24. Down, But Not Out

"She still hasn't...?" I heard someone ask.

"No." I knew this voice belonged to Ellen.

Was I dead? Did the rest of our party meet a gory end, like I had? I wouldn't have been surprised if Jo and I had died first. We had been used as chew toys.

"You think she will?"

"I don't know. She looks like she's still hanging on. But she's got to wake if she's got any chance of surviving."

My eyes had bricks on them; they weren't cooperating with me. I moved my head slightly, feeling severe throbbing through my limbs. I whimpered softly. Feet came right for me.

"Kota?" I now recognized the voice as Sam. "Kota..."

I had a muffled groan rise out of my throat before I somehow got my eyes open. I smiled grimly. "Hey, Sam." I took a brief look around me. "Is this Heaven?"

"You're not dead," he told me firmly. "You were close, though."

"Mm." With his help, I sat up. I felt twinges in my back, but my shoulder was on fire. "Are we all still intact?"

"More or less."

"How bad?"

"Somehow you made out better than Jo did. Her wound is pretty bad, she's lost a lot of blood."

"Where is she?"

"Ellen's with her."

"And Dean?"

"He's talking with Bobby."

"How? We don't have signal."

"Dean found a way."

"He has his creative moments." I hissed. "Son of a bitch, that hurts."

"Come on, let's see how much you can still function."

With some high yelps out of me, and using Sam as a crutch, I got myself in a standing position. I hopped on one foot, scared to put my leg down on the ground. We hobbled over to Ellen and Jo.

Sam was right; Jo looked way worse than I did, and I got Hellhound marks in me in two different places. The bad lighting didn't help her complexion. The blood also drained the color from her. She looked battle-weary, like we all in did some form or another.

Jo's eyes met mine. Ellen noticed and looked over at us. She rose from beside Jo and met us.

"How do you feel?" she asked me.

"You want the short version or the truth?" I asked weakly, leaning heavily against Sam.

"Can you stand?"

"I haven't tested it out."

"Well, your bandages will hold. Let's see."

I swallowed as I tenderly touched my foot down to the floor. My face scrunched in pain. It took baby steps, but I was eventually able to put my leg down with some mild, tolerable discomfort.

"It's a miracle you're able to be upright," Ellen said softly. "I'll be right back. Sam, stay with them."

"Sure thing."

"Set me down, Sam," I ordered gently. With some help from him, I slid myself down next to Jo. I threw her a sympathetic smile.

"Thanks for that...back there," Jo rasped. "Didn't know you...had it in you."

"I didn't either," I said truthfully. "Spur of the moment."

Jo and I silently offered each other company, and soon Dean and Ellen came back. Dean pulled Sam aside to talk privately while Ellen rejoined us. I grabbed Jo's hand, feeling my heart race. We were both looking like hell, she was worse than me. Her strength astounded me. She was practically a corpse, but she kept on fighting.

"That's my girl," Ellen said quietly. "You're okay, honey."

What did I get myself into, by accepting Sam's damn offer to tag along with him and Dean? I rubbed my bandaged right shoulder. I shuddered. It felt like the teeth were still ripping into me. I bet the hounds liked the taste of flesh. They were probably circling the store now, stuck with our scents in their noses. They were waiting for the first chance to come make us kibble.

I looked over at Sam and Dean, trying to figure out what they were discussing. I gasped as my leg erupted into mild throbbing. Fresh tears fell down the sides of my face. This pain matched the emotional pain I had suffered a while back.

Sam started to wander off, which left Dean, me, Ellen, and Jo.

"Stop," Jo croaked. "Guys, stop. Can we, uh, be realistic about this, please?"

The boys moved in closer, Ellen and I looked at Jo.

"Uh!" she groaned. "I can't move my legs. I can't be moved. My guts are being held in by an ace bandage. We gotta—we gotta get our priorities straight here. Number one, I'm not going anywhere."

"Joanna Beth, you stop talking like that," Ellen said thickly.

"Mom. I can't fight. I can't walk. But I can do something. We got propane, wiring, rock salt, iron nails, everything we need."

"Everything we need?" I asked.

"To build a bomb."

"No," Dean said. "Jo, no."

"You got another plan? You got any other plan? Those are Hellhounds out there, Dean. They've got all of our scents. Those bitches will never stop coming after you. We let the dogs in, you guys hit the roof, make a break for the building next over. I can wait here with my finger on the button, rip those mutts a new one. Or at least get you a few minutes' head start."

What Jo was suggesting was insane. There was no way...but she made valid points. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. What other options did we have? I didn't know much about Hellhounds as it was, so what Jo said made sense.

"No," Ellen said. "I—I won't let you."

"This is why we're here, right?" Jo said.

Ellen shook her head, bursting into tears.

"If I can get us a shot on the Devil—Dean, we have to take it."

"No!" Ellen said. She looked up at Dean. "That's not—"

"Mom. This might literally be your last chance to treat me like an adult. Might wanna take it?" Jo smiled. This only made Ellen start to sob.

My lower lip trembled. I couldn't imagine being in either of their places right now.

"You heard her," Ellen said, gathering a stronger tone. "Get to work. Whoa, not you, Dakota," she scolded me as I tried to scramble to my feet. "You don't need to overwork that leg."

"But, Ellen—" I tried to protest.

"Save your strength. You'll need it for later."

I huffed but caved under her intensely maternal gaze. It was left up to the boys to gather the materials. My mind had a lot of bad thoughts running through it. I couldn't believe we were going through with this. I couldn't believe a lot of what was going on right now.

Building up a bomb took into nightfall. There was barely any moonlight from outside. The temperature dropped slightly. Ellen and I didn't leave Jo's side. The bomb was just about ready. I had Jo's hand again as Dean was stringing a wire to the button Jo was going to have a hold of.

Once my ass started to get sore, I tried to use the wall as my support. Between Ellen and Sam rushing to my side, I was able to stand firmly on both feet. Ellen didn't leave her daughter and left Sam to have me test my weight on my foot. I still felt pretty drained and in constant pain, but I could bury the feelings for now. Since I was too short to hold onto Sam's shoulder, I had to settle for his waist.

"Okay, this is it," Dean said finally. "I'll see you on the other side. Probably sooner than later."

"Make it later," Jo rasped.

Dreadful upcoming moments produced the tenderest moments ever. It was proof between Jo and Dean, as he handed her the button, but he held on. I held back tears as he kissed her forehead, then her mouth. I exhaled shakily, and Sam rubbed my side, as Jo and Dean had their foreheads together. It was a shame; they would have made a kickass couple. I grabbed Sam's hand tightly, my heart began to run in my chest.

Dean backed off, and Ellen went to sit by her daughter. They watched each other for a long moment before Ellen smiled.

"Mom, no," Jo groaned.

"Somebody's gotta let them in," she said. "Like you said, you're not moving. You got me, Jo. And you're right, this is important."

Jo nodded.

"But I will not leave you here alone."

"Dean—" Sam began.

"Get going now, boys. You too, Dakota."

"Ellen—" I tried.

"I said go."

We three looked at each other. Sam let him and I get a head start.

"You gonna be okay?" he whispered.

"I-I'll manage. Once we get through this, I'm going to a hospital."

"No one will argue on that."

"We won't make it out in time if you're her crutch, Sammy," Dean said seriously. "We'll have to carry her."

"But I can walk!" I protested weakly.

"Not fast enough."

"Whoa, hey!" I screamed as Sam swept my feet out from under me. I managed to react quickly enough to get my arms around his neck.

We found our exit, which was of course up high. With me in his arms, Sam followed Dean across a fire escape. We stopped at the ladder, our final obstacle.

"Set me down," I said. "Just trust me."

Dean kept me level as Sam climbed down. "Okay, now what?"

"I'm jumping."

"Not a good move, Kota."

"I know you'll catch me. Dean, give me a push."

I wobbled to the edge. With a small nudge from Dean, I fell and was caught nimbly in Sam's arms. We waited for Dean to get down the ladder before we tore down the alley.

It felt like we took only fifteen steps before we heard it and felt it: the ground shaking beneath us, the blast of scorching heat, the thundering boom that shook through our bones. We all turned and saw the fiery end that was the hardware store.

I let out a choked sob. I hadn't even gotten to say a proper goodbye to either of them. None of us really did. Dean got the closest thing to a goodbye. I never got to really know them like the boys did. I wished I had; we could have gotten along so well.

At least they were together when it happened.

We didn't stick around for very long; we had another destination.

**Man, this is rough. It hurt when I wrote it, because, if Ellen and Jo had made it out, I think Kota would have been like an adoptive daughter to Ellen, and practically a sister to Jo. 

RIP Ellen and Jo <3 The two most bad-ass women I'd ever known in this show**