Kat stood opposite the two men. She balanced her weight awkwardly, trying to straighten herself up to seem commanding. It wasn't working out well, considering her swollen abdomen seemed to weigh as much as she did.

"Where have you been?" Dean demanded.

"Three steps ahead of you. And getting tracked down by every wayward witch and demon along the way," Kat snapped.

"Crowley," Sam said, interjecting in the fast-paced and heated conversation.

"Yeah, hence the abandoned church…hallowed ground," she said turning to Sam, a little more kindness in her voice.

"Wouldn't have been necessary if you just stayed with us," Dean spoke again. Sam rolled his eyes, knowing the by fighting her harder, Kat was not going to be willing to even talk to him.

"How did you find me?"

"Ursula Andress. Next time choose an alias I wouldn't know." Dean glared at her and she glared back.

"Oh please, how did you even know where to start weeding through credit card applications for?"

"Cas. The…baby isn't cloaked. It took a while but once we were on your trail he was able to sense its soul," Dean softened visibly when referencing the child who was caught in their crossfire. He was too angry at her to keep their exploits in the long month's secret, but too in love with her to cause her any more pain. He looked at her, reacquainting himself with her very angry face feeling like he couldn't help but be happy in her line of fire.

The air was augmented with passion. The fight was justified, yet obligatory. All they wanted was each other the way they had been; to pretend all of it never happened, but their pride forbade it.

"Ooh, thinking outside the box," she sneered.

"Alright enough with the attitude. We wouldn't have had to if you hadn't run in the first place." Dean's patience was waning.

"Me, run?" Kat roared. "Oh, that's hilarious. I seem to recall you doing an about face and literally running away from me, and Sam. Who was pretty worse for wear, I might add. Lucky Cas was there or I would've had to hoist him over my shoulder and get him to a hospital," she said accusingly.

Sam visibly shrunk when the attention was turned to him. Dean looked at Sam betrayal in his eyes. Sam hadn't told Dean that the clanking he'd heard back in Boston was a metal staff smashing down on his wrist. It had probably been broken, but Cas fixed it. In her anger, Kat made the aftermath of Boston infinitely more dramatic. That spitefulness made Sam angry and he wanted to protect his brother. He knew he should leave them to it and that after six months of pent up aggression, Dean didn't need it.

"Rowena had been force feeding me some ass-tasting cocktail and I couldn't control myself. You've been a witches puppet, I think you 'd be a little more sympathetic," Dean quipped back.

Kat's face softened at his explanation. It was the last thing Sam saw as he backed out into the cold air. "You still left, and took your sweet time getting back,"

"And it's something I'm not proud of, but I don't think you're the person who should be making that distinction."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You've run away, or disappeared, more times than any one in my life," Dean confessed, stowing away the pain that flickered behind his eyes.

Kat scoffed, "It's what I do Dean. I don't make connections. I run far away from anything that requires more than I'm willing to give. And you took the most," Kat threw her hand out in emphasis, gesturing vaguely towards her protruding stomach, and continued. "The most that I could give anyone. And I wasn't going to run, but you did."

"And I regret it. Even though I was Rowena's puppet, I blame myself." Dean attempted to open up to her with the confession, instead, she turned it on its head like she always did; he couldn't help but love her for it. That also didn't stop him being wildly angry.

"You can't always play the martyr Winchester. You can't be a tortured soldier who gets a pardon because of how torn up he is over it. You still did it. I'm not willing to forgive,"

"I'm not forgiving you either Kat. You…you put that child in the most danger it could be in. You didn't take anything with you for protection, you had no money, and no one knew where you were. If you'd seen the things that were following you, you'd know that by leaving you just about signed your own death warrant," Dean growled.

Kat lifts up her sleeve to show a pink scar on her forearm; a defensive wound. "I do know what was following me. I survived," she said with a fatal finality. It wasn't the worst of the cuts and scrapes she'd had over their months apart. Once she'd gone to the ER because her head wouldn't stop bleeding. She'd had to escape because the nurse was going to call the police, and Kat couldn't have that. What may have been more traumatizing was the never ending exhaustion. Never being able to fully close her eyes without wishing that there was a way to hide. A way to hide from everything that was after her, and what was to come.

Tennessee

"Night John," Kat bade farewell to the owner of the small dive she had found refuge in for the last two months. The air was getting more brisk and she pulled her jacket tighter over her growing belly. She made her way to her car under the safety of the street lamp. There we some surrounding businesses and the place where she was squatting was a two minute car ride away.

"How lucky am I to be the one that's found you, the King will be so pleased," came a bemused voice from behind her.

Kat froze and steeled her body against attack. Her forearm moved against her stomach to protect the child. "Yeah, I'd heard he wants a piece of this." Kat turned to face her enemy. "I'd be careful though, others have tried, they're never quite strong enough," she taunted.

"A lesser demon might balk at the threat, but I am a son of the corrupt. I think I can handle the son of the righteous." The demon lunged at Kat before he even finished his sentence. Immediately, the arm Kat had left tensed and prepared by her side flew up to protect her from the knife The blade that came plummeting down from above, made contact with the skin of her forearm. Kat used her other arm to pull out the flask of holy water she kept on her and sprayed the demon's exposed skin with it The demon stumbled backward; hissing and writhing against the pain.

"So Crowley sent you?" Kat advanced spraying him again. Holy water she'd found, had a much more profound effect on the demons she'd met than books would have her believe. Even without being bound by a devil's trap it rendered them incapacitated. The demon yelped again. "Thaaaaaat's it. Cry like a bitch. Now tell me who sent you."

"Crowley."

"Good hell-bitch…" Kat elongated the word 'good' as she dragged her knife along it's stolen body. "Now why does this holy water hurt so much?" she demanded as she sprinkled more on the crotch area of the demons black slacks. It began eating away at the fabric and sizzling. He screamed.

"The child. Something about the child, no one knows for sure but Rowena is pissed that it's this powerful. And Crowley wants it dead before she can take that power," it whimpered.

"You first," said Kat as she bent down and stabbed him in the forehead with the demon blade. She always kept stashed under and article of clothing. The demon flamed out and she stood, exhaling, and reaching for her inhaler. She patted her stomach lovingly and said very shakily, "Lots of commotion about you baby. Guess it's time to move on from here." She opened the driver's door. "I think I'd like some ice cream first, hmm? Sound good?" she spoke to the little person inside her. She was struck with a pang of bittersweet in her chest. The thought of ice cream resurfaced the thought of Dean.

Maine: Present

At the end of her story, Dean exploded, "None of that would've happened if you'd just let us protect you. Hell, just Sam if you were that pissed at me. Why can't you just admit that what you did was reckless?!"

"Because it wasn't at the time. It was in both mine and the baby's best interest to distance myself from you.

"How does that make sense?!"

"Because while all those monsters and creatures were following you around, thinking that you knew where I was, or were hiding me, or even that I was with you, I got a good night's sleep for those few weeks!"

"The thought of you barely scraping by scares the hell out of me. Scares me more than the idea of a damn baby," yelled Dean.

Kat laughed, dripping with contempt, "You're scared Dean?! The last time I so much as babysat I was fourteen, had braces, and snuck the neighbor kid named Robby over so we could make out on the couch. Is that was you suggest we do? Discover our bodies like teenagers while the baby makes itself dinner? I don't know how to do this. I haven't even been able to come to terms with the idea, that along with the supernatural I'm going to have to deal with the normal aspects of raising a child. I'm terrified! I have been for months and you just mosey on in here and think that's reason enough for me to accept you into its life?! I can't even look at you without seeing potential abandonment!" Kat regretted it as soon as she'd said it. She knew Dean's spotty relationship with his father and the look in his eyes told her she'd gone too far.

Dean's eyes might as well have gone as black as a demons as he turned and landed a punch into the thin sheet rock, leaving a hole in the wall. It probably broke one of his knuckles but he didn't stop using the hand to reach for the the door and fling it open. He walked out into the night past Sam and towards the Impala, kicking the ground sending debris flying every which way in his anger.

Sam stood and went into the room where he saw Kat, leaning on the counter for support. She had spent all her energy fighting with Dean and putting on a brave face drained her more than she'd care to admit, Sam saw that.

"Hey, that wasn't cool," he said

"Oh, is this the 80's movie pep talk? We're going there?" she spat through heavy breaths.

"No. we're not. And cut the tough-guy attitude with me. You can lash out at him all you want, he deserves it, and he's said he does. But don't beat him down. You know he's done it all himself," Sam counseled sternly.

"As I said before, his self-loathing does not absolve him."

"No, it doesn't," he looked at her for a moment and waited for her to straighten up and make eye contact. When she didn't, he took a step forward "You ok?"

Kat placed her cool hand on her forehead covering her eyes so that Sam could only see the tip of her nose and her mouth. "I'm fine. It just won't stop kicking. I don't think it's used to all the noise," Kat said as he removed her hand and looked at Sam.

He was eyeing her quizzically as if he was highly intrigued by something. "What?" Kat asked

He waited a moment before responding; as if he was nervous about the answer he'd receive or how Kat would react to his curiosity. "Can I feel it?" Sam asked somewhat sheepishly.

Kat smiled for the first time since seeing them both and stood up to reveal her full girth. "Sure," she said. She grabbed his hands that were as rough and calloused as she remembered Dean's to be and placed the palm open on the right side of her stomach. First there was a soft pat that Kat almost didn't feel but immediately after, a strong thump ensued.

Sam grinned broadly and huffed in amazement. "This is really happening, huh?"

"So they keep telling me." Kat looked up and down and let go of his hand. "You didn't just come in here to scold me and feel me up. Say what you have to," she continued half-joking.

Sam took a deep breath and stood back, "I thought for a long time that I was the one of us that was meant for a family. Dean was always a hunter, he couldn't be told otherwise and I sure as hell couldn't control him. When he came and got me at school I resented him for a long time because I thought he'd brought me back into the life that was the exact opposite of what a family needed,"

"Ok, how is this helping his case?" Kat asked through sharp eyes.

"Just—" he held up a hand to signal patience, "After Jess died I gave up and just started looking up to Dean again. It's because of that, I noticed that it was really Dean who was meant for a family." This statement warmed Kat's heart even though she didn't mean for it to. Every part of her wanted to accept Dean back because she knew deep down she didn't want to do this alone; more than that he was the only person she'd ever wanted to go on this adventure with. Sam continued, "he raised me. Not only that, he takes everyone and everything we come across under his wing. He doesn't even know he does it," he smiled fondly, "Which is why I think it took him so long, but in the end he always comes back."

"But how can you build a life off of that? Someone with so little faith in themselves that as soon as anything gets hard they disappear?"

"It was the surprise of it. He may disappear to a bar once in a while but, something tells me so would you," Sam countered.

"But he did leave. How do we come back from that?"

"Up to you. Just know that he's in this," Sam said resolutely.

"Ok," Kat accepted. "I have to pee," she stated matter-of-factly. She started to walk away down the small hallway. "There's no beer, sorry," she stopped, "There's no anything actually, I've really just been craving grapefruit juice…so that's it. There is food though, so make yourself at home I guess. See if he'll come back in," she turned her back and continued waddling down the hall.

Kat took her time and when she exited the bathroom she heard the two of them mumbling in the den. She was suddenly scared to actually talk to Dean without reverting back to towards her destructive comments. She stopped in the small room which she'd made her own, that had probably once belonged to a priest. She ran her hands through her hair and searched for an elastic to tie it up in a tall, bouncy ponytail on top her head. She'd just resigned herself to go back out when a firm rap sounded at her door.

Dean waited a moment before entering, but not long enough for Kat to respond to it. Like he was going explode if he didn't get out the words he was holding on to.

"I'm not going anywhere," he started.

"That's a first," Kat said the words before she could lock them away and she instantly hated herself.

"I'm trying here. The least you could do is give an inch," he growled defensively.

"Sorry," she searched for a moment to think of something that might bridge the gap between them, "I have…uh, a sonogram. If you're into that sort of thing. I don't know do dudes care about that stuff?"

"We can't just rely on that to fix things,"

"Wait, I'm sorry, we can't rely on the baby to be the thing that brings us back to each other?"

"I think we need to do that ourselves,"

"What if I don't know how to look at you now, without knowing how you'll be with the baby,"

"I don't know to trust you either Kat, don't forget that," he said viciously.

"This is getting us nowhere. Right now I feel like we were just…vacationing in each other's lives. Like we got thrown together by circumstance but once the danger is passed we'll have to learn how to function without it…and I don't know if we can," Kat said exasperatedly.

"Yeah, maybe we don't actually matter to each other," Dean spat in response. Kat froze and deep in Dean's eyes she thought she saw immense regret; that or she was imagining her ideal scenario.

"I don't care if I don't matter," Kat stifled a sob, "But don't you put that on this child." She turned away busying her hands with simple folding that didn't really need to be redone. "Despite all of this, I still was normal. I just want to breathe easy," she confessed.

"Yeah well, normal is relative."

"Stop it. You don't get to brush my opinions aside like you do Sam. You're not in charge here. This kid makes us symbiotic, and that's what you don't seem to understand." Dean stared at her like he didn't have any intention of listening to her point of view. "Just leave Dean," Kat said hopelessly.

"You're crazy if you think I'm leaving the baby. Like I said, I'm not going anywhere," Dean reasserted.

"You and Sam can fight for the couch then," Kat spat as she threw an ancient looking afghan at him.

Dean had burst out of the room in a fit of rage like Sam had never seen. He thrust the blanket on the couch and went out the side door that lead to the chapel, pews still intact but dusty and devoid of any presence. There is an overwhelming sense of something greater when stepping foot into a church but here, there was none. Other than the invisible protection of hallowed ground, which was company enough for Dean.

Sam felt out of place. He'd done all he could, talking to Kat. He saw both sides of the equation, and he couldn't tell either of them that he did. He went to the fridge and grabbed some water and a pear. He explored the small living quarters of the church, opening door that lead to a coat closet, a bathroom, and a small room that he surmised may have been a study. He went inside wanting to give Kat and Dean the freedom of the house to have this out. Inside the room there was, a few boxes, a stack of books and blankets.

He laid out a bed for himself and picked up one of the books.

Kat crept silently down the hall. She picked up a magnet—one that she had been using to post her findings on omens—and put up the sonogram. She looked for a moment at the small creature pictured and went back to bed.

Kat woke, like she did every night, to a pulsing sensation in her bladder. She routinely stood, forgetting the night events, everything beyond her basic needs. She opened the door to her room and crept down the hall. As she passed the opening to the kitchen and makeshift den area she'd made for herself. Dean lay sprawled out on the couch. Just like the first knight they'd spent in each other's company. His mouth, which had seen a hundred women, and spoke a hundred words—including those most hurtful to Kat earlier—were parted a centimeter allowing breath to flow in and out. His face this time did not hold innocence, but fretfulness. This was the factor that allowed Kat to know that she had not walked into a dream. She hurried to the bathroom, unaware that a single rebellious tear had fallen until she looked in the mirror. She wiped it away angrily and tiptoed back to her room.

Always a light sleeper, Dean stirred, but didn't wake until Kat had closed the door. He lay there looking at it for a moment. The lights flickered on and created a horizon under the door. He stood and leaned his head on the door frame. While listening to Kat without her knowledge he felt a surge of emotion.

"Come on kid, go to sleep. You're annoying the crap out of me," she said lovingly. A minute passed by in silence, except for the occasional creak of the floorboards that signaled Kat's pacing.

Then, Dean heard the plucking melody of a guitar. Bob Dylan. He'd realized he'd missed Bob Dylan too. The sound of the guitar always escaping from random rooms in the bunker as Kat journeyed to find the best acoustics and how Dean had to hunt to find her.

"So it's fare thee well, my darlin' true. I'm leaving in the first hour of the morn," she sang softly. Dean felt a magnetic pull through the door, but if he were to reach out to her, would it even be enough?. This was not then. He had found her, but the situation was entirely opposite. She was not playing for him to find her, out of joy and love. She was playing so be consoled of what he'd done.

"So it's fair thee well, my own true love, we'll meet another day, another time. It ain't the leaving that's aggrieving me, but my true love who's bound to stay behind," Kat finished. The chorus hung there for a moment.

The two of them sat on opposite sides of a wall in the same state of anguish. It was like a cross-section. Dean's head and shoulder leaned against the door frame, thumb hooked around his belt loop. Kat sat on the edge of the bed, facing it. Her head hunched over the guitar which was pressed hard against her stomach. She inhaled the notes as they disappeared into the air.

Dean burst through the door, shattering their separate cages and Kat jumped, and immediately setting the guitar aside.

"This is all way above my pay grade. I know I screwed up, but I wanna spend the rest of my life making it up to you guys," Dean explained as he went to her.

His hand brushed past her stomach and he felt electricity run through him. It took a certain degree of courage for him to leave it there, as he reached his other hand to gently touch her chin. As his lips came into contact with her forehead. Kat could feel all the words—good nights, good mornings, and shut-up's—pouring into her head by just that kiss and she accepted now, fully and for real that she missed him more than she'd allowed even herself to believe.

She tasted the silent tears that had begun falling. "I don't know why I'm crying, I'm too mad at you to cry," she laughed.

"Yeah, stop being such a girl," Dean said reviving the irreverence that Kat held most dear. It was like nothing had changed and she was with him at the bunker, their room.

"I stayed gone because I knew that I'd always have him, and you'd always have Sam and Cas. That way we'd never really be alone," sobbed Kat. She scooted closer to Dean hoping he'd accept her.

"That's ok. I'm still mad about that, but you're good now," he comforted as he pulled her closer, resting her head on his shoulder. His cheek was flattened against her forehead. "Wait…him…?" he asked tentatively as he pulled back to look at Kat.

"Yeah…" she said elatedly. Dean pressed his lips ungraciously against hers and Kat returned his fervor. Emotion overruling politeness as they understood each other again. "I'm glad you're here," she said breathily.

"I'll be wherever you are," Dean replied. "You never stopped mattering to me," he finished.

"I tried so hard and I could never stop thinking of what were you doing. What asinine, perfect, love-worthy thing could you be doing?" Kat laughed as she asked the question rhetorically.

Dean ran his hands over her changed form, reacquainting himself with her body. They kissed and it was like the first time they'd met, almost a year ago now. Like the immediacy of closeness and how they felt like they never wanted to separate. And they had; they had separated. Most of their grasping and soft touches was regaining some of that time.

"All I could think of, is that it was too damn quiet. I missed my headache," Dean said laughing back at her, and putting his arms under Kat's shoulders and guiding her onto his lap. She straddled his legs and her stomach sank onto his thighs. He smiled at it and touched it lovingly.

They had never been anything but casual. The depth of what they felt for each other was nothing other than felt. It flew between them like energy flows through a Newton's Cradle. But now in this moment, everything felt like they'd pressed the pause button on a VCR. The frame frozen in time, but a ripple of energy running through it on a loop. That was their emotion.

A/N: I hope that the flashbacks and timeline of this chapter was easy enough to understand. Let me know if it wasn't, because I'm going to start deviating some viewpoints and adding a couple of simultaneous scenes and so forth, in the next few chapters. As always, I'd love to hear what you have to say. -Kelly