Title: Late-Night Visit (Cursed, Part Two)

Words: 4269

Summary: Kate seeks help from Dean; the group sets off on a search for the witch who cursed Sam.

Warnings: Cursing, straight up SMUT

A/N: This is just one part of Kate's adventures with the Winchesters. Also, I love to get feedback and I promise to respond- contact lifeofsnark.

Kate paced through the bunker listening to the oppressive silence. It was one of those nights where she could hear everything- the creak of the ventilation system, the brush of curtains against the glass of the window, the background hum of the fridge. Her skin felt too tight, and her heart pounded furiously in her chest.

In short, Kate felt trapped- confined within the bunker and cornered in her own head. Some nights she could handle this, the smothering sense of being alone and vulnerable. Other nights… well, other nights she wanted out.

She stalked up the hall towards her bedroom, but turned away before reaching her door. She knew from experience laying in her bed wouldn't help, it would only make her feel broken: a girl yearning for the oblivion of sleep but forced instead to be aware of everything- everything - around her. And remember everything that had gone before.

She found herself standing outside the door of Dean's room. She desperately wanted to go in, even if just to peek at him; to receive visual confirmation that there was someone else there. Just one other person within reaching distance.

Kate loved Sam, he was the big brother she'd never had. It had always been her taking care of others- both Kate and Sam were enjoying having a new role to play. But Dean, well. She didn't feel like Dean's sister. Recently, she just knew that Dean got it. That he understood her; the first person to do so in a long, long time. She held her breath, listening for any movement inside his room.

Slowly, she opened the door. It didn't creak, Dean had oiled all of the door hinges in the bunker soon after moving in, part of his 'nesting'. Kate heard Dean's breathing change, and he slowly raised his head off the pillow, looking in her direction. "Kate?" he questioned, his voice deep and gruff.

She took one step into the room, just one, before glancing behind her at the hallway. She glanced at Dean before looking at the floor.

"Kate?" Dean asked again, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Please," Kate whispered. That was all, just please. She didn't know what she was asking for, all she wanted was help. She wanted, just once, for someone to make it better.

"Come 'ere," said Dean huskily, patting the bed beside him. Kate slowly walked to the bed and sat down crosslegged on top of the covers as far from Dean as she could get and still be on the bed.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly.

"I just… I don't know!" she slid off the bed to pace around the room. Dean watched her for a moment, taking in her rapid breathing and twitchy demeanor.

"Talk to me, Kate," he said calmly.

"I can't, Dean. I can't talk to you about what's wrong because I have no idea other than the fact that I feel broken in ways that can't be fixed!" She stopped pacing and faced Dean, her eyes wide and searching. "I'm sorry," she said more softly. She took a step back. "I'll leave you alone." She turned towards the door.

"No, wait," he said as evenly as he could. He got out of the bed and stepped towards her. She eyed him warily, and he understood that if he wanted her to stay, he couldn't try to force her into it. Slowly, he sat back down on his bed. "Whatever it is- whatever is going on with you, it'll be okay. You'll figure it out. I'll help, if you let me."

Kate hovered in the doorway for a moment. Eventually, she sat down on the bed again. Dean watched her take a few deep breaths before breaking the silence. "I used to hate listening to Sammy cry when we were kids. I'd never say anything, just pretend I didn't notice- growing up in motels, you keep the illusion of privacy as much as you can. But I'd hear him. And it killed me that I couldn't fix it. This," he waved a hand in Kate's direction, "this is doing the same thing." He looked at her steadily, waiting for her to meet his eyes.

When she peeked at him through her lashes, he gave her a little smile. She ducked her eyes back down. "C'mon, Kate," he cajoled. "Give me something!" He scooted closer to her, trying to get a look at her face.

She looked up at him for a second before leaning in and placing her lips on his. Dean cool feel her soft lips feathering over his mouth, her hand splayed on his knee for balance. She leaned back, looking at him cautiously to gauge his reaction. He cradled her cheek in his palm, calloused against the soft skin of her face. He ran his thumb over her cheekbone before kissing her again, hungrily.

"Finally," he mumbled against her mouth. He could feel her hands running over his chest, her fingertips sporadically digging into the muscle as she gripped him a little tighter. Dean ran a hand over her back, spreading his fingers between her shoulder blades, bowing her back for easier access to her soft mouth. She made a humming sound in the back of her throat and wrapped an around him, anchoring herself in place.

Dean shifted his grip, running a hand over Kate's ribs, paying attention to her reactions. He knew she hadn't come to him for this, and didn't want to do anything she didn't want. When she pressed herself into his open palm he grinned and nibbled his way down her jawbone. His hands skimmed her boxers down her legs and she kicked them away.

He picked her up and pulled her into his lap, her knees digging into the mattress on either side of his hips. She rocked against him, head back, eyes closed. "Good girl," he murmured, yanking her pajama shirt over her head. He returned his mouth to the smooth expanse of her skin, nipping his way over her collarbone to lave his tongue over her puckered nipples. He closed his lips around the peak, grazing it with his teeth. Kate groaned and held herself up to scrabble at the drawstring of Dean's sweats. Returning to her mouth, Dean moved to the edge of the bed and stood without either of them breaking the kiss. Eventually Kate leaned away and slid his pants and boxers down in in fell swoop as she kneeled, thighs open, on the edge of the mattress. Dean was between them in an instant, picking her up and laying her back in the center of the bed.

He came down over her almost lazily, running his teeth along the sensitive skin where thigh met hip. "Dean," Kate complained, neediness evident in her voice. He stretched out alongside her, one and laying possessively at the juncture of her thighs. He dipped his middle finger in to circle tantalizingly over her clit.

"You okay honey?" he purred in her ear before rubbing his scruffy cheek over her sensitive nipples. Taking one in his mouth, he tugged, his finger still circling. He shifted, his weight and heat sinking into her. She bucked against him, wanting more. "Easy," he rumbled, sinking two fingers into her, curling them up to rub gently as he worked in and out. "You wanna come, sweetheart?"

Kate opened her eyes and growled at him, arousal flushing her cheeks.

Dean tsked. "Now play nice, honey, and I might let you," he teased, his lips following his hands over her breasts and belly. Scooping his hands under one knee and then the other, he pulled her legs over his shoulders. Kate lifted her head to meet Dean's blazing green eyes, dark with hunger, looking at her from between her legs. Parting her with his thumbs, he dropped the teasing demeanor, sucking her clit between his lips. He tugged, flicking the little nub with his tongue. Kate clapped her hand over her mouth to smother her groan; her belly clenched and thighs shook. Dean broke the suction and did it again, once more thrusting two fingers inside.

Her release hit her all at once; she keened into her hand, eyes tightly shut, thighs clamped around Dean's ears. She shook, colors going off like fireworks on the back of her eyelids. While her legs still trembled with aftershocks, Dean worked his way up the bed and sat with his legs in front of him, slightly apart, stroking his hands over her torso.

She crawled onto his lap and wrapping her hand around him, sank down onto his hard shaft. He tugged her legs around him and their hips were flush against each other. Dean groaned and starting rocking into Kate, the muscles in his abdomen rippling.

Kate leaned back on her hands, pushing into each of Dean's thrusts. She could feel tension coiling low in her belly again, but was determined to drive Dean over the edge as well. She swiveled her hips each time he rocked against her and smirked when she saw his fingers tighten on the covers.

Leaning forward, Kate grazed Dean's pulse point with her teeth, sucking gently. She ran her hands over his chest, thumbing his flat nipples. When he dropped his head to the side, she began slowly clenching those inner walls around him, moving in counterpoint to his steady thrusts. He groaned, dropping his head to her breast, toying with her nipple.

She clenched his hair, holding him to her. "Oh, God,' she moaned out breathily. "Dean…"

He clenched his teeth against his own release and grabbing her hips, ground her against his pubic bone, still steadily rocking into her. He could hear her breaths hissing in and out unsteadily, her fingers still tugging on a fist-full of his hair. He slipped a finger between them, letting her weight and straining hips rub it against her clit.

She began to shake, sobbing into his neck- and then she bit him. His steady thrusts stuttered as he was gripped by his own orgasm- moaning into her shoulder, he pumped her up and down, savoring her clenching release.

Dean fell back, Kate laying boneless against his chest, their hearts pounding and breathing erratic. Dean rubbed his hand over Kate's back, up and down, soothingly. "Better?" he asked, smirking."

Halfheartedly, Kate swatted him. "Better." She rubbed her cheek against him like a sleepy kitten. Dean watched her eyelids flutter shut. He was afraid to wake her up so he just let her be and dragged covers over them both. He could feel her slow breaths in little puffs of warm air against the skin of his chest.

The fuck are you doing, Dean? This is Kate. She lives here. How are you going to deal with this?

He didn't know. He fell asleep still wondering what would happen. When he woke up, Kate was gone and her clothes were up from the floor.

He dragged his sweats back on and wandered into the hall. Kate's door was open, and she wasn't inside. Walking towards the main part of the bunker, he could hear her and Sam talking in the library.

She was sitting at one of the tables, her chin resting on one knee she had drawn up into the chair. A cup of coffee sat in front of her, just like normal. Sam was standing in front of a map covered in strings and sticky notes. His head was cocked to the side, thinking about something, hair still mussed from sleep.

Kate spotted Dean lurking in the doorway. "Come in here, Dean. Sam and I are going over all the cases we worked in the last few months and trying to remember if- well more like how- he got hurt at each one."

Dean grabbed a cup of coffee and the three of them studied the map. "Do bloody knuckles count?" asked Kate. "If so, we have to add that to about six cases in the last three months."

"Yeah, but I wasn't dripping blood around," Sam protested.

"We don't even know if it was blood she got, Sam," said Dean unhelpfully. "One of the maids could have grabbed a stray hair out of the motel, whatever."

"There are two schools of thought on that," said Kate. "One: it's all a horrible coincidence that she ended up with part of Sam- I mean, what witch in her right mind would intentionally attract the attention of a Winchester? Two: the witch absolutely knew about Sam, and she did it for a reason, as some kind of revenge. Because there really are no coincidences when it comes to you two."

Sam and Dean looked thoughtful. "She makes a good point, Sam," said Dean. "This probably has some sort of revenge motivation behind it. That should narrow some of these down."

They went back over the cases- ghosts, ghouls, werewolves, a small nest of vampires, that renegade karmic angel, a pagan god of harvest, a Native American trickster… no witches.

"The last time we were around a coven was almost a year ago," said Sam. 'It was right before we found Kate."

"Found me? Pshh, I saved your ass Sam Winchester," Kate called.

"Yeah, yeah," he shook his head, dimples evident. "Anyway, didn't you get the rest of the coven, Dean?"

"I thought so. That case was a mess. If there was a witch we missed, why would she wait so long?"

Kate chimed in. "Actually, it makes sense. She would have had to move somewhere and reestablish herself without drawing attention. And then she would have needed to wait a long enough time for you guys to hopefully forget about it. It's what I'd do." Dean and Sam gave her a raised-eyebrows glance out of the corner of their eyes. "What? I have a vindictive streak. Like you guys don't? Please."

Dean sighed. "We've got to head back to Pennsylvania. We've done all we can here."

Kate sighed and went to pack her coat. "I hate Great Lakes states in the winter." Dean watched her leave, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion. She was acting like last night hadn't happened- like she hadn't had some sort of panic attack and then come apart twice in his arms. He grinned to himself at the memory.

Kate showed up at the Impala the next morning wrapped in a coat and holding a pillow and blanket.

Sam looked at her. "You moving in back there?"

"As much as I love the Impala, the heating system does not always reach the backseat. I also figured I'd give this whole sleeping thing a try." She shrugged.

"Hey! Baby's perfect," Dean defended as he turned the key, the engine roaring to life. Kate didn't even bother responding. Baby was Dean's home, it wasn't her place to insult it.

The miles rolled away, their surroundings becoming more and more snowy. It was a beautiful sight- the black classic car cruising through the pristine white countryside, curls of exhaust dispersing into the cold air behind it.

When they stopped to get gas and switch drivers, Kate was sent inside on food duty. She walked back to the car, arms full of supplies, when she realized that the Impala was starting to feel like her home too.

She thought about that while Sam drove and she watched the roads unroll. When they were in a tight spot, the three of them ran for Baby. If they got separated, they knew to try to make it back to the car. The Impala meant Dean blasting old rock and Sam complaining; the Impala meant rattling heat vents and Sam's soft snores- in short, it meant familiarity and a sense of belonging. Kate smiled to herself- it had taken her this long to belong somewhere, and it turned out she belonged in the backseat of an old Impala with Kansas plates, the trunk stuffed with tools used to fight the supernatural.

Hugging her new sense of place to herself, she fell asleep, wrapped up in her blanket, head cushioned against the door. When Sam's shoulder started bothering him, he woke Dean up to trade places again. Dean came around the front of the car and slid into the driver's seat, catching a glimpse of Kate's peaceful face in the back, dark hair tumbled over her shoulder. He turned to look at her, pleased that she was finally getting some rest.

When he turned back around, Sam was staring at him, head cocked sardonically, one eyebrow raised. Dean ignored him and pulled out into the night.

They rolled into town before the sun was up. Dean pulled into a small twenty four hour diner. Sam woke up Kate, and then proceeded to laugh as she stood hunched beside the Impala, arms wrapped around herself, eyes squinting in sleepy disgruntlement and against the wind.

Once inside, they ordered early breakfast and coffee.

"Now that we are here, what are we going to do?" asked Kate, much more alert now that she was inside with coffee.

"I thought I would go through the real-estate records for this time last year. She would need enough space to perform the rituals with enough of a distance around to prevent being noticed."

"That's smart," said Kate, pointing her fork at Sam before taking a bite of scrambled eggs.

"I was going to go through the county records, see if any woman failed to show up to work and was subsequently reported missing about a year ago," said Dean. "We can see if any of Sam's names match mine."

"Guess I'm with Sam, today, then." Said Kate.

"What? Why?" asked Dean.

Kate and Sam gave him confused looks, although Sam's was a little more pointed. Something along the lines of I know there is something going the fuck on with you, and I will figure out what it is. You just wait, brother. We will have words.

Kate spoke slowly, like she was talking to a hard-of-hearing toddler. "I'm going with Sam because I don't have a police ID. Small town cop plus young female with authority equals small-town suspicion, remember?"

"Yeah, I know that," he said gruffly. "I just thought you might have had another idea," he lied hastily."

Dean dropped Kate and Sam off at a motel on the outskirts of town to hack into the county records before he headed to the police station. He asked the standard questions, telling the tired Barney Fife equivalent that he was passing through town on another case. He came away about an hour later with a photocopied list of missing persons from the around the time he and Sam had last been through here.

All through the station and the drive back to the hotel he was kicking himself over that stupid comment to Kate in the diner. He didn't know what the hell was wrong with him- it was just annoying that she was acting like it had never happened. She was all buddy-buddy with Sam, joking as usual, and pretending he didn't exist.

That's not true part of his conscience reminded him. She came to you when she wanted help.

His little shoulder demon was back. Yeah, so she used me to distract herself when she was feeling alone.

But can I blame her for that? How many women have I slept with over the years so I wouldn't have to sleep alone?

When Sam heard the Impala pull up outside the motel, he slid the laptop to Kate and walked out to meet Dean. He wanted to know what why he was being weird about Kate.

He saw Dean walking towards their room. He circled his finger in the air, "Uh-uh. Back in the car," he said, pulling Dean by his elbow.

"Man, why?" said Dean, sliding into the seat.

"Just drive," said Sam. Now he knew something was going on. He let Dean drive aimlessly around the town, just staring at his brother. He knew Dean would get unnerved soon enough.

Just as Sam predicted, Dean eventually pulled the Impala onto a side road and cut the engine. Resting his face in his palm he asked, "What."

"What is going on with you and Kate? Did you make a move on her?" Dean huffed, his face unchanging. "You did! Dammit Dean, this is Kate! She chose to be celibate for almost three years and you hit on her?"

Dean interrupted him, "What? No! She made the move on me!" he yelled in confusion, poking himself in the chest. "And what's this about being celibate? How do you know that? Did you try something first?"

Sam held up his hands, palms out, and took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's just talk about this. A while ago Kate was teasing me about that girl back in Idaho, so I made a comment back. We got to talking, and she mentioned she hadn't seen the point in getting involved with someone in a while. Turned out a while had been almost three years, now."

"You just talk about your sex lives with each other? Come on!" said Dean, hitting his hand on the steering wheel.

"We're friends, Dean, we talk about all sorts of things. So… she made a move on you? How'd that come about?"

Dean rubbed the back of his neck, feeling really, horribly awkward. "It was the last night in the bunker. She just came in my room and was pretty agitated, so I tried to get her to talk to me, and then she kissed me and, well…" he trailed off.

Sam shook his head. "Wow."

"I don't understand!" said Dean, raising his voice again. "Now it's like nothing has happened!"

"Do you want it to be?" Sam asked quietly.

Dean turned the key and pointed the Impala back towards town. He didn't know what the hell he was supposed to do.

Kate greeted them with a smile when they came into the motel. "Hey guys! I've a list of properties sold in the two months after your witch-exterminating last year listed in order of likelihood based on location, seller, and sale-type."

Sam bent over her work and started discussing cost-benefit analyses and short sales and auctions and gods know what. Dean sat on the edge of the bed and watched them.

"Some of these houses match up with the missing persons list you brought, Dean," said Sam. "We should visit the houses to see if anything looks off."

Dean grabbed his keys and the three of them piled back into the Impala. The first two houses they visited were in town- there were no areas of blighted land or strange symbols or anything else odd that they could see. The next house was outside town a bit, but the current owners were home and had dogs running loose so they cut their losses.

"This next place was sold at auction after all payments stopped the month after we killed the coven." Sam coughed.

Dean turned into the driveway, and Kate let her eyes rover over the broad front porch, slightly overgrown flowerbeds, and average-looking property mostly obscured by snow.

Sam wheezed, his hands on his knees. Dean thumped him on the back. "You okay, Sam?"

Sam shook his head, hair obscuring most his face. He struggled to inhale. Dean brushed his hand over his brother's face, trying to figure out what was happening. "Sam? Sam!" His lips were starting to turn blue as he rasped for breath.

Dean shoved the gearshift in reverse and flew back out of the driveway. "You hang on, Sammy, it's gonna be okay," he commanded as they roared back towards town. Almost immediately color began seeping back into Sam's face; he braced his palms on the dash in front of him, gulping in huge gasps of air.

"What the hell?" Dean's gaze flicked from the road to Sam and back again.

Sam cleared his throat. "I don't know what that was. I'm feeling pretty normal now."

"Turn around, Dean" said Kate suddenly.

"Why? We've got to get Sam checked out?" said Dean in his I'm-confused-and-scared-so-I-am-masking-it-by-yelling voice.

"This will check out Sammy," she said calmly from the backseat. "I think it was a spell."

Angrily, Dean spun the Impala around in the middle of the road, driving aggressively back towards the last farmhouse. Kate reached over the seat and grabbed Sam's hand; he shifted to keep them linked, pleased that she was slowly learning to touch them more casually.

Sure enough, as the wheels of the Impala crunched onto the gravel of the winding driveway, Sam began coughing and wheezing again. Dean pulled back onto the road and drove back towards the motel, ignoring Kate and Sam's questions and speculations. He slammed into the motel room, brooding.

"Do you realize how powerful this witch must be, to be able to cast a spell on Sam like that? A spell that lasts for a year?" he yelled, not caring if Kate and Sam were listening.

"I agree with you Dean. This is something we should be concerned about- but what worries me is the level of foresight this took. She knew you and Sam would figure it out, so she rigged a system to keep you away from her former home and reminded you that she can make Sam suffer. She's a strategist."

"This is bad," said Sam. "How are we going to catch her is she can easily kill me whenever I get close?" He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

Dean sat on his bed, head bowed. "I don't know, Sam. I don't know."