Three weeks went by with no word from the Winchester boys, and on the supernatural front, things were getting…interesting, to say the least. It seemed that every day, reports were coming in from other hunters and on the news about increases in strange occurrences, aka demons. Kerry and Bobby spent most of their time away from the house to help with the situation, but Bobby could see a change in his daughter that was becoming more and more prominent the longer they were away from the house. He knew she wanted to be researching ways to help Dean, and dammit, so did he, but there were simply too many demons around for them to sit out of it. Still, he didn't fail to notice the fact she wasn't eating or sleeping properly and as her eyes gained a permanent shadow under then and her clothes were looking slightly baggy on her, he couldn't help but worry.
"You need to eat something" he said, placing a bag with a burger and fries in front of her.
Kerry glanced at the food before moving it aside to continue reading her book.
"Later." Was all she said.
Not one to give in, Bobby simply took the book and pulled it away from her, ignoring her yell of protest.
"Eat, then sleep and you'll get it back. No use in turning yourself into a zombie because what good will you be then?"
Anger flashed in her eyes, quickly giving way to frustration, then finally, defeat. She sighed deeply, her body slumped in sadness as she reached out for the food. She didn't speak, but Bobby was relieved to see that she at least ate half the meal before shuffling to her room. Not ten minutes later did he look in at her and smiled to see her collapsed on her bed, deep in sleep. Closing the door, he returned to the kitchen and picked up the book he'd taken from her, settling in to his own research.
The next morning, Kerry found herself groaning as she woke, knowing from the looseness of her body that she'd slept longer than she had intended. Stumbling out of her room, she bumped into something solid and took a step back, fists raised. She heard a familiar chuckle and blinked the sleep out of her eyes to see Sam watching her, an amused grin on his face. Growling, she dropped one of her fists and used the other one to punch his shoulder.
"Not funny." She grumbled before heading to the bathroom, ignoring Sam's continuing laughter as he moved back to the stairs.
Kerry stumbled after him and waved to Dean, who gave her a brief smile before handing Bobby the colt. Kerry raised a questioning eyebrow and Bobby passed it to her.
"We're gonna take it apart and find out how it works. Hopefully make some new bullets for it too so it can be used as a demon killing weapon again."
Kerry nodded in understanding and within minutes, the four of them huddled around the table, stripping the gun and studying it, only stopping when it came to food. After eating, Sam quietly left the room and soon after that, Kerry also slid away, finding Sam in the library clicking away at his computer.
"Find anything?" she asked.
Sam shook his head.
"Nah. I thought I had a lead for Dean's deal, but it's not going to work."
Kerry snorted, not in amusement.
"Tell me about it. I think I'm at about theory 70 and so far I'm getting nowhere with it."
Sam gave her an understanding smile and she saw the sadness in his eyes. Grabbing the first book off the shelf she could find, she sat down next to him and while he continued typing, she began reading, listening to dean and Bobby in the background as they tried to figure out the colt.
The next day, Kerry was cooking lunch when Sam walked in to the room, gaining their attention when he claimed there was strange activity going on somewhere in Ohio. Dean decided to follow the lead.
"You think you can have this thing ready by this afternoon?" dean asked.
Kerry didn't need to turn to see the look her dad gave the older brother and she sniggered when she could hear Sam clearly fighting laughter.
"Well, it won't kill demons by then, but I promise it'll kill you" was the response.
Kerry and Sam couldn't contain their laughter as Dean reached for his jacket. With a quick goodbye and an offer of assistance from Bobby, they were off once again. Kerry finished the food and handed her dad a plate before sitting down next to him.
"Need some help?" she asked.
"I think I got it. Wanna come test it out with me?" he asked.
Kerry nodded and called to Jackson and before long the three of them were at the shooting area at the back of the scrapyard. Bobby immediately began shooting at the targets, but from the results, Kerry could see he was frustrated.
Suddenly, Jackson stood with a growl and Kerry stood from where she was sat on the ground, drawing out her gun as a woman stepped from nowhere in front of her dad. An uncomfortable feeling washed over her that this was no ordinary woman and could not be trusted and from the immediate stiffness of his stance, she knew her dad had the same feeling.
"Cute piece" the woman commented, looking at the colt.
As she encouraged Bobby to shoot her, Kerry started moving to the side, ready to defend her dad.
"Now, do you want me to help you out with that gun or not?" the demon then asked him.
Kerry's eyes widened. The woman wanted to help them? She watched as her dad tried to decide if this was a joke or not but then he lowered the gun and indicated for her to follow him back to the house. Still wary, Kerry kept close behind them and even in the house, never kept her eyes off the mysterious woman.
"You know, it's really rude to stare" the woman, who identified herself earlier as Ruby, said after Bobby fixed the colt and left to deliver it to the guys.
Kerry simply shrugged, her arms folded in front of her.
"Yeah, well, you're a demon, you can't be trusted. Simple enough"
Ruby stood and walked over to Kerry until they were face to face. Well, face to chin as the woman was taller than Kerry. Kerry glared and stepped back away. Ruby smirked.
"Aww, such a timid little thing aren't you?" she taunted.
Behind them, Jackson growled and Kerry glared when the other woman simply waved her hand and Jackson was moved out the house, the door locking behind him.
"If you hurt him, I swear to god…"
"You'll what?" ruby interrupted. "You have no weapon and no way of escape right now. I could rip you in half and you won't be able to stop me little girl. You're too weak. Just as you're too weak to help Dean with his little…problem."
As Kerry sucked in a breath, the demon began circling her, examining her.
"Honestly, I don't know why you think he could ever be interested in you. You're not exactly a knock out; I'd say slightly above average, but honey, the skeleton weight thing and such long hair kinda makes you look even more like a child than you already do. How old are you anyway? 17? No wonder he won't touch you the way you want him to. Such a shame."
Kerry clenched her fists, wanting nothing more than to punch the other woman in the face but she was right, Kerry was currently defenceless. Instead, she simply glared, trying not to let the woman's cruel words pierce her heart and fighting the urge to argue that she was in fact 22. Ruby smirked once more as she watched her words hit home and knowing her work was done, she slid out of the house. Kerry sank to the floor and the moment the door was open, Jackson rushed up to her, whining as he licked her hand. Something slid down her cheek and dropped to the floor and when she raised her hand, she was shocked to notice she was crying.
"What the hell!?" she murmured to herself, angry that she'd let the demon get to her in such a way.
Standing, she made her way up to her room, when her cell rang.
"Hey dad" she said, noticing the caller.
"Hey kiddo. Everything's sorted here, so we're on our way back now"
"Awesome. See you later".
Hours passed and Kerry found herself deciding that the only reason she reacted to Ruby's taunts was because she was just worried about Dean. Kerry was in no way vain, but she was fully aware that she was considered attractive. She was also aware that her weight had dropped lately but it always did when she was stressed. Brushing off the comments, she fixed a smile on her face when she heard a pair of cars pulling up the drive and ran down to greet them. As always, her dad hugged her and Sam sent a tired, but happy smile. Dean, however, simply glanced at her and looked away before she could even smile or say hello. Smile dropping, Kerry simply watched as the trio moved into the kitchen and pulled a bunch of beers out of the fridge. Later that evening, she noticed Dean head outside and followed him.
"Dean?" she asked when she saw him staring up at the sky.
Dean jumped, spinning to face her with a look of surprise.
"Hey" he greeted then turned away once more.
"Is something wrong?" she asked. "You've been really quiet and will barely even look at me. Has something happened?"
Dean took a deep sigh and Kerry could tell there was an air of frustration about him.
"It's nothing personal, I just don't want to hurt you, and every time I look at any of you I just see your faces when I die."
Kerry clenched her fists once more.
"Bull" she growled.
Dean once more faced her, a mixture of anger and surprise in his expression.
"What?" he growled back.
"You've been talking to Sam and dad just fine. It's me that you've been ignoring and I don't know why. So you need a better excuse than that for me to believe that crap."
Dean rounded on her so fast she actually stepped back and raised her hands in defence. He grasped her by her shoulders and glared down at her.
"Fine! I don't look at you because I don't want to look at you okay? If you can't accept that then that's your problem, not mine! You need to stop looking at me like a pining puppy, it drives me insane!"
He let her go roughly and stormed away from her. Kerry stood watching his retreating back for a few seconds before her eyes clouded over. Refusing to let any tears fall, she turned back to the house, ignoring both Sam and Bobby's questioning looks as she moved to her room. Yeah, they may not have heard the words, but they heard the raised voices. Kerry didn't care, at that moment she felt numb. Dean had never spoken to her like that and though she knew in her heart he didn't mean it, Ruby's words once more hit her. Maybe she really was still a child to Dean, pining after something that clearly, he had no interest in.
Sleep didn't come easy for any of them that night. Kerry was too hurt by Dean's words, Dean was too ashamed and angry with himself for saying things he never meant, Sam was worried about how much Dean was glaring at a spot on the floor and Bobby was worried that his daughter wouldn't come out of her room.
When the pair left the following morning, Kerry still hadn't come out, even when Dean knocked on her door to apologise. Instead he settled for mumbling an apology through the door before leaving. Kerry waited for the sound of the car to vanish before she left her room and headed to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror she began to see what Ruby meant. She really was skinny and her hair really was ridiculously long, almost touching her butt. Dean didn't even want to look at her anymore and she knew there was no point in trying to help him as he clearly had no need for her. Glancing around, she spotted the first aid kit and after locking the door, reached for it, pulling out the scissors. Gathering her hair she took a deep breath and in 4 cuts, the entire length was separated, her hair now falling to just above her shoulders. Looking at her new reflection in the mirror, she finally let her shields crack and sank to the floor sobbing.