Hi all! So, I know it has been a long while since I posted anything in this story. However, for a little while writing became less fun, and more of a chore to keep up with so I decided with everything else going on in my life that I needed to take a step back. Although, I am back now and I do have other chapters in the works for this. I have a direction that I want this story to go in; it's just coming to me out of order, unfortunately. Anyway, sending out a big, BIG thanks all to those returning, as well as to those just finding this story! Hope to see some familiar people in the reviews, looking forward to reading your comments!
Tall Tales: Part 1
Kate had been at Bobby's for a few weeks now, and the boys- well, Sam would call and check in occasionally. For the most part, though, they were still working on hunts while she'd opted to leave the hospital with Bobby that night. He had already driven up to Aberdeen to deliver the Paolo Santo stakes to the boys for the shifter. As she sat in her bedroom, her thoughts began to drift back some weeks after that last hunt when Dean had driven her to the hospital for stitches… The doctor had just left the room, taking all the surgical tools out with him. Kate sighed heavily as she sat up slightly along the gurney where she'd been lying for the last half-hour or so while the doctor's fingers worked to stitch up the gash on her right side. The doctor had worked quickly, sterilizing the wound before sewing her up. She now had a bandage over her side covering the wound. She looked up as the door was pushed open. Dean entered, his eyes meeting hers briefly as he put one of her duffle bags from the car down on the end of the bed.
"How're the girls doing?" She asked him concerned, as she pointedly didn't look up at him. She had removed her bloodied and dirtied shirt entirely to ensure the procedure was easiest for the doctor to work through.
"The older one is dehydrated and hungry, but okay. That one girl that was taken tonight. She's got a concussion from being knocked out, but she's not in as bad of a condition as the first was… I still can't believe that Kim got away."
Kate remained silent and deliberately turned her gaze aside; she couldn't tell if his reaction was a criticism of her inability to manage the woman or if he was just annoyed about the shifter's escape. "Dean… I-." Kate started, as an uncomfortable tension filled the room. She leaned over awkwardly, quickly took a t-shirt from the bag he had given her, and slipped it on.
"How're you doing?" He asked her suddenly. Kate stood slowly from the gurney and leaned back against it gingerly.
"I um… I decided I'm going to leave with Bobby," she stated plainly. Kate decided not to sugarcoat her choice. She had made up her mind and wanted to leave it that way. "We should concentrate on the demon and the psychic kids' issue. We need to locate the town that-" she started, but Dean interrupted her.
"Whoa, wait. What do you mean? 'Leave with Bobby'?" He asked her, struggling to keep up. "We've got cases and we can look into all that stuff together. I thought that was the whole point-?" She cut him off swiftly, nodding as her eyes met his in the confines of the small room. "Yeah, and I'm just a phone call away if you need me… Besides, it's not like you and Sam aren't completely capable-."
"So, that's it then? You're leaving again? Just like that?" She could read him well enough to know he was angry at the idea of her leaving with Bobby. She released a breath of pent-up emotions, her annoyance already fanning the flames of a conflict that had been a long time coming.
"What do you want from me, Dean?" Her voice came out more harshly than she'd intended, but she was frustrated with his behavior. He had rebuffed her just that morning, yet now he didn't want her to leave. She simply wanted a break from all of their back-and-forth.
He stood there, his mouth opening, but nothing coming out of it. No words. "Look, I can't-." She began softly, as her fingers slid stressfully through her hair. "I can't do this Dean. Us-. This. Whatever the hell this is… I can't just sit here and pretend that nothing happened between us and- and you have made it abundantly clear that this whole thing is all one-sided so… I'm going to take a beat, and some space while I get my shit together." She told him, the last of her words came out rushed and fast-paced.
Dean stared at her, his green eyes moving slowly over her face. Kate wasn't sure what he was feeling, as his eyes were filled with varying emotions. She glanced away from him, down at the floor, now uncomfortable with how raw this conversation was getting.
"When things get too hard for you, why is your first instinct to turn tail and run?" he asked her suddenly. Kate scoffed, shaking her head as he continued. "No, seriously. Back in Colorado on that vampire hunt, when we needed you, you ran. In Connecticut, you ran out again. And now? What? I'm supposed to just let you go?" He asked. "You're still in danger," He pointed out to her sternly.
"I'm always in danger here!" Kate pointed out gesturing around herself, her blue eyes met his in an icy gaze before she reigned her emotions back under wraps and looked away from him again. "Look, you have helped me through… everything since I've gotten here, but this is a constant cycle, over and over again. I can't handle this roller coaster with you anymore," she confessed. "I need some space," Kate admitted, her voice growing quiet as she spoke that last statement. Kate swallowed hard, feeling a knot tighten in her stomach as she spoke to him. She turned away now, back toward her duffel bag.
"Kate look at me…" Dean stated as he moved to stand right behind her, but Kate continued looking away, knowing how dangerous those green eyes were to her. "Katie please…" His voice had lost the angered edge it had before, as he now spoke in soft, low tones at her. "If you're leaving because I hurt you—." He began slowly.
"Yes, Dean. I am leaving because you hurt me," the words flew from her mouth like a punch as she turned towards him swiftly. "I can't keep fooling myself into thinking that you actually care about me, overthinking every single interaction, everytime you've saved me from the big bad, and then it's terribly disappointing when you tell me that isn't the case… And, there's nothing else to do about this… So, I'm accepting it. I'm taking you at your word, and I'm moving on, but I need to leave now before this gets even more complicated." Her voice grew softer at the second half of her statement.
Dean scoffed exasperated at her words, his eyebrows raising. "Katie, this is well past complicated."
"Yeah, well I didn't get here on my own, now did I?" She asked him pointedly. She paused but the question was gnawing its way out of her chest, and up her throat before she could stop it. "You know if you didn't feel the same way about me… then why did you sleep with me back in Connecticut? Explain that to me, Dean, because I'm at a loss..."
Dean remained silent, not responding to her question. With a deep, exasperated sigh Kate quietly murmured, "You're so frustrating." She couldn't believe that he had no response and turned away from him swiftly to zip up her bag aggressively.
"I was upset, okay?" He blurted out. "I was upset over something with Sam that night, and- and, I'd been drinking with that bellhop… and, I just- I don't know…" He began to explain but his words seemed to die on his lips. Even to Kate, his words felt flat and untrue.
She scoffed lightly, "I can't believe this. So- so, you only slept with me because you were upset?" Kate's voice quivered with a mixture of disbelief and anger. The hurt in her eyes was undeniable, but she couldn't look away from him. Dean shook his head, opening his mouth to explain, but his words kept getting caught in his throat. Before he could say anything, Kate's emotions spilled over. "Answer me. Were you using me as some sick kind of escape? Is that it?" Her words sliced through the air, each syllable dripping with accusation. She could see the hurt reflected in his eyes, but she had to know. "Answer me!" She said loudly, her voice echoing off the vacant exam room walls. At his clear silence, she understood. Just how much she meant to him. "Well, I'm glad to know I was just enough for you to amuse yourself with that night." The weight of his continued silence hung heavily in the air, intensifying the tension between them. At that moment, Dean remained quiet, and Kate shook her head slowly, hoisting her bag over her shoulder on her good side. She took a deep breath, steeling herself before starting toward the door.
"Kate, wait-," Dean began quickly as he stepped before her, blocking her from leaving. "I thought you and I were both looking for a distraction that night. I- I thought you just needed to blow off some steam too. Look, I- I never meant to hurt you..." He told her, his eyes displaying the truth in his words.
"You didn't hurt me, Dean," she began slowly as she looked up at him, shaking her head. "I hurt myself by falling for you," Kate told him with renewed resolve. She hadn't wanted to face the truth, which was simply that Dean didn't feel the same. She knew it deep down. He had all but told her that before they jumped into bed together. She saw something flash in his eyes as they widened at her words, but he just blinked down at her in response, struggling for words. She chuckled dryly as a sarcastic smile graced her lips at the thoughts swirling in her head. "I should've known better," she breathed out to him as she shook her head.
"No, Kate, listen to me. I- I do." He began as he moved in even closer, his hands falling along her shoulders. Kate couldn't hide the tense expression that crossed her face at his lies. Her teeth clenched together to keep the words she wanted to shout at him within her mouth as she slowly inhaled a measured, and purposeful breath. She glanced away from him as her eyes closed and her jaw dropped as a huff of air left her lungs. A tense expression blooming over her features at his words. "Katie, listen to me, I do care about you," he told her, his voice taking on a frantic edge as his eyes stared deep into her own.
Kate met his gaze head-on as Dean's already sharp jawline tensed, his eyebrows knitting together in a serious expression as if he couldn't understand why he'd had to explain this to her. He opened his mouth to give her more excuses, but she'd heard enough. "No." She began, her low voice filled with mistrust, her head slowly shaking back and forth. "No Dean. You don't." She finished deflecting his halfhearted admission. "You wouldn't even know how to." She told him with a hurt expression.
"But- but, I do." He told her, his low voice now hoarse and shaky.
"What does that even mean?!" she demanded, her voice laced with disbelief and frustration as her voice grew louder again. She scoffed as she gestured emphatically between them. "Dean, you can tell me that until you're blue in the face, but everything- Everything! -that's happened between us tells me otherwise." Her chest rose and fell with each steadying breath she took- a clear attempt to quell the rising tide of emotions. "Look, we are having two separate conversations here, and I don't understand how you can't see that. I hear you tell me that you care - I can! But - but when it matters most, I don't feel it." Her voice, though strained with emotion, held an unwavering firmness as she confronted him. "And, it's selfish of me to expect you to be able to…" She told him as her voice growing softer as she spoke to him.
As their conversation delved deeper into sensitive territory, the volume of her voice only rose once again, a telltale sign of the nerve that he'd been struck. "I can't do anything with your words now, Dean. They're just empty words. God, …You wouldn't even know the first thing about-." She cut herself off with a quick shake of her head, as her emotions continued waging an internal battle that she struggled to contain.
Despite her efforts to contain it, the anger, frustration, and hurt ultimately overwhelmed her, manifesting in tears that steadily welled up in her eyes and trickled down her cheek like a dam with a crack in it. "If - If I hadn't decided to leave right now, you'd never have even admitted this much to me." Her accusation hung heavy in the air as she wiped at the dampness on her face. Dean's face contorted into a pained expression as he absorbed her blunt words. Gathering her resolve steadily, Kate moved away once again, more purposefully towards the door, and Dean watched her go with a pit growing in his stomach.
Slowly blinking her eyes open, Kate pulled herself back into the present. She was sitting cross-legged on the wooden floors in her room at Bobby's house. She hadn't said much to Bobby since they'd arrived from the three-hour drive to Sioux Falls quite a while back- she'd been here for over a month now, at least. When they'd first arrived, she took her bags to her makeshift bedroom and promptly went to sleep, catching up on some much-needed shut-eye, which was her intention after being on the road and hunting for as long as she had. Kate had built up something similar to a routine for herself while she'd been back at Bobby's house. She stuck to running along the back road he lived on after her morning meditation, then she'd make breakfast, and get ready for the rest of the day. Kate was always quick to offer to assist in whatever it was that Bobby needed help with, like manning the hunter hotlines or researching another monster for some other hunter's case. After spending the first half-hour of her present day in silent meditation, she rose and made her way towards the hallway, then down the stairs. She had decided that to be of any use against what was coming, she needed to rewrite her list of events that lay ahead of them all. She lost all of her information along with her laptop the night Dean came to her while possessed by Meg, she hoped to hell that the idiot had gotten the tattoo redone by now.
Kate swiftly moved downstairs as she sat at Bobby's familiarly oversized desk and put pen to paper. The last time she spoke to the boys they were in between cases. Kate wasn't sure if she could remember what was up and coming for them so she'd asked Sam to keep her posted on whatever they find. She heard the backdoor open and glanced up as Bobby came into view through the open doorway into the kitchen. He was wiping his oiled, and grease-covered hands on an old rag as he slowly walked across the room towards the desk. He stood across from her now. "You- uh… You want anythin' to eat?" Bobby offered. "Coffee should still be hot…" He pointed out. She knew this was his olive branch so to speak, she hadn't spent much time out of her room since she'd gotten here. When she did- she wasn't much for conversation… Bobby did most of the talking. She'd opted not to complain to Bobby about everything that had gone on between herself and Dean, but she knew he could read that something was wrong.
She nodded grateful for the offer as she hadn't eaten or had anything to drink just yet, but didn't answer with any words as she was still writing out her list. She glanced over the paper wondering if the order was right, but she couldn't check as her old laptop was still inoperable- Kate had saved her hard drive at Sam's behest, but she didn't think any newer laptop would be able to take the swapped hardrive- things in technology around this time were changing quite quickly so she wasn't sure if it would even still be of use. Kate's mind turned over to the end goal here- save Sam and prevent the apocalypse from ever starting. She knew then that if Sam were saved, Dean would never sell his soul and end up in hell to break the first seal. She realized that she'd need a fail-safe, maybe a particular demon that she could convince to fight on their side rather than Azazel's.
Bobby began to turn away wordlessly, but Kate's voice had him halting where he stood. "Bobby, what do you know about summoning a demon? A specific one."
"Well, uh whatcha need to do somethin' like that for?" He asked as he turned off to face her slowly with a suspicious expression donning his features.
"Call me curious," Kate answered absently, still writing down what she could remember was coming up in the second season from the show.
"Kate…" She paused as she heard Bobby's voice taking on a serious and lower tone. She held out though, refusing to glance up at him. "If you're thinkin' on doing something crazy… don't." He stated. "Talk to me, honey. I'm here to help." He told her simply.
Kate sighed heavily, finally meeting Bobby's worried gaze head-on now. "I appreciate the offer, Bobby. I really do, but… you can't help me with this." Kate told him. She didn't want to divulge what she was planning as she figured that any Hunter worth his salt would put a stop to it, but Kate was gonna look this up with or without his help. She just knew that without would take longer.
"So, uh… Listen… Sam and Dean called…" Bobby trailed off slowly, forcefully changing the subject.
"Uh huh…" Kate answered absently, not looking up from her list. "They need help, don't they?" She guessed. She judged from the current timeline that they must be hunting Gabriel. Although right now she guessed that he was still disguised as the trickster… and she certainly wasn't going to miss the opportunity to talk to an angel outside of heaven's grips… Maybe if he still heard angel radio- he'd know what the hell was going on for her. Bobby nodded in answer to her question slowly, "Look, Katie… I can go by myself if you don't wanna…" He was offering her an out. He knew from her attitude when she'd left the hospital that day that things weren't at all kosher between her and at least one of the boys. She'd opted not to fill Bobby in on her personal drama… as she figured he didn't care much to hear about it.
"No. No, it's fine," Kate said as she shook her head and stood from the desk, her eyes still overlooking her makeshift list as she sighed. She couldn't avoid the guys forever, and she knew that while she was still here she needed to help out. She recalled that much from her father's statement back in Connecticut, "Just give me a bit to pack up." Was all she told him before handing him her list on her way by him.
On the drive, he explained that, because of her previous warning about her nightmare, he'd been calling Ellen every day to check in on Ava and Brady. However, he admitted that he hadn't had a chance to do so today. She nodded in response, unsure if Sam had shared her knowledge of the demons going to the bar looking for trouble.
"Sam warned us, about… ya know, about demons eventually getting to Harvelle's and all that. Is that true?" Bobby asked her as he glanced her way from the road. She smirked to herself minutely- knowing he'd just answered her unasked question- clearly, they were both thinking along the same paths. It was nice to know that she was at least on the same page with someone. She thought bitterly to herself as her mind flashed back to Dean at the hospital.
"Well," She began slowly, with a shrug. "In the show, they- uhm, they burn the bar down, because Ash finds something- which is why I had told him to stop looking into things." She explained to Bobby. One of the first people she'd actually spoken to was Ash when they'd gotten into Bobby's house. She called him as they drove towards Bobby's house from the hospital back in Aberdeen and she reamed him a new one for continuing to search into everything, all she needed from him was information on Jake and the other kids. She told him that Wyoming was going to be the center of it all, and he couldn't keep digging about that. She asked if he'd do some more research on Jake Talley- like, his family and all of that. He said he would do what he could, for now at least on that side of things all Kate could do was wait.
After about a twelve-hour trip she and Bobby stood before a dingy-looking door marked with the number twelve across it. Upon his knocking, the door was pulled open. "Heya Bobby," Sam greeted with a warm smile. "Kate," He nodded just as relaxed as she shuffled in after he gestured her inside. Dean greeted Bobby similar to Sam as he moved off the bed towards the front door. He hesitated before he greeted Kate, curtly. Kate glanced around noting that the take-out boxes were piling up around the room… it almost looked as though things were purposely messed about the place. She said Bobby was also looking around awkwardly.
"It's good to see you again so soon," Bobby said with a glance between the brothers. Kate noted the sarcasm in his voice as it seemed a bit like they were avoiding Bobby's- Kate knew that her presence there had more to do with it than Bobby's.
"Yeah, uh, thanks for coming," Sam said with a tight smile as he looked from Bobby to Kate and tapped Bobby on the back of the shoulder.
"Thank god you're here…" Dean muttered, relief in his tone as he gestured for the two of them to take a seat on the bed across from him.
As Bobby inquired about the reason for not discussing the matter over the phone, Kate instantly grasped the situation. The conversation soon transitioned into an in-depth explanation of the recent events. Sam and Dean go back and forth with their points of view in varying degrees. The recounting began with the haunting that resulted in the professor's demise, followed by the account of an alien abduction, and concluded with the bizarre incident of a man being devoured by an alligator in the sewer. Kate found it challenging to contain her amusement, especially during the moments when Sam and Dean would go back and forth. Once the recap concluded, Kate and Bobby were fully briefed on the events leading up to their arrival. They began to offer potential big bads. The boys had moved, settling in at the dining table, while Kate remained perched at the foot of the bed, wearing an amused expression as the brother's back-and-forth continued. As the conversation unfolded, Bobby paced the motel room while everyone else savored their beers.
"Okay, I've had enough," Bobby said sternly, interrupting Dean's side of the story.
"Anyway, you showed up about an hour after that," Dean mumbled, quickly not looking up from the table in what Kate could only assume as embarrassment.
"I'm surprised at you. I really am." Bobby stated admonishing the boys as though he were a disappointed parent. "First off, Sam… Dean did not steal your computer."
"What?" He snapped, "But, I-." Bobby shushed him quickly.
"And, Dean… Sam did not touch your car." He spoke slowly and clearly for them to understand what he was saying through the thick, stubborn skulls.
"Yeah." Sam scoffed out with a chuckle. Kate bit the insides of her cheeks as she watched the scene before her. She was torn between interrupting and continuing to watch Bobby all but, chastise the guys over this hunt.
"If you'd bothered to pull your heads out of your asses, it all would have been pretty clear…" Bobby began.
"What?" Dean asked, unamused.
"What you're dealing with," Bobby explained. Dean and Sam glanced at each other, unable to come up with a response.
"Uh…" "I got nothin'" Sam and Dean both spoke in unison, "Me neither…" Sam agreed
"You got a trickster on your hands."
"No," Kate said, interrupting him softly. It was her first interruption since they'd arrived, she chose to remain silent for a bit- opting to observe with a twisted amusement to watch this back and forth all play out in real life. "No. I'm- I'm sorry Bobby; I don't mean to interrupt you, but even you don't get this case right…" She stated bluntly with a glance at Bobby. She got up and moved towards the books that Sam had laid out over the coffee table. Her eyes scanned them over as though looking for something, but she didn't expect to find anything. How could he have known anything about what was coming?
Sam and Dean shared a glance, Dean's expression more tense than Sam's as she heard Sam pointedly mutter out, "I told you…" to Dean before he turned back to Kate, giving her his full attention, "Do you know what this case is?"
As Sam spoke to her, Kate saw Dean rolling his eyes behind him. She glanced between the pair picking up on the tension between them. She wondered if it was just due to Gabriel's meddling or if Dean had told Sam why she'd left them in Aberdeen some weeks back. She nodded, pointedly not involving herself in their drama. "Yeah, and I need you guys to leave. Drop it. Head out to the nearest bar in town- I don't care where you go, but… you can't go after the janitor." Kate stated seriously.
The three men before her looked at her like she grew a second head. "Kate… Two people have died." Sam told her concern, lacing his eyes.
Kate nodded, her eyes moving over the walls, floors, and furniture. Purposefully avoiding all of their gazes as she stated, "I know, but this… this is an angel… An Archangel." She explained.
"An Archangel?" Sam repeated back to her, with a tone of surprise.
"C'mon… Archangel?" Dean scoffed in disbelief.
"I'm sorry… were you not there that night in Delaware when I had two angels show up in my hotel room and kill that man, or what about in Oregon? You and I fought against Angels with my father when we returned to that house to save you." She paused as she recalled both instances quite clearly.
"Yeah, but… that was… different. They were there for you. Angels don't just come to Earth and kill people-." Dean said slowly at first, gaining speed as he tried to rationalize Kate's answer.
Kate chuckled softly with a sarcastic smile on her face. "Man, are you in for a rude awakening…" She murmured as she shook her head in amusement.
"Hang on, Angels!? And, this just slipped your mind as you stayed in my house the last month or so?" Bobby asked incredulously looking around at the three of them. "Look, I know I'm not joining you out here on every hunt, but I'm still on your side here, girly." Bobby reminded them, her in particular. "I'd like to be kept in the know of things too, especially if there are two sides we needta be defendin' from." He chastised her sternly.
"Who exactly are we dealing with here, Kate?" Sam asked her as he stared at her seriously from across the table.
"Gabriel, " she answered as she stood straight up from crouching over the table. Her eyes moved towards Bobby. "We're gonna need some things... things that are hard to come by, " she stated as she moved to the table the boys sat at, grabbing a pen and paper.
"I have some contacts nearby…" Bobby told her as he moved in to see what she was writing. "I don't know what they can scrounge together, and it might take some time, but…."
"We don't have time," Kate told him simply as she ripped the top page from the pad and moved to hand it to Bobby. "As Sam said… people are dying."
"What is this stuff for?" Sam asked with an arched brow as he snatched the piece of paper from her hands to look it over. Kate moved on to write down something else on the next sheet in the notepad.
"That is stuff we need to trap the angel, and this is my coffee order…" She trailed off as she slid the second piece of paper towards Dean along the tabletop to her right.
"Wha-? I'm not you cabana bo-!" He began in outrage as he looked up at her wide-eyed.
"Listen, it's not a secret that I've been having trouble sleeping, and if we're going to entrap an Archangel, then I need some goddamn coffee," she asserted over whatever he had to say with a swift sense of urgency as she locked eyes with Dean for the first time since she and Bobby had arrived a couple of hours earlier. Despite following her daily routine at Bobby's place, she continued to have recurring nightmares. The nightmares alternated between past encounters with Duane, and Merrick from Oregon and of Ava committing murders, with the victims seeming to change each time. She attributed these dreams to the stress caused by previous dealings with demons. Since she and Bobby had been regularly reaching out to Harvelle's, Kate assumed everything was unchanged. "Please, don't argue with me on this, okay?" she asked Dean as her pleading eyes met his.
Dean hesitated opening his mouth undoubtedly a smartass comment on his lips, but he shut his mouth opting to just nod in answer. Kate watched his eyes drifting down to the table as he decided to remain silent, choosing to listen to her rather than put up a fuss. She assumed that he was feeling just as uneasy in her presence as she was in his. "Alright," he said with a shrug. "Well.. since I'm heading out anyway..." He got up and grabbed his leather jacket. Kate hurried to her bag, took out her wallet, and attempted to give him money for the coffee. However, Dean gently but firmly pushed her hand holding the wallet back down with a quick shake of his head. She supposed it didn't matter, given that stolen money was stolen money- whether it came from her card or his.
"Bobby, do you want some help with tracking down the things on the list?" Dean inquired. Bobby and Sam looked at Kate and Dean's exchange curiously, but neither asked as they were all set off to their tasks.
Sam looked over at Kate slowly as the sound of the door closing behind the two men echoed around the motel room. "So, while they do that… what're we doing?" Sam asked curiously.
"Feel like learning a new language?" She asked with sarcastic enthusiasm.
"Errr…" Sam began. "You know I don't have my laptop, right?" he asked her. Kate sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping at the reminder. Neither of them had one, as Kate had yet to replace her broken one.
"Library it is then." She asked with a heavy sigh.
Sam nodded as he said something about the college campus not being far from where they were staying.
Sam texted Dean, letting him and Bobby know that they'd trekked to the college library. She and Sam stopped at the librarian's desk to ask about religious and theology textbooks—she luckily pointed them in the right direction. It wasn't long before she and Sam were seated at a table near the back as they poured over some books. Kate had pulled all the ones on the study of the Enochian language, but unsurprisingly, there wasn't too much.
"So uhh, what's up between you and Dean?" Sam said, jumping into the awkward conversation head first. She glanced up at him, blinking mutely not wanting to answer his question."What do you mean?" She asked him hesitantly.
"C'mon, Kate. You know what I'm talking about…" Sam replied with a half smirk and a scoff as he turned the page he was reading slowly. She pointedly looked back down over the book, not intaking any of the information she was reading while her brain was working overtime to think of something- anything, but the truth.
"I'm afraid I don't." She told him simply shutting down the conversation quickly, still not meeting his gaze.
"C'mon," Sam scoffed lowly. "You guys are… tense, and you took off from Connecticut- completely no contact from anyone." Sam pointed out.
"That's not true." She defended in whispered outrage, "I called Bobby."
"Yeah! Bobby. Not me, and you ran out on Dean at the hotel… So, call me curious… but, what happened?" His voice trailed off and left Kate to wonder if he'd already put two and two together… Maybe that was the cause for such heavy tension between him and Dean.
"Okay, Sam. How about I ask you about your phone call the night while I was in Connecticut?" She said as she leaned in slightly toward the table.
Sam cleared his throat shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "Yeah… I didn't think so." Kate trailed off unamused.
Sam's face flushed pink as his expression grew tight with discomfort. "Look, that- that's different." He muttered trying to deflect the conversation back on her. "Besides, we're talking about you and Dean right now. You two have been awkward even before Aberdeen- tense." Sam explained easily.
She couldn't keep the words in her mouth even if she had tried, the volume of her voice loud with the subconscious retort, "Right, because that's any of your business. How…?" The older librarian suddenly shushed them sternly from the other side of her oversized desk.
Kate couldn't help the snort of nervous laughter that escaped her as she glanced from the librarian over to Sam with an amused expression. She stood swiftly, glancing back to see Sam follow from the table and towards the front glass doors. Stepping through the doorway, she inhaled a big breath of the cool winter air, the cold in her expanding lungs helping to ground her as she stared up at the cloudy skies above them, it was a cold, rainy February day in Ohio, but she was grateful about getting out of the darkened library.
Sam followed her out of the library, ignoring the librarian's glare as they walked by her. Once they stepped outside, he also took a deep breath of cold air. He watched Kate staring up into the overcast sky; he could see the tension on her face. He knew that he'd inadvertently touched a nerve when he brought up the situation between her and his brother. He realized then that he needed to tread this topic of conversation carefully.
"Kate," He began softly as he took a step towards her.
"Sam…. okay, look I have to ask you something… and I'm afraid this is going to be a painfully awkward conversation but… We should probably have this discussion sooner rather than later." Kate stated, her voice soft but assertive as she cut him off. She glanced away from the cloudy sky and turned up towards Sam's face as she talked to him.
Kate watched as Sam's brow furrowed in curiosity and slight apprehension at her words. She didn't think this conversation was going to be pleasant. "Okay," He nodded, steeling himself for whatever question she might have. "What is it, Kate? You can ask me anything, you know that."
Kate sighed once again, her blue eyes glancing around them surreptitiously. "Look, before I left for Aberdeen, for Bobby's…" She paused hearing her words shaking her head, her thoughts were scrambled. Her brain moved faster than her mouth could. "No, before that… when you found me that night. At my motel in Aberdeen, when Dean had shown up possessed by Meg… Well, while she was possessing him. She said something, but I- but I mean… Demons lie, right? It's kind of their thing, no?" She asked him as she bit her lower lip. Discomfort was clear as day across her face, and in her tightened tone of voice.
Sam's expression seemed to grow a little guarded, not knowing where this conversation was going. "They can, but… they've also been known to tell the truth- especially if they know it will screw with your head." He answered calmly. "What exactly are you asking me, Kate?" He asked her confused.
"Look, I'm sorry if I've given you the impression that-." she began but her voice cut off as her face heated with embarrassment. She disliked the direction that this conversation was taking, but she realized since she'd last seen the boys that it wasn't fair for her to be angry with Dean if she had inadvertently been doing the same thing to Sam, and she'll be damned if she was going to keep stringing him along with her.
Sam chuckled softly, seeing the flush fill her cheeks. It was obvious that this was difficult for Kate to discuss with him, and it appeared he was beginning to see why. "Ah," He said as it slowly dawned on him, a smirk growing over his amused expression. Sam took another step closer to her. "Look, just ask me the question."
A beat passed between them before Kate opened her mouth, and the words rushed out of her in one fluid breath. "Do you have a thing for me, Sam?"
His response was delayed as he processed her words. She could discern from the subtle shifts in his expression that he'd half-anticipated the directness of her question. She attentively watched him as he drew in a breath, seemingly collecting his thoughts, while awkwardly scratching the back of his head. Kate's expression tightened into a pained one; she had been worried about this, the two of them slowly coming to the same understanding as they stood knee-deep in this awkward silence. "Kate… I-. I- I am… I just-. Look, I can understand that we're just friends. So, it's... it's all good here, okay?" He told her with an amused expression. His blue eyes alight with amusement. Amusement that Kate didn't return.
She sighed heavily as her hand ran through her hair, "Look, Sam, the problem is... That-. Well, the reason that Dean and I are so tense right now is because we slept together." She told him in an even quieter tone. If she was going to push herself through this conversation she figured that the least she could do was be honest with him, unlike Dean. Sam's eyes widened at her confession, his eyebrows twitching up in surprise at her statement as she read the surprise on his face, but she figured, at least a small part of him had figured it out before- when he'd come to rescue her from a possessed Dean back in Aberdeen.
"Ah, I see…" He sighed out with a nod as he took in a breath. "And, that's why you ran away back in Connecticut.." Sam said slowly as he began stacking the precarious tower of events together. Kate nodded as she crossed her arms over her chest feeling vulnerable now. "And I assume that after all that, Dean has put some distance there."
"Well, I can tell you that it very clearly meant something different to me than it did him," Kate muttered in a low, begrudged tone of voice as her eyes downcasted along the sidewalk.
"What do you mean by that?" Sam asked, Kate's head snapped up at the slight change in Sam's voice, it came out tight, and low. As though he were fighting to keep whatever emotions coursing through him out of it.
"It means Sam, that I should've known better than to fall for the wrong brother," Kate murmured as she briefly met his gaze before leaning back against the brick building at her back. "Look, I just-. I wanted to talk to you myself, and clear the air, because I realized that I've been unwittingly doing the same thing to you that Dean was to me, and it's not right. So, I'm sorry if I've ever given you the impression that this-," she gestured quickly between the two of them. "-was… anything more than just a friendship." She told him in a genuine effort to own up to her own mistake. She just hoped to hell that Sam would forgive her.
As he listened to her words, Kate could see a mix of emotions overcome his face- his eyes were usually what gave him away. She could see that he did appreciate her honesty, but she'd hurt him all the same with her confession that she'd slept with his brother. Sam took a step toward her suddenly, until they were standing so close that Kate could feel the heat radiating from his body. "Look, Kate, you don't have to apologize to me. Whatever happened between you and Dean, it was your choice. You didn't do anything wrong."
She was hesitant before she spoke again, "I just… I don't want to feel like I'm caught between the two of you. It's not right." She explained, "I mean, that's the biggest reason I ran." She admitted softly to him with a scoff.
"I know it's not right." Sam agreed with a nod as he glanced across the busy street, his voice remaining gentle. "But… Look, whatever happened between you and Dean… isn't my business anyway. Whatever happens, I just want you two to be happy is all Kate. I care about both of you." Sam told her in a low tone.
"You mean it?" She asked him softly, relief filling her voice as she sighed. She hoped to hell that was the case.
Sam nodded as his eyes moved over her, "Our friendship means a lot to me, Kate, and I don't want to lose it over this. I meant it when I said that I like having you around." She nodded as her blue eyes met him again. "Just… promise me something, Kate?" He asked slowly.
Seeing her silence, he pressed on, saying, "Just promise me you'll be honest with yourself—about your feelings, that is?" Her lips, once parted, closed quickly, and her expression turned serious at his last comment. Kate was finished talking about Dean. Although she looked away, she quietly nodded, replying, "I'll try." Still, she scoffed, shaking her head.
"What?" Sam asked with a half-smirk.
"Nothing. It's just… funny to hear a Winchester of all people tell me to be honest about my feelings." Kate laughed as she began heading back into the library until they heard the familiar rumble of the Impala. Bobby is seated in the passenger seat and Dean is driving. He parked baby along the side of the road and cut the engine before getting out and coming around the front end of the car. He hesitated in front of Kate as he held out her coffee. She murmured a low thank you as she took it swiftly.
"I'll never understand a person who drinks iced coffee, especially in the winter." He grumbled with a curious look sent her way.
"That much is obvious," She replied pointedly as she turned and walked back into the library, towards her and Sam's table. She stilled swiftly, causing Dean to slam into her from behind. She turned, sending him a glare before her eyes swiftly moved up to Sam. "Our books are gone." She told him quickly.
"What?" He asked his own eyes moving to the now empty table. She gritted her teeth as she looked around for the earlier librarian. What the hell? She thought to herself, they weren't out there that long. Maybe they could still catch the old woman putting stuff back on the shelf.
"You think the librarian put them back them up?" Sam asked his own eyes looking around the building for the older lady they'd seen earlier.
Kate's eyes found a younger woman behind the desk that wasn't there before and she moved swiftly to her, "Excuse me? Is the other woman still here? She's older with- with white hair and glasses? Wearing a kind of frilly button-up sweater? Kind of a Roz vibe from Monsters Inc.?" Kate asked hopeful that it was a specific enough description.
The younger blonde woman still looked confused at the question, her mouth opening slowly, "I- I'm sorry, but- I'm afraid I'm the only librarian on today and, even if I weren't-. No one that works here fits that description, all of the other employees are men." She answered.
Kate cursed softly as she pulled away from the desk, her eyes wide as she glanced around the place for a second look, but she didn't think she'd find the older woman. More than likely… there was no older librarian… Most likely, it was Gabriel in disguise. Fuck. she cursed in her head. She thought they'd had an edge, but… Gabriel was already two steps ahead of them.
So, this is my second attempt at posting this chapter as it went through last night, but it wasn't accessible to everyone. So please let me know if you are reading this! The site is being wonky right now. Thanks all!