Title: The Legend of Catherine's Shack

Author: Razorbackgal0225

Rating: PG-13--A little language

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, cars or situations from Supernatural, but I sure wish I did. Anything you recognize doesn't belong to me. The stuff you've never heard of comes from my imagination.

Author's Note: Just when you thought I'd abandoned you. I hope that those of you that have been reading haven't given up on me completely. I seem to have gotten some inspiration back, so I should be wrapping Catherine up pretty soon. And if anyone reading this is reading Rest Stop, I promise, I am working on it. There should be an update by next week at the latest. Thanks for sticking with me and let me know what you think!

Chapter 13

Sam took another sip of his beer, sighing heavily afterward. He should feel relieved; Catherine was gone, Taylor and Sandra were recovering in the hospital, and he and Dean were safe and sound. Overall, he knew everything was fine, but as he watched Katie toy with the napkin in her hand, he couldn't help but think something was wrong. Dean had mentioned how quiet she had been on the walk back the cabin, but that alone wasn't enough to worry him. After all, she had been through quite an ordeal that morning. Something just wasn't right. Sam had noticed more than once that when Dean would enter a room, Katie would find a reason to leave. She had gone into her room to take a nap when Lilly and Dean had started a foosball tournament after lunch, not responding to Dean's request for a rematch. And now at dinner, she had barely said two words and seemed distracted. Not to mention Sam was pretty sure she was working on her third glass of wine, more than he had seen her drink the entire time he had known her.

As if she knew she was causing concern, Katie got up from the table. "I'm gonna go out on the deck for a little while," she said quietly. She headed to the door and walked out, without waiting for a response. Amanda and Alex didn't appear to think this was odd, as they continued discussing the upcoming school year with Lilly. Sam saw the look of confusion on Dean's face and knew he had noticed Katie's behavior as well. Before his brother could make a move, Sam grabbed his beer and stood up.

"I think I'll go out with her. It's a nice night." If Katie was upset, she wasn't directing it at Sam currently, so he thought he would have a better chance getting an explanation. That and Dean wasn't exactly known for his tact or subtlety. He quickly followed Katie out the side door.

"Hey, Katie," Sam said as he stepped out on the deck. "Is everything okay?"

The answer was a noncommittal, "Everything's fine."

Not at all convinced, Sam walked over to where she was leaning on the rail. He propped himself up, as she had, and continued. "You sure? You've seemed kinda off since we got back from the woods."

"I'm fine Sam," she replied. "We got rid of Catherine, Taylor and Sandra are safe, what in the world could be wrong?"

Even with her accent and just slightly slurred speech, Sam didn't miss the huge amount of sarcasm in her voice. He watched quietly as she polished off her glass of wine. After a minute, he continued, "Well," he paused, trying to come up with the correct words for his next thought, "you've been doing a great job avoiding Dean all day. Did something happen out there that you wanna talk about?" he said, gesturing towards the dark woods beneath them. "I know it's not exactly a normal day for you."

She turned to face him, finally, frowning as she did. "He didn't tell you?" she asked, surprised.

Sam shook his head. "Just what happened with Catherine, not anything about you."

Katie sighed deeply and blinked a couple of times. Sam was expecting another deflection, possibly even an out-and-out denial, but was shocked by the rush of words that came instead.

"Dean probably thinks I'm in love with him." Sam didn't even have time to register her response before she carried on. "Which is absolutely ridiculous. I mean, I like him and he's incredibly hot, and a great kisser and I'm so going to regret saying that in about two minutes, but I barely know him. There's no way I could be in love with him, right?" She waved her empty glass in front of her and added, "See, this is why I don't drink. I should really sit with my hand over my mouth after this much wine."

"Why would Dean think you," Sam choked on the word, "feel that way about him?"

"Because of what happened in the woods. The fact that Catherine could get to me. I mean, I yelled and snapped at Dean and then I stood there while she threw him into a wall. That was definitely not my shining moment."

"So Catherine decided to pick on you. That doesn't necessarily mean anything. You were the only girl in the woods," Sam countered.

Katie looked at him as if he were crazy. "Oh c'mon Sam! We all know how who she went after. Every girl that killed a guy and then herself out there was in love. Whether it was a boyfriend, or a fiancée or a husband, they were all in love. I'm sure it didn't take long for Dean to put 2 and 2 together and come up with me hearing wedding bells. Which I'd like to point out that I'm not."

Sam stood beside her silently for a moment, lost in thought. Katie knew that she had said way too much just now and was thoroughly ashamed by her confession. She was debating the merits of jumping off the balcony when Sam spoke again. "But it didn't work."

Normal-Katie probably would have known to what he was referring, but Had-Too-Many-Katie wasn't as quick. "What didn't work?"

"Catherine's trick. I mean, you might have gotten mad at Dean, which, happens to practically every person who meets him, but in the end, you shot the ghost. Her hold on you wasn't all that strong, or you couldn't have done that."

"And that should count for something?" Katie's question was quiet and shy, not at all like her earlier speech.

Sam nodded. "Of course. Like I said before, you were the only girl in the woods for her to go after. You were with a guy, so you were the most likely target. And even if there is anything to the whole feelings angle, don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it!" Katie practically shrieked. Remembering where she was, she lowered her voice. "How am I not supposed to worry about it? I can't even look him in the eye right now, much less talk to him. I'm acting like a teenager with a crush; it's humiliating." She rolled her eyes as another thought came to her. "Not to mention that this will have to be discussed with Amanda, who won't rest until she finds out what's bothering me." She looked at her glass again. "I need another drink." She spun on her heel and opened the door, walking back into the house. Keeping her eyes on the kitchen, she ignored the strange looks she received from the dining room.

She was filling her glass again when Sam followed her into the kitchen. "Listen," he began, his voice little more than a whisper, "I wasn't trying to upset you."

Katie sighed for the third time in five minutes. "I know. I'm sorry I'm freaking out. I just don't know what to do."

"Like I told you, don't worry about it. It's not like Dean doesn't like you too, you know." Sam knew that when he replayed this conversation later, it would go on record as being one of the weirdest ever. "So you're a couple of people who like each other. That's it."

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"Really. Trust me, he's not going to read too much into this. And even though he's not Mr. Sensitive, you keep up with the darting eyes and not talking, he's going to know something's up." Sam claimed another beer from the refrigerator as he made this statement.

Katie studied him for a minute before asking, "So you're saying I should just ignore the whole Catherine mind control?"

"That's what I'm saying."

Before Katie had a chance to respond, the door to the kitchen swung open. Dean entered, carrying his empty bottle. He tossed it into the trash can and went to get another. Sam, seeing a good time to exit, gave Katie a smile and walked back into the dining room.

"I didn't mean to interrupt," Dean said, after Sam had left the room. When Katie smiled at him and made eye contact for the first time in hours, he felt tension of which he hadn't been aware fade away. It didn't take a genius, or a college boy for that matter, to see that something had been bothering her most of the day, and he had a pretty good idea what it was.

"You weren't interrupting," she replied. "We were just talking."

"About how cool is was to burn up a ghost?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood. He knew he had succeeded when Katie laughed at his statement.

"Something like that." She took a drink before continuing. Katie debated Sam's advice. Should she just let this go, if Dean didn't bring it up? After all, what would discussing Catherine's ability to get to her accomplish, other than causing her major embarrassment and possibly bringing about a rejection. If Dean didn't think it was a big deal, then she wouldn't either. She shook her head slightly to clear it, reminding herself of why she didn't do self-evaluation when she had been drinking.

"You okay?" Dean asked. Obviously her random head-shaking stunt hadn't gone unnoticed. She glanced at him, taking in his slightly concerned expression. She smiled at him again and answered,

"It's just been a really strange day."

He grinned at her, causing the butterflies in her stomach to take flight. "I don't know, it was a pretty average Wednesday for me."

It really wasn't fair that he could do that, Katie thought. That he could make her forget all her troubles and how crazy the last few days had been just by smiling at her. Men that looked like him shouldn't have that ability as well; it was like giving them a stacked deck. She was so lost in her musings that she didn't notice he had moved to stand next to her, until he put his hand over hers on the counter.

"Hey," he said quietly, "are we okay?"

She turned her hand over, slipping her fingers through his and giving his hand a squeeze. "We're good, Dean." She ducked her head shyly before saying, "I'm sorry about the yelling and all that."

"Are you kidding?" he asked. "That was nothing. Sam's worse than that when I leave my socks on the floor." He glanced down at their hands, but did nothing to move his. "So don't worry about that." She nodded in response. "Good, now that that's settled, it's about time I kicked your ass in that rematch you've been avoiding."

Katie laughed. "You're that anxious to get beat again, are you?" she said jokingly, shaking her head as she did. "I would have thought you learned your lesson the last time."

"See, after playing Lilly this afternoon, I realized how you managed to beat me," he answered, slowly pulling her into his arms. "You distracted me by being so pretty."

After being so concerned and nervous all day, Katie couldn't seem to stop giggling, especially since Dean was now practically hugging her. "Flattery will get you no where with me. I'm still going to hand you your butt." Her eyes twinkled and the wine continued to loosen her tongue. "No matter how nice said butt is."

Dean grinned before claiming a quick kiss from her. "Lilly!" he shouted back into the dining room. "Go fire up the foosball table!"