Hey guys! So I think this might be my last chapter for a while. I really enjoy writing all this, but I've been a little low on motivation lately. I see the high number of views each chapter gets and I'm humbled that so many people have stuck around for so long, but at the same time I only get around 3 reviews each chapter from the same (wonderful!) people...so I get slightly discouraged. I'm not sure if people aren't liking how the chapters are or if you are indeed enjoying them...ANY feedback, good or bad, really does help more than you think! I enjoy knowing what you like/don't like so I can incorporate that into future chapters. You can even PM me if you don't want to post a review. So sadly, unless there's a consensus that people actually want me to keep going, I'm going to make like SPN and go on a hiatus until I can channel some motivation to write the next chapter.

Special shout out to ispiltthemilk, sweetkiwi604 and Mayrem...you guys are amazing :)

As always, I hope everyone enjoys!

Disclaimer: See Chapter 3.

Dean-25

Kate-16

Welcome to Nebraska, the latest destination where John decided his remaining 2 kids should set up camp while they kick evil's ass. Kate had been at this new school since the beginning of her sophomore year. A whole 2 months of hell. She began to notice a trend at all these small town schools her dad forced her into—they all instantly labeled her the 'new girl' and found everything about her to be weird. It all stopped shocking her after the first 27 times. She was basically immune to it now.

John took off over 3 weeks ago when he got a call from Bobby Singer saying he needed some help up in South Dakota. He left some money with Dean to cover a few expenses, but it was quickly draining. And Dean couldn't hustle pool anymore in this small town because the locals were starting to catch on. Money was tight for them; so much so that Dean relented and they applied, and were accepted, for free lunches at school for Kate. She didn't care though—she would do anything to help them get by and give Dean less stuff to stress over. But the thing was, everyone in her class seemed to be aware of her family's financial status.

Kate's quiet and withdrawn demeanor always made her a target for the popular kids and whenever people would make fun of her, Sam had always told her to ignore them. John, and even Dean, had instilled in her to stay out of trouble in school. It just wasn't worth the fight and risk of CPS being on their trail.

Today was just like any other boring Tuesday. Kate got up and threw on her skinny jeans and ACDC hand-me-down tshirt. She threw her hair up in a messy bun and she was out the door. Thankfully even after Sam left, Dean had agreed to let Kate walk to school by herself, just as long as she sent a text when she arrived. The morning was the worst—History, Biology and P.E. Finally lunch came and she sat alone and ate her spaghetti-and-meatball-surprise lunch. Once she was done, she made her way outside to her favorite spot under a tree and opened up her book, To Kill a Mockingbird and she was whisked away into the imaginary world where monster's didn't exist.

"You know W squared? I mean how freaky is she!" said a blond girl. Kate's eyes instantly looked up from her book and tried to figure out where the voice was coming from. She recently learned about her new nickname—W squared, Wierdo Winchester. Once she spotted the group of girls standing over to her right, she looked back down at her book, but continued to listen to what was on Bitch Radio today.

"I know! Like she doesn't even try to make friends," said another girl as she twirled her hair.

"I bet she has some kind of social disorder." Kate still wasn't hearing anything she hadn't heard before.

"I mean even if she does, who can blame her. Do you know what kind of family she comes from?! Her dad left her and now her brother raises her. They have like no money." Without even noticing it, Kate's grip had tightened around her book. Things were starting to get a little too personal for her now.

"Yeah, haven't you heard? She gets free lunches and all." Kate hated small town gossip. One way or another everyone found out.

"My dad says her brother is always at the bar. I bet he spends all his money there." Kate smirked, if only they knew it was actually the opposite. She hoped it was one of their dad's money he had hustled a few weeks ago.

"I bet he hates her too because obviously he doesn't let her shop in the girls section. Just look at the clothes she wears! Hello! She looks like a boy."

At the last comment, Kate dropped her book on the grass and stood up and walked over to them. They can say all they want about her, but she'd be dammed if they talked bad about her family anymore.

"You got something to say about me? Say it to my face, bitch." Kate's tone was low and showed she was not messing around.

"Oh Kate. It's stuff you already know. How your brother chooses beer over you and must wish you were a boy because he surely makes you dress like one…or wait. I know. It's probably because you're dirt poor and can't even afford a decent shirt from the Good Will up the street," the blond girl said. Kate felt her hands form fists at her side. She was fighting every urge inside her telling her to beat the crap out of this blond haired bitch.

"I mean your family is so fucking poor that they can't even afford to feed your sorry ass," said the black haired girl that Kate recognized from History class as Paige.

It was a split second decision, one she probably did not think all the way through. Kate lunged at Paige, knocking her to the ground. Kate raised her fist and slammed it into her face before Paige had a change to cover it.

"Mrs. Lewis! Mrs. Lewis!" Kate could hear them calling out for a teacher, but she didn't care. She raised her fist again and connected it with Paige's face. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind and harshly yanked off of the girl. Her arms were pinned behind her back as she looked back with anger in her eyes and saw it was the gym teacher, Mr. Stillman. Mrs. Lewis, the English teacher, finally arrived at the scene.

"Miss Winchester. What has gotten into you? Mr. Stillman, get her to the principal's office right away. I'll get Paige to the nurse," Mrs. Lewis said as she knelt down beside Paige to help her.

Mr. Stillman gripped her arm hard as he began to drag her into the building. "Do you mind telling me what happened back there?" Kate kept her gaze on the floor as she stumbled along from his harsh pulling. She was not going to tell this guy what happened. Telling him meant telling the principal. Which then meant telling Dean. And she couldn't do that. She didn't need Dean knowing that they were making fun of how poor she was and her hand-me-down clothes. Dean did the best he could and she knew that. He didn't need to feel guilty or stressed, and she knew he would feel both if he found out. This was something she had to keep quiet to protect him for a change.

When Mr. Stillman didn't receive a response, he gripped her arm tighter as they turned into the principal's office. He let go of her and gestured towards a few chairs along the wall inside the office. Kate slowly went over to take a seat. "Do you mind pulling Miss Winchester's file? We're going to need her brother to come in so they can all have a chat with the principal. She seems to think fighting is the best way to solve problems today."

The secretary began looking through the rolodex of contact information. Mr. Stillman stepped into the principal's small office and explained to him what had happened. They both came out and stopped in front of Kate, who was still staring at the floor.

"Did you get his number?" Mr. Jones, the principal, asked.

"Yes," the secretary answered as she handed him a slip of paper with the number.

"Kate, why don't you step into my office then. We have a phone call to make. You can explain to Dean why he has to come in here," Mr. Smith said. Kate's eyes shot up. Her heart began racing and she was panicking. No, no, no. They were supposed to call him so she would have time to come up with something to say. He motioned for her to step into his office and she slowly stood up and shuffled her way in and took a seat in front of his desk. Mr. Jones didn't waste any time. He closed the door and quickly made his way over to the desk and was already dialing the number. He put it on speakerphone and Kate felt her heart jump into her throat.

…Ring…

"Don't pick up…please don't…," Kate silently pleaded.

…Ring…

"Pleas—."

"Hello?" She squeezed her eyes shut at hearing his voice.

"Hello, Mr. Winchester?"

"Yeah, this is Dean."

"Hi, Dean. This is Nick Jones, the principal at Greenview High School. I'm sorry to call you today, but I have Kate here in my office right now."

"What happened? Is she okay?" Dean asked, suddenly very concerned. Normally a call from the school meant she was sick.

"Unfortunately we had some trouble with her at school today and I'm going to have to ask you to come in. Kate is going to explain to you why." Her heart was pounding so hard she thought it was going to fly out of her chest. Mr. Jones shifted his gaze to Kate.

"Um…hi Dean," she started. She wondered how long she could put this off.

"Kate, just tell me what's going on!" He was starting to get anxious.

She felt the taunting glare of the principal reining down on her and knew she needed to just get it over with. "Well…I got into a fight today at recess and might have punched a girl," Kate spilled it all out in one breath.

"Might have?" Dean repeated, his voice suddenly changing from worried to pissed.

"I definitely might have punched her…twice." She could just picture the blood vessels on his forehead bursting.

"What the hell! Katelyn Elizabeth...are you fucking kidding me? Great. Just great." Kate cringed when she heard her full name. She could count the number of times he'd used it on one hand, and it was never a good sign.

"Dean, I'm so sorry…," Kate tried to make things better as tears began to fill her eyes. She had screwed up, she knew it. But she was only met with silence.

"So Dean, do you think you can come in?" Mr. Jones asked.

"Yes, I'm on my way right now. I'll be there shortly," Dean said as he and Mr. Jones hung up.

"Just wait here. I will bring your brother in when he arrives," Mr. Jones said as he exited the room. Kate was left alone with her thoughts. She nervously bounced her leg as she waited for what seemed like forever. Suddenly she heard Mr. Jones and Dean talking outside. She froze. She knew these were her last moments of life.

She took a few deep breaths. "Okay calm down. He will get over the fight…eventually. The important part is he doesn't find out why it went down." She tried to reason with herself. She was torn from her little pep talk as the door opened and both men entered. Kate quickly caught Dean's eye before she turned away. It was full of THAT look. The one of pure anger with a side order of disappointment. Dean sat down beside her as Mr. Jones also took his seat.

"Ok. Well, Kate, do you mind telling us exactly what happened?" Mr. Jones said as all eyes went on her.

"I was reading my book alone. Overheard Paige and her possy talking about me. Got up and went over to them. They continued to be bitches and that's when I punched her," Kate responded as she continued to stare at her hands in her lap.

"And what exactly did Paige and the girls say that made you want to punch her?" Mr. Jones demanded.

"You know, just mean stuff. They're rude. Ask anyone. She deserved it." Kate sat back in her chair and crossed her arms, getting defensive. She just wanted to scream out that she wasn't the bad guy here, it was that other girl.

"Mr. Jones asked you a specific question and I don't believe you answered," Dean chimed in for the first time and Kate was taken off guard. She felt Dean's words slice through her.

Kate knew she was already in this far, so there was no turning back now. "I told you. Mean things."

"Unfortunately Paige and the other girls aren't talking either, so we don't know what was exchanged between them. Are you sure you don't care you elaborate?" Mr. Jones pried more.

"No thank you." Dean felt his blood pressure rising. He certainly had not raised her to be so disrespectful with authority figures, well with the ones that weren't involved with a case. Kate tuned out as Mr. Jones went into a long speech about their "no tolerance for fighting" policy that didn't seem to interest her. She looked over at Dean when she heard his voice again.

"I understand. I do not take fighting lightly either. I can personally assure you that this—or any other issue—will never happen again. And Katelyn will accept whatever punishment the school gives." Kate felt herself give an audible sigh at his statement, it was very ironic for her because just last week Dean was practicing fighting and shooting with her. Her life was just messed up.

Kate zoned out again when the principal thought it was necessary to go over the school policy again. She caught the end of his speech and heard "3 day suspension." Shortly later Dean, Mr. Jones, and Kate all signed the necessary paperwork. She then felt a tight grip on her arm as she was yanked up. They all exchanged polite farewells as Dean and Kate left.

While they were walking down the hall towards the exit, Dean finally broke the silence. "Tell me what this Paige girl said. I know you know not to fight, which leads me to believe she provoked you. So spill now or I'll double your punishment." Kate kept her gaze straight ahead, not wanting to make eye contact with him because she knew that would make her crack. She didn't respond. "Okay then. You made your choice." She felt like her death sentence had just been given.

They both got into the Impala and Dean started it up. The radio immediately clicked on, but he turned it off. The only noise heard the entire ride home was the sound of the Impala's engine. Kate wanted to beg him to just yell at her and get this show on the road. The silence was literally eating her. And a silent Dean was never good.

Once they got back to the hotel, Kate sat down on the couch. Living in a hotel really left for a limited amount of options for hiding spots. Dean followed in behind her and made his way to the fridge. He opened it, grabbed a beer, and slammed it shut, causing Kate to slightly jump in her seat. He sat down at the small table beside the couch and cracked open his beer. The Dean Winchester Way was to make people suffer and he knew Kate would suffer more in silence. 15 minutes passed and Kate pulled out her cell phone, trying to do it quietly and without Dean seeing. She needed advice quick and Sam was the only one who knew how to defuse the Dean Winchester Silence Time Bomb.

Dean heard the familiar clicking sound of a cell phone keyboard. He got up and went over to stand in front of her. He held out his hand and she looked at him. She sighed as she reluctantly handed over her phone before she had a chance to send the text. "No phone. No TV. No computer. Straight up Amish until I tell you otherwise." He paused. "Oh and you know what? The Amish don't drive, so I guess you can forget about your driving test next week. Next time you should think about it before you lie to me."

"But I didn't lie to you!" Kate threw up in hands in exasperation, feeling the need to defend herself on this one.

"You aren't telling me everything that happened. Same thing as lying to me." Dean searched her face for any sign that she was willing to come clean. When her facial expression didn't change, he turned away and went back over to the table to finish sipping on his beer. Kate pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them and laid her head between them. She hated keeping things from Dean. And she hated him being mad at her even more, but him being mad was better than him feeling responsible and guilty for Kate being made fun of over their lack of money. She just couldn't put that on him after all he'd done for her. "What do they call it? Oh yeah. I'm 'taking one for the team'," she thought as she closed her eyes, wishing she could just zap herself to another town right now.