Alyssa and Sam met for coffee within a week, tucked away in a corner. Dean had practically shoved them out of their room, promising to research what he could in order to break the deal. Alyssa still didn't know that part. But for now at least, she was going to stay behind in this little hick town in the middle of nowhere. She and Sam exchanged numbers as they spent their 'date' catching up with one another. Sam told her more than he'd ever told anyone else. About his life and Dean's, about their father and for once, it was a little easier to talk about Jess. Alyssa knew Jess, knew how they'd been. Likewise, she told him everything. Unfortunately there wasn't much he could do. Especially with how close time was getting. Dean didn't have long left. They parted with a sweet kiss and the next morning and Sam left with Dean to go and find some way to save his soul.

Chasing Cars Gives You Hell

Kitty was on the run when her phone rang. To say it was inconvenient would be a huge understatement. Because first of all, she had bigger things to be worried about than answering her phone. Like the fact that someone had reported her for breaking and entering in an abandoned property. Then again, it was about to be sold. But the soon-to-be-residents owed her a huge thank you. She had just burned the locket and hair that kept one nasty ghost tied down. She hopped into her car, throwing it into drive and speeding off. Even as Another One Bites the Dust rocked out on her cell, she kept driving. Glancing in her rear view mirror, keeping an eye out for flashing lights she answered with an annoyed, "What?!"

"I need your help."

Those four words were enough to send her speeding off in another direction entirely.

"What's going on?"

"It's-it's pretty bad."

"Bad how, Sam? What did you do?"

"Look, I… it's hard to explain. But Dean, he, he didn't listen and I didn't stop him in time and now I just, don't know what to do. Bobby's looking into it, but I could really use your help."

"Tell me everything. Now."

"It's not that easy, Kitty. I swear. I was trying to find an answer, someway to save him. And I found this article that mentioned this rift between the living and the dead. I-I thought and everything seemed to say that it was feasible. A witch created it, during all the havoc and chaos going on during the witch hunts at Salem, in order to hide with the dead so that when everyone blew over she could come out safely. Dean's got… Dean's only got a few weeks left, Kat. I thought it was the best option we had, and-"

Kitty closed her eyes, "Please don't tell me what I think you're going to…"

"He went inside the rift."

"Idiots," she breathed softly.

"Good news is, we found the witch… bad news is… Dean's going to be out of commission."

"Why would you mess with this Sam?" she demanded. "The both of you know better!"

"Because she pulled Dean in. It was just… it was just an option. God Kat, I don't know what to do right now, I can't find any mention of how to get him out. I don't even know how the witch got out…"

"Do you have her there? The witch?"

"She's tied up at the moment, and nearly dead, but yeah she's here."

"Good, you're three quarters of the way done. Now…"

It wasn't the first time Kitty had encountered this kind of a mess. She was pretty well-known for being the one to call to fix these messes. Ghosts and witches never did get along. This witch in particular had made her plans further than the one from a few years ago, who'd only been planning on doing it. The witch in Salem had probably used all of her energy in order to create a tear where she could slip through, on occasion no doubt some unwary individuals had wound up there too. But by slipping through the witch was little more than a ghost, trapped within that pocket and unable to get out unless she fed off enough people. By the sounds of Sam's description, she had been feeding from those unwary individuals, enough to make a balanced change, her life for Dean's. She pulled him in and took herself out, keeping the stupid hoodoo mix aligned. Dean wouldn't be able to get out unless they got the witch back in. But if the witch died, then that rift would break apart. Either killing Dean or freeing him and no one really wanted to take that risk.

The witch she'd met a few years back had been planning to do this spell, to throw herself into the rift in order to avoid the hunters that were on her tail. It didn't work out too great for her, since she didn't have enough juice or balance. Instead, half of her was a ghost and unable to leave the rift. Killing her was probably a mercy. But before she burned all of her books, Kitty had taken a glance over her notes. It wasn't a spell she'd heard of before, and it stood out. It was probably a grimoire that had been passed down in her family. She burned it, along with the house.

That witch had done everything she could to get Kitty to release her, made promises for love spells and riches beyond her imagination. Getting free from the rift wasn't all that difficult, but Kitty stabbed the bitch before she burned her. She hung up with Sam and phoned Bobby, to fill him in with the information she had and together they came up with a solution. It had been a long time since Kitty pulled an all-nighter, spending it driving down the highway to Salem once she gathered the necessary ingredients.

Despite how she asked, neither Bobby nor Sam would tell why they had been looking into the rift in the first place. In the end, it wasn't even dawn when she pulled into town and handed everything over to Sam. The witch was awake, but barely functioning when they arrived. And desperately confused. It was remarkably easy to trick her into thinking that they were there for her benefit before they swapped her life for Dean's once more.

Dean was weak, and a little out of it when they got him out. Between the two of them, they managed to get to a motel and sign in, explaining Dean's loopy behavior by saying that someone at a bar had spiked it with something. Sam helped his brother onto the bed, throwing the blankets over him while Kitty got his shoes off. Dean was out cold within seconds. For a moment, Kitty was back in that motel room, watching the brake lights as they disappeared and hatred filled her. But then it was gone just as quickly, as she sat on the bed next to him.

She knew why he had done it, but the worst thing was how surprised she had been by it. The only reason Dean had abandoned her there was because she had left him first, that first time. This time around he was protecting his heart, his soul and probably his whole being. She was aware of Sam sitting down on the other bed, heaving a great sigh. Honestly, she wondered at why she had done what she could to save Dean. Months ago she had been furious and hurt. Days ago she had been more remorseful about that night a few years ago than she thought possible, before she drowned her problems in a random at a bar and a few shots of tequila. She woke up with Dean on her mind and the world's worst migraine. Also some unexplainable bruises and questionable damage to the motel room that she preferred to not think about.

"What happened to you two?" Sam asked quietly, watching them. "You still love him, Kitty. I can see that."

But no mention of how Dean felt towards her, she noticed. "I told you Sam, I screwed up. He told me he loved me and I fucked off the next morning."

"H-he what? That would… explain a lot."

"We're not going to be anything unless he wants it, and it's not like I'm going to sit around waiting for him. Now tell me, what were you doing today? What's going on?"

"Dean's dying."

And just like that, the world shifted. Sam told her everything, about the psychic kids and about John's deal and Dean's deal. For the first time, Kitty didn't know what she was supposed to do. When Dean left her in the motel, she knew exactly what she had to do. She had to ignore him, forget about him, and move on. Because Dean wasn't interested, not anymore, not like he used to be. It was a burned bridge between them and she only had herself to blame. If Dean didn't want to accept her apology, her explanation, then it was with reluctance that she admitted it was his right to do so. But she hated it. And now, Dean didn't even have a month left to live. What was she supposed to do? Maybe it was because she realized that she didn't have a lot of time left with him, if there was anything she wanted, then she had to get her peace before the end. As much as Sam was fighting to be optimistic, fighting to find the cure, the solution, Kitty didn't have the same disillusionment. Dean was going to die. But he wasn't going to go down without a fight, and Kitty would help. Because maybe there was something, and that was all that mattered.

She looked back at Dean. He looked so at peace, compared to how haggard and exhausted he was the last time she had seen him. Had that been the last of her that he wanted to see, or had he been trying to make a clean break for her benefit? It would be just like him to do something so stupid, the ass. But if there was one thing Kitty was going to do, it would be to earn his forgiveness no matter what it took. She wasn't holding out hope that he would live -this was a big deal and demons were a bitch to deal with. She was accustomed to dealing with the undead. She kept her talents honed for dealing with ghosts, partly in memory father and to save others from that, but also because her mother had picked up John's lost cause. In the end it would take all three of these boys to their graves. John was dead, Sam had technically died and now Dean was going to go as well. Was it the Winchester curse?

"I don't have the cash to get another room," Sam confessed. "Haven't gone hustling in awhile, been busy…"

"I don't have enough either, but it's fine, I can take the floor or sleep in my car."

"Kitty…"

"Don't. It's fine Sam, I'm used to it remember?" she flashed him a weak grin.

"That doesn't make it okay."

She laughed, "What, you don't remember all those fights for the bed when we were kids? You know my mom used to get a room for herself so that she and John could spend some adult time together. And that left us three on our own, under Mr. Bossy's supervision," she patted Dean's leg at that. "Who got stuck with the floor more often than not?"

"We were kids," Sam protested.

"And you think much has changed since now? I think I've spent more time in my car than I've spent anywhere else -and I've only owned a car for the last four years! Dealing with rundown haunted shit all day long, I find so much that would be worth unbelievable amounts to some people but it's always haunted. Or cursed. The curses suck worse than hauntings, honestly."

Sam sighed, "I'm not going to be able to change your mind am I?"

"Nope. And besides, he won't want me here when he wakes up, I'm sure."

"But you'll still be here?"

"'Course I will," she admitted, covering a yawn. "I've got to help the two of you out first. See if he can ever forgive me, or anything."

"Kitty… thank you, so much."

"Don't worry about it."

I have not forgotten this story ^^; I had some crazy homework (like 77 journal entries totaling over 14,000 words) and have been spending my winter break recovering enough energy to be able to function without crashing on nervous energy after my school kicked me out because of a secretarial mistake (which thankfully was sorted out). Additionally, I've been busy jumping back and forth between college and university since neither are on the same page and it's a lot of college says I need this, University says I need That and who do I listen to? On top of that a whopping 9 assignments due in twelve days with six classes in five days, a family wedding to deal with and a lot of drama. Overall, I've been busy, totally drained and scrounging to find something to dig up and write.

I'm gonna predict that this semester is going to be similarly busy, but I have a looser schedule. I'm going to try and get another chapter out during the first few weeks of school, but considering my spring break is stupid and happens sometime next month for five days and I've learned from my mistakes, I'm going to try and get my homework done ahead of time in order to get some stuff out earlier. Gah, last year was so much easier. Kind of.

Anyways, please let me know what you think of Kitty/Kat. I'm going to do a lot more with her, since this is her time to shine. Also I couldn't tell which song was more suited for this chapter, so I settled with both of them.

Alyssa will be back, but later on. If there's anything you want to see happen, please let me know. I love to know what my readers want to see happen.

Hope you're all still with me, less stressed and enjoying the story!