"Canis?" Dean asked, looking between Kate and Sam.
"Hound. It's Latin for hound." Sam said. He took a sip of the warm tea and put his hand on Kate's leg.
Kate looked passed Dean and Bobby and didn't respond.
Dean snapped his fingers in front of Kate's face. "Stay with us, kiddo."
She smacked his hand away grumpily and glared at him. "I am."
Bobby pushed her tea closer to her, urging her to take a sip. It was some fancy herbal stuff that was supposed to calm nerves. "Do you want to tell us what happened?"
"No." She said, finding her previous spot on the wall to stare at.
Bobby sighed and looked at Sam, who was regaining his color.
Sam cleared his throat and squeezed Kate's knee. "When she was out, I was watching her and it looked like she was dreaming. I have been researching what Missouri told us about and remembered something about being able to link dreams. The bracelet was getting hot so I grabbed it and held on." He paused and took a long drink of the hot tea. He looked at Kate and chose his words. "It was like looking at still frames of a movie, flashing. I saw trees and the sky." He took another drink and swallowed hard. "I heard Kate scream and when I turned around." He couldn't get the words out. He had seen the ground moving around her and the skin on her leg opening up as transparent claws dug into her flesh. He had felt pure terror and anguish. He had never been that scared before.
"A stupid ghost dog ripped my leg open." Kate said, pushing her chair back and walking out of the room.
Bobby put his hand on Sam's shoulder. He didn't know what Sam saw but the boy looked horrified.
Dean was confused by how Kate was acting. "Sam, what else happened. I get being scared, but she's mad."
Sam searched for a reason but was interrupted before he spoke by the sound of the front door closing.
Bobby went to go after Kate but Dean stopped him. "I'll get her. Just stay with Sam."
Kate was no where to be found but Dean had a good guess as to where she went. He found the gap between cars that lead to the inside of an old van. He squeezed into the gap and then crawled into the van. He found her in the back corner, curled up in her blanket. He didn't say anything, he just sat down beside her.
She tried to ignore him at first but soon gave in and laid her head in his lap and cried.
He smoothed her hair and rubbed her shoulder, giving her the time she needed. Once she was calm he patted her shoulder. "You ready to talk?"
She sniffled but nodded her head.
"We are worried. I don't know what you saw but just seeing the look on Sam's face tells me it was pretty awful." He said, pulling her up to sit beside him.
"Its my fault." She mumbled, bringing her knees to her chest.
"What is your fault?" He questioned.
She looked up at him with the saddest blue eyes he had ever seen. "You will hate me."
He shifted and held her chin in his hands. "I could never hate you. Just spill."
She tearfully told him about the book and finding the sigil and page about the hounds. Her whole body shook. "My dad is going to be mad, Bobby will be mad, you're mad, everyone is going to hate me and its my own stupid fault."
Dean started to connect the dots to explain why she shut down and walked away. "You know, I did tell you to leave it alone. I am sure your dad will be upset but I think maybe having the life scared out of you is punishment enough."
She tilted her head in confusion.
"No amount of me telling you to stop looking is going to make you stop but I bet now you understand why we told you to wait." Dean said.
She sniffled pitifully. She ran her fingers across the bandages that covered her thigh. If her dad wasn't pissed about her reading the book, he surely would be about the scratches. She didn't even remember doing it but alas, the scratches remained.
"What were those about?" He asked.
"I don't know. When you came at me yelling I didn't even know what I did wrong. In the vision, the, the, I was grabbed and it looked like this." She stumbled.
Dean scooted his way to the door of the van and held out his hand for her to follow. "We should take this inside."
Kate didn't really want to face Bobby. Even if he wasn't mad at her, he would be worried and those looks bothered her worse. She stopped in front of the van and looked down the long driveway.
"If you run I'm just going to catch you and haul you to the house anyway." Dean said with a kind smile.
Katie scrunched her face. "You are no fun."
Bobby met them at the doorway and wrapped Kate in a hug. He looked over her head at Dean for some kind of hint.
"I'm sorry, Bobby." Kate managed to say through the vice grips that were Bobby's arms.
Back at the table, Kate sheepishly told Bobby and Sam what she had told Dean. She avoided Bobby's eyes.
He rubbed his head and grunted. "I guess I agree with Dean on this one. From what Sam said, that vision was rough."
She nodded and met his eyes. "It was. I'm still sorry. I shouldn't have looked at the book."
His eyes twinkled. "I know. It is going to be okay. Let me look at those marks."
She reluctantly let him look at her leg.
Bobby noted that the cuts were not too deep but would likely leave a mark for a long time. It pained him to think that she had inflicted those on herself, even if she wasn't aware of what she was doing. He let Dean look over his shoulder and then replaced the bandage. He had seen many werewolf claw marks in his life and those looked uncomfortably similar. He had to figure out what he was going to say to Brian. He had been tasked with keeping her safe and she had hurt herself on his watch. He pulled his phone out to message Brian but his phone as promptly removed from his hand by a panicked Kate.
"You can't call my dad!" She said, holding the phone to her chest.
Bobby gave her a stern look and held his hand out for the phone. "I'm going to message him."
Kate didn't give the phone back. She shook her head. "You can't. He's going to kill me."
He gave her another look and she relinquished the phone. "I will have a talk with him but this is serious. He needs to know."
Kate slumped into the chair and let the tears flow.
Dean pulled her into his lap and squeezed her. "After that dream, your dad should be a piece of cake." He said lightly.
She turned and glared at him. "Not funny Dean Winchester."
"Relax. He may be frustrated, but like I said. You taught yourself a lesson." He said, giving her a crooked smile.
She relaxed a little and watched Bobby type his message. "I'm sorry I took your phone."
Bobby chuckled. "I can't say no one else in this room has tried anything of the sort before."
Kate looked back and forth between Sam and Dean.
"You've met our dad." Sam said, raising his cup.
She very much wanted to hear that story but was focused on her own wellbeing.
Bobby's phone buzzed a few minutes later and Kate nearly headbutted Dean's mangled lip by jumping.
Bobby flipped the phone open and read the new message. He tilted his head and frowned. "I'm not going to read that out loud." Brian's reaction was likely one of worry instead of anger but the colorful language was on the ambiguous side. "Don't fret too much. He is probably worried sick."
Kate was going to fret. She was miserable. She was still on edge from the vision and just wanted to cry.
Knowing that Brian would likely call soon, Dean suggested that they go for a walk, leaving Bobby to smooth Brian over. He wasn't thrilled that Kate broke the book rule but, like with Sam and John, he knew being lectured at that time would do the opposite of what it was intended. He also wondered if his hunt had anything to do with how things had went down. "Hey, Katie. Did me leaving last night cause some of this?"
Kate stopped and looked at him. She had been upset and worried but was fine after he woke up. They had a good morning until she got bored and looked at Bobby's books. Dean, being Dean would find someone to blame himself. "No. I was worried but that had nothing to do with the book thing."
He shrugged and walked side by side with her and Sam down the driveway.
Kate stopped at the edge of the woods and looked up at the trees. They were not the same trees but her stomach still filled with anxiety.
Sam nudged Dean back to the driveway and suggested they just walk down to the road.
Dean found a mound of rocks and handed one to Kate. He threw his own and hit a tree across the road.
Kate grinned and tried to do the same. Hers fell short. They took turns aiming at different trees and she soon felt herself letting go of the morning.
Dean stuck his foot out, causing Sam to stumble and miss his mark. Sam jumped on his back and ran his dirty hands all through Dean's hair.
Kate laughed and felt her heart warm. As the time drew near for her dad to return, Kate had a variety of feelings. She was excited that her dad was taking time off and they would get to do normal people stuff. She was excited that he would be home every night, without wounds she needed to mend. Part of her was a little sad because she loved the two dopes in front of her. She liked riding around in Dean's car and Sam making up elaborate stories before bed. She liked Bobby's house and would miss him when she left. She felt safer than she had before and wished her dad could stay there as well.
###########
Brian read the message Bobby had sent. It was a short hand way to say Kate had hurt herself and had a vision about hellhounds from reading a book. The message he sent back was one of frustration. He spent eight years making it clear to Kate that orders were to be followed. In the time he had been gone, she had apparently forgotten all that he taught her. It frustrated him, especially because the disregard came at a time when she could easily be seriously hurt. He fought back the knee jerk reaction and determined that he needed more information before making up his mind.
John got back in the truck once the tank was full and noted Brian's tightened jaw and clenched fist.
Brian gave himself a chance to chill out before calling Bobby.
"Singer." A grumbly voice answered.
John listened as Bobby gave Brian a rundown of what had happened. Bobby had made plenty of phone calls to John over the years, telling him something that one of the boys had done, ignoring John's bursts of anger and remaining calm for their sake. John hadn't realized his mitigation skills until he saw it from a different point of view. John was fuming for Brian. He knew what his reaction had been in lesser situations. He was hard on his boys but they did follow orders, which gave him a sense of peace, knowing he could depend on them.
Brian hung up the phone and nearly crushed it in his hand. "God dammit, that kid doesn't listen anymore."
John noted that the comment was an accurate assessment of the past few months. They had plenty of drive time left and Brian would have ample time to calm down.
#######
Bobby hung up the phone and sat down in his chair. He was worn and tired. The conversation with Brian was too much like the many he had had with John. He felt the same frustration but Brian hadn't been there to see the bone chilling terror that he had been a witness to. Brian was going to have to tell her the truth, which exceeded her fears and laying into her beforehand wouldn't do her any good. Bobby had a unique ability to see the situation from all points of view and was going to use that to mend it.
Bobby stepped out on the porch to see which direction the kids had gone. He couldn't see them but could hear them at the end of the road. Kate's laugh carried on the wind and made him smile. He wasn't sure how she could go through what she had and manage even a bit of laughter so soon after. He whistled loudly and waited for them to show up.
Sam hit the porch first, scrambling to get away from Dean who he had undoubtedly pelted with something before fleeing. He looked over the railing, not seeing Kate or Dean. He jerked his arm back and stumbled, holding a spot on his shoulder. "Ow!" He yelled to the empty yard.
Bobby raised his brow and looked at Sam but turned his head when he heard Kate burst into a fit of giggles.
Dean walked out from behind Bobby's truck. "You threw it first." He said with a grin, pulling Kate in front of him so Sam wouldn't throw the small rock back at him.
Bobby chuckled. "Looks like Kate has shown you a thing or two about stealth."
"Hey! I am stealthy. It was her giggling like a maniac that almost ruined it for us." He said, nudging Kate.
She shrugged her shoulders and smiled. She caught her breath as she made her way on to the porch and sat down on the swing. Her face changed when she made eye contact with Bobby. "What did my dad say?"
He sat down beside her and patted her leg. "You just let me worry about that for now."
Sam and Dean went inside and left the other two sitting outside on the swing.
"Why did you go looking through my study again?" Bobby asked.
Kate swallowed hard. "I don't know. I promise I wasn't looking for demon stuff. I am allowed to read some lore and I don't know. I opened the book and saw the sigil my dad had in his journal and got spooked, so I flipped the page and then panic just hit me." Tears built up and threatened to spill. The vision was terrifying but she also felt guilty for going against the wishes of the people who cared for her. "I'm sorry."
Bobby believed that she didn't intend to find information about demons but she did and there was no coming back from it. "I am going to talk things over with your dad. I think what happened today should make it clear why we put limits on things. Just so I am being clear, no more going in my study, no more opening any type of lore book without asking first and use your ears and listen when one of us speaks to you."
Her heart felt broken. Bobby was nice to her and she had broken his trust again. "I'm sorry."
He shook his head. "I know you are. I need verbal confirmation that you understand the limits."
"No going in your study, reading books and listen." She repeated.
He nodded his head, satisfied with her answer and put a hand behind her back to steer her inside the house.
Kate sat down on the couch and grabbed her notebook. It had become part of her and the feel of graphite on paper soothed her. She guessed what the cabin would look like and thought about spending time with her dad. She wondered if they could go to a carnival or something fun that she had never done before.
Bobby found Sam and Dean and gave them a run down on Kate's restrictions. With both on board, he grabbed a list from the counter and left the house to go to town.
Sam made sure that Kate was sitting on the couch still and turned to Dean. "I think we need to check out that house she keeps drawing." He said in a hushed tone.
"Why?" Dean asked, simply.
"It could mean something. She has drawn it more than once and it is a real house, surely that has to add up to something."
Dean thought about it. Sam was probably right. He went to the couch and sat down, putting a leg across Kate's lap.
She scrunched her nose and pulled her notebook from under his leg. "What do you want?" She asked lightly.
He moved his leg and sat up straight. "I have some questions."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't we all?"
He reached for the notebook and flipped to the first drawing of the house. "Why do you keep drawing this?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Why?"
"At the park the other day, I saw this exact house." Dean said, watching her reaction.
She didn't seem surprised. "Is it? I didn't know."
He squinted his eyes. "Come on, spill. What do you know about the house?"
She started to reply but he put his hand up. "I am on team 'save Kate's hide' but you are lying to me again."
Kate thought that was a good team to be on. She traced the sides of the house and pulled the notebook to her chest. "I dream about it sometimes. I don't know why. I saw part of an address in my dream and looked in the phonebook. The address was real."
"How long have you known?" Dean asked.
"It was after the park." She said, eyeing him.
"That isn't an answer." He said, smirking.
"Okay, I don't know BUT I didn't know it was by the park. The park was Sam's idea." She said, quickly shifting the blame.
"It was my idea." Sam said, shrugging.
"Not everything makes sense. Sometimes I just think of things and it can be a phone number but only the first 3 numbers. So, I know the number is probably real but I don't know who's it is or anything." She spat out.
"Alright, alright. I believe you. Do you know anything about the house?" Dean said, calming Kate.
"No, but we could go check it out!" She said excitedly.
"No, not we. You lost your research privileges." Dean said, ruffling her hair.
"This isn't research." She tried to argue.
"The is a hard no, sorry kiddo." Dean said with a half smile.
She scrunched her face. "I don't think you are actually sorry."
He grinned and stood up. "I'm not the one who can't follow directions."
She rolled her eyes. Dean could go from friend, to parental figure, to brother figure in the blink of an eye and it both annoyed and amused her.
Dean stretched and looked between Sam and Kate. "Have either of you done chores today?"
It was Sam's turn to roll his eyes. "Yes, mother, I have."
Dean looked, jokingly, hurt. "What about you?"
Kate blinked her eyes. "Um.. I have been a little busy." She mumbled.
"I'll help, let's go." Sam said, holding out a hand to help her up. While walking by, Sam reached out and jabbed Dean in the side.
Dean walked down the hallway to gather his own load of laundry. "You know, you are supposed to be nice to your mother!" He yelled over his shoulder.
Sam poked his head over the railing and threw a pair of socks down on top of Dean's head. "Yeah, well you're just a brother."