You have no idea how big a smile you put on my face with this comment. It means everything to me that someone not only enjoyed the story but *gets it*. Especially your comment about Brady; I so wanted the story to work that way - so it's a somewhat different experience on the re-read.

When I was a little younger than Jess is in this story, a childhood friend of mine was murdered. Her name was Claire. My fictional Claire has nothing more in common with her than the name, but in spite of the potential confusion with Claire Novak, I had to use her name for this. Although I didn't really give much thought to Jimmy's daughter; it's a common enough name, after all.

You know, I didn't think Dean would play such a big role in this until I was actually writing the gas station scene, where Jess is watching the cars on the road. I just had to make one of them the Impala, so Dean made an earlier entrance than I originally planned. But I think it works, him being there. And I like angst-free-Dean much better than the canon one :)

I have hope for this Jess, too. I became really fond of her writing this story; I want her story to have a happier ending.

Thank you, again, for your wonderful feedback. *hugs*