Here's the conclusion to the three part story. I hope you like it!

Meanwhile, after Dean stormed out of the room, he walked to the nearest convenience store and picked up a couple things. On his way back, he batted his eyes furiously as a couple hot tears escaped. What had he done? Katie was never going to forgive him. She wasn't going to run to him anymore when she was scared or hurt. She already didn't do that for John - now he'd just taken away another adult she could trust. How could he have been so easily set off? She was a kid. Kids were assholes. He knew this. But the truth was he had been scared - terrified that she would fall, and he had completely overreacted in unjust anger. She wouldn't talk to him until she was ready, that much he knew. He bit the inside of his cheek till he could force the tears to stop.

He walked up to the door of the motel. He was a bit better, but he was still feeling the turmoil. Without thinking about it too much, he walked into the room. He was a little surprised to see Katie doing the dishes. He thought she'd fuss and pout all night about it till bedtime, effectively getting out of it. He nodded once at her. "Good. Glad you're on those." He strolled over to the fridge and started putting his stuff from the convenient store inside.

Katie turned to Sam as if to say "told you so!" like if she hadn't been doing the dishes, he would have flown off the handle again.

Still not fully believing any of this, Sam walked over to the fridge and peeked over his shoulder, trying to act casual, even though he was now dying to know what really went down. "What'd you get?"

Dean continued shoving his stuff in the fridge, keeping it slightly blocked so Sam couldn't see. "Stuff for tonight." He shut the door, then turned to find Sam right behind him. " Can I help you?"

Sam didn't move an inch, even though they were face to face, a clear invasion of personal space. "Tell me what's going on."

At that, Dean's face went totally stoic. "I freaking told you already, Sam."

The younger brother's voice lowered slightly and he hoped Katie couldn't hear over the running water. "Yeah, well Katie told me the real story." He intently watched every centimeter of his brother's face for a reaction.

Dean's face drained of all color. "What did she tell you?" he commanded, his voice dropping so she couldn't hear.

"That you…that you spanked her." His eyebrows rose for a moment, silently demanding an explanation or confirmation that Dean had really done that. He was determined to give his older brother one chance. Just one chance to prove that he had a valid reason to do it. That it was a one time ordeal, and he wasn't going around smacking them now.

Dean let out a frustrated, angry sigh. "Sammy- it..." He grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him a bit aside, so Katie definitely couldn't hear. "I didn't really mean to, okay? It...I... she was acting like a little brat, because she didn't want to come get you, so I picked her up because she wasn't getting up off the couch, and it was the only way to get her to the damn car. But she fought me on it, and she kicked me in the gut and it almost made me drop her. I flipped out and smacked her. Okay? I just lost it... and…." He shook his head and pinched his lips closed, then turned away, unable to speak anymore.

Upon hearing Dean's version - which included a key detail - Sam finally understood the full picture of what happened. Katie clearly had no idea that she'd kicked Dean and he almost dropped her. Sam found some kind of relief in knowing that Dean hadn't done it out of spite or because he'd suddenly acquired a new punishment tactic. He reached out and grabbed onto Dean's arm gently. "But you...you didn't hurt her, right?" He wanted to make sure he hadn't hit her too hard...hard enough to truly hurt her. He already knew the answer already but the big brother in him had to ask.

"Well, I'm sure it didn't tickle," he shot back sarcastically, but then closed his eyes and sighed. "I didn't go 'Dad' on her, if that's what you're asking." Dean looked away, remembering several times that John laid into him. He'd never do that to Katie - never.

Sam nodded, glad to hear the confirmation, but before Sam could say anything else, Katie turned the water off, having finished the dishes. She dragged her feet over to her bed and grabbed her pjs before disappearing into the bathroom. She knew the routine by now. You get in trouble, you get spanked, that means straight to bed after dinner. She didn't meet either brother's eyes as she closed the bathroom door. She had to fight the urge to not lock it - she craved some privacy right now to dwell in her thoughts, but disobeying one of the top Winchester rules and locking the bathroom door would only make her life worse today.

Sam watched in shock. "Well I guess she learned her lesson after all." Katie wasn't even putting up a fight as they heard the shower turn on.

Dean's eyes followed her. She was doing the typical routine after they got in big trouble - and he hated it. He just hated it. He said quietly to Sam, "Yeah, she did. But I'm gonna let her watch the movie with us."

"Good," he replied genuinely. As much as he and Katie had their differences, he was glad to see that Dean wasn't turning into their father. But a question still lingered in his mind that he had to ask. Not only for his sake but mainly for Katie. "So, uh, is this going to be your...new…," he tried to find the right word, "technique?" He had to get Dean to set the record straight so he could go back to pretending this never happened and never bring it up again.

Dean gritted his teeth. He couldn't believe Sam asked that. "Did ya miss the part where I said I didn't mean to take it that far?" He smacked Sam on the back of the head - just like he always did - like nothing had changed.

Sam flashed a classic bitch face as he rubbed his head "Good. You aren't going to tell Dad are you? Because if you are, you should tell her." So she could brace herself for the wrath of John Winchester.

Dean shook his head vehemently. "No freaking way. He'd beat the shit out of her. She doesn't deserve that." He looked down at his boots, unable to look Sam in the eye as he asked the question that had been plaguing him. "Sammy, do you...do you think she'll forgive me?"

Sam replied without a second thought, "Of course she will. You're her big brother." There wasn't a doubt in his mind.

Meanwhile, Katie turned off the water, finishing up with her shower. The time alone did her well. She kept thinking back to what happened and there was a pang of guilt in the pit of her stomach. She knew the rules - she had to go with Dean to pick up Sam. She wasn't even sure why she fought him on it other than to just fight. She sighed. Even though she still hated the idea that Dean smacked her, she had it coming. But at the same time, she was worried about what was going to happen the next time she screwed up.

Dean heard the water turn off, and his head swung around to the door, even though he knew she wasn't coming out of it just yet. His face immediately morphed into his stoic look. Just in case she wouldn't forgive him, he didn't want her to see that it'd hurt him even worse than he'd already hurt her. He muttered, "I hope so, Sammy. I hope so. Now go find that stupid polar ice crap on TV." He jumped up, needing to be moving. He went over to the fridge and started putting something together.

"Polar ice caps," Sam corrected as he sat down on the couch.

Katie came out of the bathroom and went over to sit in the bed and brushed her hair quietly.

After flipping through the channels, Sam realized there's nothing on. He turned to Dean in the kitchen, annoyed. "Turns out polar ice caps is tomorrow night. So looks like a crappy motel movie it is. I'm going to go to the lobby and see what they have to borrow. Okay?" It was his way of asking permission to leave.

Dean nodded. "Yeah. Be careful."

When Sam was gone, Dean took a deep breath and turned to Katie. "You better finish up if you want to be ready for the movie when Sam comes back," he said lightly and carefully, trying to show that she wasn't in trouble anymore.

Katie stopped brushing and looked around the room trying to decide if what she heard was true. "I get to watch the movie, too?"

Dean shrugged casually, not letting on how thrilled he was that she actually talked to him. "I mean, if you want to. I got your favorite, too." He reached into the freezer and pulled out a small pint of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.

Katie's eyes went wide at the mention of her favorite ice cream. What was going on? She got off the bed and slowly walked over to him, afraid it was all a joke. She never got spanked and then had ice cream in the same evening. "Of course. I...I want ice cream." She stared at the delicious pint in his hand. "But...don't I have to go to bed early?"

"Nope." He wanted to say more - to beg her forgiveness, to make sure they were okay, but that was all he could get out right now. He held the pint and spoon out to her, almost questioning if she wanted to.

Katie slowly reached out and took the pint and spoon, almost nervous that he would take it away as a joke. But he didn't. He let her grab onto it and she quickly shoved a spoonful in her mouth. With a full mouth, she explains, "It's my favorite!"

Dean smiled. "Duh." He grinned at her playfully. "Come on. Let's go sit on the couch and wait for Sammy to come back with a crap movie."

She followed him over and waited to see where he sat down. It was at the usual end of the couch by the end table. Even though that left the rest of the couch open, she decided to sit in the middle to be closer to him.

Katie ate another bite of ice cream and then turned to Dean, but didn't make eye contact. "Can we not be mad any more?" In her own way, she was trying to apologize.

The only indication that Dean's brain sagged with relief upon hearing that was that he turned to her and gave her his usual grin. "Sure, kiddo." He grabbed the spoon and scooped up a mouthful of ice cream before handing it back to Katie. He swallowed, then said quietly, "Katie...I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry."

She picked through the ice cream for another chunk of cookie dough. She turned to him with a furrowed brow. Sorry? Their dad didn't apologize after punishing her...why was he? "Sorry for what? I was the one that didn't listen to you."

Her innocence and confession made Dean's heart twist again. He cleared his throat and looked at the floor. "I'm sorry that I lost my temper. I...you just scared me. I thought I was gonna drop you when you kicked me in the gut, and I freaked out and..." He couldn't say it.

Her eyebrows went up. "I kicked you and almost fell? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that." Her voice turned to immediate concern. "Did I hurt you?"

He blew it off casually and ruffled her hair. "Gonna have to try a lot harder than that to hurt me, midget." After the moment of playfulness, he looked at her. "Naw, it just winded me and I thought I was gonna drop you. You coulda broken your arm or something. It just - it just freaked me out, and I...blew up."

"No way. I'd never fall," she replied instinctively as she dug around for more cookie dough. And she meant it - she knew Dean would never let her fall or let something truly bad happen to her.

Once again, her innocent belief in him struck him to the marrow. But he couldn't say that, because he was Dean. He grinned to himself. "So what kind of boring movie do you think Sam's going to pick out for us?"

As if on cue, Sam came barging through the door. Sam had found the ultimate treasure of a movie! He rushed over to them, holding it behind his back. "Guess what they had!"

"A princess movie?" Katie asked.

Sam's eye narrowed into a bitch face before he shook his head. "Gross." He turned to Dean for his guess.

Dean rolled his eyes. "I dunno...a western?" That was what he'd like to watch.

"Nope!" He pulled out the VCR tape and waved it around. "It's Space Jam!" They'd all actually wanted to see that movie a few months ago when it was in theaters, but their father didn't have the money for it.

"Wow!" Katie screeched.

"I know! The front desk lady said someone left it behind."

Even Dean was excited by this. Michael Jordan AND Looney Tunes? Hell yes! "Well, what are you waiting for, Sam? Pop that sucker in!" As Sam turned to prep the video, Dean leaned over to Katie and murmured, "We good?" He was praying that she'd say yes, but he still was prepared for the worst.

She leaned into his side as she still gripped her ice cream container. She whispered back, "Always, De."

Dean quickly dropped a kiss on top of her head and savored that the day had ended on a high note. He was filled with a new determination to keep his fear-ridden anger under control around these two brats. He'd never lose his cool like that again around one of them. Sure, he looked up to and idolized his father, but this was one piece that he refused to inherit from the man. He'd do what John couldn't most days.

He'd learn from his mistakes and never repeat them.