CHAPTER ELEVEN

The three hunters hear arguing inside the Roadhouse, and they walk back into the building to see what's going on. Ellen and Jo appear to be in the middle of a screaming match.

"I am your mother! I don't have to be reasonable!" Ellen yells at her daughter.

"You can't keep me here!" The blonde snaps.

"Don't you bet on that, sweetie!"

"What are you gonna do, chain me up in the basement?!"

"You know what, you've had worse ideas than that recently!" Ellen continues stomping around the bar as she yells at the blonde. "You don't want to stay?! Don't stay! Go back to school!"

"I didn't belong there!" Jo yells. "I was a freak with a knife collection​!"

"Yeah, but getting​ yourself killed on some dusty back road — that's where you belong?!"

Jo sees the others then, and Ellen turns to see what her daughter's now looking at. Nyx clears her throat and looks up at Sam awkwardly.

"Guys, bad time." Ellen tells them.

"Yes, ma'am." Sam says.

"We rarely drink before ten anyway​." Dean tells her.

"And I can't either way, so..." Nyx adds as they start to move toward the door again.

"Wait." Jo stops them as she starts walking toward the trio. "I want to know what they think about this."

"I don't care what they think." Ellen says.

"Are you guys open?" A male voice interrupts, and they all turn to see a couple with two kids.

"Yes!" Ellen yells at the same time that Jo snaps, "No!"

He laughs nervously as he looks back at his wife. "We'll just check out the Arby's down the road." He tells them and the family quickly exits.

The phone starts ringing then, and Ellen reluctantly goes to answer it after a few seconds. Jo grabs a file from the bar counter and walks over to them.

"Three weeks ago, a young girl disappears from a Philadelphia apartment." She's holding the folder out toward Dean, but he just looks at her. "Take it. It won't bite."

"No, but your mom might." He argues.

Jo motions for him to take it, and he sighs before doing so. "And this girl wasn't the first. Over the past eighty years, six women have vanished. All from the same building, all young blondes. It only happens every decade or two, so cops never eyeball the pattern." She's telling them as Dean flips through the folder. "So, we're either dealing with one very old serial killer or—"

"Who put this together?" Dean asks as he looks back at her. "Ash?"

"I did​ it myself." She says, a small smile on her face.

"I've got to admit, we've looked into a lot less." Sam says, and Nyx agrees.

"Good. If you like the case so much, you take it." Ellen says as she walks over to them.

"Mom." Jo looks at her.

"Joanna Beth, this family has lost enough. I won't lose you too." She tells her. "I just won't."

"And now I see why Elena was so pissed when Jeremy was with us." Nyx says, and the boys look down at her before Sam rests his hand on her shoulder.

—

"I feel kind of bad, snaking Jo's case." Sam says as they walk into the apartment that Jo was telling them about.

"Well, maybe she put together a good file, but could you see her out here working one of these things?" Dean asks. "I don't think so."

"You getting anything?" Nyx asks as Sam uses the EMF.

"No, not yet." He says.

"Hey, what's this?" She asks as she looks at some black stuff in a light switch, and the boys walk over to her.

Sam touches it. "Holy crap."

Dean does the same and then looks at the black goop on his finger. "That's ectoplasm." He tells them.

"Seriously?" Nyx asks, and her boyfriend looks down at her.

"Well, I think I know what we're dealing with here." He looks between the two of them. "It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man." Dean smiles when Nyx actually laughs at his bad joke.

"Don't encourage him." Sam sighs, and she tries to contain her smile.

"No, stay on my side." Dean leans down and kisses her cheek as he pulls her to him, and she chuckles as she hugs him.

"I've only seen this stuff, like, twice." His brother ignores them. "I mean, to make this stuff, you have to be one majorly pissed off spirit."

"Well, let's find this badass before he snags anymore girls." Nycole says, and they leave the apartment.

They're walking down the hallway when they hear someone coming. They all move to hide, but stop when they recognize Jo's voice. "Yeah, I love the furnishings. It's so spacious, and the location is so convenient for me." She's saying to the landlord as they round the corner.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean questions as Jo and the landlord walk toward them.

"There you are, honey." The blonde walks over and wraps her arm around the back of his torso. "This is my boyfriend, Dean. His buddy, Sam. And Sam's girlfriend, Nycole."

Nyx tries to hide her smile as the two boys look down at her. She thinks it's hilarious that they both think this should bother her so much. She winks at Dean and he smirks, remembering their conversation from Guthrie.

"Good to meet you." The man says, not having seen the exchange between Nyx and Dean. "Quite a gal you got here."

"Yeah, she's a pistol." Dean says as he looks back at him.

Nyx discreetly puts her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing at the discomfort that he's currently trying to mask. Sam looks at her and shakes his head, catching on to the fact that she couldn't care less that Jo's got her arm around Dean right now.

"So, did you already check out the apartment?" Jo asks him. "The one for rent?"

"Yeah. Yes." Dean nods. "Loved it. Great flow."

"How'd you get in?" The landlord asks.

"It was open."

"Now, Ed, when did the last tenant move out?" Jo asks him.

"Oh, about a month ago. Cut and run too — stiffed me for the rent." He tells her.

"Well, her loss is our gain, 'cause if Deano loves it, it's good enough for me."

"Oh, sweetie." Dean smiles, but it's clearly forced.

"We'll take it." Jo forks over a wad of cash, and Nyx's eyes widen as she looks at all the money.

"Okay." The landlord says.

The hunters then grab their things and carry everything up to the now paid for apartment.

"Does your mother even know you're here?" Dean questions as he looks at the blonde.

"I told her I was going to Vegas." Jo tells him as they're cleaning their weapons.

"You think she's gonna buy that?"

"I'm not an idiot." She says. "I got Ash to leave a credit card trail all the way to the casinos."

"You shouldn't lie to your mom. You shouldn't be here either."

She looks at Nyx and Sam, but neither of them say anything. "Well, I am. So, untwist your boxers and deal with it."

"I like you." Nyx says, and Jo looks at her with a smile. "You've got fire."

"Don't encourage this." Dean looks at her, and she smiles at him innocently.

"Whatever you say, Pops." She mock-salutes, and he shakes his head at her.

"Where'd you get all that money anyway?" Sam asks.

"Working at the Roadhouse." Jo tells him.

"Hunters don't tip that well." Dean says.

"They aren't​ that good at poker, either." She says, and Nyx laughs.

"I'm gonna put a muzzle on you."

"Sorry, Colonel Hard-Ass." Nycole mutters, and he narrows his eyes at her as his phone starts ringing. She smiles at him, knowing that nickname irritates him.

Dean tells Ellen that Jo's not there, and the blonde smiles at him after he hangs up the phone.

"You're both gonna drive me nuts." He says as he looks at Nyx.

"You love it." She says, and he walks away from Jo as the brunette goes to sit down on the couch.

Nyx is going through some of Jo's research, and it's giving her a headache. Well, that, and she's been having a hard time sleeping lately. She closes her eyes and leans her head back against the cushions of the couch.

"Hey, baby, did you see if I brought my water in from the car?" Nyx asks.

Jo doesn't think much of the baby comment until Dean's the one who answers her. "Yeah, it's right here." He walks over with her water bottle in hand and sits on the couch beside her. She glances at her boyfriend as he looks at her. "You alright?"

"Yeah." Nycole nods.

"You're still not sleeping well."

"I sleep fine."

"You know, that's probably one of the few things that you definitely can't lie to me about, right? I mean, I do share a bed with you every night."

She turns her head and looks at him, her head still resting on the couch cushions. "I'm fine, really." She insists before drinking a bit of water.

"Are you still having nightmares?" He asks, and she sighs, using the water as a way of avoiding answering his question. "Hey, come on. Talk to me."

"Yes, I am still having nightmares."

"Vicki?"

"Klaus." She reluctantly admits.

"I told you, I'm not going to let him touch you." He says as he wraps his arm around her and pulls her closer to his side.

"You can't stop him, Dean. He's a thousand-year-old hybrid, and our best shot at killing the bastard is dead. We don't have any more White Oak, and with Mikael gone..."

"No, alright? Listen to me, that son of a bitch is not touching​ you ever again. Not while you're pregnant and not after." He says, and she sighs as she looks away from him. "There's something else. What is it?"

"Katherine."

"What about her?"

"She took off again. The last time she disappeared, she screwed with your head and put me in the hospital." She reminds him. "I don't like not knowing​ where she is, but Damon said that she bolted after Stefan saved Klaus."

"You want me to kill her?" He asks, and she smirks as she looks at him.

"As much as I love the idea of you driving a stake through the heart of a woman who looks exactly like me... No, I don't want you anywhere near her ever again." She tells him. "I don't want her to hurt you the next time she decides she's in need of entertainment."

"I'm not afraid of her."

"Well, that's nice, but I am." She says, and he sighs. "She scares the hell out of me, Dean. And I hate that more than I hate her."

"She's not gonna hurt you either." He kisses her head. "I won't let her."

"Promise me that you won't ever go after either of them." Nycole says as she looks back at him. "Your safety is more important than my peace of mind. Especially when it comes to them."

He nods and reluctantly agrees. "I promise."

Nyx moves​ closer to his side, and he wraps his arm around her as they both go through the research in her lap. He pulls some of it closer to him so that it's more spread out now.

"You know, I didn't know that you two were together." Jo finally says from the table behind them.

"Yeah. Have been for a while now." Dean tells her, and she walks over to sit on the coffee table in front of them. "Nobody told you?"

She shakes her head.

"Well, uh, yeah. We're together."

"So, earlier when you called him Pops?" She looks at Nyx.

"I was mostly messing with him because he's bossy, but yeah, the twins are his." Nycole tells her, and Dean smiles as he rests his hand on her belly.

"You know, it's kinda funny. I actually thought that you were with Sam." She says, and the boys both laugh.

"Yeah, I figured as much after you told the landlord that we were together." She nods. "Why did you think that?" She's​ genuinely curious.

The blonde shrugs. "I didn't think any guy you were with would be too fond of you traveling with them all the time, and the fact that Sam was the one who asked you before taking Jeremy on that hunt last month. Plus, you look young, so I figured that you were closer to Sam's age, and just assumed that meant you were with him." She says.

Sam clears his throat awkwardly from where he's sitting at the table behind his brother. Dean looks down, and Nyx looks at him before taking a deep breath. She reaches over and rests her hand on his leg.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hit a nerve." Jo says, and the brunette shakes her head.

"No, you're right." Nyx tells her. "I am closer to Sam's age than Dean's. I'm eighteen." She says, and Jo's eyes widen.

"Oh. Wow." She says. "That's..."

"Younger than you thought?" Nyx supplies, and she nods slowly.

"Slightly."

"I graduated high school early, and life made me grow up a little faster than most. I met Dean just after my seventeenth birthday, and he's been helping me ever since. He's a really good guy, and we got closer while traveling together." She tells her. "So, uh... Yeah, he's nine years older than I am. And my father wasn't happy, but I didn't care. Still don't. I mean, our job is killing​ monsters, so... Who cares about something​ as trivial as an age gap...all things considered?"

"I really didn't mean to offend you guys." Jo says, and Dean shakes his head.

"It's not the first time it's come up. Don't worry about it." He tells her.

"My other theory was that the dad was back in Mystic Falls, and you were just hunting before they were born." She says, hoping to change the subject and make the room a little less awkward.

"Yeah, right." He scoffs. "The only guy showing any interest in her there couldn't give her kids if he wanted to." Dean says, and Nyx grabs a pillow from beside her and puts it over his face.

"I don't follow." Jo says​.

"Nothing, Dean's an ass." Nyx tells her, and he pushes his fingertips​ into her side. She yelps and smacks his chest as he tosses the pillow to the floor by his feet.

Nyx moves​ all the research and puts it on the table by Jo before trying to stand up. Dean's arm then quickly snakes around her waist, and he pulls her back to him, onto his lap.

"No, come back. I'm sorry." He pouts.

"Ah, son of a bitch." She hisses as she feels a sharp pain in her stomach.

"What?" His grip loosens. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, one of the little Gremlins just kicked the crap out of me." She tells him.

"Hey, my children are not Gremlins."

"Well, they're no Gizmo when they beat on my ribs like that." She argues as she turns so that her back's against the armrest, she's still sitting in his lap.

"So, how far along are you?" Jo asks.

"About twenty-nine weeks." Nyx tells her, and Dean smiles.

"My little butternut squash babies." He says, his hand on her stomach, and the brunette groans.

"Okay, see? If you can call them that, I can call them Gremlins."

"I don't follow." Jo looks between the two of them.

"My doctor gives us references for how big the babies are each week, and that's what he then calls them for seven days." She explains, and his smile widens.

"Do you know their genders yet?"

"No. Someone refuses to let Meredith tell her." Dean looks at Nyx, and she smiles at him.

"In my defense, he didn't​ want to know at first either." She tells Jo. "He changed his mind after I'd already come to really like the idea of finding out when they're born."

"Thought of any names?" She asks.

"Sam wants us to name one of them after him." She says.

"What if they're both girls?"

"Samantha." Sam says from the table.

"No!" Dean yells.

"Dean doesn't want to name them after anyone." Nyx then explains to a very confused Jo. "He says that both of our families have something messed up with them and that being Gilberts and Winchesters will mess them up enough. He wants them to have their own names, be their own people."

"Have you thought of any other names?"

"I like Melissa. And Elizabeth." Dean says.

"He's also convinced that they're both girls." Nyx says, and she nods. "He wants girls. However, if we do end up having a boy, his name will be Alexander. John picked it."

"But you have no idea?" Jo asks, and she shakes her head. "What do you want to name them? Besides Alexander, which I think is really sweet."

"I don't know. I kinda want to see them before we decide on anything permanent." She says, and the blonde nods.

Jo looks at her stomach and then quickly covers her face as she squeals. "Oh my God." She yells, and Nyx starts laughing.

"What?" Dean asks, confused as his girlfriend quickly grabs his hand and puts it on the top of her stomach.

"The Gremlins​ are kicking, and Jo saw." She tells him, and he laughs.

"Freaked me out the first time I saw that too." He tells the blonde.

"Because it's disgusting." Sam says.

"I'll be sure to tell them what Uncle Sam thought when they're older." Nyx says as she looks at him. He smiles at her, and she chuckles.

"I think they like it when you laugh." Dean tells Nycole, and she looks back at him. "They move around more whenever you do."

"They're like two little pro wrestlers." She says, and Jo laughs as she looks at them.

Nyx feels where they're kicking and then moves Dean's hand. She uses it to lightly push on her stomach, causing the twins to kick more. He smiles as he watches their hands, completely mesmerized by the feel of the twins.

Jo smiles as she stands up and walks away from them. It's pretty obvious that the two are in love with each other. And they're both beyond happy, especially in this moment.