Author's note :
This chapter is dedicated for the most loyal and beautiful betareader that ever was 'Igotzapped' ! Thank you for your amazing friendship, your outstanding support and your neverdying care that makes you one of the best human I've ever had the chance to meet. You inspire me in so many ways, and it's definitely thanks to you that this story went this far.
And, it's also thanks to you dear readers. So, please enjoy this wonderfully edited chapter of You Better Run II that takes place between the episode 'The Real Ghostbusters' (5x09) and 'Abandon All Hope' (5x10) !
One month later.
Garfield, Kansas.
In the middle of a dark highway.
The loud honking of a truck driving opposite them, towards them, made Dean wheel the car to the bumpy roadside, startling Sam, who looked back and forth at the truck and then at Dean who kept driving too fast and reckless as ever.
"Dean!" Sam shouted at his brother. "We won't make it if you drive like that!" Dean clenched his strong jaw and drove his car back into the smooth road. "We won't be able to save Kate if we die beforehand!"
Dean ignored him, stepping harder on the gas and tightening his grip around the steering wheel. Sam watched him, eyes full of concern and also compassion.
"Dean, I'm scared for Kate, too! I wanna get there in time... But what if it's too late, what if-"
"It's not too late!" Dean cut him off in a growl, sending him an almost glare before returning his nearly teary green eyes back to the road. "I won't let it be too late! You hear me?"
Three days ago.
Garfield, Kansas.
At The Seventh motel.
A lot can happen in a month.
Just like a lot can happen in a minute.
That was what Kate's father used to say, trying to make her understand that changes were inevitable. No matter where you went, changes would always occur. Even trying to remain in a sweet routine in order to avoid changes always ended up being a waste of time and energy. Truth be told, the consistency itself was at the same time a result of changes and a source of new changes. Surely, Kate knew her father was right about this point just like he was right about almost everything he ever said to her. This past month had been filled with a lot of changes, and although it had mostly been the case since she landed in this universe, Kate was quite certain that this past month topped it all.
Indeed, not only did Sam and Dean give her fighting training lessons that were more intensive than the ones Matt had given her, but she also learned how to properly shoot with a gun. Dean had been quite against that latter lesson, so Sam had been the one to give her those shooting lessons that he knew she needed in order to insure her safety at all times. Half of those training sessions had been held at Bobby's place while the other half had happened in one of Rufus' old cabins in a forest not far from the state of Oklahoma. Although these training sessions had extended themselves all along that month, other activities had filled the trio's days and nights.
After Becky had told Sam that the thief Bella had given the Colt to a demon named Crowley, the trio had rushed to Bobby's place where Kate had taken the 'Supernatural' books out of their hiding-place in her room so that she could check Becky's words. Once they all realized that the diehard fan was right, they had focused their research on finding that crossroad demon. It had become the mission on top of their to-do list, especially after Kate had declared having already finished her second thorough study onto her situation and onto what Dean had said about her blood. The thing was that Kate had found something even before the 'Supernatural' convention, but she had kept quiet about it.
Anyways, it wasn't the right time to add this to the plate. Kate was even more aware of that fact after what Dean had said back then at the 'Supernatural' convention. This past month, she had tried to not think about Dean's words, but she hadn't been able to help herself. Plus, she always knew that she was another burden for him, his brother and everyone else she had met in this universe. She knew that. But, she tried her hardest not to think too much about it. However, being aware that sending her back to her universe was on Dean's top to-do list, got her to sleepless nights spent overthinking about that very fact. Truth be told, the reason Kate didn't bring up the discovery she made when restudying her situation was simply because she wasn't ready to leave this place and these people she grew to care so much about.
Because this discovery was a pretty big turning point in Kate's situation. This discovery had shown her that there was a way to get round Chronos and his deal, and return to her original universe by using another method. Sure, there seemed to be the never ending problem of the doorways being closed, but she believed that they wouldn't remain closed. After all, they did open once to let her in this universe, even though the reason and the purpose remained as mysterious as everything else surrounding her situation.
However, this past month Kate didn't think more than once about that.
All she found herself able to think about was Dean and the way he had said that they had to send Kate back to her original universe. On several times, Dean acted in such a way that got Kate believing that he actually enjoyed liked having her around. Some nights, her final thoughts were that maybe he truly was speaking about her when he was sick and mumbled that he didn't want her to go.
All in all, this past month had been filled with a lot changes, questionings, researching, training and some self-doubting that Kate was sadly too accustomed with. But, she didn't have time to focus on that last point, because the Colt's research grew bigger and bigger every day, and they had to keep their focus on that and only that. Even when Sam had found a couple of cases not far away from the cabin they were staying at, Dean had made sure that some other hunters took care of these cases. The major mission remained finding the weapon that could give them a shot at killing the Devil. Unfortunately, this major mission had turned out to be much more difficult than what they had expected it to be. No matter how much effort they'd put in, that Crowley demon seemed impossible to find, and it was slowly exhausting them all.
As tired as they all were these past few days, Sam and Dean still found the strength and energy to squabble like two kids, which only drove the young woman crazy. So, when she found a case just a couple of cities away from the cabin they were staying at, Kate did her best to convince Dean to not send another hunter over there. She hoped that taking care of a case would give them something other than the hard-to-find demon to think about, and above all else she hoped it would make them stop squabbling to the point of giving her headaches.
Exhaling a long sigh, Kate dropped her black shoulder bag on top of the desk at the motel's reception hall when an old man made his way to behind the desk. "Long day?" He chuckled at her.
"Long month," she sighed, turning her head and looking over at the parking lot where she could see Dean doing all he could to prevent Sam from getting his duffle bag from the Impala's trunk.
"Those are your kids?" The old man joked, causing Kate to scoff as she turned her attention back to him.
"Believe me, if they were, I'd put them up for adoption," she responded and the old man let out another chuckle.
"That much, huh?"
"Lately, yeah," she nodded. "Anyways," she took out her tiny wallet filled with fake papers among which there were a fake ID, a fake driving license and a fake credit card. She slipped out the latter card and held it out. "Um, do you have rooms with more than two beds?"
"No, sorry. I got rooms with one single king bed or two queens," he explained and Kate bit on her bottom lip before he continued. "Although, I do have a few family rooms."
"Family rooms?"
"Yeah, you know, basically the same kind rooms as the ones with queen beds, but there's additionally an adjacent room for the parents," he told her before looking over her shoulder to Sam and Dean. "Although, I think the beds are tinier in there and the taller one would have his feet hanging at the end."
Chewing on her lip, Kate considered that information for a couple of seconds. Sure, this kind of room would allow her to have the intimacy that had been missing in her life lately while still keeping her away from lonesome feelings that hit her whenever she was on her own. Besides, she was pretty sure Sam wouldn't mind having his feet hanging at the end of his bed, if it meant that Kate would get a comfortable bed. As for Dean, it was quite another story.
"I'll take a family room," she declared, handing him the credit card and mentally preparing herself for Dean's reaction.
A couple of hours later.
At the Brenton's dinner.
There was no better idea than to go get dinner earlier than planned to calm Dean down. Not that he was truly upset or anything, but when he and Sam found out what kind of room Kate had booked them all in, he had spent quite some time complaining about how short the queen beds were; because of course Kate was taking the adjacent room with the king size bed for herself. Unlike Sam who was sort of used of having his feet hanging at the end of the bed if his body was stretched in length, it was a bit of a foreign situation for Dean, who made sure to express his displeasure at the situation.
As Kate and the two brothers slid into the window booth, the brunette looked across the table and she noticed the glances that Dean threw her way.
"What?" She asked.
"Why do you need to have a room on your own?" Dean asked in reply. He had already asked this same question a good number of times when they were back at the motel, simply because it was weird for him. After all these times spent sharing a motel room all together or even a cabin's small living room, Dean couldn't understand why Kate would need to have her own room, apart from them.
"Dean, leave her alone," Sam sighed, mimicking Kate as he took one of the menus that stood in the middle of the table. "We're with her 24/7, she needs her privacy, too."
"Yeah, I get that," Dean replied, moving his green gaze away from Sam to look at Kate whose eyes were skimming the menu in her hands. "But, why now?"
"Because I can," the brunette simply responded, keeping her gaze focused on the menu. When Sam glanced up at his brother, he couldn't help but chuckle at the expression of surprise on his big brother's face. "Besides, I'm tired of sleeping on a couch that is most of the times uncomfortable."
"Well, we can still share a bed," Dean suggested in a casual tone.
Both Sam and Kate lifted their gazes up at the green-eyed man sitting across them. While Sam was slightly amused by Dean's suggestion, Kate was embarrassed. Sure, Dean and she had shared beds in the past, but it had been months ago, and it had happened only a few times. Plus, Kate who never thought anything of these nights, had come to feeling as these sharing bed arrangements were now out of question. She wasn't even certain of the reason. Maybe it was simply due to the fact that they didn't find themselves in the same kind of situation that'd put them into sharing a bed for the time of a night? Or, maybe it was something else. Whatever the true reason was, Kate felt like these bed sharing moments were inappropriate now that they knew each other better. How paradoxical it was to know that she wasn't against the idea of sleeping in the same bed than Dean when they weren't as close as today, and now it became nearly impossible for her to do so.
If Kate were honest with herself, she would admit having no trouble sharing a bed with Dean. But, she still felt like it would be inappropriate for her to fall asleep right next to the man who wandered in dreams that she'd rather keep quiet about. Not that she was uptight to the point where she forbade herself these kind of fantasies. After all, she was a healthy young woman who could dream and fantasize if she wanted to. But, she didn't even desire those kind of dreams. Although countable on the fingers of one hand, those dreams would still make her feel quite uneasy. Besides, in all her life she had never ever had these kind of dreams about a friend of hers, and that was the main thing that got her blushing when thinking about those specific dreams. All she could do was keep telling herself that those dreams didn't mean a thing, and all that was to blame was the 24/7 presence in her life of Dean Winchester, his good looks and his constant surprising personality that got her smiling more than once everyday.
"Sharing a bed? Like you and Sam sharing a bed so I can have my own?" Kate inquired, even though she knew what he actually meant.
"Hell no, I'm not sharing a bed with that giant," Dean scoffed, grabbing a menu on his own. "He'd roll over me and crush me to death."
"Like I'd even wanna share a bed with you, gas machine," Sam retorted, slightly glaring at his brother.
"Gas machine?" Dean asked, confused.
"Yeah, everything you eat is like a refill for a time bomb that primes farts when you're sleeping," Sam replied and Dean gave an outraged face at him.
"I don't fart when I'm asleep," Dean frowned at his little brother.
Kate rolled her eyes at them as Sam and Dean continued their argy-bargy as though she wasn't even there. There were times when Kate would do anything to spend as much time as possible in these boys company, but lately it was far from being these times.
Slamming the menu closed, Kate stood up almost abruptly, surprising the two young men who looked up at her.
"Where're you goin'?" Dean asked her.
"At a peaceful place where that conversation about farting would, paradoxically, never happen," she replied, her slightly sarcastic tone making both Sam and Dean frown before she walked away from the table.
The Winchesters watched her as she stopped in front of a young waiter and said something to him before she walked off to the bathroom and disappeared behind its door. When Sam shifted his bright hazel eyes towards his brother, he couldn't help but scoff.
"What?" Dean asked, tearing his gaze away from the bathroom's door.
"Nothing," Sam smirked, looking down at the menu. Dean stayed silent, staring at Sam's face as the smirk remained unbroken. Sensing Dean's orbs on him, Sam looked up at him, "What?" Dean didn't say anything, just bluntly stared at him. Sam sighed, "You're gonna act like a kid and stare at me all night long?"
"No. Just until you tell me what's on your mind," Dean simply replied.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked, even though he was pretty sure of what his brother meant.
"That scoff and that smirk," Dean replied with a nod of his head towards Sam. "What were they even about?"
"That's what's bothering you?"
"Yeah. That's what's bothering me," Dean snapped.
"Huh," Sam scoffed again, causing Dean to get even more annoyed.
"I swear to God, Sam, if you don't-" Dean began when Sam cut him off.
"Well, we can still share a bed," Sam mimicked in the casual tone Dean had used, and it got Dean to slightly frown. "What the hell was that? I mean, sure you guys have already shared a bed like once, a long time ago," Sam continued, causing Dean to tilt his head as a little voice in his head whispered 'more than once, Sammy'. "But, that's not a reason for you to offer that. And, quite frankly you used to have better pick-up lines, Dean."
"Pick-up lines?" Dean repeated, more than confused now. "Wait. You think I was hitting on Kaitlin? I-I wasn't hitting on her," Dean stammered as Sam's eyebrows slowly lifted up.
"If you say so," Sam simply replied before putting his attention back onto the menu, another smirk now playing on his lips.
Dean didn't have the time to point it out at his brother as a mid-aged waitress with red hair that was streaked with gray, approached them, order pad in hand.
"Good evening gentlemen," she smiled at them.
"Hi," Sam smiled up at her. "Um, is it possible to wait a little bit longer? Our friend just went to the bathroom."
"A pretty girl with short curly hair?" The waitress asked.
"That'd be her," Dean immediately replied, causing Sam to snort that got Dean to threw a glare at him.
"She already gave her order before going to the bathroom," the waitress informed.
"Oh, good. Then, I'll, uh," Sam replied before clearing his throat. "I'll take the chef salad and a coke."
"Great choice," she quickly wrote down the order and turned to Dean. "And, what about you, sweetie?"
"I'll get..." Dean trailed off for a few seconds as he skimmed the menu. "I'll get the bacon double cheeseburger and a nice fresh beer," Dean replied, looking up at the woman who gave him a warm smile as she nodded.
"Alright. That'd be all?"
"Yeah," Sam replied.
"Alright. I'll take these from you, then" she said as she took the menus off the table and walked off, causing Dean's line of vision to land at the television hung on the wall just a few feet away from their table.
The second the waitress left, Kate stepped out of the bathroom, her head was lowered as she opened a text message she had just received from Matt. Suddenly, she bumped into a young waiter, causing her cellphone to drop on the floor.
"I-I'm so sorry," the young waiter stammered as he quickly bent down to grab it.
"No problem," Kate gave him one of her gentle smiles as he handed the device back to her. "Thanks," she said before quickly frowning when she saw that her phone's screen was all black and wouldn't turn back on.
"Oh, don't tell me, I broke it?" The young waiter asked, a bit of concern echoing in his voice as he watched her trying to switch her phone back on, in vain.
"It's no big deal," Kate reassured him, glancing up at him. This dark-haired young man couldn't be older than nineteen years old, but when Kate met his gaze, he looked much older.
"If you allow me, I could check it?" He offered. "I'm pretty good when it comes to tech stuff."
"Sure. Why not?" Kate handed him the device.
"I'll bring it at your table," he told her and she nodded at him before heading for the table where Sam and Dean were now quiet.
"You guys ordered?" She asked, sitting down next to Sam who was now reading a newspaper that he got earlier.
"Yeah," Dean replied, his eyes focused on the television hung up in a corner of the dinner's. Kate looked at him to see that, just like Sam, he had taken his jacket off. She decided to do the same and took off her denim jacket so she could be in only a beige t-shirt. Then, she turned her head and looked up at the television.
The television was mute, but the images were enough for her to understand what was holding the elder Winchester's attention. The television was on a news channel, and from the words written in big and red, she understood what the reporter was talking about with such a concerned face.
Nasa had just announced that so far, this summer was the warmest worldwide since it started keeping track in 1880. And, since they were only in the middle of August, it could still get hotter and hotter.
Spinning her head back to Dean, Kate wondered if the same thought was wandering around in his mind. She wondered if, just like her, he suspected Lucifer to be the reason of these high temperatures and all these other disasters that the planet seemed to be going through more and more ever since the Fallen Angel got out of his Cage.
When Dean's eyes slightly got round, Kate turned her head again, only to read that a high number of people died because of these abnormal temperatures. She slowly moved her head to look at Dean again, and she stopped wondering when she saw guilt splashing all over his face as he clenched his jaw. The brunette threw a glance at the younger Winchester at her left and she was rather relieved that he was concentrated in reading the article about the case they came for.
Returning her brown gaze to Dean, she felt her heart stung at the expression on his face. After a whole month without really taking any interest in what was on the news because they had to keep their entire focus on finding Crowley and therefore the Colt, this flashnews was like a slap hitting Dean on the face. As a matter of fact, it was even like a wake-up call, reminding him even more how important it was for them to find the Colt and take the Devil down. But, at the same time, it was also reminding him how much his brother and himself were to blame for the Apocalypse. She knew better than anyone else how they had been manipulated by the angels into doing that, but she also knew that neither Dean nor Sam cared about that detail. They believed it was their entire fault, no matter what. Kate knew that it would take more than a few kind of words of hers to make them think otherwise. They needed to forgive themselves, and they needed to do this on their own. It would be the only way for them to make entire peace with themselves, and also to each other.
No longer being able to watch this expression displaying on Dean's face, Kate decided to say whatever came into her mind, "So, I ordered a chicken ceasar salad and an orange soda, for a change." Seeing that Dean's attention wasn't pulled away from that television and the bad news that was eating him from the inside, Kate continued rambling. "My cousin, Alina, drinks orange soda all the time. I always prefer coke or beer to any soda with pulp in it actually. But, I don't know, tonight, I felt like getting this instead. It's like a tribute to her and the way she used to-" Kate abruptly stopped and that was when both Sam and Dean turned their attention to her. "I'm talking about her as though she's dead," Kate whispered, her eyes falling to the white table surface.
"Here you go," the waitress said as she stopped at their table, put their drinks down and walked off as quick as she had come to their table.
Kate's eyes were immediately on the orange soda, staring at it in a way that caused genuine concern to grow in both Sam and Dean.
"Um, you wanna swap for my coke?" Sam offered and Kate lightly shook her head, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Um, excuse me?" The young waiter approached their table, Kate's cellphone in hand. The brunette looked up at him and he gave her a little smile. "I got it to work."
"Oh. Great," she replied as he handed it back to her and she reached out to take it from his hand. "Thanks."
"Yeah, um your food will be there in a few," he told them before walking off.
Kate put her cellphone down on the table and she looked across at Dean. His face no longer held that expression of guilt that the flashnews brought back in him. Now, there was a soft concern on his face and she knew that it was due to the way she spoke about her cousin.
Clearing her throat, Kate grabbed her orange soda and took a long sip of it before grimacing. "Yuk. I was right, her taste in drinks is as weird and bad as her taste in boys and TV shows." Dean's lips curled into a tiny corner smile as he watched the brunette putting the soda back down on the table. She looked over at Dean and said, "Actually, you and Alina would get totally along. She's as big of a fan as you, of medical drama TV shows "
"It's guilty pleasure," Dean mumbled, taking his beer up to sip on it.
"Wait. Alina... Isn't that the cousin you told me you stole a car with?" Sam asked and Dean's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"That's something I didn't know about."
"Yes, this Alina, and it wasn't really stealing, since it was her ex-boyfriend's car," Kate replied, in defence. "It's actually a funny story..."
And that was how they ended up chatting for hours in that dinner instead of talking about the case. Nevertheless, none of them felt guilty about it since they had already gathered quite a lot information about that case before driving up to this city. Moreover, this conversation full of reminiscence from both Kate's past and the Winchesters' past took a great part of the burden full of tension that the search for the Colt had brought to the three of them this past month. It felt good to relax, laugh and share stupid memories around a good meal. It was all they didn't even know they needed so much and it came to both Sam and Dean that this wouldn't have happened if Kate wasn't there with them. It came to both Sam and Dean that a lot wouldn't have happened if Kate wasn't there with them.
The next day.
At The Seventh Motel.
Drops of sweat formed at the back of her neck, slowly streaming down under her grey t-shirt and tickling her, but it didn't affect her focus. She kept her brown gaze glued on him, clenching her fists and biting on her bottom lip before he threw a punch at her stomach but she avoided it by swiftly leaping to the side. Then, he attempted punching her face but she quickly bent down to avoid his punch. She swept her leg out to take his feet out from under him, but he jumped out of the way, causing her to groan and stand right back up to throw a kick at him with her right leg. However, her leg was caught in his strong hands, she tried to pull away but his grip grew tighter. She glanced up at his freckled face covered with sweat and then decided to try that thing he had taught her weeks ago. She pushed on her free leg and used his own strength that was holding on her leg, to throw a kick at him. It caused him to break the grip around her leg and step back while she abruptly fell on her bottom instead of falling back on her feet like he had taught her. Seeing his feet getting closer to her, she quickly grabbed the closest object within easy reach and threw it at him. The object – which happened to be a pillow - distracted him long enough for her to put as much strength into pushing on his legs and making him lose balance and finally fall on the floor.
Panting, the brunette stood up and looked down at the green-eyed hunter laying on his back with the pillow in his arms. He looked up at her and saw her smirking down at him before he threw back the pillow at her. She caught it and in a swift movement, he was back up to his feet and he was back into throwing punches at her, making sure to never let any of his blows touch her. It wasn't about creating bruises on her creamy face, it was about teaching her how to defend herself.
Letting the pillow drop on the floor, she did try to defend herself, but his punches seemed to get quicker and quicker, and after over an hour of intense training, she was now getting exhausted.
"Fight back!" He shouted at her, but his speed wasn't allowing her to do anything but avoid his punches. "Kaitlin, fight back!"
Although she was really tired, the brunette decided to put an end to that training session and she knew that the only way to do so was to win that fight against Dean. With quite some strength, she made a technical movement that she learned back when she was taking karate lessons in her original universe, and got Dean to step back. Then, she swiftly kicked him in the legs and with one leg attempted to sweep him out of his feet again. Dean fell backwards in a thump, and Kate quickly went to straddle his waist, causing Dean to groan in surprise.
He looked up at her and she gave him another smirk, before he rolled them both over and he was now the one hovering her.
"I still won, right?" Kate immediately told him, looking up at him as she panted.
"No," he replied, looking down at her face. "To win, you gotta kill the son of a bitch, not smirk at them."
"Oh c'mon," Kate groaned, shutting her eyes closed while Dean's eyes traveled down to her chest that was rising up and down with the heavy breaths she was taking in and out. As he moved his gaze back up to her face, he lingered on the flush on her neck and her cheeks. The beauty spots she had on her neck and the one she had on one cheek held his attention.
The ringing of her cellphone caused her to open her eyes and Dean's gaze was immediately pulled by the sparkling brown color of her eyes, which were shining from their workout.
"Dean... I gotta..."
"Mmh?"
"You're kinda…" She trailed off, traveling her eyes down to his body so he could understand that he was blocking her from getting up and picking up her phone.
"Yeah, right," he cleared his throat and stood up, giving a hand to help her up as well. The second she was up on her feet, her soft hand left his and she quickly went to the round table where her phone was.
"Yeah?... Oh, hey... Really? When?... Okay, I'll tell him... Yeah, see you in a few," Kate hung up and Dean looked at her with questioning eyes. "It was Sam. Another person went missing this morning."
"Where is he?"
"He just left the police station and he's heading here, and asked to be ready in half an hour so we can all go interview the family of the missing man," she explained and he nodded at her, whipping sweat away from his forehead with his forearm. "We gotta hurry, so maybe go shower first while I prepare my suit."
"We'd be quicker if we shared a shower, you know?" He teased her as he went to grab his duffle bag on his way to the bathroom.
"I didn't know you were all about that saving water thing," Kate replied, with a playful tone as she made her way to the adjacent room's door.
"No, you didn't hear me right. I'm just about the saving time thing," he told her and Kate bit on her lower lip as she felt her lips stretch into an amused and slightly shy smile.
"Just go take that shower of yours," she told him, internally thanking God that her cheeks were already flushed red due to the training session.
Little did she know that Dean was also thanking God for being the one to take that shower first.
Because after this training session, he needed a really cold shower.
Late afternoon.
At the Local Library.
It was amusing to watch.
It was also very strange to watch.
But, Sam still enjoyed watching his big brother staring at their brown-haired friend with such a soft expression drawn on his face. He looked like a five-year-old boy in awe. Other times, he looked like a five-year-old boy in confusion. It was as though Dean was quite unsure of the reasons making him so appealed to that brunette. For Sam, Dean was still trying to decode the mystery that this young woman was. No matter how much they knew about her, no matter how many things they lived together, Dean wasn't past understanding this woman nor his relationship with her. The thing was that Dean never had spent that much time in a woman's company without getting into her pants. Unlike Sam who had made a few good female friends back in Stanford, Dean had never done that. There were times when Sam believed that it was due to the fact that Dean had never had the occasion to spend that much time with a woman and to feel at such ease with her. Other times, Sam believed that Dean didn't want to get himself too attached, in fear of getting hurt. This had come to Sam's realization after he had met Dean's ex-girlfriend Cassie. Their relationship hadn't last long, but Dean had still managed to grow an attachment to the woman. However, Sam thought that it was different with Kate. It was different in so many aspects, and he was certain that Dean knew that as well – or at least the part of him that wasn't denying the way he felt about everything. It was understandable in so much level that Dean didn't want to let his growing attachment for the impossible girl to take its toll on him.
Propped against a wall, a couple of feet away from the exit door, Sam did his best not to let out any snorting or scoffing sound as he stared at his brother whose eyes never looked away from Kate. She was standing at the reference desk, where she was patiently waiting for the old librarian to give her the documents she had asked for in order to solve their case. Turning his head back to Dean, Sam realized that the most amusing was the fact that Kate didn't have to do anything special nor to wear any particular clothes for Dean to stare at her. He would just do.
As Kate's heels clicked on the floor of the quiet library, Sam shifted his hazel gaze towards her. She was carrying a bunch of documents in her arms, the pile hiding half of her face. He quickly stepped away from the wall to help her out, but Dean was faster than him as he took the bigger half of the pile from the brunette.
"Alright, it's all the archives about the mysterious missing people of this town over the last fifty years," she informed them.
"And, she agreed on letting you take these with you?" Dean asked, quirking his eyebrows.
"Well, I can be convincing when I want to," Kate smirked at him.
"We saw you flashing your FBI badge," Sam stated and she sighed heavily.
"What else could I do? She didn't want to give me anything before I told her I was an undercover agent," she half whined, looking back and forth at the two brothers.
"Still," Sam declared as he went to open the doors for Dean and Kate to walk out. "If you want to make a good fake fed next time, you gotta learn how to convince people as a non-fed."
Both Dean and Kate stopped in track and frowned, exchanging a confused look as Sam pulled the door closed behind him.
"I'm sure it sounded better in his head," she half-whispered to Dean.
"I heard that," Sam declared as he passed them by to walk up to the Impala parked not even twenty steps away from them.
"He's not wrong, you know?" Dean told Kate who looked up at him as they walked, side by side, to the car. "Sometimes, you need to come through a tricky situation and you can't always pull off the FBI card."
"I'm aware of that. But, you guys mostly pretend to be feds and nothing else, so why not just keep pretending that I'm a fed to anyone I need to seek information from?"
"Because one day, you might cross path with a real fed. And trust me, Cherry, it won't be that easy to get them off your ass," he explained.
"Good point," she stated, before chuckling to herself.
"What?" Dean asked, amused by her light and melodic chuckle.
"Nothing," she shook her head. "It's just... I never thought I'd ever do any kind of identity fraud, you know? I mean, lying to people, making them believe that we are feds so they can trust us and tell us personal things that might help us find the probable monster that's behind all of this..."
"You can still back off if you wanna," he looked down at her soft profile as she bit her bottom lip.
"No… Even though, it's kinda weird, definitely illegal and something that I never imagined myself doing. I feel…" she paused for a couple of seconds.
"Helpful?" Dean suggested and she nodded.
"Exactly," she replied as a heartfelt smile formed on her lips before she looked up at him. "It's like we're helping making this world a little bit better, brighter and safer."
Dean stared at her, not finding the words to say in return before she moved her head towards Sam who was standing next to the Impala, just a few feet away from them. The younger Winchester was watching them with attention, thoughts swirling in his head, when he saw Kate turning her head towards him and then walking up to him.
It was understandable in so much level that Dean didn't want to let his growing attachment for the impossible girl to take its toll on him. Their hunter life meant that they couldn't get what ordinary people with ordinary lives could have, and Kate was an ordinary person that had to soon go back to her ordinary life, in her ordinary universe.
However, as Sam saw Dean's lips curve up in a tiny smile, he couldn't help but believe that sometimes, some things were worth it. Even things which end was inevitably on its way.
The next day.
At the Seventh Motel.
When Sam received a call from the police station declaring that they had found a new clue about the case, Dean immediately leapt up and away from the table around which the trio was gathered to research. It surprised Dean more than Sam when Kate declared that she'd rather stay at the motel to continue the research instead of coming along with them. The elder Winchester knew better than anyone else that Kate didn't bear being left on her own. Although he truly believed that she was one of the strongest person he had ever met, he understood that she would fear being on her own. Simply because he knew that even the strongest people, when on their own, their darkest thoughts could come up and give them hell to pay. Dean had asked her three times if she was certain about staying at the motel, and Kate's answer had been the same yes on the three times, except there was an additional roll of her eyes at the third time.
The instant they left, Kate got herself a beer from the mini fridge and two chocolate bars before returning at the table where a few books were laying open around the two laptops that belonged to Sam and Dean. She buried herself back in the research, making sure to put all of her concentration in finding what creature they were dealing with, while silently hoping that no harm had been done to the three missing people.
Nearly two hours later, her cellphone rang, disturbing her great focus as she wrote down a couple of things she found in an old newspaper article on the web. She reached for her phone without tearing her eyes away from what she was writing down with her right hand.
"Yeah?" She answered the call without even checking who was calling.
"Hey," a familiar voice greeted, hesitance audible in the tone.
"Hey Matt," Kate softly replied as she put down her pen and put her entire focus on her friend's call.
It had been months since she last saw him, but they contacted each other through texts or calls whenever they could. Kate had noticed how weird he sounded these past months and it had worried her so much that she had asked both Bobby and Rufus to check on the young dark-haired hunter. They had told her that he was just a bit shaken up because of a few hard hunts and also because of his struggle to convince Rosemary's sister to not unplug her comatose sister's life support. However, Kate felt like there was something else eating him up from the inside. She couldn't point a finger at what it was, but she was certain there was something else, especially after all the weird conversations she had been having with him these past couple of months. Indeed, whenever he called, he made an implication about the situation the world was in, and conspicuously made Kate feel guilty about not saying 'yes' to the angels.
"How are you doing?" She asked him.
"I'm... I'm fine," he lied and it saddened Kate to know that he wasn't even doing any efforts to make his lie sound like the truth. Not that she wanted him to lie to her, but she knew that when someone was at the end of their tether they didn't have enough strength to pretend to be okay anymore. "You're with the Winchesters?"
"Um, not right now. We're working on a case so they went to the police station," she informed him, her voice nearly hesitant as she bit on her lower lip. She did her best not to ask him immediately what was wrong with him.
"They're back to leaving you out of hunts?" He asked and Kate couldn't help but frown. She knew Matt so well, that she knew that this sentence was the kind of one that he would say in a teasing tone if he was doing alright. This time he said it in such a dull tone that she knew she would no longer be able to keep herself from asking him what was wrong with him.
"No, I wanted to stay back and do research," she replied before quickly continuing. "Matt, what's going on?"
"'What's going on'?" He repeated, a light and almost bitter scoff following his words. "Over a hundred of people died these past couple of weeks because of the extreme temperature. And, this is just in America."
"I know," Kate whispered in reply.
"I don't even wanna imagine the number of the dead across the world," Matt continued, and Kate pressed her lips together, mentally embracing herself for what she knew was to come next. "Kate, I know we've already talked about this, but... Don't you think that helping the angels will stop this all?"
"No, Matt," she shook her head. "If I agree to become that weapon, then it will be worse."
"How can it be worse, Kate? How can it possibly be worse than old and young people dying because the earth is burning up! They are innocent and they are dying because you believe that siding with the angels will be worse."
"I know it will be worse!" She half-shouted. "I've told you what they've done to me, to Sam and Dean. You already know what they are capable of, Matt. And, you already know that saving the world is the least of their concern. All they wanna do is win that fight against Lucifer, at whatever cost."
"Yeah, well I don't see what's bad in that! Lucifer is the one causing all these disasters! Did you hear about that tsunami in Asia last week? Maybe it wasn't a big one, but it still killed hundreds of innocent people," Matt retorted and Kate ran her free hand in her hair, before holding it up on the top of her head. She knew that more innocent people were dying ever since Lucifer got out of his Cage, but she also knew that Heaven's solution was out of question. "Look, I know you think you're doing the right thing by hiding from the angels and not becoming that weapon, but Kate, you need to think about it more thoroughly. If you become that weapon, you will be more powerful than anything else."
"That's the problem, Matt," she interrupted him. "I've already told you what that archangel told us. If I become that weapon, that Light, and the angels use me, the consequences will be terrible."
"Kate, you only see the big picture, and that big picture is twisted! Don't you realize that if you become that weapon, you will have the choice of what to do with all that power?" He asked and Kate frowned, her hand slowly falling from the top of her head. "You're saying that the angels will use you, but the truth is that you will be more powerful than any other creature. More powerful than the demons, the angels and possibly more powerful than God himself."
"What are you saying..." She trailed off in a whisper.
"What I'm saying is that no angel nor demon will be able to use you like a puppet. And, I don't think they'll even dare trying," he explained, and Kate didn't know what to say. She had never looked at that whole thing in that point of view.
Suddenly, it seemed like becoming that weapon was actually the best solution for this world to be saved. Suddenly, it seemed like becoming that weapon wasn't as lethal as Gabriel had made it sound. Suddenly, it seemed like becoming that weapon was the right thing to do. Yet, Kate didn't feel entirely certain about it.
"I... I didn't tell you, but Sam, Dean and I, we're looking for the Colt."
"The Colt like in Samuel Colt's colt?" He asked, and in that moment he sounded just like he used to.
"Yeah," she nodded even though he couldn't see her. "It can kill anything, so maybe the Devil too."
"No," he stated, going back to sounding dry, dreary and even a bit cold.
"What do you mean 'no'?" She inquired, puzzled.
"It won't help," he simply replied and she opened her mouth to say something when he continued. "Kate, if a colt could kill the Devil, the angels wouldn't need you to become that weapon."
"It's our best shot."
"No, you are our best shot," he told her and she let out a heavy sigh.
"Look, I wish it was that simple, but I know it's not. Because it can't be that simple."
"It is simple. If you're really willing to save this world, you'd do it," he declared. "But, I get it... It's not your world, so why bother saving it, huh?"
"Matt-"
"No, no, you're right," he cut her off. "This isn't your fight. Even if you can save us all, that doesn't mean you have to... I just... Just forget what I said, okay? I... I'll call you later."
Kate didn't even have the time to reply when Matt hung up on her, leaving her to worry even more about her friend. The more conversation she had with him, the more she realized he had changed. But then again, this world was changing, too. As time passed by, more disasters happened all around the world and they were all left helpless. She was aware of how much responsible Sam and Dean felt, even though they had been manipulated into doing all these things that could lead to the Apocalypse. Gabriel had told them that Sam and Dean had to be the ones to stop this Apocalypse, and surely not Kate. The archangel had explained how powerful the Light was and what it was meant for. But, Kate was realizing only now that becoming this Weapon would provide her of a power that no creature would be able to face; not even the angels.
The ringing of her cellphone broke her thoughts in thousand pieces, and she looked down at it, in between her fingers. The caller ID was unknown, causing her to slightly frown before she answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Kate? Kate? Is that you?"
The brunette felt like her heart stopped beating all of sudden. Her blood seemed to stop in her veins and her lungs seemed to have forgotten how to work. That voice, that familiar voice, it froze her in spot.
"Kate, please tell me, it's you..." The pleading voice on the other end of the line restarted.
Kate shut her watery eyes tightly, as she slowly unfroze from her state of shock.
With a shaky voice, she whispered, "Alina?"
The next day.
At the Seventh Motel.
Biting. Chewing. Licking. Sucking.
Biting again. Then, chewing, licking and sucking.
Biting harder. Then, chewing, licking and sucking frantically.
"If you keep doing that, you're gonna rip your lips out, Cherry," Dean remarked.
Kate's bottom lip popped out of the hold made by her upper teeth as her brown eyes looked up over the dirty-blond-haired hunter sitting on his queen bed, across where she was sitting at the table.
"And, you'll have some explaining to do once Sam sees what you did to his book," Dean continued, throwing a glance at her hand that had been mechanically folding and unfolding one of the old book's page.
"Uh," she pulled her hand away from the book and looked down at her hand. Dean shifted his gaze away from her lips that were redder after all this biting and chewing she had been doing for the past twenty minutes or so, and he looked down at her hand. It seemed to be trembling, which increased Dean's worry for the young woman.
He took his laptop off his lap, stood up and made his way up to the table. He dragged the empty chair right next to her and sat down, his green eyes focused on her.
"What's wrong?"
"Mmh?" She looked up to him and noticed that he was sitting not even a forearm length away from her.
"What's wrong?" He repeated, looking right into her brown orbs.
"Nothing," she looked away and a little frown appeared on Dean's face. "Just didn't sleep that well."
His eyes scanned her whole face and he knew that she was lying to his face. "I would have believed you if you hadn't been acting weird since yesterday afternoon, and if I didn't know your lying face."
"My lying face?" She asked, trying to sound amused, in vain.
"Kaitlin, you know you can tell me anything," Dean told her, his tone as gentle as his hand as he made her look up at him.
When her gaze met his, she was surprised by the amount of sympathy and kindness that these two emerald green eyes held. No matter how many times he had looked at her with these tender expressions, she was always amazed by how full of kindness he could be after all he had been through. If somebody had to be angry at the world for all this pain and sorrow the world put them through, it had to be Dean Winchester. But, no. Dean never showed any anger at the world, certainly burying it all inside with all the other things he buried deep. Keeping those hurtful feelings deep inside of himself, and letting out only the ones he considered bearable for himself, but also the ones he believed would help the others. These latter ones were also the ones he needed so much, but never asked for them.
"Did you have a nightmare?" He asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"No," she whispered in reply. "I just... I thought about a lot of things last night."
"Did you get some shut eye?" Dean asked her, finally understanding why she looked so tired ever since this morning.
"Um," she began hesitantly.
"No, huh?"
"No."
Dean remained quiet for a few seconds as he wondered what could have kept her awake all night long. When Sam and he had returned to the motel the day before, Kate had seemed a bit agitated as though something had just turned everything upside down in her mind. She hadn't even eaten all her dinner while she was one of the rarest women he had ever seen enjoy a full dinner without making sure that she didn't take too much calories in. There was something bugging at her, and Dean hated that. He knew Kate was the kind of woman who thought and overthought a lot, to the point where she could either lose herself in her thoughts or let her thoughts affect her too much. Truth be told, he didn't think it was a bad thing. It only meant that when she cared about something, she did it entirely and sincerely, and Dean liked that. Without that peculiar feature of hers, she wouldn't be the peace bringer that she was to him. Dean knew how selfish that sounded, but he knew that now he had had a taste of this soothing serenity she constantly brought to him without even trying to, it would be hard for him to see it go away. He quickly buried that thought back with all the other thoughts that made him feel unhappy, and broke the silence.
"Wanna talk about it?"
Kate looked at him, wondering if she could tell him about what was tearing her from the inside.
"Alina?" The brunette had whispered, completely shocked to hear her cousin's voice after so long not hearing it.
"Kate! Please tell me it's really you!" The voice at the other end of the line had replied full of distress.
"It-it's me," Kate had stammered. "But... How-"
"I can't believe it's really you, Kate! You've been missing for so long..."
"But, it's not possi-"
"God! We all thought you were dead!"
"No,no. I'm fine, I'm alright," Kate had replied, feeling the tears forming in her eyes. Then, a smile stretched on her face and the tears escaped her eyes. "It's so good to hear your voice, Ali... But, I-I don't get it. How can-"
"You gotta help me, Kate! I don't know what's happening to me! I don't know where I am!" Alina had suddenly gone back to crying. "I was with Tom and then I just... I was here, miles away from home! He said I was brought here for a reason, but I-"
"Alina, stop," Kate had interrupted her. "Slow down and take a deep breath... Alright, now first thing first, tell me how did you get this number?"
"I... He gave it to me. H-he said that you needed to know that you had to make a choice."
"Who? Who told you that?"
"One minute I was in Topeka and then I wake up towns away! I'm in frigging Garfield! And, that man, he told me it wasn't even the same world! He told me you were alive, he gave me your number and h-he-"
"Ali, you need to slow down!" Kate had told her. "Who are you talking about? Who's that man?"
"I-I don't know... He looked pretty old and he was wearing a suit, and he... He claimed to be an angel.. I think his name was Zach... Yeah, it was Zachariah."
Kate had felt herself stop breathing at that very last word. "What did he tell you... when he gave you my number?"
"He... He said that if you didn't want to say 'yes', I'd have to replace you... But, I-I don't get it."
Kate had then shut her eyes, feeling the weight of that revelation crushing down on her shoulders.
"Kate, you gotta help me... Can you come to me?"
"I...I need a plan. I can't come like that... I'm sorry, you gotta wait..."
"Kate, please, I'm so scared... My son, Tom, I gotta go back to him... Please, Kate, help me... Come to me."
"Give me one day. I'll come tomorrow, I promise. I won't let you down, Alina. I won't let you down," Kate had promised her sobbing cousin.
When Dean's rough hand landed gently on top of hers, Kate's thoughts popped away. With no word, she looked at him, knowing that he was still waiting for an answer from her. But, how could she tell him about her cousin who had been brought to this universe? If she told him, he would understand that the doors were opened and that Kate could be sent back throughout the spell that included her blood. If she told him, maybe he'll just make her and her cousin perform the spell to go back to her universe. If she told him, she would have to leave, and she knew she wasn't ready to do so. Even though it was what she was supposed to do, she wanted to delay her departure. She wanted to wait at least until Chronos came back to make that mysterious deal. She just wasn't ready to leave this world, even though she knew she had to. On the other end, if she didn't say anything, then Zachariah might manipulate her innocent cousin into agreeing on becoming that powerful weapon. After all, the angels did say to her that anyone from her universe could carry that weapon and thus become that weapon. She couldn't risk having Alina do it instead of her. Alina had a family and friends that loved and needed her. She couldn't let the young Tom lose his mother. She couldn't be that selfish. Zachariah had once told her how selfish she was, and she was starting to believe that he was right. But, she couldn't let him be right. And, above all else, she couldn't let her cousin take her burden.
"Kaitlin?" Dean gently asked, causing her to once again be pulled out of her thoughts.
"Why did you never try to make me say 'yes' to the angels?" She asked in a whisper, her eyes travelling down to his hand on the top of hers.
"That's a serious question?" He frowned and she nodded. His green eyes studied her soft face that never ceased to amaze him. Kate was one of the rare persons he knew all the facial expressions from. It said a lot about how long she had been by their sides and how many ups and downs they had been through together. "Gabriel told us that-"
"I'm not talking about Gabriel," she cut him off looking up to meet his gaze. "I'm talking about before that. You could have talked me into working for the angels, so you could avoid becoming that supreme vessel. Sam and you wouldn't have to run away from the angels, you guys-"
"Do you hear yourself?" He interrupted her.
"I'm just wondering if you ever thought about letting me replace you-"
"What?! No. Never!" He immediately exclaimed, utter shock splashed on his face. His eyes scanned her face for a moment, trying to figure out why she would have such thoughts. "This ain't your job. This is mine. I'm the one who started it all. You have nothing to do with that. And, I know I can't stop you from helping us, but when it comes down to the big fight, I don't want you with us, let alone you replacing me. It never crossed my mind, and it will never cross my mind. Simply because it ain't your responsibility, Kaitlin." The brunette's head was lowering when Dean squeezed her hand, causing her to look up at him. "I swear all I ever thought about is keeping you safe."
Kate looked at his freckled face on which tiny old faded scars could still be visible, from his full lips to his almond-shaped eyes that held emerald-green eyes filled with stories that she knew and others that had yet to be told. He looked more beautiful than on the first days she met him. Her father was right, someone's inner beauty really shone out of them when you got to know them more and more.
"Thank you," she gave a little and soft smile at him.
"Anytime," he replied with a nod. He glanced at his hand still holding hers, and cleared his throat as he pulled it away. "Alright. What do you say we find that son of a bitch who's taking people away from their family?" She nodded, which made him stand up.
She looked at him as he turned around, ready to go back on his bed where he had been doing his own part of the research. He only made two steps when Kate stood up from her own chair, the noise causing him to spin around and look at her with a questioning expression that turned into one of surprise when she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a hug.
It had been a little while since she last gave him a hug, and truth be told Dean had missed them. Her hugs always felt good, comforting, and warm. They made him feel supported and cared of, and for a the time of that hug, he almost forgot what he was and what his life was. For the time of her hugs, he wasn't a hunter anymore. He wasn't an archangel's vessel anymore. He wasn't an orphan anymore. He wasn't a broken survivor of Hell. For the time of her hugs, he was just Dean, and that felt more than good.
When Kate snuggled her face in the crook of his neck, Dean realized that she really needed that hug. So, he wrapped his arms around the waist of the young woman standing on her bare tiptoes and brought her even closer to his body. Thinking that she may have really believed that he would have thought about handing her to the angels to save his own ass from what he was supposed to do, Dean gently stroked up and down her lower back.
With that reassuring comfort, he whispered to her, "It's okay... I'll keep you safe, Kaitlin. I won't let you down."
Kate shut her eyes tightly and bit on her bottom lip, Dean's words making her understand even more that she couldn't let her cousin down.
Kate had no other choice but to save her cousin.
She had to; even if it meant that she would have to become Heaven's weapon.
An hour later.
At the Seventh Motel.
It hadn't been that hard for Kate to convince Dean into letting her bring them food from the supermarket ten-minute away from the motel. He had offered to come along, but she had claimed that she would be fine and was actually going to use that little trip to the supermarket to take some fresh air. Fortunately enough, Dean hadn't insisted too much as his cellphone rang and he had to pick it up. Meanwhile, Kate had gone to her adjacent bedroom and took her little bag pack, filling it with some weapons and a couple of necessary demon and angel proof hex bags. She was going to walk out her room, when something crossed her mind as her eyes fell on the motel's notepad on the nightstand. She stared at it for a few seconds before she heard Dean hung up and go to the bathroom. Taking a deep breath, she took the pen that was next to the notepad and pressed her lips together as she wrote a few words of explanation. A feeling of guilt mixed to sorrow was starting to boil inside of her, but she ignored it the best she could as she finished writing the note and walked out of her room.
Quiet as a mouse, Kate crossed the main room with the queen beds to get to the front door. She turned the door knob, pulled the door open, and threw what would be her last glance to Dean's leather jacket. The green-eyed hunter was still in the bathroom, which brought a sense of relief in the young woman. She knew that seeing him again before leaving and lying to his face again, would have hurt too much.
When the toilet flush was heard, she gathered her courage and left the room. She walked with rapid, firm steps, repeating to herself that she was going to save her cousin. She was going to save one of the rare people that had been kind, supportive and understanding back in her old life. Alina had always been more than a simple cousin to Kate, she had been an amazing friend; she had been family. Not only had she been helpful and supportive during her tough teen years, but she had also been there for her later on her life. She had come to visit her at Paris more than once, she had taken care of her father when Kate couldn't, and she had even bought Kate's flight ticket to the States when her father's health was going downhill. Alina had always been there for Kate, and there was no way Kate wasn't going to be there for her. She wasn't going to let her cousin take her place in this surreal and reckless situation. It was her responsibility, not Alina's.
Kate was so deeply lost in her thoughts that she didn't see the tall man walking towards her. It was the collision with his hard body that brought her back to reality, but it was the familiar light chuckle that made her look up at him and realize who she had bumped onto.
"Your head's in the clouds, Katie?" The brown-haired man in his dark blue fed suit chuckled as she stepped back, her brown gaze never breaking the eye contact with his bright hazel eyes that held sparkles of green. "Where are you heading?"
"Um, I'm gonna get some dinner," she replied, her voice little and hesitant.
She didn't want to lie to him. It had already been hard to lie to Dean earlier. Sure, she had already lied to them a good number of times, in order to protect them or to spare them the potential hurt and guilt that they would have felt if she had ever told them everything. This time, it was a bit more complicated. Telling them the truth meant risking her cousin's life, and telling them the truth meant showing that she was ready to betray their trust and join the angels if it meant saving her cousin. And, of course, telling them the truth meant informing them that the doorways to her universe were opened and she could go back to where she came from. That latter thought always provoked an indescribable pang in Kate's heart that she was always trying to ignore.
"Want me to come along?" Sam asked, pulling the brunette out of her thoughts.
"What? No, no, no," she hurriedly told him, causing his brow to furrow in confusion. "I'm just going to the supermarket down there. You go back to Dean and you help him with the research."
"Yeah, about that. I think I got a lead," he declared, before frowning with puzzlement at the way her eyes were studying his face now. "Is there something on my face?"
"No," she softly replied, a tiny smile slowly forming on her lips as she looked at his young face and realized something.
Similarly to his brother, Sam had an inner beauty that exploded on the outside. From all of his tallness that could intimidate more than one, Sam was by far the kindest and most compassionate young man she had ever met. He wasn't afraid to show his sensitive side in front of people as long as it brought help and support to people. From the very first day they met, Sam had always been friendly to her, and she had always felt an ease with him that reminded her of the one she shared with her cousin... Her cousin...
"I should go. You know how Dean is when he's hungry," Kate stammered as she remembered that she had to hurry to get to her cousin. Sam watched her, a bit perplexed by the brunette's behaviour. She seemed too agitated and Sam knew her well enough to know that there was something bugging at her.
"Yeah, um, sure," he nodded at her, mentally telling himself that he would figure out what was wrong with her once she'd come back with the food. "See you later, then."
These four simple words hit Kate like a ton of bricks. Not only was she maybe never going to see them again, but she was also betraying them and their trust. Saying 'yes' to the angels was more than a low blow to them and their trust. Their entire fight to save their world was at stake. But, she couldn't let her cousin be taken away from her son, and become that weapon. It wasn't her responsibility. It was Kate's, and Kate knew that she had no other choice.
With no word, Kate made one big step to him and slid her arms under his so she could wrap them around his back and hug him. It was a tight hug that got Sam perplexed and concerned for his friend. He looked down at her, his gaze falling on the top of her brown hair and then travelling down to the tiny bag on her back. He wrapped his own arms around her, right below her bag, and returned the hug.
Then, with his gentle voice that always warmed and reassured Kate, he asked, "You sure you're okay, Katie?"
She bit on her lower lip and took a few seconds before she took a step back, breaking their embrace while keeping her hands on his forearms. She looked up to meet his eyes full of genuine care, concern and benignity. Her eyes roamed his whole face for a couple of seconds and she gave him a tender smile, gently squeezed his arms and nodded in answer to his question.
"I'm just gonna bring us some food," she told him, her voice sounding ordinary enough for Sam to not ask further questions. "And, don't worry, I won't forget to bring you an extra salad for your midnight cravings." He couldn't help the light scoff that escaped his throat, and then they both turned around to go on their own ways.
A few steps away, Sam stopped, turned around again, looking over at Kate as she walked towards the supermarket a few feet away. He called her, causing her to spin around. "You be careful, Katie, okay?"
She looked at him, quiet for a couple of seconds and then she smiled at him, "Just go back to your brother, Sam."
And as Sam turned around and walked up to the motel's building, Kate felt her smile fading away and her heart getting heavy with guilt, sorrow and pain.
But, she knew that she had no other choice.
A few minutes later.
When Sam returned to their room, he found Dean on the phone with Bobby, so he decided to take that opportunity to change into his casual jeans, plaid shirt and boots. While changing in the bathroom, the young Winchester couldn't stop his thoughts from wandering around what happened just a moment ago. There seemed to be something deeply bothering her and he was struggling to figure out what it was. Maybe it was just this case of missing people that was bugging her. It wasn't an easy case and the documents they had brought from the library had shown them that the same events had happened a good number of times in this town over the past fifty years. About six people went missing every five years, and no one in this town seemed to find anything weird about it all. However, this time around, one of the missing persons was a teenage girl of only seventeen years old, and her whole family was more than worried about her. While investigating, the trio had been told more than once by the neighbourhood that this teenager surely had just run away. The fact that this teenager's best friend passed away a month ago, gave the police and the rest of the town the possibility to think that she had nothing to do with the other disappearances that happened lately. Nevertheless, Sam and Dean, and even Kate now, knew better than that. Something supernatural was undoubtedly hiding behind the disappearance of that teenager, and it was certainly the same thing that had taken away the other missing people.
Nonetheless, Sam's instinct was telling him that what was bothering Kate wasn't that case. She hadn't shown any reluctant feeling as to take care of this case, she had researched as thoroughly as usual and she had helped interviewing some people, too. She had shown an undeniable determination to resolve this case, and possibly find the missing persons to bring them back home, safe and sound.
His federal suit in one arm, Sam stepped out of the bathroom, still wondering what could have caused Kate to act that way, when he saw that Dean had finished talking on the phone and was now rummaging through the documents scattered on the table.
"What's going on?" Sam asked, slightly frowning at him as he put his suit on the back of one chair.
"Bobby, he told me that he and Rufus came here a few years ago," Dean told him, taking Sam apart.
"What? And, what did he say about the creature?"
"Well, he thought they got it killed, but when people started to disappear again five years ago, he realized that there was more than one creature," Dean told him, his hands pushing the documents in the search of a peculiar sheet of paper. "He sent a couple of hunters down here and they killed one, but the other one ran away."
"So, we're dealing with the runaway," Sam concluded.
"Yeah, and that's not it," Dean replied. "He said that on the two times, the vics were from the same family."
"So, the creature targets people from the same family?"
"No, that's more than that—Ah!" He exclaimed as he took a piece of paper out of the many documents on the table.
"What's that?"
"A sort of diagram I saw Kaitlin doing when we came back from the library the other day," Dean explained, his eyes rapidly scanning the paper in between his fingers. "That girl is a genius," he half-sighed to himself.
"What? Why?" Sam inquired, walking around the table so he could stand next to his brother and look at the paper. Dean handed it to him and Sam immediately realized what their friend had done.
Kate had drawn a diagram that permitted to show what linked the missing people together over the past fifty years. It seemed that these creatures weren't attacking people from the same family, but people who had lived the same tragedy. The time Bobby and Rufus came to hunt these creatures, a family had lost two of their children in a car accident. The time Bobby sent a couple of hunters to hunt the two creatures that ran away from Bobby and Rufus, a family had lost close relatives who had gone to serve their country. This time around, the missing people were all linked through the local high school. One was a teacher, another was the school social assistant and the teenager was a student. The tragedy linking them all together was the suicide of the teenager's best friend a month ago.
"So, you were right, we're not dealing with a Crocotta," Sam said as he lifted his head and looked over at Dean who was reaching for his laptop.
"No, you were right," Dean replied, bringing the laptop to the table. "It's a Crocotta, just not the usual one. It's a Praetititum Crocotta."
"A Praetititum Crocotta?" Sam frowned as he leaned down to look at what Dean had found in his research.
Dean crossed his arms over his chest, "Read."
Sam glanced up at him before putting one hand on the table and reading out loud the article, "Although the myths and legends state that the Crocotta, or Corocotta, is a unique creature. Many varieties can be found when reading ancient manuscripts; varieties such as the Praeteritum Crocotta –" Sam threw a glance up at Dean who mentioned him to keep reading. "The Praeteritum Crocotta is a type of Crocotta that needs one simple touch to know its victim's personal past, fears and secrets. Its usual strategy is to focus on a group of people is going through the same kind of grief, loss and pain. Once the creature knows its victim, it doesn't need that much effort than an ordinary Crocotta to convince them to come to them. Their method is to use their knowledge of the victim's past in order to build guilt in them and to urge them to come to them. Although some stories say that modern Crocottas are able to control technology devices to call their victims, the Praeteritum Crocotta would relay on contact for that, too. It is important to know that feeding from the souls of its victims allows the Praeteritum Crocotta to have the physical appearance of a young man and live for centuries, always in the search of a more powerful soul to consume—" Sam stopped abruptly, his eyes going round as realization hit him.
"See," Dean started, waving at the laptop. "So, if it's a Praetetititum or whatever Crocotta, we-"
"Dean!" Sam interrupted him, looking up at him with urgency in his hazel eyes. "Katie!" Dean slightly frowned at him. "If there's a Praeteritum Crocotta in town, he's gonna want her."
"But, he can't see her soul, she's got that tattoo that makes her soul look normal!"
"If he touches her, he won't need to see through that tattoo, he'll know everything about her!" Sam exclaimed, causing Dean to quickly jump to his cell phone.
He pressed three buttons and immediately put the phone against his ear, waiting for her to pick it up as Sam watched him with eyes full of worry. Frown expressions appeared on both of their faces when they heard the ringing tune of Kate's cellphone, echoing from the adjacent bedroom. Closely followed by Sam, Dean went to open the door for that room, the ringing tune growing louder and louder as they walked in the room. Dean stopped and hung up when he spotted the brunette's cellphone on the edge of the bed. He turned to look at Sam who was walking towards the nightstand.
"What's that?" Dean asked, his voice almost emotionless as he stared at his little brother holding the paper up to read it.
"It's a goodbye note," Sam replied, swallowing down before he shifted his gaze to his brother who frowned at him.
"What the fuck are you talkin' about?" Dean exclaimed, approaching him and tearing the paper from Sam's hand. He looked down at it, and surely it was her writing.
"Dean-" Sam began, only to be cut off by his brother.
"It's the Crocotta. The son of a bitch took her," Dean stated through gritted teeth, closing his fist around the paper. "Come on!"
"Where to?" Sam exclaimed as his brother walked out of the room, the note still inside his fist. "We don't even know where this Crocotta could be!"
"I know," Dean replied, his voice low and dangerous.
All Sam could do was hope that Dean really knew where to find that creature before Kate found it. The words she had written down on that note flashing back in his mind and increasing his fear and worry of the worst to happen.
They brought my cousin to this universe to use her
as the weapon, and I can't let that happen...
I'm sorry...I'm sorry for doing this to you...
I'm sorry for everything.
You have been more than what I needed.
Thank you.
Kaitlin
A while later.
When Kate parked the blue car by the roadside, she realized how quiet her surroundings were. Her trip from the motel parking lot where she had stolen that blue car, to this road had been filled with so many loud thoughts that she hadn't noticed how silent and empty the road down to here had gotten. She looked outside the window, the darkness of the night not offering her much to see aside from the shapes of the forest trees. She turned to the passenger seat, grabbed her bag, opened the door and got out of the car. She quietly closed the door behind her as she moved her brown gaze up to the old big yellow sign that her cousin told her about in the phone last night. They were supposed to meet around this place. Her cousin had told her that she had found an old cabin in the forest, and she had promised to not leave this cabin until Kate came.
The young brunette took the two knives out of the bag. She slid one in her boot and kept the other in her hand. She swung her bag on her back, reached for the tiny flashlight hung at her waist and took it off before clasping the knife at its place. She switched on the flashlight, took a deep breath and walked into the forest. She could feel her hands shaking, not out of fear, but out of something indescribable. It was a mixture of excitement, sorrow, guilt and something else; something that she couldn't point a finger at. But it was there, deep, raw and hurtful, almost primal. It was something she had only ever felt once, after her assault. It burned through her then, just as burned through her now. This feeling turned her blood to fire and her heart to stone, and all she wanted was to seek vengeance.
To spill blood.
She tried to ignore it all as she put her entire focus in finding the cabin where her cousin was hiding. Her flashlight helped her find some kind of path between the tall trees, but she wasn't even certain of going to the right way. However, she could hear her cousin's voice repeating in her head to come to her. The deeper Kate walked in the forest, the louder the voice in her head seemed to get. And, the louder the voice in her head seemed to get, the more determined Kate felt.
A sudden noise of cracking wood caused the brunette to leap around. She moved the flashlight to that direction where the noise seemed to come from.
"Alina?" She half-whispered, her eyes trying to find spot what had made that noise, but there was absolutely nothing. She sighed and went back into following that seemingly pathway.
It wasn't long before another noise of movement echoed behind her. Kate spun around, her free hand immediately finding its way around the knife hung with the bungee at her waist. "Alina, is that you?"
"Kate!" She heard her cousin's voice call, causing Kate to slowly let go of her weapon as she saw the cabin just a few feet away from her. "Please, Kate... Come to me."
Meanwhile.
At the Benton's Dinner.
The elder hunter was boiling with anger as he slammed the man against the wall, causing the old waitress to yelp in fear and his little brother to leap at him.
"Dean! Stop it!" Sam shouted at his brother as he tried to pull him away from the plump man. He had to put a bit more of strength to get Dean away from the man. Once Dean finally let go, he shrugged Sam's hands off him.
"What kind of cops are you?!" The waitress cried at them, rushing over to her boss' side. "Dave, you're okay?"
"I told you to tell us where that young boy is!" Dean grunted at the man, ignoring the waitress as his green eyes glared at the restaurant's big boss.
"I-I already told you, I don't know!" The man stuttered. "He's been working with us for just ten days now! He hasn't given us the file back, yet! I-we don't know where he lives!"
When they left their motel room earlier, Sam and Dean had found out that a car had been stolen in the parking lot. From what the people on the parking lot was saying, Sam and Dean had been more than able to put two and two together. Kate had been the one to steal that car so she could find place where she believed her cousin was waiting for her. Once in the Impala, Sam had asked Dean where he thought the Crocotta was, and from the very short sentences his brother gave him, Sam understood that Dean believed the young waiter at the Benton's Dinner to be the Crocotta. It didn't make that much sense for Sam, even when Dean reminded him that this youngster had taken Kate's cellphone to fix it when they were at the restaurant a few days ago. Nevertheless, Dean seemed utterly convinced with what his instinct was telling him, and Sam didn't dare say anything as Dean drove them up to that restaurant. Indeed, the elder hunter was worried about the young brunette, to the point where his worry was no longer worry, but a pure mixture of frustration and rage. Sam was extremely worried as well, but he canalized all this energy to turn things over in his head, in hope that it would help him speed the solving of this case, that would only make them find Kate before any harm happened to her.
"Wait, y-you're talking about the new waiter? Jimmy? Jimmy Lutheran?" A blond teenager girl asked, a few feet behind them.
Dean immediately whipped around to look at this young waitress, "You know him?"
"Not really. He's kinda new in town," she hesitantly replied. "I know some of my friends find him weird. They think he's creepy because he's way too friendly and he looks a lot like the guy who was honoured by the city like fifty years ago." Sam frowned and turned his head to look at the young waitress. "But, I guess what's really creepy is that he lives on his own in a cabin in the middle of the forest."
"Which forest?" Dean snapped at her.
"Um, the one just outside the belt highway, near an old big yellow tourist sign," she replied, looking at Dean with round eyes as he immediately walked out of the restaurant.
After giving quick apologizes for Dean's behaviour, Sam hurriedly followed his brother outside to find him already slamming the Impala's door closed. The younger Winchester ran to get in the black car that Dean started before Sam even got the chance to close his own door.
"Dean, slow down!" Sam half-shouted at his brother as he shut the door and his brother sped the car into the highway leading to the belt highway.
"It ain't time to slow down! That son of a bitch may already be with Kaitlin right now!" Dean replied, his voice rougher than usual as his eyes remained focus on the road and his hands turned the steering wheel rapidly and precisely to make the Impala go past the other cars in a flawless and swift way that could only make them earn more time.
"Yeah, but what if that's not the right guy!" Sam exclaimed, looking at his brother's profile with even more concern.
"That's the right guy."
"Dean, we don't know that! It's not because he touched Kate's phone and possibly Kate's skin, or because he lives in the forest and he looks like a dude that lived fifty years ago, that it means it's the creature we're looking for!" Sam told him, trying to reason his brother into not rushing in without being certain.
"I saw a picture of that honoured guy! He doesn't look like that waiter, he's the spitting of image of him! Hell, he's him! I'm telling you, he's the fuckin' Crocotta, Sam!" Dean threw a stern glance at his little brother who took a deep breath and sighed.
"Alright," Sam nodded, turning his head to look in front of him and he realized that they were already speeding into the highway belt now.
The lights along the highway all began to disappear as the road got darker and darker. With one flick movement, Dean switched on the high beams of the headlights, and Sam could discern a few irregular, weirdly shaped oaks along the way. A sign announced them that they were getting closer to the forest, but it still wasn't that close to where they were. Now that the highway was clear of cars, Dean stepped on the gas, the Impala's engine roaring wilder and the wheels almost screeching on the smooth ground.
Sam turned his head to look at his big brother. Dean seemed angry, but in fact, it was obvious for Sam that his brother was just terrified. He knew his brother better than anyone else, so it wasn't hard for him to read him. Sure, there were times when Sam found himself unable to point at what Dean was feeling or thinking, but most of the times he knew. Just like he knew that what Dean was feeling and thinking whenever he stared at Kate with such big green eyes. And, as Sam scanned his brother's profile right now, he knew that the way Dean had been watching at Kate lately was linked to the hard expression displaying on his face. Sam knew that Dean was terrified at the idea of losing Kate. Sam knew that Dean wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to the young woman they had all grown so attached to.
The subtle sounds of steps getting closer to Kate from behind, stopped the brunette just a few feet away from the old cabin's door. She could feel a shiver running down her spin, but as the strange noises disappeared, she went back into walking. Nevertheless, her instinct was telling her that something was off. Her instinct was slowly getting the upper hand on the leitmotiv words echoing inside her head. All the 'come to me' her cousin's voice repeated in her head started to vanish. Slowly, everything that she had been taught during all of her training sessions with her hunter friends awoke inside of her. Her hearing focused itself on her surroundings; her steps became more careful, her hand tightened around the tiny flashlight while her free hand reached for the knife at her waist.
In a swift movement, Kate spun around.
Her brown eyes went big and round at what she saw.
There was the young waiter from the Benton's dinner standing right in front of her, his mouth inhumanly wide open to display two rows of sharp teeth.
The creature was rapid as it immediately leapt at her, its strong hands pushing her against a tree.
Kate grunted as her back harshly collided against the tree. She moved her head away, grimacing with her eyes shut as she tried to push the creature away from her with her hand still holding on the flashlight. She brought her other hand up, ready to stab at the creature with her knife, but the creature quickly stopped her by grabbing her forearm and hitting it against the tree until Kate dropped the knife.
"I'm so hungry," the creature roared in Alina's voice, causing Kate to stop fidgeting. It hit her all of sudden that her cousin had never been here. "Your soul will satiate me for centuries and centuries, stranger from another world!"
The angels had never brought her cousin to this universe. It was all a trick from this creature, and undoubtedly this creature was what Sam had been saying all along. It was a Crocotta that somehow saw her soul through her tattoo. It was a Crocotta and it was going to eat her soul.
;;;;;;;
The loud honking of a truck driving opposite them, towards them, made Dean wheel the car to the bumpy roadside, startling Sam, who looked back and forth at the truck and then at Dean who kept driving too fast and reckless as ever.
"Dean!" Sam shouted at his brother. "We won't make it if you drive like that!" Dean clenched his strong jaw and drove his car back into the smooth road. "We won't be able to save Kate if we die beforehand!"
Dean ignored him, stepping harder on the gas and tightening his grip around the steering wheel. Sam watched him, eyes full of concern and also compassion.
"Dean, I'm scared for Kate, too! I wanna get there in time... But what if it's too late, what if-"
"It's not too late!" Dean cut him off in a growl, sending him an almost glare before returning his nearly teary green eyes back to the road. "I won't let it be too late! You hear me? I won't let this fuckin' creature put one finger on her!"
Sam watched him, his eyes gentle as he almost murmured, "But, what if she called the angels?"
"What?!" Dean exclaimed, not understanding what Sam was telling him.
"In her note, she said that she wasn't gonna let her cousin become the weapon. So-" Sam paused for a second. "So, what if she called the angels to trade herself in exchange of her cousin?"
"No," Dean simply replied through gritted teeth. "I'm sure she went for the Crocotta first."
"What makes-"
Dean suddenly slammed on the brake causing his body and his brother's to swing forward on the dashboard. Sam groaned, but didn't say anything as he saw Dean immediately jump out of the Impala. His hazel eyes looked out the window and when he spotted the old yellow tourist sign with the stolen car parked right at the foot of it, he quickly got out of the car.
His big brother was already standing in front of their trunk, arming himself with two sharp knives and a machete when Sam approached him. Dean took a flashlight while Sam grabbed a couple of weapons for himself, and within five seconds they made their way up to the stolen blue car and then followed what looked like a pathway into the forest; a pathway certainly leading up to that old cabin.
Not ten seconds in between the trees, and the two brothers heard distinct noises of fighting. Just one look at each other and then they ran towards that direction.
It didn't take long for them to reach the location where the noise came from. But, when they arrived a few feet away from the cabin, they both stopped in track at what they saw.
Kate was startling the creature, her two hands holding a knife up in the air before bringing it down in one strong and rapid movement. It went right through the creature's neck and the creature let out a growling yelp before it died. But, Kate didn't move then. She remained completely still. Her hand was holding the knife handle with a death grip while the blade was still planted in the creature's neck. Her eyes were fixating right into its eyes. Its eyes had looked strangely old when she had bumped into the creature without even knowing it at the dinner's. But now its eyes looked young, and even human. If it hadn't been for its monstrous mouth, she would have felt like killing a simple, young boy. Truth be told, as she looked right into its eyes, she felt like doing so, and she couldn't even divert her gaze.
"Katie," Sam gently said as he put his large hand on her shoulder. She was slightly startled as she lifted her head up to look at the young Winchester that she hadn't even noticed coming here. "It's done. He's – it's dead."
"I," She began in a faint voice before she turned her head to see Dean standing, a few feet away. He was holding his flashlight at them, but his arm was slowly lowering down as he watched her from his spot. Kate looked down when she felt Sam's hand slowly take hers off the knife. Her gaze travelled up his brown-clad arm up to him and she saw that he was crouching at her side. She didn't say a word as he helped her up, but when he saw a grimace appear on her slightly bruised and cut face, he frowned.
"You're okay?" He inquired Kate, as he also noticed the way she was trying to stand on her left leg only.
"The girl... She's in there. He told me he didn't feed on her, yet," she told him, ignoring his question.
Sam glanced at the cabin behind him before looking over at his brother, "The missing teen is in there, Dean! She's still alive!"
Dean didn't think twice before rushing to the cabin. Kate's brown eyes followed him before Sam's voice got her attention.
"Can you walk?"
The lack of Dean's flashlight prevented her from truly making out Sam's face now, but it still hurt to hear that much kindness in the voice of the person she had been ready to betray just a moment ago. That feeling that she couldn't describe earlier. That feeling that was mixed with her excitement of seeing her cousin again. That feeling that was mixed with her sorrow of having to leave the Winchesters and all the people she had grown so close to. That feeling that was mixed with her guilt of being ready to side with the angels. She knew what that feeling was now.
"Katie?" Sam asked again.
"Yeah, I can walk," she murmured before trying to walk, but failing as her right ankle had been sprained during her fight against the creature. She almost fell, causing a groan of pain to escape her throat, which instantaneously made Sam understand that she couldn't walk.
"You obviously can't. Come on," he told her as he put one arm around her legs and the other around her back before easily lifting her up.
As Sam carried Kate up in his arms, the brunette realized how much she didn't deserve his kindness after the betrayal she had been ready to do. As Sam carried her in his arms, waiting for Dean to get out of the cabin with the teenager, Kate felt that previously indescribable feeling take over every inch of her body and soul.
Shame.
Utter, profound shame.
Some moments later.
At the local hospital.
Biting down on her bottom lip, Kate kept her brown eyes focused on the crutches that helped her walking down the corridor. A nurse was walking by her sides, ensuring that the young brunette was getting a good hold of how to walk with crutches.
"I thought you said you've already used crutches," the nurse commented, a friendly smile on her pink lips.
Kate glanced up at her, "Um, it was quite a long time ago. I was a teen back then."
"Oh, I see," the nurse replied, still all smiley. "Well, you won't need to use them more than twenty days, agent. I'd even say not more than a couple of weeks if you make sure to rest well and to massage your ankle with the ointment everyday."
"Yeah, right."
"And, same goes for your bruises. Especially around your left shoulder blade," the nurse added before they both turned to the left to an almost empty corridor. "Here we are."
Kate lifted her head to see Sam, standing up from one of the seats that went the length of the corridor. Their gazes immediately met, and once again she was ashamed to see such genuine kindness in his bright hazel orbs. Kate turned her head to the nurse when she felt her hands gently and slowly propelling her towards the seats.
"As you can see your colleague is doing fine, agent," the nurse told Sam as she helped Kate to sit down. Sam watched them before he moved his attention to the nurse who turned to him, handing out a couple of documents for him to take. "Just a little sprained ankle, and minor injuries here and there, but nothing to worry about. Although, make sure that she takes least three weeks of sick leave before she gets back on the field."
"Of course," Sam replied, looking down at the papers in his hand before glancing over at Kate to see that she had her head lowered down. His brow furrowed at that, but he was quickly distracted by the nurse pulling his attention back to her.
"You'll find all the details about her condition in these two papers, and everything she needs to take for getting better in the other paper."
"Thank you," Sam politely smiled at her.
"Alright, I'll leave you both alone, agents," the nurse smiled at him and then at Kate, before walking off, leaving Sam and Kate alone in that empty corridor.
"How you feeling?" Sam asked breaking any potential silence to settle between them.
The brunette lifted her head and looked up at him with a perplexed gaze. They scanned each other's face. His bright hazel eyes went from the cut just above her right eyebrow to the cut in the corner of her lips, and then to the little bruise forming on her left cheekbone. Meanwhile, her brown eyes travelled all over his face, in search of an explanation for his kindness that she knew she didn't deserve the slightest.
"Why?" She asked, confusing him.
"'Why' what?"
"Why are you asking me this?" She developed, shaking her head. "Why are you asking me how I'm feeling after what I've done to you?"
"What you've done to me?" Sam inquired, his eyebrows shooting up as he was taken off guard by her words that were only getting more confusing. "What have you done to me?"
"I've lied to you. I've lied to you and Dean, and I-I was gonna... You've been there for me, you've helped me through so much. You've done so much and I was gonna betray you. I was gonna do anything that the angels wanted of me. I'm so sorry-" she stopped herself when her voice started to crack.
Sam automatically went to sit down on the seat right next to hers.
"Hey, come on, it's okay, Katie. It's alright," Sam reassured her, dropping one hand on top hers. "I get it. Dean and I get it. This Crocotta was a strong one—"
"It's not an excuse!" She cut him off. "I should've known it was a Crocotta. I've read things about Crocotta! I've read the book about that time when you and Dean went to kill one! Hell, I've even read your father's notes about it!"
"My father's notes?" Sam furrowed his brows and Kate closed her eyes, letting out a long sigh.
"Yeah, I've read your father's journal without you giving me any kind of permission to do so," she admitted, no pride in her voice at all. She then turned her head to look at him. "See, yet another argument to show how I'm not trustworthy. I don't deserve your trust or your kindness or your sympathy or-"
"Okay, slow down here," Sam interrupted her. "First, you gotta know that Dean and I have been thinking about offering you to read our father's journal for a little while now. We know there are some good notes in there that you could use to fill your journals."
"That makes it worse," Kate murmured as she realized that they were willing to show her something as personal as their father's journal that was filled with not only information about hunts and creatures, but also with personal, heartbreaking memories of theirs.
"No, that doesn't," Sam sighed, turning his body so that he could face her properly.
"Of course it does, Sam. I went on your back to read this journal and I-"
"Katie, just drop it," he stopped her. "It's alright. Trust me, I'm not mad that you've read it, and I'm sure Dean won't be mad either. Just like we're not mad at you for what you were gonna do."
"How can you not be mad at me for that?" She asked, her eyes softly confused as they stared at Sam's gentle face.
"This Crocotta, it wasn't a regular one. This one needs one touch to know its victim's past. It uses all this knowledge to build up so much guilt and shame in the victim that nothing can stop them from going to the Crocotta," Sam explained as Kate's eyes slightly squinted as she listened carefully to him. "When the Crocotta touched you, it knew that you were from another universe. It knew that you wouldn't let anyone else become the weapon at your place. And, I guess that when you bumped into the creature back at the diner that night, it triggered all these memories about your cousin. And, well, it just went crescendo when it called you with your cousin's voice." Kate bit on her bottom lip, lowering her gaze as she tried to consider his explanation. "The Crocotta had so much control on you that it almost made you say 'yes' to the angels. It blinded you into thinking that it was the right thing to do."
Kate frowned harder at what he had just added. She licked her lips and pressed them together before looking down at his hand that was still on top of hers. His hand was so large that she couldn't see hers anymore, but she could feel the warmth of his hand on the skin of hers. She could feel the support and gentleness in that little, simple gesture of his, and yet she was still filled with shame.
"So, now that the Crocotta is dead, his spell on me is supposed to be completely gone, right?" She inquired in a soft whisper.
"I suppose," he whispered back.
"So, why am I still feeling ashamed?" She looked up at him, her eyes full of pain.
Sam squeezed his hand around hers and she felt a lump form in her throat as he stared straight into her eyes.
"There's nothing you should be ashamed of, Katie. If anything, you should be proud of yourself. You saved an innocent, tonight. And, once the Crocotta's spell wears completely off you, you'll realize that you didn't do anything to be ashamed of."
Kate was speechless at the amount of gentleness she was faced with. She couldn't remember one single time when Sam wasn't patient, merciful and kind-hearted with her. Even when she offered to locate the Colt with a locating spell a few weeks ago, he gently reminded her that she had promised not to perform any magic spell. Kate couldn't believe that she had been ready to let down someone like him. She couldn't believe that she had been ready to let down the people that put so many smiles on her face, the people that helped her overcome most of her inner demons. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but wonder if she would have truly gone that far if she hadn't been under the Crocotta's control. What would she have done if the angels had really brought her cousin to blackmail into saying 'yes' to them? Would she have been ready to sacrifice herself and this entire world to save her cousin? Would she have been ready to let down all these hunters after all they did for her? Would Sam still be as sympathetic if she had willingly done this?
Slowly dropping her gaze down, her thoughts vanished all at once when she saw his hand still on hers. This young man who had been through so much pain and misery was giving her a strength that he needed more than her, or that even his big brother needed more than her.
Suddenly, it hit her that Dean wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Where's Dean?" She asked in a whisper, scanning the empty little corridor before looking up at Sam.
"He's checking on the teen and her family. They came as soon as we got here," he answered, his hazel eyes discerning some kind of concern in her gaze that got him to slightly frown. "What?"
"Alina... She said that I've been missing for a long time," Kate said in a thoughtful tone.
"It wasn't her," Sam began before Kate cut him off.
"Yeah, I know. But..." She trailed off, frowning as her eyes fell down to Sam's neck and his shirt's line. "I've never looked at it like that, but what if Alina is actually looking for me back there? What if she's looking for me just like this family has been looking for their daughter? I've always selfishly just thought about me. I've never thought that it could have done something to anyone back there. But, after all these months, what if they think that I'm..." She moved her brown gaze back up to meet Sam's hazel gaze. "What if they think that I'm dead?"
A few minutes later.
Standing in the hallway, Dean was quiet as he watched through the tiny window the teenager's family embracing her with so much relief and joy painted all over their features. When the hugs were over, the mother never left her daughter' sides as she stoked her hair non-stop while her father held the tiny hand in his. Fortunately, the young teenager hadn't seen the true form of the Crocotta and she didn't want to talk about the calls she thought she had had from her dead friend. The cops didn't question the young girl very much when Dean told them that Jimmy Lutheran was a disturbed youngster that had been searched for by the FBI for about a year now. All that mattered was that she was safe and sound, and she was back to her family.
"Agent!" A cheerful exclaimed, causing Dean to turn his head to the left where he spotted the nurse who had been taking care of Kate, walking up towards him. "I just left your co-workers back in the wing C. You're all free to go now."
"Thanks," Dean gave a little smile as the nurse passed him by to go away. He threw another glance through the window before making his way to the wing C.
The images of everything that happened in just a few hours resurfaced in his mind. It had been one hell of a stressful night. No matter how much Dean knew that Kate's life was safe until at least Chronos came back, he still had felt as though they had been within a hair's breadth of losing Kate tonight. This goodbye note she had left for them and this hug she had given him bounced back in his mind. But, it all vanished away when another terrible image appeared in his mind – Kate startling the Crocotta and killing it. Dean couldn't help but feel guilty about this. If he had been more careful, he wouldn't have left her alone and she wouldn't have gone to the forest. If he had been more careful, she wouldn't have gone to the forest and she wouldn't have had to fight against that creature. If he had been more careful, she wouldn't have had to fight against that creature and she wouldn't have had to kill it. Because of him, Kate was going to have to endure nightmares of this moment. Dean had dirtied her hands by being so careless instead of protecting her. Maybe, he had been wrong all along. Maybe, keeping her by their sides wasn't a good idea.
"Dean," Sam's voice exclaimed with surprise, pulling the elder Winchester out of his thoughts as he realized that he had already reached the wing C of the hospital.
Sam and Kate were standing in front of a row of seats in an empty corridor. Dean's eyes immediately went to the young brunette, travelling from the crutches to her face painted with tiny cuts and bruises. Kate bit on her bottom lip and looked away; something that didn't go unnoticed by the young Winchester. He looked down at her profile before quickly looking over at Dean, standing just three feet away from them with his eyes glued to Kate in a soft indescribable way. But, for watching his brother staring at the brunette all these times, Sam could sense that they both needed some time on their own now.
"Um, Dean, maybe you should help Kate walk to the car while I go check if I can't get her medication from here," Sam suggested, before walking away without letting any of them interject.
Brown eyes followed Sam as he walked away and disappeared at the corner of the corridor, while green eyes remained stuck on the brunette.
"You're okay?" Dean's deep voice asked, causing Kate to shift her gaze and attention to him. She gave a faint nod as simple answer. "You can walk? I mean, with these things?" He waved at her crutches. She gave another little nod. "Good," he stated, nodding. "I'll ask Bobby to make sure you don't walk too much, though."
"Bobby?" She softly inquired, confused.
"Yeah. I'm driving you back at his place," he informed her before turning around, ready to walk again as he added a few final words. "And you'll stay there."
"What?" She asked, taken aback. "What do you mean I'll stay there?"
"I mean you'll stay there until we all find a 200% safe way to send you back to your universe," he replied, still giving his back to her.
"So, that's it!" She exclaimed, causing him to turn around and look at her. "That's all it's ever been about. You've been trying to get rid of me, and now that I've almost betrayed you and Sam, you have a good argument to do so." Dean looked at her with the most confused expression on his face, but it didn't stop her. "I should've known better. You even said it when we were at the 'Supernatural' convention. I should've known that when you found that blood spell, it was only to speed my departure, I-"
"Whoa, slow down!" He cut her off, holding his hands up to emphasize his words. "You think I'm trying to get rid of you? Kaitlin, you should know that it's not that. Hell, if I could I would –" Dean stopped himself short and he diverted his green eyes from Kate's intense gaze for a couple of seconds. "You remember those nights we shared a bed, months ago? There was a night, we spent hours talking, getting to know each other. It was the most normal exchange I ever had with anyone. It was so ordinary, and I suppose that's why it felt so extraordinary for me." A little wistful smile appeared in the corner of his lips before his green eyes went back to look into her brown ones. "My point is that, that night I made a promise. I promised to send you back home, safe and sound. The thing is that the more time passes, and the less I think I'm able to keep that promise."
"Dean," she began, only to be interrupted by him.
"The worst is that I really believed that I could keep you safe!"
"You do!" She interjected. "You keep me safe, Dean."
"Try telling this to someone else and without the crutches, too," he scoffed as she scanned his face.
"Are you actually mad at yourself for what happened tonight?" She asked and his facial reaction was enough for her to know the answer to her question. "Dean," Kate started as she approached him. "What happened tonight isn't your fault. Not one single thing that happened tonight is your fault. You need to stop blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong around you."
"If I had been smarter, I wouldn't have let you go on your own for that grocery shopping and you wouldn't have had to fight against that son of a bitch," he declared, and Kate slowly frowned as she realized what it was all about.
"You're mad at yourself because I killed that creature. Aren't you?" She softly said to him and the way he looked at her, hurt her so much that all of the remaining shame that the Crocotta had created in her, dissipated completely. "Dean, it was self-defence-"
"Still, this fight made you kill. I made you—"
"Don't you dare say that you're the one who made me kill that creature," she cut him off, her voice sterner than ever. He looked down at her and was surprised to see tears slowly forming in her eyes as she looked up at him. "Don't you dare say that I killed because of you. It's not because of you, Dean. And, if you dare saying that my hands aren't clean anymore, I swear I'll use them to slap some sense back into that stubborn head of yours." She took a deep breath and continued, "Killing an evil creature, whether it's a ghost, a demon or a Crocotta, it's not the same than murdering, Dean. Killing these evil creatures means saving innocent people. You should know that better than anyone else. It's not because I've killed a creature that my hands are dirty, just like it's not because you and Sam have killed creatures that your hands are dirty." She managed to reach out one arm and grab one hand of his. "Your hands are clean. You are clean. Sam and you need to understand that."
Dean looked down at her tiny hand holding his, and then he looked up at her face. He could remember so easily those nights when they had shared a bed. He cherished those nights and their simplicity, serenity and normality. It was so strange for him to be sleeping in the same bed than a woman and do nothing but share gentle words and good laughs. However, it now made sense for him that only a woman foreign from his world would be able to bring him such comfort and peace. Dean could remember so clearly the thought that crossed his mind one of those calm nights, when she had fallen asleep before him. That thought was a promise to himself; a promise to keep her safe and sound until he found a way to send her back to her universe. As he looked at her now, Dean realized that he truly wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if he had lost her tonight.
"And, you need to understand to never go in a forest on your own, even if you're under some spell that makes you think you are doing the right thing," he stepped closer to her, gently repositioning her hand along her side and one of the crutches.
"If only that was that easy," she muttered to herself, but loud enough for Dean to hear her.
"It will be easy, because I ain't letting you out of my sight anymore," he told her, seriousness in the way he spoke and the way he looked at her.
"I'm sorry, you know?" She admitted in a whisper. "For lying to you and... And almost betraying you."
"Don't worry about it, it's a family thing," he shrugged it off and Kate looked at him with questioning eyes. "What?"
"No, it's just... What you just said. A family thing... I'm—"
"You're family," he finished for her, surprising and touching her so much that her brown eyes sparkled as they looked up at his apple green eyes.
If there was something that mattered the most for Dean, it was family. Anyone who spent at least an hour with Dean, could figure it out. It was all in the way he spoke about his little brother and how smart and incredible he was, the way he recounted funny anecdotes and jokes from Bobby, the way he spoke so greatly of his father's successful hunts and the way he shared very little about his mother as though he was trying to keep these precious memories of hers for himself. Undoubtedly, family has always been and will always be the most important thing for him and he would sacrifice himself for it without even thinking. That was one of his features that Kate admired the most, and to know that he was putting her on such a high level of respect, trust, care and love than all these people, touched her so deeply that it left her speechless.
Dean cleared his throat and motioned to the end of the corridor, "Come on, let's get out of here."
In a heartbeat, Kate reached out and gripped the front of his flannel before he made any step. He looked down at her fingers, tightly wrapped around his flannel, and then moved his gaze up to look at her face.
"Can I get a hug first?" She softly asked and Dean scanned her soft features for a couple for a couple of seconds before obliging. He wrapped his arms around her and gently pulled her against him. He could feel her hand flattening against his chest, and he slowly frowned.
"You're not gonna run away again, right?" He asked, causing a light chuckle to leave her mouth as she rested the right side of her face against his chest.
"No," she replied. "I'm not going anywhere."
At that, a peaceful smile formed on Dean's face. He pulled Kate closer against him, holding her as though she could vanish through her arms at any moment, and he kissed the top of her head, letting his lips linger on her soft curly brown hair.
Dean was about to close his eyes and breathe in the calm comfort that hugging Kate brought him when he thought he heard something, a faint scratching sound. He moved his head and looked over at the seats along the empty tiny corridor, and frowned. The seats were shaking. It was faint, but he could still see it before it subsided.
Kate could feel Dean tensing against her all of sudden. She slowly looked up at him, without really breaking their embrace as her sinhalite colored eyes glittered up at him. "Dean?" She asked quietly, before he gently pulled away from her, his gaze focused on the seats. He took a couple of steps towards the fixed seats while Kate silently watched him.
"I thought I saw somethi-," he began to say when building began to shake even more violently than the previous episode, and they both felt it, nearly losing their footing.
The whole place was shaking violently, from the floor up to the ceiling, and the once quiet corridor became noisy as the screams and cries of panic from everyone in the hospital started to echo. The cars alarms buzzed in unison from the parking lot as the hospital alarm suddenly rang. The walls and the floor were vibrating so hard that cracks had started to appear on the walls, and ceiling lights became detached as they flickered and sparked before shattering. One would have nearly fell on top of Kate's head if Dean hadn't been fast enough to yank her out of the way. As she fell, her injured ankle gave out from underneath her, and she landed on her back just a couple of feet away from the hunter. She sat up on her elbows while the earth kept shaking. Her eyes went to look over at Dean when she saw that he was under the ceiling light that almost killed her as it detached from the ceiling.
Her eyes widened with shock and fear as she realized that Dean was completely still under the sharp broken object. Fear paralyzed her as she noticed blood flowing on the floor, right under the unconscious hunter.
"Dean!"
Author's note :
I don't have the words to thank each and all of you for your amazing support. Whether through PM or reviews, you guys brought me a much needed strenght these past few weeks, and I will always be beyond thankful for that. Your strong loyalty and your genuine care have taken me aback and have deeply touched me.
You have to know that this update is here because of your words. Because you showed me that my story wasn't that bad by keeping on reading it. Because you told me that you'd still be there when I'll be able to update again. Because you are so faithful, so supportive, so understanding, so compassionate and so beautiful.
Words really do have power, and the words you sent to me have truly healed some of my scars. But most of all they helped me keep fighting. And that's what it's all about, isn't it ? To never ever give up, to keep fighting, no matter how hard things get. Because, after all, everything is ephemeral – good things just like bad things. So yeah, when it gets hard, we have to keep fighting, because that's how things pass. And, yes, everything passes.
So, thank you for helping me fighting. Thank you.
PS: I can't wait to read what you thought of this new chapter!
A.
