Hi all! Once again, I own none of the things that are associated with Supernatural, just Kate. oh boy, in the process of finishing up the next chapter AND the one after that I found that for some unknown reason, my original chapter 12 was replaced with a different one, so I've since deleted this chapter. I have had to rewrite it entirely because my hard copy of it on my laptop was deleted as well. Anyway, here is my new (& hopefully) improved chapter 12. A big, big thank you to all of the new and returning readers for taking the time to visit my stories, especially those who review them.

Updated on 7/20/23

Chapter 12: Family Don't End in Blood

Kate awoke somewhere, dark and cold. She regretted instantly wearing a tank top in the early August of South Dakota. She found herself pretty well trussed up in her seat with a rope wrapped down the length of her forearms like vines pinning them to the arm of the wooden chair she was seated in. Kate could barely move her midsection as it was also tied tightly to the back of the chair, as well as her calves were tied up all the way down to her ankles on each leg. Whoever had put her here wanted to make doubly sure that she had a difficult time escaping, but still, Kate tried in vain to struggle against the ropes binding her down.

After a few minutes had gone by, she could start to feel her body shivering due to the cold environment she was trapped in. Her fingers were quickly getting numb as she struggled to move the ropes down to her wrists. Unfortunately, the ropes were so tight that she could barely move at all. With a sigh of despair, she leaned her head back against the chair and felt the chilly wood against her bare neck sending a shiver through her. Suddenly, she froze at the sound of a muffled voice coming from outside of the room. It was then that she took a moment to look around and take in her surroundings.

As she surveyed her surroundings, Kate observed rows of shelves filled with various ingredients, pre-packaged containers, and bulky cardboard boxes of food. It quickly dawned on her that she was trapped inside a restaurant's cooler. Despite her fear, Kate remained hopeful for any sign of her captors. She pondered why they weren't interrogating or torturing her for information. The last thing she could remember was walking along the junkyard at Bobby's after having it out with Dean by the Impala. She wracked her brain to try and remember how she'd gotten here, but nothing came to mind. A flash of metal gleaming in sunlight came back to her, and then a familiar "Hiya Katie" resounded in her ears. A stinging pain in her head reminded her she was hit over the head, by Gina. A possessed Gina. Shit. she thought her head falling back. She just hoped to all hell that Gina was still alive in there.

The cooler door popping open brought her attention back to the present. "Mornin' Sunshine," Gina's voice rang out. The tall elder woman stood before Kate in the doorway. Kate stiffened uselessly as Gina moved in towards her quickly, she rounded behind Kate and pulled the chair so that it leaned back on its hind legs and pushed her forwards, down the ramp, and out of the cooler through the back doorway and out into the open bar area.

"A bit chilly in there, isn't it?" Kate heard Gina chuckle as she was greeted with the warm South Dakota air from within the rest of the bar. "Any longer, and you might've gone hyperthermic." She finished with a barking laugh. The hardwood floor appeared worn, yet the finished bar and stools along the left of the room looked new and shiny. The right of the room was lined with booths along the wall, it was obvious that the tables and chairs now stacked along the side opposite the entrance would have been strewn about and carefully set up around the open space that Kate was not so gently slammed down on in her seat.

"Who are you?" Kate gritted out between her clenched teeth. She was still waiting for her body to warm up in the new atmosphere.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Gina sneered, "Guess, I can't pass off as a sweet old psychic, huh?"

"Not a chance in hell," Kate replied curtly, her eyes continuing to move about the room.

The demon inhabiting Gina's body let out a howling laugh at Kate's pun, "You know, I like you. You got spunk, kid. It's a shame that soon enough we'll have to break you down to get answers."

"Who are you?" Kate questioned again, ignoring anything the demon currently inhabiting Gina was saying.

"How 'bout we play it like this girly, A question for a question." The demon suggested, their black eyes showing brightly under the bar lights above him as Gina walked off around the back of the bar and grabbed up a less-than-half-full fifth of clear liquid. Kate couldn't tell what it was from her angle though.

"I'll go first. Name's Merrick. Guess you could call me, Azazael's right-hand man." Kate just blinked at him not wanting to interact much at all. "Now, it's my turn. How in the hell is it that you know all of what's set to happen?"

"What's the matter? Your boss not clue in on everything there, Merrick?" Kate questioned. She figured that most demons would already know.

"'Fraid not, Darlin. Seems Azazel's not even privileged to know more about you other than the fact that... you know all." The demon answered with a shrug as Gina tossed back the overtly large bottle and chugged down some alcohol. "Now, stop stallin'. It's tit for tat, what makes you so special?" Kate noted his sarcastic use of the last word, but she let it go mentally debating how serious the demon was about using brute force.

She remained silent not wanting to give the demons any information pertaining to the guys and herself. "Hm. I see you want to play the silent game, huh? Guess we could make this fun…" Gina trailed off as she came back towards Kate with a knife now gleaming in her right hand under the restaurant lights.

"Scream if this hurts, dearie," Gina said as she dragged the knife across the back of Kate's right forearm. She fought the urge to shout out but closed her eyes against the pain.

Kate cried out in surprise when she felt Gina's hand clamped around her jaw, painfully tight. "Oh no, no sweetheart. You stay right here, you're gonna either talk or you're going to feel every inch that I get to carve into your skin."

Kate's teeth clenched of their own accord as Merrick continued to slash at random parts of her body, her other arm, her legs through her jeans. Kate felt every centimeter of his slicing as white-hot heat, she knew that Merrick wasn't making the cuts deep enough to need stitches or immediate medical attention but, he pushed sufficiently enough against her skin for it to cause enough pain to be bothersome, and she could feel her clothes absorbing the bleeding from them. Kate felt the tears welling up behind her eyelids finally spill over.

"Alright, alright! Please! Please Stop! I- I'm not from this universe! I belong in a different one." Kate stated breathlessly, now only trying to let him in on as little as possible.

"Really now?" She could see the demon lighting up with interest behind Gina's now mocha-colored eyes. "That is interesting. How'd you get here?"

"I believe that is a separate question, Merrick," Kate replied tiredly. Her eyes began jumping around the room now, looking for anything to use, or figure a different way out, but the only one she'd easily get to was the bar's front door.

"Touche, my dear." The demon replied using Gina's voice as he pulled back pointing the knife in the air as he spoke his last word wearing a smirk. "How long have I been here? Where are Sam and Dean-?"

"Ah, ah, ah that is two separate questions, But, no worries, I've already called your boys." Gina interrupted.

"My boys?" Kate questioned, her voice soft, hardly audible as Gina walked back around the bar again and tossed down the knife. It clattered loudly over the wooden countertop.

"Dean and Sam Winchester?" Gina questioned as if that was the part that Kate had become confused about. "How hard in the head did I hit you?" The demon asked itself as it gripped the bottle tightly and threw the bottle back again. "That's the whole reason you're here. I plan on trading you, for the colt."

"Well you're dumber than you look," Kate responded with a slight scoff. "There's no way the boys would be stupid enough to trade the colt for me-."

"Well, that's funny that you say that, because they're already on their way here," Merrick answered as he drained the rest of the bottle quickly. "We haven't a lot of time before the calvary arrives darlin' so how 'bout we finish up our game of 20 questions, what d'you say?"

"I say, that I'm not telling you anything else so, you can go straight to hell." Kate cut him off as the demon moved closer.

She watched as the demon shook his head slowly, "Look, Katie, I really don't think you want to do this the hard way." Kate maintained her hard glare, not budging. "Okay then. Don't say I didn't warn you." Kate watched as the bottle in Gina's hand was smashed against the bar top, and Merrick then pulled it back to shove it, the shards side down into the back of Kate's left hand which was still tied against the arm of the chair.

Kate screamed out in pain as the shards of the bottle sliced and broke off into her flesh, Kate felt like her hand was set on fire. The top narrow part of the bottle was kept in the tight grip of Gina's hand. Kate gritted her teeth as a growl escaped her at Gina pushing the bottle harder down on her hand. The pressure Gina was exerting over her hand seemed enough to break bones.

"Any change of heart yet? 'Cause, I got plenty of ideas on things I'd like to do to you."

"Fuck you." Kate gritted out between clenched teeth.

"Hey now, there's an idea," Merrick muttered with a wicked grin, as Gina's face moved in closer beside hers, Kate attempted to jerk her face in the opposite direction. "Although. I'm not sure how well that idea will go over with your boys when they get here. Especially the elder brother, no?"

"What the hell do you know about-?" Kate questioned.

"Everything the psychic knows is still floating around up here, you know?" With that last statement, Kate watched Merrick the demon tap the side of Gina's head. "It was a bad move leaving the old hag back there to clean up a demon mess solo. Very sloppy, Kate. I guess the saving people part of the job seems to not be your forte, hm?"

Kate's angry inaudible noises quickly turned into groans of pain as Gina began twisting the bottle in her hand the other way. "So, girly? How did you get here?" Merrick hollered over her shout of pain. Kate's left hand was slick with blood from the wounds, she could hardly feel anything other than the burning. She was pretty sure there were still bits of glass stuck under certain parts of her flesh as the bottle was sloppily broken in the first place.

"Bite me," Kate muttered in response.

Merrick let out a laugh in Gina's voice that seemed wildly insane. "I guess the straight usual torture isn't going to work up here. See? Being topside is still relatively new to me. I don't like it, I lack the ability to get… creative." Kate felt Gina's hands run through her hair, almost gently at the last word. "Guess we'll have to do this a little differently then…" Kate gasped sharply as she felt Gina's fingers grip a fistful of her hair and yank her head back at a painful angle.

"I'll ask nicely, one. Last. Time. How does an ordinary little human like you, jump dimensions?"

Kate's breathing was labored still, and she tried her best not to move much of her limbs as she still had the top half of a bottle of tequila sticking up from the back of her left hand.

"I- I don't have an answer for that," Kate replied tiredly. She just really wished that Merrick spoke the truth about Sam and Dean showing up soon.

She felts Gina's hand tug harder on her scalp and Kate yelled out, "I don't know!"

Merrick pulled back with a confused expression over Gina's features, "Why can't I possess you?" Kate looked up and could feel a small smirk fighting break through to the surface of her lips as she didn't answer him. Merrick pulled away impatient at Kate's silence, and circled her body. He stilled at her back when he saw the anti-possession tattoo she'd so recently acquired on her right shoulder blade.

"Hm. You're smarter than you look. Well, I hope you're telling the truth, Katie dear. Seeing as there's no way for me to test that." Merrick asked. Kate just nodded unable to say much more as she was still getting her bearings from the earlier torture.

"Fine. I suppose if you're as ordinary as Yellow Eyes said then, I guess I do believe you aren't capable of pulling something like that off on your own." Gina moved swiftly, yanking out the upper half of the bottle disregarding Kate's screams echoing off all the hardwood surrounding them.

Kate didn't turn her head to watch Gina walk off behind the bar again. She was surprised to see Gina reappear before her as she threw back a shot glass of something. This demon sure did enjoy his liquor. Kate thought.

"This didn't have to get so bloody, you know?" Gina stated. "Now, I've got just a couple more questions, for you, Kate." Kate took in a steadying breath as she felt her head spin at the demon's business-like attitude from torturing her not minutes before. "Alright," Merrick said as he tossed the shot glass against the far wall, it shattered as he continued to stand before her. "What exactly do you know of Azazel's master plan?"

"I know that raising the devil; does nothing," Kate told him bluntly.

She saw the shock of Merrick overcoming Gina's pretty features. "So you do know more than you let on, clever girl."

"It's all for nothing. Just a petty vendetta that was started way before we existed-."

"No," Gina's voice cut Kate off vehemently, "It's not. Don't you see? With him? Our creator? We will take over, not just earth, but we will move on to take heaven too." Kate could see the sickening joy that slid behind Gina's eyes as Merrick spoke of their planned future.

"And then what?" Kate asked him, her own voice gaining in volume, "You think Lucifer is going to reward your kind? Do you think there will be anything left of Earth to rule over? Lucifer doesn't give a rat's ass about you demons-." Kate had continued on explaining only to feel the brunt end of Gina's fists as Merrick had punched her along her jaw line. Kate's neck snapped in the direction of the punch and she felt her lower lip split upon contact.

"No need to get nasty there, Katie. Let's just stick to the facts. Once opinions get involved, things can get messy again." She could see Merrick straightening out Gina's tucked-in shirt as it had pulled up and moved out of place at her sudden move to land a punch on Kate.

"Hey!" Kate felt relief flood her body as she heard Sam's shout and the sound of the front doors opening.

"Kate?" Dean's voice called. She turned her head, gingerly, to meet his gaze, "You son of a bitch," She saw the concerned expressions on both boys' faces as their eyes steadily moved over Kate's body.

"Boys!" Merrick greeted them with enthusiasm. He'd cut off Dean's insult as the demon turned to face off with them, forgetting Kate entirely for the moment. Dean and Sam both had guns out and at the ready. Dean held the sawed-off shotgun, pointed right at Gina, while Sam had another longer rifle out and at the ready as well.

"You alright, Katie?" Dean called as he and Sam stepped further into the empty bar.

"Ah, ah, ah… That's not how this is gonna work." Merrick cut in with Gina's voice. Kate stiffened as she saw the knife soar back towards Gina's outstretched hands and it was suddenly being pressed against her throat. She inhaled a steadying breath trying not to move much as the knife was pressed tightly against her skin.

Sam and Dean froze, glancing at each other briefly before letting out a huff of breath. "You got it with you?" Gina asked as she eyed the boys from over Kate's shoulder.

Dean slid the Colt out from the waist of his jeans and flashed it before Gina as proof that he brought it. "And, that's the real gun this time, right boys?"

At their followed silences Gina went on to explain, "Well, it wouldn't be the first time a Winchester showed up to make a deal with a fake, now would it?" So, the demon knew about John's idea of trying to hand off a fake gun from a few months ago. That plan hadn't ended well. Kate remembered being possessed and, shuddered at the intrusiveness of it all.

"Yes, this is the real Colt. Now let her go." Dean said in his gravelly threatening tone that normally made Kate weak in the knees for entirely different reasons than the way she was now.

"Awe, but boys. It's been such fun. Catching up with old friends, and all that." As Gina spoke she moved now using the knife to cut the rope between the legs of the chair that was holding her tightly down against it. Kate felt the ropes loosen up around her limbs and with it, she could feel her blood flow out faster again. Kate groaned, hardly able to support herself as Merrick's inhuman strength yanked her up from her chair. He resumed holding the knife against Kate's throat. It was pressing against her skin, causing an unscratchable itch there. "Why don't you tell 'em how you came to know my current meat suit, Katie? Go on, tell the boys what you did to this poor woman." Merrick said. She could hear the evil grin in the tone of Gina's voice. It was obvious he got a kick out of dragging Kate through the mud in front of them. Kate felt a painful sadness welling up within her. She could feel it displaying over her features.

"Re- Remember that psychic I went off to see in the middle of that vampire hunt?" Her eyes were on Dean as he had been the one to call her out for ditching them at the drop of a hat back then. Kate's voice held a mix of emotions as she spoke to the boys about this, guilt, shame, and exhaustion.

The pair before her wordlessly nodded, their focus still remaining on the threat in the room, Merrick. "Well, that- that night I was there-. A demon got the drop on us, and- and-." Kate hadn't wanted to get into this, she blamed herself from the moment she saw Gina's black eyes back at Bobby's scrapyard. Sam and Dean seemed tense, their focus mostly maintained on Gina, but she could see the gears turning behind Dean's eyes. "And, we fought it off, she and I together… but-, but I left her there with it. I left when she told me to get moving. It's my fault that she's-."

She didn't need words to see the disappointment flash through Dean's face. Sam grimaced at her words, Kate knew she had been naive about leaving Gina with the demon. It was a big hunting no-no. Kate hadn't known what to expect, but the demon displaying her most recent fuck up to the guys wasn't one of them.

"Yes, so sad. Isn't it?" Merrick asked, sarcastically. Kate felt Gina pull the blade away from her neck as her left arm seemed to grow an increasing sensation of pins and needles. She knew that it couldn't have been a good sign of her blood loss. "Alright. Let's get back to business, boys. Put the Colt down, and take a step back."

"Who are you?" Dean snapped as he pointedly ignored Merrick's orders.

"Seems to be the first question everyone keeps askin' me," Merrick replied in answer. Kate could hear him smirking as he spoke. "I must be pretty popular."

"Who. The hell. Are you?" Sam questioned as his grip on the gun tightened. Kate noted Dean's eyes seemed to glance everywhere, searching for something.

"Merrick. I've been sent to collect that, there, gun. For Azazel." Gina answered, calmly. "Now, boys. Let's get down to what we're all here to do, huh? So, put the gun down and kick it over here, Deano."

Kate watched a scowl appear over Dean's lips as he sent a hard glare across the room. Kate figured it was more about the demon giving him orders, than the nickname however, she assumed that had a hand in it also.

"Unless of course, you'd want to watch, while we have some fun, huh?" Kate gritted her teeth as she felt the shards of glass under her left hand and forearm moving upwards toward her shoulder. Cutting through her flesh as if it were softened butter. Kate was hardly aware of her surroundings as a shout of pain escaped from her. It felt like fire ripping up her arm.

"Stop it!"

"You sick bastard…" Kate dimly heard the protests from the boys before the pain ceased.

The sound of a gun cocking back had Kate's eyes locked on Dean in front of her, "Let her go. Now!" He had the colt now, locked and loaded pointed at Gina.

"You can't kill her-!" Kate began her thoughts on the woman the demon was controlling.

"I don't care who she is," Dean stated through gritted teeth, his cold expression locked on the demon behind Kate.

"Oooooh, " Merrick began using Gina's voice, "So, that's your big plan? You gonna shoot me, lover boy?" Kate heard Gina's voice ask from behind her. "Guess watching your little girlfriend being tortured isn't what gets you going, huh tiger?"

Kate saw Sam's eyebrows turn down in brief confusion or annoyance. Kate couldn't tell.

"How do we even know you're gonna hold up your end of the trade once we hand over the gun?" Sam asked, his face plain with disgust.

There was a pause in conversation where Merrick let out a barking laugh, "Guess you don't. Well, it's not as if you've got any other choice if you want your precious Katie back." Kate grimaced as she was yanked back against Gina roughly. She could feel the blood still dripping down her fingers and hear it falling to the floor amid the heavy silence.

"So we're supposed to just trust a demon?" Sam asked, his disgust clear in his tone.

"Hah!" Merrick seemed to get a laugh out of Sam's outburst, "That's pretty funny, coming from you of all people." Kate idly wondered how Azazel would feel about Merrick dangling that scrap of information in front of Sam's face. Kate watched Sam and Dean share a glance as their faces scrunched up in confusion.

"What the hell is that supposed to-?" Sam began.

"The gun, boys." Merrick interrupted, clearly uninterested in whatever Sam had to say. "Put it on the floor and kick it over here. Then, and only then will you get the girl." The brothers stood before her seemingly unsure of their next move. "You won't use that gun. Not on me and certainly not right now. So cut with the theatrics, and just pass it over like a good little soldier."

Kate heard Dean curse under his breath before he uncocked the trigger and held his hands up. "Dean," Sam said sharply from behind, his face displaying shock.

"What choice have we got Sam?" Dean questioned. His eyes remained locked on Merrick as he lowered himself to the floor and placed the gun at his feet.

"Nah, See? I'm not kicking it you're way until Kate is sent over," Dean told him.

Kate felt Merrick's grip on her tighten, the knife was no longer up against her throat. She felt Gina gripping her upper arms in a bruising hold. "Hmph. Fine. Deal's a deal Deano." Kate groaned as Merrick supported her weight, pushing her closer to the guys.

"I'll be back for you Katie dear. Azazel has his sights set on you." Kate's shoulders tensed when she felt Gina's mouth by her ear. Without much warning, Kate was roughly shoved forwards. She fell against Dean's solid form, hard. Nearly hitting the ground if Dean hadn't been ready to catch her. "Bobby! now!" She heard Dean yell as he turned and passed her off to Sam.

Kate heard Bobby's voice ring out loudly, as he began to chant the exorcism rites in Latin. She could hear Gina's scream of pain and the sounds something of sizzling. Bobby must've appeared with holy water, she glanced over her shoulder to see Gina on her back as Bobby continued to splash the water over her body. His chanting was being drowned out by the screaming, and Dean continued standing over her. A fiercely cold expression over his face with his sawed-off out and at the ready to shoot. There was tension so thick throughout the room as Sam began to turn away and carry Kate towards the front door.

A sudden growl so low seemed to rip through the air, "I don't think so," Kate cried out as she felt Sam getting pulled back by an unseen force. His grip on Kate tightened, but the unseen force knocked Sam completely off his feet and sent Kate sprawling to the floor. Kate heard a loud shot ring out then as well, she figured Dean took a shot with his sawed-off. Sam had hit the ground hard, followed closely by Kate, then Dean, and Bobby. Kate had been dropped to the hardwood floor nearby Sam. She groaned in pain as the fall did nothing to help the shards of glass still within the skin of her arm, nor the random cuts along her body. She looked up to see Gina slowly pushing herself up from the floor. Her wet hair stuck to her body from the holy water, and her black eyes glowed something fierce. The demon within her groaned in an annoyed tone as she glanced down over her shirt which was now littered with holes from Dean's close-range shot.

"You know, I figured this would happen, but I didn't think you're attempt would be quite so… feeble. I mean, c'mon. Holy water, and rock salt? Really? Right, because that's never been done before." Gina's voice contained all the sarcasm that Merrick could muster up. Merrick moved closer to Dean as he was jerked up to his knees before the demon. Merrick's cold black eyes bore down on him. "Now, I would normally rip you apart for this act alone."

"Oh yeah?" Dean questioned lowly, "What's stopping you?"

Kate glanced over at Sam to see him fighting to get up from the floor. It was clear that Merrick had a hold over the guys' bodies. Kate was left on her side, breathing hard from the pain. She was surprised to find that she was still mobile. Merrick must not have seen her as much of a threat given she could hardly move. "You lot are lucky that I've got strict orders not to harm you. Not yet anyway. Azazel's got big things planned," As Merrick spoke he moved around Dean and picked up the Colt from the floor where it had been left. "And it starts and ends with this stupid thing." He let out a humorless chuckle. "I hate guns. So unnecessary. Anyway, boys, this has been fun. Oh, and Kate, can't wait to see you again." Kate quickly noticed that Merrick, who was holding the Colt, now seemed to easily sidestep over the hunters littering the floor and walked out the front door. With that, each of the guys sat up instantly still breathing hard from the exertion of trying to fight off Merrick's hold.

"Kate?" She heard Sam's soft voice full of concern, as his attention was turned to her.

"Katie?!" Dean called out worry clear in his voice. Sam backed up slightly as Dean moved into view. "Bobby?! Help her!" Kate could feel her body throbbing as the pain steadily grew. With the threat in the room now gone her focus was solely on the pain running through her body. She glanced over her hands and found both stained with blood. Her blood. Her left hand was steadily growing numb from the shards of glass in it. She felt exhaustion steadily creeping up on her.

"Back up boys." Bobby's gruff voice sounded as he came up over her other side, she stared, wordlessly as his eyes moved over her body. "You think you can stand, girly?" Kate nodded ever so slightly, she was in pain from Merrick leaving cuts over her, but she could stand on them.

"I may need some help, " She muttered, her voice cracking from lack of use. "I'm- I'm a bit dizzy."

"Should we call 911?" Sam questioned as Dean grabbed her right arm, and gingerly put it around his shoulders before he moved his arms around her back and under her knees as he scooped her up from the floor.

"How would we explain this one?" Kate questioned softly back to the two over Dean's shoulder as he moved quickly towards the front door.

"I'm so sorry, Katie." She heard Dean mutter as her eyelids fluttered closed and her head lightly rested against his shoulder. "I should've never said those things."

Kate couldn't respond as the pain began to rip upwards in her forearm again as she was jostled, she watched quietly Sam and Bobby exit the bar with duffel bags. She could hardly move her left hand at this point. She was hoping and praying that she would be able to maintain the use of it.

"Raise that arm up, kid." Came an order from Bobby as he climbed into the other side of the back seat from where Dean had gently placed her. He gingerly held her elbow as he raised it up in the backseat, "It'll help keep the bleeding down. Which means, less blood that you'll lose."

He turned and glared out his window, "Get in now, ya idjits!" He called at the boys that were standing at the trunk. Kate felt the car jerk as they slammed it closed and moved around to their respective seats. "Get us home, boys. The quicker we get there, the quicker I can start digging this glass out." Baby was quickly thrown into drive as the quartet was whisked away from the sidewalk where the Impala had been parked. Kate knew she was in for a hell of a time once they reach Bobby's. She'd demanded that they make a stop for some whiskey. Otherwise, she'd never be able to let Bobby do what was needed. Once they got to Bobby's, Sam helped Kate to the couch. She was quick to chug back some of the newly purchased whiskey as Bobby had gone off to wash up and grab his tools.

"Easy there, alcohol thins out the blood," Bobby muttered as he slid the bottle out of her good hand before taking a seat on the cushion to her left. "If you wanna avoid a trip to the hospital, again, we gotta get this hand to stop bleedin', and I still gotta get all that glass out of it," Bobby explained. Within minutes, Sam was standing over her outstretched arm with a flashlight shining down as Bobby used a set of tweezers, freshly cleaned with the alcohol to begin to dig out the embedded glass with the assistance of a magnifying glass.

"Thank you all, for coming to rescue me," Kate muttered to the trio in the heavy silence.

"Yeah? Well, we lost the Colt." Dean muttered as he snagged the nearby bottle off the metal tv tray that held Kate's outstretched arm, and gulped some down. Kate wasn't sure if he was blaming her, or just stating the obvious. His tone hung heavy with disappointment. She had been expecting some snarky remarks or anger at her for getting captured, and as a result of her carelessness, they'd lost their only weapon. What she hadn't been expecting was the heavy silence of defeat.

"I'm sorry-." Kate began her voice low.

"That ain't your fault," Bobby cut off her apology, not bothering to look up as he worked, moving up further on her arm under the light Sam offered. Kate could see the glittering pieces of glass just under her skin, some were deeper than others which Kate would react to audibly even though Bobby would try to pull it out as gently as he could. "And enough with the gratitude. Family don't just end in blood, kid." Bobby explained shortly.

"What would the demon want with a gun that can kill him anyway? Unless he destroys it…" Sam trailed off from above, changing the subject. Kate could see he was mulling something over, searching for an answer.

"No, he doesn't want to destroy the Colt. It's worse than that."

"How could this get any worse?" Dean questioned her as he sat down on the arm beside her.

"The Colt isn't just a weapon. It's a key to the gates of hell, and Azazel plans to open that gate and release an army of demons." The room rang loud with a shocked silence at her response. It left Kate feeling unsettled as the weight of her words laid over each of them.

As always thank you for your patience and your reads. They are greatly appreciated.