Sam sat in the waiting room of the hospital while the doctors took care of Kate's injuries. "He knew who you were." He said after about an hour of watching Dean pace up and down the floor in front of him. "Who was he Dean?"

Dean sighed heavily and dropped into the chair beside his. "Kate and I were on a hunt, back when you were at stanford. There were these murders, we thought it might be something." He stopped for a minute as he thought back. "Anyway Kate met this chick, she was just a kid, no parents or anything, living a pretty crappy life really.. Kate helped her out." Sam smiled and nodded. "We were in town for about a month, the two of them got pretty close."

"So what happened?" Sam asked him.

"More and more people started dying, but we couldn't work out what was going on. But then we did."

"So what was it?" He frowned, not following what he was talking about.

"Not what, who."

"Him?"

Dean nodded. "He killed her. Kate ended up pointing a gun at his face but, she didn't do it. She let the cops take him."

"Why?"

"I dunno, that's something she's never told me. I mean she was only eighteen, shared her feelings even less back then than she does now. I guessed because killing him was what he wanted her to do.." He shrugged. "But she was really broken up about her death. The last thing he said to her was that if she didn't kill him, he'd come back for her. Guess he wasn't kidding." They sat in silence for a few minutes. "I should have killed him myself."

"Dean, you can't put this on yourself."

"Sam, a psycho murderer gave her a death threat. And I let him go."

"If you wouldn't have let the cops take him they'd probably have put the murders on you instead." Sam reasoned. He noticed how his brother's fists were balled, his knuckles white.

"What the hell is taking so long?!" He said loudly, standing up in frustration and shaking his head, completely oblivious to the stares he received from the other people sitting around them. "I could have fixed her up quicker myself." He muttered, running a hand over the back of his head.

Just as Sam opened his mouth to answer, Kate's doctor walked over to them. "Kate Riley's family?" He asked them.

"Yeah, we're her brothers." Dean said quickly.

"Well, your sister will be fine. She has a broken wrist, broken ribs and a few of her cuts were deep enough to need stitches, particularly the one on her forehead. But other than that it's mostly just cuts and bruises." He told them. "She's sleeping now but depending on how she feels when she wakes up, it shouldn't be too long before you can take her home."

"Can we see her?" Sam asked.

"Sure." He smiled and turned to lead them towards her room, stopping at the door. "I should warn you, she's pretty beaten up."

"It's fine." Dean said to him. "Wouldn't be the first time we've had to see her in that state." He added quietly.

The doctor opened the door for them and let them inside. "I'll leave you to it." He said before closing the door and leaving them alone. They took a seat on either side of the bed and looked over her. She had two nasty black eyes, bruising down one of her cheeks, a busted lip and a gash on her forehead being held together by stitches. There were other cuts and bruises covering her arms and face as well as the bandage around her wrist. Sam looked at her in horror, feeling the tears stinging in his eyes. He took hold of her hand in his and gently ran his thumb over one of the cuts on it. "Why is it always her?" He whispered.

Dean opened his mouth to answer but couldn't find the words. He looked from the helpless, broken face of his baby brother to the beat up face of his baby sister. It tore him apart inside to see them like this. "Sammy? You gonna be alright?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah, we'll we fine." He nodded. Dean walked around the bed and gave his brother a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before gently kissing Kate's forehead and leaving the room, heading back to the house to clean up.

As Dean walked into the house, he noticed immediately that something was wrong. He grabbed his gun and ran upstairs, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw that the body had gone. "Oh god." He muttered. There was no sign that anything had happened there, no blood or broken furniture. He walked back downstairs, contemplating the far out chance that he was in the wrong house, and walked towards the room where the research on them had been. He slowly pushed open the door to see Castiel looking intently at a couple of the pieces of paper.

"Hello Dean." He said flatly, not looking up.

"Cas?" Dean sighed in relief and put his gun back into his jeans. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought maybe you'd need some help in clearing up here." He said simply. "How is your sister?" For someone who rarely showed emotion, Dean didn't miss the slight hint of concern in the angel's question.

"She'll be fine." He said as he picked up one of the pictures from the table. It was of Kate crossing a parking lot somewhere, he looked closer and saw the side of his own face in the background. "How could I not have noticed any of this?" He whispered to himself, throwing it back to the table.

"You shouldn't blame yourself for this Dean." Castiel said quietly.

"Cas, I'm supposed to watch out for her. Not let her get stalked, kidnapped and beat to hell."

"You know Dean, no one blames you for this but you. You and your brother saved her." Dean looked up at him and sighed. "Go, I'll finish this."

"Thanks Cas." He said, turning towards the door to leave. He turned back and looked at him. "You should come with me, I know she'll want to see you." Castiel nodded, finishing clearing up the last room before meeting him at the car.

Kate gasped awake, flinching at the pain that shot through her ribs as she tried to sit up. Her vision was slightly blurred but she could see a figure standing over her, they were clutching her hand in a tight grip. She took a deep breath to steady her breathing and blinked hard so that things became more focused. "Sam?" She whispered. He was sitting on the side of her bed, a concerned frown on his usually calm face.

"Yeah Kate, it's me.. Hey, look at me. You okay?" He asked her, placing his hand gently on her cheek. She nodded slowly and tried to sit up straighter, another sharp pain shooting through her middle. "Whoa, take it easy. You're pretty beaten up."

"Where is he?" She asked him suddenly, the panic clear in her voice.

"Don't worry, Dean took care of him."

"Took care of like.. took care of?"

"Well you aren't going to see him again, trust me on that." He stayed silent for a couple of minutes before looking straight at her. "Kate, sweetheart he didn't.. I mean he.. he.." He trailed off, not being able to bring himself to ask her.

She understood what he was getting at. "No."

He breathed out a sigh and nodded. "You sure you're okay?" She nodded at him. Sam raised his eyebrows at her, the small nod quickly changed to a shake as she hung her head and tried to hold back the tears. Sam quickly moved to sit beside her, leaning on the pillows and pulling her into his arms, her tears soaking through his shirt. "It's okay Kate, it's all gonna be okay. No one's going to hurt you again, I promise." His heart broke to see his baby sister like that. He held her until she'd stopped crying and finally fell back into a restless sleep. He sat back in his own chair and held her hand, watching her sleep with tears in his eyes.

He jumped slightly Dean walked through the door, quickly followed by Castiel. "That was quick." Sam said to him.

"Yeah, Cas had pretty much finished by the time I got there.." He said quietly, dropping into the seat opposite Sam's. "How's she doing?"

"Not good, she woke up earlier totally freaked out. I think she had a nightmare."

Dean shook his head and ran a hand over his face. "Poor kid." He muttered.

"Dean, she's twenty-three." Castiel stated simply.

Sam smiled slightly at the confused look on his face. "She'll always be a kid to him Cas."

"I'm gonna get some air." Dean muttered, standing and leaving the room without looking at either of them.

They exchanged a concerned look. "I'll be right back." Sam said as he followed Dean from the room. Castiel nodded and took a seat in Sam's empty chair. Sam walked quickly down the stairs and outside of the hospital, finding Dean leaning against the wall. "You alright?" He asked him quietly.

Dean looked up at him, tears in his eyes. "I'm sick of seeing her like that Sammy. I'm sick of seeing her with black eyes and broken bones. It's not fair."

"I know it's not. But the doctor said she's gonna be fine. That's the important thing right?"

"Physically."

"What?"

"She'll be fine. Physically. That only means her bruises are gonna fade. What about the nightmares? The way she's gonna be looking over her shoulder, freaked out about going out alone."

"Then we'll help her through it. Dean, she's tough, she'll be alright."

He shook his head and looked down at the floor. "Right." He muttered.

Kate blinked open her eyes suddenly to see Castiel staring at her, a concerned frown on his face. "Cas?" She said in a small voice, putting the thoughts of her nightmare aside and managing a weak smile.

"Are you alright?" He asked her gently.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She said quietly, sitting up to look at him properly. "Where's Sam and Dean?"

"Outside." She nodded, that meant that one of them was having a moment. "They're worried about you."

"I'll be fine, really." She said, trying to give him a more convincing smile this time as she squeezed his hand.

"You don't have to lie to me you know." He told her quietly.

"Alright fine, my head hurts. My ribs kill. Pretty much feels like I was ran over by a truck, twice. But ya know, other than that.." She let out a small laugh and shook her head.

He nodded and smiled back at her. "Well other than that, I'm glad you're okay." They sat in silence for a few minutes until Castiel looked up at her. "Hey, you know if I could fix you.. I would."

"Don't worry about it." She gave him a small smile and looked down. "It's good to see you Cas, it's been a while." She said, in an obvious attempt to change the subject. They both looked towards the door as it opened and Sam walked in alone.

"Where's Dean?" Kate asked him.

"He's gonna meet us back at the motel.." He said as he sat down heavily.

"Everything alright?"

Sam nodded. "You know how he gets.."

"He's blaming himself right?"

"Pretty much.." He sighed. "So why don't we see if we can get you out of here?" He said to her in a lighter voice.

Dean walked into the motel room and picked up a bottle of whiskey, not bothering with a glass he drank it straight from the bottle. He felt awful about leaving the hospital but he wasn't kidding Sam when he told him that he couldn't see her in there anymore. He hated hospitals. All they reminded him of was all the pain that they had been though in the past. He lay down on his bed and closed his eyes with a deep sigh, he wanted to go back but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He'd let the guy go, he'd called her crazy, he'd pushed her to leave that night, he'd let her go out alone when there was someone after her and he hated himself for it. No matter how many times Sam and Castiel told him that none of it was on him, there was no way he was going to believe them.

Thanks again for reading guys, hope you're enjoying it. And as always, if you've got time a review's always appreciated :) Have a great week!