been...insane." That was a better word than scary, though Jo was, in fact, terrified.

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ashtoashes
2010-09-16 10:52 pm UTC (link)

Following Jo off down the hall, Ash listened to what she was saying, trying to make sense of everything that was going on - taking into consideration what Winchester #2 had been saying about illusions and everything, too, though, because he never took information from only one source, no matter how reliable that source was. It just wasn’t how you did things, as the research end of the hunting lifestyle. He didn’t interrupt, followed along and sat down at the opposite end of the couch, slouching deep into the cushions.

>"We haven't made it to the complex since, or the Roadhouse. Mary and I started scooping up civilians as we saw them, and the other day we made a run here because the place we were in was about to get overrun. We've been here since."

“Wait, Roadhouse?” Of all she’d just said, that was the part that stood out the most, apparently, and his expression ran from confused to hopeful to curious all at once, “There’s a Roadhouse here?” It was kind of funny how The Roadhouse was like another word for Home to him, like home itself never had been. His second family, the family he’d found in the Harvelles, was a stronger tie than his first ever had been.

The way she was sitting and the rubbing at the bandaged wrist didn’t escape his notice, and he frowned a little, “You okay?” It was the same tone he’d used in the past when she’d come home from school pointedly not being upset about something, or when she’d get into a fight with Ellen and come hide out with him until her mother cooled down (until both of them cooled down, because Jo could get just as wound up as Ellen could, maybe even more, sometimes) - it was pointed, an unspoken don’t lie to me buried underneath, but it wasn’t a belittling kind of tone, because he’d learned early on that belittling Jo didn’t go over very well. It was dangerous to do that, closed her off and possibly threatened your well-being, and he definitely wasn't that stupid.

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harvelle
2010-09-18 12:32 am UTC (link)

When he asked about the Roadhouse, she looked over at him in confusion for a moment, before reminding herself that he hadn't been there, he'd been dead for the past two - almost three years and he didn't know. "My mom sent me here ahead of her, to help the Winchesters. She also had me open up a bar. I named it the Roadhouse 'cause...well, what else?" She started to shrug, but stopped before the pain could hit again. "I've been running it the past couple of months. It's doing well. Though after what's going on now...for all I know, it could have been burned down by now." Again hung unsaid in the air between them, and her eyes fell.

Then he went and asked how she was. Chocolate eyes snapped back up, ready to deny whatever accusation the demon possessing Sam had labeled on her, when she realized that his gaze was on her injured wrist. She forced her hand to stop rubbing the bandage. "I will be. Just some banged up ribs," though they were probably cracked, with how much it hurt every time she breathed, but that didn't matter right now, "and a frac...sprained wrist." Mentally she kicked herself for the verbal slip that she knew he would pick up on because he always did.

"I'll be fine when all this is over. There'll be time to heal then."

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ashtoashes
2010-09-18 01:12 pm UTC (link)

>"My mom sent me here ahead of her, to help the Winchesters. She also had me open up a bar. I named it the Roadhouse 'cause...well, what else? I've been running it the past couple of months. It's doing well...”

“Awesome,” he responded, nodding a little and grinning brightly, “That’s great. How’s your mom doin’, anyway?” While Jo was like a little sister to him, Ellen wasn’t like a mother - she was more like a really kickass aunt or something. He was pretty sure she was going to hit him for the whole being dead thing, if she didn’t shoot him for being back from the dead, first. He wondered if it was becoming normal, having people come back from the dead, or something - Jo hadn’t seemed to be suspicious, or at least not as much as he’d expected her to be. Thinking he was possessed was one thing, understandable under these circumstances, but it really hadn’t seemed to have much to do with his return to the land of the living. She didn’t even ask if he had a craving for brains, or anything. Seriously.

>“...Though after what's going on now...for all I know, it could have been burned down by now."

Ash’s grin quickly turned into a frown, the again that Jo didn’t have to say catching at him and making him fall still for a second. He didn’t really remember the fire very well - but that was probably a good thing, it was probably something his brain decided not to remember, that was all, nothing scary and ominous about it, just the simple fact that dying in a fire sucks ass, dude... The pieces he could remember were bad enough, so he was glad there were empty spots, he hoped he wouldn’t ever remember, wouldn’t fill those spots in with anything other than logic and simple facts - I died. The end. He didn’t ever need to know what it felt like, burning alive, or what it smelled like, what it was like to smell himself burning...

“Right.” He swallowed, fidgeted in his seat, let his eyes skim over the room instead of meeting hers, because he wasn’t entirely sure he wasn’t freaking out right now, and it was harder to focus on not freaking out if he was watching her watch him freak out. Or something. Whatever, the wallpaper in here was totally fascinating, either way. “Fingers crossed it ain’t.”

> "I will be. Just some banged up ribs.... and a frac...sprained wrist."

Right, there - something to think about that wasn’t burning alive. He could totally handle this. He wasn’t entirely sure why she seemed to think she could pretend around him - yeah, he’d been dead for a while, but that didn’t make him an idiot all of a sudden, didn’t mean he hadn’t known her for years before he’d died.. “Frac-sprained, huh? Right. I hear those suck, dude.” Dry, sarcastic tone, with a clear Yeah, I totally caught that undertone.

>"I'll be fine when all this is over. There'll be time to heal then."

“I don’t see demons bustin’ down the door just yet,” - Ash’s tone was matter-of-fact, and accompanied by a raised eyebrow and a twisted smile that was an unspoken you really think I’d let that go? He reached out a hand and nodded at her to hold her damaged one out. “Lemme see.” He wasn’t all that great at the whole medical deal, couldn’t set a bone or stitch a wound to save his life - or anyone else’s - but he’d be able to tell how bad it was, how much she was lying about it. It was probably more for his own reassurance than anything else, but whatever. He’d been dead, and now he wasn’t, and he wasn’t going to just sit around thinking about burning alive or doing nothing while he could be useful.

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harvelle
2010-09-18 01:35 pm UTC (link)

"Last I spoke to her, she was good." Jo grinned suddenly, a little of the weariness falling away. "Apparently she told off a trickster, the one that's been messing with people around here - she said he was speechless when she finished tearing him a new one." The look on Jo's face was one of pride and love. She found it truly awesome that her mom had done that, especially after her own talks with the guy. He really was a douche.

Her dark gaze noticed his reaction when she mentioned something about the Roadhouse being burnt down, and she cursed herself silently. Why had she said that? That had been a truly stupid thing to say - and now he was all uncomfortable and probably thinking about his death, which she hadn't been there for. Jo knew if she had been there, she probably would have died too...but that didn't erase the guilt of Ash having to die alone like that.

The words were on her lips to apologize, when his attention shifted again to her injuries, and she glanced down at her wrist with a frown. "It does suck. But I guess that's what I get for punching a demon who's possessing a professional hitter." When he held out his hand, pride wanted to keep her from showing it to him, but she held it out anyway. She'd had to be strong for so long, these past few days, weeks even, that it was nice for someone else to care.

As Ash unwrapped the bandage, she winced slightly - it did hurt a lot more than she had let on. Her skin was dark purple in color, and swollen. Jo knew it was likely fractured, but since she couldn't exactly make her way to a hospital at the moment, she had decided to ignore it.

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ashtoashes
2010-09-20 07:54 pm UTC (link)

>"Last I spoke to her, she was good. ...Apparently she told off a trickster, the one that's been messing with people around here - she said he was speechless when she finished tearing him a new one."

“Awesome,” he responded - he wasn’t entirely sure what she meant by Trickster, but it didn’t really matter - he could gather, from what she was saying, that it was a very kickass thing for Ellen to do, and that was good enough for him. He could practically see Ellen’s pissed off look in his mind’s eye - and he almost wanted to see it now, if it meant seeing her again. Although he was pretty sure he’d change his mind about that, if he were on the recieving end of it right now.

>"It does suck. But I guess that's what I get for punching a demon who's possessing a professional hitter."

“Guess so.” He frowned. She should have known better than that, shouldn’t she? Demons were ridiculously strong even when the people they were possessing were harmless old ladies and little kids and stuff, so... so she shouldn’t have done that, regardless. “Next time maybe you shouldn’t punch demons at all, huh? Since when is that effective, anyway?” His tone was almost playfully chiding, and a little distracted, as he took the bandage off.

...Right, that didn’t look good at all. Ash really wasn’t anything like an expert on injuries, but he knew that wasn’t good, that she really probably should be seeing a doctor for it, but if the whole town was going nuts, he understood that was probably not going to be possible, or logical, or anything like that.

“Geez,” was definitely something of an understatement, and he prodded at her wrist gently, “Soon’s this is over? You’re goin’ t’see somebody about that. Even if I have t’drag you to a hospital, y’hear me? I’ll do it.” Of course, first he’d have to figure out where the hospital was, but, whatever, he could manage that.

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