Dean called John to ask him what could cause lines like the ones that covered Kate's skin.

John rubbed his face. "Taylor had a run-in with a live wire and has what looks like lightning burns."

Kate studied the branched lines. "So, why did they show up on me?"

"Maybe it is because you two are connected. The surge may have been enough that Taylor subconsciously reached out to you." John said.

Taylor rubbed at the lines.

"How did you come into contact with a live wire?" Dean asked.

Taylor groaned.

John lowered his voice. "It is something we will discuss later."

Dean cringed. "Okay. I don't know a whole lot about those kinds of things but wouldn't a shock like that remove chunks of skin and muscle?"

"There are a lot of factors. I'm not sure why he has lines and not anything worse."

"Kate and I will see what we can find about these lines." Dean said. "Are you headed back?"

"Yes. We may make a pitstop along the way." John said.

Dean wondered what happened with the electricity that would require a 'discussion' but also allow Taylor to continue on with the hunt. "Just call if you need something."

Kate got to work drawing lines and symbols. Her head was full and she needed to get it all out on paper.

Dean stoked the fire and called the utility company to get an idea of when the lights would be back on. "We might visit Jody if this keeps up."

Kate was drawing by the fire with the curtains open. "Right now I'm good."

Dean gathered some stuff for breakfast and gave Kate an apple and cold biscuit. He opened the kitchen curtains and set up an emergency lantern that Bobby kept on hand. He left a pot of water on a hook over the fire and asked Kate to keep an eye on it. He pulled an old EMF reader from the cabinet and started taking it apart. One could never have too many EMF readers and that one just needed to be fixed. He laid out the pieces and cleaned each of them.

Kate brought him the pot of boiling water when it started to bubble. "Bobby should be back soon, right?"

Dean nodded and made himself some coffee. He spilled a little on his arm and bumped the table when he reached for a towel. He groaned and crouched down to find the small pieces that had fallen off the table. He found two and got on his hands and knees to find the others. He didn't know how many had fallen. He started putting the EMF reader back together and figured out which piece he was missing. He searched the whole kitchen floor. He even looked under the refrigerator. "Great." He was going to ask Kate for help but Millie was right outside the kitchen door, watching him. "You wouldn't happen to know where that spring went, would you?"

Millie stepped forward and batted something with her paw.

Dean knelt down. He picked the small spring up and stared at Millie. He narrowed his eyes.

Millie held his gaze. She tilted her head and blinked slowly.

Dean slowly backed away.

Kate stepped into the hallway. "What are you doing?"

Dean pulled her into the kitchen. "I think Millie isn't just a cat."

Kate turned around and picked Millie up. "What do you mean?"

"She's creepy." Dean said.

Kate grinned. "I know you don't like cats but she isn't creepy."

Dean rolled the spring around in his hand. Maybe he was going insane. He finished the EMF reader and put it back into the cabinet. He sipped his coffee and walked into the living room. Millie was sitting on the couch and looked at him as he walked in. He paused. "What are you looking at?"

Kate turned her head. "What?"

Dean shook his head. "Show me what you've got."

"Maybe the electrical marks are important. I thought it was veins and capillaries but perhaps it is electrical."Kate said.

Dean flipped through her notebook. "I could see why these lines and drawings would make you frustrated." He stared at one of the pages and rubbed his head. "Why is this familiar?"

Kate furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't know."

"Taylor ay be able to help with this puzzle when he gets back." Dean said.

Kate sighed. "I hate waiting."

"I know. So, find something to do." He said.

Kate smirked. "I want to blow something up."

Dean slowly turned back to face her. "Like what?"

Kate laughed. "As the adult, shouldn't you automatically say that is a bad idea?"

Dean scoffed. "I am always down for blowing stuff up." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Although, Bobby would kick both of our asses if we set anything on fire."

Kate frowned.

Dean told her to go outside. He added something to several plastic bottles and carried them outside.

"What is it?"

Dean snorted. "I'm not telling you my secrets." He added a powder to one bottle and shook it after screwing the lid back on. He felt it swelling in his hand and quickly placed it on a concrete slab.

Kate ducked when the bottle burst open and shot into the air. She grinned. "Come on, tell me what you put in that."

Dean smiled. "No." He dumped the powder into another bottle and handed it to Kate. "Shake and run."

Kate shook it and threw it at a tree. The bottle struck the tree and then the ground before racing across the yard like a bottle rocket.

Dean retrieved the bottle and tossed it in a trashcan. "Does this meet your need to blow things up?"

Kate grinned. "I'm appeased."

Bobby got back to the house and walked through the backdoor. "What are you two doing?"

Kate placed the last bottle on the ground and ran back. "Blowing things up."

Bobby shot Dean a look.

"Look, the house isn't on fire." Dean said.

Bobby watched the bottle fly into the air and stepped away from the house as it landed on the roof. "Who came up with that idea?"

Kate pointed at Dean.

Dean scoffed. "She said she wanted to blow something up."

Bobby chuckled and shook his head. "Idjits."

Taylor still had electrical marks on his skin and he felt weird.

John parked the truck to get food and told Taylor to wear a hat and cover as much skin as possible.

Taylor wrapped a scarf around his neck and over his mouth and nose. He used the restroom and stretched his legs. He met eyes with a man and awkwardly nodded.

John brought food back to the truck and looked through notes Taylor had taken as they drove. Taylor took better notes than Dean did. He was also more desperate to please than Dean was.

Taylor got into the truck and removed the scarf. "God, that smells good."

"I don't know how Bobby plans on keeping you all fed if you keep eating like that." John said.

Taylor swallowed the large bite he had taken out of his hamburger. "My nana sent a bunch of food."

John studied Taylor. Sam said he was going to be taller than all of them one day and John could see it happening. He had more muscle than Sam at 13 but lacked the worry lines that Dean acquired by that age. How much weight had he put on Dean's shoulders?

Taylor balled the wrapper up and shoved it into the bag. "I am feeling a lot better."

"You are still sitting this one out." John said.

Taylor sighed. "I can help."

"Taylor, you disobeyed an order. Usually, I'd light your ass up but I understand why you did it. So, you are going to sit this one out instead." John said.

Taylor's face turned red. "Yes, sir."

John ate his own food and threw the trash away. He drove to the next destination and searched the building in question.

Taylor looked up when he got back to the truck. "It is a demon."

John slowly nodded. "What makes you think that?"

"I can feel it." Taylor said.

John pulled the demon blade from the glove box. He shoved a flask of holy water into his jacket pocket and looked at Taylor. "You are right. It is a demon. I will take care of it and be right back."

Taylor slumped. He knew he could help with demons. He had controlled Azazel. If there was one creature he had abilities to fight, it was demons. He knew he was lucky to not get a 'John Winchester ass kicking'. He'd have made the same choice regardless. He sat back in the seat and rubbed his hands together.

John got the drop on the demon and exorcised it without a problem. It was low level and a piece of cake. He called an ambulance for the person it was possessing and returned to the truck.

Taylor sat up straight. "How did it go?"

"Easy exorcism." John said.

"Will I be able to do this again?" Taylor asked.

"Yes, but you are going to go back to school." John sighed. "Taylor, you didn't mess everything up. God, you are so much like Dean at times. You made a complicated choice. I benched you to think about it."

"I know." Taylor said. He chewed his cheek and tried to figure out how to word what he was feeling.

John studied him. "You have the itch for it, don't you."

Taylor blinked a few times. "Maybe."

"Dean did too. He still does. Sam didn't. Don't let your head get caught up in hunting. You have a few more years left in school and bigger fish to fry."

"I like school in a way. I used to love it. It was a safe place away from my parents. I like hanging out with Nate but it feels pointless. I am not arguing. I know I have to go. I just can't focus like I used to." Taylor explained.

"If you have any hope of blending in, you have to do the boring things. You may learn a thing or two along the way." John said.

Taylor shrugged. "Four and a half more years isn't too bad."

"It will fly by." John assured him.

Taylor looked out the window. The future scared him. It was uncertain. Gordon being on his case made him uncomfortable and he just wanted for things to feel normal again.

### ###

With the lights back on, Kate was able to take a shower and toss some clothes in the washer. The lines were still on her skin and she wasn't sure why. When Aphrim was first trying to communicate and leaving Enochian sigils on things, the letters had shown up on Taylor's skin. Was it an ability? Was it a sign?

Dean ran upstairs to check on Kate after she had been up there for a while. He saw that she fell asleep on her bed and covered her with a blanket. "Bobby, is there anything I can do?"

"Well, the roads are nasty. We aren't in need of anything yet." Bobby said. "Is Kate okay?"

"Yes. She is asleep." Dean said.

Bobby shook his head. "No, is she okay?"

Dean sighed and told Bobby a little bit about what was going on with Kate. "She gets lost in her head."

"She does. Well, I'll keep a better eye on her too." Bobby said. He made some coffee and shared it with Dean. "John and Taylor will be back in a few hours."

"I am curious about how he got shocked." Dean said.

Bobby raised an eyebrow. "He grabbed a torn powerline and moved it off of a wrecked car to save a family with small kids." Bobby said.

Dean sipped his coffee. "How did that not kill him?"

"Abilities. Your dad wasn't happy about it but Taylor explained why he did it." Bobby said.

Dean cringed. "I guess that is what he meant by they'd discuss it."

Bobby chuckled. "The kid's hide is fine. John made him sit out on the last hunt."

Dean leaned back in his chair. "How'd he manage that?"

"I don't know. If you had done something like that, I don't think you would be sitting anytime soon." Bobby said. "I suppose he has changed a bit. Taylor also has abilities that you don't have."

Dean grumbled. "Abilities to get out of shit."

Bobby nodded. "He was too hard on you."

Dean sighed. "In some ways. I don't mind though. I needed to grow up hard and fast. I wouldn't have been able to keep Sam alive if I didn't jump when given an order."

Bobby savored the warm coffee and thought for a moment. "You need to blow stuff up and pelt the kids with snowballs."

Dean tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"Yeah, you had to grow up fast but you can still be a kid at heart. Don't let life take that away yet. Kate and Taylor both light up when you start something."

Dean smirked. "I happen to enjoy pelting them with things."

Bobby nodded. "I have some bottle rockets somewhere downstairs that you are welcome to."

Dean slowly stood up. "Where abouts?"

Bobby shrugged. "I guess you'll have to search for them."

Dean called Lacy while he was looking for the fireworks. "Hey, we are back. I was thinking about going somewhere for my birthday, just the two of us."

Lacy tied a red ribbon in her hair and slipped her apron on. "I'd love that. I want you over here before then though."

Dean smiled. "Tonight?"

"I work the late shift." Lacy said. "Tomorrow, I'm off all day."

Dean sat down on the steps. "Huh, the whole day?"

Lacy slipped on her shoes. "Yep, the whole day. Although, if you stop by the diner, I'll make sure you have extra bacon on your cheese fries."

"Looks like we are having diner food tonight." Dean said. "I'm trying to find some bottle rockets. I can stop by closer to dinner time."

Lacy laughed. "Why are you trying to find bottle rockets?"

"Kate is in a 'blow stuff up' mood and you know me. I will never pass on an opportunity to blow things up." Dean said.

Lacy grinned. "Have fun with that."

Dean got off the phone with Lacy and found the leftover bottle rockets. He carried them upstairs. "I seem to remember you getting mad at us for using bottle rockets one year."

Bobby snorted. "I wasn't mad that you were using them. I was mad that you aimed them at each other."

Dean smirked and his eyes twinkled. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

"As much as you tried to keep your brother safe, you had a knack for trying to kill him too." Bobby said.

"Well, that is how it goes. No one can beat him up but me." Dean said. "To be fair, I aimed beside him. He was the one who aimed at my stomach."

"I'm surprised either one of you made it to adulthood." Bobby said with a chuckle.

"It all builds character. I figured I'd go by the diner for dinner. I can bring home food."

"Is Lacy working?" Bobby asked.

"Yes. I'm hoping to spend some more time with her." Dean admitted.

"Spend all the time you want. Kate and Taylor will go back to school and I think I can manage them when they are here." Bobby said.

### ###

"Can I stay up on New Year's?" Andy asked.

"Nothing special happens." Caleb said.

"The year changes." Andy said.

Caleb hadn't stayed up on purpose since he was a kid. "You'll have to ask your mom."

Andy placed his palms on the table and looked Caleb in the eye. "You are sorta kinda like a dad and can say yes to things."

Caleb cracked a smile. "I sorta kinda want to talk to your mom first."

April walked into the kitchen. "What do you need to talk to me about?"

"I want to stay up on New Year's." Andy said.

"Oh, I don't know. Ian will be asleep and then wake up early the next day. We will all be tired." April said.

Andy looked at Caleb. "You could stay up with me and mom could sleep."

"Andy, Caleb probably needs sleep too." April said.

"He only needs four hours. Even Dean said that hunters only need four hours." Andy said.

Caleb ruffled Andy's hair. "I will stay up with you. Bobby's bunch may be staying up too."

Andy looked to April for confirmation. "I'll clean my room and be extra quiet if we stay here."

April smiled. "Okay, if you go to Bobby's you need to stay where you are supposed to."

Andy gave Caleb a side-eyed glance. "I will stay where I am supposed to."

### ###

Kate opened her eyes and saw sunlight. She knew she was in a vision. They were getting easier to control. She looked down at her arms and the marks were gone. She found the stream that she often went to when she had a controlled vision. She put her toes in the water and felt the current wrapping around her feet. It was soothing in a way. She wanted answers. Maybe she should go back to where it began. Why did her paternal ancestor make a demon deal? She assumed it was to heal his son but what if it started before that? Just how far back did her bloodline go when it came to fighting the supernatural? If she could go back, could she go forward? Pale lights floated down the stream and pooled around her feet. She reached into the water and cradled one of the lights in her hands.

The light was warm and pulsed. She held the light up and pulled her feet from the water. She didn't quite know what to do with it. She held it closer to her face and stared into the soft beams of energy. She blinked and suddenly the light spread and pulled her into a room. She saw a young teenager kneeling beside a bed. He had his face turned so she couldn't see it. He was speaking softly to someone that was curled up on the bed. She got closer and saw a toddler or baby covered in a blanket. Her cheeks were red and her hair was damp. The boy was letting her hold onto his fingers as he spoke.

"You can go to sleep. I won't let anything hurt you. Your dad will be back soon. If you don't sleep, you can't get better. I'm not a doctor but I'm pretty sure that is what a doctor would say. You are safe." The boy said.

Kate walked to the other side of the duo and recognized Dean, although his features were much younger. She got a better look at the baby and figured it must be her. Why was she seeing that? Was it just a memory she didn't know she had? She stayed quiet and just listened to Dean's soothing voice. It must have been the time that her dad left her with Bobby when she was sick. She wanted to reach out and hug Dean. He looked tired.

She went back to the stream and picked up another ball of light. It was another memory. That time, she was bigger. She must have been four or five. She was wearing a Lion King t-shirt and that didn't come out until 1994. She felt tears stinging her eyes when she saw her dad. He was moving quickly through the room, grabbing things and frustratedly shoving them into a bag.

The younger version of herself spoke up. "Daddy, I can go with you."

"No." Brian said firmly. "I will be right back. You have to be a big girl and stay here."

"I am scared." Little Kate said.

Brian spun around and got down on her level. "I don't have time to comfort you right now. I have to go. I will be back. Watch tv. I left snacks and drinks on the table."

Kate furrowed her eyebrows. She thought she was older when Brian started leaving her alone. She saw the broken look on her younger self and couldn't believe that Brian had been so harsh. Dean could be firm but he never said he couldn't comfort her. The motel room door slammed and Brian's car started up.

Little Kate sat down on the bed with stuffed Millie and cried. She was terrified.

Time passed and Brian still wasn't back.

Kate didn't know why she didn't remember that point in time. She watched her little self unlock the room and step outside. Her heart rate picked up and she wanted to pull herself back to safety.

Little Kate walked down the sidewalk with her bare feet, dragging Millie beside her. Her hair was tangled and she just wanted something to eat that wasn't dry cereal or pop tarts. She walked for a while but got lost. She sniffled. Her dad was going to be mad if he ever made it back.

A man in a suit approached younger Kate and crouched down. "You are a bit young to be out here all alone."

Young Kate wiped her face with her stuffed Cat. "I want my dad."

The man took her hand and walked with her. "Would you like something to eat?"

She nodded.

Kate's stomach was in knots. She had no idea who the man was or why she had gone with him. She couldn't do anything but watch.

The man took her to a diner and ordered her pancakes and eggs.

Younger Kate ate every bite and felt full for the first time in a few days.

"We should get you back to your room." The man said. "It isn't safe for someone like you to be out here by yourself."

Younger Kate didn't know which direction to go but the man seemed to know. "Um, thank you for getting me food."

The man put a hand on top of her head. "Of course, princess. Do you know when your dad is coming back?"

Young Kate shook her head.

"Sometimes, hunters don't come back." The man said.

Older Kate's breath hitched. How did he know that her dad was a hunter?

Younger Kate started crying and sat down on the sidewalk.

"There, there." The man said. "I happen to be able to grant wishes."

Younger Kate looked up at him. "Can you get my dad back?"

"Of course." The man said. "I just need one thing from you."

Young Kate wiped her face. "What?"

"Oh, don't worry about it right now." The man said. "I will find you once you are older and ask for a small favor."

Young Kate nodded. "Okay."

The man waved his hand. "Your daddy will be back very soon." He flicked his hand again and the door to the room opened.

Young Kate tiptoed to hug him, even though he was crouched down. "Thank you, Mister. What is your name?"

The man smiled. "Crowley."

Kate sat up so fast that she was dizzy. "Dean!"

Dean ran up the stairs. "Hey, hey, What is wrong?"

Kate looked at him with wild eyes. "I think I made a deal with Crowley."

Dean's face darkened. "You what?"

Kate swung her feet over the side of the bed. "No, not now. I was five."

Dean sat down beside her. "I don't think demons make deals with five-year-olds."

"I had a vision and the first hidden memory was when I was really young. I was sick and you were beside the bed I was laying on. You let me hold your hand and you were telling me that I was safe and my dad would come back."

Dean searched his memory. "That was a long long time ago."

"So it is true." Kate said.

"Yeah, I guess." Dean said.

"Okay, so the second one was when I was about four or five. My dad left for some kind of hunt and left me at a motel. He wasn't super nice about it either. After a few days, I left the motel room because I was hungry. A man found me and bought me breakfast."

Dean's eyes widened. "He didn't do anything, did he?"

Kate shook her head. "No. He walked me back to the room, although I didn't remember which room or even which motel. He knew my dad was a hunter and opened the door by flicking his hand. He got my dad back and told me his name was Crowley. He said he could grant wishes and I just wanted my dad back. Then, he said he'd ask me for a favor when I got older."

Dean wondered if that is how Kate wound up giving Crowley blood in the future. "Did your dad come back?"

"I guess so. I kind of freaked out and woke up when he said his name." Kate said.

Dean put an arm around her. "We will figure it out. How did you find memories?"

"I fell asleep thinking about a bunch of stuff. I went to my 'stream' and there were floating lights. When I picked them up, they showed me different memories." Kate said.

Dean wasn't sure what to make of the information. It didn't exactly surprise him but it just made things more complicated. "I'll call dad."

Kate stopped him and wrapped both arms around her neck. "Thanks for never telling me you didn't have time to comfort me."

Dean furrowed his brows. "What?"

"I just didn't remember my dad doing that to me. I was upset he was going to leave and he got annoyed. You never do that. Even when I was tiny and sick, you held my hand and soothed me." Kate said.

Dean's cheeks turned slightly pink. "Oh, uh it is no big deal."

"Yes, it is. Even when I'm a total brat, you don't make me feel like a burden." Kate said.

"I'm glad you realize that. After our talk, I wasn't sure where your head was at." Dean said.

"Am I annoying and stressful at times? Yeah, probably. But, I don't feel like you want to throw me away." Kate said.

Dean patted her back. "Good."

"I'd like to talk to Crowley." Kate said.

"Do I need to tell you not to summon him?" Dean asked.

Kate grinned. "No. It was just a comment."

Dean put her on her feet. "Nothing sneaky. We will get answers."

"You were a cute teenager." Kate said.

Dean scoffed. "What?"

"You had chubby cheeks."

Dean put a hand on his face. "I did not have chubby cheeks."

"You were like.. 13. It was before you got tall and lost the baby fat." Kate said with a smirk.

Dean grabbed her in a headlock. "I never had baby fat."

Kate elbowed him in the ribs. She ran down the stairs. "Did Dean have chubby cheeks when he was 13?"

Bobby rubbed his face. "Kind of."

Kate raised both eyebrows. "Told you."

Dean rested his elbow on her head. "She had a vision and saw me talking to a baby version of herself."

Bobby nodded. "You still looked like a kid back then."

Dean nudged Kate. "Tell him about Crowley."

Kate told Bobby what she had told Dean.

Bobby groaned. "What would a demon want with a little girl?"

"Maybe he knew I'd grow up to be a total badass and didn't want to be on my bad side." Kate said.

"That is what I am afraid of." Dean said.

"He hasn't asked anything of me yet. He can't go back on our 'deal' because my dad is already dead." Kate said.

"Don't think too far into it right now." Dean said. "Bobby has some bottle rockets for us to set off."

Kate brightened. "Awesome!"

"Don't do anything stupid." Bobby said without looking up.

Kate ran outside. "I want to light one."

Dean tossed her a lighter. "This would be cooler at night."

"Maybe. We can set some off on New year's."

"That is a good idea. Bobby just told me he had a few of these and I thought you may want to set a few off."

Kate ran back and watched the fuse shorten before the rocket launched into the air with a screech.

Dean lit one and saved the rest for later. "Sam and I tried shooting these at each other one year."

Kate gasped. "What happened?"

"Bobby happened." Dean said, ruefully.

Kate skipped inside. "Bobby, I want to hear the bottle rocket story."

Bobby put his book down. "Dean got the bright idea to have a war with them. He didn't aim right at Sam but Sam, being younger, wasn't privy to that part of it."

"Getting hit in the stomach would have been plenty to get the message across about the danger of fireworks." Dean said.

Bobby huffed. "No, because you turned around and told him to not let go of it to see if it would pull him on the sled."

Kate laughed. "How long ago was this?"

"Dean was about your age, maybe a little younger." Bobby said.

Kate crossed her arms. "You were plenty old enough to know that a bottle rocket wouldn't pull him."

Dean smirked. "I knew it wouldn't. He shot me in the stomach though."

"You fuss at me about rolling my eyes and having an attitude. When you were my age, you were running around trying to kill Sam." Kate said.

Bobby chuckled. "You've outdone him on a few things."

"Let's just say I view things differently now than I did back then." Dean said.

"You've gotten lame." Kate said.

"I blew up bottles with you today." Dean said.

"You won't tell me what you put in them though." Kate whined.

Dean shook his head. "I know you too well."

### ###

Taylor wanted to go on a few more huts but was glad to be going back to Bobby's too. Traveling with John held a certain level of tension as he was afraid to mess up. Although it was far less on the drive back than on the way there. He was initially disheartened by John telling him to grow a spine and stop stammering but he found it easier to do those things as days went by. Craig snapped when he showed any form of confidence. John was hard to read at times but didn't see it as a form of disrespect the way that Craig did. He had a lot of growing to do but he felt like he had a decent chance of making it out alright.

"Brush up on your latin." John said.

Taylor turned his head.

"If you plan on being on the road this summer, I want you to have those exorcisms flawless." John said.

Taylor nodded. "Yes, sir."

"You can control demons using your abilities but we don't know the limit to those," John said. "Anything that you can do with an ability, you need to figure out how to do without the ability."

"I think I'd need a front loader to move dirt and snow without an ability." Taylor said. He saw a crease next to John's eye and relaxed as his joke was met with amusement.

"That is what a shovel is for." John said.

Taylor smiled. He looked out his window. They were getting close to Bobby's house. "Can you take Dean on more hunts?"

John raised an eyebrow.

"You said he has an itch for hunting. He has been keeping us safe for months. I don't want to jinx us but things seem manageable right now. I just think that it would do him some good." Taylor said.

John nodded.

Dean called to let John know about Kate's vision. "Crowley seems to keep popping up."

"Do you think that is what causes her to make a deal with him?" John asked.

"I don't know. That is what I thought about. Something is off, that's for sure." Dean said.

"Taylor and I can pick up food on our way back."

Dean cleared his throat. "I was going to."

"We are already out." John said.

"Lacy is working." Dean said.

John smirked. "Oh. Go on over there. I don't want to eat too late."

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. "How's Taylor holding up."

"I'm good." Taylor said.

"Glad to hear you're alive." Dean said, sarcastically.

"Kate does not need to know that." Taylor said.

Dean nodded. "Bobby told me." He chuckled. "Like I said, I'm glad you're alive." He left Bobby's and drove to the diner. He sat at the counter and talked to Lacy in between orders. "Sam got me a lottery ticket for Christmas. We can splurge and do something nice for my birthday."

Lacy leaned over the counter and kissed him. "How nice are we talking?"

Dean shrugged. "We can go one of those places that have the fancy glasses."

Lacy smiled. "You're so romantic."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Hey, the bars and clubs I usually go to are affordable. I'm just saying we can upgrade."

Lacy had a place in mind. "The resort."

Dean put his elbows on the counter. "Isn't that place on the swanky side?"

"You said upgrade. Besides, I know someone that works there and we can get in with a discount." Lacy said.

Dean grinned. "Now who is romantic?"

Lacy grabbed the bagged food. "If you really wanted to, you could stop by my place tonight."

Dean smirked. "What for?"

Lacy kissed him again. "Get out of here before my boss runs you off."

Dean brought food back to the crew.

Kate stole one of his fries. "Why doesn't she give us cheese fries?"

Dean swatted her hand away. "She doesn't like you as much."

### ###

August 2, 2009

Older Kate crouched down beside the 'stream' and let the water flow through her fingers. There were more beads of light floating on the top of the water than there had been so many years ago. She could see hues of color in each bead and cupped her hand when a red one floated by.

Older Taylor crouched down beside her. "You can't go back and change all of the bad ones."

Kate stood up. "I'm not. I am just changing the ones that take them away from us."

Taylor put his hand over hers. "Let me take this one." He viewed the memory for a moment before shoving the bead into his pocket.

"What are you going to do?" Kate asked.

Taylor sighed. "Trying this my way."

Kate sat down and sorted through the light orbs, viewing happy memories.

Taylor left her and drew a sigil on a wall. He mumbled a few words and then stepped through an opening to the past. He was at Stanford in 2001. He knew that much. He found Sam's apartment and knocked on the door. He wasn't sure how Sam would react.

Sam opened the door and asked how he could help him.

Taylor held his hand out to shake his hand. "It is a long story but we need to talk."

Sam knew who Taylor was, although his brain didn't quite comprehend what was going on.

Taylor was invited inside and sat at the table with Sam and Jess. Sam was so young and still bright-eyed. That hurt Taylor's heart. He talked to them for a little while before feeling the pulsing of the door starting to lose power. He had to go. Taylor got up and patted the table. "When you drive to my grandparents' house for Christmas, stop by a small gas station called Ramey's. Get Dean his Christmas gift there."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

He opened the front door. "You'll see." He knew that would leave Sam with questions but Sam was smart. He walked back through the door in time and found Kate still sitting by the stream. "It is done."

Kate held an orb in her palm. "Do you remember coming home from your first trip with John? We had food from the diner and razzed each other."

Taylor smiled. "Yeah, I remember."

Kate tossed him the memory. "Good. Don't forget why we are doing this."