Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original character.
Part 14:
Kae wasn't sure what time it was when she woke up later but it wasn't without her screaming her head off. Good thing she didn't remember this nightmare (unlike numerous others that were seared into her brain).
"Kae?"
The door that linked her room to Sam and Dean's had opened (any other day she would have been pissed at the brothers for getting adjoining rooms but after everything that had happened in Carthage, she just couldn't be bothered to care). Dean stared at her questioningly.
"I'm fine," she wiped her eyes and pulled the duvet up to her chin. "What are you doing up? It's..." she glanced at the clock. "Three in the morning."
"Usually don't get more than four hours," he replied.
"Oh."
He shifted his weight awkwardly and then looked at the floor. "You sure you're good?"
She nodded and smiled weakly.
"I'll live," she yawned.
He nodded mutely and started to pull the door shut.
"Well...'night, Prin - Kae."
She nodded and laid back down. "'Night Dean."
"How since you met Dean Winchester, you've never given any sign that you're attracted to him."
...
"You keep feelings like love buried deep under everything else. Don't lie - especially to me. I know, Kae. I've been in your head."
...
"Denial is an ugly thing, Kae. He hides it as well as you do. I'm not even sure he realizes it...but he will eventually."
She let out a groan and threw her pillow over her head.
"Are you guys sure about this?"
"Positive." Dean watched her stare up at the Glenwood Springs Psychiatric Facility. "Martin wouldn't have called us if it wasn't serious."
"You think the doc will admit the two of you?" she asked in a low voice as Dean signed him and Sam in to see Dr. Fuller, one of the doctors in the facility.
"Oh not the two of us," Dean elbowed her lightly in the side. "Sam got all three of us a consultation."
Kae rounded on Sam in horror. "You didn't."
He shrugged.
"It's better than having you out in the open where we can't reach you for back up." he muttered as they took their seats.
"Oh so this isn't about not thinking I can do the job it's about not thinking I can handle Lucifer, great Sam...fucking great."
"Well I'm sorry but given last time -"
"You know what shut up alright? It's none of your business what happened between Lucifer and me." her voice rose a notch. Dean would've told her to shut it, but it was lending well to the story he'd fed Fuller to get them in today.
"Eddie, Alex, and Kae Thomas?" the receptionist broke into their conversation. "Dr. Fuller will see the three of you now."
Kae looked angrily at Sam.
"What?" he hissed. "You're not on a wanted list - we are."
Dean rolled his eyes. "C'mon. Let's get this over with."
An hour and an apocalypse story combined with a prophecy of the Antichrist's mother later, Sam, Dean and Kae were being admitted into Glenwood Springs. She hated the patient scrubs she'd been made to wear. It was ridiculous. After the nurses had cleared Kae, she traipsed off to find where the brothers were.
She found them seated at a table in the lounge with an older man.
"...have, uh...had glimpses, but there's not a lot to go on."
"Are they reliable?" Dean asked as she approached.
"Oh sure, why wouldn't they be?" When Dean turned around as if to gesture to the current mental state of the patients, he saw Kae standing just behind his chair, giving him an annoyed look. "Oh hey. How was your session with the nurse?"
"How about you shut your mouth before I shut it for you?" she shot back. Sam smothered a chuckle behind his hand and their friend looked up at her in interest.
"Who's your friend, boys?"
"Um..this is Kae. She's uh...helping us with this case." Dean cleared his throat and looked away from her. "Kae, this is Martin."
"The Martin?" Kae raised an eyebrow. Dean had filled her in on how many times Martin had saved his father before they'd gone to the facilty that morning.
Martin grinned.
"Hope it's all good things they've told you."
She couldn't really do anything except shrug and nod with a halfhearted smile. "So what have we got here?" she asked as Sam pulled up an empty chair so she could sit down.
He shrugged. "I don't know yet. A ghost, demon, monster...animal, vegetable, mineral." he chuckled. "Hospital's had five deaths in the last four months. Doctors keep calling it suicides, but they're wrong."
"So you've seen this thing?" said Sam.
Kae rolled her eyes. "Has anyone seen this thing?"
Martin shook his head. Kae could've screamed; at the rate they were going, they were either chasing a figment of Martin's imagination, or if this was real, people were going to start dying again, and soon.
"Alex, Eddie. Kae." The three looked up to see Dr. Fuller approaching them. There was no way they could discuss the case any further with Martin for now. "Well, I'm glad to see you're making friends. Why don't you and, uh, Mr. Creaser join us for group?" Kae exchanged a questioning look with Sam, who shrugged and stood up. She followed suit and Dean was right be hind her - only to be stopped by the doctor. "Actually I'm gonna be putting you in the afternoon group. Kae, you'll be going with him."
Kae opened her mouth to protest, but stopped herself at a look from Sam. She turned and flopped back down in her chair dejectedly.
This was fucking ridiculous.
"Look fuck her, alright?" Kae looked uncertainly at Dean, who was staring dejectedly at the tiled floor of the hall they were in. "Shrinks are -"
"They suck," Dean responded gloomily. "I just hope Sam found something so we can get the hell out of here."
Dean had just gotten out of a therapy session with his doctor - Dr. Cartwright. And he had hated it.
At that moment, the younger Winchester came walking out of another room and quickly made his way over to them.
"Sam," Kae said relieved to see him. "You find anything?"
He nodded.
"Yeah. A guy says he saw the creature. We should talk to him." he looked from Kae to Dean. "You wanna meet here in an hour?"
She nodded. "Sounds cool."
She gave Dean a gentle shove and he turned, only to be met by a female patient. A female patient who grabbed him and kissed him hard
Son of a bitch. She wanted to grab the woman and pull her off, but the combined pressure of Sam's hand suddenly gripping her wrist, and the thought that this patient was clearly not in her right mind kept her from doing anything.
The woman pulled back after a moment and stared at them.
"Hi." she said finally.
"Hi." Dean responded after a moment.
"I'm Wendy." she told him.
"Uh-huh."
Wendy turned and walked away. Dean pursed his lips and shrugged. "Maybe this place isn't so bad after all."
Sam gave him an incredulous look. "Dude, you cannot hit that."
Dean turned to watch Wendy as she walked away
"Oh so torn."
Kae made a mental note to hit him hard with something whenever they managed to get out of the place.
"Man we cannot tell her."
"Why not?! It's not the same one - I think if it was, she'd have noticed and gone Lara Croft on the bitch!"
After finding out the man who'd seen the creature was dead, his brain completely drained, Sam and Dean had gone to Martin, who'd figured out that what they were hunting was a wraith. Kae had been roped into a session with Dr. Cartwright, so it was a seriously good thing that she was out of the loop right now.
Sam folded his arms. "Look, she's been searching for this thing for two years. We tell her its a wraith, even a different one, she's still gonna nail the sucker."
Dean snorted. "And that's a bad thing?"
Sam sighed. "She won't use human methods, Dean. If these people catch her, she's going to be locked up for good."
"It'd keep Lucifer off of her." Dean tried to reason.
"When has anything stopped Lucifer from getting into contact with her?" Sam pointed out. "If she goes under lock up she's a sitting duck." he paused. "We gotta keep her safe."
Dean hesitated, but then nodded. Sam was right; after everything that had happened in Carthage (he still felt so angry when he thought of how bad her injuries had been, even if Cas had healed her), he wanted - no needed Kae to be safe.
"Okay."
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