It had been two weeks since Chicago. Dean hadn't called and Katie was starting to get a little worried. She also knew that both boys were probably waiting for her to call them. She had a lot of explaining to do. After a few minutes of debating with herself, she decided it was now or never.
John was asleep in the bed so she went outside so as not to wake him in case things turned ugly. As soon as the motel room door closed, she dialed Dean's number. Dean answered on the fourth ring, which meant he was sleeping.
"Hello." A sleepy voice, that wasn't Dean's, said.
"Sam. Hey, it's Katie."
"Is everything ok? Where's dad?" Katie could hear a bit of fear creep into her younger brother's voice.
"Yeah," she answered, "everything's fine Sam. John's sleeping right now. I just hadn't heard from you two in a couple weeks and got a little worried."
"We figured you wouldn't want to be bothered since you were running with dad and all."
Katie could hear the anger rising in her little brother's voice. She knew he had every right to be angry with her, but Sam's last statement put her right on edge. She hated that Sam had just compared her to John without actually saying the words.
"Listen," Katie snapped, "Just because your father is an idiot and thinks it's too dangerous to even make a one minute phone call to make sure his sons are still breathing, doesn't mean I think the same thing. Now, where the hell is Dean and why are you answering his phone?"
Katie heard Sam call out for Dean and then a soft rattle. Sam must have tossed Dean the phone.
"What's going on?" Dean asked.
"Nothing," Katie said softly, "John's sleeping, hadn't heard from you in two weeks, and I just yelled at Sam and wish I hadn't."
"I was wondering why he started pacing the room like a caged animal. What did you get into it over?"
"John and the lack of phone calls between all of us."
"I don't blame him for being mad about that." Dean said
"Neither do I. I also know he's pissed because of Chicago and he has every right to be. I'm surprised you're not yelling at me for that too." Katie said.
"You had your reasons."
The tone of Dean's voice almost brought tears to her eyes. She could hear his disappointment and she was on the verge of telling him everything when she heard Sam yelling in the background.
"She had her reasons!" Sam yelled, "Well isn't that just wonderful. She's probably been lying to us about dad this whole time and you're just gonna let it slide."
That immediately put Katie into "protect Dean" mode. No way was she gonna let Sam blame their older brother for her screw-ups.
"Dean, would you turn on the speaker phone please?" Katie said quietly.
"Katie, don't.
"I'm not gonna yell. I promise."
A second later, she heard a click and then a soft buzzing noise as Dean turned on the speaker. She could also hear Sam's steps as he paced around the room.
"Sam," Katie said as calmly as she could, "This is not Dean's fault. Don't take your anger out on him cause you're mad at me and John. If you wanna yell at some one, then yell at me."
Suddenly she heard Sam's pacing stop. After a few minutes, she spoke.
"Sam, Dean. Would one of you please say something?"
"How long?" Sam finally asked.
"What do you mean?" Katie asked.
"How long have you been hunting with dad?" Sam said.
"Awhile." Katie replied.
She knew she should have said more, but somehow she just couldn't tell Sam. She knew if Dean had asked the question she would have spilled everything.
"Well, that's not an answer." Sam said, his anger rising again.
"I know," Katie said, "I wish I could tell you more, but I can't. The old man made me promise. He doesn't want his kids involved."
"Oh, but he'll keep you with him. Aren't you one of his kids too or is it just another lie?" Sam snapped.
Katie felt a lump rise in her throat and she heard a sigh escape from her older brother.
"Sam," Dean said, "that's not fair and you know it."
"Isn't it?" Sam said, "I've been lied to by this entire family for my entire life. Just when I think it's stopped, Katie shows up in Chicago with dad. Dean, you can't tell me you don't suspect that she's been with him since she disappeared from the hospital in Palo Alto."
"No," Dean said quietly, "she wasn't. She was at Bobby's until she got the same Email from your friend Becky that you did, then she was in Lawrence until the poltergeist thing at our old house."
"How do you know that?" Katie and Sam said together.
"Racheal." Dean said. "Next time you wanna hide sis, don't tell that girl where you are."
"Thanks for the tip." Katie said with a smile.
"Anyway," Dean said, "I think maybe we better stay out of touch like dad wants. He wouldn't be worried about us talking if there wasn't something to be worried about."
"But Dean, I…" Katie started
"No buts," Dean interrupted, "It's just, it's just better this way. Sammy here needs time to cool off and I don't want you distracted. Like I said before, sis. You're the only one that can keep dad safe. The demon doesn't know about you as far as we can tell and you're the best hunter of the four of us. Just stay with dad from now on, no matter what happens."
"OK, but you two be careful and you call me if you need help with anything. I mean it, Dean. I'll drag John along with me if it's necessary." Katie said sternly.
"We'll be alright, Katie." dean replied
"Sam," Katie said tentatively, "are you and I gonna be ok?"
There was a long silence, before Sam finally answered.
"Probably not for a while." Sam said truthfully.
Katie held back the sob that had threatened to come out of her. At least he was being honest with her, which was something she had never done with him. She took a deep breath before continuing.
"Fair enough." Katie said, "Goodbye boys. Take care of each other."
"You take care of dad." Dean said.
There was a click and then the line went dead. A tear fell from each of Katie's eyes as she hung up her own phone. She wiped at her face furiously and then turned to her father.
"How long have you been standing there John?"
"Long enough." John replied, "Come inside, there's something about Sam that you need to know."
Katie let her confusion show on her face and then followed her father back into the room; from the tone of his voice, this wasn't going to be good.