Two weeks had passed with no word from Brian. He was beginning to wonder if he was still in hiding or if the monsters had already gotten him. Kate had settled in and the past two weeks had went on without a hitch. He might be sad to see the girl go when it was time but he mostly hoped that Brian would return... eventually.
Kate fell in line with the boys, just like she had been there her entire life. She enjoyed learning about the supernatural and loved training with Dean. What she lacked in strength, she gained in stealth. Dean thought she would make a great pick pocket but Bobby squashed that idea. It wasn't likely that she would win in a fist fight anytime soon but she was hard to hold on to and would be able to escape and run if she needed. She was light on her feet and had jumped Dean a time or two and caught him off guard. Dean didn't mind. He didn't let her win but slightly amazed at how quietly and quickly she moved. She studied lore with Sam and he was happy to drabble on about everything he knew. Katie was certain he was the smartest person she knew.
A knocked sounded against the front door and Bobby went to see who it was. Katie skipped over behind him, in hopes that it was her dad. Bobby held his arm out to stop her. It was rare that anyone came to the door without calling first and he was paranoid. He slowly opened the door and saw a UPS driver backing out of the driveway. He bent down and scooped up a package that had been left by the door. He wasn't expecting anything. He took the package to the table and flipped open his pocket knife to break the tape along the top of the box. Inside the shallow box was an overstuffed folder. He rubbed his chin and sat down. Katie stood over Bobby's shoulder and watched him open the folder. She had recognized her dad's handwriting straight away. The first paper inside was a hand written note. "Bobby, tell Katie that I love her and hope to return soon. Right now it doesn't look like I will be able to come back for a while. Here is everything you will need should something happen." The note was short and gave no real explanation. He sifted through the papers and saw her birth certificate, shot records, school records and a paper giving Bobby temporary custody. There were forged military documents explaining that Katie's dad was deployed and she would be staying with Bobby until he returned. Bobby scoffed. In a smaller folder was a few papers with different names, should they need to use an alias for her. Bobby was grateful that the man had thought ahead because frankly, Bobby hadn't even considered if she needed to go to a doctor or start school.
Katie's heart sank. She had seen the folder before. Her dad gave her a code word and detailed instructions incase something happened to him and she needed to run. He went over the folder dozens of times and made her recite the important information. When he had dropped her off, she thought that he would be back within a couple weeks. Seeing the emergency folder splayed out on Bobby's table terrified her. He was okay. He had to be. He couldn't have written the note if he wasn't okay but if he was okay why did he feel the need to send the papers.
Bobby looked up to see Katie's eyes darting back and forth. She was panicking and he knew it. He knew what the papers meant and realized that she was thinking the worst. He scooted his chair back and guided her onto his lap. She resisted at first, knowing that she would lose her resolve not to cry. She gave in and leaned into the hug. She cried into his shirt and hung her head.
He gently rocked side to side and hugged her tighter. He wasn't good at the emotional stuff and wished Sam had been in the house at that time. He smoothed her hair down. "Katie, take a breath. I know what you're thinking. Just because he sent this, doesn't mean he's not coming back. He knows how accident prone you are and probably wanted us to be able to take you to the ER when you break an arm fighting with Dean."
She smiled weakly. It was true that she was accident prone. She knew Bobby was just trying to make her feel better.
Heavy feet caught her attention as Sam and Dean barreled into the house. Both boys walked into the kitchen for a drink of water. Dean tilted his head sideways in a silent question to Bobby. Bobby glanced down at the papers and then back at Dean. No words were spoken but Dean understood what the stack of papers were.
Katie scooted off Bobby's lap and announced that she was going to go lay down in her room. Bobby was worried and didn't think it was a good idea but let her go knowing she didn't want to cry in front of Sam and Dean. She darted up the stairs and shut her door. Bobby sighed and got up to get another cup of coffee.
Dean shifted uncomfortably. He knew the terror and heartbreak the kid felt but he was always good about shaking the emotions off and steeling himself. He had spent many days calming Sam down in similar situations. Dean got up to go check on her after 15 minutes.
Sam held his hand up to stop Dean. "I got this one." he said.
Dean nodded his head in agreeance and sat down. Sam had always been the more sensitive one and could probably relate more to Kate.
Sam grabbed a jar of jellybeans off Bobby's desk and walked up to Katie's room. He knocked twice and got no answer. He cracked her door and was relieved to see that she was curled up on her bed and not climbing out a window. He sat down on the end of her bed and shook her foot. She pulled her foot away and ignored him.
He shook the jar of jellybeans. Jellybeans were Kate's favorite. She sat up and said. "You know, Dean is the one who usually steals these for me."
Sam grinned. "Yeah, well, Dean is old and grumpy now so I get to be the cool brother."
Katie didn't think Dean was old but he could be grumpy sometimes.
"I can't count how many times my dad left without word. Some times he sent coded texts or would mail a letter to let us know he was still alive. Other times he laid out paperwork like the ones downstairs. It sucked. I never knew if that time would be the last time we spoke to him or if he was just being paranoid." Sam prattled on between mouthfuls of jellybeans.
Kate listened intently. She didn't trust herself to speak. She knew that John Winchester was a lot like her own dad and that Sam probably, really did know how she felt at that moment. At least he had Dean. Katie didn't have anyone.
"You know I am here if you want to talk. Bobby and Dean don't do well with talking about feelings but I think it is healthy. You may not be ready to talk about your dad but you can come to me with other stuff. You know, if you want to call Dean a jerk behind his back, that's good with me."
Katie giggled. "You call him a jerk to his face."
Sam grabbed another handful of jellybeans. "Only because he calls me a bitch."
Katie felt a little better and was thankful for Sam. She thought for a moment and said, "Did you ever get mad at your dad for leaving?"
Sam laughed openly and ruffled her hair. "You bet I did. I wanted to know why he was leaving and where he was going but he would shut me out. We had plenty of arguments because he thought that I needed to follow the order without question. Dean had no issue just blindly following orders but I don't like it as much."
Katie shook her head in agreeance. "My dad is like that too."
"I'm not saying it gets easier or less frustrating but I'm all ears when you want to talk. It is okay to be angry or sad. You just have to work with that and push forward."
Katie leaned forward and hugged Sam's neck. "Thanks, Sammy."
"Yeah, no problem kiddo." He said with a slight blush.
Sam took her hand and lead her back to Bobby's kitchen. She plopped down across from Dean and reached for his coffee.
Dean pulled his cup back and shook his head. "No way, you are already hyper enough without caffeine."
She sat back with her arms crossed. "Sam is right. You are getting old and grumpy."
Sam thumped the back of her head. "So much for confidentiality kid."
Dean snickered. "I am not old and I am not grumpy." He said. He leaned forward and whispered. "That's Bobby."
Dean grunted at the hand connecting with the back of his head. "I heard that you idjit."
Dean mouthed the words "I told you." and Katie and Sam both covered a laugh.
Bobby passed a glass of lemonade to both Katie and Sam and returned to his chair. "If you all are done ganging up on me, we can go over this mess." He said, waving a hand toward the pile of papers in front of him.
Dean leaned over and grabbed one of the papers, "Katelyn Amelia is it?" He said with a smirk.
Katie smacked the paper from his hand and scowled. "No! It is Kate or Katie to you."
Dean pulled the paper back and glanced at the short list of alternate names. "Or you could be Grace Campbell or Sara Smith." He jumped when her foot connected with his shin under the table.
Bobby jabbed him in the ribs and took the paper back. "Would you stop antagonizing the kids."
Dean grinned and held up his hands in surrender.
"You are up to date on all your medical stuff but looks like school will be starting in August." He glanced at the calendar. "We still have a while to figure that one out."
Katie loved school but was hoping her dad would be back before the new school year. She frowned.
"We are just covering our bases." Bobby said.
Sam reached over and squeezed Katie's hand.
"Now this stack is for emergencies. I need all three of you to make yourselves familiar with this information. If anyone raises questions I want us on the same page." He pushed the stack toward Dean first.
Dean looked over the papers before passing them to Sam and Kate.
Katie scrunched her nose, "Does this mean you are Uncle Bobby now?"
Bobby chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "I have been called worse. If anyone asks, Brian is my brother and I am your caregiver until he comes back from deployment. If something happens and you three are out by yourselves, you are Sam and Dean's little sister visiting for the summer."
Katie liked the idea of being their little sister. She never had a sibling but imagined it would be similar to her current arrangement. "Why do I have a different last name than them?" She asked, picking up on a plot hole.
Dean chimed in. "You are our half sister. Also explains the age gap."
Bobby seemed satisfied and scooped the papers from the table and took them to his office to make copies.
Sam hopped up and shoved Katie's shoulder. "Come on sis, we have chores to do."