Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me.
A/N: A friend gave me the prompt Dean yells at his girlfriend and she yells right back at him. I liked it a lot, so I decided to do it. I expanded the prompt a bit-Dean yells at his girlfriend after a hunt gone bad, and she makes him realize that he has to change the way he approaches his anger.
Sam Winchester was used to his brother's angry outbursts.
Dean wasn't exactly the most patient man in the world. Sam had, more than once, been subject to one of his brother's rages. Be it because he'd screwed up, because he'd lied, or just because Dean was in a bad mood and wanted to take it out on someone, Sam had learned that the best thing to do was just let Dean have his moment. There was a chance that Dean would apologize later, but in all likelihood, whatever happened would just be buried and forgotten.
Sam wasn't sure that Katie was used to Dean being angry.
The two of them had met Katie on a hunt a few years earlier. She was mostly a drifter, working alone, except for a few times that she'd called in Sam and Dean for help. Over time, she called for help more and more, until Dean talked her into moving in with them in the bunker just over six weeks earlier. Things had been smooth sailing since then. The three of them had gone on three hunts, small jobs that didn't take much time, but what was interesting to Sam was what happened between the hunts. He hadn't asked Dean about it directly, but the clues were rather obvious.
Katie coming out of Dean's room looking disheveled, claiming to be doing research.
The two of them in the kitchen together in the morning, cooking breakfast, Dean's arm around Katie's waist.
Dean blushing whenever Katie complimented him.
Katie blushing whenever Dean complimented her.
Dean smiling for no apparent reason whenever Katie wasn't around.
The two of them awkwardly telling Sam good night and attempting to look as if they weren't going to the same room.
Sam didn't know why Dean didn't just tell him what was going on, but he didn't ask. Sure, he was curious. Insanely curious. He understood wanting to have something to yourself, something that no one else knew about. He himself still wished it was possible to have his own family, his own life away from hunting, but he wondered if Dean knew that the same way that Sam knew he and Katie were sleeping together. If it was something Dean could sense, but he just didn't want to say anything for fear of shattering something unseen.
The hunt they'd returned from an hour earlier had been rough. Dean had gotten himself captured by a vampire, and Katie had snuck into the nest and decapitated both the vamps who weren't holding Dean. It provided enough of a distraction for Sam to free Dean and decapitate the third vampire. Sam had seen it as a heroic save on Katie's part and was glad she was there. She impressed him with her hunting skills, something that was harder and harder to do as time went on.
Dean didn't seem to have the same opinion.
On the drive back to the bunker from the nest, Dean had been tense and silent. Katie had rested her eyes, closing them but not actually going to sleep, but Sam could see it. Dean was angry. He gripped the steering wheel hard, so hard that his knuckles were white. Sam didn't say anything for fear that Dean would go into such a fit that he'd drive off the road. They'd gotten into the bunker and Katie told them both she was taking a shower and going to bed.
"Let's celebrate tomorrow, eh, boys?"
And that was where Dean's temper came out.
"You think we have something to celebrate?"
Dean went into a ten-minute-long rant then, blasting Katie for being an idiot and not staying at her post at the front of the nest like he'd told her to do. Sam tried to get Dean to calm down, convince him that they could talk about all this later, but Dean simply snapped at Sam to shut up. Sam did, knowing that any further involvement wouldn't do any good. Instead, Sam kept an eye on Katie. She looked down at her feet, except for the few times that Dean demanded he look at her. She would, and her face was impassive each time. Sam felt sorry for her. Dean could be vicious when he was angry, and Katie had never really seen it as far as Sam knew. Sam prayed that Dean just wouldn't go too far, and that whatever damage happened could be fixed.
Dean finally stopped yelling, and Katie continued to say nothing. Dean was breathing hard, hand running through his hair, before he laid down the final nail in his coffin.
"You're not going on a hunt with us again for a long time. I'm not letting you. Now go to bed."
Sam started to reprimand Dean, before he noticed the look on Katie's face. She wasn't upset, she was mad. No, Sam decided, mad was too gentle of a word. Katie was livid. She waited a full five seconds before saying anything, long enough for Dean to notice that she wasn't doing what he'd said.
"Are you done?" Katie asked calmly.
Her calm demeanor shook Dean and surprised Sam, who leaned against the wall to watch the unfolding events.
"I said…" Dean began with gritted teeth, only to be cut off by Katie.
"I heard what the hell you said. I asked if you were done. Because if you think you're gonna talk to me like that and get away with it, you've got another thing coming. Now sit down."
"You don't…"
"Sit down and shut. The. Hell. Up. Now, Dean. Do it or I swear to you you're not gonna like what happens next."
Dean seemed to think about fighting her, about arguing back and saying that he was in charge and that she had to listen to him, but, wisely Sam thought, he took a seat at the table behind them. Katie's arms were crossed over her chest, and Sam would realize later she was trying to restrain herself from hitting Dean.
"Who in the hell do you think you're talking to like that?" Katie began. Though her voice was calmer and more level than Dean's had been, there was no mistaking that she was just as furious with him as he'd been with her. "I am not a child, Dean. More importantly, I am not your child. You have a problem with me, you talk to me like the adult that you supposedly are. You don't scream at me like the toddler that you're acting like right now. Do you understand me?"
Dean's jaw tightened and he looked away. Katie wouldn't have it.
"I said, and I expect an answer, do you understand me?"
Dean muttered something under his breath.
"Answer me with a modicum of respect, Dean."
"I said yes."
"Yes what?"
"Yes, I understand you." Dean ground out.
"I understand that you were scared when I went after those vamps tonight. I get it. I would've been scared too if it was you. But it's time you learned how to handle your emotions like an adult. I don't give a damn about your stupid no chick flick moments rule. I will help you if you need it, but this is the first and the last time you will ever treat me that way or tell me what to do. Clear?"
"We need to have a plan when we go into hunts…"
"Shut up, Dean. Shut the hell up. We did have a plan. We do have a plan when we go into most hunts. But plans change and you know that. Now I will not apologize for going into that nest tonight. If I hadn't, you might've been killed or turned. But you are going to apologize to me."
"What the hell for?" Dean asked incredulously.
"If I have to tell you, it means nothing. Go to bed and think about it, then talk to me in the morning."
"So I can't tell you what to do, but you can tell me?" Dean asked petulantly.
Katie, who had started to turn and go to her room, turned back to Dean and got only a couple inches from his face.
"The only thing I require from you is respect. And respect is not screaming at me like you just did. But no, I'm not forcing you to do it. You have two days. If I haven't gotten a decent apology in that time, I will pack my shit and leave. I lived with my father treating me like that the whole time I was growing up, I will not put up with it from you."
Katie turned again, gave Sam a somewhat awkward hug and started to go back to her room. Sam could see that Dean was still fuming. Sam barely restrained himself from making a crack about Dean being put in his place, when Katie turned back around again.
"And if you ever tell me again that you aren't letting me do something? I will shoot you in the ass with a round of rock salt and I will not feel bad about it."
Katie finally turned and walked down the hall to her room. Sam and Dean both heard the door slam, and even Sam breathed a sigh of relief. Dean seemed embarrassed, so Sam decided against saying anything about what had just happened.
"You hungry? I'm gonna make a pb and j."
"Was I wrong?" Dean asked.
Sam threw his hands up in surrender. "No way you're getting me involved in this fight."
Frustrated, Dean shoved himself up from the table and headed to his own room. He slammed the door much as Katie had. He heard her down the hall taking a shower, and he opted for just lying in bed. He wanted to drift off to sleep, put the horror of that day behind him, but his overactive brain wouldn't allow him.
Dean had regretted shouting at Katie the second he started doing it. She'd told him before about her father and how she'd been treated growing up. Nick Turner was a legend in the hunting world. Most considered him to be in the same league as John Winchester. John had worked with Nick a few times as Sam and Dean grew up, though both of them had been teenagers before meeting Nick's daughter Katie.
Katie was shy around the boys at first, but after a couple of visits she started to open up to them. Dean's first solo hunt had been with Katie, and the first hunt Sam and Dean went on together had been with her too. The three of them drifted apart, only to meet up a few years later when they were all in their late twenties and early thirties.
Though it had been years, the three of them meshed together as if they'd never been apart. She and Dean had gone out to dinner a few times, and Katie had opened up with Dean on what her father was like when the two of them weren't around others. Nick was a closed off man, barely having anything to do with his kid. When he did interact with her, it was to yell at her for making a mistake. Katie had eventually shared that she started to have panic attacks as a result of Nick yelling at her, so she'd moved away and pursued her interest in hunting alone.
Dean felt his heart sink.
He'd done to Katie that night exactly what had driven her away from her father. Sure, Dean's own father had yelled at him and Sam growing up, but Dean had always understood his father loved him. As time passed, though, he knew that yelling at Sam had made him feel unloved and not cared for. So he'd done his best to change his approach to how he communicated with Sam. It didn't always work, but Dean certainly believed that he and Sam had a closer relationship than Sam had ever had with John.
Why hadn't he given the same respect to Katie that night?
Dean knew the answer. He knew it all too well. Anger. He couldn't handle any strong emotions well, but his anger was nearly impossible for him to control. When he was angry, he got bossy. When he got bossy, he shouted until whoever was the target of his anger did what he said. Dean knew it was the worst trait of his father's that he'd inherited, but he was lost as to what to do with it.
Could he live if he lost Katie too?
Dean knew she'd be safer if she did leave. People around Sam and Dean tended to get hurt or worse. It seemed to Dean that the closer he and Sam got to anyone, the more likely they were to lose them. Dean had hardened his heart to caring for anyone else, but Katie had torn down that wall. He'd never said it directly to her, but he loved Katie.
And that night, his worst fear had come true. Katie had gotten hurt, not in a hunt, but by his own inability to control himself.
Dean was almost unaware that he'd gotten up. He opened his door and walked down to Katie's room. He knocked softly, waiting on an invitation to enter. He felt himself frown a little deeper. He never knocked on Katie's door. He'd always just walked in. But hopefully, Dean thought, knocking on her door and waiting for permission to come in would go a long way towards showing Katie that he did respect her the way she deserved.
Just as Dean was about to give up and go to the kitchen for a drink, the doorknob opened slowly. Kate was there, her hair down in a way that took Dean's breath away. Even in the unnatural lighting of the bunker, Katie looked like there was sunlight streaming off of her. But her face was red and puffy. She'd been crying. Worse, Dean spotted a tear in the corner of her eye that she didn't bother wiping away.
"What do you want?"
Dean's lips suddenly went dry. He knew what he wanted to say but getting it to come out felt impossible.
"Dean, I'm tired. If you came here to fight some more…"
"I'm sorry."
Katie eyes went wide with surprise. "What?"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything that happened tonight. I…I don't want you to go."
"Is that the only reason you're apologizing?" Katie asked.
"No. I really am sorry. There's no excuse for blowing up at you like that."
Katie nodded, satisfied that Dean was legitimate in his apology.
"Please don't leave." Dean said quietly.
Katie sighed. "I don't want to. I won't now. But Dean…"
"I can't promise it won't happen again." Dean said honestly. "But I can promise I'll do my best to stop it. Just…give me a chance. Please."
"Okay." Katie said. "Okay. You get another chance. And Dean, if it does happen again, we'll talk about it. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have threatened to leave. I know that scares you. But I can't live with a man who treats me like that. You got it?"
"Got it." Dean said. "Could I come in?"
Katie smiled. "One condition."
"What?"
"Go get me some pie. And you don't get any of it."
Dean snickered. "I think you're worth it."
"Well, Dean Winchester, are you saying you love me more than you love pie?"
"Don't flatter yourself. You're a real close second."
Katie scoffed and playfully pushed Dean's shoulder. The two of them walked into the kitchen, arm in arm, Katie giggling and Dean cracking stupid jokes the entire time. Unknowingly to both of them, Sam was watching from his own room. He tried to quell the jealousy he felt that Dean seemed to have the relationship that Sam had always wanted, but he smiled.
"I'm happy for you, Dean."