You Better Run : Volume I

by Crazywriter226

Kate has never asked for anything in her life, and she surely has never asked to be thrown into a world where things really went bump in the night. She'll have to trust the grumpy Bobby Singer, the troubled Sam Winchester and the annoying Dean Winchester to help her find her way back home, but also to survive in this new world(OC from an AU where the show doesn't exist)Slow Dean/OC

24. Chapter 24

This chapter was inspired by the episode 4x21 'The Levee Breaks' and 4x22 'Lucifer Rising'.

With sincere apologies to my loyal readers, here is the overdue chapter beta-read by the amazing 'Igotzapped'. I hope you will enjoy and I promise to answer to the reviews of the previous chapter next time.

Feel free to leave a review or not, I'm already very touched that you gave my story a chance.

---

4:17 am.

South of Dakota, Sioux Falls. At Bobby Singer's.

"How the hell did he get out?" Dean and Kate asked in the same time as they stepped with Bobby inside the demon proof and completely ironed panic room. Bobby, who was holding an ice pack against the bruise that Sam had given him when he had run away about forty-five minutes ago, turned his head towards them. He looked back and forth at Dean and Kate with slightly raised eyebrows before returning his blue eyes to the room. By doing so, he immediately spotted something.

"Maybe he got help," the old man pointed at the broken iron on the floor and Kate bent down to touch it as Dean just looked at it. "Room full of busted devil's traps."

"Demons?" The young woman with a mess of brown tangled curls gathered in a messy ponytail asked as she stood up, her eyes glued to Bobby.

"Ruby," Dean said, his green eyes fixing at the old man.

"That'd be my guess," Bobby replied with a slight nod of the head.

"But how did she even touch the door? Isn't it salted iron? It's like the best protection against demons, isn't it? Besides, it doesn't look like what you told me happened a few days ago with the traps," Kate said as she walked past Dean to touch the big door as if it could give her a clue to find out how Ruby or any other demon could have touched the door and got Sam out.

"Maybe she's got some mojo?" Bobby suggested.

"I didn't think so," Dean replied as he looked at him with a bit of confusion written all over his face. He looked down and noticed something on the devil trap painted in white right in front of the door. Putting one hand on Kate's lower back, he gently pushed her to the side as she was standing barefoot on the devil trap. She looked at him as he crouched down and touched the sigil painted in white by Bobby a long time ago. "It's like you and Rufus had found them the other day, isn't it?" He looked up at Bobby as he traced the erased part of the painting.

"Nah, the gap was way thinner than this one," Bobby shook his head as he looked at it from his spot. "And it was on all the traps of the house."

"So, you don't think that what came here the other day is the same thing that let Sam out earlier?" Kate asked. Bobby looked at her and shook his head.

"I don't think so," he replied. "But what difference does it make?" Bobby asked. "How he got gone ain't as important as where he got gone to."

"Well, I'll tell you one thing. At this point, I hope he's with Ruby," Dean said as he stood up from his crouching position.

"Why?" Kate asked him in a little voice.

"Because killing her is the next big item on my to-do list," he answered her before turning around to go upstairs.

"I thought you were on call for angel duty?" Bobby asked and Kate looked at him before frowning her eyebrows and looking down at the scratched painted trap and then at the broken iron inside the room.

"I am on call. In my car, on my way to murder the bitch," Dean replied as he walked to the stairs.

"One thing," Bobby stopped him.

"What?"

"Sam don't wanna be found," Bobby told him as Kate walked inside the basement and dropped her gaze on the bed Sam had been tied on. "Which means he's gonna be damn near impossible to find."

"Yeah, we'll see," Dean replied before going away. Bobby looked at him as he climbed up the stairs. He sighed and then spun around to see Kate watching thoughtfully the bed.

"You found something?"

"No, I'm just... Thinking."

"About?"

"This… It reminds me of something," she replied and he frowned his eyebrows as she walked toward him. "It reminds me of the time the angels asked Dean to torture Alastair... If I remember right, Alastair got out of the trap because Uriel got him out."

"What you think an angel got Sam out?"

"Well, maybe. I mean, how could Ruby even come through all those devil's traps, and salt and iron? I'm sure she doesn't have any kind of mojo that can help her do so. And if that's not the angels, that gotta be what sent those demons days ago to stop me from summoning the Opener of the Way... But, you said it yourself that you don't think it's that. So, maybe angels?"

"What is it with you and your lack of faith in angels lately, kiddo?" Bobby asked her and her eyebrows rose a little bit in surprise at his question. "You used to be so damn faithful. What happened?"

"I don't know… I just, I think we gotta be careful."

"Yeah, you don't have to tell me," Bobby replied. "But still, that's not you to be so paranoid about angels."

"I'm not paranoid about angels, Bobby," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Then what happened to you?"

"I guess staying in this kind of world for this long kinda makes me see everything in a different perspective," she replied shrugging.

"Well, don't let it do that to you. Don't let it change you too much or make you too hard like Dean or me or anyone else. You're a good kid, Katie so don't let what you see in this universe destroy what you are. Don't let this messed-up world turn you into something else because you might not like it in the end. And it'd be a real waste to lose someone as good as you."

The young woman couldn't help but smile at his warm words that obviously came with the best intentions. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. It took him a short while to return the hug but when he did, he felt her tighten her grip a little bit before she pulled away with one kiss on his cheek.

"I won't," she softly told him, her smile still painted on her face as she looked right into his old and wise blue eyes.

"You better not."

"No worries," she gave a little nod. "Anyways, so what do you think? Angels or Ruby?"

"I don't know and even if it were the angels what would they do with Sam? At this point they won't take a lot of advantage from him. The poor kid is lost and damaged," he told her. "All we can do is find him and bring him home where he'll be safe."

"And, you know we will," she reassured him and he gave a slight tilt of the head.

"Yeah, I wanna believe that… But, I ain't gonna lie, all of this is taking its toll on me," he exhaled heavily, his eyes looking away. "The boys… I've known them since they were just little kids. I've been looking after them since then. And when their old man died, I felt even more responsible for them. Sam and Dean, they're like-" He cut himself off as he shifted his gaze back to hers.

"They're like your sons," she finished for him causing him to nod very slightly. "I know."

"Yeah, I've already told you all about this."

"There's nothing wrong in saying it again," she gently smiled at him. "You care about them. You love them. And with everything that's happening lately, I can only imagine what you're feeling right now."

"The thing is that… I know they are capable of overcoming everything. But I know it won't be easy, and I'm scared they'll get lost on the way," he admitted as Kate watched him. And suddenly, she remembered all she had read in Chuck's books about Bobby's relationship with Sam and Dean and what Bobby Singer truly meant for them.

"They won't, you know why?" She told him with a little smile. "Because you'll show them the right way to take. Because you'll be there for them. And, they know that you will always be there for them."

---

7:32 am.

After a few hours of intense research during which Bobby had called Doctor Beth Parks to tell her that her car was actually stolen this time, without telling her that the younger Winchester had been the one to take it, Kate had thought that a shower would be great to ease off some of the tension that had heavily piled up on her shoulders those past couple of days. Moreover, the disappearance of Sam had only added much more worry to the young woman who had been facing weird and intense flashes of images that she was certain, even though it seemed almost unbelievable, were nothing else but flashbacks.

Even though she knew she should be waiting a bit more before taking a shower with the stitches on the spot where Sam had cut her to drink her blood, she decided that by keeping the pad on it wouldn't do a lot of damage to the stitches. She needed this relaxing shower and there was no way she was going to back off because of a few stitches.

The brunette pulled at her blue hair-tie, leaving her past-shoulders long curly and wavy hair loose before stepping into the shower of the bathroom on the second floor. She slightly winced as the hot water came in contact with her skin, but it didn't last long for her to appreciate the heat. She stayed under the running water for a few seconds, blocking as much thoughts and questions from her mind as possible. All she craved right now was a relaxing shower completely cut off from everything that was forming this knot of anxiety in her stomach.

She grabbed her vanilla shampoo that was next to the conditioner of the same brand, and squished some onto her palm before bringing it up to the top of her head and starting to lather it up as she brought all of her wet hair up. She worked her fingers against her hair roots and started to almost roughly scratch at her skull as her brown eyes were glued to one spot of the wall in front of her. She focused on that spot, doing all she could not to think about anything that wasn't her hair or her shampoo… Shampoo that she had bought with Sam… Sam who was God knows where, doing God knows what… And where was God in all of that? How could God let someone good as Sam go through all of that? And what about Dean? Didn't he deserve to be in peace after going through the tortures of Hell that he didn't deserve on the first hand? And why God hadn't sent her back to her world? And where was God when she was back in High School? Or when her mother acted blind to her suffering?

One familiar voice that she had heard more than once echo in her flashbacks, reverberated in her head.

"If God had given without any kind of hate, despair, sorrow, pain and all of this negativity to the humans, they wouldn't need a Heaven to go to when they die. It's a tricky way to keep them faithful. By living in a crappy world, they are even more motivated to believe there's a better after life."

It was the beginning of a violent wave of flashbacks that hit Kate hard. It was so violent, so raw and so real that her legs got weak and she fell on her knees, the slippery shower floor hard on her knees, but just not enough to pull her out of the flashbacks of tortures that she had to endure for some still forgotten reason.

Images and sounds, sensations and feelings, were all stirring together to the point where they should no longer be clear. But they still were clear. Too clear.

When it was all over, the young woman was still on the floor of the shower, the hot water running on her and rinsing the shampoo off of her hair, as she slowly opened her eyes. Her entire body was trembling. She was shocked by what she had just experienced. She couldn't help it but cry as the fear of what was happening to her increased like never before. She wasn't worried anymore, she was terrified. She was frozen in spot. Not any strength to move anymore; too afraid to move. So, she didn't try to move. She stayed under the running water and kept on crying.

---

11:48 pm.

Bobby Singer's salvage yard.

After staying almost an entire hour in the shower with the water that had turned cold long ago, Kate had gotten out with her fingers and toes all wrinkled from staying too long in the water that had covered the shower floor. She had taken her time to put on her simple red t-shirt, pair of blue jeans and her pair of converse shoes, which caused Bobby to come upstairs and knock at the bathroom door to make sure everything was okay. The brunette had made sure to slip her two hex bags in her jeans' pockets. She had noticed the puffiness of her face and the redness of her eyes, all due to all the crying she had done. Nevertheless, she had taken a deep breath full of courage and had walked out of the bathroom, ready to join back the two men researching in the living room.

When she arrived downstairs, Kate had found only Bobby sitting at his desk with a mug of coffee and a bottle of scotch nearby. He was deep buried in what looked like a very old book, and she didn't say anything as she just made her way to the couch and put her full attention in the book she had been studying earlier.

"I called Beth," his voice sounded, causing her to look up at him.

"Oh. You told her about her car?"

"Yeah," he replied looking up from his book. When he met her gaze, he frowned. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she simply said, raising one hand up to put a lock of wet hair behind one ear.

"Your eyes-"

"I got shampoo in my eyes," she cut him off. "You know what? I forgot to blow-dry my hair with the super hairdryer you got me the last time," she almost stammered as she got up and made her way upstairs, Bobby's eyes following her suspiciously. He was afraid that the sudden memory loss thing she started having, was giving her a hard time.

There was so much going on at the same time that the old man felt almost guilty to not be able to fix everything. All his life, he had come to believe that this was his job. Fixing everything and everyone around him. He had tried for years to fix what happened to Rufus' daughter in Omaha. He had tried for years to fix the damage that John Winchester had done to his sons. He had been trying for years to fix what happened to his wife, but so far he felt as if it was the only thing he couldn't fix truly and entirely.

When the sound of the hairdryer echoed from upstairs, Bobby shook his head and refocused on the book he was trying to get information out of.

---

Forty minutes later.

When Kate had come back to the living room, Bobby had told her that Dean had finished his shower and had immediately made his way out to take care of his Baby. With not one ounce of hesitation, Kate had grabbed Matt's hoodie to put it on and had gathered her hair in a half-ponytail on the back of her head with a hair-clip before going outside to check on the green-eyed man. But one thing leading to another, Kate had found herself helping Dean with the little fixing he was doing to his car.

"Give me the wrench," Dean said to Kate as he held his hand out, his dirty-blonde head buried under the hood of his car. She put the tool in his hand as she looked down at all the other tools scattered on a little wheeled table by her side. He grabbed it and looked at it before handing it back to her. "Not this one. The open-end wrench."

"Oh," she said as she grabbed the one he was asking for and exchanged it with the one he was handing back to her. He glanced down at the wrench to make sure it was the right one this time and then started using it. She looked down at the set of tools as she put down the wrench and took another one inside of her hand.

"And what's this one for?" She asked as she held up a bigger and much more complicated looking tool. He glanced up at the tool before returning his attention to his car.

"It's to open and close this thing over there," he just said pointing at something roundish and looking as made of iron. He explained a bit more, using specific and technical automotive terms that Kate had never heard before, but she listened to him with attention. Not only was it helping to keep her mind off what happened in the bathroom earlier, but it was also giving her another confirmation of how good Dean was when it came to cars.

"There's so much to remember about cars. So many complicated details," she said shaking her head as she put the tool back at its place. "I don't know how you can remember all of that stuff."

"It's not that bad," he shrugged. "You're good at math, I'm good with cars. Everyone's got their thing."

"I'm not good at math. I'm actually pretty lame," she admitted making him turn his head to look at her.

"Really? I thought you said you studied science stuff in University back in your universe?"

"I did but that doesn't mean I was good at math. I didn't really have the choice. You have to study math if you wanna study anything science related."

"Why did you even study science if you kept on sneaking into history and theology classes? I mean you were obviously more into those stuff?" He asked her, genuinely interested to know this peculiar thing about her.

"Um it's quite complicated..." She started hesitantly.

Sensing her hesitation as she stopped a bit, Dean leaned his hands on the edge of the inside of the car and turned his head to her. He looked at her, his eyebrows a bit frowned as he showed her that he could listen to whatever was complicated according to her. She had his full attention and it slightly surprised her, but above all else it gave her the light push to tell him.

"I, er, was pretty good at everything back in High School. And, when you're that good, your parents tend to want you to do some of the most prestigious studies. But, the truth was that all I wanted to do was get out of my hometown and just get as far away as possible. I couldn't stand living in a place where so many things had happened to me..."

"But it wasn't what you wanted to do. Not at all," he said after he looked her up and down not in checking out way but more into a decoding way, because, after all, she still remained a bit of a mystery for him.

"Far from it," she replied with a little sigh as she looked at him. "But, I also knew that my father always saw me as his little scientist. So long story short, I ended up going to the Sorbonne to study science." She stopped for a moment, her upper teeth bringing her lower lip inside of her mouth as her eyes focused on the open hood of his car. "But deep down," she continued, her voice even softer as she seemed to go further down in the memory of that time of her life. "I've always wanted to do something that can help people, you know? Something that made me feel useful. Like doctor, nurse, soldier or even social assistant. Anything that could help people to have a better life or to… "

"Or to just live," he finished for her causing her to snap her gaze back at him. His eyes glanced at the pad covering what his brother had done to her before they went back to look right into her brown eyes. "That's why you're still here. Aside from the fact that you're stuck in this universe, nothing has gotten you stuck with any of us. You could have run away from all of us. You could have gone to the cops, but you didn't. You stayed. You stayed because you wanna help saving people. You wanna help," he told her and she just stared into his green eyes, not knowing what to say. It was as if he had decoded things about her that she hadn't even admitted to herself.

"Police found Beth's car," Bobby's voice pulled them out of their intense gaze exchange as he arrived by the Impala a few seconds later. Both Kate and Dean turned their heads in sync to the old man with his hands deep in his pocket.

"Thank God," Kate sighed in relief.

"She's still mad at you until she's made sure that no damage has been done on the car, though," the old man told her.

"How stupid was I to leave the keys in the car," Kate groaned as she mentally slapped her forehead.

"Where did they find it?" Dean asked.

"It was abandoned in a hallway in Jamestown, North Dakota," Bobby told him, shifting his attention back to the hunter.

"He's switching up," Kate said, her brows knitted together in a thoughtful expression.

"Any other cars stolen in Jamestown?" Dean asked as he wiped his hands from the dark oil with a dirty red towel.

"Two," Bobby replied. "1999 Honda Civic, blue. Nice and anonymous, like Sam likes."

"What was the other one?" Dean asked as he put the towel down causing Kate to throw a glance at him. She swiftly took the towel and tossed it back in his hands before pointing at her cheek for him to understand that he had some dark oil on his cheek. He took the towel and rubbed his cheek with it, his eyes going back to look at the old man.

"Um. A white o-five Escalade with custom rims wheels. It's a neon sign."

"He'd never choose that one," Kate thought out loud as she slid her hands in the pockets of the oversize black sweater she had on.

"You're right. He'd never take that. Which is exactly what he did," Dean responded as he looked at her before looking back at Bobby.

"You think?" Bobby asked frowning his eyebrows in pure confusion. Kate was confused too, although she didn't know Sam better than his brother, she was rather sure that it wasn't in Sam's personality to pick up this kind of car. Though, it did make sense if he didn't want to be found by the one person who knew him better than anyone, she realized.

"I know that kid," Dean said nodding before throwing the towel on the wheeled-table.

"It makes sense. If he doesn't wanna be found he's gonna do the total opposite of what he'd usually do," Kate reasoned out loud and Bobby nodded as he looked at her.

"Alright. I'll head that direction," Dean said as he put all of the tools on the wheeled-table. "You stay here, ride the police databases," he told Bobby who nodded as Dean put down the hood of the car and pushed the wheeled-table away. "We've gotta find him quick."

"Wait," Kate said as she made two steps towards him. "You're going on your own?"

He looked at her with slightly frowned eyebrows, "Yeah."

"You really think that's smart?" She asked him, her brown eyes looking up into his green ones as she was standing just half a foot away from him. "He attacked Bobby last night so he could get out of here. What do you think will happen when you find him?"

"I don't care about what happens when I find him. I'm bringing here, even if he wants to fight tooth and nail against me," he replied before turning around to walk towards the house. But Kate stepped right in front of him, stopping him abruptly enough to have her rest her hands on his chest for a couple of seconds before stepping slightly back.

"I'm coming with," she announced and he backed away, shaking his head in deny of what she was saying.

"No way. You stay here and help Bobby," he told her as she shifted her widened in surprise eyes towards Bobby who just shrugged at her.

"I'm not gonna let you go after Sam on your own," she exclaimed as she turned around to look at the blonde-haired hunter who kept on walking towards the house.

"That's sweet of you," he said as he turned around and kept on walking backwards. "But I know the kid. I've been taking care of him for a few years now." He spun around again and she frowned as she ran up to him. She stopped right in front of the young hunter, Bobby silently watching her from the distance with a curious look.

"You know that I could just take a car right now and go after Sam on my own," she told him as her face was just a few inches away from his face.

"It's safer for you to stay here with Bobby-" He started.

"Bullshit," she cut him off, causing his eyebrows to rise in surprise. "After what happened last night and a few days ago, you know that nowhere is really safe for me," she told him, her voice stern. She took a deep breath as she slowly and hesitantly reached one hand up to rest it flatly on his chest. His eyebrows frowned at the gesture as his eyes traveled from her brown eyes to her small hand flat against him, and then back to her eyes. "I wanna help. And I know I can. And, I also know that you know I can," she told him softly. "Dean, you said you trusted me, right? So, please, let me come with."

He stared into her brown eyes as her softness intertwined with her sincerity before the whole embraced him completely and he had no other choice but to accept.

"Alright," he let out in a little voice, his green eyes moving over to Bobby staring at them from his spot next to the Impala.

---

Meanwhile.

Miles away, in a hotel.

Sitting on the edge of the grey couch that was in the nuptial suite he had checked in, Sam's whole body was shaking as his mind was playing over and over again all the latest things that had happened. He could still see the way he had knocked Bobby out, the way he had attacked Kate and drank her blood, the way he had pleaded for his brother to let him out of the panic room. It was all adding unbearable anxiety to the aching need of demon blood he was feeling. He couldn't help wondering what was going to happen now. Once he'd get to kill Lilith and to stop the Apocalypse, what would happen then? Would he succeed on still making everything right between him and his brother? And would he still feel in need of drinking demon blood?

Sam shook his hands, a feeling of numbness spreading in them that he wanted to get rid of. He got up and walked a few steps, hoping that by doing so, his dark thoughts would leave him alone and time would pass quicker, when a few knocks echoed. He turned around and walked up to the white door. He opened the door to find the short black-haired demon he had been waiting for, simply standing there with a bag over one shoulder and a smile on her face.

"Honeymoon suite, really? I'm flattered," she told him as she walked in and he shut the door closed behind her.

"Did you bust me out of that room?" He asked her. He was still confused as to how he got out of the very well secured panic room even though he was relieved to be out of it now.

"How could I, Sam?" She replied as she took her leather jacket off. "The whole thing's engineered to bite me in the ass."

"Then how did I get out of there?"

"I don't know," she turned around to look up at him, immediately taking full notice of the terrible state of his face. "I don't wanna know. You're out. That's all that matters. I'm glad you're here."

"Yeah? Where the hell have you been?" He asked her, not believing her words as he felt his whole body trembling even more.

"I got here as quick as I could," she replied as she spun around to make her way up to the bedroom part of the hotel suite.

"I mean the past three weeks," he snapped at her. "I've been calling you."

"I've been pretty deep in it trying to dig out Lilith. Sometimes I can't sit around and check my voicemail," she sarcastically told him, dropping her bag on the floor as she looked at his face full of pain. She softened her tone within a couple of seconds, "I'm sorry you're hurting. Really. I had no idea that Dean would do that to you."

"You and me both," Sam said thoughtfully before walking towards her.

"You didn't book this joint just to impress me, did you?"

"Dean's gonna come after me. And he knows my habits, my aliases, everything. He knows exactly which motel I'd pick," he explained to her as she watched him approaching her.

"Hence the room."

"Whatever it takes to shake him."

"It won't be easy. I mean, he knows you better than anyone."

"Not as well as he thinks," he told her, standing right in front of her as a soft and sad expression spread all over her face.

"You know, it's sad."

"What?" He asked her, confused by what she was saying and the way she was looking at him.

"That things have gotten this bad between you two," she told him as she reached her hand to his face and tucked some hair behind his ear. She started stroking his hair a little bit when Sam both swiftly and roughly grabbed her body and slammed her down onto the bed. He leaned over the not surprised demon, his hazel eyes moving from her eyes to her lips before he slowly moved down her body. His hand caressed its way down her jean-clad leg until it reached her boot. He didn't want to talk about anything anymore now. All he wanted was to satisfy his thirst. He positioned himself right in front of her feet and took the knife that he knew was in her ankle sheath before slowly moving up. He roughly grabbed her arm with his free hand and didn't wait to cut a line on the pale skin of her forearm.

Sam looked at the blood as it slowly streamed down her arm to the bed sheets. He had been waiting for so long to have this iron taste back onto his tongue and to have the power filling every fiber of him. However as he stared at the dripping blood, Sam's entire being froze. His mind was filled with the memory of what he had done to Kate. He could still hear her screaming for him to let go of her until he cut her with that piece of glass. He could still feel her body squirming underneath his as she tried to fight him off her. And he could remember so distinctly and so easily how he pressed his mouth against her cut and sucked her blood.

"Sam?" Ruby said pulling him out of his thoughts.

He frowned as he looked at her, dropping the knife next to her arm before stepping back.

"Sam, what's wrong?" She asked him.

"I… I can't… I don't-" He started, completely lost in what he was supposed to do and what he was not supposed to do.

"Sam," Ruby told him gently as she sat up and brought her bleeding arm up in front of her chest. "Sammy," she continued as she reached her hand to his hair and stroked it again. "You know, this is necessary. I know you're hurting… And, I know you want all of this to be done, but you know you're the only chance this world's got." He looked at her, completely unsure. "Besides if it's not you, who's gonna kill Lilith and save this world, huh?"

Sam clenched his jaw as the thought of Dean having to endure much more again, crossed his mind. He didn't want Dean to have to do it. He wanted to take that burden away from Dean. He wanted to repay his brother for all he's ever done to him. He wanted to be the one looking after him this time around.

Grabbing Ruby's arm in his large hands, he brought it to his lips and sucked her blood without hesitation. He leaned closer to her until she fell back down on the bed and he went back to hovering her, his lips sealed to her arm as he kept on drinking her blood and she simply watched him. With her free hand, she caressed his hair gently, her lips curling into a smirk as she realized how tightly she had him wrapped around her finger.

---

A few of hours later.

In the middle of the road.

Dean and Kate had been driving for a couple of hours now. Well, Dean had been driving for that long and Kate, sitting on the passenger seat, had been studying one of the many books she had dragged along with her. She had just finished reading one a little over forty-five minutes ago before immediately burying herself in this second one which appeared to be a very old Bible that Bobby had given her to keep on digging on her crazy theory. The fact that this Bible was very ancient meant two things if Dean remembered right what he had heard Bobby say before he got in his Impala: first, everything was written in old Latin, and second, there were things that other Bibles have supposedly lost throughout the years and the centuries. The rarity of this Bible made Dean wonder how Bobby had gotten his hands on it, but he had shrugged off this thought very quickly. After all, Bobby was Bobby and Bobby did things that only Bobby could.

Throwing a glance at the quiet brunette, Dean realized that her process of researching had never changed. Read, write a few notes and read again; the concentration never failing. And that was what she had been doing for hours now without stopping one second. She would write down some notes on the new pocket notebook that Bobby had given her earlier that day, and then she would go back to reading as if it was the easiest thing in the world to read a dead language like Latin. Well, it seemed to be very easy for her. This made him wonder what she really wasn't good at, except for math, cooking and everything around cars.

His green orbs wandered on her soft profile that was half covered by her wild brown curls, before they swiftly stopped at her naturally red lips. She was biting down on her bottom lip, her eyebrows frowned in concentration. Now that he thought about it, she did this a lot. Biting on her bottom lip. Maybe it was a habit that appeared whatever the circumstances.

"Damn it," Kate cursed loud enough to pull him out of his reverie.

"What's wrong?" He asked her, his eyes looking back and forth at her and the road ahead of them.

"I can't translate a sentence and I need to translate it if I wanna understand what the next paragraph means," she half-whined, throwing her head back.

"Use google translator," he told her making her turn her head to stare at him with a passive yet judging look. "What?"

"'Google translator'? Really Dean? Do you use it when you're trying to translate something for a case? Because that's gotta be one of the worst translators. No one uses it," she told him. He simply shrugged.

"Well, I do."

"No wonder Sam beats you at research," she said, her tone playful as a little smile cracked on her lips.

"Yeah," he just said as he kept his eyes glued to the road. Kate's smile dropped as she stared at him with a bit sorrow increasing inside of her.

"We're gonna get him back, you know that, right?" She told him and he stirred in his seat. It was as if he were hit back by the current events that he hadn't forgotten, but successfully managed to not focus too much on them. His brother was away with a demon who had manipulated him into drinking demon blood until being dependent on it, and he was still too far away to save him.

Kate licked her lips and raked her teeth on the lower one before returning her attention back on the Bible that was wide-open on her lap. She looked at it and at the notebook on top of one of its page, for a short moment. She wished she could do something to change all the current events. She wished she could take Dean's pain away and help his brother. But there was nothing she could really do, except maybe finding out if her theory turned out true. Putting a lock of hair behind one ear, she reached out for her cellphone on the headboard in front of her and started to scroll down the few contacts saved in the little black device.

The movement caught Dean's attention, "You gonna call Bobby?"

"Um, no. Matt. He's a genius when it comes to languages and well, he's far better than I could ever be at Latin," she told him, as she dialed Matt's number and put the phone against her right ear. Her eyes went to stare out through the door's window. The empty country road was flashing too fast for Kate to see something as Dean wasn't slowing down the speed of his car at all. When the hunter gave a little scoff, Kate frowned, turning her head to him, "What?"

"Nothing. It's just... The way you talk about him. You better watch out or when you'll get back to your boyfriend, you'll be sad he ain't Matt," he told her in a tone that she couldn't really make out.

"My boyfriend?" She frowned in confusion. "I don't have a boyfriend back in my universe."

"You don't? I remember you said you had one," he turned his head to look at her, to find her shaking her head.

"I had one. But I broke up when I found out he cheated on me," she replied in a little voice as if she was a bit ashamed of admitting that she had been cheated on. Truth be told, for a handful of reasons, she did feel ashamed of this. Dean turned his head again to see what expression was accompanying this little voice of hers, but an invisible mask on her face was hiding what he wanted to see. "He's not answering," she almost muttered as she put her phone on the book and Dean returned his gaze on the road ahead of him.

"Why did you call him then?" Dean asked in a thoughtful tone after a few seconds of silence.

"What? I told you, I need him to translate-"

"I'm not talking about Matt. I'm talking about your ex," he cut her off. "You called your ex when you first got here. Why did you call him if he cheated on you and it was over between you two?"

Kate looked at Dean's profile for a moment and wondered why he would talk about those kind of things right now. Maybe he was trying to think about something else than what was happening with his brother. Or maybe he really was interested in knowing a little bit more about her. The first argument seemed to make more sense, however Kate couldn't forget the night that they had spent sharing personal memories and getting to know each other a little bit more. It had made her feel better and even safer. And, although what Dean had shared with her was mostly things that happened before, during or after a hunt, it had still shown her that there was more to Dean Winchester than hunting. Sure, his life was filled of it ever since he was a little kid, but his world and his life revolved completely around his family; mostly his little brother of course… His little brother… It was making her feel bad and worried at the same time to think about Sam again.

Dean turned his head and his eyes met hers which made her realize that she hadn't answered him yet.

"I don't know," she blurted out before she spoke more softly. "I just remembered his number and… And back in my universe, he was there for me when my father passed away, so I thought I could count on him," she slightly frowned as she dropped her gaze on Dean's hands around the wheel and he shifted his own gaze back to the road. Talking about her ex-boyfriend surely made her think about something else than Sam or her crazy theory that the angels could be pro-Apocalypse. However, it made her think of things that weren't very pleasant. "I thought he had helped me keep it together when my father passed away… But the truth was that I was still a real train wreck back then and he just found the right words to make me think he could take my pain away," she admitted before shaking her head and bringing one hand up to press it on her forehead as she closed her eyes. "I was so damn stupid… I was starting to have feelings for him while all he did was just say the right things to get into my pants," she almost muttered.

Dean didn't know what to say. He was without doubt a bit mad at that guy for taking advantage of Kate's sorrow to bang her and he was damn sure that if he ever crossed path with the guy, he would kick his ass for treating such a nice girl with so little respect. On the other hand, it reminded him of his own behavior towards a great deal of girls, and that surely made him feel less proud of his high number of hook-ups. He could still tell himself that at least he had given them the time of their lives, but it wasn't very helping him feel any better. He licked his lips and tried to keep his green eyes on the road when Kate's cellphone rang.

"Matt, hey. How're you doing?" Dean stayed quiet and kept his focus on the road although his ears were focused on her voice and what she was saying to that so great Matt.

Dean's attention on her conversation slowly drifted away when he started to think about Matt. He wasn't certain why he felt such an irritation when it came to that dark-haired hunter. He didn't know him very much but he had heard a few things here and there about him. He had been told that Matthew Meyers was Rufus' little protégé and that he was a very diligent and discreet hunter. Apparently, the young man had been hunting for a few years now, and he had already teamed up with a few people that Sam and Dean knew. Moreover, Dean had been around Matt a couple of times; when Kate was deep in coma for instance. It had given him the chance to try decipher him a bit more, but all that Dean had seen was that Matt was a little too protective of Kate. The guy had stayed in Kate's hospital room with him for long hours, with no interest in talking with Dean. He had just stayed there to keep his eyes glued to Kate in silence for long minutes before returning his attention in some books. And, truth be told, this interest that Matt had on Kate was slightly bugging at Dean.

Dean was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Kate say that his sweater was pretty comfy. He glanced at her and she was now nodding her head at whatever he was telling her on the other end of the line.

"Well, yeah, I thought it would mean something like that," she was saying as she looked down at her pocket notebook. "But I wasn't sure for the first part of the sentence… Yeah, sure. Wait, I'm gonna write it down," she took her pen and opened her pocket notebook to a blank page. "So you were saying?... Yeah, I got a pen, just tell me…" Dean looked at the road, his brows brought together as he heard her humming while writing down whatever he was telling her on the other end of the line. "Alright, yeah I got it all… Thanks, you're awesome… Yeah, yeah. You too, okay?... Yeah, talk to you later."

As Kate hung up, she put her cellphone back on the headboard and sighed as she looked down at what she had just written down.

"So, did your dear Matthew, King of Latin, gave you the translation you were looking for?" She turned to look at him, a bit taken aback by his weird tone.

"Um, yes," she replied, flickering her eyes between his face that was now turned back to the road and his fingers wrapped around the wheel. "It was along the same lines of what I thought it was but still different enough to make it very far from what I thought." He didn't say anything and Kate thought better not to tell him more.

She shifted her attention back into the book and the notebook on her lap and took a deep breath through her nostrils as she pressed her lips together. Her brown eyes focused their attention on the words that she had written down and then at the previous sentences she had already written down. The whole together caused a shiver to run down her spine. Her theory was heading to turn out right. If she didn't find anything to refute her last discoveries, it would mean just one thing. The angels wanted the Apocalypse just as much as the demons.

---

An hour later.

Dean and Kate were still on the road to get Sam back before anything wrong happened to him. The more time passed, the more worried they were getting. Nevertheless, neither of them let it show. Kate quietly focused on her reading and Dean silently focused on his driving. Every few minutes, the sound of the Bible's pages turning or the pen scribbling down on the pocket notebook would accompany the constant growling of the car's engine.

The almost silence was cut off by Dean's cell phone ringing. Kate looked up at him as he fished the ringing device out of his jacket pocket before she grabbed the bottle of water that was resting between the two of them. She unscrewed it and tipped it up to her mouth as Dean answered the call.

"Yeah?... Oh Bobby, yeah… Yeah, one second. I put on you on speakers," he pushed a button on his phone and then held it between him and Kate.

"Cops found the Escalade in a ditch outside Elk River," the voice of the old man spoke.

"How far away are we?" Kate asked as she put the bottle away from her mouth and looked up at Dean.

"Couple of hours," Bobby replied as Kate glanced back and forth at the phone in Dean's hand and at his profile. "I pulled up a weather map, made some calls. There's a town not far there, Cold Spring. Lighting up with demon sign."

"It's a good place to look," Dean said, his green gaze glued to the road. His voice sounded a bit emotionless, but still she could decipher a pinch of hardness and pain.

"Hey listen, Dean," Bobby said after a moment.

"What?" Dean asked slightly sharply.

"Us finding Sam, it's gotta be about getting him back and not pushing him away," he said as Kate gazed up at Dean.

"Right," the young man simply said in return.

"I know you're mad Dean. I understand. You got a right to be," Bobby told him and Kate bit on her bottom lip as she dropped her gaze down. "But I'm just saying. And I suppose Kate must have told you this too," he said causing the brunette to look up at the cellphone in Dean's right hand. She frowned, feeling a bit guilty to be listening to this conversation. She felt as if she didn't have the right to listen to this conversation, as if was their personal conversation. "Be good to him anyway. You gotta get through to him."

Dean didn't say anything as he clapped the cell phone close, hanging up on Bobby. Kate watched him without truly knowing how to react. She stared at the hard expression that filled all of the pores of his face all of sudden. His jaw seemed to clench as he gripped the steering wheel tighter and Kate just sighed as she turned her head away and looked outside the window, silently praying that Sam was okay wherever he was and whatever he was doing, and that Dean would be okay soon, too.

---

Meanwhile.

Miles away, in a hotel.

"Your appetite's gotten much bigger," the dark-haired demon commented to the younger Winchester as she watched him, propped on one elbow. They were both lying bare naked next to each other in the fancy bed, the white sheet being the only thing covering them after their intense intercourse which Sam was still not proud of.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam asked her as he sat up, the sheet sliding down his strong chest until it reached his toned stomach.

"Sam, relax. It's okay, it's good," she smiled up to him as she played with a lock of her black hair. "Just means you're getting stronger, that's all. It means you're strong enough to kill Lilith. Just in time, too, because the final seals are breaking."

"How many are left?" He asked as his hazel eyes wandered around the bed where all of their clothes were scattered along with the blanket, a couple of pillows and her knife which blade he had licked clean.

"Three...two..." She said causing him to snap his eyes with shock at her.

"What?" He exclaimed with shock. "Where are the angels?"

"Screwing the pooch, wherever they are," she replied with a roll of her eyes as shock never left his facial features. He couldn't believe that the angels hadn't stopped any other seals. It seemed to lack sense. They had appeared so determined to get them all to stop the breaking of the seals, and yet themselves hadn't stopped one on their own while they were more than capable of doing so. "Or maybe too focused with your dear Katie."

"What do you mean?" He asked her, his eyebrows frowned as he looked at her.

"Nevermind," she sighed.

"No. You know something?" He told her and she pushed her tongue on the inside of her cheek, wishing she hadn't say a word about the brunette from another world.

"Not really. Just that the angels have a profound interest in your little friend. And it may not be a very healthy interest."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked her.

"It's not important, because if you stop the final seal, then you won't have to worry about her anymore," she told him as he stared at her with his hazel eyes full of confusion. "And, the thing is that, it's looking more and more like we're getting down to the final seal. And I found out something big."

"What?"

"Seal sixty-six. It can't be broken by just any demon. Apparently, only Lucifer's first can do it."

"Lucifer's first?" He asked her, earning a tiny smile from her as she looked down.

"Demon Sunday School story," she started before returning her dark brown gaze up to his face. "God prefers humans to angels. Lucifer gets jealous and then he gets creative. And he twists and tempts a human soul into the very first demon as a 'screw you' to God. It's what got him locked up in the first place."

"That was Lilith?"

"She's way older than she looks."

"Wait. So if Lilith is the only one who can break the final seal, if I get to her in time-" Sam started voice up his reasoning as he sat even more upright on the bed.

"Then Lucifer never busts out of his cage. Exactly," Ruby finished for him, her lips curled up to one corner.

"Great. You figure out where she is?" Sam asked her, his hazel eyes staring right into her eyes.

"The bitch can hide. But I finally have a lead on someone who might be able to help us. I closed in on a member of Lilith's entourage. You might call her a personal chef."

"Chef? Seriously? What does she eat?"

Ruby shook her head, "You don't wanna know," she replied with a little smile.

---

A few miles away.

At a gas station.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up," Kate was chanting with her cellphone pressed against her ear as she was pacing back and forth in the public bathroom of the gas station Dean had stopped by to fill up the Impala and to give Kate and himself the time for a bathroom break.

"H-hello?"

"Chuck!" Kate exclaimed in relief when she heard his voice as she stopped in the middle of the nasty and low-lighted bathroom.

"Kate, w-what are you doing? Why are you calling me?"

"You don't know?" She asked him, her eyes squinting in suspicion even though he couldn't see her. It wasn't easy for her to believe that a man who had vivid visions of things that happened to a pair of brothers and to her, had no idea of what was going on when she called him.

"I might know a few things… But, right now, I'm not really sure," he replied and Kate nodded as she looked around herself, her free hand scratching at the pad covering her recent stitches in between her neck and shoulder.

"Alright, so I'm in a gas station. More precisely, I'm standing in the middle of a very not clean bathroom," she said as she looked down at the paper toilet stuck to the heel of her converse. She scratched her foot on the floor until the paper let go of her shoe. "And I'm calling you without Dean knowing. Can you situate me in your visions now?"

"You're on your way to get Sam back, aren't you?"

"Yeah," she replied, her voice almost too low for him to hear her with clarity.

"But you're not calling me about Sam…" He trailed off.

"Well, if you could reassure me that he's okay, that would be great, too," she told him before biting on her lower lip in hope that he would give her good news about the younger Winchester.

She still could call Sam, but she wasn't sure that he had his cellphone on him. Besides what would she tell him if she called him? What could she possibly tell him to convince him to come back? Telling him that she was worried sick about him and that both Dean and Bobby were going to lose their sanity if he didn't come back safe and sound right now, didn't sound convincing enough. Moreover, no matter how much he had shown her that they all appreciated her presence in their lives, she was pretty sure that at the end of the day she was replaceable and no one else but his brother would be able to get through him.

"I-I know that he's alive," Chuck told her and she sighed in relief. "But you're not calling about that…"

"Still good to know he's alive," she cracked a weak smile before continuing a few seconds later, with a sterner voice. "Do you know what I'm calling about?"

"I guess it has to do with the hex bags you got on you and the, um, the flashbacks."

"So you know," Kate let out in a whisper as she looked up at her own reflection on the mirror that ran all along the wall that was opposite to the toilet cabinets, right above the sinks.

"Yeah…"

"Chuck…" She started as she walked towards the sink, her brown eyes never leaving the reflection of herself on the mirror. She recognized herself but she felt as if pieces of who she really was, were missing or were completely broken. "I-I'm scared," she admitted to him, her eyes travelling from the bruise that had appeared on her forehead when Sam had attacked her in the panic room to the reflection of her own gaze.

"I know, Kate. I know and I'm so sorry," he told her in a sincere voice.

"What is going on with me?" She asked him, her gaze dropping to the grey metallic sink. "You must know why I'm having all those flashbacks," she told him, her voice full of hope that he would help her.

"I'm not sure I can help you… But, let's imagine that something wiped some memories away from you, okay? So, this thing is from this world, from this universe, but you're not," he told her before stopping for a couple of seconds. "So, may-maybe the fact that you're not from this universe makes you a little bit immune to this thing or person's doings on you. Maybe that's why you're getting flashbacks."

"You think that this spell or whatever has been put on me so I could forget some particular memories, is, um, wearing off because I'm not from here?"

"I'm not sure, but I think it could be the reason why, yeah," he replied.

"What about my theory? Are the angels for the Apocalypse to strike this world or not?"

"Oh, that's, er, that's a big question here," he chuckled nervously.

"Chuck, you're the only one who knows what is really going on around here, you gotta tell me if my theory is right."

"The thing is that I haven't had any visions about that yet," he replied on the other end of the line. Kate let out a heavy sigh of despair. "But, I know what you're thinking… I mean I've seen what you think is going on. And, I-I don't know. I've never really been to any Sunday catechism class. My mom tried for a couple of years when I was a kid but I always managed to stay home to watch cartoons. So I don't know if they taught us anything about the Apocalypse back then or if the angels were fighting to get one."

"Yeah. Well, I guess I'll have to keep on digging," she replied as she looked down at her trembling hand.

"Um yeah… But, you gotta be careful, Kate. I got a feeling that what's happening lately, to you and Sam and Dean, and Bobby too… I got a feeling that it ain't gonna end nice," he told her causing her to stay silent and thoughtful for a long few seconds.

"Well," Kate started. "We'll have to wait for you to actually see it, to confirm your feeling."

---

An hour later.

Kate was chewing on her bottom lip with anxiety as she watched the door Dean had made his way in a couple of minutes ago. He had parked the Impala just a few cars away from the front door of the hotel he had tracked Sam down. It was a four stars hotel which looked like a mini baroque palace from some Eastern Europe countries, with its ten floors high and its two little towers that ended up with domes on top. Apparently, Sam had taken the nuptial suit of this very chic hotel in order to not be tracked down by his brother, and thinking about the Supernatural books that she had read, Kate thought that it could have been a very good idea. Indeed, Sam seemed like the kind of guy to hide himself in some trashy motel or some roadhouse motel in the middle of nowhere; not a place like this. And Sam knew that Dean would know this about him, so he did all the very opposite. However, Dean knew how Sam would work his mind this time. Seeing as it was a very serious situation, Sam had decided to do the opposite and Dean knew he would.

The young brown-haired woman had wanted to come along in the building, but Dean had insisted on her staying in the car. He wanted to deal with his little brother on his own, and he had absolutely every right to do so even though it worried Kate. What if Sam didn't want to listen to his brother? What if Sam didn't want to follow Dean back to Bobby's? After all, who would want to be locked in a room to face their inner demons on their own?

She let out a long and heavy sigh before bringing her hands up to rub down her whole face when her cell phone rang. She quickly grabbed it from the dashboard and answered.

"Everything's okay?" She immediately asked.

"Um, yeah, I-I'm just callin' like I said I would," a hesitant voice answered causing Kate to close her eyes and sigh in relief.

"Chuck," she said as she rubbed her eyelids with her fingertip and her thumb. "Sorry, I thought that was Dean."

"Oh… Is he with Sam, right now?"

"Yeah," she just said as she slid her fingers up to the top of her head and ran them through her hair. "So, you got some news?"

"Um, not really… I haven't had any visions yet. No matter how much I drank myself to knock myself and have some visions. It didn't work at all," he groaned on the other end of the line. "It seems that I was right when I told you I really have no control on my visions."

"Well, at least you tried," she told him in a little voice when her brown gaze caught the sight of someone familiar walking out of the hotel. She frowned as her eyes followed the person. "You are kidding me," she mumbled to herself.

"Wh-what?" He asked sounding obviously confused at her words, as her eyes kept on following the dark- brown-haired woman in a leather jacket walking quickly towards the parking lot.

"I'll call you back," she said to Chuck as she hung up on him and quickly got out of the silk black car, slipping her phone in her jeans' pocket. She slammed the passenger door closed and made quick steps towards the shorter brunette, "Ruby!" She shouted in a stern tone.

The other brunette spun around and looked up at her with a surprised expression, "Katie! So long no see."

"You bitch!" Kate shouted, anger rising up inside of her with each steps she made up to the demon.

"Oh and I thought our reunion would be nicer-" Ruby started to say when Kate brought her fist up to punch the demon in the face but Ruby swiftly bent down, avoiding the punch. "Whoa, calm down, Kate," she told her as the young woman brought her other hand up to hit her but Ruby grabbed her two wrists, stopping her with her full demon force. "Kate, stop!"

"You did all of this to Sam!" Kate shouted at her as she tried to free from the strong hold of the demon.

"You know it's not true. I have been helping him, you know that," Ruby told her, still holding her wrists up in the air. "You know that otherwise you would have stopped me when I told you about all of this!"

Kate's eyebrows frowned as her brown eyes scanned the demon's face before she stepped back, dropping all of the strength off her arms. Ruby watched the young woman with vigilance, trying to make sure that Kate wasn't going to charge up on her again before letting go of her arms.

"You didn't say it was going to be dangerous for him," Kate accused in half a whisper.

"Oh c'mon, you thought having the power to kill Lilith and stop the Apocalypse was going to come without a price?" Ruby scoffed.

"You manipulated me… You made me think that you were one of the good guys, you-"

"I didn't make you think anything," Ruby cut her off sternly. "You're the one who summoned me to teach you some witchcraft to protect yourself from demons and angels."

"Angels?" Kate whispered to herself as Ruby sighed through her nostrils in an almost exasperated way.

"Look, you can blame me as much as you want. But I never asked you to not stop Sam from doing this and I never asked you to keep it all a secret," Ruby told her. "You've made those choices on your own. And you've done well."

"I've done well?" Kate breathed out, half shocked and half stunned. "Do you have any idea of what your blood is doing to Sam? Do you even care about him?"

"Of course, I care about him," Ruby replied in such a way that took Kate a bit aback. It seemed as if the demon truly cared about the younger Winchester, but didn't really want to show it. "But I also care about living. If we don't stop the Apocalypse, that's something that neither you nor I will really be able to do anymore."

"It's not Sam's fate to stop it and you know that. The angels said it has to be Dean."

"Oh yeah, and since when do you believe in what the angels say?" Ruby scoffed and Kate frowned as a strong flash back crossed her mind.

She was standing in a motel room which walls were covered in sigils. Ruby was there too. She was teaching her how to do some protection hex bags. Hex bags to protect oneself from witch's spells. To protect oneself from demons. And to protect oneself from angels.

When the flashback finished, Kate took a deep breath as she tried to mentally grasp the new handful of memories she just got back. Opening her eyes and putting her hands on her knees as she felt dizzy and tired, she looked up to see Ruby was gone.

---

Meanwhile.

In the Hotel's Nuptial room.

"Sam, you're lying to yourself. I just want you to be okay. You would do the same for me. You know you would," Dean told his brother as he made two steps towards him, his green eyes never looking away from his little brother's eyes.

"Just listen," Sam said before looking at Ruby's knife that he took away from Dean when this latter one had attacked the demon a few minutes ago. He tossed it on the bed and rose both of his hands as he pleaded for his brother to listen to him. "Just listen for a second. We got a lead on a demon close to Lilith. Come with us, Dean. We'll do this together."

"That sounds great," Dean replied causing Sam to almost sigh and smile in relief. "As long as it's you and me. Demon bitch is a dealbreaker. You kiss her goodbye, we can go right now."

"I can't," Sam half-whispered which only made Dean turn away, nodding his head as Sam continued. "Dean, I need her to help me kill Lilith. I know you can't wrap your head around it, but maybe one day you'll understand. I'm the only one who can do this, Dean."

Dean turned back around and looked at his little brother as if he had just understood what it was all about. "No, you're not the one who's gonna do this."

"Right, that's right, I forgot. The angels think it's you," Sam replied with a bit of sarcasm.

"You don't think I can?"

"No. You can't. You're not strong enough," Sam told him, his voice as gentle as his eyes.

"And who the hell are you?" Dean asked him as he took one step towards his tall little brother.

"I'm being practical here. I'm doing what needs to be done."

"Yeah? You're not gonna do a single damn thing," Dean told him, shaking his head as he kept his eyes boring sternly at his brother's.

"Stop bossing me around, Dean. Look. My whole life, you take the wheel, you call the shots, and I trust you because you are my brother. Now I'm asking you, for once, trust me."

"No. You don't know what you're doing, Sam," Dean told Sam who felt his frustration growing more and more inside of him.

"Yes, I do," Sam almost groaned.

"Really? You knew what you were doing when you attacked Kaitlin and drank her fuckin' blood? Or when you knocked Bobby out? Because if that's the case, then that's worse," Dean told him and Sam looked down as he gulped down his shame for his latest actions.

"Look, all I'm telling you-" Sam started when Dean cut him off.

"You know what? It's not even something that you're doing, it's what you are! It means-" Dean stopped himself and a short and full of tension silence fell upon them. The two brothers looked into each other's eyes, the elder not knowing what to say and the younger afraid to hear it.

"What?" Sam asked his eyes slowly welling with tears as he asked his brother to tell him what he was so afraid to be called. Dean looked away for a moment, his own eyes filling with tears. "No. Say it."

Dean looked up at his brother and for three seconds, he hesitated. Those three seconds seemed to last longer as they were filled with sudden memories of what he had been told.

He could hear distinctly what Bobby had told him earlier on the phone.

'Be good to him anyway. You gotta get through to him.'

He could hear what Kate had told him back in Bobby's salvage yard.

'You need to show him that you are here for him, that you don't think he's a monster and you don't think he'll ever become one.'

And then, he could remember the words that had changed his life forever into this constant fighting.

'Take your brother outside as fast as you can - don't look back. Now, Dean! Go!'

But, now, taking him outside wouldn't save him, Dean thought. It wouldn't save any of them…

"It means you're a monster," Dean let out and regretted the right instant he heard his own voice say it as he saw his brother nod and look away. A single tear fell from Dean's left eye as he never looked away from his little brother's face.

Out of the blue, Sam who didn't notice his brother crying, threw a hard punch at Dean who fell on the ground. When Dean got back up, his green eyes filled with a feeling of betrayal and anger, went immediately to Sam. He watched him for a moment, no more inner voice trying to stop him from doing something he might regret as he punched him back.

Dean didn't stop at that first punch, he threw another one to his brother and then it was one after one. On his little brother's right cheek, left cheek, stomach, ribs. Nevertheless, Sam quickly managed to dominate the fight as he grabbed Dean and punched him a few times before Dean banged his face into one mirror on the wall, breaking it into pieces and earning himself a couple of cuts.

There seemed to be no possibility to stop either of them as Dean threw himself at Sam, ready to kick him again, but the taller Winchester grabbed him and threw him through the wooden sort of screen wall. Dean ended up breaking the screen wall and the glass table on which he landed hard.

The younger man was breathing heavily with anger as he approached Dean who didn't get up, as he stayed laying on his back. Sam looked down at him and all he could think of or see right now, was a complete enemy. Someone who thought of him as a monster. Someone who hated him and someone that he hated.

Clenching his jaw, Sam pinned Dean down and with no doubt, he brought his large hands around Dean's throat and squeezed hard. Dean started to choke so he brought his hands up and tried to push him away. He kept his green eyes focused on the ceiling as he kept on trying to push him away; he was unable to look at his own brother while he was doing this to him.

"No!" A feminine voice exclaimed as the front door slammed open against the wall. Sam's attention was caught by the voice but his hands remained strongly choking Dean. He looked at Kate, but it seemed as though he wasn't truly seeing her. He was just looking through her. "Sam, please stop!"

Sam frowned as his green eyes seemed to finally, actually see and recognize the brown-haired woman standing at the doorway with a face full of concern and fear.

"Sam, it's your brother!" She shouted at him, her voice cracking as she tried to force her legs into unfreezing and moving towards him to push him away from Dean. But she remained unable to move one inch of her body, the only thing she could use to stop Sam from killing his own brother was her voice.

Sam looked down at Dean. His brother. He saw Dean's eyes starting to roll back and the strength of his hands trying to fight him back was loosening.

Sam pulled his hands away in one swift movement, Dean's hands dropping as he caught back his breath. Sam stood up, his gaze glued to his older brother who was getting his breath back between a few coughs.

"You don't know me. You never did." Dean opened his eyes to have them landing on the brunette standing at the doorway with what looked like fear, sorrow but also relief plastered all over her face as her eyes were glued to the shattered pieces of glass around him. "And you never will," Dean moved his eyes towards Sam standing above him before he made his way to the wide open front door.

"You walk out that door. Don't you ever come back," Dean told Sam who stopped at the door. Dean watched him as he turned his head towards him and looked right into his eyes before he looked up to the brunette standing just a few inches from him, completely frozen in spot. Sam wished Kate said something, or at least just looked at him. But she didn't do either.

"For what it's worth," he said, his voice so little and painful as he watched her profile. "I'm sorry for… For what I did to you."

She bit on her bottom lip as tears formed in her eyes and when she finally turned her head to look at him, he was already leaving. She didn't succeed on calling after him or on going after him to try to stop him. She only looked at his back as he disappeared in the hallway.

Dean's groans as he tried to stand up caught her attention back. She looked at him as he painfully shifted on the floor, and the moment she met his watery green gaze was the moment her legs decided to finally move. She took the couple of steps up to him and knelt down at his sides, her hands gently falling on his arm. She slipped one hand on the upper part of his back to try to help him sit up and he let her do. Once he was sitting up, Kate kept one hand on his back and the other landed flat on his lap.

Dean looked at the mess in the room and then looked at her, his eyes filled with tears as he shakily breathed. He looked down at his hands with which he had fought his brother as if he had been his worst enemy. He closed his eyes tightly as he realized that his own little brother he had protected all of his life, had almost choked him to death. He felt Kate's hand rubbing his back and that made him open his eyes to look up at her. The sad expression on her face only made it all real, and he couldn't help but wonder if his brother would have ever stopped choking him if she hadn't been there. This thought broke him down as he couldn't keep his pain inside. He lowered his head, groaned in pain and anger, and cried. He immediately felt Kate pull him to her chest as she held him tightly against her and rubbed her two hands up and down his back.

"It's gonna be alright, Dean," she tried to reassure him in a soft whisper. "It's gonna be alright."

---

A few minutes later.

After Dean had stopped crying, he had let Kate walk him to the bathroom where she gently washed his face with some cold water. Not a word was spoken by neither of them as she continued on taking care of him. Dean was still trying to grasp at everything that had just happened with his little brother. Never once did a fight between the two of them went that far. And never once did they try to kill one another. Dean felt defeated more than ever. He never thought Sam would choose a demon over him. The feeling of betrayal was burning him from the inside, but still he felt as if it was all his fault. He could blame Kate for not telling him about the demon blood just like he could blame Ruby for manipulating his brother, but eventually he knew it was all his fault. If he had been more supportive of his brother. If he had shown him that they could overcome everything together and if he hadn't called him a monster. Then maybe his brother wouldn't have gone find comfort in the arms of a demon.

"Dean, maybe we should go to the hospital?" Kate's soft little voice took him out of his thoughts.

He looked up from the sink where his gaze was lost, to look at her reflection. She was staring at his face, one hand holding a wet towel covered with a bit of his blood and the other laying lightly on his left shoulder. He looked at her hand on his shoulder and wondered where that serenity was? When was that comfort going to come out of her pores and embrace him? He needed it, but right now, it was nowhere to be felt. That's when he realized what it was all about. The fact that she was so gentle, so kind and so caring with them was such a new thing that he wanted more of it. And it was such a new thing for him after those forty years in Hell that he needed more of it. He craved it. He wanted to believe that someone could bring him this peace and tenderness that had been lacking those past forty years – if not his whole life. And, who else better than someone who was so foreign to this horrible supernatural world and who seemed to only want to be kind to others after have suffered through her own hell in the past?

"Dean?" She said making him turn his green gaze to hers.

"No. We don't have time to lose," he replied, his voice sore, as he walked away causing her to drop her hand. "We better leave this place before the security or the cops come."

---

"What if you got a concussion?" Kate asked Dean as she stopped in between him and the driver's door of his Impala.

"I don't," he told her, his tone lacking of any emotion as his voice was still sore from the choking.

"Yeah, well, you ain't a doctor. How would you know?" She told him. "I can't have you driving and risk both of our lives."

"Kaitlin, move-" He started.

"No," she told him sternly. "The sun is gonna go down very soon, which means that it's getting darker, I'm not risking you driving us in night-time, in your state. Just give me your keys and let me drive us back to Bobby's."

"What? I'm not gonna let you drive my car."

"Then, I'm not coming with you."

"Kaitlin, it's really not the right time to behave like a child," he sighed with exhaustion.

"Yeah, well it's either you let me drive or I'll hitch-hike my way back to Bobby's," she told him. Dean watched her face as he tried to weigh the pros and the cons to let her drive his car. As much as he hated the thought of having anyone but himself driving his car, he knew that he needed to rest both physically and mentally, and if he managed to have at least a twenty minute shut eye he sure knew he'd wake up a bit less over the edge.

"Alright, but I'm warning you-" he started when his phone starting to ring in his pants' pocket.

"Pick it up. Might be important," she told him and he sighed as he gave her the keys and circled the car to get into the passenger seat.

"Yeah?" He answered his cellphone as he sat in the passenger seat and Kate sat down behind the steering wheel. She closed the door and turned the keys to start the car. "No. He's gone."

Kate looked up at Dean to see him pushing the old Bible, notebook and her little back bag closer to her in the middle of the front seat.

"What do you think, Bobby? I tried to convince him to come back, I did! He wanted us to team up with Ruby, he fuckin' chose her over his own brother!" Dean told Bobby as Kate looked away and bit on her bottom lip before starting to drive out of the parking lot. "No… I don't know, Bobby… We fought and h-he tried to kill me… To be honest, I don't fuckin' care anymore. All I wanna do now is stop this Apocalypse…. Yeah… No, she's okay… She's driving… Yeah, I know… Yeah. We're on our way."

When Dean hung up, he put his phone down, nearby Kate's stuff on the seat. He let out a long breath as he shifted in his seat, his eyes looking at the way the brunette had her two hands around the wheel and her eyes were completely focused on the road ahead of them. She wasn't driving too fast, but she wasn't driving too slow neither. And, he was rather surprised that she could drive so smoothly his car which was far from being an automatic. He watched her in silence for almost a long minute and noticed that she didn't take her eyes away from the road even though she must have felt him watching her. This reassured him that she was going to drive carefully.

"At the end of this road, you turn to the first on your right, it'll be the motorway exit," he told her and she nodded, her brown eyes still glued to the road. "Then you keep on driving for about ten minutes before you'll see a sign telling you to turn, um," he frowned as he tried to recall the signs he had seen earlier when they got into this town. "Um, left. It'll be the way up to South Dakota."

"Alright," she nodded. He nodded too, even though she didn't look at him. He watched her profile for a few seconds before turning his green eyes to the road with a little tired sigh, unhappy and painful thoughts twirling around in his head.

---

A few hours later.

South of Dakota, Sioux Falls. At Bobby Singer's.

Sitting on the flight of steps in front of Bobby's porch, Kate's eyes were lost in the horizon. The calm silence surrounding her wasn't very helpful as it only made her think again and again about these terrible set of flashbacks that had been hitting her lately. She wanted to know why she had forgotten all of those things in first hand, but she also wanted to not remember. It was too painful and it demanded a lot of strength from her to not show how much it was affecting her. Truth be told, she also had a little voice deep inside of her head convincing her not to tell any of this to anyone. It was only increasing the doubt she was starting to have about her own sanity. This universe was driving her crazy and she wasn't sure she was strong enough to keep on going on like this.

Looking down at her hands, she noticed that she was trembling again. She fisted her hands and closed her eyes tightly as she tried to suppress the images that wouldn't leave her mind.

"Kate?" The young woman's eyes shot open at the sound of her name followed by a few steps approaching her. "Are you alright?"

Kate looked up at the dark-haired woman carrying her professional bag and her jacket in one arm. "Um, yeah. I just needed to get some fresh air," she replied before unclenching her fists and putting her hands under her bottom. "How's Dean?"

"He's fine," the green-eyed woman replied as she took a seat next to her, putting her bag and jacket on her lap. "He doesn't have a concussion, but his opponent was pretty heavy handed which left a few deep contusions and lacerations on his face. Luckily, it's all superficial. That boy has an excellent memory though." Kate turned her head and her eyes landed on the woman's profile. The high ponytail emphasised the shape of her olive-skinned face and Kate noticed for the first time that the woman had a rather long and thin old scar that started on her ear and ended under her jaw. "He even remembered me."

"Remembered you?" Kate asked, confused.

"I met him when he was around eleven years old. His father, John, came to the hospital with what looked like battle wounds. It was a few years before my husband got into hunting," she told Kate who listened very carefully as she kept her brown eyes glued to her face. "And well, Bobby was carrying John because the man could barely walk. After the surgery, I saw Dean standing in the hallway, he had taken off his jacket stained with blood and he was talking with his little brother. When I approached them, I heard Dean telling Sam all of those comforting and reassuring words to him. I asked Dean a few questions about the situation, to which he answered like a real little man. He didn't sound like an eleven-year-old, but rather like a grown-up; almost like a soldier actually. His father must have had prepared him very early to know what to say and what to not say, because Dean gave me some really believable lies and yet I knew they weren't true."

"How did you know?" Kate asked when Doctor Parks stopped for a moment, her gaze glued to the silky black car parked a few feet away from them.

"Sam," she replied before turning her gaze back to the young woman. "He looked quite surprised by what Dean was saying. Genuinely surprised like a seven-year old boy should be when their big brother is lying right next to them. But he didn't say a word and kept on playing with that little toy in his hands-" She paused and frowned as if she was thinking about something very hard. Returning her gaze to the Impala and then back to Kate, her frown increased when she looked down at the pad covering the spot where her shoulder and neck met. She travelled her green eyes up to the light bruise that had appeared on Kate's forehead when Sam had attacked her. Kate felt as if Doctor Parks was connecting dots in her head and she didn't feel at ease with that or with the way Doctor Parks was scanning her whole face.

"And, um, did you get to meet them again after that time?" Kate asked as she turned her head to look over at the Impala.

"No, not after that," Doctor Parks replied after a moment. She looked down at Kate's hands secured under her bottom. "I saw them a couple of times the next year, when their father needed to get them vaccinated. However, that is all, aside from when you were hospitalized of course. They were at your bedside almost all the time. Especially Dean." Kate looked up at her, she didn't really know any of this and she hadn't thought of asking. After a short silence, Doctor Parks continued with something off topic. "Bobby didn't want to tell me about where Sam is, but I am not stupid. Sam's absence and my car's theft are both linked, aren't they?"

"I'm sorry about your car," Kate just said in a little voice, avoiding answering to the question.

"It's alright. I will have it returned by tomorrow afternoon."

"Why are you so passionate about your car?" Kate asked as she stared at the shinning wheels of the Impala.

"It was a gift from my husband a few years before he was killed," Doctor Parks replied, her voice sounding strict as if she was holding back other emotions.

"Oh God, I-I'm sorry, I didn't-" Kate started as she looked up at the woman who shook her head.

"You didn't know, it's alright," she cut her off. "The thing is that I have a lot of memories in this car. Good memories. And, I am quite attached to those memories that only this car can remind me without turning me into a weeping mess…" She trailed off as Kate watched her profile attentively. "Anyways, what about you? How is your recovery going on?"

"Um, not bad, I think," Kate replied hesitantly as she bit down on her bottom lip.

"Even though Bobby has been secretive about where Sam is, he told me that you might have something important to talk to me about." Kate shook her head. "Are you sure? Because, Bobby seemed a bit anxious and he wouldn't tell me why, but he let me know that you might need to tell me about something. You can trust me."

"I know, Doctor Parks, but there's nothing," Kate shrugged trying to make her lie more believable. "Really."

"Alright. If you say so," Doctor Parks said as she stood up. She wiped the dirt off the back of her pants with her free hand and looked down at the young woman. "You should go get some rest. I have already put Dean to rest with a few sleeping pills since he wasn't very cooperating with the idea of sleeping. Oh, and I think Bobby is waiting for you to get in now."

"Yeah, I'm going," Kate just said as she looked at the woman who started to make her way towards the little blue car that the hospital had lent her since her car had been reported stolen.

"One last thing," Doctor Parks said as she spun around and looked at the young woman. "You have to remember that not being in your universe, doesn't necessarily mean that you are alone. Whatever secret is weighing you down, know that there are people ready to lift some of that weight off your shoulders."

---

The next day.

South Dakota, Sioux Falls. At Bobby Singer's.

"Dean?" Bobby said as Dean's gaze was lost in the window. It had been like that for almost five long minutes during which Bobby and Kate talked before Bobby started to give Dean a whole speech about how Sam was still his brother no matter what. "Dean? You listened to a word I said?"

"Yeah, I heard you," Dean replied, still giving his back to the old man and to Kate who was leaning in the doorway. His hands were halfway thrust into his jeans' pockets, his hair still a bit wet from the shower he had taken earlier before he had slipped on his boots and jacket ready to get right back into work which Bobby didn't seem to want to focus on unless he fixed what happened between Sam and Dean. "I'm not calling him."

"Don't make me get my gun, boy," Bobby told him causing Dean to turn around.

"We're damn near kick off for Armageddon. Don't you think we got bigger fish at the moment?"

"I know you're pissed. And I'm not making apologies for what he's done but he's your-" Bobby started.

"Blood? He's my blood? Is that what you were gonna say?" Dean interrupted Bobby who only stared at him.

"He's your brother," Kate said causing Dean to shift his gaze towards her, his gaze glancing down at her hands pulling at the hem of her brown long-sleeve. She was doing this almost unconsciously but definitely anxiously.

"And he's drowning," Bobby said, still staring at the hunter whose eyes went back to him before he sighed and looked away.

"Guys, I tried to help him. I did. Kate and I told you, Bobby. Look what happened," Dean told him, his voice still a bit sore from the choking.

"He stopped, Dean. He could have gone further but he stopped," Kate said as she walked up to the middle of the living room and stood in front of the two men. Dean scoffed as he looked away. "You can get through him. You can help him. You gotta try again."

"What? No, it's too late," Dean said as he paced in the room, his eyes looking at the carpet that was back on the floor, avoiding their gazes.

"There's no such thing," Bobby said in a gentle tone.

"No! Damn it!" Dean half-shouted before he looked up at Kate and then at Bobby. "No. But I gotta face the facts. Sam never wanted part of this family. He hated this life growing up, ran away to Stanford the first chance he got. Now, it's like déjà vu all over again," Dean told them shaking his head as he sat on the little sofa that Bobby had settled next to the doorway leading to the hallway. "Well, I am sick and tired of chasing him. Screw him. He can do what he wants."

"You don't mean that," Kate breathed out as she stared at him. The Supernatural books had never shown the two brothers in this kind of situation before. Sure there had been some moments where they argued a lot and even went on separate ways, but it had never been this terrible. It saddened her how high the edge this time they had reached was, and yet she still wanted to believe that they were going to be alright.

"Yes, I do Kaitlin," he replied looking up at her. "Sam is gone. He's gone," he looked down and continued in a more little voice, "I'm not even sure if he's still my brother anymore... If he ever was."

Kate watched him completely taken aback by what he was saying. Dean couldn't be saying this about Sam, not after everything they've been through together. All of sudden she heard a crashing sound, she turned around to see that Bobby had just swept angrily with his hands all of the things on his desk, tossing books, papers, manuscripts and a bottle of old scotch to the floor.

"You stupid, stupid son of a bitch!" Bobby shouted as he advanced towards Dean who immediately stood up, his green eyes glued to the old man.

Kate had spent months and months in this house, with Bobby as the only constant company sometimes. They hadn't just done researching together. They had done some cooking together, they had watched some crappy but captivating reality TV show more than once and he had even brought her to a little lake not very far away from his house for a couple of hours in order to get some peace of mind. But, she had also watched him answering phone calls from hunters all over the country and she had seen him get so mad on the phone that she had thought more than a couple of times that he would break the phone. But never once did she see him that fuming.

"Well, boo-hoo!" Bobby shouted at Dean. "I'm so sorry your feelings are hurt, princess!" Dean's eyebrows shot in surprise as his gaze never left the man right in front of him "Are you under the impression that family's supposed to make ya feel good? Make you an apple-pie, maybe? They're supposed to make you miserable! That's why they're family!"

"I told him 'you walk out that door don't come back', and he walked out anyway!" Dean replied. "That was his choice!"

"You sound like a whining brat!" Bobby told Dean before this one walked around him and arrived next to Kate in the middle of the living room. "No, you sound like your dad. Well, let me tell you something, your dad was a coward." Dean turned around and looked at Bobby as Kate stayed quiet and motionless next to him.

"My dad was a lot of things, Bobby, but a coward?"

"He'd rather push Sam away than reach out to him," Bobby told him and Kate bit on her bottom lip. Chucks' books hadn't turned her into the biggest fan of John Winchester, but she had still understood that this man wasn't truly a bad man. He was just a regular man whom bad things happened to; unfortunately and sadly, he let those bad things get to his kids too. "That don't strike me as brave," Bobby continued. "You... You are a better man than your daddy ever was. So, you do us a favor, don't be him." Kate looked up at Bobby whose expression was very soft with a faint of pleading in his blue eyes.

By her side, Dean turned around after nodding in a very slight way. He looked through the window again and Kate wondered if those words had hurt him or had made him open his eyes on the situation. She brought her hand up to rest it gently on top of his arm when he vanished into thin air.

She gasped as she took a step back, her eyes wide in shock.

"What the hell?!" Bobby exclaimed as he advanced to where Dean was standing just a second ago.

"Bobby, what-" Kate started to ask when a sudden flash of images hit her more violently than ever before.

She fell on her knees, her eyes shutting tightly and she started to scream, not able to keep quiet as flashbacks made her relive every single thing that she had forgotten. Bobby immediately knelt next to her as she gripped tightly at her hair and screamed with so much raw pain that Bobby felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Kate!" Bobby screamed as he strongly pulled at her contorted arms. "Kate! Tell me what's going on!" When he managed to get her hands away from her hair, he noticed that she had pulled so hard at her hair that she had managed to snatch some good strands of hair off her own head. "Kate! Do you hear me?! Kate!"

The young woman strongly pushed him away and her whole body started to twist on carpet as though she was possessed by something even more wicked than a demon. She kicked her heels on the floor, harder each time. Her body arched, her fists clenched and she never stopped crying. Bobby quickly grabbed the holy water that was in one corner of the room, he unscrewed the bottle and poured it on her as he chanted the exorcism.

Nothing happened.

She kept on screaming and her face was getting redder as tears succeeded on leaving her closed eyes and streamed down the sides of her head. The old man's eyes fell on her clenched fists and he noticed blood dripping. He dropped by her side and grabbed one of her arm that was so tense that it seemed to be an iron bar covered in flesh. He tried to unclench her fist but it was too tight and Bobby's panic was starting to overwhelm him.

"Kate! It's Bobby! Can you hear me?! Kate!" He shouted as he dropped her hand on the ground and grabbed her wet face in between his rough hands. "Kate! Come on, Kate!"

Her scream was relentless and it was getting more ear-splitting by the second. But Bobby didn't leave her side as he tried to help her through whatever was happening to her. It reminded him of what happened a few months ago when that angel, Uriel, had come to get her to where Dean had to torture Alastair. She had screamed the name of Alastair back then and she was twisting on the floor in pain, too. But, today, it was obviously worse.

Suddenly, she stopped screaming.

Her body went limp as it fell on the floor, her legs no longer kicking and her mouth closing before her lips parted slightly and she took a deep shaky breath in. She started to breathe as if she was left out of breath. Bobby looked at her as he caressed his rough thumbs on her cheeks.

"Kate," he said in almost a whisper. "Kate, can you hear me?" She weakly nodded, her eyes still closed. "You're burning hot," he commented as he slipped one hand on her forehead. "I'm gonna bring you some ice-" He started to stand up when she brought one hand up to stop him. He looked down at her clenched fist and slowly put his hands on it. He succeeded on pulling the fingers away from her palm and he winced when he saw the cuts that her own nails had done. He grabbed her other arm and did the same. "God…"

"I…" She started with a very weak voice. His gaze immediately went to her face.

"What? Kate, what?" He asked her, panicked and feeling completely helpless.

"I remember," she cried in a whisper. Her whole body started to shake as she cried harder, "I remember everything."