Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I'm glad you all seem to enjoy an entertaining drunk Kate as much as I do! haha...so much fun to write :) Remember to thank Emma Winchester 424 for her help in writing Dean by checking out her awesome daughter-fic!

Here's the final conclusion to their drinking fest! Please be sure to let me know what you think...I always love hearing your feedback.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

She smiled sweetly. "Bummer, De. You already used up your five questions. I can't answer it. My turn!" She clapped her hands together, excited that she outsmarted him.

He stopped, confused as he tried to count his questions on his fingers. "Wait a minute...no I didn't...did I...No...wait...Kate, for fuck's sake, answer the damn question."

"Consider this your bonus question because I'm nice." There was still a sweet, innocent smile plastered on her face. "I didn't skip school today," she lied perfectly through her teeth.

Dean leaned right down in her face. He was not sure if she was drunk enough to buy this, but he was going to try it on her anyway. "I know for a fact you did. You know how?" He whispered, "Because I'm magic."

Her eyes went as wide as saucers at hearing her brother's secret confession. "But you have to use your powers for good and not evil, De. Getting me in trouble would be evil."

"I am using my powers for good, Kate. I'm keeping balance in the world. So tell me- why did you skip school today? And remember, I'll know if you're lying. I'm magic." He couldn't believe this was actually working.

She stared at him squinting one eye. "If you really do have magical powers, prove it. And then I'll tell you."

"Fine." Without thinking twice, he grabbed a deck of cards that he been left sitting on the table and began to shuffle. He fanned them out and instructed her to pick a card. After much deliberation, she did and he told her to put the card back in the deck randomly. He shuffled again, smacking the cards down on the table and told her to turn over the top card. She did- and it was her card. Her emerald green eyes were sparkling with awe like they used to when she was younger and he'd do that card trick, but it was like she was seeing it for the first time. "Wow! You're so cool."

"Now spill," he commanded, tossing the cards back on the table, silently thankful he'd learned to master that trick, never thinking it'd come in handy.

She looked around the room for a second as she tried to remember where this conversation was supposed to go. "Oh yeah, the story. I didn't go to school because I had to buy the bottle of tequila you stole from me." She pointed over to where it was hiding under the chair.

"So you ditched to buy liquor? And you want to tell me why you needed liquor in the first place?" His eyes narrowed at her menacingly.

She sighed excessively and threw her arms up in the air. "Fine, you can stop pressuring me already! I'll just tell you." She hesitated for a moment and then confessed, "It's because I was sad, Deanie." She giggled at her use of his least-liked nickname of all time. "But you can't tell Dad! Please!"

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Okay...I won't tell dad." He tried to make his voice calm and smooth, "Why were you sad, Katie?"

"Deeeeeeean. I'm tired of alllll these questions. Now it's my turn!" She sat up straighter and crossed her legs Indian style on the couch. She asked her question in one, long breath, "If the boat was burning and you were in a two-person kayak, coming to save our family...but you could only save one person because there's only room for one. Who would it be?" She blinked as she waited his answer.

Without missing a beat, he quipped, "Whoever has pie." He sat back, his arms crossed, satisfied with his response.

"But what if we all have pie! We are all begging you to save us and eat pie but you can only choose one!" She held up her index finger in his face. "ONE! Who would it be?"

The question and her insistence were rubbing him the wrong way. "Kate. Stop it. I'm not answering your stupid questions anymore." He turned away from her.

"Well then I'm not answering any more of your stupid questions either!" She crossed arms and turned away from him as well, like an old bickering couple.

But when he heard her say that, he realized his only chance to get answers from her was to answer the freaking question. Dean sighed in frustration. "Okay, fine. I'd save you. Okay? I'd save you." He had to add on something snarky to try to mask his feelings and keep this from being a chick-flick moment that she was bound to make it into. "But only if you have apple pie."

Kate didn't know if he was just saying that because she was sitting in front of him or if it was really true, but she didn't care. That was the least of her worries. Her heart almost burst with love as she lunged herself at Dean and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. "I knew it!"

Despite all his efforts to keep his face stoic, he couldn't help it. He grinned a little and patted her on the back before shoving her off him. "Well, don't tell Dad. Or Sam. They'll only get jealous."

She settled back into her seat. "I promise I won't tell them." She saluted him like a good solider. "But I knew I was your most favoritest. That's why I got you something." She went over and rummaged through her backpack until she pulled out a snickers bar. "This is for you! Your favorite candy bar from your favorite person!" In reality, sober Kate had bought it as a means to calm an angry Dean down after he'd found out she drank. But seeing as events changed, it seemed like the right moment.

Dean stared at the candy bar- it was a simple gesture, but it really spoke volumes to him-something so little and simple, although he'd never admit how much it meant to him. "Thanks, midget." He unwrapped it and bit it in half before asking nonchalantly, "So, tell me why you were sad enough to buy tequila."

Kate felt much more relaxed now that he wasn't attacking her with questions. "I'm going to give you two answers and you have to guess which one it is!" She loved guessing games. "One, my boyfriend broke up with me or two, Dad told me he doesn't like me," she said both with little emotion or clues in her tone or facial expressions.

"Whoa- what? You had a boyfriend? And what do you mean Dad said he didn't like you?"

"Deeeeeeeeeaaaannnnn," she said in a loud whiney voice. "You didn't listen! I said two things but only one is true! You have to guess which one!"

"Okay...geez, keep your hair on. I'm going to guess…your boyfriend broke up with you? And if that's the case, you have a hell of a lot of explaining to do." His face became stern.

"Ha ha ha ha!" she sang to a made up tune. "You lose! I win! You picked the wrong one." She smiled proudly that she was able to fool him.

He was stunned. This had to be drunk Kate talking out of her ass. "Hang on. Dad said what now?"

"It's a long story…I think. Maybe I'll tell you tomorrow! Let's play another game instead. I really like hide and seek." She threw him her angelic smile.

Dean ran a frustrated hand down his face, but then got a brilliant idea. "Okay. Hide and seek. You remember the rules- you have to stay in the room."

Her face lit up like a Christmas tree when he didn't put up a fight to playing this time. She jumped up, energetic and ready to go. "Do I hide or seek?"

"You hide and when I find you, you have to tell me one thing that I ask you." He eyed her and waited until she nodded her head.

"'Kay. Got it!" she confirmed, nodding her head eagerly. Then she motioned for Dean to go stand facing the door so she could hide. He started counting as she desperately searched around the room for a decent place to hide. Under the table? Too obvious. In the fridge? No, she probably wouldn't fit anymore. Under the bed? Even drunk Kate knew that was gross. The only spot left! The bathtub. She took off running and hopped in, pulling the curtain closed, which was without a doubt loud enough for the whole floor to hear, but she didn't think twice about it.

He pinched his lips together at hearing the noise, keeping with the game. But he was going to play by her rules and get these answers out of her, dammit. "...Nine...Ten...Ready or not, here I come!" He started tiptoeing around the room. "Kaaaaaaatie...Kaaaaaatie..."

She heard him calling her name, trying to coax her out, but this time she was determined to remain quiet. She crouched down as far as she could in the tub and waited.

He snuck around without purpose for a while like he'd used to do all those years ago, then creeped into the bathroom, throwing open the curtain and grabbing her arm. "Gotcha! HA! Now you have to answer my question."

She giggled as she tried to squirm from his grasp. Finally, she gave up. "Okey dokey. What's your question?"

Without wasting another second, he asked the question that had been plaguing him for a while tonight. "What did Dad say that made you sad enough to buy tequila?"

"Dad told me I wasn't as good as Sam," she said nonchalantly as she climbed out of the tub and started to walk past Dean toward the main room, thinking he'd told him the answer, so the conversation was over.

But he grabbed onto her arm again to keep her from walking off. "Hold on. What do you mean, Dad said you weren't as good as Sam? When did he say that?" And why hadn't he known this before now? Was this drunk Kate talking?

She sighed loudly like she was annoyed she had to explain this and that he just didn't know already. "He's said it all the time for the last few months." She mimicked her father's deep voice, "You can only run a seven-minute mile but Sam could do it in six. At least Sam knew how to properly clean guns. Sam could hack into stuff like a pro so why can't you figure it out." Then she returned to her normal voice. "Don't you listen when Dad talks?" Because to her that was the only thing that had come out of his mouth lately.

He was stunned. There was no other word to describe it. He'd expected she'd bitch about something at school—a mean teacher or some ass hat poking fun at her—but he'd never expected those words to come out of her mouth. He'd completely missed this and a wave a guilt overcame him. "Kate, I had no idea. He...he shouldn't be saying that shit to you. There's a ton of stuff that you're better at than Sam."

"No, Dean, you're wrong. I can't. I can't do anything better than him." The words came out with such ease, as if she were simply telling him about the weather, like this was a natural conversation they'd had every day. "For the last few months, I've tried but it wasn't enough." Ripping her arm from his grasp, she literally stumbled back into the room and plopped down on the closest bed. "That's what I was thinking about when the demon got me. I was distracted. And then the demon was mean, remember?" Her inebriated mind remembered at least telling him something about the demon. She continued, stating matter of factly, "That night I cried." She looked over her shoulder at the spot on the bed where she had been when it'd happened, a nostalgic look. "Dad wasn't happy with me."

"Hey." His heart was tightening as he listened to this. He took a seat down next to her. "Kate, look. You're different than Sam, that's all. Yeah, you should have stayed focused on the hunt, but hell, we've all been caught before. Dad doesn't know what he's talking about. You hear me?"

"No. He's right. I was crying but I tried to be quiet about it like always." Something that seemed to happen more and more lately. "But I can't even do that right." Her gaze dropped to the floor. "Dad came over and muttered how at least Sam knew how to keep it together after a hunt." Suddenly her green eyes pricked with tears met his. "But that's not even right! Sam used to cry sometimes too. But he was good at hiding it." Her shoulders fell. What she didn't know was John had had a few drinks after that hunt, causing him to utter that hurtful remark without really meaning its contents.

Dean was once again stunned into silence; he couldn't form a single word, so he did the only other thing he could think of. He reached out and pulled her into his arms.

Kate embraced his hug for a moment as she tried to stifle the few cries that slipped past her lips. After a bit, she pulled back, determined to get it all out. "I've tried to be better, Dean. I really have. I even tried harder in school this year. Remember a while ago when you told me if I actually applied myself more in school, I could be smarter than Sammy? Huh? You 'member?"

He smoothed the hair back from her face in an untypical Dean gesture. "Yeah, I remember." It had been more of a side comment; he hadn't really meant anything by it or thought she'd even remember. He had been playing around with her, but she had taken him dead seriously. The amount of impact he had on her life hit home for him in that moment. And it scared him. It scared the living shit out of him. Because he'd always wanted more for Kate, even though he could never directly tell her that. She needed to be better than he was. She WAS better than he was. But he couldn't find the words to tell her that.

"You were probably joking, but I wanted to do something right. To make Dad happy. So I tried really hard on my History test. I wanted to get an A to hike up my grade, you know? Then I could show Dad and he'd be proud of me for being like Sam." She paused as she rested her head against his chest again and sniffled a few times before continuing. "And then that whole demon hunt happened, Dad made that mean comment, and after everything that happened that weekend, I forgot about the test. I had barely studied. We got the grade back yesterday…and I failed. I cut school after that and just haven't wanted to go back. Because I failed. I can't be as good as Sam in anything."

He squeezed her tightly. "Katie, I'm so sorry he made you feel like this. You're the farthest thing from a failure. Dad had no right making those comments; it's a lie, you have to know that. I've watched both you and Sam grow up and I can say without a doubt you're more intelligent than he'll ever be."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah right. He's going to be a lawyer, Dean. I can't top that."

Dean decided to approach this from another angle, it was his only option to try and get through to her. He gently pulled Kate back so she was forced to look at his face. She quickly brushed away the tears with the back of her hand, suddenly embarrassed. "Sure, fancy pants Sam might become a lawyer someday, but he's always going to be the kid who failed art class in high school."

Kate was visibly taken back by the sudden revelation. "What are you talking about?"

Dean let out a soft grin, happy he'd finally gotten her attention to adjust even if her eyes were still glazed over from a mixture of tears and booze. "Yeah, Sam can't draw a stick figure to save his life, but he had to enroll in an art class at this one school we were at in Idaho a few years back. Some crazy shit about mandatory requirements. Anyway, he sucked so bad he failed a class even I passed. I mean the teacher had it out for him from the beginning after he'd missed half the semester, but still, it's hilarious." Dean laughed at the memory. Even though failing the class hadn't entirely been Sam's fault (the teacher really was a jackass), but Kate didn't need to know all the small details on this one.

Kate was still unable to wrap her mind around what he was saying. "But how did you find out? He never told me that." The sudden realization that there were things she didn't even know about Sam hit her hard.

"Easy. Because he didn't want anyone to know. I only found out because I saw him altering his grade on the report card. Caught red handed. 'Course I didn't turn him into Dad because we all know how that would have ended."

She just nodded, unsure what else to say for a moment until a though occurred to her. "So how did Smart Ass Sam get into college?"

For the first time all night, his tipsy-self let the word slide. "How do you think? Sam could cover up our credit card scams like a pro. Altering his official academic record was a piece of cake."

"Huh." Her drunken mind was in awe of the sudden revelation.

"Dad only thinks Sam got straight A's his whole life because that's what the paper told him. I'm sorry that he turned it on you. God, Kate, I am so sorry." He took her face in his hands, tear stains still clear on her cheeks. "You need to know how proud I am of you. You're way better than I could ever be. You're better than Sam. And Dad is blind for not seeing that."

But there was a new wave of alcohol-induced tears that she could no longer hold back as her bottom lip quivered. She looked Dean right in the eye and she could see how serious he was, even in her not normal state of mind. "You really think so?" Being compared to Sam so much lately had taken a toll on her self-confidence and for the first time she was starting to see herself differently. She felt like she did almost a decade ago, always wanting the affirmation from her eldest brother on everything. Her green eyes searched his, anxiously waiting in suspense, and she confessed without a filter, "I don't think I could ever be better than you. You're the best." A genuine smile flashed across her face as she was hit with a whole new wave of admiration for her brother.

He smiled affectionately and wiped a couple of her tears away with his thumbs. "I may be awesome, but you're better than I am, okay? You got to know that. Listen, Kate. The main difference between you and Sam is the most important. You're fighting for our family, not against it. Family is the most important thing there is." Never without his wit, he added with a perfectly straight face, "Aside from pie."

Kate smiled wide and leaned into his side as he draped an arm over her shoulders. She wrapped her arms around his middle and even though she wouldn't remember a single word of this conversation in the morning, she said something that she never would have spoken out loud, "All the family I need is right here."

"You know it." He gave her a tight squeeze back before letting go, having enough of the drunken soap opera moment he could take. "So listen. You're not going to remember this tomorrow, so we're going to go over it again in the morning. You're better than skipping school and drinking this young. You hear me?"

Her eyes were still closed as she rested her head on his shoulder. "But it's so fun. I like drinking."

"Trust me, you're gonna be singing a different tune tomorrow. Here, you need to drink some water." He got up and crossed to the sink for a glass of water.

She reluctantly received the glass from him and took a few sips. "Hey Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"How come you let me drink with you? Especially since you knew I skipped school and was bad."

"First off, you're not bad. You made a poor choice to skip school and buy cheap booze, but we've all been there and you won't be doing it again." He leaned in with the last phrase, making his point clear. "And we did this because you needed it. Besides, if you're going to freaking drink, no matter how many times I tell you not to, I'd rather watch over you myself than leave it to some drunk frat boy douchebag." He smirked, also thinking the hangover she was going to have would be plenty of punishment and hopefully enough to convince her to make this a one-time occurrence.

She sighed loudly, relieved almost. "I think I needed it, too." She started to say something else but Dean put his fingers on the bottom of the water glass and pushed it back up to her lips, forcing her to drink more because he knew she'd just keep talking and never drink it. She took a few more gulps before pulling it back down. "But I can take care of myself, you know. You taught me how to beat people up after all." She threw him a smug grin.

"Damn straight. And you have a mean right hook. I mean, you know, for a girl. Finish your water."

She took another gulp and stopped. "'For a girl'?! You want to test that theory?" She held up her free hand in a fist near his face.

Without missing a beat, Dean reached up and slapped the side of her head. She was too drunk to see it coming or block it. "Consider the theory tested. Now drink."

She rubbed the side of her head while she obediently finished off the glass, handing it back to him and declaring, "You're Captain Meanie."

"And you're drunk. You'll thank me tomorrow." He took the finished glass and went to refill it, handing it right back to her once again.

She stared at the glass in shock. "Mooooore? Can we make it a beer instead?"

"Yes more and no beer. You're officially cut off from booze tonight."

She grumbled something under her breath as she started to drink again, her mind wondering. She suddenly paused and asked, "Hey Dean?" He sighed rather loudly, knowing yet another question was coming. But she asked innocently, "Did you ever do this with Sam?"

Dean snorted a laugh. "We never stayed in the room and drank, if that's what you're asking." They'd taken their drinks elsewhere, never wanting to drink in front of their younger sister at the time. "And Sam certainly wasn't this entertaining."

"So does that mean we can go out and drink together next time?" she asked, hope clear in her voice.

"We'll see." But he couldn't quite keep the smile off his face, which told her that the answer is totally yes, in a few years. "Alright. Time for shut eye."

Her shoulders slumped at hearing her party was coming to an end. "But I'm not even tired, Dean."

He eyed the clock quick—it was almost 2 in the morning—before eyeing her closely. "You sure about that, midget?"

She blinked hard a few times, trying to get the sleep out of her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure." She knew she had to gather up some energy to act awake. So she said the first thing that came to mind, "Let's play Hide and Seek again!"

Dean was about to object to such an idea, but then an evil grin formed on his face—this could be fun. She was on the verge of falling asleep anyway, so he could only imagine where he'd find her passed out. He replied smoothly, "Sounds good. You hide, I'll seek" He pretended to cover his eyes and started to count. He felt like he was trying to get four-year-old Katie to bed again and the sudden wave of the memory hit him harder than he would ever admit to himself or anyone. There was something about the innocence and simplicity of her at that age that he missed deeply. He shook his head, trying to keep his alcoholically encouraged thoughts away.

"No peeking!" she reminded. Looking around the room again, she weighed her (limited) options. After much deliberation between a bathtub repeat or hiding behind the curtain, she spotted the table and decided that was the most perfect spot in the entire world for this round. Nobody would ever find her in the shadows of the cracked wooden table. She headed over there and saw Dean's leather jacket on the back of a chair, an idea forming. She grabbed it and hurriedly crawled under the table, placing the coat over her as if it were adding an extra layer of invisibility cloak. She shut her eyes and realized how nice that feels…

Dean began counting in a low, soothing tone...

Kate slowly moved the coat away from her face, the leather almost suffocating her. She tucked it under her chin and kept her eyes closed while listening to Dean count, anxiously waiting for him to come. But the soothing sound and relaxing feeling of finally lying down…it didn't take long for her to finally give in to the sleep she hadn't known she was fighting. And she drifted off to the land of lollipops and werewolves.

After a few more moments, Dean turned around and instantly spotted her under the table. He snickered—this was exactly the way she used to fall asleep when she was a kid—through an impromptu game of Hide and Seek. It had been Dean's secret weapon in her early years. He walked over to pick her up, carrying her over to the bed and tucking her in beneath the covers. He left a glass of water next to her on the nightstand, knowing she was going to need it. He flicked off the room lights and got ready for bed himself.

As he finally settled under his covers, he stole a quick glance at her again and smiled as he thought back on the entire night. He wouldn't change it for anything. Like always, his brotherly instincts had been on cue, knowing that there was something deeper going on with her without even knowing the problem in the beginning. And if that meant he had to give her the alcohol-filled evening she'd desperately wanted, hell, he'd do it all over again without a second thought. She'd been dealing with more than he'd thought possible and a pang of guilt filled him-he should have known what was going on and he'd missed it. He wouldn't let that happen again. He'd make damn sure it wouldn't happen again because he wasn't about to fail her again, let her hurt. No, that wasn't an option.

Kat would only have vague memories of their night, but Dean would make sure to pound home his message that she was better than they were. He'd tell her as many times as she had to hear it in order to believe it. He would be the one who was always there for her when she needed it-that's what family was for, that's what he was there for. And for the first time in nearly a week, Kate slept through the entire night without any nightmares plaguing her dreams.