Author's note: As I am writing this, my brain is going in so many different directions. I love seeing your ideas about what could be going on. I have a "big picture" planned out and have been placing details so that one day, they'll figure it out.

##### #####

Taylor opened his grape Nehi and took a sip. "So I'm related to your mom?"

Dean furrowed his brows. "Seems like it. I don't know much about that side of the family. Dad doesn't really like talking about her."

"I am sorry that she went like that." Taylor said.

Dean sighed. "Can't change it. Open that jerky."

Taylor tore the bag open and grabbed a few strips of the deer jerky before Dean inhaled it. "What were you like at 13?"

Dean snorted. "Trouble."

"Bobby has said a thing or two." Taylor said with a smile.

"Angry at the world and way too focused on girls." Dean added.

"Are you still angry?"

Dean chewed a strip of jerky. "Yeah, I'd say I'm angry sometimes. I didn't really learn anger management from my dad."

"You seem to handle it well." Taylor said.

"Seem to. I run or beat the crap out of a tree. It used to be a problem but I can't really tell Kate to handle her anger if I don't handle mine." Dean said. "I have a lot to be angry about but I take it out on creatures."

Taylor had pushed his anger down for so long that it felt toxic. "I'm angry at my parents."

Dean nodded. "I don't blame you. Still, you can't use your abilities on them."

Taylor smirked. "Yeah, got that message. I'm still angry though. It hurts."

Dean reached for more jerky. "I get angry at my dad. Before Kate, he and Sam butted heads all the time. I'd get in between them. I'd get mad if he hurt Sam, hurt his feelings."

"What happened after Kate?" Taylor asked.

Dean scoffed. "That is the million dollar question. He is still a hard ass but Sammy and I are grown. He isn't around enough to butt heads too much. I don't know if it is because Kate is a little girl or if it is because he pulled her from the fire, but he has a soft spot. He has gotten along better with Sam since she showed up. I swear she did a number on his head but I'm not complaining."

"She says you are a hard ass." Taylor said with a small laugh.

"She would say that." Dean grumbled.

Taylor looked back out the window. "She says good things too. She just throws in the complaints so you don't get too big headed if you over hear a conversation." He grinned and looked at Dean. "Her words, not mine."

Dean huffed. "I'll keep that in mind."

##### #####

Kate stared at her phone, begging John to call already. He knew about Taylor but was busy when they found out about Kate being related to John. "Come on."

Sam nudged her. "Staring at the phone doesn't make him call any sooner."

"Shh." Kate hissed.

Bobby put plates on the table. "Dean and Taylor are headed back. Should be here any minute."

Kate shifted in her chair. Her phone rang and she answered it immediately. "Hi!"

John had gotten rid of the demon and his hunter buddy was digging a hole for the host's body. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yes. We just found something else." Kate said.

John sighed. He was tired and grumpy. "Go on and tell me."

"So, we are cousins." Kate said.

"Kate, you already called me and told me that." John grumbled.

"I told you that Taylor was related to Mary." Kate said.

"and?" John was impatient.

"I'm related to you." Kate said.

John stabbed his shovel into the ground and walked to his truck. "Come again?"

"With help from my Grigori, I found out who some of your family was. Your uncle is my great grandfather." Kate added.

John was quiet.

"You there?"

"Yeah, Kate. This just doesn't make any sense." He answered

"I know but I was right. The trees meant something." Kate said. "Your uncle had my grandmother and then she had my mom. That is why the last names were so hard to track down."

John sighed. "That is a lot to take in."

"This is kind of cool though. It means your last name suits me." She said, softly.

"It did anyway." John reassured her. "Even if you weren't blood at all."

Kate smiled. "Well, turns out I am!"

"I'm glad you got some answers. I can call and check in tonight." John told her and ended the call.

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose. "You could tell him you won the lottery and he would say he'd call later."

"I did win the lottery. Now I can blame all of my hardheadedness on genetics, like Dean does." She heard Dean's car and busted out the front door. She was grinning ear to ear and bouncing on her toes.

"Oh god." Dean said.

Taylor chuckled. "She looks excited."

"Just brace for the tackle." Dean said.

Kate ran down the steps and hugged Taylor "Happy birthday!" and then hugged Dean. "Come in so I can show you the trees."

Dean let her drag him to the kitchen.

"I highlighted it with red." She said.

Dean tilted his head. "Huh, I guess you are related to us. On the Winchester side too. That would explain that thick skull of yours."

Kate grinned at Sam. "See!"

Taylor piped up. "And why I'm so sweet." He said with a grin.

Kate giggled. "You and Sammy got a good dose of that."

Dean ruffled her hair. "Are you saying I'm not sweet."

Kate scrunched her nose. "Oh no you are John Jr."

Sam grinned at that.

Dean grabbed Kate in a head lock. "What does that make you?"

"A questionable mix of the two of you idjits." Bobby said and motioned to both Sam and Dean.

"Where is your tree? You could be our long lost uncle." Kate said.

Bobby rolled his eyes. "I've done enough of raising you three that I basically am."

Kate grinned. "I don't know. You are kind of a grandfatherly type." She shrieked and got behind Dean to miss the ballcap that was flung at her head.

"A thankless job at that." Bobby grumbled.

Dean grabbed Kate and put her back in front of him. "Don't use me as a shield. You know Bobby gets cranky if you bring up his age."

Bobby shot him a glare. "Next time she sasses you, just know you are the one who taught her to be a smartass."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "That is news to me."

Bobby chuckled and shook his head. "Are we going down to the lake or not?"

Dean turned to Taylor. "You should get the rest of that dirt off of you before we go."

Taylor's face turned red.

Dean grinned. "Oh, I'm telling them if you don't."

Taylor sighed. "I used an ability to loosen the dirt and my hands fell through and I got a face full of dirt."

Dean rolled his eyes. "You make it sound boring. He ate it. Looked like an Umpa Lumpa."

"At least I didn't scream like a girl when my feet sunk." Taylor shot back.

"I did not scream like a girl." Dean said.

Taylor smirked. "There was a definite squeal. That is probably how creepy blind lady knew we were out there. Like a dog whistle for the blind."

Dean's mouth dropped open.

Kate giggled. "This is a new side of you, Taylor."

He took a few steps back and put his hands up in front of him. "I'm going to go shower now."

Dean scoffed. "Yeah, run go do that."

Taylor grinned and turned to go up stairs.

"Oh, you are going to have so much fun when I'm gone." Sam said with a laugh.

"Oh, you shut up." Dean grumbled.

Kate rested her elbows on the table. "What was up with the creepy blind lady?"

Dean cringed. "We pull up to this ghost town and this woman was looking out her window at us. Weeds were up over tractor tires and doors. It was abandoned except her and maybe one or two other houses. We do what we need to do and I was going to help Taylor rinse off the Umpa Lumpa skin when creepy Ethyl appears behind us and tells us not to use the water."

"How'd she know you were there if she was blind?" Kate asked.

"Blind, not deaf." Dean said.

"Spooky." Kate said.

Dean thought for a moment. "When we left, I found a truck stop for him to shower off. The dirt had a lot of clay so it was red when it came off of him and he got a glimpse of what the guy did to his wife and kid."

"That is awful." Kate said with a frown.

"Is he okay?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah. He was shaken up but it was gone in a split second." Dean said.

Taylor was surprised by the amount of dirt that stuck to his hair. He had to rinse several times for the red water to turn clear. He thought of the images that had flashed in front of his eyes when they were at the truck stop. He would never understand how a man could hurt his kid like that. He felt a pain in his head and then got more flashes. It was as if he was looking through the man's eyes. He had anger issues but something happened that pushed him over the edge. Anger was a nasty emotion. Taylor shook the images away and got out of the shower. He dressed in shorts and a t shirt and went down stairs.

"Took you long enough." Dean said.

Taylor blushed. "I had to wash my hair a few times. I also kept seeing stuff."

Dean motioned for him to sit down. "More of the same?"

"Yeah but something is off there. I don't think the water just made people sick. I think it made them go nuts." Taylor said.

"Like a neurotoxin?" Kate asked.

"I don't know. It is like I can feel what the dude was feeling." Taylor said. "When he did it, he was feeling rage. Blind rage."

"Can you show me?" Kate asked.

Taylor let her put her hand on his face.

Kate saw the images flash by and frowned. "That is the way I felt when I absorbed those demons."

Dean sighed. "Do you think this is demon related?"

Taylor shook his head. "Not exactly. It is something else. I don't think the water had a chemical toxin. I think it was more like a curse."

"What makes you think that?" Bobby asked.

"Just putting pieces together."

"I agree. When you are walking around, you see and hear things. You taught me to slow down and notice everything. Taylor and I both can go back to a memory and search it again. Therapists do it with hypnosis. So there are things he noticed but didn't know." Kate said.

Dean ran his fingers through his hair. "So now what?"

Taylor shrugged. "We can go back and see if anything is going on."

"Not today." Dean said.

They gathered stuff and walked outside. "Are we swimming?" Kate asked.

"You are getting thrown in whether you want to swim or not." Dean said with a smirk. "Taylor told me you think I'm a hard ass."

Kate rolled her eyes. "I'll bring extra clothes." She shoulder bumped Taylor on her way by. "Nark."

Taylor rubbed his shoulder but smiled at her.

They drove out to the lake and spread out a few blankets.

Bobby worked on grilling some burgers while he watched Kate fail to prevent Dean from tossing her into the water.

"Are you jumping in or am I throwing you?" Dean asked Taylor.

Taylor took his shirt off and jumped off the end of the dock.

Dean raised a brow at Sam. "What about you?"

Sam ran by Dean and knocked him off the side of the dock before diving off the end.

Bobby liked seeing them goof off. It was good for all of them but Dean especially. He needed those moments to unwind. He handed Dean a beer when he escaped from the water. "Looks like you are having fun out there."

Dean took a drink. "Do you want me to throw you in too?"

Bobby chuckled. "You ain't that stupid."

Dean put his beer down. "It is good exercise."

Bobby picked up a piece of charcoal and tossed it at Dean.

Dean jumped to the side. "Trying to burn me?"

Bobby shook his head. "No, idjit. I'll throw a lit one if you keep giving me cheek."

Dean turned to go back down to the dock. "And Kate says I'm the hard ass."

"Dean, wait." Bobby said and walked to stand beside him.

Taylor had hopped up on the dock and was sitting with his back to them.

"I know you all are rough housing out there but look at his back." Bobby said.

Dean held his hand above his eyes to block the sun. "I haven't touched him. I'll ask him about it." He walked down to the dock and stopped Taylor from jumping. "What is wrong with your back?"

Taylor felt his back. "Nothing."

Dean crouched behind him and touched him. "This doesn't hurt?"

"No?" Taylor said and tried to crane his head so he could see what Dean was talking about.

"Come back up here for a minute." Dean said.

Taylor followed him.

Bobby turned Taylor around. "Looks like a spider web of red welts."

"It's on his leg too." Dean said.

Taylor got a look at the back of his leg. "What is that?"

Dean rubbed the back of his neck. "I asked you about a mark on the back of your leg. You said it was a birthmark."

"Yeah, I have a brown one that kind of looks like an upside down car." Taylor said.

Dean palmed his face. "The mark I saw was about three fingers wide and kind of red."

Taylor looked at him. "Oh, I didn't know."

"I should have asked more questions. I thought it was weird and you may have been trying to play it off as a birth mark. Mind if I look at it?" Dean asked.

Taylor shrugged. "Sure."

Dean lifted the leg of Taylor's shorts and showed Bobby the mark.

"What ever it is, the rest of the red lines are coming from it." Bobby said.

"Did you get cut or anything while we were out?" Dean asked.

Taylor felt the back of his leg. "If I did, it should have healed."

Dean got the first aid kit from the car and cleaned the mark. "I don't see a break in the skin."

Kate saw them looking at Taylor's leg and approached. "What is wrong?" She saw a red rash spreading around Taylor's side. "What is that?" She asked, pointing to Taylor's side and stomach.

"Okay this is spreading extremely fast." Dean said, anxiously.

Taylor looked down and watched it spread through the veins and capillaries on his chest. "It doesn't hurt."

Kate looked at the back of his leg. "It started here?"

Dean nodded.

She closed her eyes and focused to try to aid his healing.

Taylor pulled his leg away. "That hurts."

"It shouldn't. It is supposed to help." Kate said.

Taylor held his breath and let her try again.

The red streaks stopped spreading for a moment and then sped up. The streaks started climbing his neck and his eyes grew red.

"Shit." Dean said and caught Taylor as he dropped. He laid him down on one of the blankets.

Kate sent up a prayer for help. If the Grigori was a guardian angel, maybe he could help Taylor.

Dean and Bobby turned their faces away from Taylor as he was covered by the light.

Taylor couldn't see anything but felt someone touch his head. He groaned in pain.

Kate felt around and found his hand and squeezed it. She then felt a hand on her own head and her head was filled with images.

Sam ran toward them but couldn't get close enough. He shielded his eyes but the light was suddenly gone.

Dean lifted Taylor's head. "Hey, bud, are you with us?"

Taylor blinked. "No."

"What was that?" Bobby asked.

Kate licked her lips. "I prayed for help."

"Uh, well the lines are gone." Dean said.

"It showed me the truth." Kate said.

Taylor turned his head away from Dean's hand so he could rest it on the blanket. The sun felt good and he was sleepy.

"It was a blood curse." Kate said.

"A blood curse?" Dean pushed.

"The water was never toxic. It is the soil."

"Creepy lady didn't want me to use the water." Taylor said.

Dean swore. "So you got cursed?"

Kate nodded. "The witch survives on the death of others. She cursed the town. People started dropping like flies. It was too fast and people fled. Before people died, some people went crazy. They would suddenly become enraged and snap. It was bringing too much attention so the curse was altered. Then sick people happened. Taylor got soil in his eyes and mouth probably. He didn't get sick right away so she got him to nick the back of his leg. She likely got his blood from what ever cut him."

"Your Grigori told you all this?" Dean asked.

"It has been really helpful lately." Kate said. "Anyway, with an open wound, Taylor should have deteriorated more quickly. Except, Taylor isn't a normal human. His body reacted differently. You were able to leave town before anything happened."

Taylor sat up and felt the back of his leg. "It is gone."

Dean looked to Bobby. "Are you following this?"

"Can't say I am."

"She wont be an issue anymore." Kate said.

"Who?" Dean asked.

"The witch. She will be taken care of." Kate answered.

"Kate, how?" Sam spoke up.

Kate looked off into the distance. "I didn't ask."

"So this light thing just pops in when you call?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. Taylor was in danger. If a Grigori is a guardian angel, then it is supposed to keep us safe." Kate said.

Taylor rolled onto his stomach and propped his head on his arms. "I don't know what you guys have planned for next year but good luck topping this."

Dean snorted. "This wasn't part of the festivities."

Taylor shrugged. "I feel great now. I think I am just catching up with you guys on the amount of crap you've gone through."

Kate patted his back. "Welcome to the family."

##### #####

An elderly woman sat in her recliner in her small living room. She was waiting to regain her sight but it wasn't working. She was frustrated. The spell had always worked. She had heard the younger one's voice and knew that age played a difference in how many years she got back. Why wasn't he dead already? She heard a ringing and her sight filled with white light. She sighed in contentment that her sight was coming back. Her eyes started to burn and she clawed at them.

A figure stepped back from the woman and removed their hand from her head. She had attacked one of the subjects and had to be removed.

The woman heard what sounded like a bird's wings. She took one last strained breath and then dropped to the floor.

##### #####

Taylor was sitting on the blanket eating a burger when his phone rang. He jumped up to grab it from his t shirt and answered it. "Hi, nana. Thank you. Yeah, I have had a good birthday. We are at the lake and eating burgers. Hey, she says hi." He held the phone out so she could hear everyone say hi back. "Thank you. I love you too. I promise I'll come back by soon. Okay, love you." He sat back down and picked up his burger.

"You have had a good day?" Dean asked with a raised brow.

Taylor mumbled through the burger. "It hasn't been boring."

"You dug up a dead body, ran into a witch and had a near death experience with a blood curse." Dean said.

Taylor swallowed his bite. "I went on my first hunt, found out I was related to you guys and had an actual angel heal me from said blood curse. I don't even care that my mom hasn't called."

Kate frowned. "She hasn't?"

Taylor sighed. "No. She is probably just busy."

"She missed out on all the fun." Dean said.

Taylor was angry that she hadn't called but wasn't missing out on anything with her. It seemed like she just detached herself as soon as Craig snapped. He tried to think back to when David started leaving the house more often. Had he distanced himself or had they made him distant.

Kate tapped Taylor's knee. "Do you want your cake?"

Taylor blinked a few times. "Sorry got distracted. Yes, cake would be good."

Kate ran to get it from the car. "Marie said this is your favorite."

Taylor perked up. "Did she send it?"

"No, she walked me through how to make it." Kate said. "Sam helped." She sat it down in the middle of the blanket and grabbed plates.

Sam cut it and gave Taylor a slice. "It may not be as good as hers but she did give us the recipe. There may have been a threat to our lives if we repeated it though."

Taylor grinned. "She is protective of those recipes." He took a bite and smiled. "It is really good. Thank you."

Dean shoved his plate closer to Sam. "I'll be the judge of that."

They ate and just enjoyed the company. Even without everything else, Taylor thought this was a really good birthday. He'd take the bodies and the blood curses if it meant someone actually gave a damn. Bobby noticed the red streaks and they immediately tried to help him. The older he got, the less he got from his mom. This was nice.

##### #####

"You should not have stepped in." A woman said from behind him

"I was doing my job." Aphrim shot back.

"Your job was to watch them and document how things naturally happen." The woman said.

"Naomi, none of this is natural. I cannot watch them and document if they are dead."

Naomi studied her subordinate. "You wouldn't have anything to do with the girl figuring out what she has, would you?"

Aphrim knew it would be considered tampering. "No."

"Watch, listen, do not show yourself or intervene." Naomi said with finality.

Aphrim saw the tip of the angel blade at her wrist. "You'd really kill one of your own?"

"I would dispatch someone who went against orders." Naomi answered.

Aphrim left Naomi's office and returned to his post. He had always seen humans as animals. His position was pointless for hundreds of years but here they were, the subjects. The very humans that had been foretold so long ago. He didn't know why they, the powers that be, had gone through the trouble of orchestrating the lives of these specific humans. That was above his pay grade. He knew they were important. In a way, they were like lab rats. That is how he was ordered to view them. However, they were so much more and he couldn't just stand by.

### ###

They piled into the impala and went back to Bobby's house. Taylor was in good spirits.

Dean tagged him on the back of the head as he walked by and tripped him up when he lunged. "You and Kate both fall for that every time."

Taylor laughed and jumped back up for round two. "Teach me something new then."

Sam hip checked Dean to give Taylor an advantage.

Kate rested her elbows on the railing and watched them. She giggled and yelled suggestions.

Aphrim was perplexed by this particular activity. It was fighting but they seemed to enjoy it. Did the younger ones team up because the oldest was too strong for them? Young animals often fought each other. Perhaps it was instinct. Lion cubs had to learn to fight so that they could feed themselves as adults. Humans were different. There were too many things about humans that he needed to learn but he was fascinated.

Kate felt eyes on her and looked around. Her eyes settled on a spot beside a tree. She gave a small smile. She couldn't see anything but she was certain the Grigori was there. She lifted her hand to wave but with a rustle of leaves, he was gone. She sighed. She wanted to say thank you. She wanted to know more about the mysterious being. If she could just talk to it, she could ask questions. She said simple thank you via prayer and turned her attention back to the guys. If the Grigori could take Taylor from a mottled mess of cursed blood and sickness, to running and jumping on cars within minutes, imagine what else it could do. If she and Taylor had gotten something from the angels, imagine what else they could do. The flame of curiosity that had taken permanent place in her chest began to grow again. They were all tied together, now she just needed to know why.