Just a Dream
After having hiked through the night and late into the next evening, I find a decent sized tree and decide to sleep in its branches for the night. I'm reminded of Purgatory, except instead of a perpetual haze and foul smelling air, the sky is clear and the air crisp. Marking an arrow on the tree with my blade, I make a wide circle around the area to search for threats, food, and a stream to drink from. My last meal was at that diner a few days ago and I'm starving! I manage to find a mostly frozen stream, but no food. Guess I should have known food would be scarce, it's still winter so most plants are dead.
Retracing my steps to my tree, I climb up and decide to empty my pockets to see what all I have to work with. I find a pair of gloves, a small can of mace, my lighter, a Swiss army knife, a linty mint, my prepaid cellphone, and a scarf. I quickly put the scarf and gloves on then look at the phone. As I expected, no bars. I shut it down to save battery until I reach somewhere that might have reception.
Popping the mint in my mouth, I lean back, wrap my coat around me, and close my eyes. When I blink my eyes open, my heart stops. Standing in front of me is Kevin. I instantly recognize that I'm dreaming and I can only hope this one dream won't turn to a nightmare like all the others. I rush into the arms of Kevin and cry into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Kev. I should never've brought up that stupid case. You would still be alive if it wasn't for me." He suddenly gasps in pain and I draw back. There's blood running from his mouth and his face is contorted in pain.
"It's all your fault. You killed me. You knew it would happen and you did nothing." he accuses.
"I'm sorry, Kev. Please forgive me." I plead. "I didn't want to believe it, you were too young to die like that!"
"You're a monster and everyone you care about gets hurt or killed. You're poison, Caitlin. We should have killed you as soon as we found out you weren't human." he spits out venomously.
"You don't mean that! I loved you, I still do. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't grieve for you. I hate that our last words were full of anger and hatred. I never wanted to cause you pain. Please, I'm begging you. Please, forgive me." I cry.
"Why would I forgive a bitch like you? You ruined my life and drug me down constantly, wrapping me up in your problems. It's because of you that I'm dead! I wish I never met you." he proclaims with contempt dripping from each word.
"Kevin is right. You're a burden. We should have just left you in that basement. You've brought nothing but trouble. I wish you never appeared in the Impala. Our lives were better before you came in and ruined everything." Sam sneers.
"We regret ever bringing you into our family. You're not our sister and never have been. We just pitied you. Why do you think we left you locked in the Bunker so often? We couldn't wait to get away from you. You obviously never cared about us either. You let Sam almost die during the Trials. You even stood by and watched as I became a demon! You're not family, you're a monster. You're one of the things we hunt." Dean cruelly states.
"When I found out your true nature, I should have just made you explode right then. You've been nothing but an annoyance to me. Always complaining and telling me boring stories. I only put up with it because of Sam and Dean. You were never more than I child I was babysitting." Cas declares scornfully.
"No, please…" I breathe in shock. While the gist of the dream is always the same, the words change every time. This is by far the worst one yet. This is the first time my three brother have made an appearance and it hurts even more. I feel like they were stabbing me with each hate-filled word spit in my face. I reach out to Kevin and just barely graze his shoulder with my hand.
He seizes violently then drops to the ground, dead. "Kev? No, not again. Please, not again. I can't take this every night." I cry. I try to reach out to Sam, Dean, and Cas with the same result. I drop to my knees on the ground and place my head in my hands as I sob violently. I'm so caught up in my grief and anguish that I don't notice the intruders in my dream.
"Cat?" I hear a voice say nervously. I whip my head up because I would recognize the voice of Cas anywhere. I dart my eyes to the body lying on the ground in front of me, but the voice had come from behind me.
"Cas? What are you doing in my dream?" I choke out as I try to dry the tears in my eyes and face him. I'm fully aware of the bodies behind me and am not quite emotionally stable at the moment.
"Not just him, sweetheart." another voice pipes up gently.
"Dean? Sam? How did all of you-?"
"African Dream Root." Sam explains.
"H-how long were y'all standing there?" I question. I pray they didn't hear everything. I couldn't bear it if they agreed; I did freeze them out and refused to give information that could've been lifesaving. Each person had voiced my deepest fears, things I've buried for ages. The truth mixed in their words makes me believe them, and that's not something I can afford.
The only thing keeping me going is the love of my family. Without that, I have nothing and may as well just give up and let the forest claim me. If I'm lucky, I may even get a get out of Purgatory free card and make it to Heaven. I can only hope my salvation in my old dimension will count in this one.
They exchange uneasy glances before looking at me. "The whole time, kitten." Sam finally admits, using his pet name for me.
"Please tell me you don't believe any of that." Dean exclaims with watery eyes. Looking closer, I notice they all have tears in their eyes.
"It's true. I am a monster. Keeping information to myself caused so much pain and death. I am poison. Maybe it was fate I ended up in this situation, cut off from people. I can't hurt anyone this way." I reply dejectedly.
"Caitlin Noel Winchester, you are NOT a monster. You're the sweetest girl I've ever known. All these things that have happened, they're not your fault. All those things your dream said to you aren't true. You've never been just a babysitting job. I've genuinely loved hearing your stories and being there to help with your problems. I would never wish to have killed you." Cas states firmly.
"We've never regretted having you in our family, princess. You're our little Sleeping Beauty. We hated leaving you behind, but you were safer that way. We never even considered killing you. That was never an option." Dean assures.
"You're our sister, Cat. Forever and always. Family doesn't end in blood. Family are the people that care about you and stick with you through everything. Families fight, sure, but at the end of the day, they still love each other." Sam explains lovingly.
"But-" I start to protest but am cut off by the three of them hugging me tightly.
"No. No buts. We all love you so much, little sis. Never believe anyone who tells you differently." Dean demands.
"Okay, De. I promise." I reply with a small smile gracing my lips. We stay like that for a while before I pull back and ask the question that's been nagging at me for a while. "Why are you guys here?"
"We were hoping we could figure out some clue as to where you are. Plus, we missed you. We haven't seen you in months." Sam tells me.
"Cat, why did you go AWOL? We were so worried about you!" Dean questions, a hurt look on his face.
"I just needed space and time to grieve. I was going to come back eventually." I explain with a sigh.
"We killed that werewolf. It was one of the security guards." Sam relays, hoping a bit of good news might cheer me up.
"Thank you. After Jackie I just couldn't…" I say gratefully.
"What are big brothers for?" Dean jokes. "By the way, how did the witches find you? I thought you were warded against them with that hex bag."
"I was." I say. "I don't know how they found me, but I know they led me into a trap. I must have been really out of it to not notice. There were so many signs something was off." I admit, blushing in embarrassment.
"When exactly did they take you? I got your prayer on the 15th, but you could have been unconscious for a while." Cas questions.
"Valentine's Day. Talk about coincidence, huh?" I joke weakly.
"Do you have any clues at all about where you are?" Sam asks, waiting for my answer expectantly.
"Not much. I'm in a forest with hills and cliffs. It recently snowed. That's about it, not really helpful." I reply frustrated. I wish I had something more helpful to give them.
"Snow? Are you warm enough? We don't want you to freeze." Dean exclaims in big brother mode.
"Yes, mom." I tease. "I've got my wool coat, a sweater, a thermal, leggings, jeans, boots, two layers of socks, gloves, and a scarf. It was cold in the last place I was too."
"Hey, it's my job to worry about you squirt." Dean teases back. He then turns serious. "Be careful, there are all kinds of dangers in the woods."
"I will. At least I have an angel blade for protection. I just pray I won't be stuck here forever. What if y'all never find me and I get stuck wandering through these trees for the rest of my life?"
Cas surprises all of us when he sweeps me into a hug. "We will find you. Don't lose hope." he whispers fiercely.
Sam hugs me next. "You're going to be okay. We're coming for you. You're not going to be here forever."
Dean is last. He doesn't say a word, just hugs me tightly and gives me a determined look. Everything begins to fade as I wake up. "Please hurry." I whisper.
*1 week later*
I can't quite place it, but I've been getting a weird feeling ever since I walked into the denser section of trees. Over the past week, I've discovered my skill with a blade can come in handy for hunting food. While I hated killing and roasting those rabbits, I need to eat if I'm going to have the energy to survive. Keeping my senses alert, I cautiously continue walking until it begins to get dark.
Choosing a tree for the night, I pull out my left over rabbit meat that I had wrapped up in my scarf and stuffed in my pocket for safekeeping. While cold rabbit isn't the most tantalizing thing, I don't want to make a fire while I have this weird gut feeling. I am almost 100% certain that whatever it is, has to do with the supernatural. After my stint in Purgatory, I've developed a sort of creature detector.
This supersensitive ability has helped on many a hunt with my bros, but now it could very well save my life. I know for a fact that it's been following me for a few hours and is now lurking off in the trees, probably waiting to catch me off guard. I've never wished so hard for Daphne and her fully stocked weapons cache in the trunk. I hope they find her and my locket; I'd hate to lose them.
Hey, Cas. Just a weekly update to let you know I'm alive. Don't want y'all getting too worried. You have enough to deal with as it is with the Mark of Cain affecting Dean. Do me a favor though. If you see Charlie, keep a close eye on her.
Maybe I can save her, unlike Kevin. All I did for him was extend his time a bit longer. While I was praying, I lost track of the creature stalking me. It wasn't for long, but apparently, that was what it was waiting for. Without warning, I'm yanked from the tree by a pair of viciously sharp claws. I can feel them pierce my flesh and I cry out in surprise and pain. The last thing I see before I'm knocked out is a decrepit looking man.
I come to and am once again in a cave. This time I'm hanging from the ropes secured around my wrists which are above my head and stretching my arms to the point of pain. I groan and look to see if the creature is in the cave with me. "Freakin wendigo." I grumble. The flash I got of it before I was hit over the head revealed the visage of a wendigo.
I've never hunted a wendigo, but I know how to kill them. I recall one of Dean's training sessions involved improvised weapons for a variety of creatures. One of the things we did was making a flamethrower from everyday objects. Luckily, after that I decided to be prepared. My lighter and the can of mace should work nicely. Now I just have to get free.
It looks like I'm the first victim of this round for the wendigo, so my time is extremely short. It looks like my blade didn't make the trip with me and my knife is out of reach in my back pocket. With no other options, I begin yanking as hard as I can. After the ten hard tug, I feel a bit of give in the rope. After another twenty or so arm wrenching pulls, I have enough slack in the rope to wiggle my hands out. I'm so glad that while my fingers are long, they're slender or I would still be dangling on my tiptoes.
I rub my wrists and rotate my shoulders to work out the stiffness before grabbing the two things I will need to torch this SOB. I begin traveling down the tunnel and am hit by a rancid odor. It smells like rotting meat and I know it's close. I round the corner and see a large open area of the cave. It is littered with bones and I can see the wendigo on the far side.
He hasn't noticed me so I freeze and quickly formulate a plan. The one I decide on would make Dean proud. "Hey, fugly! Ever heard of a maid? This place is filthy!" I shout mockingly. This gets his attention, just like I wanted. My hands are hidden from view as he barrels toward me. I only have one shot of catching him off guard, so I wait until he is within spitting distance before whipping out my mace and lighter. With lightning reflexes developed from years of training and hunting, I flick the lighter and spray the mace.
Luck was on my side and my lighter ignited on the first flick. "Surprise you ugly son of a bitch. You messed with the wrong girl." I gloat as I watch him burn before exploding. "Well that was fun." I groan as my head continues to pound. I most likely have a concussion from the hit to the head he gave me. I begin to search the cave, hoping maybe he has something I can use. "Oh you've got to be kidding me!" I exclaim in anger.
The cave only holds bones of past victims, which means my angel blade, my only weapon, is back at the tree I was taken from. "Bastard couldn't make things easy could he." I sigh tiredly. "He better have at least left a trail I can follow." With that, I exit the cave and reenter the forest. I'm in luck and there is a subtle trail of scuff marks from my body and claw marks on a few trees.
It's a few hours before I stumble back to the tree. I'm exhausted so I just pick my blade up off the ground and climb back up in the tree. I'm out as soon as my eyes close, the excitement of the day draining me. The universe decides to allow me to catch a break, my sleep dreamless and uninterrupted.
*Two weeks later*
I've begun to notice something weird with my body. Spring is near and there are more animals out, which means I'm not starving. Still, it doesn't explain the sizeable bulge in my stomach. Maybe I ate something bad and it caused me to bloat? Other than making my clothes a bit tight, it hasn't really affected me so I just keep it in the peripheral of my thoughts. My biggest concern remains trying to escape what seems like a never-ending wilderness. I've been here for nearly a month and the only sign of other people were the bones in the wendigo's cave.
I've made sure to let Cas know I'm alive, though I left out the wendigo. I didn't want to worry them. They haven't made any reappearances in my dreams, but I hold onto the hope they are looking for me. I curse the witches for using a more permanent version of the cloaking spell I had used daily to hide from any tracking spells. If I hadn't been so dense and stubborn, I would be with my family helping with the Mark instead of wandering these godforsaken woods.
In another few weeks, the stomach bulge gets bumped up to a major concern. It hasn't gone away and has actually grown a bit. There's only one thing I can think of that could cause this. It can't be, can it? They said it was impossible, that they were destroyed! That was before Purgatory and the healing involved after that…Oh no! No, no, no, no, NO! This cannot be happening! Please, Chuck, let me be wrong! I never started up again, how is this possible? It was just the one time! Oh shit! What if I'm never rescued, what happens then? I can't raise a child like this!
My situation has just become that more complicated and urgent. I'm mostly terrified by this newest development. I'm not mom material and I'm going to have to raise them as a single parent. If my math is right, they will be due in September. I can only hope I'm free by then, because rearing a child in the wild in winter is daunting.
There are three men who need to know about this, if only to give extra motivation to find me soon. Cas? I hope y'all at least have a lead on where I am because something just happened. I-I'm pregnant. The baby bump is unmistakeable. Looks like the universe is still out to ruin my life. It's not bad enough I'm lost, but now I have to worry about a child I didn't even think it was possible to have. Kevin would be happy. He always wanted to be a father. Shit, I'm rambling. Please hurry, I love y'all!
POVPOVPOVPOVPOV
Cas is only a few hours from the Bunker when he receives the prayer so he decides to drive there to deliver the news of this latest development. Pregnant. Father, please help us to find her before she has to give birth alone. He arrives at the Bunker and Dean lets him in.
"What's up, Cas? You look worried." he comments.
"I just got a prayer from Cat. Where's Sam?" Cas questions. He wants to tell them together, knowing how important this news is.
"In his room. I'll go get him." Dean says with a concerned look before walking toward the rooms.
Dean soon returns with Sam, both wearing anxious expressions. "What did Cat say?"
"Sam, Dean, you're going to be uncles."
"Wait. What? How?" Dean sputters.
"All the healing after Purgatory repaired the damage, if it wasn't already healed." Cas explains.
"What do you mean if?" Sam questions.
"The manifestation of her powers could have healed her." Cas reveals.
"Wouldn't she notice?" Dean exclaims in confusion. He's pretty sure that is hard to miss.
"Not necessarily. Her powers could prevent the breaking down of her uterine lining, arresting her reproductive cycle until fertilization occurred."
"Whoa, Cas! Little more biology than I needed or understood." Dean interjects.
"To sum up, her cycle was put on pause until she conceived." Sam informs his brother.
"Wow, guess that would make it hard for her to notice." Dean replies in understanding.
"So Cat is pregnant and lost. We need to find her before has to give birth alone. I can't imagine how she's feeling right now. When we broke the news about the damage, she said she never really wanted kids anyway." Sam frets.
"Is it okay? I can't imagine her current condition is healthy for the baby. I bet food is a bit scarce right now." Dean adds, worried for the life he now knows is growing in his little sister.
"I'm sure it will be fine, Dean. Cat is resourceful. She'll make sure it's safe." Sam reminds his brother.
"My niece or nephew is not going to be born in some godforsaken forest! If those witches weren't already dead, I'd hunt each one down and rip out their hearts!" Dean growls.
Cas is concerned by Dean's violence and shares a look with Sam. Before he heard from Cat, he and Sam had come up with a plan to help Dean with the Mark. A plan that they were going to pursue the next day. "Cas, it's late. Why don't you stay here for the night?" Sam suggests.
"Thank you, Sam." Cas replies. They all head their rooms and the next day Cas and Sam go off to find a psychic and break Metatron out of Heaven. Dean entertains himself in the Bunker for a while before heading to a local bar. After his confrontation with Rowena and conversation with Crowley, he begins to think. Would Rowena have any clue where Cat is? He calls Crowley, but finds out Rowena is in the wind. Tired, he heads back to the Bunker.
POVPOVPOVPOVPOV
After Crowley kicks her out, Rowena goes into hiding. Before she left, she had gotten some information about the tainted soul from Olivette. It wasn't much, just a name. The name, however, gave her an idea where to start her search. "Cat Winchester. Perpetually the Winchesters." she muses as she paces her newest hiding hole. It's nothing like the lavish suites she's grown accustomed to, but now that she is on the King of Hell's hit list, she has to lay low.
It seems the Winchesters hold both paths to power. The question is, do I eliminate them or play them. She thinks to herself. She could eliminate them and take the knowledge of the Men of Letters for herself, or she could play them and use them to find this Cat. "Och, the Winchesters are like cockroaches. It will be easier to manipulate them." she decides. She had already tried her typical ways of tracking someone down, but she could never get a location. She's hoping the Winchesters will know something that could help focus the search.
She begins to plot and comes up with a plan to get the Winchesters to come to her. She knows they will never trust her if she approaches them herself.
POVPOVPOVPOVPOV
"Are you sure it was Rowena? Yeah that sound like her. Thanks, Steve." Dean says before hanging up. "Steve spotted Rowena in Seattle."
"Is he sure? That's a long drive for a false lead." Sam replies. They have been hunting for Rowena ever since Dean realized she could help them find Cat a few weeks ago.
"He described her a fancy dressed redheaded Scott."
"When are we leaving?"
"As soon as we're packed. This is the first real lead we've gotten on Cat."
They're soon packed and on the road. It seems ironic that they are once more hunting down a supernatural being in Seattle to rescue Cat. They hope that this time it'll be easier. Locating that reaper had taken weeks.
When they finally arrive the next day, they meet up with Steve. "I've kept an eye on her like you asked." he tells them after they order their food in a small diner.
"Do you know where she is staying?" Dean asks urgently. They're so close to finding Cat, he can feel it.
"Yeah, she seems to be living in an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the city." Steve reveals. He gives them an exact location, and after paying for their food, they get into the Impala and head toward the building Steve directed them to.
When they arrive, they load witch-killing bullets into their guns and carefully approach the rotting structure. "This is nothing like the fancy rooms she usually goes for." Sam observes under his breath. They stealthily make their way in and see Rowena sitting at a little table, sipping a cup of tea. Both the table and the chair are too nice to be in the condemned warehouse.
Rowena sets her cup down on the saucer before saying, "You're just in time for tea."
A/N: Things are getting interesting now! Will Cat be found before her September due date? Will Rowena double cross the brothers? Next update will most likely be next week. As always, reviews appreciated! TTFN
Announcement: I have picked back up on a fic I started months ago and may be posting it sometime in the following weeks. It is still unnamed, but I will let you know how that develops. Also, please take the time to participate in my poll. I'm trying to improve my writing style so it would be very helpful.