The Family Business

by X-Lisa-Anne-X

Katherine Winchester was the eldest; the father's daughter. When her father goes missing, there's only one person she'd want helping her to find him. Her little brother Sam. They've had their ups and downs; secrets are kept and told – but in this Family business, all they really have was each other and sometimes that's all they needed.

2. Pilot - Part 1

Polyvore will hold all of Katherine's clothes during the fanfic - clothing name for this episode 'katherine winchester - pilot'.

Note: In some places it may say Katherine hasn't seen her brother in two years - ignore this - it's actually four years!

Supernatural Fanfic | The Family Business | Pilot – Part 1

It was night in Stanford, California. Near midnight in fact when Katherine arrived at Sam's current residence while he stayed in school. Stanford University. It's been four years since she's seen her little brother; four years ago he left the 'Family Business' to her and dad. He went away to create an alternate future for himself – inside, Katherine was proud of him for getting that full-scholarship and for getting the best scores in the state. But sometimes, it just hurt. It hurt to know that he would rather be away from the family; that he would rather live the 'apple-pie' life and not think about her and dad. She got it; if she had the chance, she probably would have done the same thing - but that was an opportunity that would never come. She was too embedded into her father's current lifestyle – hunting demons and killing the bastards.

Now she stood in the middle of an apartment; the lights were off but the outside street lamps shone through the curtains just enough so you could see. It was a pretty cozy place by the looks of it; it was something everyone would want in an apartment. Obviously it's a rented apartment though, the walls weren't painted a nice colour – just the plain, dull tone most people use when they try to sell a house.

Katherine crossed her arms over her chest, slowly making her way over to the small kitchen inlet. She wore dark blue jeans with various small to medium cuts throughout and a black tank top was worn under her favourite jacket – it was black with a zip going from hip to shoulder. She wore her favourite foots too, they were great for running in and they had a slight heel at the bottom – as for her dark hair, it was braided from her head down to just above her breast. It's been a while since it's been cut, but this was the hairstyle she used most often these days – with killing demons for a living, you can't really take much stock into looking good. Unless your bait of course then you have to be enticing to the predator…

She was going to wait for a couple of minutes before going to wake her brother up, but a small noise from behind halted her in her spot – someone was behind her, about to attack. Out of instinct, she grabbed the person's arm just as it was about to strangle her, she twisted it and pushed the assailant away towards the living room.

A glimmer of light shone on the person's face; Katherine grinned when she saw it was Sam – he looked older, his hair shaggier than when he left. She wouldn't be surprised if it hadn't been cut over the last two years. 'Now it's on' she thought, continuing to fight, wondering if he had been keeping up with his training while being gone.

The fight ended by Katherine who blocked his punch, grabbing his arm once again before throwing him to the floor with a thump – she placed her arm tight down over his chest to keep him on the floor, making sure he couldn't make an attack back. "Hey, Sammy." She smiled, her face being lightened this time by the light. A few stray hairs were out of the braid now, it wasn't tight enough by the looks of it. She would have to sort that out later.

Sam was breathing heavier than before, it's been a while since he's had to fight like that. "Kathy?" He gasped in shock, blinking away to figure out if he was hallucinating. He never thought his sister would come here, they hadn't exactly been close for a while now. He idly wondered what the reason was for her ambush because if she was here for a good reason, she would have knocked on the door the next morning like any other person normally would. But then, his family wasn't exactly normal. "You scared the crap out of me." Narrowing his eyes in accusation.

Katherine just raised an eyebrow, "Maybe it's because you're out of practice?" She suggested, "Surely you would have been able to take me down if you kept up in your training."

Sam let out a scoff, taking advantage of her momentary loosened grip. He quickly moved her arm away from him, grabbing her shoulder before pushing her body off him – he used his knee to shift her weight off the scale and slammed her down on the floor this time. He secured his legs around her body, trapping her arms and body still so she couldn't move anything other than her legs – legs that couldn't even reach him to fight back.

Kathy let out a grunt, her head smacking against the floor, "Okay – oww." She groaned with a small chuckle of pain, maybe she was wrong after all about his training? "I was wrong, now get off me please." Patting his leg with the very little movement she had left in her right hand.

Sam couldn't help but let a small smile cover his lips, he really did miss his sister now that he's seen her – more than he realised in fact. He unlocked his legs, letting her breathe. As he stood, he grabbed Kathy's hand and pulled her up with him. She looked the same; maybe a little older and more tired but she looked like the same Kathy he left two years ago. Guilt started to slip into his gut when he thought about that day; she had done everything for him and what did he give her in return? Leaving her with dad to hunt monsters? "Kathy, what the hell are you doing here?" He asked as they finally got up off the floor, curious as to why his sister had sneaked into his apartment in the middle of the night. And without dad.

"Well," Katherine started, brushing down her clothes and tidying herself up after the squabble they just had. "The first thing I was going to do was get a beer." She said honestly, unfortunately she had gained the habit of drinking – not often enough to be classed a drunk, but she still had just enough to keep the demons inside of her away.

Sam slipped into seriousness, "What the hell are you doing here, Kathy?" He asked again.

"Okay, all right." Katherine finally sighed, looking up to him – the tired look he saw earlier becoming more pronounced. But there was a hint of something else – fear? "We have to talk."

Sam didn't look impressed, it couldn't just be that, "Uh, the phone?" He countered back. Not once had she called him; part of him felt like it was payback for leaving her with dad but in all honesty, he could have called her too. Although, she and dad change they're phone numbers every couple of months so there really was no way to contact either of them.

"If I did call-" Katherine began, cocking an eyebrow and tilting her head curiously, "-would you have actually picked up?" He stayed silent, making her shoulders slump in slight hurt. She shrugged it off, there was nothing that could be done about it now – right now there was a more important issue.

Suddenly the living room light switched on; making Sam and Katherine jolt slightly and turn to the light switch. Standing there in the doorway was a female with long wavy blonde hair, she had a skinny figure and her complexion was slightly pale. She wore a curiousness on her face but her eyes darted between Katherine and Sam with a little suspicion.

"Jess." Sam blinked seeing her standing there, she must have woken up by his and Katherine's combat, "Hey." He looked over to his sister – the sister who currently stared at Jessica looking a little shocked. "Kathy, this is Jess. My girlfriend."

"Wait," Jess blurted, looking at Katherine differently now – more relieved and happy, "Your sister, Katherine?" She smiled. Ever since she and Sam first started dating, she had been wanting to know more about his family, even meet them – but he's always said they weren't too close anymore since he left for school. But she could tell by the way he spoke about his sister, he idolized her in some manner.

Katherine gave a small nod, slowly. "Yeah, that's me." It felt a little uncomfortable being in a room with her – for one, Sam had never actually had a girlfriend in his life so it's a bit of a shock. But there's also the fact that her clothing was very – showing. "The smurfs are cool." She said randomly, hoping that the girl would take the hint to go away while she could talk to Sam … alone.

Jess finally realised when she looked down at her attire what she was wearing in front of her boyfriend's sister; she cleared her throat suddenly, "I should probably go and put something better on." Glancing between the siblings.

Katherine slipped her hands inside her jacket pocket, "Alright – well, it was nice meeting you." She nodded, before gesturing over to Sam with meaning, "I'll have to borrow your boyfriend for a bit – talk about some important family business."

Jess was about to turn but Sam stopped her, "No." He said, seeing the sad look on his girlfriend's face – he knew she had wanted to meet his sister, the one who practically raised him after they're mother had died in that fire. They're father did take care of them to a degree but it was Katherine who really looked after him and herself; John was gone most of the time to hunt or find other cases they could work on so they never really saw him much. He walked over to Jess and slipped his arm around her waist. "Whatever you need to say, you can say it in front of her."

Katherine just stared at him for a moment, thinking. "Okay." She shrugged, turning to the both of them, taking out hands from her pockets before crossing her arms. "Um," She didn't want to mention anything about they're true hunting secret; it was a secret for a reason. And judging by the fact that Jess didn't look too frightened when she flicked that light on – she didn't know about what come out in the dark. "Dad hasn't been home in a few days." She tried to emphasize on the words – as if trying to get Sam to realise this was too big for his girlfriend to hear.

Sam didn't seem too concerned, "So he's working overtime on a Miller-time shift." He didn't get why she was still here – even if it was about dad, he comes back from a hunt every time. "He'll stumble back sooner or later."

Kathy's eyes flickered over to Jess who still stood in his arms, "Dads on a hunting trip." Trying to get her brother to realise that this was bigger than what he thought, "And he hasn't been home in a few days."

Sam finally frowned, realising what his sister was trying to say. Katherine seemed to realise the 'secret'; hasn't been told to Jessica yet – he would never tell her anyway, he didn't want her to have to bear that dreadful weight on her shoulders. There was a moment of silence before Sam finally spoke, "Jess, excuse us." He kept his head still turned towards his sister. This situation must be big; enough to send Katherine all the way out here, they're father must really be in trouble. "We have to go outside."

Katherine started to look relieved … he finally got it. As much as part of her really didn't want to bother him in his new and monster-free life, she needed his help to find dad and to escape this loneliness that accumulated since he departure.

…

"Honestly, I didn't think you'd have a girlfriend." Katherine stated as she and Sam continued to walk down the stairway of the apartment building. Sam was trailing behind her feeling a little pissed; had she really expected him to drop everything and go on the road to find dad?

"Come on," Sam countered, shaking his head trying to get back to the real issue at hand, "You can't just break in, middle of the night and just expect me to hit the road. And don't lie; that was your plan as soon as you got here."

Katherine sighed a little bit, it was slightly true. She would be happier if Sam were to come back on the road with her; lately dad hadn't been working on cases with her anymore – it was just her and her alone. She felt the need for someone's help, someone who can help keep her grounded and the best person for the job was Sam. "Sam, are you not listening." She glanced back to her brother as they continued down another flight of stairs, ignoring the comment he made for now, "Dad is missing. As in non-reachable for over a week. I need your help."

"You remember the Poltergeist in Amherst?" Sam didn't stop, he didn't really see the reason as to why his sister needed him. He could tell she was lonely just by looking into her eyes; he saw the joy in them the moment she saw him – but if she was so lonely and needing of someone's company, why doesn't she just quit hunting like he did and live a safe normal life? "Or the Devil's Gates in Clifton? He was missing then." He paused, trying to tell her that maybe he just wanted to hunt alone a little longer this time – it's happened before. "He's always missing, always fine."

"Not for this long." Katherine finally stopped when it came to the ground floor, she spun herself around so she was face to face with her brother. Why couldn't he see that maybe something else has happened? A little anger boiled up in her gut; she was never the person so get really angry, especially at her brother – but the way he was talking, he was making it sound like they're father just didn't want to come back. She knew him better than Sam did; she's been with their father longer than Sam. HE was the one who left them to live the apple-pie life in the first place. He just didn't seem to get it! "So, are you coming with me or are you not?"

Sam shook his head, still standing a couple of steps higher from the ground, "I'm not."

Katherine looked at him in disbelief, "What? Why not?"

Sam took a deep breath, "I swore I was done hunting." He told her with finality, "For good."

She scoffed at the ridiculous statement, "Oh, come on." She turned around, beginning to walk out of the building again, "I know hunting isn't easy but it's not that bad."

"Yeah?" Sam scoffed in redundancy to that. He suddenly remembered back to a moment of his childhood, the day when he knew his father wasn't going to be the best when it came to comfort from the dark – it was the day he started to look up to Katherine a little more. "When I told dad I was scared of the thing in my closet … he gave me a .45." That was the first gun he had ever held in his hands, the day he internally knew he wouldn't be able to get out of the hunting life.

Katherine didn't understand; a gun was her safety net – it should be the same for all hunters alike, "What's your point?"

"I was nine years old!" He emphasized on the age.

She got what he was trying to say, "And I was six Sam when I held my first gun; if anyone's got the right to whine it would be me."

"Then it's the same thing." Sam continued trying to get her on his side of the argument, "He should have said 'Don't be afraid of the dark' or comfort us in some way so we weren't scarred for life – not give us a gun!" He voice was louder; he knew his sister was a 'father's daughter' but sometimes he felt like that went a little far.

Katherine gave him a dumb look, "Don't be afraid of the dark?!" She repeated. Why would dad say that to anyone; there are monsters in the dark! "You should be afraid of the dark, Sam! You know what's out there."

"Yeah, I know." Sam couldn't deny that; there were hundreds of things in the dark, not that he ever wanted to know about them in the first place, "But the way we grew up; the way you had to look after me like a mother after mom was killed…" Kathy's jaw clenched at the mention of their mother, "…and dad's obsession to find what killed her." She looked away, even though she had been on many cases with or without her father – the thing that killed they're mother was always on the first list to be killed. The need to find and kill it still bubbled in her veins just like it did for her father – for Sam however, he just doesn't seem to care as much as them. And that's what pissed her off the most when the subject is mentioned. "We still haven't even found the thing; or even what it looks like."

"So, what do we do?" He made his voice sarcastic for a moment, "We kill everything we can find."

Kathy butted in, "And we save a lot of people in the process." As a family, they've probably saved hundreds of lives – even more than that. It was one of the things that kept her going in this life.

Everything was silent for a moment; Sam seemed to be coming up with something else in his head. Katherine could see that he wanted to try and get her to realise something – why he quit maybe? Possibly it's just the fact that he wanted what was best for his sister after everything's she's done for both him and others.

"You think mom would have wanted this for us?" He asked her hypothetically. He was sure their mother would have had a fit at the type of lifestyle they were living in when it came to hunting. He liked to think she would be proud that he was able to get out of the hunting life and into a possible law school.

Katherine's anger was starting to boil over, he knew she didn't like it when they're mother was talked about like that. She was upset that he would stoop to that level – she came to him looking for help to find dad and maybe get him back on the road with her. But those ideas were starting to drift away even if she didn't want them too. There was a moment of silence when she stood staring at her brother, just before her hand shot out and smashed against the metal door loudly that connected outside; to the place where she parked her baby. The car her father gave to her when she was a teenager; the 1967 Chevy Impala.

"The weapon training? And melting the silver into bullets?" Sam didn't stop though, knowing he had hit a nerve when she hit that door hard, "God, Kathy! We were raised like warriors." They're whole childhood was taken away because of their father; he didn't want his and Katherine's adulthood to be ripped away as well.

They strolled up towards the Impala; Katherine's shoulder tensing as Sam continued to list the things they had to do as kids, "So, what are you gonna do then, huh?" She was the one with the sarcastic tone this time as they reached the trunk, all the happiness of seeing him and getting him to come along was out the window now. Now, she was annoyed beyond belief. Sam leaving two years ago came rushing back with full force. "Gonna live some normal, happy apple-pie life?" She turned to him with a raised eyebrow, as if daring him to continue the way he was talking before. He should know by now not to get her riled up, "Is that it?" She couldn't help but still feel a little jealous; even if he did run off to have a happy normal life, it would be something she could never have.

"No, not normal." Sam shook his head, "Safe."

Katherine crossed her arms over her chest again, was that it? Safe? "And that's why you ran away." She looked at him shaking her head before scoffing; the hurt was apparent before she could even hide it.

Sam could see that emotion though, no matter how much she tries to hide it. "I was just going to college." He stated slowly, trying to get her to understand that it wasn't her he wanted to get away from. He never wanted to leave her but he did what he must to live the life he eventually wants – with Jess by his side. "It was dad who said if I was gonna go, I should just stay gone."

"Well I didn't say that did I." Looking to him with narrowed eyes, "Why did I deserve to be forgotten too?" Sure, he told Jess about the family. But not once; did he call her to ask for a meeting with his girlfriend or even just to see each other again and catch up.

Katherine looked away from a moment, blocking the emotions back into her head. "Dad's in trouble Sam…" She began again, trying to forget about they're conversation, "…If he's not dead already; I can feel it." Sam stayed silent just looking at her, surveying her facial features – as if trying to read her mind.

"I can't do this alone." She told him honestly. She couldn't and wouldn't want to, she needed back-up this time.

Sam frowned, "Yes you can." He knew she could. She was a great hunter; better than dad in his opinion and obviously better than himself.

Kathy nodded back, agreeing that she really could do the job alone, "Yeah, I can." Not trying to pretend she didn't have the skill to pull this off, "But I don't want to."

Sam began to seriously think, this was the first time his sister has ever asked for any help when it came to hunting. She really must be desperate for him to go with her. He let out a breath, giving in. With his sister asking for help; there was no way he could say no was there? "What was he hunting?" He asked finally. If he was going to do this; he needed to be back in time for the interview that could conclude his future profession as a lawyer.

A gush of relief flooded Katherine's body, a sense of thankfulness brewing in her gut. She nodded, knowing she'll have a partner in the mission to find they're father and that was something to be happy about.

…

Katherine popped the trunk open; lifting the bottom cover – revealing hundreds of different weapons and things that coincide with hunting demons and monsters. She hooked the cover up with one of the large guns, making sure the base didn't hit their heads as she looked for the items needed. "All right, let's see…" She murmured to herself, bending over to find the papers and recorder she needed. "Where the hell did I put that thing?" Rummaging through all the different pockets to find the folder she needed to show Sam.

Sam watched her for a moment; all the hurt he saw earlier just suddenly went away when he asked what they're father was hunting. He knew her – she was able to hide her emotion deeply and ignore them; he knew that wasn't healthy but it felt like he was making the best decision to help her with finding they're father.

"So when dad left," He began, trying to make conversation, "Why didn't you go with him?" They used to go with dad hunting pretty much all the time, it was very rare to get separate ones.

"I was working on a case back in New Orleans." She replied, still trying to find that information dad left her and the stuff she had already printed out. "It was a voodoo thing – pretty easy case."

Sam smirked a little, giving out a small laugh. "Dad let you go by yourself? While he went on a different case?"

Kathy paused, looking up with a raised eyebrow, "Dude, I'm 26." Shaking her head with a hint of a smile. She looked back down, going through one last place. And she finally found it, a bunch of papers and a tape.

She stood back up, quickly looking through all the pages to find the ones she wanted. "All right, here we go." She brought the main page she needed to the front of the stack. "So, dad was checking out this Two-Lane Blacktop outside of Jericho, California." She passed over some of the reports she printed out about disappearances. "About a month ago, this guy." Pointing to the news article on top, "They found his car, but he himself had vanished – MIA."

Sam studied them carefully; listening to every words his sister was saying about the case. As far as he could see it – the sooner they find dad and solve this case; the sooner he can get back to Jess and live they're 'apple-pie' life as Kathy liked to call it.

The article was of an 'Andrew Carey', from September 19th 2005. He didn't look like the type of guy to just up and leave without any trace.

"Maybe he was kidnapped?" Sam suggested, looking up to his sister.

Kathy gave a small nod, but didn't confirm that, "Good assumption – but here's another one. It's in April." As she began to list off all the articles she found of missing persons, she placed them in a pile, "Another in December of '04, '03, '98, '92 … and the list goes on," She looked back up to her brother to prove a point, "There's ten of them spread out over the last 20 years." She grabbed the pages back from Sam and threw them back into the place she found them, "All of them are men and all within the same five-mile stretch of road."

"It started happening more and more … so dad went to go dig around." She paused, just before looking up at Sam with the same foreboding look she wore earlier, "That was nearly 3 weeks ago, Sam."

"He hasn't called?" Sam wondered, but he could guess the guy hadn't – otherwise Kathy might not even be here.

Katherine shook her head in reply, "No, I haven't heard from him the moment he left; which is bad enough." She turned back to the trunk and grabbed the recorder, "Then I get this voicemail yesterday."

As soon as she flicked the 'on' switch static filled the recording, you could barely hear the familiar voice of John Winchester. "Katherine." The voice spoke, slightly muffled but the words were clear enough, "Something is starting to happen. It's serious." Katherine clenched her fist as she heard her father's voice again – she had been playing this thing on a loop all morning on the drive up here – part of her knew she should have gone with him, but she still had a case to finish. "I need to try to find out what's going on. Be very careful, Kathy. We're all in danger."

"He never calls me Kathy, not unless there was true danger involved." Katherine flicked the 'off' switch, looking back up to Sam to see what he had to say.

Sam could tell this was serious now, he knew he was basically the only one who called her Kathy – there wasn't really anyone else they knew closely. "You know there's E.V.P on that?" He wondered if his sister had caught that – but by looking at the smirk on her face, she already had.

"Not bad, Sammy." She nodded approvingly before started to rewind the tape – getting to the part when she figured out how to get the most out of the message. "All right, so I slowed the message down and ran it through a Goldwave … took out the hiss in the background and this is what I got." She began to play the new version.

…."I can never go home…." A sultry woman's voice filled the speakers. The voice was breathy, something similar to what a ghost would be saying.

"Never go home." Sam repeated, looking at the tape confused. He quickly moved out of the way just as Katherine began to close the trunk, putting everything away including the recording.

Kathy turned to her brother, crossing her arms before leaning on the trunk of the car. She looked to him seriously, "In almost two years I've obviously never bothered you one bit, and I've never asked a thing from you even before you left." She paused, seeing him still silent – he began to glance over to the apartment where Jess still resided waiting for him to come back, "But now I need your help. Will you help me find dad?"

After hearing about all those disappearances and although he knew his sister could take on anything, it felt like he needed to go with her now. Whether it was her intention or not – she persuaded him to help. "All right." He gave in, "I'll go." Katherine nodded, pleased with herself she was able to persuade him to come. It felt wrong to take him away from this life he obviously wanted, but it was only for one case – and honestly, she truly missed her little brother too much.

"I'll help you find him." He continued, but needing to make sure she knew that he'll be coming straight back here after the case was over. And after that; hunting will be gone for good in his life. "But I have to get back first thing Monday." He needed to make sure he was back for his interview on Monday. "Wait here." He went to turn towards the apartment, needing to gather some things before heading out on the road. But before he could leave Katherine stopped him with a question.

"What's happening first thing Monday?" She wondered, tilting her head with curiosity.

"Uh," He wasn't sure how to say it honestly; some part of him knew that his sister would be happy for him but another part just felt odd about it. He'll get to have a safe and normal life while Katherine will always be under their fathers command. He had really wanted her to come with him to college – she had gotten great scores in school, but the need to please their father was obviously too great. "I have an interview."

"For a job?" She frowned. How could a job be more important than they're father?

"No," He shook his head, turning back to her fully, "It's a law school interview and it's my whole future career on a plate." He looked happy about the idea, ecstatic even.

"Law school?" Kathy repeated back, extremely impressed all of a sudden. Something like that really would decide a future career. "Wow, good work."

"Do we have a deal or not?" He asked again, just to be sure she wouldn't back fire.

Katherine stayed in her place for a minute thinking – she really couldn't take that sort of opportunity away from him no matter how much she wanted him to stay with her. "Yeah." She nodded, finally speaking after a moment, "We have a deal – I'll bring you back before Monday."

Sam's look was thankful but also glad – she could obviously see how much this interview meant to him. And that was something he loved about his sister; even though she didn't say it – sometimes she really had wanted something different for him, something that wouldn't decide his life to be either dead or alive. Really, he was just glad she hadn't turned out to be a second father figure – she wanted the best for him and that was enough.