Two updates in a month?! Woohoo! We can all thank my second (and sadly last)week long vacation from work :) I can't promise I will be able to keep updating so frequently, but I will try! Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, PMs, and adding this story to your alerts and favorites. Your continued support and encouragement never ceases to amaze me. You guys are awesome!

Special thank you to ispiltthemilk and sweetkiwi604 for their help in piecing together this chapter! What would I do without you both :)

Last, but no least, a big thank you to big glee famanic who left a wonderful idea in a previous review that I used in this chapter. If anyone else has ideas for things they want to see in future chapters, drop me a line in a review or PM! I love working with you guys…and after so many chapters of this story, sometimes it gets hard to come up with news story lines haha.

This chapter takes place right before the start of season 1. Read, Review, but most importantly ENJOY :)

Dean-26

Sam-22

Kate-18

It had been one of those weeks again. Kate felt like she was stuck in some rut, her mood just down and gloomy, not able to see anything good in or outside of the motel's four walls that were covered in chipped beige paint. Dean had already called her a Debbie Downer more times than she could count, and maybe he was right, but she just couldn't shake it off nor was she even willing to try. Staying in a bad mood was sometimes easier than trying to fix it. Heck, she couldn't even pinpoint the exact reason why she was feeling this way. There were too many possibilities and she couldn't bring herself to analyze any of them in-depth because that meant thinking about them.

Her head rested against her fist as she aimlessly drummed her pencil on the table, occasionally stopping so she could flip a page in the newspaper, half searching for any new cases, half trying to appear occupied in front of Dean's overbearing gaze.

Their dad had left them alone a few weeks ago to go work his own gig—by splitting up they could fight more evil ass. They'd finished up a gig in New Orleans and were on the prowl for another one while they waited for John to call with new orders. It had been over a week since they'd heard from him. Kate had voiced a little concern after the first few days. He'd so rarely send them off on their own to handle a case, so it was even stranger that he wouldn't be calling to check in every so often.

When she'd brought up her concerns, Dean had just reassured her that he was certain nothing was wrong. Over the years, she had learned to just accept what he said as law because he was usually right anyway; she tended to worry about nothing. But yesterday she really saw a change in him. They were quickly approaching the two-week mark of no communication from him, so tensions were high, even if he didn't admit it to her face.

She had watched from her bed where she'd pretended to be asleep as Dean slipped out of the room into the darkness of the night to make a phone call. She scurried and ducked underneath the window, only slightly peeping over to see what was going on. Dean paced back and forth beside the Impala, cell phone pressed against his ear. Then he suddenly froze, holding the phone out in front of him before snapping it shut. She watched as he turned, gazing up at the moon, seemingly lost in thought. He ran a tired hand down his face and along his jaw before taking a deep breath. Without warning, he'd turned toward the room and Kate was unable to hunch down out of sight in time. For a brief moment, their eyes locked as the lampposts outside illuminated their view. There wasn't any anger behind his eyes because she was spying on him, but rather something Kate rarely saw—fear.

Her heart pounding, she quickly crawled back into bed, unsure what to make of what she'd just seen. Moments later, Dean came back into the room and neither of them spoke or even acknowledged the other. There were some things they just couldn't speak out loud. And if Dean was worried, Kate was three times as worried.

As Kate continued to carelessly flip through another page of the local newspaper, all these thoughts continued to swirl around in her head. She suddenly felt overwhelmed, like the walls were closing in on her, not letting her breathe. She needed an escape…to get away from everything.

Unable to bear it a moment longer, she closed the newspaper and quickly stood up, causing her chair to resound loudly on the linoleum floor. Dean lifted his gaze toward her abrupt movement from his spot sitting up on the bed with the laptop across his legs. Kate grabbed her jacket and went toward the door. Confused by what was going on, he let out a fake cough to get her attention. Too caught up in her own thoughts, she didn't even flinch and continued across the room.

Dean tried coughing again, but to no avail. Sighing in annoyance, he called out just as she was reaching for the doorknob, "Kate, what are you doing?"

She paused as her hand rested on the knob, ready to escape. His voice had ripped her from her dark thoughts and she suddenly realized she hadn't thought this through. "I'm going out," she announced not bothering to turn and face him.

"Where?" he demanded, his overprotective side never rested.

"Just out, Dean," she blurted, trying to keep her voice steady.

He let out a disbelieving chuckle as he waited for her to elaborate more. She didn't say anything else and started to open the door, but even her quick movements were no match for his gigantic strides. In the blink of an eye, he was standing beside her, his hand firmly resting on the door, silently announcing she wouldn't be leaving. "Yeah, because last time you went 'out', I had to track your ass down halfway across America," he scoffed.

Kate's shoulders slumped at the mere mention of that. She had been fourteen at the time, why did he even bother to bring that up? She was eighteen now, legally an adult and if she wanted to go get some fresh air, she sure as hell could do so without written permission from her brother.

"Kate?" Dean nagged, his voice half irritated and half concerned that she hadn't said anything.

She closed her eyes as her tongue ran across her front teeth, trying to suppress her anger. She took a deep breath before hissing between clenched teeth, "To buy damn tampons, Dean."

Without wasting another second, she smacked his arm harshly and he reluctantly pulled it away, letting her open it and step outside. Frustrated at this whole situation, he yelled back at her, "Well that explains why you're a bitch!" before slamming the door behind him.

Kate hastily wiped away a few stray tears that had brimmed over as she continued down the sidewalk. She was tired of being treated like a child, having to detail everything she was going to do, but then again, her track record did have a few stains on it so it wasn't necessarily unwarranted.

Five days. It had been five days since their dad had found out about Sam's college plans and her brother's abrupt departure from their lives. Sure, she had known it would come eventually, but there was no time to prepare herself for the sudden goodbye. It wasn't fair. He was literally ripped out of their lives by their overbearing, irrational father. And further aggravating the situation, her father had still deemed her 'too young' to have her own cell phone, so there was no way to even call Sam, unless she'd steal Dean's or use the motel phone…neither of which were plausible because they would never leave her alone long enough to do it without them knowing. And there was no way she would ask for it. Their dad's indifferent attitude and Dean's stoic appearance didn't exactly welcome her to open up about what she was feeling inside.

The day after Sam had left, John made them pack up everything and they moved a few towns over to a run down motel room. He'd then announced that he'd found a lead on a new case and was going to investigate. He gave Dean specific instructions to stay put until he called with more information about where they should meet to set up camp. There was no telling if he had actually found a case or if he just wanted to go off and drink himself into oblivion for a few days to forget about Sam leaving. Either way, it left Dean and Kate alone.

Kate was sitting on the couch, watching some boring show on television, not fully paying attention. She was more preoccupied watching Dean out of the corner of her eye as he sat nearby at the table, skimming through some lore book. Finally, he disappeared into the bathroom and she rushed over and grabbed her backpack, hurriedly shoving a few shirts and essential items in it. She didn't have much time; she had to act fast. Quickly going over to the bathroom, she knocked on the door. "Yeah?" came Dean's voice from the other side.

"Hey, I'm going to go out for a bit, okay?" Her first approach was the simple one. Say you were going out and leave in the blink of an eye.

"Where?" he demanded.

"Just to the park," she replied nonchalantly.

Dean suddenly opened the door and Kate stumbled a few steps backwards. Well so much for her previous plan of hurrying out. His eyes narrowed, staring at her suspiciously. "Then why do you have your backpack?" he interrogated.

"I wanted to bring some stuff…I might read or write. It's a nice day outside, come on, Dean," she all but begged, appearing sincere.

He looked down impatiently at his watch, contemplating his answer. "Fine, but be home by 5," he relented. It wasn't every day that he'd let her go out alone, but after the last week they'd all suffered through, he knew a little space and fresh air would probably do her good.

Kate eagerly nodded before taking off out the door and heading into town toward the bus stop. She had one hour before he'd start to realize she was gone, and by that time, this small town would be long behind her.

Once she'd arrived at the small, brick building, she went inside and paid for her ticket to California before going out to take a seat on the bus—a window seat about halfway back. She wasn't able to fully relax until the driver started up the bus and they disappeared beyond city limits. There was no Dean in sight…she was home free now. She smiled, happy she was finally embarking on her long journey to Stanford. She was going to get the proper goodbye she needed.

Kate drug her feet along the ground as the swing moved back and forth. She watched as the dirt swirled around with each kick. Thankfully the park was almost abandoned. It was too early for the kids to be out of school for the day and the chilly early November weather wouldn't bring many here anyway. The slow rhythm of her rocking back and forth on the swing was somehow comforting. It was steady, contrary to everything else in her life at that moment. Their dad had just fallen off the face of the Earth and apparently forgot to take his cell phone. He didn't text, call, or even check his voicemails it seemed. All he'd done was leave two very worried children behind, each drowning under their own issues. Was he ever going to call? Would Dean finally cave and let them go physically search for him? Would he show up out of the blue with some crazy story and things would just go back to normal? So many scenarios, yet each one seemed less probable than the previous.

Unable to stand her own thoughts, she pulled out her mp3 player and put in her headphones, turning up the volume to a deafening level. She continued to swing, not taking her eyes off of her feet that continued to each dig their own hole in the dirt. If she hadn't been drowning out her own thoughts with music, she would have heard the Impala pull up along a curb about a block away from the park.

Forty minutes had passed and Dean still couldn't shake this strange feeling from the pit of his stomach. It was his sixth sense telling him that something was wrong and he couldn't ignore it any longer, so he grabbed the car keys and drove by the park. He got out and walked from one end to the other, but there was no Kate in sight. He felt his heart rate increase as his body slowly filled with sheer panic. Just then, a school bus passed by in front of him and everything seemingly fell into place; he knew exactly where to go. Speeding across town, he slammed the car in between two parking spaces, barely turning it off before he got out. He rushed up to the ticket counter and asked the lady if she'd seen a girl by Kate's description. Sure enough, she had boarded the bus heading for California that had left almost an hour ago by now.

He cursed under his breath before demanding all the information on the bus…its route, stops, everything. Not wanting to waste another second, he rushed to his car and peeled out onto the street, knowing he had to meet that bus at its first stop…six hours away.

Kate hadn't been able to sleep even a minute. With her forehead pressed against the window, she stared at all the passing fields of corn and beans as the sun slowly set and the twinkling stars began to appear one by one. She was relieved when the bus pulled into a station, announcing they had 10 minutes to stretch and whatnot. She had to go to the bathroom for the last two hours but refused to use the on-bus bathroom. That just seemed so…wrong to her. Stepping off the bus, she went to the bathroom and bought a few snacks for the next leg of the journey. She settled back into her seat as the driver yelled outside that there was one minute left.

Just as the driver had sat in his seat, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the ever-familiar black car slam into the parking lot, haphazardly parking alongside the bus. Her heart fell into the pit of her stomach and she had the sudden urge to throw up. She instinctively sank down lower in her seat, out of view from the window. Her breaths were short and shallow as her palms began to sweat. This was it, she was sure of it. Her brother was going to storm onto this bus and kill her with his bare hands. There wasn't a single doubt in her mind. She had at least hoped she'd get to California before he caught up to her, but apparently he moved quicker than she had anticipated.

Dean slammed the car door, pissed that all the damn construction and detours had made him get here almost too late. Five seconds later, Kate cringed as she instantly recognized his footsteps coming onto the bus. He exchanged some words with the driver, but she was too far away to hear anything, not like she would have even been able to concentrate on them over all her inward panicking.

She squeezed her eyes shut, falling back on the infamous child myth that if you can't see them, they can't see you. As soon as the inside of her eyelids darkened by a sudden shadow hovering over her, she knew the jig was up and death was imminent.

She hadn't even opened her eyes, still refusing to acknowledge this was real life, when he gripped her upper arm and yanked her out of the seat. Shoving her in front of him in the aisle, he growled in a low voice, "Move."

Kate shuffled along as his firm hand on her back wouldn't let her do otherwise. She felt her cheeks burn hot red with embarrassment as everyone stared at their family drama. After she'd about stumbled down the steps onto the pavement, Dean took hold of her arm again, dragging her over to the passenger's door. Opening it, he all but shoved her inside before making his way over to his own seat. As Kate was about to close her door, for about a millisecond, the thought crossed her mind to either take off running or get back on the bus, but the dagger-filled glare she felt burning into her side made her hand obediently close the door.

Deep down, Dean knew why she had done it. She hadn't gotten the proper goodbye she had so desperately craved and now there was something aching inside her. Dean would never admit it out loud, but he had felt the same way. So many times he'd wanted to pick up the phone and call Sam…but if his dad found out…he didn't even want to think about that right now. So he'd tried to remain stoic, acting like it honestly didn't bother him, but it was just one big façade.

Dean gripped the steering wheel, trying to decide if he was going to start yelling or make her suffer the typical torture technique of silence.

Kate stared out the window as she watched her only hope of seeing Sam again slowly disappear off into the distance. She slouched down in her seat, waiting for the screaming to begin. But instead, Dean sighed heavily as the engine roared to life. "What you did was inexcusable," he chided, his tone low. But I understand why you did it…he wanted to add, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. The car was sitting at the end of the entrance and Dean hesitated for a moment, looking over at her. "You were reckless, you lied to me and you ran away," he paused. "Do you have any idea how worried I was that I wouldn't get here in time? That something could have happened to you?" He waited for her to acknowledge anything he'd said, but she hadn't even ripped her gaze from the field across the road. "For god's sake, if I hadn't made it, I'd be chasing you ass down all the way in California. California, Kate!" His voice grew louder with each word.

"Dean…I'm…" she began, but decided there was no point to even finish that sentence because it would be a flat out lie. She wasn't sorry. Sorry she'd gotten caught, yes, but not sorry that she'd attempted it. Kate looked over at him, meeting his eyes for the first time. The way he'd spat the word "California" made her shoulders deflate, feeling like this really had been an awful idea to start with. Did she actually think she would have made it that far anyway? Deep down, no, but she had to try. Dean hesitated before reprimanding more. He took in her facial features for the first time. There was disappointment, hurt, regret…the list went on. And he couldn't blame her anymore because that was exactly how he felt on the inside. There was a sudden change in his demeanor and against his better judgment, he turned out on the road in the same direction as the bus.

She looked around for a few seconds, double-checking to make sure what she was seeing was correct. They were heading in opposite direction. Thinking he must be completely lost, she spoke up in a quiet voice, not wanting to set him off even more, "Uh, the hotel's the other way…"

Dean tapped his finger on the steering wheel as if it were helping him think about his response. Finally, he looked over at her, his face serious. "You tell Dad about this and I'll kill you."

Kate's brow furrowed, not understanding why he felt the need to say that. Of course she wasn't going to tell their dad that she'd run off and rode a bus six hours out of town on her way to see Sam. If she told John, Dean wouldn't even get the chance to kill her because she'd already be dead.

Dean sighed, noticing her confusion. "We've come this far, so might as well finish it."

It took a few seconds for it to register in her mind. They'd come this far…oh my. That's why he wasn't heading in the direction of their latest hometown…they were heading to California. Kate sat back in her seat, unable to wipe the grin off her face. She didn't care what had made him decide to go, she'd never ask him…the important part was he was in.

Instantly seeing her happiness, he barked, "But you listen." Her eyes met his as he took them off the road every few seconds. When he was sure he had her full attention, he threatened, "If you ever, I mean ever even so much as think about running off again, me dragging you off that bus will look like a walk in the park. Understood?" Kate nodded quickly as she visibly struggled to keep the smile off her face. It was too hard to hide her excitement. Dean continued, "And so you know, the second you step foot in that motel room again, your ass is grounded until I say so. Kapeesh?"

When Kate just continued to eagerly nod her head, Dean narrowed his eyes, silently demanding some kind of verbal confirmation. "Loud and clear, Captain," she replied a little too enthusiastically. She didn't even try to hide her excitement anymore. Dean could ground her for all of eternity if he wanted, it wouldn't bother her. They were going to see Sam. She was going to get the closure she desperately needed and that was what mattered most, damned be what happened when they got back.

Dean had gotten out of the car and was now resting up against a large tree a few feet from the park. He crossed his arms and watched as Kate pushed herself back and forth, never making it more than a six inches off the ground. Dean knew she had been worried. Hell, he had probably been worried longer than she had, but he would never let her know that. Always had to be strong, even when he knew something was up with their dad. His sixth sense had never been wrong yet. And knowing something was wrong worried him even more about his siblings. Why else had he followed Kate to the park? He couldn't shake the feeling that something had happened to their dad and it continued to eat away at him inside…that something might happen to his sister or brother. Only difference was, he had one of them within eyesight…the other he hadn't seen or talked to in quite a while.

He'd toyed around with the idea in his head for a few days now, not sure if it was the right thing to do. John was missing and something about it smelled fishy…or sulfury to him. So while they were getting to the bottom of that mystery, he needed to have the only other two important people in his life by his side…it was easier to protect them when they were close and he wouldn't have to sit up at night wondering if they were okay. He took a deep breath and stood up straighter, trying to fill himself with the right amount of confidence that this was the correct decision.

Dean walked up behind Kate and yanked out one of her earphones. Startled, she jumped up, fists at the ready to fight whoever was there. Dean couldn't help but smile at her reaction. Damn straight he'd taught her that. Rolling her eyes, Kate sat back down on her swing, clearly annoyed. "Want me to push you?" he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Not even bothering to look at him, she mumbled, "What do you want, Dean?" as she reached into her pocket to turn off her music.

"Dad's missing," he stated flatly, cringing at admitting those words out loud.

Kate shuffled her feet along the dirt before throwing back, "I told you that two weeks ago."

Dean inhaled deeply and explained, "I know and you were right." He paused. "But I never wanted to admit it because that opens up a new can of problems for us, Kate. I've tried everything I can think of and I can't get a hold of him. All I have is this voicemail he finally left me yesterday about the case he's working on."

Kate's eyes shot up at him. "He called you?! Why wouldn't you freaking tell me that, Dean!?" Her voice was filled with anger, but her facial expressions showed relief. A message from him meant he was alive.

Ignoring her direct question, he continued, "And I'm pretty sure there's EVP on the voicemail. Something's going on and I just…I think we all need to be together for this one." That way I can keep you both safe, he thought.

"What are you trying to say?" Confusion written all over her wrinkled forehead.

There was a beat of silence and the only thing that could be heard was the wind rustling through the leaves on the surrounding trees. Knowing it was now or never, Dean asked, "You up for a road trip?"

Kate shrugged her shoulders. "Where to?"

"Stanford."