Highway To Hell
Katie sat awkwardly in the back seat of the Impala. She wasn't use to sitting in the back, but refused the offer Sam gave her to sit up-front. For some unknown reason she didn't like the thought of him looking at her from behind, she wouldn't be able to read what he was thinking and that scared her. As Dean went in to get some food, and the gas was slowly filling in the tank, Katie and Sam had no other choice than to sit in silence, both too afraid to bring up anything without the opportunity of Dean butting in to make the conversation a little more bearable.
"Katie," Sam started, but didn't know what else to say. The funny thing was that there was plenty to say, he just didn't know how to do it or if she wanted to hear it. He turned his head a little to see if she was listening, then continued rummaging through Dean's cassette collection. "Never mind…"
Katie sat up so that she was leaning casually against the front bench. She knew what he was going to say and she wanted to hear it. She wanted to know what he was thinking, but she also didn't want it to hurt her. The things that happened between them as they grew up together were always too complicated and now that they were adults it was meant to be worse. "You know we don't have to do this. It's better if we all forget."
"Who wants breakfast?" Dean asked holding up two handfuls of junk food. Katie smiled to herself and leaned out the window looking at his with a smug look on her face. "Here," Dean tossed her a bag of chips and a bottle. Sam shook his head, this was one thing that he didn't miss, the food on the road was horrible most of the time.
"No thanks, so are you and Dad still running credit card scams?" Sam asked still amazed at all the illegal things his family did. Katie had to turn her head so she wouldn't spit her water into Sam's hair, she couldn't believe he just asked that. Dean started his rant about their money situations and the stupidity of the credit card companies. She couldn't see Dean or John working one day in a real job, it would probably kill them.
The boys changed their conversation to Dean's cassette collection and how outdated it was. Sam remembered a time when he was into the same music as his brother and would listen to anything if that meant Dean might like him more. Sam wanted to be just like his brother at one point in his life. Sure it was just because he needed a role model that was always there for him. Katie would laugh at both of them for the hobbies they acquired as they grew up. It was almost like they were twins born four years apart.
"Let me try." Sam said after Dean's attempt at research came up with nothing again. Sam was always better at researching, and Katie had to admit it was funny watching them fight about it. She kept her distance sitting on the table behind them trying to keep her laughter at a minimum.
"I got it." Dean said before Sam pushed his chair out of the way. They were getting nowhere and were running out of time.
"Your such a control freak." Sam said as he typed. There had to be a way to find out who this girl was and why she was killing all of these guys. Dean let his brother take control of the researching, finding himself closer to Katie. It had just dawned on him that they had hardly spoken since Sam had joined them.
"Don't even think about it." Katie warned before Dean even got the words out. She let her gaze slowly move from the computer screen to where Dean was looking up at her. "I'm fine, there's nothing going on that would make me upset. So you don't even need to ask. I just want to find John and get back to the ways things were." She said in a hushed tone thinking Sam couldn't hear her. It wasn't that she didn't want Sam with them, it was just that she was fine with the way things were. She liked the routine she had going with Dean and John. There were hardly any complications.
"Really?" Dean asked looking skeptically at her. But he didn't have time to find out what was really going on because Sam had found what they were looking for. Constance Welch, jumped off Centennial Highway Bridge. They gave each other a satisfied smile and were off to see if they could find their woman in white.
"So this is where Constance took the swan dive?" Dean rhetorically asked as the three peered over the edge of the bridge. Katie turned as leaned against it looking to the other side. The night was cool and she was ready to sleep, it had been almost a week without a solid bed to sleep on.
"You think Dad would have been here?" Sam asked and at that very moment Katie knew what was going to happen. She almost saw it play out in her mind before it even started. Dean would say what he thought, finding John was going to take a lot longer than they had originally thought and forgetting all about Sam's interview on Monday, which would piss Sam off like always starting a fight.
"You're really serious about this aren't you? You think you're going to become some lawyer? Marry your girl?" Dean wouldn't let it show, but he really wanted that for his little brother. He wanted him to have that life, but right now their dad needed him more than anything and that took principal over anything else.
Katie saw the rest of it play out all too quickly. Sam, being the defiant rebel that he usually was around his brother and father, Dean being the all too sensitive older brother defending his father and everything he believes in. There was some yelling and sarcasm, but she knew it was time to intervene when Dean pushed Sam against one of the metal rails of the bridge.
"Don't talk about her like that." Dean said in an all too calm voice. Sam stared down at his older brother not knowing what to say. Katie didn't know what to do either. She couldn't choose a side, even if she could she didn't know which one was better in this argument.
"Boys! Come on we have a case to work." Katie said as she brought them back to reality. Dean letting go of Sam and moving backwards toward Katie. She unconsciously wrapped her hand around his forearm, Sam was following his brother's movements and caught the action, but decided to ignore it. It was non of his business anyway.
It was then that Dean saw her, Constance stood upon the rails of the bridge looking at them before she stepped off. All three ran over to see where she went, or what she was doing. "Where'd she go?" Katie asked as she frantically searched for the woman. She only got a response from Sam, but their search was put on hold as the Impala's engine revved in the still night.
"What the…" Dean looked at his baby starting up. There was something definitely wrong with this situation.
"Whose driving your car?" Sam asked. To answer all Dean did was pull out his keys from his front pocket. Katie was already slowly backing away, she didn't know what was going to happen, but on impulse she knew it would be safer to head in the opposite direction. It was only when the car began to move towards them did all three of them break into a full on run. There was no way that they could out run it, and Katie and Dean caught on to Sam's plan the second he started to move towards the railing. Flipping over the metal the car seemed to know to stop once they were nowhere to be seen.
Sam pulled himself up before offering a hand to Katie. She took it smiling. Dean on the other hand was nowhere to be seen. Katie peered over the edge trying to find him through the thick water, and it didn't help that there was barely any light to help her see.
"Dean?" Sam and Katie called out, searching for any movement below them. To their amazement there was Dean crawling out of the muddy water.
"What?" He yelled back clearly annoyed. Katie couldn't help the laughter that was bubbling up inside her. Sam on the other hand was still concerned.
"Are you alright?" Sam called down to his older brother. Katie watched as Dean finally stopped moving and laid on the muddy bank.
"I'm super!" Dean yelled up to the two. His sarcastic comment just sent Katie into a whole new fit of laughter, and this time Sam joined her.
"Whoa!" Katie said as she scanned the room. Each one of them moving to separate corners of the room. Sam headed for the wall covered in pin ups of the victims, and Dean went for the burger left on the night stand. After they took in the appearance of the room and the new realization that John wasn't there anymore, there seemed to be a whole new level of anxiousness among them. Sam decided to apologize and Dean definitely needed to take a shower leaving Katie and Sam alone.
"What I was saying earlier in the car…" Sam started taking a seat on the edge of the bed. Katie didn't turn around to look at him, instead she just kept her focus on the articles in front of her.
"Sammy can we not do this? At least not now or here." Katie said evenly. She didn't want to seem upset or worried. She honestly didn't know why she didn't want to talk to him, except for the obvious awkwardness that would follow.
"Okay, can I at least ask when you came back?" Sam looked up from the spot on the floor that seemed to have all his attention. Katie turned to answer him, but was stopped by the bathroom door opening.
"I'm starving, I'm going to the diner down the street to get a burger. You want anything?" Dean asked as she put his jacket back on. Katie shook her head with a small smile and took a seat next to Sam on the bed. Sam also declined, knowing that it would be better to stay and talk with Katie. "Okay then," Katie watched as he walked out the door, and then turned towards Sam.
"Thanks for calling Sam." Katie said as she looked at the youngest Winchester driving. She was going to kill Dean when she saw him again, but the time she was getting to just be with Sam was nice.
"You're welcome. So when did you come back?" Sam jumped back into their conversation that Dean had interrupted earlier. Katie let out a small laugh before she answered.
"You don't give up do you?" Sam smiled at her, still waiting for her answer. "I met up with John about two years ago. We bumped into each other on a hunt. I decided to stay with him." Sam didn't know what else to ask besides the obvious 'why did you leave?'. "You know I was gone for three years, but it felt like an eternity. I don' think I could do that again." Katie admitted before Sam's cell began to ring.
The rest of the night was a chaotic blur. Sam being attacked by Constance, and then driving into her house, and her children tearing her apart. Sadly, this meant that it was time to take Sam home, leaving Dean and Katie alone to search for John. "Bye Sammy." Katie said as she got out of the car to hug him. She tried not to hold onto him too long, but she was never a good judge of time. Dean stayed behind the wheel watching them say their goodbyes.
"He's got a good life here." Dean said out of nowhere. Katie turned her attention off the signs and looked at him with confusion. Dean just kept his eyes on the road. "He deserves it."
"Wow, for a second there I almost forgot who I was looking at. You have been so weird these last few days. What's gotten in to you?" Katie asked. He did notice that he had been different around his brother, he liked having him around. When it was just him and Katie, he tried to be the knight in shining armor, but with Sam around it felt like he didn't have to be perfect all the time. He wasn't going to answer her, he couldn't, instead he looked down at his watch.
Before Katie even realized what was happening, Dean turned the car into a full 180, speeding back down the road. Sam was in trouble and Dean had to help him, it was what big brothers do.