Hello everyone! Thank you so much for your continued support and encouragement…you guys are seriously amazing! The fact that people continue to read this story and add it to their alerts blows me away! I wish I could give each and every one of you some ice cream. I apologize for taking so long but I have been extra busy lately, moving from one country to another, and this week I finally got my dream job :) So to celebrate, I give you guys this chapter!

A special thank you to Emma Winchester 424 for all of her help! She not only helps make me a better writer but is also a great friend. The Dean to my Sam. Where would I be without her? Not writing, I can tell you that! haha Please be sure to check out her AWESOME daughter fics…you can find them in my favorites! Read them and once you've recovered from having your socks blown off, leave her some love as well!

Okay, now on with the show! This is Part 1 of 2 and I'm just going to throw this out there, but reviews can definitely persuade me to finish the second part faster hehe :)

Read, Review, but mostly importantly ENJOY!

Dean-26

Sam-22

Kate-18

Kate was lying on the bed, her face stuck in the latest Nicholas Sparks novel, a guilty pleasure of hers, much to her brother's disgust. She was so engrossed in the latest romantic drama between the two main characters that she didn't notice Dean had already finished packing, tossing his bag on top of the small table near the door.

He came over and sat on the bed beside her, pushing the book down against her stomach with one hand. "You gotta stop reading this crap."

She harshly pulled the book out of his grasp, adjusting it in front of her face again. "It's just getting to the good part."

"You know he dies in the end," Dean announced indifferently.

Kate glanced at him momentarily over the top of the pages, scanning his face with uncertainty. "No he doesn't," she replied automatically, not even sure what the true answer was, but she couldn't bear the thought of that character dying…books weren't supposed to end like that! Real life, that was a given in her opinion. But a book? No!

"Uh, yes he does," he affirmed again, nodding his head.

"How would you even know?"

"I know things."

"About romance novels?" she countered, raising her eyebrows.

Dean stood up, not liking what she was implying now. He'd only wanted to give her a hard time, but she always had to make him feel like a girl. "Yeah, well, I'm just glad I won't be here to see your emotional breakdown when he does kick the bucket."

He started walking toward the table, completely distracted by her comment, and the side of his leg rammed into the wooden bedpost that was on the end of the bed. Normally the low-end hotels they stayed in would have the standard, cheap bed frame, but this place had decided to "splurge" and had oversized, wooden frames with thick, square bedposts on either end. They would never understand what possessed the people to purchase them because the beds alone took up a large chunk of the room…but they couldn't complain too much at the price they were paying for the room. Beggars can't be choosers.

"Damn it," he cursed under his breath before trying to casually continue to walk over to the table, hoping his sister hadn't noticed his little run in, but her muffled chuckle said otherwise.

Then he grabbed his leather jacket off the chair, and put it on, leaving his sister to stare at the cover of the novel, unable to digest that one of her beloved characters might not make it out alive in the end. Real life never had happy endings so if this book didn't either, Nicholas was going to be getting one hell of a letter from her. And now Dean just made her worried and anxious about a probably false ending that may never come, but either way, she had to finish this novel tonight and get answers.

Seeing him put his coat on, she went over toward the door and tossed the book down on the table beside his bag. "So you're heading out?"

She clearly already knew the answer to that question but felt a reason to ask it. Dean was going to work a case a few states over that their dad had sent him on. Nothing special, a quick salt and burn. The drive would probably take longer than the actual case, but there was no one else in the area, so John had put his son on it, and according to what Dean had said, John had left specific orders to leave Kate behind. At first she had been upset, assuming that her father didn't think she would be useful or that Dean could protect her. Eventually she'd gotten over it and was willingly embracing the days of freedom and being alone. But what she hadn't known was the argument John and Dean had had about it a few days earlier while she was still in school. Initially John had wanted Kate to go along but the eldest Winchester sibling had remained firm in his stance to let his sister finish out her last semester of senior year without any unnecessary absences. And since this trip would mean a minimum of three days, after a few choice words from their father, he had finally relented and agreed she could stay behind.

"I'll be back Wednesday night at the latest, okay?"

Kate just nodded in response. Five whole days to herself and she already knew how she'd spend them. That Friday night would be spent finishing her book and then the rest of the weekend would be either sleeping and binge watching TV or writing hate mail to the author, depending on the outcome. Then school, school, school, and more sleep. It probably wouldn't sound like a great time to a normal person, but she was used to sharing a room with between one to three other guys her entire life, so a few days alone? It was like the royal spa treatment—nobody to bang on the bathroom door, telling her to hurry up, or to make her go to bed at a certain time, or nobody to even annoy the crap out of her and demand the TV remote.

It was like five days in paradise on a deserted island.

"You gonna be good?" Dean asked, adjusting his coat.

"Aren't I always?" Kate threw him an exaggerated smile of an innocent child.

He shook his head at her theatrics. "You remember the rules?"

"Yes."

When she didn't reply any further, Dean held his hand out as if demanding she go into more detail. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Tell me the rules!"

"Ah, you only asked if I remembered them not to rep—" She was cut off as Dean reached over to hit the side of her head, but she quickly intercepted his hand with a loud smack. "I should be slutty, but safe, and wine before liquor, never been sicker." This time she had to duck down to miss his hand as it came flying at her. She was the all-time dodge queen.

"Be serious."

Kate sighed in resignation, knowing he wouldn't stop until they got past this part. It was the same as any other time he left her alone—whether it be for 12 hours or a week—he always felt the need to go over everything. After the hundredth time, she'd been so fed up with it that she'd invented her own way of repeating everything, much to Dean's annoyance. However, after he'd realized it was the best he was going to get from her, he eventually just let it slide.

"Extra salt on the popcorn, don't take candy from strangers, no Chinese take out after 8, and always sleep with a teddy bear." Which was her way of saying, salt the doors, don't open up for anyone but Dean, no leaving the room after dark, and always sleep with a gun under her pillow.

And like every other time she'd recited her own list, Dean's eyes narrowed in frustration at her inability to just do as he'd said, but he didn't give her a hard time about it. That ship had sailed long ago and had sunken quite quickly. He replied simply, "Good."

"You be safe," she said as Dean pulled the bag over his shoulder. Her face grew serious, always secretly hating this part when her father or brother would go off for a hunt and she'd never know what kind of state they'd show back up in…or even if they'd come back at all.

"Aren't I always?" Dean mocked, throwing Kate's own words right back at her. She stepped closer and lightly punched him in the chest, not liking his sarcastic response. Seeing that she wasn't satisfied with his answer, he grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her in for a quick hug. Embracing the little physical affection Dean did show, she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. "You know I will be," he said softly, patting her on the back a few times before trying to pry her off of him. Dean's personal bubble had been violated for five seconds too long when this hug had started.

Reluctantly Kate gave in to his shoving and let go, stepping back again. "Okay, time for you to go," she announced, pushing him toward the door. The sooner he got out of this place, the sooner her fun plan would begin. Things had been quite boring around the motel room in recent weeks. Kate had been on her best behavior for no particular reason at all, but none of it had seemed right and it wasn't until that morning when she realized what it was. She hadn't pissed Dean off in over two weeks. If Sam had been there, he'd be seriously disappointed in her. It was her job to annoy the crap out of him and she'd seemingly failed, but not today. No, today was going to be fun.

"Fine, fine," Dean replied, slapping her arms away. He stood in the doorway and turned around again. "I'll call tonight."

Kate just nodded her head and continued shoving him on his way, closing and locking the door in his face. She was more than ready for him to leave so her entertainment would begin.

Grabbing her book, she plopped down on the bed again, opening up to her latest page, but never actually focusing in on the words; instead, she was fully concentrating on the sounds coming from outside the window. There was the ever familiar noise of the backdoor opening as he tossed in his duffle bag before getting into the front seat. Normally the roar of the Impala engine would soon follow as he backed out of the spot and peeled out onto the road, but there was just silence.

Dean reached for the ignition, prepared to turn the key. However, his hands didn't find the cool metal, but rather nothing at all. He began to pat down all of his pockets, trying to figure out where he'd misplaced the damn keys. After searching high and low in the car, he grumbled a string of curse words under his breath about how this was already setting him back on his trip.

Bang bang bang. "Open up, Kate!" When two seconds went by and she hadn't opened the door, he impatiently pounded on it again.

"Miss me already?" Kate smirked as she opened the door and was met with his glare.

He didn't waste any time shoving past her and back inside. "You aren't supposed to open the door without the password," he reprimanded half-heartedly, not even bothering to look at her because he was already scouring the room for his misplaced object. "Help me find the car keys."

Kate rolled her eyes at his incessant need to scold her, even if it was more out of reflex than actual concern this time. She watched as he stared around the room, struggling to keep her smirk at bay. Normally Dean's cell phone was "misplaced", more often than not with a little help from his sister, but that was so mundane these days that Kate felt the need to spice it up. Do something people weren't always expecting. And, so far, Dean was none the wiser.

"How do you always lose crap, Dean?" she interrogated as she went to sit back on the bed and pick up her book.

"I didn't lose them!" He threw clothes out of his other duffle bag, hoping to hear the familiar jingling sound of keys falling to the floor. Glancing over to the other bed, he spotted his sister yet again sitting comfortably and reading, like she didn't have a care in the world and it made his blood start to boil. Every minute searching meant a minute he'd have to make up for on the road and it was already going to be a long enough drive. "Get off your ass and help me find them!" he exclaimed, tossing the empty bag at her in annoyance.

She sighed heavily. Don't get her wrong, torturing Dean was possibly her favorite, if not only, pastime, but sometimes it just wasn't as much fun without Sam by her side to laugh with.

Nine-year-old Katie and thirteen-year-old Sam huddled together in the corner of the room both boys shared at Bobby's. Sam held out his cupped hand in front of his sister, something hidden beneath his fingers. "I got them!" he exclaimed in a hushed voice.

Katie jumped up and down with excitement and pulled on his arm for him to peel back his fingers. "Let me see!" Their eyes locked and glowed with delight at their latest doing. Over the last few years, their relationship had involved more arguments than actual conversation, but there was always something that would being them together and back on the same team—messing with their older brother.

It'd taken a whole day for them to agree on a plan and then another day to figure out how to actually get the keys. It involved excellent acting and distraction skills from Katie and Sam's stealth ability to sneak around unnoticed. The entire thing had gone without a hitch.

Three keys hung off of the ring and Kate couldn't help but pick them up and feel all its glory. Even so much as touching the Impala keys had been strictly off limits, so it was like they'd finally found the hidden treasure—the holy grail of all holy grails. However, their moment of elation was short lived when they heard grumbling voices downstairs in the study.

"Hey, Bobby, have you seen my car keys?" Dean asked, trying to sound casual about it. Admitting he'd misplaced them was out of the question because if John found out, he was sure to never hear the end of how irresponsible he was.

Bobby slowly lifted his gaze from the lore book resting on his desk. "Do I look like a butler to you, boy?"

Dean nodded his head once. "I'm going to take that as a no," he said before heading toward the stairs.

At hearing his footsteps, Katie immediately dropped the keys back in Sam's hands. "We have to hide them!"

Sam looked around, trying to come up with a quick plan. "I got an idea," he smirked and took off sprinting out into the hall.

As Dean continued to tear the room to bits, Kate sat up in the bed and half-heartedly started turning over the pillows in a lame attempt to help him search.

"Where the hell are they!" Dean yelled in frustration at no one in particular.

"I wonder what Dad would say if he were here?" Kate asked with a smirk. This was just too much fun. Of course she would have never even attempted this prank had John been anywhere within a 100 mile radius because she'd never want to put Dean in a position like that.

Dean paused for a second as if thinking over her question. He without a doubt knew what their dad would say. Why can't you take care of the things I give you!? he would bark. Fully aware that she was just saying things to push at his buttons, he just raised an accusing finger at her and grumbled, "Shuddup." After a few more seconds and she hadn't gotten off the bed, he said in a low voice, "Make yourself useful!"

Kate sighed heavily and reluctantly stood up, shuffling over to the kitchen to casually look through the cupboards, even though she knew the keys wouldn't be there. "They aren't here, Dean."

"Well I know they didn't just grow legs and walk away!" Dean said as he ripped the bedding apart.

"Guess you'll just have to hot wire the car then," Kate joked over her shoulder without thinking anything of her quip. Had she been facing her brother, she would have seen how he suddenly stood up and froze, the words registering in his mind and triggering a faint memory he'd tucked away years ago.

Dean had already torn through the entire upstairs, retracing every step he'd taken that day in search of his missing car keys. Suddenly Katie appeared in the doorway of his bedroom. "Still can't find them?" she asked, visibly struggling to hide her smile.

It didn't take but a millisecond for him to notice her apparent enjoyment of his current situation and with a few quick steps, he was standing in front of her. "No, I haven't. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"

Shaking her head fervently, she replied a simple "no, nothing." Kate's eyes widened like saucers as she stared up at her tall brother hovering over her. The expression she saw was the same one that would normally make her run away and hide under the bed. And maybe she would have done just that if it weren't for Sam showing up in the doorway.

He gave her shoulder a tight, reassuring squeeze before resting his body against the doorframe with his arms crossed. "That sucks, man. Guess you'll just have to hot wire the car then."

Dean scowled deeply at him for the mere mention of doing such an atrocity to his prized possession.

In a few short strides, he was over in the kitchen behind her. Without wasting another second of his already wasted time, he gripped onto her upper arm and turned her around to face him. "Where did you hide them?!" he demanded, his glaring eyes bearing into her.

Kate smacked his arm away, but it was to no avail. "I didn't do anything." She had to bite her bottom lip to keep from smiling at the wrinkles on his forehead that always appear when he was stressed out.

"Don't you lie to me!" he growled, gripping her arm more. "I need to get going now, Kate."

In a burst of strength, she ripped her arm from his grasp and shrugged. "I don't lie anymore. Gave it up for lent."

"You're not religious."

Her face twisted up in thought as if mulling over the idea. "Then it was a New Year's resolution."

"Don't lie to me about lying to me!" he yelled to her back as she walked over toward the bed. He just ran an irked hand down his face at how stupid he'd just sounded.

She turned around and no longer bothered to hide her smirk. "Nobody keeps their resolutions anyway."

Dean grumbled and stormed off into the bathroom, harshly throwing the toilet lid up as it crashed against the back. He cursed under his breath and walked back out into the main room.

Kate shook her head at him, making a tisk tisk sound. "Do you really think I'm stupid enough to put them in the same place twice?"

Dean had a death grip on the back of Sam's neck as his pissed off eyes met his brother's slightly amused ones. "Take me to the damn keys. For real this time, Sam, or I will end you."

Sam had already taken his brother on a few wild goose chases for the keys…out in the auto shop, in an abandoned car, even in Bobby's bedroom, much to his annoyance. Dean had reached his wit's end and was about to pound his brother into the ground if he didn't give the keys back now.

Both of the younger siblings had known that their fun could only go on for so long. They shared a quick, forfeiting glance before Kate grabbed onto Dean's wrist and started dragging him down the hall, Sam still being pulled beside him.

"They're in that," Kate admitted, pointing to the closed toilet.

Dean shoved Sam harshly as he let go and marched over to the bowl. "You've got to be fucking kidding me," he mumbled lifting up the lid and much to his despair, there sat his keys at the bottom.

"It's clean water," Katie confessed like it would somehow make it all better.

"Get you asses over here and get my keys out," he bellowed in a low tone. When nobody moved or said anything, he added, "NOW!"

Seeing the anger literally radiate off of his body, they were both on the defense now.

"It was Sam's idea!"

"But Katie actually did it!"

Dean's eyes danced back and forth between the two as if weighing their guilt. In his mind, they were both equally to blame, but he wasn't in the mood right now to sort it out. Since Katie was standing within arms reach, he yanked her over to his side, grabbing her shoulders to position her body facing the shiny object resting at the bottom of the bowl.

Her panicking eyes looked from one pissed off brother behind her to the other suddenly disgusted one. Sure the water may have been clean, but shoving her hands in there just seemed…dirty. "But Deeeean," she whined.

His only response was grabbing her arm and roughly pushing up her sleeve. Katie sighed, resigning herself to her fate.

Kate had learned her lesson all those years ago and the fact that he thought she'd actually commit that mistake twice just proved that he was the stupid one after all.

"Where are they?!"

"I can't remember."

Dean quickly closed the distance between them, trapping her in between the two beds. "Do you remember what I told you the last time you did this?"

"I believe your precise words were," she coughed, clearing her voice to imitate his deep one, "'Damn it, Katie, if you do this again, you're going to get it!'"

His eyes narrowed. "And yet you had a relapse of stupidity and chose to do it again." He held out his hand in front of him. "Give me the keys now and I'll go easy on you."

She smiled and almost let a laugh escape. It was like literally laughing in the face of imminent danger, but she strangely wasn't afraid. Making Dean mad on purpose was always a great experience until he made things become serious…

"Okay then, don't say I didn't warn you!" Dean took off his jacket, carelessly tossing it on the empty bed, as if leaving was no longer at the forefront of his mind. "You're going to be really sorry, Katelyn."

At his words, Kate quickly sunk back onto the bed, pushing her back up against the headboard, trying to put as many centimeters of distance between the two of them, even though she knew she was trapped. All fun things must come to an end and apparently Dean was dead set on carrying out a threat he'd made almost a decade ago.

He took another threatening step toward her and she held her arms out in front of her, blocking him from coming any closer. "Come on, Dean! You said that years ago."

"I never go back on my word. The rules are for life and apparently today you have a death wish," he snapped, starting to roll up his sleeves, a scowl on his face.

"But I'm eighteen…you can't do this! Those rules don't apply anymore!"

"Oh, they still apply alright." Dean took a step closer and rested his hands on either side of her. "I don't care how much you scream or beg me to stop, you deserve what you got coming. Understood?"

Had this been any other situation…had Dean found out she'd stolen the Impala again or half-assed cleaned the guns or that she'd only ran two miles of the mandatory five and instead stopped for ice cream…this would have been a very different scenario. There wouldn't be a small, playful smirk forming at the corner of her lips.

"Are you smiling?" Dean growled, causing Kate to throw her arms over her face to block it from his view. And that was his golden opportunity. "Bad move."

He picked up his hands and shoved them into her sides, moving his fingers around rapidly and eliciting a loud laugh from his sister that she tried to stifle by biting her lip. But this was only the beginning.

Kate had been extremely ticklish her entire life and her brothers had, on more than one occasion, used that to their extreme advantage. And Dean specifically remembered threatening his nine-year-old sister that if she ever even thought about stealing his keys again, let alone did it, he'd tickle her until she reached her eventual death.

She started to writhe back and forth, bursts of laugher escaping her mouth as she was no longer able to hold it in. Suddenly Dean sat down on her legs to keep her from trying to roll away. "Where are the damn keys!" he demanded, thinking maybe she'd be more willing to give up information under torture.

"I…don't…know," she screamed between gasps for air as she continued to crack up.

"I can do this all day, midget," Dean mocked as he relentlessly continued to attack her sides.

"Pleeeease…stop…," she giggled. Kate twisted from side to side, hoping to free herself, even if it was just for a moment to catch her breath as tears began forming in her eyes from laughing so hard. As much as Dean wanted to remain tough and angry, her laughter was contagious and he found the sides of his lips struggling to pull back in a smile.

Just then, Dean unexpectedly stopped and stood up again, an intimidating look on his face. "Last chance…" She had one last chance at redemption before he attacked her weak spots without mercy.

Kate took a moment to breath as she stared up at her older brother. Playing this game, albeit a little childish, felt fun and invigorating, something they very rarely got to enjoy, much less together anymore.

So, with no other option coming to mind, she yelled out a fateful "Never!" before kicking her leg out and into his side. She barely put any force behind it, not actually wanting to hurt him, but just enough that she'd be able to roll off the bed and make a quick break for the bathroom to hide. However, the force was more than she intended and added with the fact that Dean hadn't been expecting to receive it, the sudden shove sent him off balance as he stumbled backwards. Unable to regain proper footing, he tripped to the side and went tumbling toward the ground. It all happened so fast, but it seemed like slow motion though Kate's eyes, unable to stop what was about to come.

Dean turned his head to the side to try and see where to quickly put his hand and catch his falling body. But at that precise moment, it was too late. His temple connected with the corner of the square post at the foot of the bed frame. A loud crack resounded through the room as his body fell limp on the floor.