A/N: Thanks for the love, guys! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my OC, Katherine.
Kat had asked Peter's mother if she could take the picture; she vaguely explained her father and how she had no pictures of him, and the older woman was incredibly sweet and understanding, telling her that she knew that pain. That she was glad that, at the very least, she still had pictures. She said she had plenty and was all too gracious in allowing Kat to take the one with her father in it.
And there she was, sitting in the back of the Impala, her eyes glued to the picture even when the car would hit a bump and make her arm jostle. She just kept holding it out, refocusing on her father's young face.
There was no fondness now. No recalling sweet memories of her father or the few stories he told her of his childhood. There was only fear and confusion now.
She wasn't scared of ghosts, or wendigos, or losing Dean, or even drowning. She was scared of what this all meant.
Because she already knew and yet, at the same time, didn't understand. Because her father's stories of his childhood had been so few. Because Peter was dead and both Bill and her father had known him. Because Bill's children were gone now and whatever was in the lake — Peter or otherwise — had tried to drown her, too.
Her father had been someone she looked up to her whole life. She missed him and held him in such high regard, even if her heart had mostly healed through the years. What if he was less than she thought? What if there were dark things she had never known about him?
"Bill sure as hell seems like he's hiding something, huh?"
"And Bill, the people he loves, they're all getting punished."
She looked to the boys as they discussed in the front seat. There had been a good twenty minutes of concerned looks and gentle questions before they had given up and moved on to figuring everything out.
"So what if Bill did something to Peter?"
"What if Bill killed him?"
"Peter's spirit would be furious. It'd want revenge. It's possible."
"What if my dad killed him?" Kat asked the question quietly, her tone making it sound almost rhetorical. Maybe it was. She already knew, even if she didn't want to know. She could tell by a look shared between brothers that they had already considered the same thing.
"Look, Kat, we don't know what we're dealing with." Sam looked back at her. "It's just a theory right now."
"The only theory. It's not fair. I healed, I got better, I moved past this years ago. And now this has to happen? My dad might have—"
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Kat." Dean's tone was full of concerned warning. He glanced back at her, then quickly returned his eyes to the road. "Don't lose it on me. This ain't you." Except it was her. Just not this her. The Kat that was seeping out now was the same Kat that had come to them after losing her family.
She was losing them again. Losing what she knew of them.
It was freaking her out. And she had been doing so well; all these years, being afraid, but never letting it break her down. Switching to that necessary 'beast mode' instead of sobbing in a corner somewhere.
But this was her family. She might as well have been fifteen again, just lost, and afraid, and utterly confused.
"We'll figure this out, okay?" Sam did his best to speak in a low, comforting tone. He had always been good at that, providing an all-encompassing comfort. "We'll talk to Bill and find out what's going on. It could just be that your dad knew Bill, and Peter can't get to him, so he's going after you."
That was rational. Kat could be rational. Scared and rational, but still rational.
"—yeah. Maybe you're right." She looked at the picture again and folded it up, putting it in her pocket. Maybe there was no need to freak out and she was just reverting because this was her family. She had to focus on the task at hand, once more, no matter what. People were hurting.
"Good." Dean sighed, pulling the car up to the Carlton's house.
Sam was the first one out of the car, jogging up the stairs and knocking on the door. "Mr. Carlton? It's Agent...Hamill. We really need to ask some questions." He knocked on the door again, waiting a moment, and holding his hand out to stop Dean and Kat when they had gotten out of the car. "Mr. Carlton?" He moved to a window, peeking inside. "—he's not in there."
"Well, where the hell is he?"
Sam moved down off the porch, looking around. "Mr. Carlton!"
"Maybe he's sitting on the dock again." Kat turned to look at the dock on the lake, but the bench was empty. It was then she heard some sort of...rumbling. Like a boat engine. Sure enough, a little boat soon came into view, gliding through the water. And driving it was one Bill Carlton. "—guys."
The brothers turned to look and there was a moment's pause, before all three of them were running to the water. They ran onto the dock, as far as they could go without swimming, none of them concerned about Kat being so close. "Mr. Carlton!" Dean was yelling as loudly as he could when they reached the very end of the dock. "You need to come back! Come out of the water!" He gestured to where they stood, in case Bill couldn't hear them. "Turn the boat around!"
"Mr. Carlton!"
"Mr. Carlton, please!" Kat was concerned, of course, as she hoped she would always be when it came to human lives. But she was being selfish, too. She needed answers. Without Bill, would there be any?
He just looked back at them, like he knew what he was doing. He probably did. He turned his gaze away, continuing to drive that boat, until something in the water sent his boat flying into the air. The three hunters on the dock flinched. The boat flipped over and fell back into the water, disappearing into it with Bill.
"No!" Still partly concerned and partly selfish — and, apparently, stupid — Kat moved to step right off the dock and into the water. She wasn't a good swimmer, but maybe she would have adrenaline like when they jumped off the bridge back in California. If she could just get to him in time, she could drag him out of the water before he was gone.
"Whoa!" Sam grabbed her upper arms before she could slip off the dock, quickly pulling her back from the water. "He's gone, Kat. It's too late."
"Are you fucking crazy?" Dean gave her a look. "You get in that water, you're probably not coming back."
She looked at him, brow furrowed. "But if this was all connected to Bill, wouldn't it end with him?"
"We don't know if it was, Kat." Sam said softly, releasing her once he was sure she wouldn't be diving in. He was pretty sure Dean would throw her over his shoulder before that could happen. "Come on, we should call the police." He walked back to the shore, taking his phone out as he did.
Kat looked back out to the water. It was so calm, like a boat and a man hadn't been dragged into its depths to never be seen again.
"You gonna lose it on me, Kit Kat?"
"—I don't know." She turned to look at Dean, who nodded towards the shore, and she followed him back to it. "I'm scared, Dean."
"Of drowning?"
"No. I mean, I think I can avoid that if I don't go near any water. And now I know you and Sam will stop me from walking into lakes." She glanced back at the end of the dock that she'd almost stepped off of. She hadn't really thought that one through. "I'm scared that my dad's not who I thought he was."
"—we'll figure it out. Like Sammy said." It was the best he could offer without getting a bit too 'chick flick', but it was a lot coming from him.
"Okay, the police are on their way." Sam moved to them, snapping his phone shut. "You know, now we have to find another lead."
"Maybe another drowning will kick the sheriff's ass into gear and he'll finally do something about it instead of just brushing it off." Dean's tone was laced with frustration. He didn't like losing people any more than Kat or Sam did. It was possible that he hated it even more than they did, somehow. Saving people was his duty in his mind.
"Maybe."
Being the small town it was, the police arrived in a mere few minutes, Jake Devin leading and getting out of his car. The way he looked at Dean, Sam, and Kat didn't bode well for them. He didn't go to them at first, however, instead instructing officers and whatnot to scan the area, and write a report, and all sorts of other things. Sam had gone over to him at one point and explained what happened, and all the sheriff did was nod, so the younger Winchester retreated back to Dean and Kat. When he did finally come up to the hunters, which was after some curious neighbor had walked over and said something to him, it was pretty simple. He told them to follow him, Sam glared at Dean before he could make any remarks, and the three piled into the Impala to follow him to the police station.
"Are we about to be arrested?" Kat whispered as she got out of the car and moved close to Dean.
"Hell if I know. Not like it's anything new." He grinned. Both Kat and Sam rolled their eyes, the latter stepping over to join them as they walked into the station with Jake.
"Sam, Dean, Kat." Andrea was there with Lucas, setting down some take out food and standing up. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"So now you're on a first name basis." Jake didn't sound entirely thrilled. He opened the door that lead behind the front desk, stopping to talk to his daughter. "What are you doing here?"
"I brought you dinner..." She gestured to the food she had set down.
"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart. I don't really have the time." Jake sighed, taking off his jacket.
Andrea stared at her father, then looked at the three hunters behind them, and back to him again. "I heard about Bill Carlton." She crossed her arms. "Is it true? Is something going on with the lake?"
"Right now, we don't know what the truth is. But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home."
Lucas had been rocking back and forth in a chair, but the mention of going home had him jumping out of his seat with a whimper, grabbing onto Dean's arm and trying to pull him away from Sam and Kat.
"Lucas! Hey!" Dean grabbed onto the kid to try and calm him. "What is it?"
"Lucas." Andrea ran over to pull him away.
"Lucas! Lucas, it's okay, it's okay. Hey." Dean bent down, making eye contact. "Lucas, it's okay. It's okay."
Though his mother managed to pull him away, Lucas still looked distraught as he was lead out of the station. Those left in the room all watched in concern, none more concerned than Dean and Kat. He had predicted horrible things, yes, but he had never seemed so terrified before. What could he possibly know this time?
Jake sighed, tossing his jacket down and walking into his office. Sam followed first, then Kat turned to watch them go and gave Dean's sleeve a tug, both of them slowly going to the office.
"Sit. Please." It definitely wasn't a question. Sam and Dean took the chairs with Kat standing between them again, while Jake sat on his desk. He stared at them for a long moment before saying, "Okay, just so I'm clear, you see...something attack Bill's boat, sending Bill—who is a very good swimmer, by the way—into the drink, and you never see him again?"
Dean looked at Sam. He had been the one to explain it, after all. "Yeah. That about sums it up."
"And I'm supposed to believe this, even though I've already sonar-swept that entire lake? And what you're describing is impossible? And you're not really Wildlife Service?" Well, that explained why he seemed so off-put by them. They just stared at him, a bit surprised. "That's right. I checked. Department's never heard of you three."
"See, now, we can explain that—"
"Enough." Jake hissed, interrupting Dean easily. "Please. The only reason you're breathing free air is because one of Bill's neighbors saw him steering out that boat just before you did. So, we have a couple of options here." He made sure to look at all three of them, individually, nodding. "I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's disappearance. Or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day." His voice was darkening as he looked at Sam, staring at him. "You get into your car, you put this town in your rearview mirror, and you don't ever darken my doorstep again."
"—door number two sounds good."
Kat quickly nodded in agreement with Sam. "Yeah, we'll take that one."
"That's the one I'd pick." Jake stood up. "Now, get out of my sight before I change my mind."
They didn't need to be told twice. The thought of being witnesses — and, more than likely, being charged with murder since no one in this town could understand what was really going on with the lake — was enough to have them up and out of the station, going back out to the car.
It was late in the day, the sun already halfway set and making the world a little more orange, as they got in the Impala and headed out of town.
But two in the car didn't feel right.
Dean couldn't stop thinking about how scared Lucas was, and Kat couldn't stop thinking about her father again.
It didn't feel over. How could it be? She wondered if her attempted drowning really had just been because Bill knew her father. That didn't seem right. There was something more to this and leaving the town felt so wrong. She could tell by Dean's silence that he felt the same way, and when an hour or so of driving had passed and Dean was sitting there at a green light, she knew he felt the same way.
"Green." Sam said, sounding annoyed.
"What?"
"Light's green."
Dean stayed there for a moment, before pushing down on the gas and turning right. And while it was right, it was wrong.
"Uh, interstate's the other way."
"I know."
"Are we going back?" Kat immediately leaned forward in her seat, managing a smile when Dean nodded. "Good."
"Are...are you guys kidding me?" Sam looked between them. "If we go back there, we're going to get arrested!"
Dean only drove faster. "We gotta finish this hunt."
"But, Dean, this job, I think it's over."
"I'm not so sure."
"Neither am I. There has to be something more to this...there has to be a reason why Peter went after me."
Sam sighed. "Kat, it's because your dad knew Bill. That's all. And if Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got its revenge, case closed. The spirit should be at rest."
"Alright, so what if we take off and this thing isn't done?" Dean looked at his brother. "You know, what if we've missed something? What if more people get hurt?"
"But why would you think that?"
"—because Lucas was really scared."
"That's what this is about?" Sam was almost smirking, curious.
"I just don't want to leave this town until I know the kid's okay."
"Who are you? And what have you done with my brother?"
"—shut up."
Kat almost smiled, but couldn't. She loved glimpses of Dean's sweeter side and wished the situation had been better so she could enjoy it. Her thoughts were too preoccupied with her dad and Lucas. Lucas really had been scared.
The long drive, shortened by Dean's speeding, still felt long because of the unknown that loomed ahead of them. They pulled up to Andrea's house eventually and Dean wasted no time in getting out of the car.
"Are you sure about this?" Sam asked once they got to the door. "It's pretty late, man."
Dean said nothing, ringing the doorbell. The moment he did, the door was flung open and there was Lucas, practically hyperventilating from fear. "Lucas?" Dean grabbed him, bending down to look at him. The kid took off running. "Lucas!" He was right behind him, with Sam and Kat following suit. They ran up stairs that water was pouring down, to a door that was the source of the copious amounts of water. Dean grabbed Lucas away from the door and shoved him towards Kat, who quickly wrapped her arms around him to keep him safe, watching as Dean kicked the door in.
The moment he did, Lucas immediately struggled, so Dean took him from Kat and held him tightly. Sam ran into the bathroom, reaching into the tub and feeling around until he grabbed Andrea. He used every ounce of strength he had, pulling and pulling until he managed to pull her above the surface of the water; the spirit tried to pull her back down, but Sam wasn't giving up. He held to her tirelessly until he finally released the spirit's hold, tumbling onto the floor with Andrea on top of him, who was coughing and gasping for air.
Once she had her wits about her, she immediately moved off of Sam, pulling her knees to her chest to cover herself.
"Here." Kat quickly moved into the bathroom, stepping through the water carefully as she grabbed a towel. Andrea didn't take it when she held it out, most likely in some sort of shock, so she gently wrapped it around her shoulders. "I'm going to get you some clothes, okay?"
"Lucas." Andrea grabbed Kat's wrist tightly when she moved to leave. "Is Lucas okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, he's fine. He's perfect." Kat loosened the grip on her wrist, stepping aside so Dean could be seen with a much more relaxed Lucas. "Dean has him. See?"
"Oh, thank God..."
Kat gave her a reassuring smile, heading out of the room as Sam now stood by to keep an eye on Andrea, and Dean stayed with Lucas.
The night was long and silent. Lucas had gone to bed once he knew his mother was alright, Andrea dried off and changed into some comfortable clothes Kat had gotten for her, and Dean spent his time looking around for any sort of clues. Now Sam and Kat sat at a table with Andrea, as they had most of the night, gently questioning her even though she seemed unable to answer so far.
"Can you tell us?"
"No. It doesn't make any sense," she finally said, looking at Sam and beginning to cry. "I'm going crazy." She dropped her head into her hands.
"No. You're not." Sam shook his head. "Tell us what happened. Everything."
Andrea lifted her head, looking up at the ceiling in thought. "I heard...I thought I heard...there was this voice."
"What did it say?"
"It said...it said, 'come play with me'." She breathed shakily. "What's happening?"
Kat stared. Come play with me had been exactly what she heard when she was being drowned in the sink. "Hey, Andrea...I understand. It happened to me, too. Well, what this is...it tried to drown me in a motel sink. And it said 'come play with me'." She got a look from Sam, and realized she had forgotten to mention it before. "You're definitely not crazy."
Dean suddenly came in, placing an open scrapbook on the table in front of Andrea. There were pictures of little boys, who looked to be scouts of some sort. "Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?"
"What? Um...no...I mean, except that's my dad right there." She pointed to one of the pictures. "He must have been about twelve in these pictures."
Kat slowly stood up, moving next to Dean to get a closer look at the pictures. There was Peter, of course, and then a young Jake, and then two boys with light hair. One was Bill and the other was her father. It was unmistakable.
"Chris Barr's drowning. The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must have been to the sheriff."
"Bill and the sheriff—they were both involved with Peter."
She wished Dean and Sam hadn't said that. Because if Jake's family was being targeted, and Bill's family had been targeted, and she had been targeted...it really meant her father had done something wrong. "It involves my dad, too." She whispered. "It really does."
Sam and Dean shared a look of veiled concern.
"What about Chris? My dad—what are you talking about?"
Lucas stood by the window now, staring out. Dean, who was the first to notice, looked over at him. "Lucas?" His worried call made the other three adults turn to look. "Lucas, what is it?" He went unanswered, as per usual, as Lucas simply went to the door, opened it, and walked out.
"Lucas!" Andrea was on her feet in an instant, running out the door with three hunters right behind her. "Lucas, honey?"
He continued walking away from the house, passing through trees until he came to a soft spot of ground, stopping and staring. Once they caught up to him, he simply looked up at Dean, telling him wordlessly that there was something there.
"—you and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, okay?" Dean's tone of voice was enough to have Andrea not even questioning him before grabbing Lucas' arm and taking him back to the house. "There's two shovels in the trunk." Dean fished his keys out of his jacket pocket, tossing them to Sam. "Go get 'em."
Sam nodded, jogging off to the Impala.
Kat moved to where Lucas had been standing, gently pushing against the plant life and dirt with the toe of her boot. "—do you think it's Peter?" They had dug up dead bodies before to take care of ghosts, but never a child's.
"I don't know, Kat. Hopefully...then we can end this for good." Dean looked up at her, then to the side as Sam hurried back and gave him a shovel. "But if Lucas is any indication...it's something bad." With that, he and Sam pushed the shovels into the ground and started digging.
They only had to scoop up dirt a couple of times before Sam's shovel hit something metal with a clink. Kat was on her knees in an instant and there was soon a flurry of six hands as they all dug furiously. The dirt held answers. Sam soon grabbed onto a handle and, with Dean and Kat's help, yanked a bike into the open air.
"Peter's bike."
"Who are you?" The question was followed by the click of a gun. Kat looked up while Dean and Sam turned around, all three of them dropping the bike when they saw Jake standing there.
"Put the gun down, Jake."
He ignored Sam, keeping the gun aimed at them. "How did you know that was there?"
"What happened?" Dean had started out sounding smug, to let him know that they knew and there was no way out of this. Kat spoke before he could continue.
"You, and Bill, and Michael killed Peter, didn't you? You, and Bill Carlton, and Michael Jenkins," her voice broke, just slightly. Her emotions were getting the best of her, it didn't matter how many times she shoved them down and tried to focus on the people of Lake Manitoc. "You drowned him and buried his bike."
Dean interrupted her just as she did to him. Any idiot in the world could tell that she was a few words and epiphanies away from breaking. "You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried." How right he was. Nothing did. Not the truth, not bikes, not the feelings that people tried so hard to bury over and over again.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about." His stiff demeanor said otherwise.
"You, Bill, and...and Michael, killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago. That's what the hell we're talking about."
"Dad!" Andrea ran over, obviously terrified by her father's actions. He barely gave her a glance.
"And now you've got one seriously pissed off spirit."
"It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love." Sam spoke calmly, probably for fear of that gun Jake still held. "It's gonna drown them, and it's gonna drag their bodies God knows where, so you can feel he same pain Peter's mom felt. And, after that, it's gonna take you, and it's not gonna stop until it does."
"Yeah? And how do you know that?"
"Because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton."
"And that's what it's doing to my father." Suddenly, the pieces came together and Kat was sure she finally understood. "He can't get to my father, so he's coming after me. Because you're still here, and he wants to take out anything remotely related to you. He has no idea you don't know me."
"Think you can deal with that, sheriff?" Dean smirked, but there was something like fury in his eyes. "Knowing you caused the death of an innocent girl?"
"—listen to yourselves, all of you. You're insane."
"I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us. But if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them into dust. Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere, tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake."
Jake said nothing. Andrea looked at him in horror. "Dad, is any of this true?"
"No, don't listen to them. They're liars and they're dangerous."
"Something tried to drown me, Chris died on that lake. Dad, look at me!" Andrea's request was followed after a moment's hesitation. "Tell me you...you didn't kill anyone." The way he averted his gaze and struggled to find words said more than he ever could. "—oh my God."
"Billy, Mike, and I were at the lake. Peter was the smallest one, we always bullied him...but this time...it got rough." Jake swallowed. "We were holding his head under the water. We didn't mean to, but we held him under too long, and he drowned." He slowly turned to look at Sam, Dean, and Kat. "We let the body go. And it sank."
As he finished the story, Kat stepped back, a hand over her mouth, tears filling her eyes before she could stop them. Everything she already knew, officially confirmed. Her father had been someone she looked up to. He had been so strong, and brave, and loving, and wonderful. He was the main reason she had never looked up to John as a father figure — among a few others — because he had been so perfect she hadn't needed another father even with him gone. Most kids thought their parents were perfect, and all of them were wrong, but to be this wrong? Her father had been young, sure, but he had kept it from her all those years. Would he have told her if he were around now that she was older? Or would he have kept on how he was, avoiding most mentions of his childhood because of that fateful day he'd killed someone? She would never know. Her father could have lied to her all their lives and not even cared.
"Oh, Andrea, we were kids." Just the tone of Jake's voice was begging his daughter for any forgiveness she could give. "We were so scared. It was a mistake. But, Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris, because of some ghost? It's not rational."
Perhaps Jake's words that Kat couldn't help but overhear should have helped. Her dad was young and scared, just a mistake he made. But he wasn't there, saying that, to her. Who's to even say he would want forgiveness? Who was to say there wasn't more she didn't know about him?
Dean was staring at her, looking on the edge of panic. It was that girl, from those couple months starting out with them, who was so scared. She had blossomed into a source of calm for him, a comfort that stuck around even though he was a closed-off dick. The one constant who didn't walk out on him. And she was slipping away. "Alright, listen to me," he said firmly, turning to address Jake and Andrea. "All of you. We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can, right now."
Andrea suddenly spotted something and let out a gasp that was enough to even break Kat out of her thoughts, the whole group looking over to see Lucas at the lake.
"Lucas!" Jake was running first, clearly believing them more than he let on. Sam and Dean were right behind him. Kat had to force herself to step out of her pity party for a minute, quite literally, as she and Andrea ran after them.
"Lucas!" Dean ran faster than he probably ever had, racing for the dock where Lucas was reaching over the water for an army man.
"Lucas! Baby, stay where you are!"
It didn't matter, really. A hand reached right up out of the water and yanked Lucas in anyway, pulling him below the surface as everyone reached the lake. Jake stopped short, while the rest ran to the dock, Sam and Dean diving right off the end.
"Oh my God!" Andrea was quick to take off her jacket, preparing to jump in, but Sam turned to look at her.
"Andrea, stay there!" He gave Kat a look when she look ready to get in. "Kat, don't!"
"But, Sam..."
"No! Lucas!"
"We'll get him! Just stay on the dock! Both of you!" He swam further out, before diving onto the water.
Kat could do nothing. Her pity party had been tossed aside by adrenaline that was going to go unused, because stepping foot into that water would just take care of her, too. She saw Andrea crouch down as the woman watched helplessly, so she did the only thing she could; she crouched down by her and wrapped an arm around her, offering whatever comfort she could in a situation like this.
Dean came up for air, followed a moment later by Sam, and he looked over at him. "Sam?"
Sam just shook his head.
"Oh, God!" Andrea sobbed, starting to lean into Kat heavily. "Lucas, where are you?"
The boys dived back under the water and a voice came from behind the girls, "Peter, if you can hear me...please, Peter, I'm sorry. I'm so—I'm so sorry!" Jake had stepped into the lake, wading through.
"Daddy, no!"
"Jake!" Kat was on her feet in an instant, moving to the side of the dock, but stopping. Was she being selfish if she didn't go in after him? Sam had told her not to come in. If she did go in, there was little chance of her helping Jake and more of a chance that they would both drown. But how was she supposed to let someone die? Even if Jake had done something wrong, she couldn't let someone go like that. "Jake, get out of the water!"
"Peter. Lucas...he's jus—he's just a little boy! Please, it's not his fault, it's mine! Please take me!"
Dean and Sam had come back up in time to see the man's sacrifice. "Jake, no!"
"Just let it be over!" Not even a moment passed, and something grabbed onto Jake and pulled him down into the depths of the water.
"Daddy!" Andrea screamed. "Daddy! No!"
Kat ran a hand through her hair, wanting nothing more than to dive into the lake and pull the man back up, and knowing she couldn't. That was always the worst. Knowing she couldn't do something.
A frustrated Dean, who hated not being able to save someone just as much, dived back under the water with Sam. It was the younger Winchester who came up first, shaking his head.
"No!"
Kat quickly moved back to Andrea, standing close to offer comfort and support, though she was watching worriedly.
There happened to be a miracle that day, as Dean broke through the surface with Lucas in his arms, gasping for air.
Kat stood by the back of the Impala, leaning against the door, her things already packed up and in the backseat. After all the events of the day, they made sure Andrea had a fake story, dealt with what they could, and got their things from the motel the next morning.
The adrenaline left eventually, as it usually does, and all she had now were her rather sour thoughts. The loss of Jake and the second loss, as she saw it, of her father.
She didn't know what to do. It wasn't like she could go track down her father and confront him over this, and maybe that made it hurt all the worse. She would never get an explanation, never know if her father lied about anything else. Now all her memories were sullied with the knowledge that he'd killed someone; that the man she looked up to all her life was as bad as the rest of them. It wasn't something she could just get over, especially with no closure. She was sure she would, someday, maybe, but couldn't imagine that day very clearly just yet. It was too new and too painful.
Sam and Dean came over to the car, the latter opening the driver's door as they both tossed bags in, before slamming it shut.
"—look," Sam said softly, knowing why his brother was angry. "we're not gonna save everybody."
"I know."
"Sam! Dean!" Andrea was walking over, Lucas beside her with a tray in his arms. The brothers were quick to meet them halfway. "We're glad we caught you. We just, um, we made you lunch for the road. Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself."
"Can I give it to them now?" Lucas asked, making both Sam and Dean smile at the fact that he was finally speaking.
"Of course."
"Come on, Lucas, let's load this into the car." Dean took the tray, making a show like it was heavy because of the amount of sandwiches, walking over to the Impala. He opened the passenger side door, putting the tray in, before sitting down with a groan. "Alright," he started as Lucas came to stand at the open door. "if you're gonna be talking now, this is a very important phrase, so I want you to repeat it back to me one more time."
"Zeppelin rules!"
"That's right, up high." He lifted his hand for a high-five, which Lucas happily gave. They shared a smile. "Take care of your mom, okay?"
As he said that, Andrea and Sam walked over, and he immediately stood, eyes widening slightly when Andrea leaned over to give him a quick kiss.
"Thank you." She smiled.
"—Sam, move your ass." Clearly embarrassed from the sweetness of a moment, he scratched the back of his head and walked around the car. "We're gonna run out of daylight before we...hit the road." His words had faltered slightly when he came to stop in front of Kat. She was looking off at the motel, but not really looking at it. "Hey." He snapped his fingers in her face.
"What?" She looked at him, then looked over when she heard a car door to see Sam had gotten in the car. They were leaving. Right. She met Andrea's eyes over the car, managing a nearly genuine smile. "Bye."
"Thank you, Kat. You helped more than you know."
That made her smile a little more real. "It's just what we do. Bye, Lucas!" And her smile even grew when she saw Lucas jumping up to try and see over the car. He was like a real kid now, free of the burdens he had before.
"Bye!"
She got into the car as Dean did, waving until the car drove off and Andrea and Lucas were out of sight. Unfortunately, once the kid's refreshing joy was gone, reality came back to her once again. It was annoying like that. Always waiting there, between the good moments.
"Hey."
She looked up to see Dean staring at her through the rearview mirror, glancing at the road every so often. "What?"
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
"Bullshit."
"Then why did you ask?"
"'Cause you usually tell me the truth."
"Dean, I just—" Frustration was obvious in her voice. She was not one to get so easily frustrated, but the pain was too much. She tried to sound neutral anyway. Dean didn't deserve to be snapped at. "I don't want to talk about it right now. Please."
"—fine." Though he gave in, he kept glancing at her in the mirror every so often.
They were somewhere in Indiana when they stopped at a motel to rest up, planning to look for hunts in the morning. Kat took a blissful, safe shower that helped to relax her just a little, and fully intended to find some comedy on TV and go to sleep. Maybe her dreams would be nice.
Her plans were interrupted by a knock on the door. She figured it was Dean, coming to press her for information, though it was a little unlike him. He'd listen to her, sure, but he didn't seek out conversations like that. There was the possibility that he was so used to her pushing him to open up that he decided to get revenge, which was only fair. Letting it out might have made her feel better, too.
"Come in, Dean."
To her surprise, the door opened up and in walked Sam. "Hey," he said quietly, shutting the door and shoving his hands into his pockets, looking at her.
"Hey..." She raised an eyebrow, more than a little confused at his presence. "You okay?"
"I should be asking you that." He watched her as she looked away, his eyes practically full of concern. "Dean's kind of freaking out. He's just been muttering about how you always open up to him even though he's a dick, and how frustrating you are." He smiled slightly. "What did you do to him while I was gone?"
Kat's lips just barely twitched into a smile, but it was too difficult to manage.
"He's right, Kat. You always open up..." He slowly walked over to the bed, sitting down next to her. "I know I said we might not be like we were before, but I want to try. We used to tell each other everything."
She shook her head, almost laughing, though it was hardly because his words were funny. "I have been trying to get you to open up to me for weeks, Sam."
"—I know. And I've been..." He sighed deeply. "A complete jerk. Even when I'm being a jerk, you still try. I guess I...I owe it to you. To listen. I mean, I'm not gonna force you, but I want you to know that...I'm here." He hesitated for a fraction of a second, then reached out to touch her shoulder.
There it was. That all-encompassing comfort, just from a single touch. She had missed it so much. While she could open up to Dean and he would at least half-listen, nothing would ever beat how comforted and understood Sam had always made her feel. She and Dean had a strong bond, but so had she and Sam, once upon a time. Those bonds were so different, yet equally as important.
Everything felt reminiscent of the night that bond was formed. She was upset, Sam had his hand on her shoulder, and, she realized, she was starting to cry. She couldn't even control the tears as they fell from her eyes; she wanted to keep it in, wanted to try and forget, to stop the devastation that she hadn't felt in years, but she didn't stand a chance. Not when it was all too much for a human to carry and forget. Not when confiding in Sam seemed like it would somehow make it all better.
"Sam—" She sobbed, turning and wrapping her arms tightly around him, pressing her face to his chest. It was another instance of not caring, just like their hug in Colorado. She didn't care that they weren't the same yet, that the slightest awkwardness still lingered despite their willingness to move forward, that Sam might regret offering himself, that she might have been overreacting. She needed the comfort only he could give.
That was why she hadn't opened up to Dean this time. She knew she would cry. She could tell him things and he could listen, and he would never fail to protect her and make sure she was okay whenever things got bad, but break downs were different. She had never had a reason to break down in front of him before, and sort of feared such a thing. Dean was good and sweet, but he didn't seem like the type of guy who could handle it, not with the way he would beg her not to lose it. She didn't want to put him in an awkward situation. She didn't want him to look at her differently.
"Hey...hey...it's okay, Kat..." If the years of not comforting her made Sam uncomfortable, he didn't show it, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing her back. He did owe it to her. She held him while he cried after losing Jess, and she didn't let the time come between them, even for a second.
"It's not fair. I already lost him once." Her voice was slightly muffled by his shirt. "Now I lost everything I know about him. I know it's stupid...I know he was a kid...but I feel like all the stuff I thought about him was a lie. You know, I knew...what he turned into...what you, Dean, and John had to kill...I knew that wasn't him. But this was him. I thought he was good, and now..."
"You don't have to explain yourself. Look at my dad..."
"I know...I know." She took in a shaky breath, trying to calm herself. "It hurts all over again, Sam. All these years, and I have to go through it again."
"It's okay. I'm here. Dean's here." He held her a little tighter. "We'll get through this. You know how much you've been helping me? You and Dean keep kicking my ass into gear when I'm being a jerk."
"That's true." She actually smiled now, just a little. "I'm sure everything will be fine. I know having you and Dean here is gonna help a hell of a lot. It just..." She pulled her head back just a bit to look up at him. "It hurts right now. I don't know what to think...I don't know what to do."
He smiled, too, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Yeah. I get that."
They fell silent for a few moments, before Kat pulled away, wiping her remaining tears away with her sleeve. "You didn't have to do that, Sam."
"I used to do at all the time, Kat." He said simply. "It felt good to do it again. Wait, that sounded really wrong...you know what I mean."
"I do. It felt like old times."
"Yeah..." He paused, watching her. "So, can I tell Dean you're okay? He's pretty worried."
"Tell Dean...that I'll be fine. 'Cause I have my boys."
He chuckled. "Your boys?"
"My boys. Both my boys." She looked up at him, smiling softly. It was true. She knew she would get through this with them there...it was how she got through it all those years ago, and she knew it would be the same way now. Hopefully.
"You sure you're gonna be okay? I can stay..."
"I'll be fine, Sam. Go put your brother at ease."
He nodded, getting up and walking to the door.
"Sam?"
He looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"
"Thanks."
He just smiled and opened the door, only to look back over his shoulder when she once again called out,
"Hey, Sam? I'm here, too."
"—I know. Thanks, Kat." Then he walked out, shutting the door softly behind him.
Kat got up to turn off the light and then got into bed, turning the television on. Things obviously weren't automatically okay, but crying and talking to Sam helped for the time being, and gave her hope that things would be okay soon. She had made it through worse, hadn't she? Much worse. She would make it through this, no matter how much hurt. She had to.
When she fell asleep, her dreams were surprisingly and wonderfully uneventful.
A/N: I hope that wasn't too crazy, everyone! And I truly hope everyone was in character for what I've written. Seems like both boys are creating a habit of going to Kat's motel room lol. Apologies for any mistakes. Review please!