Kate got lost in visions the following night. Sometimes, she could control them. other times, she was along for the ride with no way off the tracks. Sometimes, the visions seemed like glimpses of an ordinary day. Other times it was clear that the vision was from another place or time. When she had visions of John selling his soul, and then Dean doing the same, she was reasonably sure she was seeing another timeline. That opened a lot of questions. Why was she seeing that? Was it like a death echo that played over and over? Was she seeing traces of events like the spots left in one's eyes after they turn away from a bright light? She didn't seem to be able to control what happened with those. She could wake up but she couldn't change the view. She couldn't prevent things from happening. If she was brought into the world to change events, were there other versions of herself? Did other worlds have a Kate? There were other Deans and other Johns. Surely there had to be other Kates.
Did a new world break apart from their own each time they went back to change things? If they changed too many things, would they rip the universe to shreds? That was a lot of weight for someone to have on their shoulders. Surely, her older self figured all of that out or there wouldn't be a world to save seven years in the future. Why didn't Taylor travel as often as she did? Maybe he did. Maybe he just didn't interact or he was doing other things besides visiting the family. What did her older self do that would make John so worried? She could think of a million things that could make him worry.
(Vision)
Kate walked outside on a rainy day. Bobby's house was Bobby's house no matter what, so she didn't know if she was in her current time or not. She didn't think there would be alternative versions of Bobby's house. In infinite worlds, the house would remain exactly the same. She couldn't go back inside the house so she walked out into the rain. It felt cold. That didn't tell her a whole lot. She looked around the junkyard and found the impala. John's key fob was attached to the keys so maybe this was a flashback. She finally found people and stayed back so she could watch them. Dean was younger. Sam was for sure younger. He couldn't have been much older than Andy, although it was hard to tell because Sam looked far younger than he was until he turned 16.
Young Dean slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Okay, Dad. I'll make sure Sammy does his homework."
John shut the trunk of the impala. "I want you to do your homework, not just Sam."
Young Dean looked down at his shoes. "Yes, sir."
John ruffled Dean's hair and tried to ruffle Sam's but Sam dodged his hand. The boys stood under the roof of the porch and looked sad as John turned his back.
Kate frowned. She still wasn't sure what was going on. She kicked a rock with her barefoot, not liking how sad the boys were. She saw John snap his head up and look at her. She gasped, how could he see her? As soon as their eyes met, John looked away and got into the car to leave Bobby's house.
(After the vision)
John was drinking coffee when Kate ran into the kitchen. He pulled his head back when both of her palms smacked the table. "Can I help you?"
"You saw me. You saw me in a vision. Maybe you didn't see me. You saw the rock that I kicked." Kate said.
John continued to sip his coffee.
"How?" Kate asked.
"I'm not sure because I wasn't there," John said.
Kate crossed her arms. "You were leaving Sam and Dean here. It was raining. I got sad because they were sad and I kicked a rock. You looked right at me."
John still wasn't following.
"Me now. Vision me. I wasn't there when that happened." Kate said.
"Maybe it means something to you," John said.
Kate eyed him like she was looking for a tell. "You have abilities."
John poured himself some more coffee. "Kate, I don't know how to convince you that I do not."
"Well don't make eye contact with me when I'm visiting in a different form. Don't suspiciously hear what we say when no normal person could hear it. Don't be..." Kate waved her hands around. "you."
John raised an eyebrow.
"How did you find me on the night my mom died?" Kate asked.
"I was tracking Azazel," John said. "Although, I think you found me."
"Uh-huh, because you have psychic abilities and heard me when no one else could," Kate said.
John tilted his head forward slightly.
"I can hear you loud and clear," Kate said.
John took a deep breath. "I do not have abilities. I am not sure what happened in your vision. I'd be concerned if you couldn't hear me loud and clear because that look speaks volumes."
Kate bounced on her toes and whined. "Why can I do certain things with you but not Dean?"
Dean thought it would be a great time to chime in. "Maybe it's all the time he spends around Pamela. You know, stuff rubs off."
John slowly sat his mug down.
Dean eyed him.
"Maybe if you thought with your upstairs brain more often, you'd catch those cues," John said.
Dean pressed his fingertips together and chewed his cheek. "If I wasn't parenting your two heathens, I could go clear my mind of those distractions."
John smirked and took another sip of coffee.
Dean let out a shaky breath. He was teetering on the line between friendly banter and John knocking him into next week.
John raised his mug. "I'm not stopping you. Wrap it up, stay away from reapers."
Dean raised his eyebrows. "You're leaving it at that?"
John snorted. "I'll give you this one."
Dean looked at Kate. "Quick, make notes."
John shook his head. He could have fired back easily but Dean was barely getting comfortable with banter when it came to John. He was too hard on the boys when they were younger. He wanted to make up for that. "Kate, you should be getting ready for school."
Kate scrunched her nose. "You didn't win. He's using you as a distraction because I'm onto him."
Karen had been quiet throughout the exchange. She chose to wait until the kids were gone before talking to John. "Do you think he will ever regain his place? She seems to be his match."
John nodded. "He's playing the long game, letting her get cocky."
Karen could only imagine what that would entail. She made lunch for the younger two and packed it in lunch boxes. She didn't know John before he changed but she had seen quite a bit of change in the short time that she had been back on earth. It was a good thing.
(One week later)
James and Desiree moved their stuff to the bunkhouse. It was small but had one bathroom, a small kitchen, and a few bedrooms. Ben got the smallest one, which they felt bad about at first but he loved it. He'd sleep in a closet if they let him. The girls shared another and James and Desiree had one to themselves. It was perfect for temporary living. The kids spent most of the day up at Marie's house, running around with Callie and her brothers. The girls were enrolled in the same school that they went to and seemed to like it. Ben learned not to go to unsafe places without an adult after getting startled by one of the dogs that liked to herd the children.
Marie put the finishing touches on two dresses and neatly folded them for the trip. She made sure James's family had ready-made meals they just needed to heat. They were capable of cooking but Marie insisted that they have options.
Charlie was excited about the renaissance faire. It was going to be a ton of fun and Kate was going with her. Taylor would be there too but did not want to dress up. Boys were boring. She put her computer in her backpack and a folder of organized research to share with Kate. She also had a blood sample from Desiree. She and Marie explained that they were grasping at straws and wanted to see if there was anything different about the blood. They didn't need to explain that they had samples to test it against. Desiree was happy to help in any way that she could. Kate didn't know about the sample yet and Charlie was going to surprise her. That sounded weird. She was going to surprise someone with blood and they were going to be excited about it. Oh, how her life had changed in just a few short weeks.
Rod had Ben as a shadow. He let him check for chicken eggs before they left and locked the gate behind them. There was an incident with escaped chickens after Ben found out how to reach the latch. All chickens eventually made it back into the coop with most of their feathers intact. While it was comical, he didn't want to chase chickens again.
Once they got on the road, Charlie called Kate. It was just her, Marie and Rod so the trip was going to be peaceful. She had done more research into the gala and had a decent plan ironed out. They would attend and mingle. There were several doors that would lead to the server room and file room. However, it was reasonable to assume they would be guarded. Charlie just needed a few minutes without eyes on her and she could get what they needed.
Even the promise of food could not get Dean to go to the ren faire. Kate tried puppy eyes and got an eye roll in return. His loss, they could have fun without him.
Dean was going to go do adult things that didn't involve folk music and poorly done accents.
Charlie twirled around in her dress. She loved it and couldn't wait to see how people reacted. She tied the back of Kate's dress and impatiently pulled her out of her bedroom and down the stairs.
Dean raised an eyebrow. "What the heck is that?"
"Fun," Charlie said. "Go judge someone else because nobody is raining on my picnic today."
Dean chuckled. "Taylor, if you need to bail, don't call me. I'm going to be busy."
Taylor snorted. "Yeah, busy."
"You can call anyone else that isn't me," Dean said, grabbing his keys.
"If you don't answer your phone, we will find you," Kate said.
"Do that and we will all need a whole lot of therapy," Dean said.
Kate jumped on his back. "Carry me to the car."
Dean let her hang onto him and dropped her by Rod's car. "Have fun."
Kate made a gagging motion. "You, gag, too."
Charlie spoke to John before giving Kate Desiree's blood sample.
Kate screeched excitedly. "We have to go to the lab first!"
"I will take it over," John said.
Kate frowned deeply. "I want to go."
"Marty has two of his colleagues with him and you cannot be there. I will take it to him and he will store it." John said.
Kate wasn't so sure.
Charlie took her arm. "Come on, we are going to have fun. When the other two dudes are gone, we will go."
Kate sighed. "Okay. I'm so excited."
The ren faire was packed. Taylor immediately acted a little shifty when they arrived.
Rod put his hand on Taylor's shoulder. "Is Hailey here?"
Taylor blushed.
"Go on," Rod said, moving his hand away from his shoulder. "Don't forget to check-in."
Taylor started to walk faster. "Yes, sir."
Marie held Rod's hand. "Do you remember when we were teenagers?"
Kate paused. "You knew each other back then?"
"Oh, yes," Marie said. "Rod was my older brother's best friend."
Charlie gasped. "Oh, drama."
"We started dating... oh, I'd say when I was 15," Marie said, furrowing her brows.
"When did you get married?" Kate asked.
"18," Marie said with a smile.
Charlie pulled a face. "I couldn't imagine getting married in a few months."
"Things were different back then," Marie said. "I got lucky."
Rod thought he was the lucky one. He had forgotten little details about those early days. He needed to recreate a few of those first dates, although more sophisticated this time around.
Kate and Charlie were beaming after ten minutes. They got compliments on their dresses and fit in with the others that were dressed up. Plenty of people had normal clothes on but plenty were dressed for the occasion as well. There was music and booths with different types of Celtic arts and crafts. Charlie wanted to cry. It was almost like she was at the annual faire with her parents. It was bitter sweet.
Kate was given a flower crown by a fairy.
Charlie was given one too and stopped at the booth a bit longer because the fairy was hot.
Caleb and April brought the boys to the fair as well and found the kids' area so that they could have fun.
Ian had a blast climbing through hay bales and the other temporary play structures.
"We could put him into an agility contest," Caleb said.
April lightly elbowed him. "He's not a dog."
Andy was on the far side getting his face painted. He sat still although his nose really tickled. He looked in the mirror when the woman was done and smiled brightly. He thanked her and ran to show his mom and dad his new look.
"I love it." April said with a smile.
"Spiderman," Caleb said. He looked around the crowd. "Have you seen Andy?"
Andy laughed. "Dad, don't be silly."
Taylor found Hailey right away. He was given the go-ahead to walk around with her by her dad. He remained very respectful although her dad wasn't as intimidating as John was. He had a bold moment and grabbed her hand.
Hailey slipped her fingers through his and fell into step with him.
Her hand felt right in Taylor's hand. It was a new thing for him but it seemed right. They checked out booths and met up with some other kids from their school. Taylor played a few games that involved dunking someone by throwing a ball at a trigger and another that required someone to knock over a tower of bottles. The prizes ranged from toys for little kids to more mature things like a bracelet or necklace.
Hailey really liked a necklace that had a green stone wrapped in wire.
Taylor picked that prize and let her have it. He gently put it around her neck and fumbled with the clasp.
Hailey grinned. "So much easier than me trying to win that." She suddenly grabbed his hand and ran to another area.
Taylor chewed his cheek. "Archery."
"Yep!"
Taylor was impressed with Hailey. He believed her when she said she was good but seeing her nail the center of the target with nearly every arrow was pretty cool. Kate was good too but she grew up learning that stuff. Hailey was just a civilian with wicked aim. He did see her throw a ball and felt reasonably sure that no supernatural creature could throw that poorly.
Hailey was equally as impressed with Taylor. She couldn't wait to show her dad so they'd have something in common. She could talk bow talk and Taylor knew what she was talking about.
As they were walking back to Hailey's parents, Taylor heard a familiar voice. He looked around and saw Andy's head.
"Jimmy, just leave me alone," Andy said, firmly.
"You look stupid," Jimmy said, trying to wipe his wet hands across Andy's face.
Taylor still had Hailey's hand but walked over to the edge of the kids' area. "Hey, Andy, is there a problem?"
Andy looked at Taylor and then Jimmy.
"Leave him alone," Taylor said.
Jimmy ignored him.
Taylor said something to Kate in his head, which brought her over from another area. "Andy is family, don't mess with him."
Kate swung her feet over the fence and dropped beside Andy. She crouched to be face to face with Jimmy. "Back off."
Jimmy just smirked.
"Let me level with you. You know Caleb, Andy's dad, isn't going to do anything because you're a kid, right?"
Jimmy nodded smugly.
"Taylor, over there, isn't going to do anything. Heck, Dean won't do anything. However, I'm a girl so that erases the age gap between us." She picked up a small stick that was decently thick. "Andy and I are very close and I've heard all about the crap you've pulled. If I hear that you haven't been leaving him alone," She snapped the stick with one hand. "I will snap you like a twig." She reached out and brushed something from Jimmy's shirt. "Are we clear?"
Jimmy backed away slowly and ran off to his parents.
Kate stood up and wiped her hands on her skirt. "Let me know, I'll kick his butt."
Andy's eyes twinkled. "I will try first."
"Eh, don't do that. Your mom and dad seem set on you not being violent. My dad doesn't care as much." Kate walked back over to April and Caleb with Andy.
"Jimmy was trying to wipe my face with his gross hands and said I looked stupid," Andy said.
Caleb whipped his head around. "Where is he?"
"He ran away," Taylor said, walking over as well. "Kate said she'd snap him like a twig."
Caleb raised both eyebrows.
Kate waved him off. "Don't worry. I took care of it."
Hailey asked Taylor if Kate would really beat Jimmy up.
Taylor had to think long and hard about that. "Uh, no. She just scared him. He has been mean to Andy for months." He shared some of Jimmy's torments.
Hailey's face fell. "Wow, he is so mean. Andy seems so sweet."
"He is. He wants to fight back but his parents tell him not to. If he snaps and socks the kid, I don't think they will be mad though. You know how schools are now." Taylor said.
"My dad always told us not to start a fight but to punch someone in the mouth if we had to." Hailey said.
Taylor turned to face her. "He did now?"
"Yeah." Hailey made a weak punching motion.
Taylor chuckled and held his palm in front of him. "Punch my hand." He grinned when she hit his hand. He took her arm and jiggled it so her hand flopped around. "If you're going to be punching people, you should learn to punch."
Hailey laughed. "I didn't want to injure your hand."
"Uh-huh." Taylor teased. He bit his lip for a moment. "Are you... uh.. are you allowed to.. you know.. date?"
Hailey's eyes widened. "Kind of. I can't really go on dates but this is allowed."
Taylor licked his lips. "So would you want to..."
"Be your girlfriend?" Hailey finished his sentence and laced her fingers back through his. "Sure!"
Taylor almost dropped her hand as they made it back to her parents but her dad didn't act bothered. It was a good thing Kate wasn't around or she would use the comparison between Hailey's dad and Dean to start a riot.
Charlie and Kate made another round, enjoying the change of pace and peak back into the past. Kate saw a few symbols that she recognized but didn't find anything that would help her trace her lineage. John arranged to pick the two girls up after Marty's lab was clear of people.
Taylor rode back to Bobby's house with Marie and Rod and got to spend time as the only kid in the house with four adults that were interested in his life.
(The lab)
Kate was antsy as the sample was prepared. She wanted to see the results right away. She wanted answers, dangit.
Charlie was also antsy. She wanted results so that her surprise didn't come up with anything and disappoint Kate.
John sat back, unable to get a good view of the slides even if he wanted to. Kate and Charlie were leaning over the samples with their heads pressed together at the side. Marty was taking up the other available space.
Kate grabbed Charlie as a reaction started to take place. The sample started to separate slightly, but not the way that April's had. The brown substance replaced the inky black substance and left swirls of brown and red in the dish. It looked like the same stuff that April's blood had repelled. "Something about pregnant women turns this stuff brown. What if Desiree didn't get bitten because the freak knew it would get sick?" She stepped back. Was it an instinct thing and the freak could smell the hormones? Could they communicate with each other and tell each other not to snack on pregnant women? Desiree wasn't showing so they'd have to be able to detect it. Did that mean no freak would attack a pregnant woman? What if they just clawed the woman? Would they get sick then? She suddenly spun around to look at John. "April is pregnant with Caleb's baby."
John tilted his head. "Yes."
"Caleb's blood was altered after we cured him. Lauren is half his. What if, there is a reaction with pregnant women but the separation was specifically from Lauren?" Kate asked.
Marty jumped up to grab a few things. "I think you are on to something."
Kate went blank as she fell into a mental spiral. She was seeing solutions falling from the ceiling like rain. She needed to know. She needed answers. If Lauren had the same alterations that Caleb did, could she be immune? Was April immune? Was the separation immunity or something else? Could they recreate what they did with Caleb? Probably not. He almost died and they barely saved him. They couldn't do that to someone else unless it was another emergency situation. Could they figure out what it was in the blood that had the reaction? They could do that. They just needed to run more tests.
John shook Kate a little. "Snap out of it."
Kate's eyes slowly rolled forward. "We need more tests."
"Not tonight," John said. "Charlie has to get home."
Charlie sighed. "I guess I do."
Kate looked back at the slides. "I need to know."
"I'm going to run several more tests to make sure this is correct. You won't miss anything." Marty said.
Kate swallowed hard. She'd take a deep dive that night to help her sort information.
(Dean)
Dean drove out of town for his adult fun. He didn't want to run into anyone he knew. He liked being mysterious and not having to see someone more than once if he didn't want to. Love 'em and leave 'em. Kate would have something to say about that. She had something to say about everything but he didn't want to acknowledge that one day she would be an adult and be able to make those kinds of choices.
The bar was packed. He made his way over to the bar to get a drink and survey the crowd. One night stands were his specialty and he never had trouble picking someone to spend the night with. He just needed to be sure that she wasn't a reaper. That wasn't his fault. Tessa was hot. A hot chick would be what ruined him. He was okay with that.
He locked eyes with a pretty blonde and turned on his charm. Yeah, this would be easy. He walked over and offered to buy her a drink.
She smiled and accepted, caught off guard by his charm.
Dean ordered her a drink and introduced himself. He'd at least get her name and make sure she wasn't a shifter named Tessa. Could reapers shift?
"Nice to meet you, Dean, I'm Kim."
(Two days later)
Kate's deep dive sent her reeling. She knew something was off. She was directly connected to the freaks. She had to be able to end them. More testing had been done with samples and Marty was reasonably sure that pregnant women were repulsive to freaks. April's sample still had an odd separation effect and Andy's didn't. That meant that Lauren may have something going on with her. She was half Caleb's after all. If a few molecules of Caleb's DNA could do that to a sample, Kate's should do more. In a petri dish, her blood disintegrated the toxin. She needed more than that.
She walked through memories instead of sleeping at night so she was sleep-deprived and on edge. She had a new notebook filled with notes and ideas. In a way, she felt like she had it already figured out and just had amnesia. The answers were there, just out of reach. Why did the one freak die? Why didn't John want her to know?
Charlie was a little concerned about Kate. After they ran samples, Kate hyperfocused on the freaks. Every text message she got from Kate was about that and the internet search inquiries were becoming more and more specific. She was a skilled researcher but some of Kate's questions simply didn't have answers. DNA sequencing, gene therapy, activating recessive genotypes... while there was research on the topics, the niche questions that Kate had either hadn't been thought of yet or there was no way to test. Kate promised her that she was far from the ledge and wouldn't be jumping. She was just curious. She just wanted to come up with theories.
Kate sat on her bed with her knees pulled up to her chest. She had a blanket over her head and a notebook in her hand. She went back to the vision of the freak that lunged at her at Hellen's house. It recognized her. The freak in the cell recognized her. It wasn't the same one but the facial expression was the same. She drew what she thought the freak's face looked like when it was human based on her knowledge of the doctor that she had seen in freak form. She didn't know the person that she had drawn. Why did it act like it had? Why did it die?
Dean enlisted Taylor's help in replacing a part on his car. Sure, he could have done it by himself but it was in an awkward spot and he could also supervise while Taylor did the hard work.
Taylor shimmied under the car. "How was your adult time?"
Dean smirked. "So, so good."
Taylor loosened a bolt and felt around for the other one. "You don't seem as bitchy."
Dean lightly kicked his foot. "How was the festival or whatever?"
Taylor paused. "Uh, I asked Hailey if she wanted to be my girlfriend."
Dean grabbed Taylor's ankle, sliding him from underneath the car. "You didn't tell me that."
"I am now," Taylor said, trying to slide back under the car to hide his face but also to find the bolt that he dropped.
"What did she say?" Dean asked.
"She said yes," Taylor said. "Oh, by the way, Jimmy was there."
After talking to Taylor, Dean found Kate. He opened her door. "Did you threaten a seven year old?
Kate removed her blanket from her head. "No, I made him a promise that I'd snap him like a twig."
Dean raised an eyebrow.
"He's almost eight anyway. I'm a girl, so that negates those four years." Kate said.
"You could probably really snap him like a twig." Dean reminded her.
"He was being a jerk to Andy but ran off like the big baby that he is," Kate said.
Dean snorted. "That's my girl." He chewed his cheek. "Why are you holed up in here under a blanket?"
"Research," Kate said.
Dean sighed and sat down beside her. "Kate, you have to take a break. You have to focus on other things. I bet, if you look away from it, you will give your brain a chance to think of new things."
Kate groaned when he pulled her blanket back off of her head. "No one else needs to die. I am just researching. If I do not research, I get antsy and feel the need to do things."
Dean left her alone but did message Charlie to get another view of Kate's obsession. Charlie told him that she had been having her do research but so far, the search requests were okay.
"She hasn't asked me to look up anything that would involve her doing something. She is just trying to better understand how genes work." Charlie messaged back.
Dean knew Kate though. The part of her brain that told her not to do crazy things would grow tired under the weight of the larger part of her brain that would tell her to fight a bear for the hell of it. She was a genius but didn't always think things through. "
John needed a few things from the facility for Marty. He knew Kate wanted to go and only let her so she could see him take samples.
Dean went too because he didn't fully trust Kate.
(At the facility)
John mentioned the lack of decomposition with the first two freaks. They had been dead for weeks but looked the same that they had when they got brought to the facility. The one that had gotten sick was a little worse off but it was nothing like you'd see with a human or animal.
"We know that the doctor was trying to create something to attack hell hounds. What if he was working on something else before his deal came up?" Kate asked. "It could be a cure for aging gone wrong."
"That isn't creepy at all," Dean said. "Hopefully Charlie finds the good stuff at the hospital gala and we can figure it out."
Kate sat down on the floor to make notes in her notebook. That was an entirely new and different line of research. Could he have been trying to create a Nephilian and got a freak instead? She narrowed her eyes. As far as they knew, Gabriel dosed babies with his grace and it caused genetic mutations in their bloodlines. That was no longer enough for her. How did he do that? How did the first two babies not die? Why did it take centuries for the final effect to take place? Were archangels allowed or able to just create things?
John moved the first two freaks to another room that would contain them but also preserve them. He returned for the third and noted that it was a lot heavier although it was shorter.
Kate was blocked by Dean's arm so she couldn't get too close but she made a list of mental notes about its face and perceived illness. Every difference that she could see between that one and the first two, she wrote down. She did the same with the live freak. She got used to ignoring it and the screeches and aggressive lunging didn't bother her like it had the first time. The cell was made well and proved that one could be trapped and held. She stood behind the line that had been drawn on the floor that prevented her from stepping too close to the plexiglass. The freak didn't look scared like a trapped animal may. It just looked pissed. She had no doubt that it would rip her to shreds if the cage failed. Or would it?
"Dean, grab the other end of the tarp," John said. Since the third freak was heavy, he needed help wrapping it.
Dean stepped out of the room after making sure Kate was sitting against the wall, drawing the freak. He used straps to tighten the tarp around the body and helped John move it to the other room.
Kate stared into the monster's eyes. She approached the cage without dropping her eyes. The freak slammed into the bars but there were no marks or bruising left behind by the repetitive slamming of its body. She put her hand against the plexiglass. She thought she saw something in its demeanor change. It got angrier. She looked at the edges of the plexiglass and saw a thin gap at the corner. She drew her knife out and cut into the palm of her hand before placing her hand against the crack. The creature lunged with renewed strength but froze, let out a terrifying wail, and scrambled back to the other side of its cell.
John was inside the other room, pulling the creature by its feet. Dean had the head and was about to step into the room as well when he heard the change in the creature's roaring. He dropped the head and slid into the room that the creature was in. He saw that Kate had her hand pressed to the glass and blood was dripping down the inside of the glass. "Kate, get back!"
Kate couldn't take her eyes off the freak as it cowered. She felt like she made a massive discovery. "It is scared of my blood." She stuck her fingers through the crack and wiggled them. "It won't attack me."
Dean closed the gap between them in two strides and snatched her hand away from the glass. "Did it cut you?" He saw her knife on the ground and realized she cut her own hand. Momentarily relief hit him since she hadn't been scratched. That was quickly replaced with anger.
Kate slowly looked away from the creature and up at Dean's face. She swallowed although her mouth was dry. "Dean, it's okay. I didn't get hurt. It is okay. See, my blood does have an effect on them."
Dean pulled her into the hallway and slammed the door behind him. He nearly ran into John who demanded to know what had happened. Dean stalked by him with Kate in tow, "Go look. You can talk to her after I'm done talking to her."
John caught the look on Kate's face and pinched the bridge of his nose. One look at the set of Dean's jaw told him all that he needed to know. He opened the door and saw the bloody glass and her knife on the ground. He picked it up and wiped it off. She wouldn't be getting it back any time soon. He used a bottle of water to try to wash the blood away but he couldn't get all of it. He saw three fingerprints on the inside of the glass and felt his blood boiling. The only way that could have happened was if she had put her fingers through the cage. It was a good thing that Dean got ahold of her first. John had done wonderful in recent years, not letting his signature brand of anger slip around the kids. He reacted differently to the younger ones than he had with Sam and Dean. Maybe that was a mistake. Taylor seemed to have got the message with the qareen and John didn't think he'd screw up again, at least not with the supernatural. Kate, however, didn't. He'd have to remedy that. She was going to learn.