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Tweak says, "DOWN WITH SOPA (TIL DEATH)"

Joanna Beth Harvelle (harvelle) wrote in wariscoming,
@ 2011-01-07 13:13:00

Entry tags:

jo harvelle-shurley, ruby

Who: Jo Harvelle-Shurley and Ruby
Where: A church (the same one she hid out in with Mary and others during the War plot!)
When: Friday morning, 1/7/11
What: Jo tries to talk to God
Rating: Low
Status: Complete

She’d left him a note while he slept off the previous night’s drinking:

Heading to the grocery store. Text me if you think of anything else.
Love you.
J

The note was true, of course, but the grocery store wasn’t the only place she was going to be going to. She wasn’t really sure where she intended on going, didn’t realize where she was driving to until she stopped the truck and looked out the window. She was sitting outside the church she’d taken over months ago, when War had been controlling her, and she’d tortured Sam and Chuck. It still hurt to think about those weeks, and she knew that Chuck still had nightmares about it, which she hated.

In the months since, someone had fixed up the place. It had fresh paint on the outside, and the doors and windows had been replaced. Jo cut the engine, then pushed open the door and stepped out. The priest hadn’t been there before, so there was no way she would be recognized if she went in now. With any luck, she wouldn’t run into anyone at all. She walked slowly up the stairs and stepped inside, dark eyes glancing around. The lighting was a little dim, mainly just sunlight filtered by stained glass windows. She didn’t see anyone else – Friday mornings must be a slow time for the church, she figured.

Slowly, the Hunter walked towards the front where the altar sat, along with a large cross with Jesus on it. Staring up at it, she stepped to the left and sank into a pew. A sigh escaped her, before she leaned forward a little, palms pressed together as she leaned her arms across the back of the pew in front of her. Because she was alone at the moment, she went ahead for the cliché’d out-loud prayer.

“So we both know I suck at things like this, especially since I haven’t exactly done this since I was a kid. But we can get past that, right? Anyway, I don’t know if you’re out there or not – some of the angels say yes, some say no, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. I’m here to talk about Chuck.” Jo hesitated, glancing around the rectory once again, then slowly continued, “God . . . these visions you’re sending him . . . something’s getting lost in the translation. He’s not seeing them the way I figure you intended – and I don’t know if that’s because of someone else or not, but . . . I want you to take them away. Give them to someone else – hell, even give them to me, if you want. But take them from him, please. They’re killing him, and making him drink, and . . . I’m going to need him to be the best he can be, from now on. See, I’m pregnant – which you probably already know – and this kid is going to need his or her dad. So I’d appreciate it if you’d do . . . something. At least make it easier on him. Please.” A deep breath was taken, before she finished. “Amen.”

Sitting back in the pew with her arms crossed over herself, Jo stared up at the Jesus figure, not expecting a response, but not really ready to leave just yet.

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harvelle
2011-01-07 10:50 pm UTC (link)

"With how much you're doing to help now, you've got just as much a right to be here that I do." Her words held quiet conviction, and were completely sincere. She glanced back towards the altar somewhat thoughtfully. "I don't think you're intruding. I think that if he is paying attention...well, maybe he knows your intentions, so he's okay with you being here." At Ruby's attempt at a joke, Jo gave a faint half smile, following it up with a shrug.

"Maybe you're right. It'd be nice if he did do something..." the Hunter trailed off for a minute, then went on, "I asked him to do something about Chuck's visions." Her eyes were full of worry as she looked over at Ruby. "They're getting worse, Ruby. I don't know if it's God, or one of the angels, or something else, but...they're getting fuzzier, and they're hurting him even more. He doesn't say it, but I can see it in his eyes, at times like last night." She sighed, one hand absently resting on her stomach.

"I need him in one piece, and I...I just don't know how to help him." She blamed her sudden desire to cry on hormones, holding back the tears so they wouldn't fall, as she looked away again.

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frostandsnow
2011-01-07 11:17 pm UTC (link)

Well she wasn't sure about that. With part of her distracted, fighting to keep her eyes human and memories of what churches usually meant for someone like her. Demons could walk in holy places just fine, Azazel had always favored it. It just felt wrong and that used to be the draw if she was honest with herself. "I don't know about right Jo, but I'm here with respect and I guess thats got to mean something doesn't it. And there hasn't been a lightning bolt from up on high yet so I'm guessing its okay by him. If he's even up there" she considered. It wasn't something she much wanted to consider but there it was all the same.

And Jo's explaination made sense to her. She didn't want to see Chuck suffer with the visions and Ruby understood at least from her point of view. Seeing Sam hurt, well it hurt her just as much and she supposed that was love. "It hard isn't it, watching them hurt and knowing there's nothing you can do to make it better. I don't know why they made him a prophet, I don't know what it means. I don't know if the visions get worse cause he's not blindly writing what they insist or if its cause we're fighing what he sees. It could be so many things."

Her hand lifted to Jo's shoulder. "I know you need him. But I'm not sure you can change something divine like that. We try though. That's the thing, I'm scared every day that Lucifer'll do something that makes Sam think he has to say yes just like Dean thought it. Because giving himself up would save the rest of us. But we just have to keep fighting don't we, all of us."

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harvelle
2011-01-07 11:28 pm UTC (link)

"I think it means something, at the very least. As for whether or not he's up there...I guess we just need to have faith." Jo spoke quietly, looking back over to her friend as she spoke, and nodded. When she touched her shoulder, she leaned in a little - when a year ago she would have pulled away. "It's so hard. I know now how you felt, when Sam was addicted to the blood and you were trying to help him. I think I understand that more, now."

She bit her lip as she thought about the visions. "I hope it's not because we're fighting it...because we can't just not do that. I don't know what it was that brought Chuck to Lawrence, but...I'm so glad that he came, because at least now we have some kind of warning. We're not just fighting blind." What Jo didn't say out loud was that half the time lately his visions were so vague, they probably would have been better without.

"Yeah, we have to keep fighting. It's what we do - you've learned that, right, being around us, around humans? It's not in us to just give up. Not when there's so much riding on this." Jo looked down at her stomach, then at the engagement ring on her friend's finger. "We have to fight, because there's so much to lose. But if something happens to Chuck...I don't know."

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frostandsnow
2011-01-07 11:40 pm UTC (link)

Ruby wasn't sure about that. "Faith huh?" she said looking over to the alter and the symbols of that faith she was supposed to have all over the place. "I had faith. I had the most faith of anyone. I believed so strongly and so completely. And then there was Sam and he started to chip away at that cause how could he be a weapon. How could he just be something we needed to use to free Lucifer. I fell in love and Lucifer didn't seem so right anymore. Then he rose and I spoke to him and it was lies Jo. It was all lies so maybe faith isn't for me. Maybe I should just not believe." But then why was she here. Why was Jo here?

The mention of the blood caused her to flinch involuntarily, Sam's comments about Azazel's blood. Her promise to him. She was an idiot. She knew it. But when he got persuasive like that... "Yeah...It was awful. But he's doing better, he's doing so much better" she told Jo. "And hey, maybe Chuck being drawn to come here was for a good reason. Maybe he was supposed to come here and meet you. Maybe it was fate or whatever. And maybe you're supposed to fight this together and come through, Maybe I see it more not being human. But the fight you people have. Its the strongest thing about you."

"I fight for the people I care about, for all of you and mostly for Sam. Because its gonna get worse for him isn't it. Maybe for all of us. Its not my instinct. I'm not like you any more than I'm like them anymore. But I can learn better by example y'know. Yours, Chucks. Thats how it works."

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harvelle
2011-01-08 12:12 am UTC (link)

"Faith. Beliefs. They can change...thanks to the people around us. We see it all the time - all these people from other worlds showing up here for the most part had absolute faith that their world was the only world. Then they come here. And some of them learn that they're fictional here." Jo shook her head a little. "Blows my mind sometimes, but at the core...we all have faith in each other." One hand lifted to run through her hair absently as she followed the demon's gaze to the altar - then suddenly realized that she barely even thought of Ruby as a demon any longer. Not after all they'd been through. The word stood for things that Ruby wasn't, not anymore.

"I'm glad he is, and I see that he is every day. I'm so proud of him for getting through that - and of you, for coming through it, too. I know how hard it was for you, not being able to be with him." She'd seen it, hell she'd been their chaperone a few times, so Jo knew better than most what Ruby and Sam had gone through. "Maybe you're right. Maybe that is why he came here, and why I came here....why we both stayed. It took a while for us to get to where we are now, but...I'm glad we did. I can't picture my life without him anymore, which is almost scary. I never thought I'd love someone so much." Jo felt that she could understand why her future self was so willing to give everything up when Chuck died, and in the present...well, she just hoped she'd never have to decide.

"Yeah...it's probably going to get worse for all of us. But we'll get through it," she hoped, at least. "And I'll try to be a better example than I have been, lately." Her left hand rose and rested gently on the hand Ruby had on her shoulder, and she smiled at her friend.

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frostandsnow
2011-01-08 04:02 am UTC (link)

"I guess we're weirdly lucky that it is our world" she considered, wondering if it was luck that they were native to this place that was falling apart bit by bit as Lucifer tore it down. Was it an advantage, disadvantage? What did it mean for their belief or faith? She wasn't so sure it mattered if you were from here or not. "Teamwork right? Thats the big thing. Trusting the people around you even if they're not from here or used to work for the other side." she added with a wry grin to her friend.

She didn't much want to be reminded of the past if she was honest with herself. That time when she'd felt so alone even if there were people around her, giving her a chance. Sam had been hurting so much and she'd wanted to give in to him so many times but she never had. And much as he wasn't as recovered as Jo thought, well he was better wasn't he. He wanted to be the best, she knew that. There was something inside of him that demanded he be strong for the people he cared about, the best hunter, but she was hopefully showing him he already was. In her mind anyway. "I think, people are drawn together, like you guys, me and Sam. It doesn't just happen, circumstances were against us both Jo and look at us now. You should be screaming latin at me and I should have you hanging from a wall begging to die quick. But...we're here, and you and Chuck are here and in spite of the bad things. Thats what we need to focus on. And who knows, maybe god really is listening."

Ruby looked up at the alter again, wondering what it was, why the word, his name, hurt so much to hear. Was it a carry over from Lucifer, instinct. Because she'd tried to wish that away too but it hadn't left her, the exorcism would still do its job. There was something deeper, unremovable there. She could feel it. Still, Jo's hand was comforting where it was, friendly, and Ruby was greatful to have her as a friend, and chief bridesmaid.

"No moping now, you have a wedding to plan on the quick once Azazel's gone. And much as it hurt, she prayed for that too. He would only hurt Jo and Chuck, and everyone else. "Thanks Jo" she finally said after a moments pause. "For everything you've done for me"

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harvelle
2011-01-08 05:12 am UTC (link)

"Yeah. I can't even imagine it, really, waking up suddenly in a world that isn't mine, where all the rules are different." Though her thoughts were on the same line as Ruby's - was it really great to be in a world that was possibly going to end in the near future?

"I..think you're right. And I'm glad, that we've got each other and that we're here together." Maybe this talking to God thing actually was going to work out somehow? Jo's gaze followed Ruby's to the altar, and she hoped that somewhere, God was listening, and he'd look out for them. Closing her eyes for a moment to give another quick, silent prayer that they'd all make it through, her eyes reopened at Ruby's words.

"Right. We need to get to work on that wedding. Pick a place, get Sam a tux, all that good stuff." She nodded and absently flexed her free hand - it still hurt from punching the wall the night before, but she wasn't going to think about that right now. At the thanks, she looked at Ruby in surprise, then smiled a little and leaned over, giving her a quick, tight hug.

"Anytime. And thanks to you, too, for setting me straight when I needed it."

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frostandsnow
2011-01-09 12:57 am UTC (link)

Ruby didn't envy them either really. The kind of world this was, the problems it had, the ever approaching apocolypse, and all of them, dragged here against their will. But then Ruby wouldn't change this place for the world, the friends she had made here, the changes in herself. It all added up to this having been the best year of her life and she could only wish for more of the same in the years ahead. And she suspected in spite of the badness, Jo felt the same.

The change in her friends mood made Ruby happy, she was pleased she could be there for her. Even if the truth was she was still unhappy with her on many levels. How could she not be? Jo knew her reasons and she suspected it was best if they didn't talk about it yet.

And the wedding stuff confused the hell out of her. She needed Jo to show her what was right and wrong. Or at least she would when this place gave her a moments peace, she'd said January 30th and she wanted that day to be perfect, she wanted everything to be perfect. "I have no idea what we're supposed to do, or how? Where do I get a tux for him, for Dean, dresses... Its complicated!!"

She was suprised when the hug came but flattered all the same. It was on occasion just as weird having a best friend as it was having a fiance. And weirder still feeling like maybe she deserved it. "Don't mention it Jo" she told her, "You do the same for me often enough, returning the favor now and again is the least I can do."

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