Dean sat in his car outside of the hospital, looking at the piece of paper with the address on that he had gotten in the bar a few nights ago. He thought about what Kate had said to him before he'd left, and then about the sight of her beaten and broken lying on the road after the crash. His foot pressed down on the pedal as he drove to the house and parked up outside. He took off his leather jacket and threw it into the backseat before getting out and crossing he street. As he walked casually around the car parked in the driveway, he noticed that there were still marks on the front. Anger built up inside him as he stormed towards the door.

He pounded loudly with the side of his fist repeatedly until the guy came to the door. He pulled it open and looked Dean up and down. "Yeah?" Dean pushed him backwards and stepped inside, slamming the door closed behind himself.

"What the hell? You can't just barge in here-" He began, stopping as Dean grabbed the front of his shirt and slammed his back against the wall.

"Oh, don't you remember me?" He asked, glaring into his face.

Realisation covered his face. The colour drained right out of him as he began struggling against Dean's grip. "Look, I-"

"Shut the hell up." Dean yelled as he punched him in the face, hard enough to knock him to the floor. Dean kicked him a few times. "You nearly killed my sister. You drove straight into her and then you drove off."

"I know.." He coughed, blood coming out of his mouth. "It wasn't my fault, she ran out. I couldn't stop in time."

"Don't give me that bullshit! You knew damn well what you were doing!" He kicked him a few more times before kneeling down and punching him in the face. "She's twenty-two years old." He shouted as he continued to punch him. "You left her there for dead!" He yelled even louder before punching him harder. Dean took a breath before getting to his feet and pulling his gun.

"Whoa.. please man."

"Too late for that." Dean said, no emotion in his voice. The guy looked up at him terrified. The cold, murderous look on Dean's face scared him more than he thought anyone ever could. Dean cocked the gun and aimed it straight at the guy's head. Looking at him, lying on the floor covered in blood, he thought about everything that he'd almost cost him. Alongside his brother, Kate was the only thing that gave him anything to live for. He swore to himself a long time ago that anyone who hurt either of them would pay for it. He squeezed the gun, his finger on the trigger, and thought back to what his sister had said to him before he'd left. 'This isn't worth your life Dean.' And although he would happily give his life up for either of his siblings in a heartbeat, he couldn't shake his sister's words from the back of his mind. He sighed and lowered the gun as he leant down next to him.

"You're not even worth it." He muttered to him in a disgusted voice. "But I swear to god, if I ever see you again, I will kill you. You understand me?"

The guy nodded quickly. Dean punched him a couple more times before standing and kicking him in the face, knocking him out. He shoved the gun into the back of his jeans and walked out of the house without looking back, getting into his car and driving off.

Sam and Kate sat in the hospital room together as they waited for Dean to come back. "He's been gone a while now.." Kate said quietly. "What do you think he did?"

He looked down, not knowing how to answer her. He didn't want to lie to her, he knew how angry his brother really was. Not just with the guy who hit her, but with himself too. "I don't know Kate.. I really don't."

"Maybe you should go find him?" She suggested, he could hear the concern in her voice.

"No, Dean knows what he's doing. The guy deserves whatever he gets." Sam said coldly.

"Sam.."

"No. He almost killed you, what part of that do you not seem to understand Kate? I mean, what would I-" He stopped as he realised he was shouting at her.

"Look I get it, trust me. But beating the crap out of him isn't going to do any good."

"Well it'll sure make me feel a hell of a lot better." He muttered.

Kate shook her head. "Sammy, you know Dean as well as I do. What if he gets carried away huh?"

"You know, I don't really care. I hope he rips the guy apart." He said angrily, pushing back his chair as he stood up.

"Sam. Calm down, you're freaking me out."

Sam looked down at her, seeing the concern in her face. He sighed and dropped back into his seat. "Why do you care so much? After what he did to you?"

"Like I said Sam, it's not worth his life. Think about it, Dean kills him and the Feds realise we're not dead, they're right back on our tail."

Sam thought about it for a couple of minutes. He knew she was right, he remembered how much trouble they'd almost been in the last time the Feds had caught up with them. "You know, sometimes I wish we could just go back to the way we were before. Back when we just used to hunt.. Before all of this."

"You and me both." She mumbled, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it. The two of them sat in silence for a while until the door opened. Dean walked in with blood still staining his knuckles and splattered over his gray t-shirt. He looked between them before closing the door and sitting down. "Dean.." Kate started. "Tell me you didn't."

"No. He's alive.." He mumbled. "Just."

"Just?" Sam pressed.

"Leave it, it's done with." Dean snapped at him. He looked at Kate who shrugged at him. They knew when Dean got himself into one of these moods it was useless trying to get him to talk. The three of them watched the small tv in the corner of the room for a while, none of them speaking. After a couple of hours, Kate fell asleep.

"So what did you do to him?" Sam finally asked him.

"I worked him over pretty well."

"That's it?" He asked skeptically.

"Yes Sam. That's it."

"Okay." He mumbled, taking the hint that he didn't want to talk about it.

Dean looked up at his brother. "You look surprised."

"No, it's just you seemed dead set on going the whole way with it.. So why didn't you?"

"I was, I pulled the gun on him and everything. But with what Kate said and stuff.. I don't know Sammy, I just didn't."

"Probably for the best, the last thing we need right now is a murder case on our hands." Sam smiled at him.

Dean nodded. "Man, I can't wait to get the hell out of this freaking town."

"Yeah, tell me about it." He agreed.

They spent the best part of the next week watching tv in the hospital room. The only time that Sam and Dean left the room was when they were made to leave for a while so Kate's doctor could give her a check over. The two of them decided to go to the diner across the street to get something to eat while he did. They sat in there for about an hour before heading back. When they arrived back at the hospital, they walked into Kate's room to find it empty. The bed was made and all of her stuff was gone. "What the hell's going on Sammy?" Dean asked him, the panic clear in his voice.

Sam glanced around nervously. "Look, I'm sure she's fine Dean." He said calmly.

"Can I help you two?" A nurse asked them as she walked into the room.

"What's going on?" Dean demanded.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" She asked him, looking genuinely confused.

"The girl who was in here, where is she?" Sam asked, growing more and more concerned.

"I don't know, I'm sorry. You should go to reception, they'll be able to tell you."

Dean stormed out of the room before she had even finished her sentence, Sam right behind him. He marched over to the reception desk and tapped his fingers impatiently on the counter, waiting for someone to come over to them. "Dean, calm down." Sam warned him.

"I'll calm down when I find my damn sister." He said, his voice raised in frustration. An older woman sorting papers behind the desk looked up at him and glared for a second before going back to what she was doing. "She's not even doing anything." He muttered to Sam, earning them both another glare.

Sam shook his head. "Look, we're not going to find her if you keep yelling at the freaking staff." He snapped, shoving Dean out of the way so he could stand directly in front of the desk.

"What are we standing around here for?" A voice said casually from between them.

They both turned to find Kate standing there, fully dressed in her jeans and leather jacket with her hair pulled back, her bag slung over her shoulder. They both breathed a sigh of relief. "What's going on?" Sam asked her.

"They said I could leave." She smiled.

"They did? Are you sure you're well enough?"

"I'm fine, really." She answered quickly. "Can we just go, please?"

Sam and Dean looked between each other and shrugged. "Sure, let's go." Dean said, grabbing her bag from her and leading the way towards the exit.

Once they were in the car, Dean wasted no time in driving away from the hospital at full speed. "Kate, are you sure they said you could leave?" Sam suddenly asked her, a frown forming on his face.

"What d'ya mean?"

"I mean it's a little strange how the first time we're both out of the hospital for more than an hour, they decide out of the blue that you're allowed to leave."

Dean suddenly caught onto what Sam was getting at. "You didn't check yourself out did you?" He asked her, looking at her through the rear view mirror. She looked away from him, out of the window. "Kate?"

"Look, I'm fine. That place was driving me nuts."

"So you just left? For god's sake Kate." He shook his head and sighed. He couldn't say that he blamed her, he hated being in hospitals. He'd discharged himself from them practically on his deathbed in the past.

"I'm okay, really. I wouldn't have left if I didn't feel like I was well enough."

Dean looked at Sam who shrugged. "Okay, but we're keeping a close eye on you alright?"

"Fine." She muttered, looking out of the window, not mentioning it again.

Dean shook his head to himself and continued to drive, deciding that he would stop a few towns over to give the three of them the good nights sleep that they all needed.