The Joys of Being a Winchester

Chapter 8

He stuttered now, lowering his knife and faltering his battle stance. He hadn't changed too much since the last time Jayde saw him, same scraggly beard and worn hat, same fashion sense and pot belly. Not that she minded of course, both of them running to each other for an almighty hug, one even tighter than the one Sam had given her previously.

"I thought... but aren't you... you idjit!"

"Well I'm here now, so does it really matter?"

"Well come in, tell me everything." Bobby pushed her into the library, sitting her down on the nearby couch. He looked a little shocked to see her being able to take a seat, his eyes travelling to admire the ceiling and floor. Jayde kicked out the rug beneath him to reveal a red curve forming a devil's trap, a similar pattern taking up half the ceiling. "I guess you pass the test." He reached to grab her a drink, having no issue with letting her drink beer. She didn't love to drink the stuff, but never really denied it when offered. He pulled a chair out to face her, opening his glass and taking a long drink before releasing a breath.

"So. Explain."

"I couldn't really take hunting anymore, so I faked a suicide note and bolted. I got out for two years, then I pulled myself back in when I met Sam and Dean in Concord a week or so back."

"Well I guessed you didn't come visit for a warm dinner. I knew you weren't dead y'know, when I couldn't find a body I knew something was up. Oh don't look so shocked, you think I didn't scour every possible and impossible place?" Jayde couldn't help but feel a little stupid, not thinking to make it more obvious that she had seemingly died. It did hurt however when she realised that Bobby had looked, but eventually stopped.

"So you gave up looking then? I'm assuming you didn't think I had gone on a solo hunt and died or something."

"I didn't give up looking Jayde, I just knew you didn't want to be found. I tracked you back to Concord two years ago, only about a week after you 'died'."

"So I'm a crappy hunter then?"

"Nah, you covered your tracks pretty well, for a while you had me stumped. You slipped up when you changed your name officially; I tracked it back to a community office and found you a few hours later. Why didn't you change your first name?"

"Mom wanted me to have that name, I wasn't going to give it up." There was a bit of an awkward silence, Bobby never really talking to any of the Winchesters about their mother. Jayde had always felt uncomfortable about her death, a demon killing her when Jayde had only been 6 months old. Even though she was extremely young, Jayde felt she and Mary would've had a great mother-daughter relationship similar to the perfect lives of those in fictional television. She had never understood why a demon had killed her mother on that night, but had chosen to focus on finding and killing the son of a bitch instead of feeling guilty.

"So what's the real reason you ran away?" Bobby had obviously felt the need to change the subject, hastily trying to remove himself from an uncomfortable situation. Jayde tried to act cool and conservative, simply saying, "I told you, I didn't want to hunt anymore." trying to avoid his piercing gaze. She took a sip of beer, the cold liquid squirming in her mouth as the strong taste stuck in her throat and became hard to swallow.

"Don't play that card girl." Bobby looked at her seriously for a moment. "You and I both know you loved hunting, especially with those two idjits. Why did you really leave?" Another awkward silence, Jayde refusing to answer. She could've said something similar to was Sam had told her - Dad's fighting becoming too overwhelming to handle - but she knew better than to lie to Bobby about that. He always knew she was a tough kid, blocking out the screaming and fighting John threw to any of the kids.