Dean woke up the following morning with a killer headache. At least he thought it was morning, but one look at the clock told him it was actually nearing three in the afternoon. He tried to recall why he felt so rough, and gradually it came back to him. The bar, the totally HOT chick with long blonde hair and large breasts, and those legs…Then he suddenly remembered Kerry. Shit! He'd made a pass at the girl he considered his little sister! He groaned as he sat up, and heard a snort of amusement coming from the door. He looked up to see Bobby standing in the doorway, a glass of water in one hand, a bottle of aspirin in the other. Dean grinned his thanks before taking the items and gulping down two of the little pills. Bobby watched the man he considered as one of his sons carefully. He could tell that it was just as difficult for Dean to deal with this as it was for them all, but he also knew Dean well enough to know that he would get through it in his own was, which unfortunately, was by getting himself drunk and sleeping with any woman that happened to cross his path. As he watched Dean struggle to stand, Bobby put a firm hand on the man's shoulder to steady him. Dean looked up to thank him, but stopped when he saw the look Bobby was giving him.

"What did I do Bobby?"

"You mean other than hit on Kerry whilst drunk? Not much."

Dean cringed slightly but before he could apologise, Bobby held a hand up, silencing him.

"Look, I'm not about to lecture you. All I'm going to say is that if all your going to do this next year is break your brother and my daughter's hearts by watching you destroy yourself, then stay the Hell outta my way, got it?"

Dean nodded, unable to speak and Bobby gave him a smile before turning and heading out of the room.

"Oh, and it isn't me you should apologise to. That girl has been in love with you for years, don't break her heart."

Dean groaned and flopped back on the bed, but soon decided to apologise to both Sam and Kerry for his actions. Kerry first, then Sam.

He found Kerry outside, changing a tyre on his baby. He didn't go over to her straight away, choosing instead to just stand and watch for a while, tapping his foot along to the cassette she was playing in the car. He had to admit, he enjoyed watching her work on the car. It was like he was watching himself, the way she stroked it, talked to it, as if it were a person. He watched as she tightened the last bolt and stood up, sweat running slightly down her forehead, which she quickly rubbed off, leaving an oily mark behind instead. He found it hard not to laugh at that, but her next move shocked him to the core. She slid into the driver's seat of the car, her legs still out the door, and he saw her pull her jeans off, sliding a pair of shorts on instead. Then, he saw her take her sweat stained top off, and quickly throw another top on, with a shirt on over the top. He swallowed, trying to get rid of the image of her undressing in his car. Luckily, she shut the door and started walking round the car, checking for any scratches or dents. Dean looked her up and down, and suddenly it was like a light bulb went off in his head. He'd never seen her in the summer as he and Sam were never there at that time of year, but seeing Kerry now, tall, slim, and curvy, with really long and toned legs, a flat toned stomach and a soft tan to top it off, it suddenly hit Dean that the kid was no longer a kid. She was now a nineteen year old woman. An extremely beautiful one at that. For a minute, Dean contemplated asking Bobby how something could be so beautiful with half his genes, but quickly decided against it as being shot wasn't on his to-do list today.

At that point, Kerry looked up, and as she saw Dean's sharp eyes watching her, she found herself blushing. She opened the car door and switched the music off before grabbing her clothes and shutting the door, then pulling her hair out of its ponytail, letting the light brown hair fall gracefully down her back. She moved up to the house and Dean gave her a sheepish smile.

"Hey, I just wanted to say sorry for this morning."

Kerry shrugged, secretly cursing whoever was listening, as she had hoped he'd forgotten.

"It's no deal really. But next time, try to refrain yourself."

"Will do. Now, any idea where Einstein is?""Sam is up in the spare room researching ways to get you out of the deal."

"Oh."

As Dean walked back into the house, Kerry moved into the kitchen to get dinner prepared. As she finished preparing it, she could hear the two brothers talking upstairs. Sometimes one or other would start shouting, and then it would go quiet again. Finally, as she heard the timer go to let her know the food was ready, the guys came down the stairs, laughing and joking, their argument forgotten, for now anyway.

As they ate, Dean got a streak of sauce on his face. Sam and Kerry noticed it at the same time, and glanced at each other before bursting out laughing at the same time. Dean just looked at them in confusion, but neither of them told him what was wrong, just spent the rest of the meal sniggering and coughing in amusement whenever they caught each others gaze. Bobby would have been laughing too if he had been there. He had to travel into town to pick up some parts so wasn't due back for a few hours yet. As Kerry and Sam cleaned up the dishes, still smirking. Dean was beginning to get suspicious that they were up to something. The door knocked and Dean stood to get it. Kerry heard a female's voice, and nudged Sam. The pair of them crept up to watch, and saw Dean flirting with her, but was getting angry that she kept laughing. She moved off again, and Dean shut the door to face the pair, who were now both crying and bent over double with laughter.

"What the hell is going on?!"

"Dude, check your face." Sam finally chocked out.

Dean did as he was told, and his eyes widened in horror as he saw the pasta sauce smudged on his chin. Kerry began to start laughing again, and quickly ran out of the room and up the stairs when Dean moved towards her, his hands ready to tickle her. Dean knew it was pointless to try and outrun her. She could run circles round him any day, always had been able to do. She was even faster than Sam, and not many people could easily say that. As his primary target had gone, Dean rounded on his unsuspecting younger brother and cuffed the back of his head.

"What was that for?" Sam yelled.

"That's for not telling me, bitch!"

"Jerk!"

"Baby!"

Before they could throw anymore insults at each other, there was a scream from upstairs. They glanced at each other in worry as they realised Kerry was in trouble and raced up the stairs. Dean pushed past Sam, only to stop dead as he saw Kerry floating in mid-air, clawing at her throat. Sam too was frozen, but as Kerry went limp, they burst into action again. As they neared her, Kerry was thrown backwards. Dean caught her and Sam ran into the room just in time to see a woman look at him from the window.

"Come and play children." she teased before disappearing. Sam ran to the window, but she was gone.

"Sam!"

Sam turned to see Dean holding Kerry…who wasn't breathing. She just lay there completely still in Dean's arms. Dean looked terrified, and Sam wondered if this was how his brother looked after watching him die from being stabbed. Sam knew he had to act fast, so he quickly took Kerry off Dean and started chest compressions. It wasn't until Sam threw his mobile at him that Dean suddenly snapped back to reality. He quickly rang for an ambulance, and once it was on its way, he took over from Sam, while Sam ran downstairs to wait for the ambulance. Before long, the red and blue lights could be seen, and Dean could only watch in silent horror as Kerry was lifted up onto a stretcher and rushed downstairs, chest compressions still going.

"Dean."

"Huh?"

"You go with her. I'll follow in the car once Bobby gets here."

Dean nodded before heading to the ambulance. The paramedic stopped him.

"Sir, only family can go with her."

Dean found himself lose his temper a bit.

"Look, I've known this woman since she was four years old. She's one of my closest friends, and I consider her as a younger sister. Her father isn't here right now and there is no way in Hell that I am letting you take her on her own."

The paramedic nodded and let Dean into the back of the ambulance, as he decided Dean did have a pretty good point. Dean sat next to Kerry the whole way, holding her hand. As they drove, his mind flashed back to the last time he was in an ambulance with her. Last time it was bad. This time it was worse. Last time, she had still been conscious as she arrived at the hospital.

// Flashback //

Bobby came into the room and tossed a pair of keys to Dean, who had just turned twenty one.

"Hey Dean, I've just had a look at the car you fixed earlier and I think you did a good job. It's only right that you take her out for a spin."

"Hey what about me?" thirteen year old Kerry piped up.

Bobby looked at her in confusion until Dean told him that Kerry had helped him out the whole day. Bobby laughed and nodded.

"Ok you can go with him."

Kerry punched the air in happiness, and soon the pair of them were in the car, seatbelts fastened, and pulling out of the Scrap Yard. Dean asked Kerry if she knew any scenic routes and so she pointed one out to him, one that led up a winding road through the mountain pass.

As they made their way up the road, they listened to Dean's favourite cassette at the time: Led Zeppelin's greatest hits. They sang along to all the songs, and Dean noted that even at her young age, Kerry had one hell of a good singing voice. He knew she was a dancer too, so he thought that maybe she wanted to perform as a career one day. When he asked, she shook her head.

"I do it because I love it. I want to work with animals one day. Maybe even join dad in the hunting business."

Dean didn't say anything, but he bit his bottom lip, not liking the idea of her becoming a hunter. Yes, she had grown up with it just as much as he and Sam had, but the idea of her being out there fighting and possibly getting hurt scared him more than he'd like to admit. He hoped that when the time came, she chose animals over demons. If she did choose demons, then she would be the next member of their little team. It'd be nice to have somebody in the back seat. Plus, it might be easier to get over arguments with a third. And he'd be able to keep a closer eye on her to protect her.

It wasn't until they were coming back down the road that disaster struck. The heavens had opened, and rain was pouring down on top of them, making the steering a bit harder to manage. He switched the music off and put the cassette in his pocket so he could keep his concentration.

"Kerry, I want you to get into the back."

"Why?""Just do it please."

He didn't say, but it was always safer to be in the back of a car rather than the front, especially if something were to happen such as the car rolling or… Dean yelled out as another car came out from behind them and nudged their car as they passed Dean. Straight away, the car started sliding, and as he tried to straighten it, he noticed that Kerry was silent. Kerry herself was terrified but knew well enough to keep quiet so Dean could focus.

"You alright back there?" dean yelled.

"Just drive!" she called back.

Dean sighed. At least she wasn't frozen in fear. He soon was though, as Kerry suddenly screamed and as he looked, he saw they were heading straight for a cliff. The last thing he remembered before passing out was hitting the wall, and the car rolling down a ditch.

He was woken up by the feeling of hands touching his face. He moaned and struggled to move, but was held down.

"Easy there, we're trying to help. You'll be fine. My name's Jack and I'm a paramedic."

"Kerry…" dean groaned.

"Don't worry; my colleague is with her now. She's in safe hands, she's fine."

Dean didn't believe she was ok. Not one bit, so as soon as the paramedic moved away, he wrenched himself out of the car, which he noticed was upside down. He heard people shouting at him, but he ignored them as he limped to the back of the car. As he saw the blood soaked hair, he dropped to the floor and called out to Kerry. Kerry briefly heard someone talking to her softly, but she was in so much pain, she just wanted to fall asleep, even though the voice was telling her to stay awake. Just as she was about to sleep, a louder, much clearer voice came to her ears.

"Kerry! Oh god, what did I do? Kerry!"

"D…Dean" she barely whispered.

Dean's head shot up at the noise and he immediately reached into the car to take her hand. The paramedic tending to her gave him a thankful smile, and he nodded back, his eyes deadly serious.

Before long, Kerry was pulled out from the car, and Dean gasped as he saw her injuries. Her head was bleeding badly, her right arm was badly swollen and her right leg was lying at an odd angle. She also had a large gash just below her neckline. She cried out as she was moved, but as soon as she was free, Dean was there, holding her hand, keeping his cool green eyed gaze on her light blue one. He didn't let go of her hand until they reached the hospital and she was stretched off to theatre.

Bobby, Sam and John arrived an hour later, and Sam put his arms round his brother, as inside, he knew Dean needed it. Bobby moved over to him and Dean was expecting a punch, but instead, Bobby thanked him for telling Kerry to get in the back. It turned out that she would have been killed if she had've been in the front, so Dean's instinct saved her life. Three hours later, a surgeon came out to tell them that Kerry was really lucky and had managed to come out of the operation without any major injuries, and that she was going to be fine. Dean had been so relieved, but even now, felt guilty that he could have done something to prevent the crash.

Needless to say, when he found the cassette in his pocket later on that day, he didn't hesitate to throw it in the nearest bin. That Christmas, he opened his presents from Kerry to find she had done him a new tape.

// End Flashback //

They'd been lucky last time, as it was a genuine accident. This time though, was completely different. This time, it was a direct attack, and somebody he loved had been hurt. He was angry this time, and his family seemed to realise this as they kept their distance to allow him to vent out his anger. They were told that they could go and see her, and they all moved into her room. She was still unconscious, but the doctor explained that it was because she had lost a lot of oxygen. Whatever had done this to her had almost chocked her to death. Dean felt his hand tremble as he linked it with one of her own. He was nearly crying as he saw her weak, pale form lying there, still and silent. 'No way is she ever becoming a hunter' he vowed to himself, but deep down, he knew that once he went to hell, she would end up teaming with Sam.

One by one, everyone left the room, even Bobby after a push, but Dean outright refused to stay until she woke up.

"Look, you guys go home and get some sleep. I'm not leaving her here alone. Trust me, I'm used to this." he gave Sam a pointed look as he said this and Sam grinned. Bobby thanked Dean before heading out with Sam.

As soon as they left, Dean stood and gently kissed her forehead.

"I promise, I'm gonna kick the son of a bitches ass for doing this to you."

He thought her felt her hand twitch, but when he asked her to do it again, he got no response. He sat back down and began to tell her stories about some of the hunts that he and Sam had been on. He stayed awake the whole time, and when he stopped talking, he found himself thinking back to earlier that day, when he had seen her change in the car. He knew that he'd never sit in that seat the same way again, and as he thought about it more, he suddenly imagined himself being the one to remove her jeans on the seat, only in this vision, she didn't put a pair of shorts on. He snapped out of it and slapped himself round the face.

"Don't go there Dean." he warned himself, but then thought back to what Bobby told him earlier.

"That girl loves you so don't break her heart."

He looked back at Kerry, new thoughts swimming in his head. Thinking back on all the times they spent together, he began to realise something. The way she smiled at him, the way he smiled back. The way he loved seeing her smile, the way he treated her as an equal, not a sex toy, the sheer panic he felt in the crash and then today… He leant forward again to speak softly to her, as if he was afraid that someone would walk in on him.

"Hey, I know you love me, and I'm not sure, but I can't say I don't feel the same way about you. . . I mean, you've been like my little sister all these years, and it's not until now that I've realised that it could be more. But I promise I'll figure it out before I go to Hell. I promise."

As he finished, he lowered his head and kissed the side of her mouth, unable to kiss her in the middle as she had a breathing tube in her mouth. As he pulled away, he felt her stir, and slowly her eyes opened and Dean's breath hitched as her bright blue eyes connected with his eyes.

"Dean? " she croaked as she recognised those eyes.

Unfortunately, the movement of talking caused her to choke on the tube and Dean wasted no time getting a nurse to check her over, all the time grinning madly because she was awake, alive. She was going to be fine.