This is not the fic you're looking for.
While finishing up my 
fic, I started ranting to familiardevil about the Vast Ocean of Angst that is Dean Winchester's soul and how, after nearly 10,000 words, I feel like I've barely even begun to scratch the surface. (Yes, I did just mix my metaphors there, thanks very much.)
He has daddy issues! Mommy issues! Abandonment issues! ... Wait a minute this list looks familiar! After some digging, I realized I'd written out the same list in an abandoned work in progress from September.
The premise of the fic was that Dean does actually call Jo after Born Under a Bad Sign, and then continues to call her because talking to Jo is cheaper than therapy. Platonic BFFship ensues, and meanwhile Jo starts hunting with Kat (the blonde girl from Asylum).
So without further ado: 861 words of a fic that will never be completed:
The surprising thing is, Dean actually calls her. The really surprising thing is, he calls her again. And again. And again.
It’s been about twenty-four hours since Sam tied her to a post.
“He was possessed,” says Dean, by way of hello.
“Really?” she says dryly. “I hadn’t noticed what with the black eyes and the howling when you doused him with holy water.”
“Funny,” he grunts, and there’s a long silence.
“You’re okay?” he asks finally, gruffly.
“Yeah,” she says, after a pause. And she is. It was scary, but no scarier than any hunt she’s been on, probably less scary than when she was kidnapped by the ghost in Philadelphia. She hates the feeling of being physically overwhelmed, but it’s one she’s felt before, and she knows she’ll feel it again. She’s a hunter, and a woman, and it’s an unfortunate result of those two facts.
It was just that it was Sam. It was just what he said about their dads.
“I’m quitting though,” she adds, because she’s not really sure what else there is to say. “I want to get back on the road.”
*****
So Dean Winchester can sometimes be a gentleman. That’s surprising, but not terribly so. What’s really surprising is, he calls her again.
It’s a few weeks later.
“Just wrapped up a hunt,” Dean tells her. “Werewolf in San Francisco.”
“Really?” says Jo brightly. “I just saved this blonde girl from a werewolf. She says she’s a hunter, but she seems like an amateur to me.”
“You know,” says Dean patronizingly. “It doesn’t count as saving someone if you’re just saving yourself.”
“Oh fuck you,” snaps Jo. “She says she knows you. Name’s Kat?”
“No,” says Dean, after a beat. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”
“Haunted asylum?” tries Jo, recalling the details of what Kat had told her.
There’s another silence, longer this time, and then Dean says. “Oh. Blonde girl. Good shot. Stupid boyfriend. I remember.”
There’s something off in his tone, a sudden aloofness that means he’s hiding something.
“Something happened there?” she asks.
“There was… it was…” Dean sighs. “Sam…said some things. He tried to kill me.”
*****
She’s up to her elbows in troll guts when she gets a third call from Dean.
The thing about Dean is, he has Issues. Capital I, italicized issues. He has daddy issues, mommy issues, brother issues, abandonment issues, self-esteem issues, intimacy issues, and a probably a few more she doesn’t know the name of.
She’s beginning to realize that Dean is less a person and more several mini-universes of grief and rage and guilt and fear, all bound together in fragile stasis by the overwhelming gravity that is his love for his brother.
Lacquer over a smirk and some bravado, and you have yourself a Dean Winchester.
So she no longer wants to date him. But she’d really like it if he’d see about getting some therapy.
But then, she supposes therapy is the reason Dean keeps calling.
She’s not sure what the reason is she keeps picking up.
*****
“Sammy died,” he says, before she can get out so much of a hello. “I made a deal,” he adds, spitting out the words fast, like they burn.
She sits down on the bed. “Oh,Dean,” she says, because she can’t think of anything else to say. Kat gives her a sharp look, and Jo ignores her.
Dean breaks down over the phone, and she sits there for fifteen minutes, listening to him try not to cry.
*****
“Would you ever make a deal like that?” asks Jo, later. They’re in a bar, and she’s pretty sure Kat’s trying to get her drunk.
Kat thinks about it. “I don’t know,” she says thoughtfully, after a moment. “I love my parents, but…”
“I don’t think I’d do it for my mom,” says Jo, with a sick feeling in her gut, the hot-nauseous realization that she was thisclose to losing Ellen too. And if she had, she’d still be doing this. Getting drunk in a bar with Kat, not on her knees at some crossroads. “And I don’t think she’d do it for me.”
“That’s probably healthy,” points out Kat. “There’s such a thing as too much, you know?”
Jo nods. “Then again, I’ve never been in love.”
Kat makes a face and picks at the label at her beer bottle.
“Yeah,” she says, frowning. “Me neither.”
*****
He leaves her a voicemail on Christmas. He’s singing, horrible and offkey, Silent Night, and he sounds drunk. In the background, she can hear Sam laughing. Occasionally, he joins in.
*****
“Something’s up with Sam.”
Jo rolls her eyes. “Something’s always up with Sam,” she says. “He’s your favorite topic of conversation.”
“He is not!” scoffs Dean, and normally that would be enough to get him rushing down some other line of conversation, talking about his other great passions like food or his car, but apparently something really is up with Sam, because he’s right back onto that topic. “Really though,” he insists. “Something happened in Florida, and he won’t talk about it.”
“Am I really the one you should be talking to about all this?” she asks.
fic, I started ranting to familiardevil about the Vast Ocean of Angst that is Dean Winchester's soul and how, after nearly 10,000 words, I feel like I've barely even begun to scratch the surface. (Yes, I did just mix my metaphors there, thanks very much.)
He has daddy issues! Mommy issues! Abandonment issues! ... Wait a minute this list looks familiar! After some digging, I realized I'd written out the same list in an abandoned work in progress from September.
The premise of the fic was that Dean does actually call Jo after Born Under a Bad Sign, and then continues to call her because talking to Jo is cheaper than therapy. Platonic BFFship ensues, and meanwhile Jo starts hunting with Kat (the blonde girl from Asylum).
So without further ado: 861 words of a fic that will never be completed:
The surprising thing is, Dean actually calls her. The really surprising thing is, he calls her again. And again. And again.
It’s been about twenty-four hours since Sam tied her to a post.
“He was possessed,” says Dean, by way of hello.
“Really?” she says dryly. “I hadn’t noticed what with the black eyes and the howling when you doused him with holy water.”
“Funny,” he grunts, and there’s a long silence.
“You’re okay?” he asks finally, gruffly.
“Yeah,” she says, after a pause. And she is. It was scary, but no scarier than any hunt she’s been on, probably less scary than when she was kidnapped by the ghost in Philadelphia. She hates the feeling of being physically overwhelmed, but it’s one she’s felt before, and she knows she’ll feel it again. She’s a hunter, and a woman, and it’s an unfortunate result of those two facts.
It was just that it was Sam. It was just what he said about their dads.
“I’m quitting though,” she adds, because she’s not really sure what else there is to say. “I want to get back on the road.”
*****
So Dean Winchester can sometimes be a gentleman. That’s surprising, but not terribly so. What’s really surprising is, he calls her again.
It’s a few weeks later.
“Just wrapped up a hunt,” Dean tells her. “Werewolf in San Francisco.”
“Really?” says Jo brightly. “I just saved this blonde girl from a werewolf. She says she’s a hunter, but she seems like an amateur to me.”
“You know,” says Dean patronizingly. “It doesn’t count as saving someone if you’re just saving yourself.”
“Oh fuck you,” snaps Jo. “She says she knows you. Name’s Kat?”
“No,” says Dean, after a beat. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”
“Haunted asylum?” tries Jo, recalling the details of what Kat had told her.
There’s another silence, longer this time, and then Dean says. “Oh. Blonde girl. Good shot. Stupid boyfriend. I remember.”
There’s something off in his tone, a sudden aloofness that means he’s hiding something.
“Something happened there?” she asks.
“There was… it was…” Dean sighs. “Sam…said some things. He tried to kill me.”
*****
She’s up to her elbows in troll guts when she gets a third call from Dean.
The thing about Dean is, he has Issues. Capital I, italicized issues. He has daddy issues, mommy issues, brother issues, abandonment issues, self-esteem issues, intimacy issues, and a probably a few more she doesn’t know the name of.
She’s beginning to realize that Dean is less a person and more several mini-universes of grief and rage and guilt and fear, all bound together in fragile stasis by the overwhelming gravity that is his love for his brother.
Lacquer over a smirk and some bravado, and you have yourself a Dean Winchester.
So she no longer wants to date him. But she’d really like it if he’d see about getting some therapy.
But then, she supposes therapy is the reason Dean keeps calling.
She’s not sure what the reason is she keeps picking up.
*****
“Sammy died,” he says, before she can get out so much of a hello. “I made a deal,” he adds, spitting out the words fast, like they burn.
She sits down on the bed. “Oh,Dean,” she says, because she can’t think of anything else to say. Kat gives her a sharp look, and Jo ignores her.
Dean breaks down over the phone, and she sits there for fifteen minutes, listening to him try not to cry.
*****
“Would you ever make a deal like that?” asks Jo, later. They’re in a bar, and she’s pretty sure Kat’s trying to get her drunk.
Kat thinks about it. “I don’t know,” she says thoughtfully, after a moment. “I love my parents, but…”
“I don’t think I’d do it for my mom,” says Jo, with a sick feeling in her gut, the hot-nauseous realization that she was thisclose to losing Ellen too. And if she had, she’d still be doing this. Getting drunk in a bar with Kat, not on her knees at some crossroads. “And I don’t think she’d do it for me.”
“That’s probably healthy,” points out Kat. “There’s such a thing as too much, you know?”
Jo nods. “Then again, I’ve never been in love.”
Kat makes a face and picks at the label at her beer bottle.
“Yeah,” she says, frowning. “Me neither.”
*****
He leaves her a voicemail on Christmas. He’s singing, horrible and offkey, Silent Night, and he sounds drunk. In the background, she can hear Sam laughing. Occasionally, he joins in.
*****
“Something’s up with Sam.”
Jo rolls her eyes. “Something’s always up with Sam,” she says. “He’s your favorite topic of conversation.”
“He is not!” scoffs Dean, and normally that would be enough to get him rushing down some other line of conversation, talking about his other great passions like food or his car, but apparently something really is up with Sam, because he’s right back onto that topic. “Really though,” he insists. “Something happened in Florida, and he won’t talk about it.”
“Am I really the one you should be talking to about all this?” she asks.