And Sing of Sweet Surrender - Part Fourteen
Stranded in this spooky town
Stoplights are swaying and the phone lines are down
This floor is crackling cold, she took my heart, I think she took my soul
“This is some place,” Jo padded barefoot around on the wooden floorboards, hands behind her back, loosely holding onto each other. She was as naked as the day was long, bright sunlight pouring in through the stained glass windows and casting brightly coloured light across her skin.
“I like it,” Jess murmured, flicking the ashes off of a cigarette she was lazily smoking. She didn’t smoke very often, never had, but when she completely stressed she did, and over the last six months, she had started doing so more often. The alcohol, however, had come back with a vengeance, as indicated by the dozens of glass bottles scattered around the room. “It’s large… it’s sunny… beautiful.”
“And you’ve done interesting things with it,” she laughed, nodding at the sheets tacked up everywhere, covering the walls.
There were newspaper articles, notebook sheets, and on one wall, a massive map of the United States formed by printing out some thirty sheets and taping them up into one full map. This one had red yarn strings tacked up all over it, in a strange sort of pattern, each with a little label that presumably explained why that city was marked. There were drawings amongst the writing, some of them of creatures, demons, things that Jess had apparently read about, but there were also portraits of people drawn from memory, including one of Meg, and dozens of Jo herself.
“I figured other hunters have journals, but… I’ve been staying in one place. So I didn’t really need to put it in portable form when I was just able to spread out, instead.”
“Mmm,” she nodded, then tapped one second of the papers. “This is brilliant, Jess. It’s like, a… a laymans demon lexicon. You’ve got information on every major kind of demon, everywhere… this is brilliant. I mean, this description of the crossroads demons… damn, Jess. You better hope that no one else ever finds these!”
She laughed, shaking her head. “Yeah, no kidding.”
Jo turned back to look at Jess, considering her for a few minutes, thoughtfully. “Mm. So… I guess we’re going to have to figure out a way to fit both of us in this little bed.”
“You don’t think you want to start travelling again?” she asked, flicking ashes off of the cigarettes again. “I mean, that’s kind of what hunters do. They get up, and they move, and… they go.”
“True, but not all hunters do. Bobby stays in one place.”
“Bobby?”
“Bobby Singer. Old family friend.” Jo padded over to her, and slipped into Jess’ lap, relaxing against the other woman’s chest, head on her shoulder. “Mmm. He’s a hunter, but he stays in one place. He has a house - hell, he has a junkyard in the middle of nowhere - but he still hunts, he still goes out and does the work, but he just has to travel further to get there.”
“So are we planning on staying here?” she asked, stabbing her cigarette butt out so that she could stroke her lover’s side, gently.
“Why not? You need to do a ton of research, right? That’s why you picked this place.”
Jess nodded. “That’s why I’m here.”
“So we’ll stay here. S’not every hunter who can say they live in the attic of Saint Mary’s, the Star of the Sea,” she laughed softly, kissing Jess’ chin, gently. “I could get a job or something, I like Duluth.”
“I don’t know most of Duluth,” she admitted, laughing softly.
“Well, I’ve been here a few times…. Minnesota isn’t bad. I’m good with bars, I’ll be a bartender or something. I’ve done it for years, legal or not,” she smirked. “So it’ll work.”
Jess snorted, kissing her jaw again. “So we’ll travel to jobs, hm?”
“Mmmhmm, there’s no problem doing so, really, we can do that. Especially since we do have such a kickass car,” she grinned down at her, snickering slightly.
Laughing, she stroked the other’s lower back, then perked up. “Oh! Did I tell you what I found?!”
“No…?” Jo blinked at her.
“I was rummaging around in the glove compartment, because I needed to find some id or something… I can’t even remember what exactly was in there, but anyway, I was going through, and I found the registration papers, and I was looking through them… you are never going to believe who the car is registered to.”
Jo shrugged.
“A Jessica Moore!” she grinned.
“Woah?! Really?” she sat up straighter. “That - that is fucking wild!”
“I know! In 1958, brand new, someone named Jessica Moore bought that car, and registered it, and then took immaculate care of it! And then randomly, one day, we find it with the keys in it!”
“Woah… that’s like… some kind of fate.”
“Or something,” she shook her head, amused. “I was thinking that if the cops ever pull me over or anything, and check on the car, I can always say that it’s clearly mine.”
“Yeah, but there’s no way that you bought a Chrysler Imperial, brand new, back in 1958.”
“True, but I could always say that it was given to me by my grandmother, who I happen to be named after, and who happened to buy the car brand new back in 1958,” Jess grinned, amused, wiggling her brows.
She laughed, and kissed Jess playfully.
“Mmm…” Jess smiled, relaxing back in the chair, and they sat in silence for several minutes, comfortable and warm, the brightly coloured light from the stained glass windows spilling warm and shining over them, keeping them from freezing despite the nudity. They looked like patchwork, with bits and pieces of bright light staining their skin.
“So tell me about this… Anna.” Jo frowned slightly, squirming into Jess, looking up at her.
She hesitated, and said, “Anna is an angel.”
“You said something about that… angel, huh? Like… old school angel like we talked about before, or girly Hallmark ones?” she pointed at the stained glass window in the far wall. “Like that?”
“A redheaded woman, actually,” Jess hesitated, considering that. “She doesn’t look anything like the Hallmark kind, but… I mean, she looks like a normal woman, I guess, but… I think she has a bit more of a traditional massive power thing like the big bad angels of old would have had… I kind of demanded that she prove she was an angel, which I know, is kind of an entitled dick move, but she just kinda… hints of wings.” She considered that. “If you know what I mean. Like… fire and brimstone and lightning and storms and holy power, I guess. I was… impressed. In the old school sense of impression, where it’s shock and awe and amazement and all that.”
“Wow,” Jo murmured, impressed.
“Mmm, yeah. So I’ve talked to her a few times, about everything…” she held up her wrist, which Jo hadn’t noticed to this point was completely unbandaged. “She did this.”
“It’s healing,” she murmured, surprised.
“Yeah, I know. Slowly, very very slowly, but ever since Anna arrived, and told me that she was the one who yanked me from the pit, it’s been slowly healing. I’m pretty sure it’s going to scar forever, even if it does fade. I still think it’ll be a burn scar forever.”
Jo nodded, quietly, considering her. “Mm.”
“Anna is… odd.” Jess admitted. “I mean, she’s nice enough, but there’s just something not quite normal about her, if you know what I mean.”
“Well, she is an angel,” the other pointed out.
“Yeah, I know… I guess they’re just not really like us, if you know what I mean? I think it’s kinda like… not all demons manage to act like humans. I don’t think all angels manage to act like humans, either.”
“Do any angels manage to act like humans?” she asked, curiously.
“No idea, only met the one,” Jess laughed, stroking the other’s stomach, lightly.
“So. Tell me about another change here, lady…” Jo smirked, fingers brushing over Jess’ collarbone, across the black tattoo on her skin. “What is this?”
She laughed softly, watching as the other’s fingers brushed over the five pointed star, which had small Latin writing around the edges, forming a rough, elegant circle. “It’s an anti-possession tattoo, to protect me from any possibility that a demon will be able to sneak into my body, and use it for their own person plaything.”
“Ah.” She murmured. “Should I get one too?”
“Might be a good idea,” Jess smiled, and kissed her gently. “You don’t have to get it in the same place, or anything.”
“You don’t want us to get matching tattoos?” Jo giggled.
“What, and work in a bar with an anti-possession tattoo on your collarbone? Hogwash,” she snorted. “Get it on your lower back, or something, so only I will ever see it.”
“Cocky, hmm?”
“Mmmhmm.” She grinned, kissing the other again. “Very.”
----
My vine twists around your need
Even the rain is sharp
Like today as you sh-sh-shock me sane
The hunt had been going well, for most of the thing, and it had seemed like everything was normal and fairly calm, as they had slipped through the alleys of Duluth, ducking under some of the lower fire escapes as they tracked the small nest of vampires to its source, watching to see if they could find the nest before anyone else would be eaten.
Moving quietly together, neither of them thought that anything unusual would happen until, abruptly, a redheaded woman was standing on the sidewalk beside them, and stepped forward, quickly. “Jessica.”
She yelped, looking up, then swore, heading over to the angel, furious. Jo watched after her, curiously. “We’re hunting, Anna.”
“I know. I need to talk to you.”
“Oh for… this couldn’t wait until we were home?” she snapped, grumbling. “We’re in the middle of trying to kill a nest of vampires, Anna, we have other things we have to do right now than just talk to you, just because you’re an angel doesn’t mean that you can come bursting in on people and fucking up their plans just because you want to chat.”
“I am not here to just chat,” she snapped, stern, and not at the least bit genial and mild like she normally was. “There is a problem.”
Jess sighed heavily, running her hand through her hair. She was starting to get more than a little frustrated with the angel showing up and enigmatically telling her that there were secret important things that had to be dealt with, and that she had some vague information about something Sam was going to do at some point in the future, which made no sense to Jess with her linear way of thinking, but apparently to a time travelling angel, that wasn’t an issue. “Fine, Anna, what is the problem?”
“The demons know that you’re going to save him.” She said, firmly.
“So? They’ve known that since you tugged me out of the pit, remember?” Jess crossed her arms, rifle hanging from her hand as she considered the other woman, grumbling slightly. “How is this a surprise?”
“They’re trying to prevent this ever being an issue.”
“…by….?” She prompted, arching a brow, curiously. “Any particular way?”
“Yes. A very particular way.” Anna frowned slightly, eyes flickering to Jo, taking her in for a few moment, considering her. “They plan to prevent your mother’s birth.”
Jess blinked. “That’s impossible.”
“I can travel through time, Jess. Has it never occurred to you that some demons have that same ability?” Anna glowered at her for a moment, jaw stern, and said firmly, “They are going to kill your grandmother, before you are born. Jess, this cannot happen. If you don’t not stop this, then you will not be born, and if you are not born, I cannot save you, and if I cannot save you, you cannot prevent him from going to hell. If he goes… mankind dies, Jess. You must prevent this.”
“I - how in the world would I prevent my own mother’s death?!” she cried, alarmed.
Jo stepped up beside her lover’s side, considering Anna, unimpressed with seeing the angel for the first time. Definitely Hallmark material, though without even the impressively flowing robes and hair. “Is something wrong?”
Anna’s eyes flicked to Jo, considering her for a brief moment, then said firmly, “Be careful.”
“Be careful? When we do what -?”
Abruptly, it was sunny.
Jess and Jo both yelped in surprise, throwing their hands up to shelter their eyes for a moment, and Jess looked around, frantically, alarmed. They weren’t on a city sidewalk anymore, but on the side of a gravel road, wheat fields and cattle on either side of them. Looking around, frantically, she finally realized that about a half mile down the road, there was the beginnings of a real city, and a large sign that read WELCOME TO DULUTH, POP. 107 000.
“I thought Duluth had a population of eighty five thousand,” Jo murmured. “And I thought it was nighttime a minute ago.”
“…it was,” she murmured, shocked. “And it does.”
“Well shit.” She blinked, stunned. “…what the fuck happened?”
“…we’re in Duluth. Sort of.” Jess considered their surroundings, and slowly lowered her rifle, which she had instinctively pulled up when they had arrived in an unexpected surrounding. “Shit. Anna said the demons were going to kill my grandmother… she wouldn’t have… oh please tell me she didn’t…”
“What?” Jo asked, frowning at her.
“My mother was born in Duluth, Minnesota, spent the first few years of her life here, until my grandfather was transferred to Colorado… my grandmother had her in the Duluth central hospital. I think the demons… if Anna wasn’t just smoking green bananas… might have just come here to kill her. In Duluth. Anna sent us through time. To find my grandmother. Oh god….” She groaned, sinking to sit on the edge of the gravel road, rubbing at her sore forehead. “Fuck.”
“I might be sick,” Jo murmured.
“Please don’t?” she asked, softly, and stood again, tugging Jo closer to her, hugging her tightly.
“Nnngh… what year is it, then?” she asked.
“Well, my mother was born in 1958…” she frowned, considering that.
“Oh god,” Jo groaned again, pressing her forehead tightly against Jess’ collarbone. “You know what this means, of course?”
“What?” Jess blinked.
“We’re gonna get shot by some genius because lesbians are about the least liked things in the world in 1958.”
She hesitated. “…fuck.”
“Yeah.” She sighed softly, and stepped back from Jess, reaching over to slide her fingers into her lover’s, not really caring that some redneck might, in fact, think it was a good idea to start on the hate crimes a little early that day. But she didn’t care, she wanted comfort. “I guess we go into town, then… and find your grandmother…”
“Find the date, actually.” She frowned slightly. “That makes a big difference…”
“To find out how close it is to your mother’s birthday?”
She nodded, and patted down her pockets, considering if she had money enough for food, or anything. “…shit, I still have the money from that pool game we played the other night! We’re set… food, hotels, whatever we need…”
“Good.” Jo sighed softly, tugging her along the street, relieved. “I was afraid we’d have to start whoring ourselves out for money to save ourselves, or something.”
Jess snorted, and swung the other woman’s arm as they walked. “We should probably hide the guns somewhere, yeah?”
She groaned softly, and nodded. “Yeah…”
“We’ll see if we can spot somewhere. How about in those logs?”
Jo nodded, and clambered down into the ditch, slipping her own rifle into the hollow log, then reached up for Jess’. She handed it over, and watched as the other woman slipped it in beside her own, then offered her a hand to tug her up as well. “C’mon, let’s go.”
A good half hour walk later, and they were passing through a major street that they had actually walked down dozens of times before, but when they did, it was usually covered in more graffiti and garbage, and didn’t look quite so ‘fresh’. The flowers that grew now in small concrete planters along the side of the sidewalk were empty in their own time, and the place was far neater, now. Clean cars passed down the street, with people in neater clothes than them in them. Still, Jo and Jess didn’t seem quite as out of place as they might have - they actually managed to pass several others who looked similarly dressed to them.
“Look, a newspaper stand…” she headed over to the metal box, and crouched to check the date, eyes widening. “August second, 1958.”
“…so?” Jo asked, curiously.
“…my mother was born on August third, 1958!” she gasped, looking up at her in horror.
“Shit. Well. We… won’t need to pay for much food?”
Jess groaned, and stood again, grabbing her lover’s hand again.
Finding a phone booth, soon Jo was leaning on the outside of the glass, arms crossed as she watched people, frowning slightly. She was watching the women in their hats and their gloves and crinoline’d dresses, and the men in their neat suits and short ties, curiously. Inside the glass booth, Jess was searching through the old printed phone book, frowning slightly as she considered the list, trying to find her grandmother and grandfather, quietly, finger trailing down the page. “Found them!”
Jo leaned in. “Far?”
“Right on the other side of the city,” she confirmed, sighing softly. “We should see if we can find a way to get a car, or something… maybe a cab…”
She pointed across the street. “Or we could buy a car.”
Jess snorted. “We don’t have that much money.”
“Why, how much do we have?”
“Seven thousand,” she shrugged. “And some change. It was a good game, remember?”
“I remember, but still… well, come on, we can get a used car, or something. Come on, it’s worth a shot.” She frowned, and tugged her along.
“Fine, fine… coming…” she rolled her eyes.
Jess really didn’t think it was a good idea, whatsoever, until they actually entered the yard, then she gasped, surprised, and veered off from Jo to gently touch the hood of a brand new car, shiny and sleek, bright cardboard numbers in the windshield showing the price - a sale of $5000 even. The car was painted powder blue, with a soft cream hardtop, and white wall tires. When she opened the unlocked driver’s door, the driver’s portion of the flat bench seat turned slightly as though to invite her in, and she sat, slowly, on the tan and blue seat, fingers resting on the white steering wheel, letting out a slow, long breath. “Oh my god.”
“It’s the car,” Jo gasped, running her fingers over the hood of the Chrysler Imperial hardtop sedan, eyes wide. “It’s our car!”
“Brand new,” she whispered. “Our car, brand new, and gorgeous, and…”
“It’s always been registered to Jessica Moore.”
She looked up, jaw hanging. “…I have to but it. I have to buy it. It’s my car, Jo, it’s our car!”
Once upon a time, buying a car was apparently the kind of thing that a person actually could do if they walked in, smiled, and offered a stack of slightly creased hundred dollar bills. The salesman had fairly tumbled over himself trying to sign the deal, and when she suggested a discount because ‘it was her first car, and she really needed something reliable for the children’, he actually bought it, and she walked out with the keys to her car and only a few thousand less.
“I think I like the fifties,” Jess grinned like a maniac as she slid into the driver’s seat of her baby, again.
“Yeah, until you get your period, and have to start using a napkin with a belt, or when you have to start wearing skirts, and when you discover that there’s one channel and its black and white.”
Jess snorted. “And no internet, either.”
Jo shuddered. “Our cells really aren’t going to work, either… damn. Makes it harder to contact… anyone.”
“Mmm, at least we know where we’re going,” she smiled, and drove down the street, sighing softly. “It’s so sleek… rides like a dream, Jo. I love this. Mm. We have our car and its perfect….”
She laughed softly. “Now can we focus?”
“Sure. We can focus. Nnngh. We have to find my grandmother, and prevent my mother’s death… this is the strangest thing anyone has ever suggested to me.”
Jo snickered.
“Yeah. No kidding,” she sighed, shaking her head.
They drove, quietly, then Jess turned onto a quiet suburban street, and pointed at the numbers. “Can you watch for 710? That’s the one we need.”
She nodded, then called, “There it is, the white one, with the porch.”
Jess nodded, and pulled into the driveway, killing the engine, and sat there in silence for a few moments, quietly, staring up at the house. “I’ve seen photos of this before. My mom grew up here.”
“Are you sure you want to…?” she suggested quietly.
“Yeah, I guess so.” She keened.
“Let’s get it over with, c’mon,” she slipped out of the car, and circled around to the driver’s side to tug Jess out, smiling softly at her.
“No PDAs until we get this done with,” she murmured. “Unfortunately.”
Jo nodded, and followed Jess to the door, watching as she rang.
A few minutes later, the door opened, and an extremely pregnant woman opened the door. She wore a pair of knee length black pants, and a black and white striped blouse with a red ribbon tied in the sailor collar, which hung over her swollen belly, and her hair was done up in a high ponytail with a red kerchief over it. “…hello.” She said, quietly, looking slightly confused. “Can I help you?”
“…Ivy?” Jess asked, carefully.
“Yes, I am… can I help you?” she looked them up and down, looking entirely unimpressed.
Jess took a gamble. It was a stupid gamble, but it was worth a shot. “Ma’am, my name is Jessica Moore, and my companion is Joanna Harvelle. We are representatives of the local state police, conducting door to door interviews to alert the neighbourhood of a dire concern. It seems that three prisoners have escaped from the local prison.”
Ivy gasped, looking horrified. “That’s terrible!”
“I know,” she nodded, smiling softly at the woman, though she tried to look serious. It was hard, though, upon seeing her own grandmother, but so young. “It’s terrible. We need to know if there is any chance that you have seen any strangers in the area. Other than us, of course.”
“Oh, I, ah…” she frowned, tapping her lip. “No, I don’t think I have, but…”
“Maybe someone you know, but they were acting oddly? Someone in the area might have seen them, and is afraid to say so.” Jo spoke up.
“You know… Ed was acting oddly today!” Ivy looked up.
“Ed?”
“My mailman! He didn’t deliver any mail, not a whit, just walked around to every mailbox, and kept staring at the house… I thought perhaps he hadn’t had enough sleep the night before, but…” Ivy frowned slightly. “I was cleaning the kitchen, I didn’t think anything of it…”
“Do you know where this Ed might be, now?” Jess asked, considering her. It was hard not to stare.
“Probably at home.” She frowned. “He lives a block over, to the north.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Jess nodded, wishing she had a hat to tip at her own grandmother, as silly as that idea sounded.
“Do you think you’ll find the escaped prisoners?” Ivy asked, concerned, wringing her hands. “I am close to having my first child, you see, and…”
“I don’t think it shall be a problem, ma’am,” Jo smiled at her, and nodded at the other woman.
“That is good,” she nodded, then smirked. Her eyes flickered, sharply, then a moment later, the pregnant woman was still leaning on the railing for the steps with polite calm, but her eyes were jet black and as dark and evil as sin.
“No!” Jess cried out, bolting forward, tugged back by Jo.
“You’re too late.” Ivy - or rather, the thing in Ivy’s body - drawled. “They’re going to find Ivy Worth on the bottom of the river in the morning, driven mad by the fear that she was being chased by black eyed monsters that wanted to kill her, so she killed herself and her unborn baby, because she just couldn’t do it anymore. It will be a great shame, but no one will worry that much about it, because, after all, Ivy’s granddaughter Jessica will never be alive to worry the world about it.”
“You son of a bitch, get out of her,” Jess snarled, fists clenched tightly. “Leave her alone!”
“Too late, pretty. So we won’t get you in hell again… but it won’t really matter anyways, will it?”
Jo had been digging in her pocket, as the women had been speaking, and had tugged out a small bottle, which was quite small, really, but full of liquid. Still, she cracked the lid off, quietly, and when the woman was looking at Jess, she flung it at her - water spilling in the woman’s face and across her chest, making her skin sizzle and burn as she screamed.
“No!” Jess wailed, throwing her arm out across Jo’s chest, trying to push her back. “Don’t!”
“She’s a demon!”
“She’s my grandmother!” she howled, terrified.
“Fools!” Ivy howled, and leapt at Jess.
Crying out in pain and surprise, she tumbled back to land on the hood of the car, shocked, and tried to stop the other woman’s fingernails from slashing at her eyes, crying out as she wrestled the pregnant woman’s hands away from her face. Ivy was strong - stronger than she was naturally, stronger than she had any right to be as she tried to slash at Jess’ skin.
“Crux sancta sit mihi lux, non draco sit mihi dux!” Jo called, alarmed as she darted forward, tugging her chain and crucifix out from under her shirt, brandishing it at Ivy. “Vade retro satana nunquam suade mihi vana, sunt mala quae libas, ipse venena bibas!”
Ivy screamed, head thrown back as black smoke billowed out of her mouth, then - before either of the women could do anything else - poured straight into Jess’ mouth.
She arched under the weight of the other woman, eyes wide as she tried to scream, lungs burning as though she was breathing in the smoke of a fire as the smoke exited her grandmother’s body completely, and surged fully into Jess, trying to take over. Every fibre of her body, every vein in her body seemed to burn, and her head hurt as though something was rocketing through it, trying to burrow into every little nook and cranny of her brain. It felt like the most invasive thing she had ever encountered, like her mind was being ripped open and full on raped. For a moment, she was sure that she would lose control of her mind, but then the tattoo on her collarbone burned like someone had just pressed red hot metal into her skin, and she screamed, the burning ripped out of her as the black smoke burst from her mouth, filling the sky.
She slumped to the hood of the beautiful car, panting.
Ivy lay on the sidewalk, gaping up at her, hand on her swollen belly, sobbing softly.
“Are you all right?” Jo asked, alarmed as she touched her lover’s jaw and cheek gently, hands trembling. “It tried to possess you!”
“It failed,” she whispered, voice rasping.
“I know,” she murmured, gently, bending to kiss Jess, societal structures be damned. Who cared if everyone hated lesbians, her girlfriend had almost been fucking possessed.
“…my water just broke,” Ivy said quietly, and both women glanced at her in alarm. “…can you give me a ride to the hospital?”
Seven hours later, three hours into the fresh morning of August the third, Anna abruptly stood in front of the two blond women slumped in the armchairs in the hallway outside of the maternity ward, considering them. “You succeeded,” she said quietly.
“Mmm. I know.” Jess murmured softly.
“The demon tried to possess you,” she said, frowning as she considered them both.
“It failed,” Jo considered the angel, glowering slightly. She didn’t particularly like the angel, and her showing up to be all pompous ‘nasty demons tried to get you and you were almost too poor to resist it’ was not making her feel better at all. “Jess is stronger than all that.”
“We’ll go,” Anna said, firmly.
“Wait.” Jess held up a hand, shifting forward. “I want to talk to Ivy.”
“She’s your grandmother, Jess, you have to be careful what you say to her,” Anna said firmly. “To not risk spoiling things.”
“Says the woman who sent us back in time to talk to them,” Jess sighed, and bent to kiss Jo’s forehead. “Stay here, baby. I’ll be back in a second.”
Slipping into the quiet room, she hesitated beside the little wicker basket bassinet beside the bed, pondering the little baby inside. She was awfully pink, with a shock of dark hair on her little head, wrapped in a pink and yellow blanket, little eyes tightly shut.
“Hello,” Ivy said softly.
Jess glanced at the woman, flushed as she considered the familiar face, golden curls stuck with sweat to her forehead. “Hello.”
“Thank you.” She said, gently, shifting slightly in the seat, watching her. “For driving me here, for… saving me. My husband is away on business, we didn’t think she was going to be born for weeks, we thought it was going to be all right if I stayed home alone, but… I suppose… what happened… it stressed my body out.”
She nodded, fingertips resting on the edge of the mattress, considering Ivy. “Are you all right, now?”
Ivy nodded, quietly. “Thank you. For everything.”
“A pleasure.”
She smiled, looking worn out and weary. “I would love to repay your kindness one day, if I ever had the chance. Do let me know if you have a way.”
“There is, actually… it’s small, but…” Jess dug in her pocket, and offered the brand new key ring. “These are the keys to my car. Can you… take care of it for me? Drive it around every once in awhile, make sure it stays topped up with fluids, to make sure that its engine stays smooth and runs properly… and keep it clean and safe. And - this is going to sound insane… I’ve written an address on the key ring. On that date… in 2006… please leave the car in the parking garage there, with the keys in the visor.”
“…that does sound… odd.” Ivy admitted.
“Just trust me on this one, okay?” she smiled faintly.
“Of course. Thank you, Jessica,” she murmured.
She smiled, and slipped out of the hospital room, calling for good luck as she headed back to Jo and Anna, who were glowering at everywhere exactly away from each other, passive aggressively trying to avoid each other’s eyes.
“I’m ready to go,” Jess said softly.
And they were standing on the street again, dead noon instead of the middle of the night as it had been, and Jess blinked, startled, surprised that no one seemed to notice them as they walked and drove past. “Dammit!”
“What is it?” Jo blinked at her, concerned.
“We left our guns in 1958!”
She roared in laughter.
Part Fifteen
----