I hope you al like this chapter. I think it's kinda cute myself, but I'm weird. As usual, thanks to SciFiNutTX and laceym for putting up with my insanity and thanks to everyone else for reading and reviewing.

Chapter 12

The fear and devastation John felt was written all over his face. His son was dying and he couldn't even see him. He thought about calling Dean's phone, but Katie had told him that would be a bad idea. She didn't want to be in the middle of a fight with the boys. John understood that. He knew his boys would have flipped out on their sister for hiding their father from them.

John completely shut down about an hour after Katie's last phone call. He never heard his phone ring a few hours later and Racheal tell him that Dean was fine. He just kept replaying memories of Dean over and over in his head. He finally realized what Katie had been trying to tell him for the last 4 years. He had taken his oldest son for granted the boy's entire life and now his son was dying, probably already dead.

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John stopped eating, stopped doing anything. After the second day, Racheal called Katie.

"Grace, are you coming back soon?" Racheal asked her friend.

"I was planning on heading home in the morning." Katie answered, "Why?"

"I think John has convinced himself that Dean's dead."

"Didn't you tell him that my brother was ok?"

"Yeah, I told him, but I don't think he heard me. About an hour after you called to say you were headed for Nebraska, he just got all weird. He hasn't eaten anything in 2 days. I don't know what to do."

"Alright, just keep an eye on him. I'll leave now and be back as soon as I can."

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Katie hung up her phone and started packing her stuff. She had been trying to sleep when Racheal called her. The boys were in the room next door, probably asleep already. She thought about waking them and taking them to Kila with her, but she didn't want to fight with them or John. She decided it would be best to just leave. She could always call the boys later and come up with some kind of excuse. She loaded her stuff into Racheal's car, took one last look at the hotel, and then headed back to Kila, Montana.

She'd been driving for about 8 hours when her phone rang. She didn't look at the caller ID thinking that it was Dean wanting to know where she'd run off too.

"I know, I know." Katie said, "I'm sorry Dean, but Caleb said he needed my help."

"I'll be sure to tell him that." Sam said.

"Sam, is everything ok?"

"We're good. Dean is talking to Layla right now. I went to your room to talk to you, but you weren't in it."
"Yeah, Caleb called late last night, said he was stuck on a job and needed my help."

"I wanted to thank you. I don't think I could've made it through this if you weren't here."

"No worries, Sam. That's what sisters are for."

There was a long pause, and then Sam completely surprised Katie with his next statement.

"Katie, I'm sorry."

"For what, Sam?" Katie asked.

"I've been acting like a total ass when it comes to you for the last few months. I may not like the fact that you kept being my sister a secret, but I understand why you did it. I guess part of me blamed you for what happened to Jess too. I may not know what happened, but I'm sure you did everything you could to save her. I just forgot that she was your best friend and that you lost her too."

Katie didn't know what to say. Sam was actually apologizing to her and she didn't think she deserved that.

"Katie, say something." Sam said.

"I really don't know what to say Sam." Katie replied, "I really don't deserve an apology from you."

"Yeah, you do. You're my sister, it's way past time for me to treat you as such."

"Hey , Sam."

"Yeah."

"Geek."

"Witch."

They were both laughing at their last remarks. Katie was about to say something else when her phone beeped.

"I gotta go Sam. I got another call. I'll talk to ya later."

"You better, or I'll sic Dean on you." Sam replied.

Katie couldn't help but smile as she checked her phone and then switched over to her other call.

"Hey, Dean. How you doing?"

"Not so good." Dean replied.

"Yeah, I kinda figured."

"I was hoping you'd stick around for awhile. Kinda needed you close."
"I'm sorry, Caleb called late last night and said he needed help."

"Why didn't he call one of the others?"

"Because I had them all working to find a way to help you. I haven't had a chance to call them all yet and let them know you're ok now. Well, physically at least."

"It's just, I can't talk to Sam the same way I do you."

"I think you should try." Katie said, "He understands a lot more than you think."

"I take it you two worked a couple things out?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I think so. I was on the phone with him just before you called. Anyway, what happened to that guy and what's happening to Layla isn't your fault. None of us had any way of knowing what would happen. You shouldn't take everything on yourself like that. It's gonna eat you up one day."

"Can't help it."

"I know, that's what makes you who you are. It's also what makes you the bestest big brother on the planet." Katie said with a small smile.

"Shut up."

"I don't wanna." Katie said in her best little kid voice.

"You are such a brat." Dean said with a laugh.

"Peanut brain."

"You're gonna think 'peanut brain' when I wrap you in duct tape and throw you in my trunk."

"You gotta catch me first." Katie laughed.

"Hey, Graceful. Thanks."

"That's what I'm here for."

Katie hung up her phone. She spent the next 10 hours on the road trying to figure out how to snap John out of his depression.