Still Waters by bertee for <user site="livejournal.com" user="s

[springflingmod.livejournal.com]

Title: Still Waters
Pairing: Jess/Jo
Rating: R


The lake stretched out towards the hills, still and serene in the glow of the morning sunlight, and Jess let the tranquility wash over her as she arched her back.

In the woods behind her, a shotgun blast cut through the silence.

Basking in the mountain air, Jess straightened her arms and closed her eyes as she shifted into another pose.

Another shotgun blast rang out, followed by the thump of a machete being swung against something solid.

Jess pushed up into the downward dog and focused on her breathing.

The machete crack was soon joined by more, increasingly agitated thunks of metal on wood, punctuated by a final noise of irritation from the machete wielder, and Jess did her best to hide her smirk when Jo came storming out of the trees to ask, "Did you pack the chainsaw?"

Clambering to her feet, Jess dusted her hands on her thighs. "You're not allowed to hack a cursebox to death with a chainsaw."

Jo scowled.

Jess waited patiently for Jo's gaze to travel down her sports bra and yoga pants and then back up to her sports bra.

The scowl faded.

"No chainsaw," Jess said firmly. "We both remember what happened the last time you got angry with a mystical object."

Sheathing her machete, Jo leaned against a rock with a smirk. "For the record, I thought you made a cute anteater."

"Shockingly that doesn't make me feel any better about the experience."

"Okay," Jo relented. "No chainsaw." She hopped up onto the rock, her shorts riding up her thighs as she tapped the back of her boot against the stone. "What about if we rigged up a pulley to drop a boulder on it? Or bought some C4? Oh!" She sat forward, eyes bright and finger raised. "We could lure in a bear and-"

Jess held up a hand. "Literally no good plan has ever started with 'We could lure in a bear'."

Jo's nose crinkled. "I don't see you coming up with any better ideas."

"I'm pretty sure not getting mauled to death by an angry bear qualifies as a better idea." Pulling on a jacket, she strolled into the shade to stand between Jo's knees. "How about we relax for a couple of hours, huh? We just took out a wendigo, rescued some campers, and stole a cursebox from a psychotic wizard. I think we earned a time-out."

Jo's fingers caught the tie of Jess' pants as she mumbled, "I'm not great at time-outs."

"Jo Harvelle, not great at time-outs?" Jess feigned a gasp. "Color me stunned."

"Shut up," Jo muttered, flicking below Jess' belly button, but she couldn't keep her lips from tugging up in a smile as Jess moved in closer to rest her hands on her thighs.

"Maybe I can help," Jess said, leaning in enough to let her lips brush Jo's. "I hear I'm very distracting."

Jo smiled. "Y'know, I didn't mean that as a compliment."

"Then I guess it sucks to be you," Jess said, slipping her fingertips under the edge of Jo's shorts, "because I'm taking it as one."

Jo's response was stolen in a kiss when Jess closed the last of the space between their lips. Tension thrummed through Jo, her body still lit up with energy for running, hunting, fucking, but it ebbed under the steady push of Jess' tongue against hers. Jo's hands were on her hips, her fingers slim and warm, and Jess kissed her harder at the thought of Jo opening her up with those skilful hands.

The end of the kiss was a necessary disappointment but Jess' fingers slid higher up Jo's thighs, stroking over soft skin and brushing the edge of her panties as she murmured against her jaw, "What are your thoughts on potentially getting caught having sex by some stray hikers?"

"Largely positive." Jo laughed at the tickle of Jess' hair against her throat but tipped her head back with a sigh as Jess caught her earlobe between her teeth. "But I really need to figure out what to do with that box."

Jess pulled back with a sigh. "Okay, since I just got shot down for a box, I'm totally on board with destroying it."

"You will have your vengeance in this life or the next?"

"Sometimes I'm ashamed to know you."

Jo grinned. Her eyes were bright as she clambered off the rock but Jess wasn't entirely sure whether that was down to the imminent destruction of the cursebox or the semi-public forest sex that was sure to follow.

"It's over here," she said, leading Jess away from the lakeshore to a small clearing near their camp. "I've tried shooting it, hacking at it, dropping stones on it, dropping myself on it, and setting it on fire, but no joy." She kicked the carved brown box with a frustration borne of repeated failure. "Not even a damn scratch."

"Hmm." Jess pursed her lips. It was hard to think of productive methods of annihilation when she mostly just wanted to spread Jo out on a rock and go to town. "Maybe we don't need to destroy it? It could be safe if we just buried it."

"And leave a magical cursebox in the hands of a raccoon? Pass."

"They are notably shady," Jess agreed. "How about the lake? It's heavy -- it should sink." She glanced over with a smirk. "Unless you don't trust the fish not to try to end the world in fire and ruin."

Jo looked between the box and the lake, as if trying to gauge the likelihood of an actual fish apocalypse. "That could work."

Jess beamed. Forest sex grew ever closer as a possibility. "Awesome."

Heading back out, she rolled up the bottoms of her pants and joined Jo in paddling into the water until it lapped at the tops of their calves. It was cool but refreshingly so and Jess inched in deeper as she looked back to Jo. "You want me to throw it in?"

"We both know you throw like a small child."

"Harsh but fair," Jess said, stepping back to give Jo room to launch. "Let her fly, captain."

Rolling her eyes, Jo drew back her arm and lobbed the box out into the middle of the water. It wasn't the most aerodynamic of missiles but there was enough force behind it that it flew in a long arc before plummeting down into the water.

At least, it would have plummeted if a hand didn't shoot up from the lake to catch it.

"What the-"

A second pale hand emerged, cupping the box carefully, and Jess' eyes widened as the arms attached to the hands became more visible.

"Holy fuck."

She didn't think she'd ever run out of a body of water so fast in her entire life, including that time when she was seven and had a deathly fear of lobsters. From the way Jo was panting beside her as they dashed for their guns, it seemed to be a first for her too and Jess looked at her in dismayed panic as she put her back to the rock and aimed her pistol at the creature rising up out of the lake.

"What the hell is that?" Jess hissed.

Jo shook her head, gun raised and chest heaving. "Why the hell are you asking me?"

"You grew up with hunters," Jess said. "You're way more likely to have heard about weird lake shit than the girl whose parents worked for the IRS."

"I think I would've remembered people talking about a surprise hand jumping out of a lake," Jo hissed back, not moving her gun. In the middle of the water, the figure continued to rise up and Jo frowned as she peered closer. "Is that a person?"

Jess blinked. The ghostly pale hands were attached to ghostly pale arms which in turn were attached to what looked like an equally ghostly and pale woman. She was naked from the waist up, with only her long dark hair covering her chest, and the skirts around her hips flowed down until they were indistinguishable from the water.

If Jess had encountered her in a less terrifying situation, she probably would've hit on her.

"Should we shoot her?" she whispered.

"Maybe?" Jo whispered back.

In the lake, the woman held up a hand. "I cannot be harmed by your weapons."

Jess and Jo looked at each other.

"She can hear us?" Jo mouthed.

"We should probably talk to her."

"And say what?" Jo asked. "'Hi, why are you in a lake?'"

"I'm visiting," the woman said calmly.

"She's visiting," Jess parroted. Jo landed a sharp elbow to Jess' ribs and Jess nudged her with her knee as she stood up and inched closer to the lake. "Uh, hi? How's it going?"

The woman smiled. "Well. This is a pleasant change of scenery. This forest is so young, so full of life. It's beautiful."

"Uh-huh." Jess had encountered enough hippy psychopaths in the past to know better than to put her gun down. "Glad you're having fun."

The lakewater rippled in the breeze but Jess slowed her approach when she saw a bulky shape move under the surface. From the way Jo gripped her gun tighter, she'd clearly seen it too but stood her ground as she said, "I'm Jo and this is Jess. You got a name?"

The woman smiled again. "I have many names."

"Pick your favorite."

"I always liked Hamish," she said with a fond sigh, "but most simply called me the Lady of the Lake."

Jess stared. "Lady of the Lake. Like the King Arthur story? With the sword and the grabbing and the-" She gestured vaguely at the water. "-general lakeness."

(Her knowledge of King Arthur was pretty limited.)

The woman's smile was as serene as the water. "He was neither the first or the last human I have aided."

"Wait, wasn't King Arthur British?" Jo asked. At the woman's frown, she explained, "This is Oregon."

"As I mentioned," the woman said, unfazed, "I'm visiting." She tilted the box in her hands, running blue-tinged fingers over the wooden carvings. "I'm pleased to have found a souvenir."

"That's not-"

"You shouldn't-"

Deciding that Jo was better placed to talk a mysterious lake woman out of unleashing some cataclysmic power, Jess fell quiet. She had a lot of strengths but persuading people into things other than sex wasn't one of them.

(Also throwing.)

"That's really not the best souvenir," Jo said carefully. "I mean it's old and boring and the carvings aren't even that great to look at. I'm sure we could find you something way more awesome."

"There was a gas station a ways back," Jess chimed in. "They have bumper stickers and shot glasses and t-shirts with really great Oregon puns on them." She smiled hopefully. "Who doesn't love Oregon puns?"

"Literally everyone except you," Jo muttered under her breath.

Fortunately, the woman ignored her. Unfortunately, she didn't seem too keen on relinquishing the cursebox. Beneath the surface of the water, the dark shape fluttered, spreading out to fill the entire lake as the woman stroked the box. "I like it," she said. "It's powerful."

"Yeah, but not the good kind of power," Jo said. "That thing's dangerous. Like apocalypse-level dangerous. That's why we were trying to destroy it."

The woman's lips curved in a curious smile as she looked at the box afresh.

(A curious smile wouldn't have been Jess' first reaction if someone told her she was holding an apocalypse box but she tried not to judge.)

"How is it dangerous?" she asked, turning the box over in her pale hands. "What power does it hold?"

Jo and Jess exchanged glances.

"We're not one hundred percent sure on the details," Jo admitted. "The guy we got it from wasn't the most stable individual but it's bad news. Could cause more trouble than anything we've ever faced."

The woman's gaze was almost pitying. "I am the custodian of items which could obliterate nations in a heartbeat. I possess dozens of trinkets that could bring this world to its knees."

Jess blinked. "Well, that's reassuring."

The woman's laugh danced across the surface of the lake. "I'm a good guardian," she said with confidence clearly arising from experience. "I like this world. I have no interest in hastening its destruction. Not when there's still so much for me to see." She tapped her fingers on the box. "I intend to visit Laos next. Then possibly Canada."

"And you wanna take the box with you?" Jo asked.

The woman nodded. "I shall keep it safe."

Jo pursed her lips. "Can we have a second to confer?"

"By all means."

Always a fan of joint decision-making, Jess huddled in as Jo whispered, "You think we can trust her?"

"She's hundreds of years old and lives in a lake," Jess said. "Of course we can't trust her."

Jo rolled her eyes. "Let me rephrase: can we trust her to look after the box and not end the world, or do you want to go charging into the water to fight a mysterious lakemonster who may or may not be immortal?"

Jess glanced at the water again. While the woman looked harmless enough, the bulky creature moving beneath the surface looked anything but.

"Option A," Jess said. "All the way."

Some of Jo's nerves faded as she grinned. "I knew there was a reason I liked you."

"Hey, there are at least three reasons you like me," Jess pointed out. "My unwillingness to die is only one of them."

Standing up straight, they lowered their guns and turned back to the woman. "Okay," Jo said. "The box is all yours. But we can't guarantee we won't hunt you down if you even think about ending the world."

The woman beamed. "Thank you," she said. "I'm grateful for the generous gift."

"You're welcome," Jess said, equally cheerfully. She wasn't sure that throwing something into a lake counted as giving a gift but she was raised to be polite, dammit.

Cradling the box, the woman dipped her head in farewell as she began to sink back down into the water. "I wish you well," she said, "both on your hunts and in your personal endeavors. May your lives together be successful ones."

"I-" Unsure if she was wishing them luck in hooking up or just in not dying, Jess settled for a wave and a suitably vague response, "Back at you!"

The lake shimmered as the woman slipped back below the surface, blending into the peaceful water once again. The dark shape faded, leaving the lake clear and monster-free, and Jess stared blankly at the deceptively still water. "Huh."

"Huh," Jo agreed.

Between the Lady of the Lake being real and their cursebox being entrusted to a potential lakemonster, there was a lot to process and so Jess decided to deal with the most pressing issue first.

"So we probably shouldn't have sex near the lake anymore."

Jo's cheeks were pale but her nod was vehement. "Motion seconded, motion carried."

Comments

[snickfic]

Heee. This is very cute. I really enjoyed the Lady of the Lake's cameo. Of course she'd consider a cursebox the perfect souvenir!

[bertee.livejournal.com]

khsgfd this is like two months late I am so sorry but thank you so much!

[tifaching.livejournal.com]

That was adorable. The Lady of the Lake, how cool!

[bertee.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I'm sorry this is so late!

[elliemurasaki.livejournal.com]

\o/

[bertee.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[jalu2.livejournal.com]

Female hunters! Femmeslash female hunters. It's all good here.

[bertee.livejournal.com]

Hee, I am very pro lady hunters. Thank you so much - sorry this response is so embarrassingly late.

[stripytights.livejournal.com]

This is ridiculously adorable! I love their banter, and the whole deal with the cursebox and the Lady of the Lake. Lovely fun read.

[bertee.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! :D I'm so sorry this is so late!

[manzanita-crow.livejournal.com]

We need more femslash! Sam is the biz naturally, but there are plenty of lovely ladies to write about too!

[bertee.livejournal.com]

YAY FEMSLASH. :D Thank you for reading - sorry for the very late reply!

[suliet4ever.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness, this is SO awesome! Thank you very much! I am very into the idea of Jess and Jo being together; they're both such sassy cuties :). I love the way that you incorporated my Arthurian mythos prompt into the story. I didn't see it coming at ALL. Of course, I adore the idea that Jess and Jo are off being badass huntress girlfriends. In my headcanon, the ladies escaped back to Earth because if Sam and Dean could do it there's no reason they couldn't. I am 100% on board with this fic. It was hot and cute and SO something that would happen. Thank you!!

[bertee.livejournal.com]

ljhdgs I am SO SORRY for the late reply, I am terrible. /o\ I'm so so pleased this was okay for you though - thank you for the kind feedback! <333

[colls]

This is amazing!!! The banter between them is so delightful!!!

"Literally no good plan has ever started with 'We could lure in a bear'."
This line is pure gold.

[bertee.livejournal.com]

oh, man, thank you so much for the lovely feedback (and the rec!) I'm so sorry this response is so late!

[colls]

Congrats! Our team has recced you here at crack_impala.