Making Amends

by Phantom-Cosplayer

After exchanging his kindness for her harsh words, Katie hopes to run into Dean Winchester again so she can make up for everything she's said. However, the fates seem to have a different idea about how their reuniting should go and Katie finds herself knocked for six and the only one to come to her aid is him. TW: non-con, torture

3. Lurking Figure

Chapter Three: Lurking Figure

Present day…

Dean POV

Groaning slightly, I rolled over to the opposite side of the bed, finding it cold and empty. If it wasn't for the used condoms, and empty, torn open foil packaging in the waste paper basket beside me, she wouldn't have left a trace she was even here. I didn't expect her to stay the night, she was just scratching an itch. I couldn't even if I'd wanted her to, she had responsibilities. But god did it make me feel like shit. Or maybe what was making me feel like shit was the crappy diner food and the cases of beer I kept inhaling. Yeah, it was probably that. No one off girl could make me feel this much like crap, nor could they cause this much of a hangover.

Pushing up, I eventually got out of bed, going for a shower before I put on that monkey suit Katie was making me wear. It was nearly twelve, we had enough time to grab something to eat before we headed out to question those kids and figured out what we were dealing with. Dressing in everything but the tie, I headed next door. I'd never worn a tie before now, and I wasn't spending all day fucking around trying to tie it. If Katie wanted me to wear it, she could do it. Giving her a taste of her own medicine, I didn't bother knocking as I barged in the door, spying Alex immediately. He was by the table, stuffing several notebooks into a backpack. He glared at me.

''Dude, what's your problem?'' he demanded and I glanced away from him in the direction of the other body in the room. Katie was standing by the queen bed closest to me, wearing just a dark skirt and her bra. Whoops.

''Yeah Dean, close the door, you're showing the whole street my underwear,'' Katie joked, coming over to close it behind me. I paused, I wanted to point out it was nothing I hadn't already seen before, but I also didn't want to piss off the resident edge lord.

Going back to the bed, she picked up a yellow shirt she'd had on a hanger and pulled it off the plastic. She bit through the plastic tag on the neck as Lex cleared his throat, pointing out I was still staring at her. She was hot, as if I wouldn't take the opportunity.

''Do you mind?'' Lex barked and I snorted. His attempt at defending his big sister was just adorable. Walking over to him, I picked up some of the journals on the table.

''Got anything new since last night?'' I asked, trying not to glance back at Katie as she pulled on and buttoned up her new blouse. He huffed.

''No, how could I? I'm still waiting on you two coming back with more info,'' he said, yanking the journal out of my hands and stuffing it into his backpack besides the rest of his supplies.

''And you're doing your homework at the library until we call you, right?'' Katie pressed and I watched Lex roll his eyes at her. It made me smile, just how much he hated everything. She came over eventually, somehow looking a million bucks despite wearing the stupid, uncomfortable, office worker clothes. ''Lex, I'm serious, you gotta take this school stuff seriously. It's important, okay? I know it doesn't seem like it, but one day you could really help us out. You know Dean's brother's in college? And he's also a hunter. You can do both.''

''Wait really?'' Lex said, turning to me. I wasn't expecting Katie to just drop something like that into the conversation, but then again, I didn't realise she knew about Sammy. Bobby probably told her, Dad told anyone who'd listen, he was so damn proud. He'd get a real kick out of knowing Katie was using him as an example, a role model.

''Yeah, he's in law school,'' I confirmed and Alex looked down, nodding slowly.

''That would be useful, Katie gets arrested all the time,'' Lex said, making me snort as Katie reached up to smack him around the back of the head.

''I do not get arrested all the time,'' she huffed, throwing her arms over her chest. Lex rolled his eyes again.

''Do too,'' he said, picking up the last few notebooks. ''Okay, I'll consider college.''

''That's all I ask,'' Katie sighed in relief. She slid on a suit jacket over her yellow flowery blouse and headed to the motel room door. Heels. As she walked I noticed she was wearing heels. That wasn't very practical, did she not know we were going deep into cousin fucking teritoty? She could break an ankle on one of those dirt roads.

''You're wearing those?'' I asked, nodding to her feet.

''I'm more upset about it than you are, Dean, but I have to look the part. Women who wear heels and skirts look more feminine, more approachable. We want to get information right? I have to look like I'm sweet, not like I've got a massive stick up my ass and I'm about to bust them for an illegal meth lab,'' she replied and I snorted. As if people were paying attention to her outfits when she had a face like she did, a rack like she did. Why did girls think stupid stuff like clothes mattered?

Main POV

Dean had already taken off his jacket, and rolled up his sleeves. He was wearing the tie, but only because I'd fastened it around his neck, and I couldn't seem to stop myself from staring at his arms since. Damn him. Damn me for letting them be wrapped around me last night. How was I supposed to be focused on the job when he did all those dirty things to me last night? God I was an idiot. In fact I was so busy staring at his toned arms that I failed to notice the shooter on the road. Yeah, you read that correctly. The glass of the windshield shattered and I let out a shriek I didn't have the wits to hold in. Sliding down under the dashboard I pulled out my own gun.

''What the fuck,'' I cried out as Dean tried to maintain driving on the dirt road and duck out of the way to avoid getting shot. On the bright side, we were riding in the Impala, because let's face it, Dean Winchester was not passenger material. Plus my car, while a classic and an absolute speed demon, was a little too gear-head to pass as FBI. His, however, looked classic but functional. Sure it was a little out 0f the ordinary, but not so much so that it was suspicious. Or so I'd thought, before we'd gotten shot at.

''No trespassers!'' Some redneck yelled through what sounded like a megaphone, and I poked my head above the dash enough to sneak a peep. Dean managed to steer us off the road and take some cover himself, while we discovered if we could talk our way out of this one or not. ''We don't want any 'a what yer sellin' be it religious or otherwise.''

''FBI! Put the guns down,'' I yelled and the dude with the mullet and shotgun I could see faltered a little bit. He turned his head to look at someone out of my sight line who was lurking behind a metal chimney. Hopefully if they knew we were law enforcement it would help our cause, rather than exacerbate things. Fingers crossed they didn't murder cops, or cop impersonators.

''We got permits!'' The man out of view called. For the most part he seemed to be doing all the talking. Perhaps because he had the only megaphone, but most likely because his friend seemed dumb enough to go to jail for him.

''To hold them, not to shoot at law enforcement!'' I barked back at them. This job wasn't without its dangers, but it hadn't been the people we were trying to save before. That was a new one. ''Put the guns down, we just wanna talk to the Wilker boys about their camping trip!''

''What? Since when was the FBI interested in bigfoot?'' the guy out of my sightline came into view. He had a large potbelly, pushing out the front of some dirty denim overalls, and a mostly unbuttoned red flannel underneath. If stereotypes could walk, and fire buckshots your way…

''He hasn't paid his taxes,'' Dean yelled, back and I shook my head, looking down at the carpets. The rednecks outside however, laughed. They slowly meandered over to the car after climbing off the old tin roof, and Dean got out, shortly followed by me. One of the rednecks was waiting by my door to give me a hand out, as apparently women were even incapable of standing up on their own.

''So you two are huntin', what, exactly?'' The one still holding my hand asked. He was the dumb one who'd shot a hole through Dean's front windscreen.

''Serial killer,'' I replied instantly. Part of me wanted to believe if we told them the truth they'd probably help, they seemed meth-ed up enough to believe anything, but my gut went with the hunting go to. Lie.

''A serial killer, down here? Why ain't we heard nothin' 'bout it?'' the megaphone guy asked, sans megaphone this time.

''He'd make himself a ghost again if we let him know how close we were. And we want to stop him from going after people, like your boys,'' I explained and Dean nodded, coming over to lean against his surprisingly unmarred hood.

''My partner, Lucy and I, have been tracking a psychotic killer,'' Dean said, nodding to me to pull out my ID. I really should have checked the name he put on it before we came out here. Lucy Lawless? Fucking Xena?! Flashing the rednecks my badge and trying to be as straight faced as possible. ''He started down in Kansas, slowly moving up the states till he got out here.''

''He lurks in the woods, toying with his victims, usually campers, for a few days before he strikes,'' I agreed, going all out on the spooky. ''Likes to make them feel like they're going crazy, really messes with their minds.''

''A few hikers, the occasional group of college kids have gone missing over the last few months, and your boys' accounts they match his MO,'' Dean finished off and the two of them exchanged a look.

''So yer tellin' me, it were no ghost story, them boys actually saw a man wearing a goat's head, prancing round the woods?'' the megaphone man asked and we both nodded, trying to be as serious as possible. ''Well shit, you better catch that psycho, come on, we'll take yah up to th' house.''

Climbing back into the Impala, we followed a rusted up old red Ford, the flatbed of the truck filled up with more junk the rest of the way to the house. The two of them hopped out of the cab fairly quickly when we got to the falling apart weatherboard house, megaphone man running right up to the front door and going inside.

''I'm Boone, the boys' uncle, and that there's ma brother, Atticus,'' the dumber of the two said, and I nodded. He then smirked, giving me his best blue steel. ''So uh, you got a boyfriend, miss Lucy?''

''Oh uh…'' I started, feeling a cold chill up my spine. All I seemed to be able to focus on were his wispy moustache and greasy looking mullet.

''We're not allowed to fraternise with people of interest in our case,'' Dean covered smoothly and I sighed in relief. ''No offence.''

''Naw, it's probably for the best. See I don't believe in them condoms or long distance relationships, I be lookin' for a serious commitment, and maybe career girls aren't for a guy like Boone,'' Boone replied, seemingly taking rejection rather well. Still, I discreetly shuffled closer to Dean. Career girls? And why was he talking in the third person?

A cranky looking, older woman came up to the screen door as we waited on the porch. She scowled at the two of us, pulling her ratty cardigan closed over her chest. Her greying red hair was pulled back into a messy bun, pieces of hair sticking out on end. She looked overworked, and that was probably to do with her moronic husband and his brother. Or her three sons. One child was a lot. Waiting for us to explain ourselves, she glanced between the two of us.

''These two 're FBI,'' Boone explained and taking the cue, Dean and I produced our badges. She inspected them with scrutiny for a moment, before pulling back and leaning against the door.

''Atticus says you want ta talk ta our boys,'' she said and we both nodded. ''That there's a killer on th' loose, that right?''

''Yes Misses Wilker,'' Dean agreed and she frowned, scowling at us for a moment longer before she stepped away from the door.

''Don't you be keepin' 'em long, they got homework ta be doing. Can't let all this excitement keep them from their schooling. My boys might even make it ta community college,'' she said proudly and I smiled, nodding. She scowled at me, as if she didn't believe I was agreeing and ushered us inside. ''First in th' family.''

''Well, we appreciate you lending us some of your time,'' I said and she made a huffing noise. What could I have said wrong now?

''Why you call it lendin', ain't as if I'll be gettin' it back,'' she replied, before calling up the stairs to her three boys. Tilting my head from side to side, I agreed again.

''That's a fair point, Misses Wilker,'' I said. ''Well, thank you then, for giving us your time. We really appreciate it.''

''Boys,'' she said, as three sets of feet descended the stairs. Despite the stereotypical appearance of their parents and uncle, these boys looked fairly normal. They stood in height order before her, looking like they were worried they were going to get a scolding. ''These here people, are from the FBI, they've come ta talk ta you 'bout that ghost you saw in the woods. This is Miss Lucy and that's Mister John. Be quick 'bout it, then go on back up them stairs and finish yer homework.''

''It weren't no ghost!'' the youngest yelled, receiving only a firm look in response from his mother. He had light blond hair and a face littered with freckles. His t-shirt hung awkwardly over his lanky frame, clearly too big for a boy his size. It must have been a hand-me-down from one of his elder two siblings.

Both fortunately and unfortunately, Lex never had to deal with hand-me-downs. He couldn't get my clothes, and there wasn't anyone else in our family to get them off of. So most of his wardrobe was swiped goods from department stores with lax security. In case you were wondering, that's how I got arrested "all the time".

''What yah want ta know about our ghost, anyhow?'' the eldest asked. He had brunette hair, like his father, greasy looking, but no mullet. He was huge, so it was probably his clothes his little brother was wearing, built like a professional linebacker.

''We're not so sure it was a ghost,'' Dean answered honestly. The kids paled, except of course the youngest, who'd just received a vindication bonus. Dean was back to being his usual charming self as he walked down to the living room and sat down on one of the torn open sofas, even making the boys laugh and feel comfortable as he answered their pressing questions. I have no idea where his brain walked off to while Molly the Moggy was trying to eat me for breakfast, but the future cat lady finally left us to it now that he did have more personality than a wooden spoon.

''Hikers've been going missing for a while now, we're wondering if they weren't quite as lucky as you boys and the other kids,'' I said, bringing the four of them back to the topic at hand. ''So we need to know everything you think you saw with this supposed ghost. No matter how weird or crazy. It's real important.''

''See, Marcus, I told you,'' the youngest said to the linebacker kid.

''So, where do we begin?'' I asked, pulling out a spiral bound notepad and pen. Although it did make me feel a bit like Steve from Blue's Clues.

''They got homework ta do, don't keep 'em long,'' their mother called down the stairs, interrupting us as if to remind us all she was still here. You think you'd be happier to hear your kids didn't get murdered.

''Let's start with why you were out in the woods, give us the full story, no matter how weird,'' Dean said, leaning forwards and resting his elbows on the knees of his black slacks.

''Well, we went camping out in th' woods over spring break, we've always done it,'' the little brother asked. ''But this year, Joe wanted it ta be a bigger group than just th' three of us.''

''Don't tell our parents but,'' the middle child, - Joe, apparently - said, leaning forwards as if he was about to tell us a shocking secret. Marcus shoved him, nonverbally telling him to shut his cake hole.

''You went out there to drink, party, and generally have a good time?'' Dean supplied, looking sceptically at the three of them. The youngest couldn't have been older than thirteen. Why the hell were they getting him involved? They looked shocked, exchanging glances between each other.

''We're cops, not robots,'' I added and they seemed to relax a little. ''Plus, we're not stupid. Why else would a bunch of teenages want to spend all night in a tent in the middle of nowhere?''

''It's not like it's because nature soothes you,'' Dean joked and I snorted.

''Okay, we invited some girls down too, thought we'd impress 'em, have a good time and then come back just before school," Marcus said, and then looked at the youngest. ''It was a little weird with Cody there, but we couldn't not take him, our parents would get suspicious.''

''Hey, no fair, Marcus, you said ya wanted me ta come,'' Cody, the youngest, protested. Biting my lip, I looked empathetically at the younger one. Poor guy.

''I think we're getting a little off topic,'' Dean said, and I gave Cody a tightlipped smile.

''Things got real weird from th' very first night we were there,'' Joe explained and Cody reared up again, shaking his head.

''Nuh uh, it was when we first got there,'' he corrected. Screwing up his face at the memory, he sank back into his chair. ''When we got there, there was this awful smell. It was like nothin' I ever smelled before.''

''It was coppery,'' Joe explained, thinking hard as he described the smell. ''Like blood right as ya get a nose bleed, but it didn't quite smell as fresh. It was rotting almost, we thought it mighta been a skunk, like maybe we'd scared it with the amount ta noise we made coming up ta th' clearing.''

''It was nasty,'' Marcus agreed, biting his lip. ''It was almost like… like ozone.''

''Ozone typically smells like bleach or chlorine, but you said it smelled coppery, or like bad blood?'' I asked and they looked a little nervous. ''It's okay, I just need my notes to be accurate.''

''Well, that's just th' thing,'' Marcus said. ''It smelled bad, like hot garbage and blood, but th' longer we were there, th' more is smelled like ozone.''

''Okay,'' I nodded. ''So it shifted.''

''Exactly,'' they agreed in tandem.

''We set up our tents anyway, got all th' gear out. Chillin' before any of us started anything for dinner, or broke out th' alcohol, we didn't wanna get too wild, or our parents might find out,'' Joe told us and I nodded. While we'd said every detail was important, I was starting to get bored listening to teenage drama. Boy was I so glad I didn't have to deal with all that with Lex, as much as I wished for him to have normal experiences. ''There was probably ten of us, we'd all been drinking on th' way up, so we initially ignored th' figure just standing in th' trees. Just a trick of the light, you can't just go around assuming every shadow ya see is an axe wielding psycho waiting to kill ya.''

''We started a fire and things got really weird,'' Cody said, eyes going wide as he got excited about the story. ''I counted eleven of us, instead of ten and told Marcus.''

''He was sure there was eleven, and I counted and he was right, but I couldn't place anyone that wasn't supposed ta be there. But then I saw a second Cody, almost identical to us across th' fire. It was kinda weird though, all jerky like, and twitching. That's when I thought there was a problem. But I wasn't thinking clearly, I'd been drinking so I just stood up and yelled at it, "Hey you!" and I threw my beer bottle at it. It freaked. It was jumping and twitching faster, like when you hit a tv,'' Marcus explained, and I nodded, noting down everything he told me. Bad smell, possibly attracted by the fire or noise, mimics people. ''It looked right at me and said "hey you" almost the same way I said it but it was all distorted, inhuman almost. It wasn't natural.''

''Weird,'' I said, writing that down as well. It copied voices, but it wasn't perfect, distorted. Lex would have a fun time trying to figure that one out.

''You sure this is your killer?'' Marcus asked and I nodded, commiting to the lie.

''Sounds just like him,'' I confirmed, not looking up from my notes.

''What happened then?'' Dean prodded, looking indeed interested in their ghost story. As you'd expect, because what they saw was unlike anything I'd ever encountered before. It certainly wasn't a Wendigo, and we could rule out black dog as well. A Wendigo's voice copying was seamless, and black dog? I didn't know, but this seemed wrong. This was something new, and I had no idea how to kill it.

''It seemed ta just disappear, we was all looking, but none of us saw him leave. It kinda just jumped off the log it was sitting on and disappeared, just like, spirited away,'' Joe said, looking pretty confused about his own story. ''It howled a little, almost like a wounded animal, and we thought it was just our imaginations, what could get away that quickly? How did it just disappear? You're telling me that was a man? How?''

''It came back later that night, the girls got real upset, refusing to go to sleep without at least one guy in each tent,'' Cody said, making Marcus smirk.

''We didn't protest too much,'' he said and Dean nodded, giving him a knowing look.

''I can imagine,'' Dean said, probably remembering his own high school years. Mine were spent raising Lex, so I didn't have the experiences they did, not really. My mother always tried while she was alive, but then she died, and it was all on me.

''Turned out ta be a good thing, most us boys down here carry knives, for huntin' and stuff, wasn't fer Marcus stabbing th' thing, we wouldn't'a gotten away,'' Joe said, looking at his big brother gratefully.

''What happened when you stabbed him?'' I asked, turning to Marcus.

''It let out that howling noise again, it was huge,'' he told me, shrugging it off. ''It went from looking like being one of th' girls this time to being a tall figure with a goat's head.''

''Shut up dude,'' Joe said, shaking his head. ''They're gonna think we're crazy.''

''A goat's head?'' I asked in surprise and noticed Dean raising his eyebrows. That was a new one. Their parents had said similar, the kids in town told a story about a half man, half goat monster, but hearing it straight from the heart was different. The body of a man, the head of a goat. Weird.

''I told you they wouldn't believe us,'' Joe said and Marcus shoved his younger brother hard in the shoulder.

''Shut up, they said no matter how weird or crazy sounding,'' Marcus said, almost growling at his little brother.

''Well, anything else unusual about his appearance?'' I asked, scribbling down some more notes. Sorry Lex, looks like it's going to be a long afternoon in the library. Not that I think he'd really mind, it seemed to be his happy place. Maybe it was because it was the only part of the hunt I'd let him take part in. He just… I wanted him away from all this. The closer he got to learning about all this stuff, to doing the job, the more at risk he was. And I wanted to stop that at all costs, he deserved a chance at life.

''Wait, you believe us?'' Joe stuttered, shaking his head as he looked at me. I nodded simply.

''This guy's a real psycho,'' Dean chimed in. ''What'd ya see?''

''He just looked like a guy, but he was burly. Built like Marcus, but tall, nearly seven foot. And he had the head of a goat,'' Cody said and I nodded.

''Anything else about this night you guys want to tell us?'' I asked and they exchanged a look with each other.

''Just that we hightailed it home after I stabbed it, didn't come back until the next morning to get our tents and stuff, used dad's truck to clear out our stuff,'' Marcus explained, rubbing the back of his neck. ''Our cooler had been raided, almost like a bear had been at it, might have been, but it's not bear country. So that's crazy.''

''Well, we'll be looking into this,'' I said, pushing up off the worn sofa. Got this was a literal pain in my ass, I'd never complain about motel furniture again. The urge to massage my sore cheeks was rising, and I needed to get out of here and back to the Impala, stat. At least the old bench seats were comfortable.

''Thank you for sharing your story with us,'' Dean said, following me towards the door. It would be good to get out of this sketchy house before that dude with the mullet came back for seconds. I still didn't trust how easily he'd taken rejection, guys never listened when you said no.

''We'll be in touch if we catch him,'' I told the boys, grabbing hold of the screen door.

''Oh, we'll catch him alright,'' Dean said adamantly, stepping under my arm to get out the door. We headed back out to the car, finding the windscreen out and in the midst of being replaced. Raising an eyebrow, I looked between Boone and Atticus.

''Y'all done already? We was hopin' ta have this fixed before you were ready, show a no hard feelin's and whatnot,'' Atticus said, scratching the back of his head. Dean nodded, looking pleased he didn't have to figure out replacing it himself. He was plenty capable, but getting parts for older cars was always difficult, even if it was only the windshield. Boone was by the car, rather carefully applying new urethane with a caulking gun, looking like he was concentrating hard. At least we wouldn't fall victim to shoddy workmanship. ''You uh.. Yer not gon' be pressin' no charges, are ya?''

''You know what, Atticus, so long as you fix that windshield right, we'll say no more about it,'' Dean said, pulling off his suit jacket again to reveal his still rolled up sleeves. He walked over to help them put the new glass in and I could barely stop myself from drooling watching Dean's muscles flex and move beneath the confines of the surprisingly well fitted shirt.

Once it was all said and done, Boone opened my door for me again and I slid inside, waiting for Dean to stop chatting with Atticus about cars so we could get the hell outta here. Eventually he climbed inside the Impala and drove out of the drive, this time without us getting shot at. There was silence as we drove, mostly due to me texting out my notes to Lex so I could keep myself distracted from Dean. He hadn't gotten any less attractive while we were in the car, and I just wanted him to touch me again like he had last night. That was the problem with working with him after he helped scratch that itch. He was near enough he could do it again if I asked. One night stands were better, because you never saw them again. If it was good, if it was bad, it didn't matter, because by the next morning they were gone, or you were. But there wasn't a lot of tail on the road, not when you were travelling with your kid brother. Sharing a room with him.

''So, what's brother dearest say?'' Dean asked, glancing my way. I shrugged, handing over his phone again. Maybe I did need to get Lex a cell phone. But if I did, he was able to get farther away, and he wouldn't be within my sights at all times, and that was terrifying. Maybe I was too over protective…

''He wants a burger,'' I told him and he laughed. ''He said he needs brain food to work, and that it's going to take a while to figure out just what the hell we're working with. He's never heard of it before either.''

''A while huh?'' he said, looking me up and down. ''You wanna stop by the motel first, change into something more comfortable?''

''Oh god yeah,'' I agreed, already itching to get out of this tight fitting skirt. And the heels! God they were uncomfortable. I hadn't worn them since high school, and I had no idea why I still had them. But apparently they got to stay, as they'd proved useful today.

''Why'd we have to wear these stupid suits anyway? All yours seemed to do was to have Boone all over you like a bad smell, kept staring at your ass in that little skirt every time he thought neither of us was looking,'' Dean told me and I shrugged.

''They shot at us, imagine what they would have done if they didn't believe we were FBI, we had to look the part, and you didn't help, sitting there, looking all rugged even with the clean shaven face and the suit, do you have to look like you hang out in dive bars all the time?'' I asked and he laughed.

''I do hang out in dive bars all the time, that's where all the desperate chicks are,'' he told me. ''Although by the way you've been rubbing your thighs together the last ten minutes, I'd say they might be in the car too.''

''Fuck you,'' I hissed, making him laugh more. I hadn't noticed I'd been doing that. Apparently I wasn't as good at hiding how horny I was after all.

''I thought you did that last night, want to go again back at the motel? Your brother isn't around,'' he teased and I couldn't tell if he was serious or not. If he was, I'd jump at it in a heartbeat, but if he wasn't, I didn't want to make a fool out of myself with my horniness. It was like I was a cat in heat, this had to stop. ''I'm serious. Boone wasn't the only one checking out your rack, why does that suit thing work for you?''

''I could ask you the same question, the shirt makes your arms look good, especially with the sleeves rolled up, and how did you manage to look hot while working on your car? Fucking hell Dean, what have we done?'' I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest.

''Opened up an old wound,'' he said, sighing a little. We'd been all over each other the last time we'd been like this, just horny teenagers driven wild with hormones. Or so I'd thought, until he'd come back into my life. He still sent me wild with desire, and it had been over ten years. It had gotten to the point where instead of Dean and Sam sharing a room, and Lex bunking with me, Bobby had given up and let Dean and me have the guest queen. After all, he wasn't our dads, what did he care? Not that I suppose John would care much either, just my stepdad. But that was only after what happened the last time, and he had good reason to be over protective.

''I wish I'd been nicer to you then, I know you said you don't care, but you were so good to me,'' I said with a sigh of my own. He nodded in understanding.

''You uh… you just weren't used to it, it'salright,'' he said, brushing it off. He really had been good to me, I wished I hadn't snapped at him over Lex, maybe then we'd have parted on good terms. ''Hey Katie, I've uh, look I always wanted to ask but was too chicken shit to when I was a teenager…''

''What?'' I asked, amused he was afraid of something, It was Dean, he hadn't been spooked by anything as long as I knew him. Mind you, that was probably down to him being the thing that hunts the thing that goes bump in the night. He hunted nightmares, monsters were scared of him.

''What's that scar on your stomach from? You told me about the others, like the one on your hand, on your thigh. I know the new one on your shin is from that time you broke your leg but that one between your hips…'' he said, trailing off. I tensed up, he'd never been one to ask questions before. How could I explain that away? I didn't want to lie to him, but I couldn't tell him the truth either. God, no one was supposed to know. ''S'alright, never mind. If it's personal I don't want to pry…''

''It's not that, Dean, of course I trust you. I just… no one is supposed to know, it's a family secret, that's all,'' I said and he turned back surprised, looking at me with an eyebrow raised.

''You having a faded scar across your middle is a closely guarded family secret? What happened, step father take a knife to ya?'' he said, almost snorting. It had come out weird, I should have phrased that better. Shaking my head, I bit my lip. I'd wanted to apologise for years, and part of that was an explanation, one I'd never been able to give him. I wanted him to understand, to earn his forgiveness. I did trust that he wouldn't tell anyone, but you just never knew who was listening.

''It's a long story… and I do mean it when I say you can't tell anyone. Lex doesn't even know, it's that much of a secret. Just my mother, stepdad and me, and it's easier to keep a secret when I haven't spoken to him since I took Lex, and she's dead,'' I said and he nodded, looking serious now.

''Okay, are you a part of a weird cult?'' he asked and I shook my head. ''Alright, then I'll not say anything, I promise. How long of a story can it be?''