Hey all! As you know, I own nothing associated with the show Supernatural. However, I can take credit for the character of Kate and her father.

Hollering out a big thank you to those looking back for my updates, I appreciate you all sticking along for the story with me. I have been writing in my absence over the last two months, and I've been struggling to get the chapters just the way I want them. Sometimes, they feel like too much, and sometimes they feel like not enough, but eventually, I just have to stop over-criticizing my work and just post it. Either way, here is the next chapter. I'd like to post this with a slight trigger warning for those sensitive to certain themes.

Chapter 26: Born Under a Bad Sign

When Sherwin dropped her off at the nearest bus station, she was grateful for his help, but he'd refused the money she'd offered him for the ride. She sat at the bus station, looking over schedules and wondering how much it'd cost her to get to Bobby's from there. She really wanted to get her car back but really wanted to avoid calling anyone, at least for now. Then, at the urging of her stomach's rumbling, she moseyed around the town of Torrington, grateful for the nearby early-morning cafes. She half-debated going to check out her home—where she'd grown up with her mom. After all, this was physically the closest she'd ever been to it since she got dumped in this universe, almost six months ago.

It had been an hour and a half since Sherwin dropped her off when Kate's phone started ringing. She bit her lip when she saw Dean's name come up on the caller ID. She felt her nerves eating at her now, wondering if she should have just stayed… What if he was mad that she'd taken off? She figured if he wasn't, then he wouldn't be calling. She sighed heavily as she let the call go to voicemail. She didn't need this. Any of this. She should've been focusing on a way back home all this time, not… not helping out with something she had no business involving herself in. She was getting too close to this. Too close to them. Too close to him.

She took in a breath, feeling restless, when she decided to stretch her legs and walk around the small town again. Kate's mind began debating taking a bus home from here, but the uncertainty of what she'd find kept her from doing so… It's not likely that her mom and brothers were even alive in this universe, especially if she wasn't supposed to even exist here. Without her father meeting her mother here, then it makes sense that there would be nothing for her to go home to. At the thought of her dad, she briefly wondered just where he was. She hadn't seen him since Oregon, which was over a week ago now. They were nearing the beginning of December now, and there was still no word from him. She figured now would be as good a time as any to try the old-fashioned angel-summoning method that was demonstrated throughout the show.

Kate glanced around as she stood on a vacant side street. It was still early enough for people not to be milling around town yet. She closed her eyes and tilted her head down slightly. "Uhm…Azrael?" She asked, uncertain how to start. "If you can hear this, just… get to me, please. I'm not sure where to go, or even what to do… I'm stuck in Torrington. Torrington, Connecticut."

A familiar whooshing noise hit her ears before she felt a hand engulf her arm and then she was whisked elsewhere again. She swiftly felt solid ground under her feet as her knees gave out. She found herself kneeling over gravel suddenly. Kate gasped, trying to catch her breath.

She looked up to see her father standing over her. "Dad?" She asked with a tone of surprise, even though she'd prayed, she wasn't sure if it was really going to be that easy.

"Kate," he greeted as he stood before her. She noted that he stood over her, unmoving and unflinching. Kate sighed with relief as she swiftly moved to hug her father. She wasn't sure what had happened to him when she'd blasted him off to who knows where. She was more relieved to see him in front of her than she realized.

"Where the hell have you been?" She asked him softly as she looked around, noting they weren't in Connecticut anymore. She glanced around, unsure of where they were now. She couldn't shake off the familiarity of it, though.

"Running," he told her solemnly. "The angels are on high alert now, searching for me and you." He told her flatly.

"Why-?" she asked, perplexed.

"Kate, you need to know it isn't safe for us to be around each other…" He cut her off. Kate paused at that, as her attention was pulled back to her dad. "But, I-." She began.

"The sigils carved into your ribcage don't work if you send out an open prayer like that." He told her. "Now, I've made it so that you are untraceable, but I unfortunately still am." he explained swiftly.

Kate knew that he was only trying to keep her safe, but the thought of him leaving her again still stung. She could feel her walls rolling back up, once again barricading herself from him. "I heard your prayer though, you didn't know where to go or what to do…?" He asked her, his voice trailing off. "What happened to those Winchester boys? They were supposed to stay with you, help you while helping themselves." He stated. "The shorter one of them. He went through so much just to get you back from-." He stopped speaking as he noticed a pained look pass over her features. Kate took a breath, she didn't want to talk about Dean. She was trying to avoid him… Kate offered a vague sort of explanation, mentioning what she could about the demons and what had happened since she'd seen him in Oregon.

She hadn't gone in depth regarding her personal issues with Dean, but she knew he could hear the tightness in her voice as she spoke of him. He seemed to understand that she cared… maybe too much. She was annoyed that Sam was just too damn eager to put himself in harm's way to figure out this demon stuff, and Dean was too cautious in learning more about Sam's psychic ability. Both were too focused on their own goals and Kate needed to get them on the same page, but she wasn't sure how she would be able to do that if she couldn't get on the same page either.

"You need to make them see where they're wrong…" He trailed off slowly as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Kate bit her tongue to keep from snapping at him. "Look, I just needed to get to my car… So thanks, but no thanks..." She trailed off woth a sidelong glare at him.

"And, I brought you to the junkyard where it is, did I not?" He asked her as they both looked around to see Bobby's salvage yard across the street from her. She paused as she sent her father a confused expression.

"How did you-?"

"Your car has been here since before Baltimore." He told her swiftly. She remembered that when he'd first shown himself to her that he'd known she was here, and he chose not to reach out, out of caution.

"Kaydence. You need to get them to start gearing up for the war…" he told her. Kate paused as she was crossing the street, she took in her father's words. Her irritation only seemed to grow from them.

"What if I just want to find a way home…?" She asked him simply. "What if I just want to be done with all of this?" She asked before she jogged across the street, taking her duffel bags with her.

He paused as he watched his daughter move swiftly toward the salvage yard. She walked, fast-paced, into the yard and beyond the fencing with all the private and keep-out signs as she began searching the rows of cars for her own, her dad still trailing behind her.

"Find a way home?" He asked her, confused. "No, Katie. You were brought here for a reason…" he trailed off. "It's your destiny to stop what you know from-."

Kate paused as she spotted her car and moved towards it swiftly. "No, if it's only one thing that I learned from watching Supernatural, it's fuck destiny." She told him simply.

"What happened?" He asked gently as his hand stilled her arm from pulling open her car door. "You're different…" he told her. His tone suddenly changed; a gruffness was there now as his eyes sharpened over her. "You're scared." He called her out on it.

"You know, you don't get to just show up here and-."

"You called out to me." He reminded her.

"Whatever," she told him as she shrugged out of his grasp and moved to get into her Pontiac. It was a sight for sore eyes. She was tired of being dragged places and being asked and commanded to do this and that. She just missed her home. Her old life…

Kate had been on her own for a little while now. She was currently working a case in Aberdeen, SD. When she decided to high-tail it out of Connecticut, she was worried about how awkward things would be between her and Dean after they'd slept together. After getting her car from the salvage yard, she dialed up Bobby's number and told him not to worry. She said she was okay and to pass that message along to the guys. Bobby had tried to talk her out of going at it alone, but she just needed some space to clear her head and think things through for herself. Besides, she figured with her newfound paranoia, the anti-possession tattoo, the Enochian branding from her father, also along with the training from Sam and Dean themselves, and her trusty angel blade, she thought she was pretty well-prepped for this.

She'd torn out of Bobby's over a week ago, and in between returning to her meditation routine, she was tackling a hunt she'd stumbled upon. One that was steadily growing more and more difficult with each passing day. She'd thought initially it was a werewolf that she was dealing with as the first victim went missing on the night of a full moon no less. Steadily though more and more women vanished never to be seen again, no one had even found any of their dead bodies. Kate sat on her bed in her hotel room, a book open between her legs, she had one leg bent with her knee up and her other leg stretched out over the length of the mattress. She had her laptop open on top of her outstretched leg.

Kate had tried to pick the motel that she assumed would get the least amount of business, she'd been keeping to herself a lot in the last two weeks or so. The Sundown Motel was your standard midwest, vacant parking lot, flat horizontal building. It was your typical run-of-the-mill backwoods motel, although it had advertised its free wifi which Kate used gratefully. She sighed as she flexed her toes, she'd been fighting to stretch out her calf muscle, she'd felt as though there was a knot in it all day. She'd done a lot of hiking the last few days, trying to scour the surrounding woods for any clues. All the women who had gone missing had hiked around the same trails shortly before or when they'd been taken. Kate's mind wandered steadily as she sat in the dim lighting and quiet motel room. She was running from her problems and she knew it, but… she couldn't stay back there with Dean and stomach the thought that she might've just ruined the closest relationships that she had in this universe. Besides, she'd told them everything she knew was coming. She told them about the special bullets, and angels, and demons, all about Azazel's plans… she did her part. She leaned back against the pillows and sighed heavily, her body fighting to relax.

Kate's face scrunched up in confusion when a light knock sounded on her door pulling her from the mental image in her brain. She paused, staring in the direction of the entrance before she kicked herself into gear, she moved the laptop off of her slowly and stood from the bed in a single swift motion. Kate wasn't wearing the best clothes for concealing weaponry let alone company as she was prepared for a quiet night in her room. She grabbed her nearby gun off the entryway table. Only after glancing through the curtain in the window was she rather surprised to find Dean standing on the other side of the door. She opened the door a crack and blinked up at him.

"Dean," She greeted awkwardly, she could feel her confusion about his presence on her expression

"Heya Katie," He replied with a smile that caused her to pause. His low voice was more welcoming than Kate had thought it'd be after she'd run out on him.

"What're you doing here?" She asked him slowly. She hadn't heard from Sam or Dean since she'd left Connecticut, not that they didn't both try to reach out, she just… didn't want to answer. She purposefully needed space while she sorted through how she felt about her own emotions. She figured Sam was probably embarrassed at the phone call, and Dean- well, undoubtedly Dean was upset and hurt. They both had a right to be… she told herself.

"I- uh-. Do you mind if we talk inside?" He asked, almost sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. Kate could see his breath as he spoke, she could feel how cold the night air had gotten once the sun went down. She felt as though something was off about him, but she couldn't place it. She wrote it off thinking this interaction was just awkward since they'd slept together before she snuck out on him.

"I-. Ahem. I'm not dressed for company. Just gimme a minute." She muttered as she closed the door quickly and pulled away. She walked across the way to the recliner chair in which earlier, she dropped her duffel bag and pulled out a pair of high-waisted black joggers. She debated throwing a sweater over her tank top to be more presentable, but the heat in this motel room seemed to be a bit wonky. It was turned up rather high, and she was overtly aware of Dean standing outside her door. With him still being wanted by the police over being on the news so recently in Wisconsin, she didn't want the potential attention of the police in her motel room.

She pulled the door open and Dean stepped into the hotel room. She noted the was a slight hesitation before his boots crossed the threshold, but she thought he was just feeling the awkward aftermath of what had happened between them at the Inn. "Want a beer?" She asked as she walked over to her mini fridge on the other side of the room. She figured this visit called for a social lubricant.

"Sure," He nodded agreeing easily enough. Kate was quick to toss him a bottle, he caught it twisting the cap off and taking a long pull from it as he took a seat in the oversized recliner in the corner of the room, by her bed. Kate did the same opening up her own bottle, but decided to slowly sip her beer. It was light, citrusy, and bubbly as it flowed over her tongue. "So," She began slowly. "How'd you find me?" As she spoke she walked over to him and placed her bottle down on the table in-between them.

Dean's eyes flicked up to meet hers now, "I uh-. Bobby. He told me where to find you." Dean answered with a shrug as he glanced away, around her motel room. "And, Ava?" Kate asked, she was hoping for any update on everyone but, she could sense that that's not why Dean was there.

"Look, I uhm. I didn't come here to talk about Ava, or- or Sam. None of that demon war crap, okay?"

Kate nodded feeling the room steeping in awkwardness now, she'd begun feeling tense from the moment she saw him through the window. Just waiting for him to spew out how they'd made a mistake, and that it couldn't happen again. "So, what're you doing here, Dean?" She asked suddenly. The weight of her anxiety finally getting the better of her. She needed to just pull the bandaid off in one smooth motion.

She sighed out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. His eyes met hers once again, sending a shiver down her spine as memories from the last time she'd stared into them swam up in her mind. She could still recall the feel of his weight over her body, the feel of his hands moving over her sides, and gripping her hips, and the sounds he'd made that night. She unconsciously licked her lips as she ran her hand through her hair and down along her cheek as she released a heavy breath, she began suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"Katie," He began, but his gravelly voice cut off as he looked away from her again. He was struggling for words.

"It- It's okay. I already know." Kate stated quickly. She was growing more and more antsy, the longer she sat there under the weight of his silence.

"You do?" Dean asked as one of his eyebrows quirked up in surprise at her statement.

Kate nodded as she tipped her beer bottle back again over her lips, "Yeah, I- I know what happened back in Connecticut-. It- uh. It can't happen again." She said after swallowing hard. "I don't even know why I kissed you that night. I just- I just… sort of acted. I was looking for a break from all these damn problems I guess, and-."

"Kate. Stop." She heard him say gruffly as he stared at her. "That- that's not what I came here to tell you." He added to her stunned silence.

She couldn't find the words at first, but when she did. "It isn't?" Was all she could ask, feeling her nervousness reawaken all of a sudden. She watched Dean simply shake his head, his eyes continued to stare as if looking into her soul as he put the beer bottle down on the side table next to him.

"No Kate. It isn't." He repeated in answer. A silence took over the room, seemingly sucking the air right out of it. Kate had a million questions racing through her brain at the moment. What exactly had he come to tell her? Were they a thing? Did he want it to happen again? Had he already talked to Sam about it? She, of course, hadn't asked any of those questions, she instead, opted for a simple, "Oh…" Kate found her voice trailing off as her brain struggled to try and comprehend what was happening between them.

She moved to pick up her beer bottle again, she was feeling the need for another drink before she headdived into another confusing conversation. She paused when Dean's hand swiftly enclosed around her wrist before she could grab the bottle off the nightstand. She paused, her eyes moving to lock onto his. "D-Dean…?" She asked, her voice tense as she stared down at him. She couldn't deny though that her body had missed human touch as she'd been mostly alone, aside from random conversations with the local police for the last two weeks. She suddenly felt her body reverberating with excitement as her eyes trailed up his arm, over his shoulder, and up to his face.

She felt him wordlessly tug her down into his lap, and she felt his other hand come up to gently caress her face while sliding her hair behind her ear. Kate had to mentally remind herself to take a breath. "I've just missed you, Katie." She heard his low voice say.

"Dean, I-." She tried, but her voice betrayed her. He leaned in suddenly and pressed his mouth to hers, devouring whatever words were on the tip of Kate's tongue. Her body seemed to respond almost immediately, before she could even mentally process what was happening, she found her arms around his neck and her legs straddling over either side of his lap. She felt Dean's familiar hands lightly tracing down her sides before they settled on her hips, pulling hers against his own. A moan tore up from her throat at the intoxicating contact.

Their heavy breathing seemed to be the loudest thing in her little motel room as they continued to struggle for dominance. "Mmmph," she was surprised to feel Dean's tongue slip through her lips as he lifted her easily and stood from the chair only to turn and hover over her on her bed. Her laptop was behind her, but Kate heard it thud to the floor as she lightly rebounded off the crappy mattress. She watched as Dean knocked the book that she'd been using as research off of the bed before lowering his body back over hers.

She groaned as the surreal feeling of his weight began settling over her, and his lips met hers once more before she felt them sliding downwards over her jaw and neck. His hands seemed to settle over the outside of Kate's thighs, before lightly traveling up to get a grip on her backside. Kate groaned softly when she felt Dean's open mouth reach her collarbone.

"D-Dean…" She gasped out, she was struggling to maintain her mental faculties. Even though this was something she'd repeatedly fantasized about since she'd left him, even for Dean. This was weird. "Dean. Wait." She mumbled as his mouth moved upwards again to cover her own.

His once caressing hands seemed to become more forceful as he caught her hands in his and pinned them down. Holding both of hers with one of his own. He pulled back still hovering over her, but she saw a grin on his face. This one wasn't his usual smartass, overconfident grin. No, this one seemed dangerous, and… almost evil.

"Dean?" She asked, her voice left breathless from their current activities. "What- what're you doing?" She pressed on as fear seemed to grip her throat tightly.

He didn't answer her as he wordlessly moved to undo his belt. "Dean. What're you-?" She cried out as her eyes widened at that.

He cut off her words with a gentle shush. Kate moved her hips to try to buck him up off her, but she'd known that was a futile attempt. Dean was at least seven inches taller than her, and twice her size. Before she knew it she found her wrists bound in his belt as he maintained a hold on the excess controlling her movements.

"You aren't Dean." She muttered more to herself than anyone else.

"Well now, I knew it would be easier to get to you in this meat suit, but I didn't think you'd make it that easy, girly." Kate heard Dean's voice above her but she knew that the black eyes looking back at her were somebody else's. "I should've guessed that you'd have had a sweet spot for the elder Winchester." The demon above her wearing Dean's body grinned down at her. It hit her then… the vision, Ava's black eyes under the firelight.

"You burned off his tattoo?" She questioned her voice was hollow and filled with shock, she'd known from back when she was with both boys that Dean and Sam had gotten the anti-possession symbol tattooed on them. That was partly one of the reasons Kate had let her guard down.

Dean's hand moved upwards to yank open his button-up aside and pull down his short-sleeved tee neckline to reveal where the tattoo should have been, just under his collarbone, but all she saw was light pink, marred skin. Whatever demon it was that currently took residence inside Dean wanted in there bad enough to burn his tattoo off of him before jumping his bones.

"I did it to get to you, sweet cheeks." the demon said with a sickening grin as she felt Dean's free hand move to caress the side of her face again. Kate turned away from the contact as she felt grossed out by it now.

"What's the matter, princess? You didn't mind my touch a few minutes ago when you thought that it was Deanie-boy running his hands all over you." Kate let out a huff as she tried to shut her eyes, blocking out the demon's wandering hand now. "You know, before we get to the good stuff, we could have some fun,"

Kate knew she was in trouble. She knew that unless she managed to get out from under Dean's body or by some miracle, someone else decided to bunk in this motel for the night with her she had a fat chance of getting any help. Hell, she picked this place for its lack of business, to begin with. Plus she knew the manager was in the office across the lot, but they'd probably already gone to bed by now. Her only hope was to reach one of her weapons in her duffle which was now on the floor from when Dean had moved it to sit down.

"You still with me there, Princess?" Kate struggled against the belt trying to pull her hands out of the ever-tightening bind.

"Fuck you." She grunted out as she tried to yank her arms down, but the demon used the excess of the belt to yank them back up.

"Hey now, that isn't a bad idea…" The demon trailed off in Dean's voice. She suddenly felt his free hand slowly slide down her outstretched arms. Kate stilled, her breath catching. She could feel herself warming under Dean's touch again. His fingers skimmed down over her underarm, and moved down the side of her ribs, slowly lingering over each one before reaching the end of her tank top. Kate's eyes met those familiar green ones above her. Suddenly she found herself unable to move, too shocked to fight him off anymore.

In an instant, Kate heard the tear of fabric and felt her shirt get ripped open. The sound snapped her back into herself as she kicked out her legs and tried to fight the demon off her with renewed energy. She heard Dean's familiar devious chuckle above her before the demon cried out, "Awe hell, I do like frisky women." Amid the fighting, Kate was dimly aware of her cell phone going off, but she, unfortunately, wasn't in a position to answer it.

She watched as Dean leaned down and once again pressed his mouth over hers. Kate tried to twist her face away, but Dean's other hand came up and held her chin in a bruising grip, preventing her from breaking the kiss. The noises that left her mouth were muffled animalistic grunts as she continued trying to fight him. Her teeth had found Dean's lip during the struggle and she bit down, now tasting blood in her mouth. The demon kept kissing her through it though, until she felt her lungs struggling from a lack of air before his mouth moved off of her, lower down over her neck to her chest which was currently covered by a thin sports bra.

"You can put up a fight all you want, but I know it's all just for show. The memories that Ol' Dean-o's got stored up here of you, the things you did while sharing his bed, and, oh, man, the noises you'd made that night…. You've been hoping for this very moment, haven't you?" The demon asked in that low, growling breathless voice of Dean's that Kate had a very hard time not reacting to. She could feel his breath brushing over her more sensitive parts through the bra as he spoke. "Waitin' on that moment in your story when he shows up to whisk you off your feet, to tell you he loves you and wants you forever…" The demon in Dean let out a condescending laugh at her expense. "This was so easy; it's pathetic."

Kate grunted as she tried to push Dean off her again with her body. He sat up quickly at that, staring down at her intently as the demon inside him spoke again, "I gotta tell you, I'm surprised Dean here could stand to keep his hands off you for as long as he had." Kate paused as she listened to the words coming out of Dean's mouth. "All those nights before when you'd shared his bed in sketchy motels, He'd hear you muttering his name in your sleep, all breathy and erotic-like." The demon wearing Dean's face laughed again as Kate felt her face heating up, "I guess, lucky for you, the guy didn't feel the need to share that fact with his brother,"

Kate felt Dean's hand not holding the belt run up over her abdomen his nails leaving scratch marks along her sensitive skin, only stopping to palm a breast through her bra. "After all, it would just break poor little Sammy's heart to find out the first girl that he's caught feelings for since Jessica had sex with his big brother."

Kate swallowed hard at that, she remembered that last hunt in Connecticut she hadn't had any intention of sleeping with Dean, it just all happened so fast, and that was, yet, another reason why she felt it would have been best if she just left. She hadn't wanted to get in between them any more than she already had.

Dean's hand resumed its wandering, pulling Kate back to herself, back to the present as she fought, once again, to get her feet up on the mattress, but Dean's thighs held her legs down, pinning them where they were. She froze when she felt Dean's mouth by her ear. "He's screaming at me to leave you alone, you know that? Up here." She felt Dean's free hand leave her body and tap up on his right temple. Kate knew from first-hand experience that a person was awake on the inside during the possession. They were just out of eyeshot, but still pretty aware. She hissed in pain as she felt Dean's teeth nip at her skin above her collarbone roughly, she guessed there would be a bruise forming there soon enough.

She had long stopped responding to him as she solely focused on trying to push herself further up on the mattress, trying to wriggle out from his reach. He pulled back again, staring down at her, "He's begging me to stand down, but little does he know… I can also feel that he's kind of enjoying this. He knows just how much fun I have in store for you, Katie. I'm going to give you exactly what you've wanted him to all this time, and then your precious little hero is going to watch as I use his hands to rip you apart..."

Kate fought to remain calm by taking in slower, deeper breaths. As she breathed she continued in trying to get her feet up on the edge of the mattress, once she finally managed to bend her knees up and get her heels on it. It caused Dean's body to jerk forward just enough for her to push her legs up and hook them around any part of Dean's shoulders. She quickly used his own weight against him, she was able to slam him backward off of her. He rebounded off of the invisible barrier, and Kate made quick work of rolling into a backward summersault and landing on her feet off the other side of the mattress, she quickly danced out of arm's reach as she heard Dean curse. His green eyes glared at her from across the room now. She was able to get her dominant hand free of his belt, leaving it dangling from her other wrist.

Kate made yet another mental note to try to commit the exorcism chant to memory as she grabbed up her gun that she'd answered the door with earlier, it wouldn't kill the demon, but a shot to the leg would certainly slow it down a bit. She watched as Dean attempted to get off the bed, but found himself stuck. His green eyes glanced upwards and found the ceiling bare. A confused expression overcame his features as Kate chuckled.

"Did you really think that with all the demons out to get me, I wouldn't take precautions while by myself?" Kate asked as she moved slowly, keeping her gaze pinned on Dean as she slid her bag closer to her. She pulled out the book that Pastor Jim had left to her, along with the flask of holy water that Bobby had given to her.

Dean smirked over at her, "Look at you, learning. The Winchester in me would be so proud." his tone of voice was just dripping with sarcasm. He paused a moment and then chuckled darkly, grinning bloody at her from his split lower lip.

Kate scoffed as she thumbed along the edges of the pages in her book until she found the one stickered with a tag, she yanked it open and immediately began reading the exorcism chant. Even through the pain, Kate could see that the demon before her wasn't giving up without a fight.

"So, Sweetness, where's this devil's trap, huh?" Dean's voice rang out loudly, as a sudden wind picked up from inside the room. Kate's eyes glared daggers at the demon as she tried to ignore him as best she could. "Nothing up on the ceiling, and as far as I could see earlier, there's nothing on the floor..." He trailed off.

Kate watched the demon in Dean wince, and grunt from the effort it took for him to remain in his host. Kate read some more lines from the book and was feeling pretty good about how well the situation was working out when the demon in Dean roared before her, anger was etched into his features and his eyes made her freeze. They shown black as night at her. She had a flashback of seeing Demon Dean under the flashing red light of the bunker's alarm system from the show. She held the book tighter in her hands, now frozen on the spot looking on.

The demon in Dean had been thrashing around so much earlier, that she noted some of the bed covers and pillows had slid off of the mattress, she watched him look down as he noticed her angel blade roll towards him. "How do you have one of those?" She heard Dean ask with interest in his voice, black eyes wide and, on display now.

Kate was inwardly cursing herself for not remembering to grab it. She'd kept it under her pillow for added protection- Thank you, Dean. She was quick to start rereading from the book again. As she spoke, she watched him quickly plunge the angel blade into the mattress below him. Kate's oh shit moment was brief as it didn't take long for the demon to destroy the mattress. When she'd first gotten into town and set up in her motel room, she opted for flipping the mattress and spray painting the devil's trap sigil into the bottom of it.

Kate realized quickly then that she'd run out of time. Bending quickly she dropped the book and, grabbed some newly printed stickers that she'd had made at the town's local print shop. She found them in the side pocket of her bag. She pulled her bag over her shoulder and, stood up with her pistol out and aimed forward. Dean was in the process of climbing out from the hole that he'd just dug into the mattress, the bedframe and mattress coils now surrounding him. Stuffing from the inside the bed was blown out all over the place.

"Don't come any closer," Kate warned as Dean made the slightest movement to climb over them. She pulled the hammer back and aimed it dead at Dean's chest.

He smirked at her from across the room, "Careful now. You wouldn't want to hurt your boyfriend, would you?"

Kate really didn't want to shoot Dean, and the demon knew that. She would bet her life that that was probably the whole reason he'd been possessed. Kate moved quickly as she dashed behind her and slammed one of her shiny and new devil's trap stickers on the bathroom door with one hand. She turned and tried to race over to the front door now, but Dean had managed to get a grip on her ankle as he jumped from the bed at her. Which caused Kate to crash to the floor, hard. Her shaky hands managed to slap a sticker she'd made across Dean's forehead, which caused the demon in him to stiffen up and go immobile. Using it to her advantage, Kate kicked out at him blindly, she could feel the entire bottom of her foot kick out against Dean's chest which sent him sprawling behind her. His body slammed into the desk and knocked the chair over which took up space along the side wall.

Kate moved, swiftly getting to her feet, she didn't stop for shoes or a jacket. Kate left her laptop and books behind. She'd just grabbed up her keys from the table by the door and pulled out two more stickers. As she slammed the door to her motel room shut, she stuck another sticker to the outside of the door and the second went on the window next to it. Kate was breathing hard, her hand still on the window pane when Dean came up to the other side. She heard him growl as he punched the window from the inside, angry. She sighed in relief when the barrier from the sticker held up but jumped back when a ringing came from the duffel bag around her back. She quickly grabbed up her phone and answered with a breathless "hello,"

She was grateful to hear Sam's voice on the other end, he explained that Dean had been missing for the last few days after a stop they made somewhere in West Texas. Sam had finally caught up with him at Bobby's but, then they'd lost him again. Sam was already driving out to her as Bobby knew she was in Aberdeen. It seemed the demon in Dean held a grudge against hunters as it had been using Dean to drop bodies through Minnesota to South Dakota.

Kate sighed in relief knowing that her stickers on the outside of the motel room seemed to be working to keep Dean confined within.

She wanted to ask about Ava, and everything else but, she just agreed to stay where she was until Sam got there. She told Sam that she had Dean currently trapped in her motel room. "You have him in a devil's trap? He broke the one that Bobby had at his house. Whoever it is in Dean had locked themselves in his body, Kate. We managed to break the binding link, but he got away while we were trying to exercise it."

"Well, he's not going anywhere from here, Sam," Kate assured him as she gazed at Dean's angry face through the window. With that, the two said their goodbyes, and Kate was left to stand watch over the demon in Dean.

About an hour from the time they'd hung up Sam was pulling into the parking lot of the Sundown Motel, Kate was sitting in her car which she parked directly in front of her door, still keeping watch. She was grateful for the heating her car had right now. Sam pulled up in Bobby's truck. Kate noted that Dean's Impala had been left a few spaces down, not in great shape. Kate knew Dean was going to be pissed.

"Kate, you okay?" Sam asked as he walked up to her driver's side.

"Where's Bobby?" She asked as she opened her door and quickly got out.

"He had to stay back, he's dealing with a handful of things right now... Seems some guys are putting together a search party, trying to find the thing that killed their hunter buddy." Sam explained with a heavy sigh before his eyes moved towards her. "Oh, my god," He blurted out as he took in her appearance for the first time, she'd still had on the tattered remnants of her tank top. She'd forgotten about the blood that smeared over her mouth from biting Dean's lip until Sam's face displayed his concern, and then anger before it was all buried under a classic Winchester stoicism. He reached out to take her chin gently, but Kate jerked her head back quickly. Her back had slammed against the door of her car in her haste to get away from his touch. The biting coolness of the metal against her skin seemed to ground her quickly growing panic as she swallowed, inhaling a deep breath. The pause that passed between them was heavy on her shoulders.

"Where's Dean?" He questioned, his tone suddenly void of emotion.

Kate nodded in the direction of the door she was parked in front of. "The-uhm. The duffel with my clothes and stuff was left in there with him. I grabbed my weapons bag, keys, and phone before I booked it out of there." She told him now realizing she was standing in her socks. Sam moved up the steps to the front door as he inspected the small circular sticker on the door.

"Is that a devil's trap?" He questioned before turning back to her with an eyebrow raised.

Kate nodded. "One of them. " She answered softly, "I had them printed on stickers…" She explained sheepishly.

"Huh," Sam stated. She couldn't be sure if he sounded impressed or if he thought the idea was stupid, but she knew now that they worked. Sort of. It seemed as though Dean managed to rip off the one she'd stuck on him, but he'd hesitated because of it which gave her the split-second headstart that she needed to get away.

Kate stepped up closer to the window, stood on her tiptoes, and looked in, Dean was currently trashing anything he could get his hands on within the room, including her things. Her laptop lay open on the floor, the screen cracked, and pages of her books were ripped out and scattered throughout the floor. Her clothes lay at random places throughout the place. Some of them were ripped apart, others tossed randomly.

"Sam," Kate called. He moved by her, leaning over the rail and looking through the window.

He let out a huff, "Now that he's pinned down I'm not so worried about Dean. Are you okay though?"

Kate took in a steadying breath. She didn't want to admit to him how not okay she was right now. While, yes, initially she'd thought it was Dean she was getting physical with. In the end, it wasn't, and she wasn't sure how much damage was done to the already growing distant relationship she had with him.

Kate opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, she felt a warm, heavy jacket go around her. Sam had removed his Carhartt jacket and slid it around her shoulders. "It's too cold for you to be out here in that," Sam stated simply before he took in a steadying breath and pushed open the motel room door. Kate remained where she was, it hadn't occurred to her that it was nearing mid-December in South Dakota for at least 20 minutes of her standing outside, although she knew her shock and adrenaline were now wearing off. She was thankful that Sam showed up as soon as he had. Kate didn't really want to go in and face off with the demon that had assaulted her. It was clear that Sam had probably pieced together what had happened, her torn-up shirt and bloody lips and chin made it all the more obvious.

She turned away to let Sam deal with his brother as she searched her car for napkins. She'd finally found some in the glovebox. She used her leftover water bottle in the cupholder from her hiking patrol earlier that day and began to wipe her face clean. She could feel from the slight pressure it took to clean herself up that her jawline would be bruised from the demon's not-so-gentle grip. Kate heard some muffled shouting and fought down her urge to run in and help Sam. She hadn't wanted to admit to Sam that it took her nearly 40 minutes to stop shaking once she got into her car after her tangle with Dean.

More than half an hour passed when Sam finally emerged from her motel room. Kate had stood outside, she removed the remnants of her tank top and stood feeling comfortable in Sam's oversized jacket just leaning against her Pontiac. She didn't have to wonder why Dean hadn't come out with him, she assumed he felt miserable for everything that had happened the last few days, and unfortunately, she also knew that no matter what anyone said to him, he would still take on that misplaced guilt.

"It was Meg," That was all Sam said as he leaned against her car next to her. He'd tossed down her boots and handed her a new pair of socks. "That would explain her hatred for hunters, and why going after you seemed more calculatingly violent than the rest of the victims." He explained as Kate opened her rear driver door and began changing her socks and sliding her feet into the warmth of her shoes.

"That would explain why Dean was possessed too," Kate said slowly as it all clicked in her brain. She stood up and closed the door of her car, rougher than she meant to.

"Huh?" Sam asked her, his face scrunched in confusion as he eyed her with uncertainty.

"The tattoo, it was supposed to stop you guys from being possessed, but… Meg went through the extra trouble of burning it off of Dean before possessing him. Which means…"

"She planned on nabbing Dean. For a while, but… why? Why him?" Sam questioned.

Kate hesitated in answering, "She used him to get to me..." Kate stated. "She wanted revenge on me for sending her back to hell." A heavy silence passed between her and Sam at that.

"Is- Is Dean alright?" Kate asked changing the subject.

"Is Dean alright?" Sam quoted back at her, outrage clear in his tone. "Kate other than that split lip you gave him, he's physically fine. I'd say that you look a bit worse for the wear."

Kate hadn't had a minute to check herself fully. She could feel the stiffness already in her jaw, and she knew that it wouldn't look pretty come tomorrow. She knew she had scratches across her abdomen, and probably teeth marks. Meg had been anything but gentle in her slow, deliberate attack on Kate tonight.

"You know what I mean Sam..." Kate trailed off clarifying what she originally meant. What she knew of Dean Winchester was that he could literally get hit by a Mack truck and come out physically okay. Mentally though? Well, the Dean she knew from the show never dealt with his nonphysical injuries well.

"With enough time and alcohol. Probably." Sam answered with a scoff and a quick shake of his head. The sound of the motel door opening caused both Sam and her to look up at Dean. He slowly walked his way towards both of them, keeping a good distance from Kate, thankfully.

"I called Bobby. He said to leave his truck here, and he'll tow it back to the yard." Dean said as he looked up at Sam, leaving Kate to feel as though she wasn't even standing there. Sam nodded as his phone went off, he glanced down at it before walking off towards the truck with a, "Hey Ash. What do you got for me?"

Kate stared down at the black tar of the parking lot. She could feel Dean's eyes moving over her face. She knew that her injuries were on the lower part of her jaw, or covered up by Sam's jacket. She was thankful he didn't have to see them right now. She didn't want to cause him any further guilt than what he could remember.

"Kate," She heard his voice crack as he said her name. She picked up on the raw emotion that came with it. The guilt, mostly, but the sorrow, and pain from what he'd done to her. "Kate, I'm so-."

"Don't." She told him simply, her head snapped up to look at him now. "Don't apologize for any of that. Please. That- That wasn't you, Dean. It was a demon." She told him fiercely.

"It-." He stopped as his eyes studied her, he took in the damage on her face. Kate had time to calm down from everything, but she still didn't want Dean touching her. She hoped that he could understand that. She didn't want to flinch away from him as she had Sam earlier. "It wasn't Meg's hands that did that to you, Katie. It was mine, and for that, you don't know how sorry I am." Dean stated simply, his voice low and hurt in his eyes. The guilt and pain were visible all over his face as he spoke. Kate's mouth hung open, she'd wanted more than anything to comfort him right now, but she just couldn't bring herself to. An awkward silence draped over them heavily. Kate was unsure of what the next steps would be for them.

"Hey, Bobby suggests that we all crash at his place for tonight," Sam said as he made his way over. "Ava, and-."

"I can't do that," Kate stated simply. "I've still got a monster to find here."

"Uh." Sam began as he shared a glance with Dean. "I think after tonight you should probably recoup, and not be alone…"

"We'll take it for you." Dean volunteered, a bit too quickly.

"What?" Sam asked sharply as Kate questioned the same.

"This is my hunt, guys. No. I'm sticking this one out." She said in a final tone. She walked back towards her door leaving the stickers where they were and entered her motel room, she made quick moves in trying to pick up her salvageable things off the floor. She hadn't realized the boys were following her, Dean stayed far over by the doorway maintaining his distance, while Sam moved to help her pick up. After he righted the lounge chair, he lifted her broken laptop off the ground and placed it on the kitchenette table. "I hate to say this Kate, but I think you may need some help with whatever you're hunting." She had tossed her ripped clothes off to the side by the bathroom door and moved her still-intact ones into a pile on the nearby chair. "Your laptop is trashed." He finished as he tried to punch some of the keys on the keyboard, but the cracked screen remained blank.

Dean groaned before muttering another muffled apology as he buried his head in his hands from his position by the door.

Kate huffed heavily as she continued picking up papers from the floor. She sat up on her knees before dragging her sore body up. She moved to take a seat on the bed but paused staring at the damaged mattress, and decided against it. She turned towards the nearby chair, but memories of Dean and her kissing flashed before her mind's eye. She felt her breath leave her lungs, as she fell back into the recent memory from Connecticut.

"Kate?" She jumped when she heard Sam's voice loudly cutting through the replay of her memories. Turning around she stared, dumbfounded at whatever it was he had been saying.

"Why don't we go to a different hotel here in Aberdeen and we work the case together?" Sam questioned. "Would you be alright with that Kate?"

Kate nodded wordlessly as she slid the papers in her hands back into her book from earlier, and dropped it into her nearly empty duffel bag. She shoved the salvageable clothes over the top of it and left her ripped ones where they lay on the floor. She could tell that Sam didn't want to leave either Dean or her alone for the night, but she also knew that she wouldn't be able to spend the rest of the night in a room with Dean. With that, she muttered something about following them and walked out behind them, Kate climbed into her Pontiac staring at the boys as they walked across the darkened lot to get into the Impala.