Thank you all for your awesome feedback and reviews :) Here's the conclusion to our little run away Kate. Please let me know what you think.

A huge shout out to Emma Winchester 424! She helped make this chapter possible by taking Dean's part. Don't forget to give her some love too by reading her wonderful stories!

Thanks for stopping by to read. Enjoy your weekend!

Dean was getting closer to drenched with every step. The rain had started to pick up as he got deeper into the woods. His feet were soaked through his boots, but it didn't even register in his mind. He was fully focused on the task at hand, and all he could think about was how cold and wet Kate had to be.

He had to find her.

It wasn't until he spotted a set of footprints that he finally felt a surge of hope. Whether they were his sister's or not didn't matter, it was a clue and he had to follow it because in all his years as a hunter, he knew better than to ignore a clue that was literally staring him in the face. He picked up his pace and was practically jogging next to the footprints until he finally saw their destination up ahead: a log cabin.

The lights were on, which meant somebody had to be in there. He knew he had to try even if this was likely a dead end in his search. It was the only piece of shelter he'd seen in the area and with the rainfall, any desperate runaway would have sought it out. He just prayed it was her.

Moe had walked to the bedroom and Kate felt her life get closer to ending with each step of his large boots. He flicked on the bedroom light and she held her breath instinctively, cutting her lungs off from much needed air. This was it. This was the end.

Dean took a deep breath. He ran his hand through his now soaking-wet hair and knocked on the door. Moe grumbled at the sudden interruption. It was rare he had any visitors as he had little to no friends. The random person that did knock was typically lost and his patience was already slim to none. Without turning off the light, he turned on his heel and headed toward the door to shoo away the intruder.

Moe opened up and scanned at the wet boy up and down. "Yeah?"

Dean was taken aback at the man's rustic appearance, but he tried not to show it. He cleared his throat. "Sorry to bother you. You seen a girl around here?" he asked, successfully hiding the extreme worry from his words.

When Kate heard Dean's voice loud and clear, a wave of relief filled her body to its core, washing away the bitterness that had filled her only minutes before. She honestly thought she'd never be so happy to hear him. It was a new level of appreciation. As Kate listened to the conversation, she knew she had to think fast-she had to let Dean know she was here, otherwise he was going to be gone in a flash. She started searching around in the darkness under the bed, patting down her pockets and all. She needed an idea and quick.

However, Moe's brows furrowed at the random question. He responded with little emotion, "Ain't no hookers out here, boy. Try the nearest bar." And he started to close the door, clearly done with this conversation.

Dean's large hand smacked on the door, the echo reverberating in the nearby and rather empty woods, stopping Moe from closing it. "Sorry, man, you misunderstood me. My little sister may have just come running around in these parts. Have you seen a kid about yea-high," he said, making a gesture with his hand to describe Kate's height. "Wavy brown hair, green eyes, bitchy attitude?"

Moe stuck his head out the door and looked from side to side on the porch before returning his glare to Dean. "Nope. Haven't seen nobody. Maybe you should keep better track of her." He gulped down more of his beer.

Dean gritted his teeth at the implication that he wasn't keeping track of her. He tried to ignore the part of his brain that said that he wasn't keeping track of her right now, but he shoved that aside. He had bigger fish to fry right now. "I'm sure she ran through this area. She likes to go be alone when...when she's upset. You didn't hear anything around your cabin that sounded weird or anything? Just like in the last ten minutes or something?"

Obviously this guy had no idea she was in his house so it was only a matter of seconds before he shut Dean out. Moe opened the door wider and stood dead center. "Listen up, boy. I ain't seen your kid sister. Now get off my porch."

Just then Kate found a quarter in her pocket from her left over lunch money. Yahtzee. She scooted as close as she could get to the edge of the bed without showing herself in the light; she couldn't risk the guy turning around and seeing her sticking her head out. She had to be subtle. She placed the quarter between her thumb and index finger, poking it just centimeters out from the under the bed. She started to slowly move it back and forth, hoping the bedroom light would catch it just right and the reflection would grab Dean's attention.

Meanwhile, Dean grit his back teeth together. He was sure Kate would have been by this way; there was nowhere else she could be—he'd already looked. "Alright," he said, taking a step back. "Thank you for your time." And then he saw a flash of something from the bedroom over Moe's shoulder. He squinted behind the man. Something was definitely moving down there. Then he realized- it was a quarter. Quarters didn't move like that on their own. In the blink of an eye, he put two and two together. Trying to quickly replace the look of shock on his face, Dean cleared his throat. His whole plan had just changed and he now had to pull a Hail Mary out of his ass. "Well, um, sir- that's actually not all. I have- something else to discuss with you. Sir."

Moe noticed the sudden change in his demeanor and he just crossed his arms, leaning against the door frame. "And what is it you suddenly have to discuss?" This man was like an older, grumpier, and meaner version of Bobby, sensing the bullshit that was standing right in front of him, but a part of him was strangely entertained to see where it was going.

Kate sighed in relief at Dean's recognition that he saw her—he knew he had to stay and help. She wanted to reach her hand out to show him it was her, but since it was too hard to see what was going on from her position on the floor, she didn't want to risk it.

Moe tapped his foot impatiently. Dean shifted uncomfortably. "I'm with the..." He frantically searched his pockets, praying that there was a fake ID on him somewhere. He finally found one in his pocket. He whipped it out and looked at it. Dammit. He closed his eyes and dove in blindly. "I'm with the Environmental Protection Agency, sir. I'm checking out the landscape for...the environment." Really, Dean? Really? he thought to himself. Hopefully he could stall long enough to give Kate a chance to get out.

Moe stared at the ID for a moment and then eyed him. "Environmental Protection Agency? I thought you was looking for your kid sister?" Suspicion was clear in his voice. Kate took that distraction as her chance to try and make some kind of break for it. She swiftly shimmied to the side of the bed and ever so gently, she quietly got out. She and Dean locked eyes, even if it was for only a millisecond. His determined gaze brought her back to earth and she was focused again, just like he'd done time and time again on hunts. She looked around for any way out...the bedroom window. That was her only shot.

"That...was a test sir. A test for the environment. To see if you were the kind of upstanding guy who would...protect the environment."

"What kind of bullshit is the government wasting my tax dollars on these days? This is ridiculous. Get off my property." Moe's eyes narrowed with a hint of a threat behind them.

Meanwhile, Kate was struggling to get the window open. The old wood frame wouldn't budge. The window probably hadn't been opened in a while, but she continued tugging on it for lack of an alternative. With all her might, she heaved the window, trying to get it to go up.

Dean nodded, wishing he could do just that and go away. He saw Kate struggling out of his peripheral vision, and he knew he had to keep stalling. "Just a few more questions, government regulation and all, then I'll be out of your hair, I swear. Do you...water your lawn regularly?"

Moe shook his head. "Boy, what kind of question is that? I live in the damn woods. I ain't got no yard to water." He pointed outside at the dark sky that was rumbling. "That's what the rain is for."

Kate was seriously starting to work up a sweat from trying to open the damn window. Finally, she just gave up and quietly tip toed over to the window on the other side of the bed- her last choice. She waved her hand in the air at Dean, signaling him to keep going. It was do or die now.

Dean's eyes widened at her gestures. Couldn't she get the damned window open? Upon realizing that he had no choice but to keep stalling, he nodded, throwing on his casual shit-eating grin. "Ah. Yes. Of course. Well- congratulations. You've passed that government regulation. Way to be a good citizen." He slapped Moe on the shoulder. Moe was not amused. Dean cleared his throat and continued the bullshit fest. "Okay. Next question. Have you ever used pesticides that were not regulated by the..." For a split second, Dean lost his train of thought. What was the agency that was supposed to protect against pesticides and crap? For the life of him, he couldn't come up with it. "...the...ABC?"

"The ABC? What kind of prank is this?!"

Just then, Kate had been lifting up the window with all her might and it was just about to budge, she knew it, but her fingers slipped off the window and the sudden change in force caused her to lose her balance and she fell with a loud thump as her hand smacked the table on the way down. That didn't stop Moe from hearing the noise as he started to turn around toward the sound.

Inwardly, Dean panicked. If this dude saw Kate standing- or lying, in this case- in the middle of the floor, they'd both be filled with shotgun shells before he could even say run. So in desperation, Dean blurted out the first thing that came to mind when people show up randomly at your door. "Do you have time to talk about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?" he blurted out in a loud, praying-it-would-be-distracting voice.

Dean's words didn't even have a chance to register to Kate. All she knew was that what he said caused Moe to turn around and bellow, "What did you just say to me, boy?! What kind of crazy junkie are you?" He clearly believed Dean had to be on drugs. However, this was Kate's chance. She shook off the pain in her arm and jumped back to her feet. She rubbed her hands together and tugged on the window one last time until she spotted the problem when it wouldn't budge. The stupid window was locked. Without a second to wallow in the embarrassment of her mistake, she quickly switched the lever to the other side, moments from freedom. Moe glared impatiently at Dean, awaiting a response.

Dean saw Kate still struggling and his thought process was going at lightning speed. Moe was over this conversation and there was nothing left he could do but the inevitable. His shoulders slumped. He looked at Moe with regret. "Sorry, dude," he said. Before Moe could even bellow out "For what?" Dean cold cocked him in the face and his limp body fell to the ground.

Kate let out an audible gasp at the thump and smacked her hand over her mouth in shock- that she hadn't been expecting. Her wide eyes locked with Dean's for a moment before she ran out of the bedroom and toward him. She didn't say a single word and slammed into him, wrapping her arms around him for a moment. "You saved me."

Dean was absolutely stunned by her reaction. For a second, all he could do was stand there. But then, the realization that she was safe, warm, and without harm hit him, and he relaxed-ever so slightly. He wrapped one arm around her and squeezed tight. "Yeah, yeah, of course I did. Now come on- we need to get out of here. You can have your chick-flick moment later," he muttered. He didn't really want to let her go, but he knew that they needed to get out of there before Moe woke up. Keeping his arm wrapped around her, he led her out the door, where they ran through the pouring rain back towards the Impala.

The rain and thunder continued to pound until they were both fully drenched and their shoes muddy. Finally, they made it back to the car and she quickly hopped into the seat, panting harder than she realized from the sudden exertion of energy. She remained silent, trying to catch her breath.

Dean wiped the rain from his streaming eyes. He put his hands on the wheel for a moment, then leaned his head down, resting his forehead on the top. He didn't move. Kate had assumed they'd be wheels up in .5 seconds once they got in the car, but Dean's pause left her without words. She reached over a gently poked him in the arm, trying to elicit any kind of response.

That little nudge brought Dean back to life. He sat up straight, slapped his hands down on the wheel, and reached down to twist the key in the ignition. As Baby purred to life, he muttered quietly like any other day, "Buckle up." Dean peeled off so hard, there were actually traces of smoke in the rearview mirror. He swallowed hard a couple times. The emotional moment was still so fresh in his mind, and the combination of relief mixed with guilt mixed with anger was keeping his mouth clamped tightly together. After a couple moments, they got back onto the main road. He took a deep breath. "Okay," he said with a nod before falling silent again. After another minute, he spoke up again. "Let's just go back to the motel. Don't want you sittin' in my car with wet clothes." They both knew that was Dean code for 'I'm worried about you getting sick'.

Kate just rolled her eyes and looked him over once. He was way more drenched than she was, having been out in the rain longer. There was a bit of a silence again until finally Kate built up the courage to ask out of curiosity, "How did you know where I was?"

Dean snorted in amusement. "Really? You think you're so mysterious that I don't know exactly where you're gonna take off to if you're pissed?"

Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Of course she thought she'd been so clever at picking a location, but apparently not. However, for her own dignity, she had to retort, "Well it took you a while to find me." Because somehow that let her believe she was a bit more stealth than he was letting her believe.

Dean just snorted another laugh and fell silent. The Impala roared down the road towards the motel.

They'd arrived back at the motel over half an hour ago, both taking turns showering to get warmed up and into dry clothes. Kate was sitting on the couch, staring blankly ahead as she ran a comb through her wet hair. Her mind was still reeling from what had happened today and she knew that it all could have turned out much worse. She felt so stupid for having gone into that house and causing all these problems. She always screwed up.

Dean dropped heavily and unexpectedly onto the couch beside her, a beer in his hand. He twisted the top off and took a long pull before speaking. "So. Back at the cabin- you were saying how awesome I was for rescuing you...?" he quipped, somewhere between gruff and playful.

Kate let out a chuckle at his usual self, trying to shove down her self-loathing. "From asking the poor guy if he watered his lawn and if he believed in Jesus Christ...yeah, some rescue mission that was." But they both knew she was beyond grateful that he showed up when he did—they just never knew how to come right out and say it directly.

He grinned and raised the beer bottle halfway to his lips. "No, I asked the guy if he had TIME to talk about Jesus Christ. Big difference." He took another swig, glad that she was talking to him after the fight they'd had and the awful words he'd uttered. After a moment of comfortable silence, he cleared his throat and looked at the beer bottle in his hands. He knew they had to talk about what happened and it was now or never. "Look, Kate, I know you don't want to go. But you can't provoke Dad like that." He looked over at her. "Come on. You know that by now."

Kate's shoulders instantly fell when he said that. With everything that had happened in the last hour, she had been able to push the fact that they were leaving on Saturday to the back of her mind. She shifted in her seat but didn't look at him either. "I know, Dean. It just...it just sucks, okay?" The fight came pouring back into her mind and she relived it momentarily. "I'm sorry I make this harder on you." Dean already had enough to take care of when they moved and he didn't need her tantrum on top of it all.

Dean took a deep breath before responding, "Look. I'm sorry that I said what I said, okay? I didn't mean it like that. I know this sucks for you- and I'm sorry. But you know why we gotta move on. Right?"

Kate played with the hem of her shirt as she slouched down. "Yeah, I know why." It was the same reason as always: they had to pack up and move to be closer to the next set of hunts. She just wished they'd leave her alone in one place for a year; hell, she'd take just six months in the same location. "I'm sorry I ran off," she said quietly before adding with deep remorse, "And I'm sorry I hit you." She paused, deciding if she wanted to offer up more information, and continued, "I was just so upset. It doesn't get any easier, Dean, especially when I have to do it alone now." She didn't mean that she was in this alone, but that she had to go through going to a new school by herself now. Two years ago, Sam would have been by her side and at least they could bitch together about it and face the new school together. But now, she continually had to face it on her own and it never stopped.

Upon hearing her confession, Dean pinched his eyes shut. So she was still missing Sam and on top of that, dealing with all her school stuff. Dean had always had Sammy there, even when Kate was in a different school because of her age. And as much as he wanted to be enough for her, he knew he just wasn't. "Yeah. It never gets easier," he said in a sad, gruff tone that made Kate wonder if there was more behind her repeated words than he was letting on. He tilted his head back against the couch. After a moment where he silently struggled for control, he looked over at her. "Hey. Tell you what. How about...on the first day of the new school...I..." His brain instantly clamped his mouth shut as a pure reflex against what he was about to say. He scrunched his face up like he was concentrating- and it hurt- as he tried to pry his mouth open again to make the offer.

Kate glanced over when she heard him stop mid-sentence. She knew what was coming: ice cream. He always tried to bribe her with ice cream, so why was he having such a visibly hard time saying it?

"I...let you...drive the Impala."

She rolled her eyes and let out an unbelieving chuckle. "Yeah, right. April fools, huh?"

Dean growled low under his breath. This was already hard enough- why was she making it harder? "I'm not kidding," he said, albeit through gritted teeth.

Her head slowly turned to him and she just blank stared for what seemed like the longest time. She read through his facial expression until she finally understood that he wasn't kidding. She turned her head back and announced in shock, "Wow." She'd not only ran off but hit him and the guy was going to let her drive his car-on the road-with people around to witness. She didn't deserve that and she knew it.

Upon hearing the fact that she finally understood that he wasn't messing around, he quickly held up his index finger. "ONE time. You hear me? ONE time." He dropped his hand and pressed it against his denim-clad thigh. "Just to cement your 'cool kid' status. Then after that, you're walking or taking the bus. Hell, ride a damn donkey- I don't care. But...once." He chugged his beer a bit after that to help him come to grips with the offer he'd just made.

She grinned and tried to imagine herself driving into school, even though she knew that nobody would probably even notice the monumental occasion. It was the kind gesture of her brother that mattered the most. He wanted to try and ease her assimilation into the next school. It was a kindness that her father never showed. There was a beat of silence as Dean drank his beer and Kate mulled over her next words, the guilt still banging at her mind. Finally, she said, "I'm sorry I took it all out on you. I never should have done that. It's just frustrating and I had to clear by head. But...but I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't showed up. I froze." Her mind drifted back to that moment when she realized that someone was coming into that cabin. She had been momentarily paralyzed with fear. Some hunter she was.

Dean shrugged. "Freezing up is normal. Especially when you're in some guy's house unannounced," he said, a tone of teasing in his voice. He took another sip before continuing. "That's why Dad pushes us so hard to train. So that when the moment comes, we don't freeze. We can keep our heads and stay safe. Watch out for each other. It's what we do."

Kate nodded along as Dean, like always, brought it back around to hunting and how seriously everything in their lives was related to it. But it was true. She lacked the years of practice and grace that he had clearly been born with. She let the words sink in, but then she couldn't help the chuckle that slipped past her lips. "Guess Dad failed to do some training on unlocking a window first." She shook her head, recalling how stupid she had been to not think of that, but the high pressure situation had been too much for her. On previous hunts, she'd always had her dad or Dean by her side, there to help and guide her, fix her silly errors.

Dean knew she was beating herself up inside for that error, so he didn't see the need to drive the point home any harder. Sure he'd make fun of her about it later, especially because it was such a rookie mistake. However, he was thankful it happened in that guy's cabin and not when she was trying to escape a real monster. "Bright side is you'll never make that mistake again."

"Yeah, that's for sure."

They fell into a comfortable silence as Dean lifted the bottle to his lips again, just letting the moment sink in again. He absentmindedly started peeling the label off the bottle as he struggled for what he needed to say next. "Look. I'm...I'm sorry too, okay? I don't want you thinking that I think you're a burden. I was just..." he shrugged and looked at her with an ironic grin. "I was just frustrated, too. I didn't mean it, and you know that. Right?"

When he apologized, she was taken off guard at first because that was not something Dean did. "I know that, Dean. Can we just forget it all ever happened?" It was code for pleading that he didn't tell their father she screwed up so badly and they just put all this behind them.

Dean's plenty familiar with the code. And he knew if he told John, that Kate would end up a lot worse than she already was going to be with just the move looming over her. He grinned saucily at her. "Sure. We can forget. If you be my slave for a week." Just because he wasn't planning on telling their father didn't mean that he couldn't have a little fun.

She was inwardly thankful that he agreed to keep this between the two of them, but on the outside Kate rolled her eyes. "How about I just be grounded instead?" Honestly she'd already assumed that was a given.

"One week," he confirmed, polishing off his beer.

Kate withheld her sigh because she knew she deserved more than a week of grounding and she didn't want to make it worse. She reflexively got up and grabbed her cell phone off the table and walked back over to the couch, this time sitting down closer to Dean. She held out her flip phone for him to take. "Be kind to it."

He smirked at her condescendingly. "Tell that to the bruise on my gut." But before she could get upset about his wise crack, he opened her phone and started immediately scrolling through the contacts list. "Now to text any new boys that you've added to this list," he muttered, trying to hide his rogue grin.

Kate's stomach dropped when she heard his remark, reminding her that she'd hurt him. But once he quickly switched to being playful again, she realized that he didn't mean anything by it. "There's no new boys in there, Dean. It was slim pickings at this school," she joked.

"Ah. Then I guess we send embarrassing texts to the ones I know you have a crush on."

Kate didn't give in to his game. It was the typical teasing her brother did, although she trusted him enough to know that he wouldn't send any texts. She yawned, the adrenaline wearing off at this late hour now. She linked her arm through Dean's, squeezing it as she laid her head on his shoulder for a brief moment (she knew her boundaries). "Thank you for punching the poor man. I would still be stuck there if it wasn't for that." She lifted her head back up and unlinked their arms, not wanting to invade any more of his space. She turned to look at him, her green eyes showing just how thankful she was.

He wrinkled his nose at the moment of affection, but couldn't quite keep the grin off his face. He shrugged. "Punching dudes that are after my little sister is kinda in my job description. Go to bed. It's late," he commanded, turning away so she couldn't see the emotion on his face.

She was actually happy to oblige this time, wanting to sleep. She stood up and turned back to him for a moment. "I'm glad you're here." It was a simple phrase, but yet held a lot of emotion and meaning behind it. Happy that he was still here and hadn't left like Sam did. Happy he was there instead of their father. Happy he was at least trying to recognize how hard this was for her.

Without looking at her, Dean replied thickly, "You too." She had no idea how much he needed her. There was no way he could ever tell her, but if she ever decided to leave him like Sam had, he didn't know if he could survived. But these were things that Dean Winchester couldn't say. He just hoped that he could prove to her that he loved her, even if he couldn't say the words to the outside world.