"Just trust me on this," Dean says.
Sam shoots him a look from the passenger seat, eyes wide open in worry. "You can't be serious." When Dean only slows down the car in response, Sam lurches forward, fully turning to face him. "Do you have any idea what -"
"Cool it," Dean butts in, his eyes set on the brunette on the side of the road. "I know her."
Sam doesn't have a chance to object again. The car veers off to the side of the road, and the window on the driver's side is rolled down.
"Need a lift?"
The woman smiles. "Yeah," She says, eagerly opening the door to the Impala and hopping in. "Thanks." She's already settling against the backseat after she shuts the door, getting comfortable rather quickly. "I was beginning to think I'd be out here til' morning."
Dean pulls away from her car, driving down the deserted dirt path in front of them. "It's dangerous to be out alone after dark, you know," He scolds, a smile in his voice. "What's a pretty girl like you doin' out here alone?"
The woman's lips turn up into a small smile as she looks out the window, peering through the darkness as if she'll actually see something she can make out. "My car broke down," She explains, gently biting the inside of her cheek. "Been standing out there forever. Thanks for stopping." She then turns her head back to face forward, and with another smile, she adds, "Nice car, by the way."
Dean looks over at Sam, his eyebrows raising. He gives his brother a playful shove and a smile, his eyes brighter than he knows. "Girl knows her stuff," He chuckles.
But Sam is weary and unamused, his jaw set tightly. He's giving Dean a hard look, making a point to show him how upset he is. Doesn't he know how careless and reckless he's being?
The driver just shrugs it off and tilts his rearview mirror in a way such that he catches the woman's gaze in the reflection. She smiles at him, and he smiles right back, while at the same time, he's trying to figure out where he's seen her before. He wracks his brain, though his eyes don't show it.
"You got a name?" He asks finally, his eyes flicking to the road ahead of them before meeting the brunette's again.
Her smile flickers briefly at his question, her eyebrows pinching together a little bit before she answers and her the corners of her mouth turn upward again.
"Kate," She tells him.
Kate.
Dean's smile fades all together, his eyes widening in realization. "Katie?" He questions, blinking several times in disbelief.
Kate's smile falters too, dropping right off her face. She hasn't been called Katie in years. Actually, now that she's thinking about it, she probably hasn't been called Katie since Tommy.
"Katie Austen," Dean confirms.
Her eyebrows rise and her jaw drops slightly as she cautiously eyes him in the mirror. "… Yeah?" She shifts in her seat uncomfortably, sitting up straighter. "Do I know you?" She asks, looking as if she's about ready to open the car door and make a run for it.
"Dean." He grins. "Remember me? Dean Winchester?"
Something suddenly clicks in Kate's mind as a small gasp escapes her lips. "Dean!" She exclaims, smiling wider than she had in a long, long time. "Dean Winchester!" She leans forward enthusiastically. "And you're Sammy, right?" Kate remembers. "You and my sister were in the same class for a few years, I think." She pauses for half a beat, then speaks again, excited to have found people from the good part of her childhood. "How've you been?"
The three of them talk about everything under the sun for what seems like minutes, but ends up being hours. Dean takes all kinds of back roads, purposely taking the longer routes so that they can all spend some time together. They laugh until their sides hurt, making up for the time lost, and reliving old memories: the day Kate threw up on she and Dean's teacher in high school, the one time Sam had come to her house when he'd dated Ellie - even the night Kate kissed Dean after he'd saved her from a group of Wayne's friend's kids.
But much too soon, they're arriving at a motel, somewhere Kate can stay for a little while.
"You don't have to go, Kate," Dean offers when he stops the car. "You can stick around for a little while."
"I'll be alright," Kate says rather sadly, bidding both Winchesters a short goodbye before sliding out of the car and closing the door behind her. She doesn't get five steps away from the Impala before Dean's gets out of the driver's side, slamming the door shut.
"You sure?"
She nods reluctantly, blinking slowly. "I have to be on a plane to Australia in two days, you know that." She takes a step closer to him, her hand gripping the strap of her bag.
Dean bites his lip thoughtfully, looking rather sincere as he stands back against his car. "Lemme drive you to the airport, then."
Kate shakes her head, taking a few strides toward him. "I don't know, Dean, I-"
"Come on, Katie," He says, cracking a smile as he leans back against the Chevy. His eyes have changed, something different is shadowing them now. "Don't be so stubborn." He reaches a hand up to her waist, pulling her close to him. It was a shot in the dark, but it proves to be worth it when she presses her lips to his.
Kate's hands push lightly into his chest, soon sliding up to his neck, playing with his hair. Her lips part, and she giggles into his mouth a little bit, remembering the last time they were in the position they were.
Before anything gets heated or goes any further than it should, she remembers that Sam is sitting in the passenger seat. And so she pulls away, looking down at the ground embarrassedly for a moment, her cheeks flushing bright red.
After a nervous chuckle and a small pause, she looks back up at Dean, her face only centimeters away from his. "Just this once," She whispers, biting her lip a little. "Only until Sunday."
She smiles as she releases her hold on him, letting him fall back against the hood of his car. She meets his gaze one more time before she opens the back door, sliding into the Impala without another word.