"I've decided to write a book," Kat declared one morning at breakfast.
In the three weeks that passed she'd spent her nights in Dean's room, and woken up happily next to him. Of everything that was extraordinary, this was the action that felt most ordinary. Call it trite or mundane, but Kat preferred to think of it as tranquil.
Dean looked up over the newspaper he was holding, his eyes still sleepy. Even her bold statement had failed to fully remove the disinterest in being awake. Sam, however, reacted with a look that said, 'Is that so?'
"A book? Like some erotic romance novel…what?" pressed Dean.
"No, you weirdo. Like a definitive record of everything pertaining to Rowena or the supernatural in general, really. Think about it, you guys have journals and stuff but what if the information was properly organized? A Table of Contents, maybe…?" Kat said in an attempt to mollify him.
"Now you're getting fancy." Dean mocked.
"I think it's a great idea," Sam stated as he placed his coffee cup down on the table. "And you can mess around with the factual stuff you already know. See if it has any practical applications in the supernatural world."
"Excellent input Sam." Kat congratulated. "Especially since we haven't had much activity on that front in a little while so if I do this now it's like I'm still doing something," she finished.
Dean's cell phone started to ring as Kat began to tell Sam her plan to start with popular herb used by druids because the betony theory had worked out in their favor. He clicked the talk button and said "Hello." Kat and Sam ignored him and continued talking.
"Hey Dean, it's been a while. How are you doing?" Jody Mills greeted
"Just fine Jody," he shot a look at Kat who was shaking with excitement at something Sam had said. He smiled and repeated, "Just fine. How about you?" he added.
"Well, that's why I'm calling. I think I have a case for you. A friend called yesterday and mentioned weird stuff happening in the national park in the area."
"Hold on, Jody let me put you on speaker." Dean interrupted and he removed the phone from his ear and placed it in the middle of the table. Kat and Sam stared at him. "Ok, go." He prompted.
"Alright, so he said that a woman drowned in a little over a foot of water, which I thought was possible but questionable. They think she had been hiking and tripped into the bank of the lake. But then he told me about the animal attacks. A man was hunting and was attacked by an elk."
"An elk? I mean I wouldn't take kindly to someone hunting me but I've never heard of them attacking a human before." Sam responded.
"Exactly. It impaled him with its antlers against a tree. Sounded like your kind of deal." Jody explained.
"That's really broad, though. It's like all nature is lashing out." Kat said pensively.
"Who's that?" Jody asked, surprised.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Kat. It's nice to meet you…informally." Kat said quickly.
"Nice to meet you too," said Jody dubiously.
"Kat's right. It seems like there's a bigger player here. Some god maybe? Like that Norse scarecrow case, we worked a few years back, remember?" Sam suggested.
"How could I forget? Alright, thanks, Jody. We'll do some research and check it out." Dean said by way of departure.
"Ok. Keep in touch boys." She said fondly.
Kat's sleeping form lay on a couch in a room off of the library. Dean had heard music playing softly from under the door and as he opened it light spilled inwards framing Kat. There were scribbles and papers all over the floor like stepping stones on a stream.
Dean watched her chest rise and fall. In the past few weeks, he had learned so much about her. It wasn't often that Dean had the time to focus on anyone's life but his own. For instance, he now knew that Kat's father was Puerto Rican and that she was born from a one night stand. She had joked about it incessantly and even made he and Sam rice and beans for emphasis. She loved to cook.
Dean also noticed things that she didn't tell him. Like when she concentrated she'd nibble on the inside of her cheek. Or that she always seemed to sing Ob-La-Di, by the Beatles, in the shower before any other song.
These and many other things factored into the equation that ended with him loving her. He'd never admit that but then again he never felt the need to. Kat never pressured him and she certainly didn't say anything either. They just were.
Dean walked to her and gently brushed the hair out of her face. "Hey," he said, "time for bed."
She stirred and her eyes flew open, startled. "Sorrysorrysorry," She mumbled.
"Don't apologize, come on," Dean instructed, grabbing her phone and shutting off the music, but leaving the mess.
When he had managed to lead her wobbling form down the hall and into his room she plopped on the bed.
"How did you end up falling asleep I thought you were working?" he asked while pulling a leg into his sweatpants.
"I was. But then I felt like reading and reading always makes me tired." She answered, more clearly but still didn't open her eyes.
"What were you reading?" he asked as he climbed into bed beside her.
She rolled to meet him, laying an arm across his chest. "Some poetry by Seamus Heaney. I don't usually like poetry but he writes about Irish folklore so I thought it might help."
"Did it?" Dean said on his inhale, breathing in the smell of her shampoo.
"Nope. I just ended up getting a verse stuck in my head." She said breathily before reciting it, "'There are the mud-flowers of dialect. And the immortelles of perfect pitch. And that moment when the bird sings very close. To the music of what happens.' It's my favorite."
"I like the way it sounds when you say it," said Dean. He watched as Kat finally lost the fight against consciousness. The way her eyes closed so easily made him feel strangely proud; that his presence alone was enough to make her feel safe. With that thought, he closed his eyes drifted into peaceful sleep himself.
They had woken up early the next morning and made breakfast together in silence. Kat loudly enjoying the music she had put on and Dean enjoying it silently and secretly.
At the table Kat eyed him warily over the file folder of information she was reading. Her legs were propped up on the chair next to her and she sat slumped in her chair picking at the last of her grapes. Dean sat opposite her flipping through his own newspaper; when suddenly, he felt something small make an impact with the front page of the paper. He looked up and saw nothing. Kat's face was hidden by her paper. He squinted at her warily. Before he could make his paper erect again, he was pelted in the face with a slippery grape.
"Argh!" he grunted, "Stop it," He commanded. But another missile flew in reply, this one ricocheting off his nose.
"Don't make me come over there," He warned, pointing a scolding finger in her direction.
Kat's paper had been placed on the table and she stared him down threateningly, or as threatening as a woman half, his size could be.
"I dare you," She whispered lifting her legs off the chair and readying herself to run.
His long legs were too quick for her and before she could get far enough away he'd trapped her in his arms. She squealed and struggled against his strength but it was no use. He lifted her up and sat her on the table like a small child. He stared at Kat intensely with a smirk on his face as he pressed his lips to hers.
He moved around her neck quickly, placing small kisses then retracting and moving to another spot. She laughed fully and playfully slapped his shoulders. He kissed her on the lips once more, sneaking his hands behind her back just as resounding footfalls filled the foyer.
"Seriously, what are you guys twelve? Are we going or not?" Sam chided.
Dean didn't respond to him. He simply placed a light peck on Kat's nose and walked to grab the duffle Sam had placed down for him.
She hopped off the table and followed them taking three steps for each of theirs.
"You have the information I pulled on Irish nature deities' right?" she questioned, to no response. "I've narrowed it down to three most likely's and we'll probably be able to make a real ID once you get there." She kept talking to their backs, out of overwhelming nervousness that they were walking towards potential danger.
"We got it," Sam said soothingly as he opened the door to the garage. He stepped through, leaving Kat with Dean.
"Hey," she stopped his arm, "you matter, okay?" she said as she stared into his green eyes.
He smiled kindly and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks" was all he said.
Twelve hours later Sam and Dean arrived at the work site. A cantankerous desk sergeant had directed them to it after some prodding. It should have been a vast and intimidating forest but there were bulldozers standing guard in front of a line of shattered trees. Part of the expansive national park was being torn down to make way for office buildings and dig site of an oil refinery. There were protestors marching and waving signs that read: PAP!
Dean scrunched his face in distaste as they approached the group.
"Pap? Like a pap smear? I hate hippies." Dean growled.
"I think the politically correct term is a hipster." Corrected Sam in jest.
"I don't care what they call themselves, all I know is, I hate patchouli." Dean scoffed.
They made their way closer to the group of misfits and one particularly greasy college student stepped forward.
"Hello friends, Are you here to join the Planetwide Alliance of People?" he asked in a smoky voice. His long hair sprouted from underneath a knitted beanie. He wore overlarge jeans and a woven pullover.
"No, Park Rangers actually. Here about the recent deaths in the area." Sam said brandishing his fake badge.
"Oh well if you ask me, Mother Nature isn't too happy with humans right now," He responded
"Well, we weren't asking. We need everyone to vacate the area so we can conduct our investigation." Commanded Dean.
"No can do. We are staging a sit-in until nightfall. We cannot abandon our friends of the flora and fauna." Said the young man resolutely.
"Yeah, ok we'll just see how our superiors feel about that," Dean said quickly, pulling out his phone and nodding to Sam subtly.
The two men took their leave from the misguided youth and made their way back to the Impala.
"I couldn't listen to that anymore. We'll get a motel and come back at sundown." Dean ordered.
He flipped out his phone quickly, like a switchblade springing from its sheath.
"What's up?" Kat answered after one ring.
"We just went to the site. There's a vigil of hippies, and they might be scarier than the monster."
Kat laughed at his dismay and continued, "Speaking of, my gut is that it's the god Cernunnos. He was the horned god of nature and fertility. He was often depicted with antlers and the fact that it happened to be an elk's antler's that ran someone through can't just be a coincidence. Keep an eye out for anything that has to do with an oak tree because legend says one grows above his resting place." Something on the other side of the phone clattered, "Crap" Kat whispered.
"What are you doing?" Dean questioned.
"Oh, baking!" Kat said brightly.
"Ok, Betty Crocker anything on how to kill him, if it is him? Dean inquired.
"Nothing yet, just a weird, ambiguous riddle. But the Mystery Gang is on the case am I right?"
"Right." Dean responded and they both hung up the phone.
Two hours later, the sun had receded into the line of pine trees and Sam and Dean had found a motel.
The door creaked open with a little push. Sam stepped through first making his way directly to the bed and laying down. He wiped his hand underneath the pillow and felt something circular and course. He sat up and held in his hand a hex bag.
Dean was shutting the door as Sam raised his arm above his shoulder and cleared his throat. With sardonic, deadpanned eyes he regarded it. The texture was dry and its edges were jagged, certainly not made of cloth like a normal hex bag. It had become a new and slightly unwelcome instinct for him to reach for his phone and immediately dial Kat's number. Each time he did, however, he felt excited for her to answer.
"So there was a hex bag waiting at the motel. It's like a magic sack witches or demons use—"
"…to hex I'm gonna guess," Kat responded tiredly.
"Yup. You're going on speaker." Dean said.
Sam started to open the wrapping of what seemed like pliable twigs around the straight edges of the sphere. Once flattened it took the form of two leaves. Inside were normal ingredients; what seemed like bone and some sort of dried herb.
"Oak leaf..." Sam said.
"Well, then, the theory on who it is, is probably sound. Now you've gotta find him." Kat sighed.
"Kat, you nail down how to ice him. Sam, you help here and research local omens. I'll go back to the site and see if I can find anything that might lead me to his secret lair." Dean ordered. He dropped his bag at the door. He hadn't even dropped his keys and, therefore, headed straight back out the door.
He got into the driver's seat of the Impala and sat for a moment before igniting the engine. The life had always been so far removed from what passed as normal for him and Sam. It never occurred to Dean that it could be normal, to have a life that was in tandem with the supernatural. Kat seemed to fit so perfectly into that space. It was like it was left open for her to fill. It was no secret that he'd forever be tethered to the pain and sorrow his life brought him but there could also be happiness.
As he mused there, he smiled. Silently enjoying the alien feeling of inexplicable hopefulness. Because, in the cycle of his life, he knew death for any one of them was inevitable. But in that moment, he felt as if he could justify actually being at peace. For a moment, he allowed himself the luxury of feeling like everything was ok.
Three hours later Kat and Sam were still on the phone. Their conversation was sparse and filled in by white noise.
"How does it feel being hunted by the thing you're hunting?" Kat asked randomly.
"Wouldn't be the first time, but it doesn't ever stop being weird. Weirder than half the stuff we see honestly." He responded absentmindedly.
More silence, this time, there was clacking of keys on Kat's end of the phone. Sam checked the time. 10:04. Checking the site should not have taken Dean this long, but he refrained from telling Kat. He knew, by the way, she looked at Dean, she'd lose her mind with worry…but then stuff it all down and not feel it. The two of them were so similar Sam thought it might just be detrimental to have them in the same room.
"Hey, Kat? I'm gonna call Dean to tell him what I've found. Gimme a sec."
"You haven't found anything…but, fine." And she hung up.
Two rings, no answer. One more try, same thing. After all the years of doing this, the routine never got old. Sam knew it was coincidence and that Dean wasn't answering for a reason. That either because he was sleuthing, or was taken. Either way, Sam grabbed his jacket to hitch a ride to the site.
A/N: A little expositional but, the show must go on. Things are going to start picking up in the next few chapters as they get closer to Rowena (*spoiler* RIP). This week's return had me CRYING, anybody else? And also, any suggestions or likes/dislikes about where the story is going? As it gets more involved, it takes me a bit longer to read and reconcile the existing lore to fit the story so the chapters might not be as regular but I am going to try my hardest - Later, Kelly.