"Someone has to leave first. This is a very old story. There is no other version of this story."

— Richard Siken

Montana

"What do you mean you're not coming back?" Kat snapped. Sure it had only been a few days since he'd left, but he said he'd come home after it. He'd come back. She heard him take a shaky breath.

"Kat just calm down," he said. Oh god, he was pissed at her.

"Fine, then why are you not coming back?"

"Dean killed Amy."

"What? He... he couldn't have..."

"He did. He told me. And I can't come back because that's where he'll go and I just need space."

"Sam, right now isn't the best time for any of us to split up."

"Look, I'll..."

"It's fine if you need space. It's fine, really. Just... when do you think you'll come back?"

"I don't know."

Her free hand was shaking. There was the low rumble of thunder in the distance. Summer weather. She thought she had saved Amy, thought that Dean was okay with letting her go, that Sam wouldn't leave. He was still on the line, they just weren't saying anything.

"Just... just have Bobby help you train and I'll be back before you know it," Sam said.

"I just wish you would come back," Kat said, her voice soft.

"Love you too babe."

Then the line cut before she could even say I love you back. She put the phone down on the table, staring at it. There was nothing she could do to change his mind. Then the rain started pelting the windows. She didn't mind the rain, it reminded her of home. And to some psychotic morbidness, the day she'd died. It would be dramatic to say that being without Sam was killing her, that she was yet again, dead. But she knew he'd come back. At some point.

"Bobby!" she heard Dean shout.

The chair sneaked under her as she stormed into the next room where Dean was. He'd dropped his back to the floor and was looking around for the older hunter. He was too tall for her to properly slap. So she did the next best thing. He was surprised when she'd practically slammed him against the wall, and she ended up surprising herself with her strength.

"Can I help you?" he asked calmly.

"Why the fuck did you do that, Dean?" Kat snapped. "Because now Sam isn't coming back and it's your fault! It's your fucking fault!"

"Amy..."

"Yeah, fucking Amy."

"I did what I had to do, Kat. God, you of all people should've been able to understand."

"No, I don't. Because it was unreasonable!"

"Yeah, well Sam leaving at least, isn't my fault."

"Like hell it isn't!"

She glared at him and he rolled his eyes before pushing her away. Kat had been able to turn herself to fall forward and caught herself.

"What the hell is going on?" Bobby asked.

"Sam's not coming back," Kat said coldly.

"His decision," Dean said calmly. "Do we know any hunters that use Batman alias?"

"Besides yourself?" Kat snapped.

"I can call around, but not that I've known," Bobby said. "Why? What happened?"

"Just... intense curiosity," Dean shrugged.

"Don't kill each other," Bobby said, backing out of the room.

Kat sat in front of the tv, switching through channels before settling on static. Then the rain picked up and the lights flickered.

"Salt?" she asked Dean, who was standing on the other end of the couch, looking at her.

"This place isn't haunted," Dean said. "Can I sit?"

"Sure, I just thought it would've been funny to joke about the old salt and burn routine."

"Until you got a man killed over it."

She rested her head on her arm that had been draped on the sofa arm. It wasn't really her fault, right?

"So why the interest in DC comic characters?" Kat asked.

"Doesn't matter," Dean responded.

One Week Later

For a while, Kat had been able to establish a truce with Dean. Bobby had been patient with her picking up how to handle a hand gun. On occasion, Dean watched and had been relatively supportive. She'd been able to hit a can more often; she still had a bad aim and missed, but there was development. Sam had called. Once. He had made the call short, and sure, Kat understood he was doing his own thing. But maybe a little part of it hurt.

Bobby had been on the computer and Dean was looking up leviathan lore. Kat sat on the couch, watching the news. A small sliver of hope that they would've kept covering the Winchester murder spree, just to see Sams face. Or... the evil clone. Something was better than nothing. No. They had moved onto an apartment fire and some farm. Then it switched to the daytime soap. She dragged herself into the room where Bobby and Dean were.

"There's something about psychics being attacked in New York," Bobby said. "Or what looks like werewolves a few miles from here."

"What's the deal with the psychics?" Dean asked. Neither of them paid attention to her.

"Lily Dale..."

Kat slipped out of the room as unnoticeable as she had come in. She stood on the back patio and started calling Sam. Ring...ring...ring. Voicemail. Maybe it was wrong to push him back onto a case with Dean just so he'd come back sooner. She brushed a loose hair behind her ear as she tried calling him again. Shouldn't she be more pissed off at Dean too for killing Amy? After all, she'd had more interactions with her than Sam this time around. But she knew how time went here, maybe that's how she was so calm about it. She should be more pissed at Dean, but seeing a bigger picture had led to the truce. Well, at least having them try to be friendly instead of going at each others throats because she was with Sam.

"Hey, is something wrong?" she heard Sam say, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"I can't just say hi?" Kat said, rolling her eyes with a smile.

"I was kind of in the middle of something."

"Oh."

"It's fine, what is it?"

"Bobby found a case in Lily Dale... New York, that is."

"I was... actually just looking it up."

"Oh."

"I might drive-up there and come back after, but I'll just play it by ear."

"Play it by ear..."

"But how are you? I'm sorry I haven't called as often I've wanted to."

"I've been practicing how to use a hand gun, it was Bobby's idea. You know, start me off with something more light."

"That's great!"

"I've actually been able to hit targets. And it's not... horrible."

"I'm glad, hey, I have to make a call to this psychic. But I'll call you back later."

"Do what you need to. I...I love you."

"I love you too, bye."

There was a repetitive beep as the line cut. She went back inside, and dug around in the fridge for something to eat. Her shoulders hunched in a deranged sigh. They'd ran out of left overs which meant they'd have to settle for left overs tonight. There was a small bag of chips in the cupboard when she looked. Their loss. She stared at the table as she ate the chips.

Telling Sam about the psychic town was... well, he had already known so her information was only repetitive and empty. Couldn't she do something useful? Her hand dug around for another chip. She looked into the bag. Of course these things were 75% air. With a sigh, she threw the bag into the trash can and went into the study where Dean and Bobby were. She looked around for a spare notebook. There was a beat up planner under demon lore. Somehow, it had never been used.

She looked through the planner, glancing up as she walked over to the desk in search of a pencil.

"Starting a hunters journal?" Dean asked her, he had turned around with a smirk on his face. That same kind of smirk that used to get her in season 1.

"No... it's a slightly more risky idea," Kat said, scratching a ball point pen on the paper. It still had ink. "I might be able to write down what I do know, and maybe we can move around certain points."

"You mean this year?" Dean asked. "Stuff to help out with the Leviathans?"

"You better hope they don't get that journal if you write it," Bobby said.

The image of Bobby running towards a van with the boys crossed her. Her chest wanted to cave in on itself. She sat on the couch; her back rested on the arm, and her legs were pulled up on the sofa. It was a few years old and she scratched out the year markers. It was June wasn't it? Kat pulled out her phone glancing at the date. No, it was a well into July and that was the moment that Kat realized she had legitimately forgotten her birthday. Not that she liked it. It always seemed like some sort of unreasonable thing and she hated having to entertain people. Others peoples birthdays were different...

Meg had to come in at some point. Dean and Cas would stab Dick with something; she made a note to look up what could kill the Leviathan besides borax. Perhaps it was sometime this season they would meet Garth and Charlie. She smiled. The moment she tried to write something else she couldn't quite remember. Being stuck in this world, she thought, had caused her to loose fragments of the future the longer she stayed. She closed her eyes and prayed to Gabriel, well more so yelled, that he needed to help them. Nothing. She put the book and the pen down with her stomach growling.

"Hey, you wanna get something to eat?" she asked Dean, poking into the room. He looked up at her. "We're out of left overs."

"Want anything Bobby?" Dean asked, looking at the older hunter.

"Whatever and a Jack Daniels," Bobby said. "I'll be here, looking up that New York case."

Dean grabbed his keys and they walked out to the not-Impala.

"Fast food or bar food?" he asked.

"Does it matter?" Kat asked.

"God, how can Sam even go out with you?"

"I'll eat nearly anything without complaint."

Something ticked her; food was somehow related to the leviathans, and she couldn't remember the lousy chain that would help them.

"Burgers," Kat said. "I could go for a burger right now."

"Yes, not rabbit food," Dean beamed.

They stopped at some fast food joint and walked in. Dean looked at her shocked as she ordered a bacon cheeseburger. He nearly tripped over his words as he ordered for himself and Bobby. They stood off to the side as they waited.

"What?" Kat asked Dean. "You kept staring about my order."

"You're with Sam, and you eat like that?" Dean asked in confusion.

"Surprisingly, people just don't merge into one being when they're in a relationship."

He shrugged and they went back into silence. The order came out and they went into the not-Impala. They stopped at a liquor store. Kat followed Dean as he grabbed a six pack, the Jack Daniels, the one Bobby usually liked, and started towards the counter. Kat trailed behind him, never a big fan of places like this. A memory looped itself, from that time she was eighteen and spent a while over the toilet after heavily drinking to avoid her own shit when she was home alone. She crossed her arms, waiting on the cashier to check them out.

Bobby had been looking up the Lily Dale case and had established a fair file for Dean to look over as they ate. Kat started at the untouched planner she had moved onto the table with her as she bit into her burger. The notes she had were relatively vague. But she had been improving with the hand gun where maybe she could go out into the field again. Not that she didn't like Bobby. She did. Truly.

After a while she gave up on trying to write down her notes on the future events. She grabbed a blanket from the closet and watched the news as she laid down on the sofa. Her eyes grew heavy and she pulled the blanket over herself. Somehow going to the bed tonight didn't feel right without Sam.

Marion, Illinois

Sam brushed his hair out of his face. It was one am and he was still working on the Lily Dale leads. He should've been in bed by now. That was the nice thing about Kat, she gave him a reason to attempt to go to sleep. Sure, it took him a while, but there was a motivation to try. He smiled as he remembered her telling him about shooting the hand gun. She sounded so proud of it, and he was too. He told himself he would drive to New York the next morning. His eyes were growing tired but he had to finish the leads he had on this case.

"Sam," a voice echoed. Sam turned around in the chair, his eyes darted around the room. Nothing. "Saaam." No, no, it couldn't be. Lucifer. He stood up and looked around the room defensively. Nothing. He turned off the desk light in the motel room and went to the bed and turned off the light. It had to stop if he went to sleep, right?

Once again she saw Sam attacks by the vampires. This time it became a little bit more clear; the vampires looked sick, as if they were starving. Usually they didn't look like that. Once again he died. She didn't notice that she'd been screaming until she felt someone shaking her.

"Sam," was the only thing she could choke out. "Sam!"

"Wake up Kat," she heard someone say.

She forced her eyes to open. The lights were off but she could see Dean in the moonlight.

"You're no t Sam," she hiccuped.

"Bad dream?" Dean asked.

"Uh something like that. I think... I think it might've been a vision or whatever you want to call it."

"What was it Kat?"

She wouldn't tell Dean what she saw. After all, it had been haunting her thoughts for some time. And she didn't know if that future would still come to pass. But she didn't see herself in that vision, although she'd seen some figures she couldn't quite pin point that were human. Why couldn't she figure out what had happened in that vision to truly keep it from happening?

"Did Sam leave because I'm that useless?" she asked, she pulled the blanket back onto herself. She must've kicked it away in her sleep.

"Of course not," Dean responded.

"Then why did he leave?"

He didn't say anything.

"Why are you here anyway?" Kat snapped.

"Had to see if you were okay," Dean said. "Someone has to."

"Just go."

He did. She backed up, noticing the pillow that was under her head. She didn't think about it much and tried to go back to sleep. Perhaps this time without the nightmare visions. She didn't think she'd screamed herself awake this often since she was a kid. At least then it was simple, there weren't monsters. She didn't need to worry about Sam Winchester. That's all she could do now.

Authors Notes: So... this came out to more of a filler chapter. It also took a while from what was meant to be a weekly update schedule because I had to visit my family. Moving forward, updates should be biweekly or once a month because I have a lot of stuff going on with the semester coming up but I really want to keep writing this story. Like, I pretty much have the outline for season 8 down already for when season 7 wraps up. But in the meantime, feel free to leave a review or any comments about this chapter. Seriously it helps with the motivation.