Kat and Dean somehow managed to fall into a normal life, just as Sam had asked of them. They didn't hear from anyone in Heaven, not even Cas or Sara. Dean took a job in carpentry and Kat took her translation work full time, even doing live translations in meetings over the internet. There were dates, dinners, Dean would go out every so often after work with his new friend, Sid, and for a year, they were your average married couple with no kids.

One night after Dean came home, he was acting a little strange. Kat was in the kitchen when she overheard a phone conversation.

"And no one's called about a missing person?" Kat looked up from the dishes. Dean was looking into a missing person? He hadn't done that in a while. By the time she found him, he was hanging up.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"Sid," Dean answered. "Just setting up a poker game." Kat could tell he was lying, but she also figured that she knew why, so she went with it.

"It's 11:30," she pointed out.

"Is it really?" he said, looking at the clock. "Well, that explains why he was asleep when I called. I'll be right up." Kat leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.

"Okay," she said, and went up to bed. Dean came up a few minutes after as he promised, but he seemed to struggle falling asleep. It had been like that a lot lately, and Kat was getting worried.

Later the next day, Sid stopped by while Kat was in her front garden and mentioned that he had seen Dean with a gun and that he had almost shot the neighbor's little Yorkie. He said that Dean thought it was a possum. Kat thanked Sid, and secretly had a panic attack. Dean hadn't pulled out a gun in almost a year, and while some part of her expected that they would be targeted by something even though they had left that life, it should have happened by now.

Kat found him in the garage, where he was in Baby's trunk, somewhere she hadn't seen him in a while.

"Hey," she said as she walked in. Dean jumped a bit, only worsening Kat's anxiety

"Just getting a hammer," he said. Kat nodded, but let it go.

"So, I just ran into Sid," she remarked. "Did you almost shoot a yorkie?"

"Technically," he replied.

"Dean, what's going on?" Kat finally asked, opting to confront the problem head on.

"Nothing," he said, almost too quickly and somewhat lamely.

"How come I don't believe you?" Dean sighed as he realized that he had been caught.

I just…..I got this…..I don't know, spidey sense."

"Are you hunting something?" The blunt question seemed to catch Dean a little off guard. After a moment, he took a breath.

"Honestly?" he said. "At first, I thought I was. But I'm pretty sure that I got worked up over nothing. It's, uh, you know…"

"It happens," Kat finished.

"Do you…do you think we could do a sweep, just to be 100%?" Kat smiled, gave him a peck on the cheek, and grabbed a handgun out of the trunk.

"We just need to be careful," she said. Dean smiled and gave her a hug.

"Careful is my middle name," he smiled. Kat went around to check the backyard and the shed. There was nothing there, but a gunshot coming from the garage made her run back. Dean was on the floor, gasping like he was being strangled. His eyes were glazing over, but he had a look of complete terror on his face.

"Dean!" she cried and ran to him. At the same time, someone burst in and ran towards them. Kat immediately raised her gun, but stopped when she realized who it was.

"Sam?"

When Dean woke up, they were somewhere else. He looked a little confused, looking between Sam and Kat.

"Hey, Dean," Sam said. "I was expecting, I don't know, a hug, some holy water to the face...something."

"Kat probably did that already," Dean said. "So, we're dead? This is heaven? Yellow eyes killed us and-"

"Yellow eyes?" Sam asked. "Is that what you saw?"

"Saw?"

"You were poisoned," the younger Winchester explained. "So whatever crazy crap you think you've been seeing, it's not real." Kat looked at Dean, watching the realization slowly dawn on his face.

"So, then….are you….real? Or-or am I still-" Dean began.

"I'm real," Sam finished for him. "Here, let me save you the trouble." He cut himself with a silver blade and put salt into a small jug of water, which he proceeded to drink. "All me," he winced. "That's nasty." Dean stood up and slowly walked to his brother.

"Sammy?" he asked softly.

"Yeah," Sam replied. "It's me." Kat smiled warmly as Dean grabbed his brother in a tight hug. He then pulled back and held him at arms length.

"Wait a minute," Dean said. "You...you were….you were gone, man. I mean, that...that was it. How the hell are you -?"

"I don't know," Sam answered, shrugging.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Kat asked, getting up to join Dean.

"I mean, no idea," Sam said. "I'm just back."

"Well, was it God? Or Cas?" Dean asked. "I mean, does Cas know anything about it? Or Sara maybe?"

"You tell me," Sam replied. "I've been calling. Neither Cas nor Sara have answered my prayers. I don't even know where they are. I mean, I was...down there, and then, next minute, it's raining and I'm lying flat in a field, alone. It's kind of hard to go looking for whatever saved you when you got no leads. But I looked. I mean, believe me, I've looked. For weeks."

"Wait, weeks?" Dean asked. "How long you been back?" Sam hesitated. "How long have you been back, Sam?" Dean asked again.

"About a year," he finally answered.

"About a year?" Dean repeated, sounding both shocked and frustrated.

"Dean," Sam began.

"You've been back practically this whole time?!" Dean exclaimed, cutting his brother off. "What, did you lose the ability to send a friggin' text message?!"

"Dean," Kat said, putting a hand on his arm.

"You finally had what you wanted, Dean," Sam said.

"I wanted my brother, alive!"

"You wanted a family," Sam insisted. "You have for a long time, maybe the whole time. I know you. You only gave it up because of the way we lived. I thought maybe you would have left when you and Kat got married, but you two finally had something and you were building something. Had I shown up, you would have just run off. I'm sorry, but it felt like after everything, you two deserved some regular life." Dean was quiet for a moment.

"What have you been doing?" he finally asked.

"Hunting," Sam said.

"You left us alone and you were flying solo?" Dean said, confused.

"Not solo," Sam answered.

"What?" Dean and Kat both asked.

"I hooked up with some other people," Sam explained.

"You?" Dean asked, scoffing slightly. "Working with strangers?"

"They're more like family," Sam said. "And they're here." He led Dean and Kat into the next room, where three people were sitting. One was a rougher looking guy with a 5 o'clock shadow, and hair and a facial structure similar to Deans. The other guy looked a little bit younger, with a little more facial hair, a face like Sams, and lighter blonde hair. The woman had a serious look about her with dark brown, almost black hair that went to just below her shoulders. All three of them looked at Dean and Kat when they walked in.

"Hey," the woman said.

"Hi," Dean and Kat replied.

"My god, you two have delicate features for hunters," she went on, looking closely at them.

"Excuse me?" Dean said, looking at her.

"Dean, Kat, Gwen Campbell," Sam said.

"Good to finally meet you," Gwen said. "Sam's gone on and on."

"And this is Christian," Sam pointed at the man who looked like Dean. "And Mark. Campbell."

"Hi," Mark said. Then, something clicked in Dean's head.

"Cam...Campbell? Like-"

"Like your mom," Christian said.

"Third cousin," Sam explained, pointing at Gwen. "Third cousin," he pointed at Christian. "Something, something twice removed," he ended with Mark. "They grew up in the life, like Mom and us."

"Wait," Kat said. "I thought your Dad was the hunter?"

"John?" Christian scoffed. "Please."

"It's a long story," Sam said. "We'll tell you later."

"I thought all of Mom's relatives were gone," Dean said, looking around. "And I'm sorry. It's just, you know, why didn't we know about any of you?"

"'Cause they didn't know about you," a voice said from the other side of the room. "Not until I brought you all together." An older man with a shaved head walked in. He was dressed like the others, and had the wizened soldier look about him.

"Samuel?" Dean asked. Samuel smiled and pulled a shell-shocked Dean into a hug. Kat was still a little apprehensive, realizing that this was quite the family reunion.

"Guys, give me a second with my grandchildren here, please," Samuel said to the others. Kat started to follow them out when Samuel stopped her. "You're a grandkid too, you know." She nodded and stepped back next to Dean. Once everyone else was out of the room, Samuel looked at the three of them. "Lot of resurrections in your face, today," he said to Dean. "It's all right. Take a minute."

"It's gonna take a little more than a minute," Dean said. "I mean, what the hell? How did this happen?"

"We're guessing whatever pulled Sam up pulled me down," Samuel replied. "So, whatever this is, we're both a part of it."

"But you don't know what that is," Kat finished.

"Bingo."

"And you have no leads," Dean continued. "Nothing?" When he didn't get an answer, he started pacing. "Well, this - this is, uh...No more doornails coming out of that door, is there?"

"As far as we know," Sam said. "It's Samuel and it's me."

"Okay, am I the only one here that - that - that thinks that this can't all just be fine?" Dean exclaimed.

"Believe me, you're not," Samuel agreed. "I wanted to come get you, of course. Both of you. Sam was adamant about leaving you out, so we did. Until this."

"So, how did you end up in our garage?" Kat asked, putting a hand on Dean's arm to calm him down.

"I got hit before you did," Sam said. "Few days ago. Dosed up with poison."

"By?"

"Couple of djinn," he explained.

"Djinn?" Dean asked. "I thought those were...were cave-dwelling hermit-type. That's pretty exotic."

"Not anymore, at least," Sam replied. "These...look like regular people. They can blend in. And all they got to do to kill you is touch you. Their toxins get in your system, all of a sudden you're hallucinating your worst nightmares, and pretty soon you O.D."

"How am I not affected?" Kat asked.

"Not sure," Samuel said. "That angel still riding you?"

"No," she said. "I haven't heard from Sara in a while. Haven't heard anything from Gaia either, before you ask."

"Well, then how are you breathing air?" Dean asked Sam.

"Samuel had a cure," Sam explained. Dean looked at his grandfather.

"You got a cure for djinn poison?" he asked, doubtful.

"Oh, I know a few things," Samuel answered. "Stick around, I'll show you tricks your daddy never even dreamed of."

"Why are these things after Dean? Us?" Kat asked.

"Well, Dean did stake one a while back," Samuel said.

"After they came after me, we were pretty certain that they were gonna go gunning for Dean next," Sam continued.

"We should probably check the house again," Kat said. "Make sure they aren't setting up anything else for us to trip."

"We sent someone to watch the house," Sam said.

"Regardless, we need to see for ourselves. Besides, what kind of witch would I be if I didn't set wards around my own home?" Kat insisted. "Your guy might accidentally trip a few." They piled into a car and drove back to their house. There was an unfamiliar car sitting outside with someone in it...someone dead. Kat immediately went to a corner of their house and saw that the spell bottle she had buried there, as well as the coffin nails, were gone.

"Shit," she said, pulling out a gun, signaling for the others to do the same. A sweep of the house showed nothing, but Dean wasn't about to take any chances.

"Pack a bag," he ordered Kat. "We're going to Bobbys." Kat didn't argue, but wasn't thrilled with leaving her grandmother's house behind. Out of habit, she and Dean always had go bags packed in their closet. This gave Kat some time to throw together some extra crunchy protection spells, as well as add a few more wards on the doors and windows. Under her instruction, she, Dean, and Sam, placed them in the strategic points around the house before locking the deadbolt and getting on the road. While in the car, Kat reached out to Sara or Cas, hoping they would answer her, asking them to keep her and Dean safe, as well as their home. She didn't get an answer, but she was confident that they at least heard her.

Upon reaching Bobbys, Kat couldn't help but notice that he wasn't as surprised to see Sam as she and Dean had been. She took their bags upstairs to where their room had been, and when she came downstairs, the scene was exactly what she had been expecting.

"Because you got out!" Bobby was shouting. "You walked away from the life. And I was so damn grateful, you got no idea."

"Do you have any clue what walking away meant for me?" Dean fired back.

"Yeah!" Bobby said. "A normal life with your wife. Maybe kids down the road. Not getting your guts ripped out at age 30. That's what it meant."

"A normal life," Dean said. "We went because you and Sam asked us to."

"Good," Bobby snapped.

"Good for who?" Dean asked, rounding on Sam. "We showed up in a house that wasn't ours, grieving. God knows why Kat even put up with me for that. I had nightmares. I drank too much. I looked everywhere. I collected hundreds of books, trying to find anything to bust you out!"

"You promised you'd leave it alone," Sam muttered.

"Of course I didn't leave it alone!" Dean cried. "Sue me! A damn year?! You couldn't put me out of my misery?"

"Misery?" Kat said. Everyone in the room flinched when she spoke. The color drained out of Dean's face as he turned and faced his wife. "That's what the last year for you was? Misery?" Her voice cracked and tears started blurring her vision. "You act like Sam's sacrifice didn't hit me hard, too. Let's not forget who tried to keep you two from splitting up a while back; who tried to get Sam to stay and tried to get you to bring him back when he left. Who picked you up on the nights when you drank yourself stupid? Who held you through the nightmares and did extra work on the house to try and keep us safe? Who helped you find those books that were impossible? What the fuck did I do it all for, Dean? Because I sure as hell didn't just do it for myself!" The whole time, her voice never went above a low growl, which made everyone's blood go cold. Dean couldn't keep eye contact with her. Neither could Sam or Bobby. "I was in the life, too, you know. Some part of me knew we would never be out completely, but I was glad to be as close to normal as we were going to get." Kat turned on her heel and walked out to the junkyard. That fucker, she thought. I lost a brother too and he acts like I didn't care. She sighed and looked up at the sky.

"Sara," she said quietly. "I really hope you can hear me. If you, Cas, or anyone in heaven had a hand in this...you had better come clean. Dean won't be able to take much more of this. You'll lose him if you don't tell him everything. Cas, you too." Kat paused, waiting to hear the familiar sound of wings flapping somewhere near her. They never came. "You've never ignored me, Sara. What the hell?" Another minute of silence, which was broken by Sam's voice.

"Hey," he said. "Calling for help?" Kat turned and looked at him.

"Anything at this point," she said. "I'm a little surprised you didn't expect this from him."

"I knew he would react like this, I just wasn't ready for how bad it was going to be," Sam said.

"That's your own damn fault and you know it, Sam Winchester," Kat growled. "Keeping him away from all of this is going to be damn near impossible now."

"We've done the impossible before," Sam muttered lamely. Kat clenched her fist and sighed.

"As much as I love him and you, and as happy I am that you're back, you two don't make it easy to stay sane," she said. Sam cracked a wry grin.

"Isn't that what family is supposed to do?" There was a moment of silence as they stared each other down. Then, Kat cracked a small smile and chuckled with him.

"You're not wrong," she said. She heaved another sigh and walked over to her brother in law.

"I am glad that you're back, Sam," she said, giving him a hug. Sam hugged her back. Kat couldn't help but notice that there was a lack of his usual warmth in it, but she chalked it up to it being a year since she had seen him last.

"Dean thinks that we have the best chance of catching the djinn at your place, and since you beefed up the protection, we need you to come with us," he said. Kat nodded and they headed back inside to get together with the rest of the group. She and Dean didn't say a word to each other, but they knew there would be a severe conversation later.

"Huh, I love this one," Gwen said as she picked up an in-style magazine with Scarlett Johansson on the cover from the coffee table. "Yours or your wifes?" Dean didn't answer. He went to pull a picture of them out of Mark's hands while Kat was powering down some more wards.

"Golf?" Sam asked from the closet under the stairs, holding a driver. "Really?"

"It's a - it's a sport," Dean said, trying to defend himself.

"We had to assimilate somehow," Kat pointed out, nodding to a second set in the closet that was a little bit smaller. As the rest of the team set up traps, Samuel joined Dean and Kat in the kitchen.

"Nice house," he commented.

"Yeah go ahead, say it," Dean muttered. "Call me soccer mom. Whatever."

"My grandmother left it to me, thank you very much," Kat reminded him.

"'Soccer mom', huh?" Samuel said. "Well, I'll have to look that up on the 'intranet'." Kat looked at him strangely, then remembered that until a year ago, he had been dead for several years, so the internet hadn't been a thing. "You know, believe it or not, I get it, Dean. You wanted a normal life. You even got married to boot. Your mom wanted a normal life, too. You remind me of her, actually. The attitude for one thing." Kat cracked a small smile, wondering what a female version of Dean would have been like. "Your brother tell you what we've been dealing with the past few months?"

"No, not really," Dean admitted.

"I've never seen anything quite like it," Samuel explained. "Been working 'round the clock."

"So what's going on?" Kat asked.

"We don't know," Samuel said. "But whatever it is, it goes way past a couple of djinn acting off. Nocturnals attacking in broad daylight, werewolves out on the half-moon, creatures that we've never even seen before." Dean and Kat both paid very close attention the more details he gave. "We don't even know what they are. I'm knee-deep in half-eaten human hearts and exsanguinated 10 year olds, and it's all making me...uneasy." The younger couple was fully invested now.

"So what's your theory?" Dean asked.

"You tell me," Samuel replied. "All we really know is it's all hands on deck. We're counting on each other right now. That's how it is with Campbells. We need you, Dean." Kat frowned slightly. He was perfectly happy to respect Sam's wishes when Dean didn't know, but the minute they found out, it was a big sell on getting him back in...just him.

"Look," Dean began. "I hear you...but…"

"You don't know what you're part of, Dean," Samuel insisted, doubling down. "You know, you had ancestors hacking the heads off vamps on the Mayflower. What I'm saying is that we're your blood. And we're out there, dying, trying to get in front of whatever this is. Maybe not the best time for golf." Kat was starting to get irritated, so she quietly slipped out into the front room, only to be faced with Christian...pointing a gun at her.

"What's your game, witchy-poo?" he growled.

"What?"

"What's your game? What spell do you have him under? Trying to keep him away from his family? From his legacy?"

"Christian, what the hell?" Sam said, coming up beside him. "She's family."

"She's a witch," Christian reiterated. "You know how many we've put down? You think we didn't figure it out when she had all those spells around the house?" Kat stared right down the barrel of the gun.

"Go ahead," she said. "Pull the trigger. Shoot. See if there's even a spell to begin with."

"CHRISTIAN!" Samuel shouted from behind her. Kat locked eyes with the older-looking Campbell, daring him to pull the trigger. As soon as she noticed the gun begin to shake, she knocked it out of his hands, heave-kicked him against the wall, and pulled her own gun on him. She heard the clicks of a few other guns, but her eyes were locked on Dean's distant cousin.

"Threaten me again in my own house, and you won't live to see what you've been working so hard for," she snarled. Kat waited a few minutes, giving Christian a chance to nod. When he did, she put her gun back in its holster and stepped away. "I have to grab some things from my kit. Don't touch anything that looks like it serves a purpose." Fuming, she stormed down to her celler, grabbing jars of ingredients to make stronger protection spells. When she came back upstairs, Dean and Sam were alone in the kitchen. She heard the door open and realized that the others had left.

"This is crazy," Dean was saying. "I mean, you, Grandpa...whoever brought you back…"

"They don't want to be found," Sam finished, nodding his agreement.

"Yeah, I get that," Dean said. "But who are they? And what do they want? Why?"

"That's a good question," Sam agreed. Kat puttered about, measuring out the ingredients she would need, but listening.

"Do you remember it?" Dean asked.

"What?"

"The cage."

"Yeah." Kat flinched a little. She was curious, but the mention of that place only brought back the day they lost him.

"You want to…"

"No."

"Well, if anybody can relate," Dean began.

"Dean, I don't want to talk about it," Sam said firmly. "I'm back. I get to breathe fresh air, have a beer, hunt with my family, see you two again. So why exactly would I want to think about Hell?"

"And you really think…" Dean began, but then fell quiet as he looked next door. Kat looked in the same direction and her stomach dropped as she saw Sid being attacked by what she could only assume were the djinn. Dean ran out the door with Sam right on his heels. Kat went to follow, only to have Gwen bar her way.

"Out of the way," Kat said, trying to move around her.

"Samuel doesn't want you in this fight," Gwen said firmly.

"Samuel isn't my father," Kat snapped. They got into a scuffle, with Gwen having the advantage of not being a year out of practice. She managed to get a good blow on Kat's face, knocking her out cold. Right before she blacked out, Kat distinctly heard Gwen say, "Sorry about this, cousin."

Kat came to in her own bed, Dean sitting at the foot.

"Ow," she grumbled. Dean's head snapped to her and he was at her side before she could blink.

"Hey," he said softly. "How're you feeling?"

"Like I just got haymakered in the face," she groaned. Dean wordlessly handed her painkillers and a glass of water. She realized that it was her jar of moonwater from the fridge, stuff that she had charmed to help push medications along. Once she had swallowed down the pills, Dean took a look at the bruise on her face. It stung as he gently touched it, making Kat wince. He pulled back immediately, worry all over his face. "I'm okay. It's just sore," Kat assured him. Dean nodded, then looked down.

"I've been an ass this year, haven't I?" he muttered. When Kat didn't answer, he continued. "I didn't take all of this well at all, and I completely ignored you and how you feel. You've seen me at the lowest I've ever been and still managed to keep it together." Kat reached out and grabbed his hand. Dean looked up quickly, eyes wide.

"I'm not going to pretend it was easy," Kat said. "You really put us both through the ringer, especially in the last couple of days. That said, I didn't just marry you for good times. I promised to stay with you through the bullshit for as long as love is there. I love you as much now as I did when we got married. I'm not going anywhere." Dean gave a very choked sob and pulled her close. Kat hugged him back, wincing a little as her head throbbed.

"I don't deserve you," he whispered. "You're everything I could want and I don't deserve any of it."

"Shut up and hold me, you mug," Kat said with a chuckle. As they lay together in bed, Dean told her everything that had happened: the hallucination, the fight, and Sam's promise to keep in touch. He did mention that they would probably have to move, which Kat wasn't happy about, but she understood. For right then and there, however, they were just glad to have each other.