Author's note: This chapter has a lengthy vision that is pretty intense. Pay close attention to the (scene changes) that I add so you know if you are reading reality or vision. I wrote this the way I did for a specific reason but I do understand not everyone likes these darker things. You could probably skip over it and still get enough out of the chapter to understand what's going on.
Another note: This had about 200 more words when I uploaded it than when I had it in a google doc. If anyone finds a duplicate paragraph. Let me know.
(Dean and Kate)
Over several plates of sushi, Dean got Kate to talk about what was in her head. She had trouble explaining things and most of her sentences started out on one topic but ended on another. He appreciated any form of sentences and just tried to keep up.
Charlie asked if Kate could sleep at Marie's house and Dean didn't have an issue with it. Sam was there to keep an eye on her.
Dean drove Kate to Bobby's house to pack an overnight bag and drove over to Kim's house to spend some time with her. At Kim's place, Dean slipped his boots off and joined her in her bedroom.
"How did the visit go?" Kim asked.
"She got a little information from the kid and wants to go back a few times. We had dinner and she told me more about her thought process." Dean said. "I think she is hiding something. She would talk about something and suddenly talk about something else. I wish I could get in her head and see what is really going on."
Kim sat on the bed. "Maybe she just doesn't have the words to explain."
"She has a history of hiding things. She and Hannah hid their plot to save Brian's soul. She hid things with the blood spell that cured Sam and Andy." Dean said.
"It sounds like she means well." Kim said.
"She doesn't care about her own life. She just throws herself into the fire left and right and it is exhausting. She does revive but if she didn't have that ability, she would still do what she does. Then, I guess, every time she dies, she loses part of her soul. If she continues down this path, she is going to lose too much of it." Dean said.
"I understand where a lot of the stress comes from." Kim said.
"How am I supposed to help if she doesn't tell me?" Dean asked.
"Just love her. Keep trying to talk to her." Kim said.
Dean pulled his shirt off and settled on the bed. He was tired and just wanted to sleep.
Kim shut off the lights in the rest of the apartment and washed her face. Within 3 minutes she looked at Dean and he was fast asleep. She finished her routine and climbed into the bed beside him. She expected him to wake enough for her to move the blankets but he didn't. She couldn't pull the blanket so she decided to get an extra blanket. He was such a light sleeper usually but she figured that he was exhausted and didn't want to wake him up over a blanket.
((VISION))
Dean woke suddenly due to a strange noise. He looked at Kim who was sleeping peacefully. He heard the noise again and slipped out of the bed. He grabbed his gun and searched for the source of the noise. He had an intense feeling of dread as he cleared each room in the apartment. He peeked through the curtains to see the sidewalk outside. There were no cars driving by. No critters scurrying around in the shadows. No college students stumbling around or cheering on their friend as he chugged yet another beer. These were all things that Dean typically encountered on nights that he couldn't sleep while at Kim's place. He checked every window and door to make sure all the salt lines were in place. He went back to Kim's room but couldn't go back to sleep.
An hour ticked by as Dean watched the numbers change on the alarm clock that sat on the small table by Kim's head. He heard her breathing change and crouched next to her side of the bed. He could hear a rattle in her chest and it seemed to get worse with every breath. He touched her face and frowned. She was burning up. He gently tapped her shoulder to wake her up and got a weak whine in response.
Kim opened her eyes to see Dean a few inches away.
"You are breathing weird and you are hot." Dean said.
Kim whimpered as her head started hurting. She tried to sit up but was too weak to even lift her head.
Dean quickly gathered ice water and a cool cloth. He asked what was wrong and checked the line attached to her chest. The skin was red and warm. It had been fine before they went to bed. She had on a tank top and he could see the entire bandage. Had it been red? No. He was certain that it looked normal. He told Kim that she needed to go to the emergency room and that he'd take her.
Kim winced and let a few tears escape her eyes.
Dean looked around for his phone to call an ambulance. It took him a minute to find it as it had fallen underneath the bed. Maybe he knocked it under there when he was scrambling to help Kim. He dialed the numbers and put the phone to his ear. All he heard was the buzzing tone of a call that couldn't connect. He looked at the phone and discovered that he had no cell signal. He growled and grabbed Kim's phone to try again. Same situation. How was that even possible? If there was no cell signal, 911 was still supposed to work.
Kim's breathing was getting worse and the redness surrounding the line was spreading so quickly that Dean could see it moving.
Dean swore and grabbed his car keys. He was parked down the street so he told Kim he'd move the car closer and be back to get her. Was that the best option? Should he just pick her up and carry her to the car? He reached for the door handle and immediately froze. He stepped to the side and moved the curtain to the side. He saw a little girl standing at the bottom of Kim's steps. He jumped back as the girl looked at him. She had solid black eyes. Why would a demon possess a little girl? Is that why the phones weren't working? He didn't have time for this. Kim didn't have time for this. He looked back outside and the little girl was still there. He looked past her and saw more people walking toward the apartment. Shit. He couldn't call an ambulance into a mess of demons. He checked on Kim again and his stomach sank. The redness made it up her neck and onto her face. He quickly called out for a nymph but didn't get a response. Nymphs could get through demons. Why weren't they answering?
The doorbell rang, sending chills down Dean's spine. He looked through the peephole and swallowed the lump in his throat. It was the little girl. Her eyes were normal.
"Please let me in." The little girl said.
Dean stepped away from the door with his gun ready to fire.
"Please let me in. I'm cold. The mean man went away." The little girl said.
Dean felt well and truly trapped. He needed to pull it together. How did he manage before the nymphs started helping them? He cleared his throat and started reciting the exorcism, careful to say each word correctly.
The little girl knocked again, this time with more urgency. She begged to be let in through sobs. She said she was scared and people with scary eyes were trying to hurt her.
Dean couldn't fall for that trick. A demon would have no issue sounding like a scared little girl. He heard a shrill scream and gritted his teeth. He finished the exorcism and approached the window again. He saw the people walking away in the direction of their respective homes.
The little girl ran into the street and yelled for her mom. She tugged on the arms of men and women that seemed to ignore her.
Dean watched her run down the street and worried about the girl the demon possessed. He had to save Kim, though. He checked his phone again. Still, no service. He prayed to Tessa and nearly collapsed when she showed up. "Help her."
Tessa touched Kim and took her away, leaving Dean standing in the doorway.
Dean wanted to get to his car so he could drive to the hospital. He geared up to fight a few demons on the way to his car and just as he made it to his car, he heard sobbing coming from the shadows. He forced himself to get into the car and drive away, leaving the girl in the darkness. It went against everything he believed in and he fought himself the whole way to the hospital. He was overwhelmed by the lights and sirens that filled the night as he parked his car. He ran up to the front doors and was met with chaos. The waiting room was filled with people hunched over, holding ripped blankets and towels against wounds. Was there an explosion? He searched for Tessa and Kim but couldn't find them anywhere. He flagged down a nurse and asked where Kimberly Elliot was.
The nurse said she didn't know and ran by him to help someone else.
Dean couldn't breathe. His throat was tight and panic was eating away at his resolve. He searched the rooms just in case Tessa had gotten Kim into a room without waiting. She wasn't in the emergency room. Maybe she had been taken to her usual floor. He entered the waiting room again to double check that she wasn't there and ask the receptionist if she had been checked in.
The receptionist said her name wasn't on the list and waved him out of the way as she struggled to check people in as more showed up.
Another ambulance pulled up and paramedics poured out of the back, pushing a stretcher down the hallway. Dean saw something laying on the ground and quickly grabbed it. The little girl had a stuffed bunny when she was standing outside. He had just left. She was fine. The bunny was in rough shape and stained from blood loss. He pushed his way through a sea of people, trying to follow the paramedics. He saw them running in and out of a room and stopped at the glass door. He couldn't see much of anything as the person on the bed was covered with bandages. He watched something fall from the foot of the bed and identified it as one of the pink sneakers the girl had been wearing. He dropped the bunny and quickly made his way out of the hospital to throw up in some bushes. When she was crying and begging for help, was she human? Did he ignore a little girl because he was too scared of demons to help her?
He started to smell sulfur and nearly gagged. He whirled around looking for the demon that was nearby. He ran to his car and slammed the door as he dove into the front seat. He was safe from demons. He drummed his fingers on his steering wheel and tried to form a full thought. He needed help. The nymphs still wouldn't show up. Tessa was with Kim. He prayed to Cas and soon felt the cool breeze as Cas appeared in the passenger seat. "What is going on?"
Cas looked around. "There are emergency vehicles transporting patients to the hospital beside us."
"No. I know. I know what all the noise is. Where is Kim? Why are all those people bleeding?" Dean asked.
Cas looked out the front window without saying anything.
Dean looked and froze in terror. There was a hellhound sitting about 10 feet from the car with its eyes set on Dean. He whirled around and saw two more. He turned back to ask Cas more questions but he was gone. "Son of a bitch!" He blinked and was suddenly not in his car. He was standing outside of a hospital he had never been to before. He was met by Tessa and demanded to be given details.
"She is inside." Tessa said.
"What happened in Sioux Falls?" Dean asked.
"People were attacked." Tessa said.
Dean gasped. "By the hellhounds."
Tessa just nodded.
"I need to be with Kim." Dean said.
"You need to decide if she lives or not." Tessa said.
"What? Why? Of course I want her to live." Dean said.
"Do not make decisions so thoughtlessly. The girl will be able to heal and live a full life if she is chosen." Tessa said.
"You… you want me to choose?" Dean asked.
"Yes." Tessa said.
"I can't. This isn't fair. They both get to live." Dean said.
"There can only be one." Tessa insisted.
Dean knew he couldn't choose. Kim would probably choose to die and save the girl but he couldn't do that. "No."
"You will upset the natural order of things." Tessa said.
"Screw the natural order of things." Dean said.
"So be it." Tessa said before vanishing.
Dean was confused. What was happening? He got a phone call and quickly answered it. "Hello?"
It was Sam.
"Look, Sammy, I need help. There were demons and Kim's sick and then hellhounds and.." Dean was cut off.
"Bigger problems here." Sam said. "Dad left a few days ago and we lost contact. He was following up on a lead from Ellen about the freaks."
Dean stammered. "I just talked to him today."
"No you didn't." Sam said.
Dean checked his phone to find the timestamp on his last call to John. "Dude, I talked to him this morning at 8:45."
"What day do you think it is?" Sam asked.
Dean looked at a sign next to a bank across the road. It periodically changed from event announcements, the weather and the day. He furrowed his eyebrows. "Sam, something weird is going on."
"Dad is missing. Pull it together." Sam said.
Dean stood motionless as the sign changed rapidly. He looked at his phone again and the battery was dead. Was he losing his mind? He smelled sulfur again and met eyes with a hellhound sitting on the sidewalk by the bank. He slowly backed away, reaching for his gun. It wasn't there. He stumbled and hit the ground as the hound lunged. He covered his face and braced himself but he wasn't torn to shreds. He slowly moved his arms and sat up.
"Uh, sir, are you alright?" A woman asked.
Dean blinked. "What?"
The woman was a nurse on her way to work. She crouched down and looked Dean over. "Do you have someone I can call for you?"
Dean followed her inside because his brain wasn't working. He saw a brightly lit waiting room and suddenly remembered Kim. "Kimberly Elliot."
The nurse raised an eyebrow. "Is she who I should call?"
Dean shook his head. "No. She is sick. She is here."
The nurse passed Dean off to the receptionist and continued on her way.
The receptionist saw Kim's name and what room number she was in. "Would you like for me to give her a message?"
"I want to see her." Dean said.
"I'm sorry. Only family can visit." The receptionist said.
Dean tried to argue but the lady took her job seriously. He heard sniffles and turned around, seeing the little girl standing in the hallway. She was covered in bandages and holding her bunny.
The receptionist asked what he was looking at.
Dean pointed. "The kid." He stared at the girl until he felt hands on his arm. He looked and a different nurse was trying to guide him toward a room. The questions she was asking tipped him off that she was concerned he was having a mental break. He told her he was fine and made a beeline for the front doors. He shielded his eyes from the bright sun as he walked through the sliding doors. He stumbled again and looked down. He was standing in mud and it was raining. He looked around. Where was he? He heard his name and whirled around, running toward the voice. He found John horribly injured and pale. "Dad, what happened?"
Before Dean got an answer he was hit by a strong wind that caused him to turn his face. He couldn't feel John under his hands anymore. He smelled sulfur again and the hellhounds were a few feet away, just looking at him. He was thrown into a series of events that passed too quickly for him to process. He was back at the hospital, watching Kim fade away. Then he was arguing with Sam about John. He systematically watched everyone around him die in increasingly horrible ways. He found himself in a glass room. There was a bed but nothing else. He saw himself as a reflection in one of the glass walls and got closer. He didn't recognize himself. His eyes were not his own. They were animalistic. He saw something else in the reflection and slowly turned around to see the same little girl, sitting on the bed.
"Please help me. I'm scared." The girl said.
Dean's body moved although his mind fought against it. He looked at his hands and saw the sharp claws where his fingers should be. He watched himself raise his arm and swing at the girl, causing her to scream.
((END VISION))
Dean flailed and fell out of Kim's bed, scrambling to find his footing or anything solid to steady himself.
Kim sat up and gasped. She pulled the blanket over her chest and stared at Dean.
Dean looked at his hands. They were normal. He touched his face and could feel the slight stubble that had started to grow as he slept. He hurried to Kim and yanked the blanket away from her, pushing her hands away to look at the bandage on her chest.
Kim fell back, feeling really scared. "What? What is it?"
Dean didn't see any redness. He realized he had scared the life out of Kim and pulled her to sit up so he could wrap his arms around her.
"Dean." Kim said. "What is wrong?"
Dean slowly let her go. He looked outside and didn't see the girl in the street. He checked his phone. He had service and no missed calls. He forced himself to stop freaking out long enough to spit out that he had a bad dream.
Kim turned on the lights in the apartment and had Dean sit on the sofa. "You seem really upset for a bad dream."
Dean couldn't make sense of it. "It was so real."
Kim gently coaxed him to talk about it and was horrified by everything he had experienced. "I'm okay. Look, my line is fine."
Dean rubbed his face. "I've never had one that bad."
Kim went to her room to grab her robe and stopped on Dean's side of the bed. She found a note next to a piece of candy. "Hey, what is this?"
Dean took the note from her. It read 'be careful what you wish for'. "Gabriel."
Kim read the note too.
Dean fell back onto the sofa with a sense of relief. "I said I wished I could see what was in her head."
Kim gasped. "You fell asleep super quickly and I couldn't wake you up to get my blanket back."
Dean continued talking about the dream that he now knew that Gabriel had forced on him. He was beginning to understand why Kate couldn't explain everything she was seeing. He called Sam to check on Kate.
Sam went to Charlie's room to make sure Kate was okay. He apologized for waking her but told her that Dean had a vision through Gabriel and that he was worried.
Kate yawned. "I'm okay."
Dean heard her voice and felt a little bit better. At Least she wasn't trapped in a vision too.
Sam promised he would check on her through the night and update Dean if anything seemed off.
Kim brewed a pot of coffee since there was no hope of going back to sleep. She had never seen Dean that scared which wasn't saying a lot as she had only just found out that he hunted monsters. If she read Sam's tone right, he had never heard Dean that scared.
Dean started to feel embarrassed about his reaction. He didn't react how John trained him to. In the vision, he was useless. He fumbled around because his phone had no service. He had been trained on what to do if that happened. He just stumbled around like an idiot. He tried to use the nymphs. Why hadn't he tried to get Kate's attention? He didn't even think about Kate during the whole thing. He began to separate vision from reality by telling himself that he wouldn't have been that dumb if it was real.
Kim sat Dean's coffee on a small table and took his hand. She pressed his palm against her chest and asked him if the skin was warm.
Dean moved his hand to touch her face. "No."
"The line is just fine." Kim said.
Dean sighed. "Thanks."
Kim handed him his coffee. "That is how it all started. I'll remind you it is fine 100 times if it helps."
Dean sipped the coffee. "I feel stupid."
Kim reached for the remote and found a cheesy reality show to use as background noise. "You aren't. You flew out of the bed and immediately made sure I wasn't dying."
Dean settled with his coffee and had Kim lay her head in his lap. He got caught up in the show, making comments about the silly things that people did. Kim eventually fell asleep so Dean moved her back to her bed. He was tired as well so he covered her with her blanket and laid down beside her. He wondered how much of the vision was normal and how much Gabriel added to prove a point. In the vision, he fell apart because Kim was sick. Was that supposed to mean that she distracted him? No. It was the little girl that distracted him. He would never hurt a kid. That was obvious. Was the girl supposed to symbolize Kate? Was it symbolizing his weakness? How did Kate handle seeing all of that crap?
(The next morning)
Kate rolled over and squinted her eyes. "Why are you watching me sleep?"
Sam smiled. "I'm not. I am just checking on you."
"Why?" Kate asked with a yawn.
"I told Dean I would check on you a couple times after the vision he had." Sam said.
Kate sat up. "He had a vision."
"I don't know much about it. I don't know if it was a real vision, really." Sam said. He told Kate he would update her after he spoke to Dean.
Kate rolled off the makeshift bed that was situated beside Charlie's bed. She stretched and tiptoed over to the computer to see if Charlie had gotten any new messages from Cyrus. She waited for the screen to wake up and typed in the password that Charlie had given her. They had fallen asleep the night before talking about his family and the mysterious plots of land. They came up with dozens of theories ranging from secret bases to future buildings. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good.
She opened the internet browser and found Charlie's email. Not the one that popped up right away but the one under layers of encryption that Kate could barely understand. She saw a few new messages. One was from Cyrus. The other two were related to hunting as Charlie was excellent at accessing police records.
Charlie shot out of bed and grabbed the mouse from Kate, quickly shutting off the alarm that she had set on her email.
Kate grimaced. "I'm sorry."
"I forgot to warn you about that." Charlie said. "If you open this the wrong way, an alarm goes off."
Sam stepped back into the room. "What was that?"
Kate pointed to the computer.
Charlie entered the email the correct way and filtered the text. All of Cy's messages looked pretty normal but they had a code that they spoke in. Charlie built a filter that would decode the message so she didn't have to sit down with a notebook and figure out what each word meant. "This is about the places he told me about."
Sam got closer. He read through the jumble of words that looked like pieces of receipts for the land. Each paragraph had details about the land to say who bought it, who sold it and even tests that were done to check different properties of the soil. "How is he getting all of this without anyone finding out?"
"He is good." Charlie said.
Kate moved out of Charlie's chair so she could sit down. "If they do find out, a nymph will take him to a safe place."
"Does he know that?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, totally." Charlie said.
Sam sat on the foot of Charlie's bed. "If they find out about the nymphs, I can't imagine it will end well."
"No but ideally, he won't need one to save him." Charlie said.
Sam couldn't get comfortable with the correspondence. He didn't distrust Cyrus but he and Charlie were looking into things that could get them killed. Charlie already had a target on her back and he wondered if she had forgotten about it. "You know, his family has money. They can find you."
"Not really." Charlie said. "I cover my tracks and am safe here."
Sam had Charlie turn around. "I want you to be very careful. You are safe here but they are truly evil. Do not assume that you are untouchable."
Charlie frowned.
"Everyone needs to watch their back. It really doesn't take much for demons to connect the dots and lead them to you." Sam said. "I don't see how plots of land are going to help us with the demon problem."
"You guys have that covered. I was told not to mess with it." Charlie said.
"Print it out and we can sit down later to work through it." Sam said. He felt out of his depth and wanted to discuss it with John and Dean.
(Sioux Falls)
Taylor didn't mind that Kate didn't have to go to school. He actually felt relieved that someone else had eyes on her and he didn't have to constantly check in. He was able to relax and just be himself again. Hailey didn't pepper him with questions, which helped a lot.
Nate had a birthday coming up but had outgrown parties. He was able to choose a place to eat and an activity with a friend. Of course that friend was Taylor. He wanted to go to a paintball range and spend a few hours pelting other people. Taylor would be the best partner considering his extensive training with real guns and god-like abilities. Nate could sharpen his own skills and ask Taylor for tips in case he ever needed to shoot something besides a deer.
TJ was home sick, having come down with what could be the flu. Andy didn't know until he asked the teacher why his chair was empty. He offered to gather doubles of each paper so he could take them to TJ after school.
The third class of the day, math, rolled around and Owen and Andy sat at their usual table. It was after the teacher shut the door and walked to the front of the room that they both had the same realization at exactly the same time. They had a math test. They received the tests and were relieved that it was mostly stuff they knew how to do. The back of the test was going to be an issue. It had problems that mirrored what had been on their homework within the previous week. Neither of them had bothered to learn how to do the problems because they just copied TJ's homework. TJ wasn't there for them to copy his test. They were left alone with math problems that they weren't sure how to do.
Andy decided that he would just do his best. He worked through the first problem although it took him a while. The second problem he thought he got right but wasn't sure. The following three problems were made to be slightly harder and he had exhausted the bits of knowledge that he had picked up while not paying attention to the teacher. He glanced at Owen who looked both frustrated and worried. Okay, it wasn't a big deal. So they wouldn't get 100 percent on their tests. They didn't have to be perfect. Their parents wouldn't get mad at them for one bad test.
At the end of class, when everyone was released for recess, Andy and Owen were asked to stay behind. They were handed their tests with a big zero at the top.
"Cheating earns you a zero." The teacher said.
Andy's face got red. "We didn't cheat."
"You may not have cheated on this test but I suppose TJ isn't here for you to copy." The teacher said.
Owen swallowed a lump in his throat. "Why give us a zero for this one?"
"You didn't do any of the work to prepare for the test and I wasn't certain before today." The teacher said.
"I'm sorry. I should have studied. It was just these that I didn't know how to do." Andy said, pointing to the bottom half of the back of the page.
"We can discuss this with your parents. You are both smart boys who know better. You could easily do all of the work without TJ's help and I can't understand why you wouldn't." The teacher said.
Andy flicked his eyes to Owen. "Can't we just retake it? I'll do extra homework. I can even miss recess and work on the stuff I don't know how to do."
The teacher gave them a sad smile. "It is a school rule. Cheating is not allowed in any form. You will be missing recess to work on this, though. Then you will retake the test at a later time." She gave them each a few worksheets and told them to sit on opposite sides of the room so they didn't use each other.
Andy groaned and took the papers but froze before getting to the seat she pointed to. She was going to talk to his parents. He had been so focused on it being a school thing that he had blocked out the possibility that his parents would find out.
The teacher saw the look on his face and understood what it meant. "Go ahead and have a seat. It's best not to waste time while you have it."
(Bobby's house)
Dean and Kim went to Bobby's house so Dean was a little more comfortable.
Bobby asked Dean about the dream and took notes. He could see that Dean was still rattled and wondered what could have spooked him that bad. Sure, the stuff in the dream was horrible but Dean had nightmares all the time. Usually he would wake up, take a minute, and then be fine. He got a phone call and told Dean that the call would take a while.
Kim asked to sit outside since the sun was out. She pulled him over to the porch swing and got comfortable. "You have the long legs so you'll have to push."
Dean had his eyes closed with Kim's head resting on his shoulder. He was enjoying the slight breeze and the gentle rocking of the porch swing as he pushed it with his feet. He flinched, causing Kim to sit up quickly.
A nymph stood in front of them, looking a little concerned.
"What is it?" Dean asked.
"Andrew requested assistance." The nymph said.
"With what? Is he okay? Is something happening at school?" Dean asked. "Where is Caleb?"
"Nothing is going on at school. There are no demons or dangers." The nymph said. "We felt his distress and I believe he wants you to help him."
Dean stood up and turned toward the door to grab his keys.
The nymph stopped him. "Forgive me if I am misunderstanding what he wants but I believe he is worried about something he has done and you are who he thought about to help him fix the situation."
Dean rubbed the back of his head. "What kind of situation?"
The nymph paused and listened as one of her sisters gave her more information. "It appears he is afraid his parents will be mad at him."
Dean blew air through his nose. "So he expects me to bail him out."
The nymph nodded. "It appears so."
"Well, I can't exactly go down there and haul him out of school." Dean said.
"Maybe Kate could talk to him." Kim said.
Dean called Kate and asked her to get a read on Andy.
Kate zapped over to Bobby's house and focused on Andy.
"So, why is Andy sending out an SOS?" Dean asked.
Kate sat down in one of the outside chairs. "One moment." She thought of Andy and worked her way into his head. She was hit with a huge wave of emotions that felt all too familiar. "Ew."
"What is it?" Dean asked.
"Cheated on a test and got caught." Kate said.
Dean grimaced. "Damn. I can't dig him out of that one."
Kate went blank as she pushed back into Andy's head. She smirked and brought herself back to Bobby's house.
"What did you do?" Dean asked.
"Told him he wasn't actually going to die." Kate said.
"I don't know. Caleb may disagree." Dean said.
"You can smooth him over before he finds out about it." Kate said. "Oh, I could compel him to stay calm."
"Doesn't that usually do the opposite of what you want eventually?" Kim asked.
"With Dean because he doesn't know how to handle himself if he isn't at least a little angry at someone." Kate said.
"You really ought to be at school." Dean said.
"Too crazy to do that." Kate said.
"Stop saying you are crazy." Dean said in exasperation.
"I'm just a little psychotic." Kate said.
Dean grabbed her and put her in a headlock. "We all know you are a little weird but don't make yourself think you aren't rightfully a little weird."
Kate tried to lick his arm. "That is the Winchester genetics coming out."
Kim smiled. "I think you are perfect the way you are, Kate."
Dean let Kate go. "I see room for improvement."
Kate gave Dean a fake frown. "If I was any more vulnerable right now that comment could completely derail my self confidence and push me into a life as an exotic dancer when I get older."
"Oh, Katie. Don't rile him up too much. He is supposed to be helping Andy work through this test thing." Kim said.
"He won't." Kate said. "He only helps little kids if it makes him look good." She jumped away from Dean and blocked his hand from flicking her.
Dean told her to go back to Marie's house but was left with no idea how he was supposed to handle the Andy thing. It wasn't his place to say anything but Andy wanted his help and he didn't want to completely leave him to fend for himself. He had a good idea of how Andy was feeling and an even better idea of how Caleb was going to feel.
"How are you going to smooth Caleb over?" Kim asked.
Dean snorted. "I'm not. He is Andy's dad and Andy did something wrong. I don't know what he expects me to do."
"Soften the blow. Talk to Caleb before Andy has to." Kim said.
Dean leaned his head back again and closed his eyes. "Yeah, that isn't going to work. Not when it is this black and white. I'd be upset if he was my kid."
"Have Kate or Taylor done something like that?" Kim asked.
Dean chuckled. "Kate's method of cheating is telepathy."
"Fancy." Kim said. "I have never cheated on a test."
Dean picked his head up and opened his eyes. "Not even one?"
"No." Kim said. "Although, in second grade I got up to sharpen my pencil and accidentally saw another girl's test answers."
Dean smirked. "Accidentally?"
"Yes. I panicked and covered my eyes. I tripped with the sharpened pencil in my hand and still have a speck of graphite in my hand to prove it. When my teacher rushed over to help me, I started crying and told her about seeing the answers." Kim said.
Dean put an arm behind her neck. "Did she tell you that you were blowing it out of proportion?"
"I got sent to the nurse's office. I'm not sure what all happened as I was losing my mind. My teacher did make another test just for me that didn't have the questions in which I saw the answers." Kim said.
"Oh, boy. Miss Goody Two-shoes. What are you doing hanging out with the likes of me?" Dean said.
"I'm guessing you cheated." Kim said.
"A few times. I got creative too. Wasn't big on school and just wanted to get through it." Dean said.
"Did you ever panic and get sent to the nurses office to get the end of a pencil removed from your hand?" Kim asked, lightly.
"No, I do remember panicking like Andy is right now, though. I just didn't have anyone to convince my dad not to kill me." Dean said.
"Aw." Kim said. "Just think if you had, how much would have been different. Then think about poor Andy."
"Poor Andy did this to himself." Dean said.
"You could put in a good word for him." Kim teased.
"Sam is the future lawyer, Andy should be asking him for legal advice." He smirked and called Sam again. "Hey, Andy needs you to help him with something."
Sam could almost see the face Dean was making just by the tone of his voice. "Kate told me and I'm not touching that one."
"You are going into law. It is good practice." Dean said.
"I'm not going into criminal law." Sam countered.
"Ah if you aren't going to be much help here, you might as well keep track of Kate." Dean said.
Sam told him about what Charlie was printing out.
"Damn. Yeah that is a family wide discussion. You and I didn't do any of this stuff when we were kids." Dean said.
Sam chuckled. "If we had been able to, we would have."
Dean got off the call with Sam and went back to pushing the swing. He dialed Caleb's phone and waited for him to pick up. "Hey, your kid did something dumb and expects me to sweet talk you."
Caleb stepped away from his coworkers. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Nymph showed up saying he was distressed. Kate checked in and I guess he cheated on a test or something." Dean said.
"Dammit." Caleb growled.
"I'm supposed to put in a good word for him." Dean said.
Kim leaned toward Dean to speak into the phone. "Remember you were a little kid not too long ago and we all make mistakes."
Caleb shook his head. "All the dumb shit I did is a kid is coming back to bite me in the ass. Uh, thanks for letting me know ahead of time. I guess I can't show up unless they call me."
Dean put his phone in his pocket and rubbed his temples. The dream's disorienting effects were still plaguing him as the day went by. He couldn't process everything that he saw and felt. It all seemed eerily real. Gabriel's smart ass 'be careful what you wish for' remark had him on edge. Did Gabriel plant the dream to prove a point? There was no way that Kate had all of that going on. What if she did?
Kim rubbed Dean's shoulders. "You are tense."
Dean sighed. "I've had plenty of scary dreams but this one just feels different."
Kim worked on a knot in his neck. "I'm surprised you don't have more dreams like that."
"No. I have dreams that someone is getting hurt but I'm able to wake up. I feel like crap for a few minutes and then it passes." Dean said.
"Right now focus on something a little brighter. Give yourself a chance to relax." Kim said.
Dean enjoyed the shoulder rub. "I can't think of anything bright."
Kim moved her hands to the base of his skull and smiled when his head got heavy. "Do you remember the night we met for the first time?"
"Yeah." Dean said.
"Do you remember the friends I had with me?" Kim asked.
"Vaguely." Dean said.
"I lost a bet before we got there. The deal was that they would pick out a guy I would try to hook up with and if he turned me down, I had to pay for drinks." Kim said.
"So I was just easy." Dean said.
"No. They wanted me to pay for drinks so they picked the hottest guy in the bar and set me up to fail." Kim said.
Dean chuckled softly. "I'm not sure if I should be amused or offended."
"It is funny looking back on it. I was overly confident due to not wanting to buy drinks." Kim said.
"So how has this worked out for you?" Dean asked.
"Saved me a bunch of money." Kim teased.
"Gave you ten times the stress." Dean added.
"I am not stressed. I'm entertained." Kim said.
"Give it time." Dean said.
(Marie's house)
Sam was outside pushing Jacob in a baby swing so Kate felt like she could breathe. Sam was not overbearing but clearly concerned. He just had expressive eyes and looked at her like he was trying to read her soul.
Charlie handed Kate a huge stack of papers. "Sort these so they make sense."
Kate looked at Charlie's wall. "I want to do one of those investigation spreads but then everyone would want to be in here to look at it."
Charlie skipped into the hallway. "Hey Marie?"
Marie appeared at the bottom of the steps. "Yes?"
"Can we tape a ton of papers to a wall to display my research?" Charlie asked.
"How much is a ton?" Marie asked.
Kate stepped out and held up the stack of papers.
Marie raised her eyebrows. "I suppose you are going to need a big wall. Let's move some things in the foyer and you can use the wall there."
Kate handed Charlie the papers and went to help Marie. The foyer wall was tall as it ran from the main floor to the second floor's ceiling. "I am going to need to do some tricks if we use the top of the wall."
"We have a ladder and a Sam." Marie said.
"Boring. I was going to try levitating." Kate said.
"There are entirely too many things in the house right now for you to attempt anything." Marie said.
"I wouldn't knock over the jars." Kate said, jokingly.
"Oh, Katie." Marie said. "You'll be alright using the usual means of reaching things."
Kate shrugged. "That's fair."
(Andy)
Andy was a nervous wreck as the school day ended. He wasn't sure if his dad had gotten a phone call yet or if his teacher was just waiting for the end of the day. He didn't know what would be worse. He expected April to pick him up as usual but she wasn't outside.
Jody approached the teacher and spoke to her briefly. She gruffly pointed to her police cruiser and told both boys to get in.
Andy followed Owen, not liking the look that Jody had on her face. He shrunk as she got into the front seat and leveled them with a glare. He swallowed. "Where is my mom?"
"She took Ian to the doctor to get something removed from his nose." Jody said. She didn't want Andy to assume it was something horrible. "He put a toy or something in there."
Andy let out a breath of air. "He does that sometimes." He was quiet until they got to the police station and looked outside. "Are we going to jail?"
Jody told them both to get out. "You two are going to stay with me until Sean and Caleb get done with work."
Owen wouldn't look at Jody because he also didn't like the look she had on her face.
Jody clocked back in and waved over the custodian. "Can you find something for them to do? Wiping down desks, mopping floors. Something to keep them busy."
The custodian didn't mind keeping track of the boys because they'd be doing what he had planned to do anyway. He would just be able to kick his feet up and relax while they did so. "What got you two put on clean up crew?"
Owen winced. "Cheated on a test."
The custodian sucked air through his teeth. "I had better put you to work then."
Jody sat down at her desk and pinched the bridge of her nose. She needed to focus on work.
A young officer knocked on her open door.
Jody opened her eyes. "What can I do for you, Miller?"
"I finished these and need you to sign off." Miller said.
Jody flipped through the files. Miller was always good about getting his reports in quickly. She couldn't say the same for all of the new officers. "Boss has a list of patrol areas. Go pick one."
Miller perked up. "Any one?"
"You were the first to get these in. Take your pick." Jody said.
The young officer went to the board and claimed a halfway interesting patrol area. He usually got assigned the areas in which nothing happened. Rural areas where he sat for hours and waited for someone to pass too quickly. He returned to Jody's desk to clear the area with her. "Can I ask what is wrong with your son?"
Jody sighed. "He and Andy cheated on a test."
"Oh, man." The officer said. "If it makes you feel any better, I think most people that did that as a kid haven't turned out to be career criminals."
Jody cracked a smile. "Thank you, Miller. I'll keep that in mind."
(Bobby's house)
Bobby finally finished all of his phone calls. He wondered how some hunters survived with how stupid they could be. They'd go after something with little to no research and barely escape, confused about why their store bought crucifix didn't keep the vampires at bay. Unless it was a blade or gun, he didn't purchase hunting things from box stores. He didn't trust the holy water that people found in Catholic churches and souvenir shops. "Dean, you want to tell me more about that dream before some other idiot needs me?"
Dean sat down in the chair across from Bobby's desk and told him more about it. He was beginning to forget bits and pieces as people typically did with dreams. He mentioned the note from Gabriel and not knowing if everything was planted or if Gabriel had given him an actual vision.
Taylor had gotten really good at minding his own business but sometimes, he fell into conversations when he hadn't planned to. He entered the living room and looked at Dean. "What did you see? I can tell you if it was a vision or not."
Dean turned to look at Taylor. "It was like every bad thing that could happen. Demons attacking and killing people. Red smoke filling the air. Hellhounds at every corner. My phone not working."
Taylor's eyes drifted.
Dean raised an eyebrow. "What are your thoughts?"
Taylor absentmindedly picked at the seam of his shirt. "Did you…. like… smell things?"
Dean narrowed his eyes. "Yeah."
"Oh." Taylor said.
"So this is a vision that Gabriel gave me?" Dean asked.
"I mean… the whole demon thing is probably just a manifestation of what could happen. You are worried about that." Taylor said.
Dean sat forward. "What aren't you saying?"
"When did you smell things?" Taylor asked.
Dean rubbed his face and described a particular scene where he was walking through town and smelled hot, wet, sulfur. He could see a few hellhounds that sat across the street from him. They snarled but didn't approach him and he sure as hell didn't approach them.
Taylor stepped right into a pit he couldn't back out of. "Interesting."
"Taylor." Dean said in a low tone.
"Well, obviously it was a Kate thing because you said you wished you could see what was in her head." Taylor said.
"Obviously." Dean said.
"You know she has a lot going on in her head and some of it could be memories, other bits may be visions and also typical nightmare fuel." Taylor said. He licked his lips. "I just don't know what part is vision and what is stuff the brain makes up."
Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. "My head is already spinning enough for the day. Spit out what you are trying to say."
Taylor held his hands up to placate him. "I'm not in a position to say anything."
Dean narrowed his eyes. "Do you really want to do this right now?"
Taylor swallowed. "I think she is scarier than you."
Dean stood up.
Taylor stepped several feet back. "She has seen certain things you dreamt of and it could be a memory induced vision of reality."
"Which part, Taylor?" Dean said, tightening his jaw.
"The hellhounds." Taylor spat out.
"Why avoid saying that? We know she has seen them." Dean said.
Taylor swallowed again. "Has or is?"
Dean approached Taylor and looked him dead in the eyes. "Has she seen them recently?"
Taylor nodded quickly.
"How long have you known?" Dean asked.
Taylor's eyes drifted away from the intense look on Dean's face. "She kind of mentioned them the other day."
"As a vision?" Dean asked.
"No." Taylor whispered. "I don't think I'm the one that should be talking to you. Sure, I'll admit that I should have said something sooner but she trusted me enough to say something and immediately spilling would break that trust and she's in a delicate spot and I…"
Dean closed his eyes and counted to ten. "I am going to talk to her. You are going to talk this through with Sam."
"Sam?" Taylor asked with furrowed brows.
Dean gave him some space. "If you talk to dad you're going to get your ass blistered on principle. Sam can weigh out whatever happened and either throw you to the wolves or argue on your behalf. You are going to tell him everything and I swear, Taylor, if you try to guilt him into lying for you I will skin you."
Taylor bit back all of the smart ass comments he had about being glad that Dean had a sense of civility about the whole thing. He just nodded and pulled out his phone, "I'll just make that call now."
Kim let Dean have a minute before she gently touched his arm.
"I need to talk to her." Dean said.
"Calm down first." Kim said. "She is doing stuff with Marie. She has to zap back over here. She won't do that if you aren't calm."
Dean sat down but bounced his leg. "Why doesn't she tell me anything?"
"She is probably trying to protect you." Kim said. "That may not be a rational thing to try to do but she is your sister."
Taylor tried to explain things to Sam which Kate overheard. He yelped when she showed up right in front of him and yanked him out of the house in one breath. He stumbled and nearly knocked over a shelf of glass jars in Marie's living room.
"You told him?" Kate growled.
Sam hung up the phone since Taylor was now at Marie's house with him. He told Kate to let Taylor go and not to hurt him. "Taylor is going to explain all of that to me."
Kate glared at him.
"Knowing Dean, he is probably scared. Keep that in mind." Sam said.
"I'm not going back." Kate said.
"Would you rather he be here?" Sam asked. "He saw a lot last night. Even if it was just a dream, it had to be awful. Just calm down and talk to him."
Taylor groaned when Kate vanished again.
Sam tilted his head to tell Taylor to join him in the living room. "You got to the point where hellhounds were involved. Continue."
A slight burst of wind made its way through Bobby's living room as Kate returned.
Dean had his head leaned back on the couch and his fingers massaging his temples. "Did you kidnap Taylor or do I need to figure out what just took him?"
Kate glanced at Kim. "He is talking to Sam."
"At Marie's house?" Dean asked.
"Duh." Kate said.
Dean slowly sat up and looked at Kate. "How much of what I saw was real?"
Kate shrugged. "How would I know?"
"I don't think it was a random vision. I think it was directly from your head." Dean said.
Kate rolled her eyes and fell back into a chair. "Doubt it."
"Gabriel had a hand to play in it. You don't think he can get into your head?" Dean asked.
"You don't know for sure it was him." Kate said.
"He left a piece of candy on my nightstand with a note that said 'be careful what you wish for'. If it wasn't Gabriel, who was it?" Dean asked.
"You know I have visions that are creepy. It isn't anything new." Kate said.
"If what I saw was all just a vision, it wouldn't necessarily be anything new." Dean said. "The hellhounds, though."
Kate crossed her arms. "Not anything new."
Dean leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "How long have you been seeing them?"
"Oh my god, I never stopped. They are just there." Kate said.
"Why not tell us?" Dean asked.
"I did." Kate said.
"No, you made it sound like they went away." Dean said.
Kate shrugged.
Dean narrowed his eyes. "Hellhounds, Kate. Watching every move you make. Waiting for the perfect moment to attack."
"They don't attack." Kate said with a huff.
"Look at me. Stop rolling your eyes and giving me attitude. This isn't some bad dream you didn't share with us. It is hellhounds and whatever the hell else was in that dream last night." Dean said.
"If I told you every little thing, I'd have no time for anything else. Yeah, my head is screwed up. I see things when I fall asleep. Wanna know what I'm seeing right now?" Kate said, sarcastically.
Dean stood up suddenly. "Katelyn."
Kate stood up as well. "Dean."
"We have to do this together. Why are you hiding stuff? Have you not learned that lesson yet?" Dean asked.
Kate growled. She hated being pushed. "I don't tell you because you can't handle it."
Dean's face darkened. "You are going to get yourself killed. Is that what you want?"
Kim reacted before Kate got anything else out of her mouth. "Everybody sit!"
Kate and Dean both looked at Kim, having forgotten that she was there.
Kim pointed to the places they had vacated.
Dean slowly sat back down. He wanted to tell her to step away but she looked determined.
Kate sat back down as well.
Kim took a deep breath. "You are so damn stubborn that it is making you stupid."
Dean raised an eyebrow.
Kate smirked.
Kim looked at Kate. "You can go ahead and wipe that look off your face because I'm talking to both of you."
Kate looked annoyed and blew air out of her nose.
"This is like banging your head against a brick wall. You are getting nowhere and nothing good comes from it." Kim said.
"Tell him that." Kate said.
Kim turned so she was facing Kate. "I have every intention of keeping you from killing each other but I can also leave and let you handle it since that has worked so well in the past."
Kate blinked a few times but didn't say anything.
"You got mad before you got over here. You didn't come here to talk through this. You came with a chip on your shoulder. Dean, you entered the conversation frustrated because you felt like she was hiding things again. Neither of you are ready to be rational." Kim said.
Bobby had joined Karen in the kitchen and could hear everything. They traded looks and decided that they'd go for a walk since Kim sounded more than capable of playing referee.
"Everyone can agree on one thing and that's the impending end of the world. You two fighting does absolutely nothing to ward that off. It makes you both miserable." Kim said. "Kate is right. You can't handle it."
Dean looked shocked.
Kim spoke before he could. "You can't handle watching her get torn to shreds or killed by demons. You can't handle the worry and the frustration that comes with loving someone that is so set on being a martyr. Kate, you can't handle it either. You want to shield everyone from what you are seeing and are taking on the role of an adult but you are 12. You are a kid. I have no doubt that you cope better with everything you see because you are used to it. Pretending it isn't there sets other people up for failure because it becomes a jump scare. If you know something is hiding in the shadows and you don't warn people, is that really helping them?"
"This isn't the same thing. He saw hellhounds once and acted like it's the end of the world." Kate said.
"They are hellhounds, Kate." Dean said.
"I can understand both of you." Kim said. "I see why you think what you do but I also see how you're wrong."
"This has been going on a lot longer than you've been around." Kate said.
Dean shot Kate a glare to tell her to stop being a brat.
Kate glared back at him.
"The hellhounds pose a threat to everyone. Not just you. What if you get complacent and they kill everyone around you?" Kim asked.
"I'd kill them first." Kate said.
"All of them? Are you sure about that? Are you absolutely certain you can get rid of all of them before even one person gets hurt?" Kim asked. "Even if a gun is aimed at you, a bullet can miss and hit someone else."
"This is different." Kate whined.
"Is it? Please explain how this is so different." Kim said, sitting beside Dean.
Kate didn't have a reasonable explanation and found that annoying. "You'll just side with him anyway."
"I have things to say to him but right now we are talking about you." Kim said. "You are too smart to believe half the crap you tell yourself."
Kate looked between Dean and Kim. How should she process the situation? Dean didn't look mad. He almost looked confused. Kim did tell him to sit too so it wasn't like she was blaming it all on Kate. "I don't know how to share what I see without saying the same thing every day. I see a lot. I feel a lot. I have a lot of visions that I can't describe and half of it isn't even important."
"Anything you experience is important." Dean said. "I am still disoriented. I understand why you have been out of it. I understand why you are jumpy and irritable. I want to help you but can't if I don't have any idea what is going on."
"Look at it like this. I am sick." Kim said. "I don't tell many people too much about it because why would they care? It isn't going to make a difference if I say my head hurts vs I feel like my brain is melting. I think I can understand why you don't share everything. Maybe I wouldn't have shared anything but we know how he is." Kim said, nudging Dean.
Kate cracked a small smile.
"It is hard but I do tell him or someone who can help me when I feel like I'm going to pass out or that one of my symptoms probably needs medical attention. Sometimes all that is needed is to be hooked up to a monitor to make sure it's just a symptom and not something bigger." Kim said.
"You are an adult and you don't have a half dozen people micromanaging you." Kate said.
Kim squeezed Dean's leg. "That is Dean's love language so to speak. You call him a mother hen. He wants to help and wants to fix everything. It may come across as micromanaging but I think he gives you a good deal of leeway. On the other hand,Dean, you can't fix everything."
"I know." Dean said. "I want to fix what I can though."
"You can't fix hellhounds." Kate said.
"My hands are tied and it worries the hell out of me that you are hiding so much again." Dean said.
Kate studied her hands. "I'm not doing it to be mean."
"I didn't think you were doing it to be mean. I think that you are trying to do too many things by yourself and history is going to repeat itself where I have to watch you die again." Dean said.
Kate slowly met eyes with him. "I typically come back to life."
Kim shook her head. "I'm doing my best to keep him over here. I can't promise to do that if you say things like that."
Kate gave them a sheepish grin. "I am the only one that can fight this."
"We have to fight together." Dean said.
"You are a human." Kate said.
"You are too." Dean said.
Kate rolled her eyes.
"I think you are capable of doing it by yourself." Kim said.
Dean shifted and looked at Kim like she had gone crazy.
"That would be stupid, though." Kim added. "Why do that when you can allow people to help you. Even if they help with small things, it makes more sense to work together than you trying to do everything alone. You are in your head and processing so much at once. Surely you can admit that you aren't always cognitively 100%."
Kate's eyes drifted again. "I want everything to be okay and I think I can fix everything but I am being told to sit back and shut up."
"Keyword is think." Kim said. "Think about everyone else. Not communicating with your team is going to get one or more of them killed."
Kate cringed.
"That is what I've been trying to tell you." Dean said.
"When other people die, they don't come back to life so easily." Kim said.
Kate groaned. "Everyone can stay somewhere safe and I'll handle it."
Dean snorted.
"None of your family is going to do that. While you go off to fight a mega demon, there are dozens of small demons taking out people that you care about. None of the guys are going to stay home when they could be protecting people. So, that plan is going to fall on its face." Kim countered.
"Can you say stuff to him now?" Kate said.
"Approaching things like your dad isn't going to help the situation." Kim said. "She is volatile. You are going to hit a brick wall and nothing will be fixed."
"Obviously giving her space and trying to be her friend doesn't work either." Dean said.
"You are in a sucky situation. I'm just saying that some things need a higher level of understanding." Kim said. "You can share information on a level playing ground so that everyone is aware of changes. Hellhound sightings go above and beyond the family relationship you guys have."
"I'm not just a kid." Kate said.
"I know." Dean said. "You are a kid though."
"I don't want to be treated like a kid." Kate said.
Dean shrugged. "I can treat you like an adult when it comes to planning and understanding the supernatural side of things. If you cop an attitude, lie to me or throw yourself into a fire, I'll react accordingly."
Kim pulled her feet back onto the couch. "I have my point of view with this but I won't force it on you."
Dean studied her. "What is your point of view? Is it something that disagrees with me or my dad?"
Kim sighed. "A little bit."
"Please tell me." Kate said.
"Kate, you are a kid. With things like homework, curfews and attitude you are going to have to suck it up because you have family that cares. You may think that's annoying but it is life. When it comes to supernatural stuff, you aren't a kid."
"Now, wait." Dean said. "That is going to set her off on a spiral."
"Hold on." Kim said. "Kate and Taylor cannot be kept away from everything because they are the center of it. Hunting, within reason, is safer with them. Not letting them find their sea legs is going to end in them going out anyway but with no training."
Dean really did not like what Kim was saying as it went against everything he tried to drill into their heads. "There is a reason to keep them out of it."
"Hear me out for now. If I'm wrong, I won't mention it again." Kim said.
"Okay." Dean said. He looked at Kate. "Don't take any of this as permission to go rogue."
"When it comes to the supernatural, they aren't just kids. They have powers and abilities that creatures themselves do not have. They were born into this mess. Neither have the reasoning skills that they'll have when they are adults but those skills come with practice. Think back to before you were allowed to go on hunts. You were a simple human but were capable of learning and being safe. How many times did you sneak out to hunt things before you had permission?"
Dean grimaced.
"In no way do I think kids should be hunting. I just think it is going to happen if you want it to or not and it is more dangerous to shield them and have them sneak out than allow them to help and them be with you." Kim said.
Dean saw her point of view but everytime he looked at Kate, he saw a little girl. He didn't see her as a nephilian.
"I want to step back since I've said what I wanted to say. At the end of the day, you two have to figure it out together. I'm sorry if anything I said makes it worse." Kim said.
Dean rubbed his face. "No, you gave me something to think about."
Kim stood up and put a hand on Dean's shoulder. "You'll let me know if I messed up, right?"
Kate rolled her eyes, jokingly. "Oh you'll never hear the end of it." She dodged a pillow that got thrown at her and smiled.
"I'm going to give you two some space." Kim said. She slipped her jacket on and walked outside to soak up some of the remaining rays of sun. She jumped and spun around as a presence surrounded her.
"Are you sure you still want to do this?" Tessa asked.
Kim sighed. "Yes."
"It isn't going to get easier." Tessa said.
"I know. This is where I belong." Kim said.
A while back, before Kim and Dean started to see each other more often, Tessa approached Kim. She told her who and what she was and some of the truth about Dean. Kim was meant to die after living a somewhat meaningless life. Of course, that would be years in the future. Tessa cared for Dean and wanted him to have someone when things got worse. She also knew that Dean would never forgive himself if he felt like Kim entered the life against her will. With Kim's permission, she pulled a few strings and placed them in each other's paths but let the relationship grow organically. She would check in at times, giving Kim a chance to back out. When she was certain that Kim wanted to stay, she'd leave along with Kim's memories. It was the only way to prove to Dean that she really wanted to be there. Everything that Kim felt and did were due to who she was as a person. Someone well equipped to handle the mess that the family was at times.
(Andy)
Andy watched the clock, turning to look at it every few minutes. No one had said anything else about the test but he didn't think that meant they forgot about it.
Owen avoided his mom like his life depended on it. He didn't want to see her be disappointed but he also thought he would fare better with her than his dad.
Both boys jumped when they heard Jody's voice.
"Come in here, please." Jody said.
The custodian gave them a gentle push to set their feet into motion.
"Your dad is on the way over here." Jody said.
Andy winced. "Can't you just take me home?"
"No, he and I need to talk." Jody said.
Andy glanced around at the other people in the office.
"Privately." Jody said. "Go into the conference room and have a seat."
Sean was due to be off work within an hour or so which allowed Jody to do the preliminary interrogation to figure out why in the world the boys would cheat.
Caleb entered the police station and said hi to the receptionist. He was given a visitor sticker with his name on it and allowed back to where the offices were. He followed the directions the receptionist gave him and knocked on the closed door.
Jody opened the door and welcomed him in.
Andy slid down in his seat as far as he could without falling off.
Caleb gave him a look and motioned for him to sit up straight. "Thank you for picking him up."
"Was the doctor any help with Ian?" Jody asked.
"They manage to remove the head of a lego man from his nose. Not sure why he put it there in the first place. Took a couple nurses to keep him still. April sounded frazzled." Caleb said.
Jody smiled. "I'm sure she is but wont be for long. I bet Ian can put up quite the fight."
Caleb turned to face the boys and leaned with his back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. "Why did you cheat on a test?"
"We didn't know how to solve some of the problems." Owen said.
"Were you not shown how to do it? Did you need extra help that we didn't know about?" Caleb asked.
Andy studied his hands and avoided Caleb's eyes.
"Andrew." Caleb bit.
Andy mumbled an explanation and was startled when Caleb told him to repeat himself clearly. "We didn't get a chance to practice those problems."
"Why?" Caleb asked.
The boys traded looks. Neither eager to explain the homework thing.
Caleb sat down across from them. "Why did you not get a chance to practice?"
"We got the answers to the homework." Owen said.
"Where?" Caleb pushed.
Andy sighed. "TJ."
Caleb leaned back to look at Jody before leaning back forward and tapping the table. "Speak in full sentences and tell me the story behind this."
"TJ is really good at math. Sometimes he helps us and we will make sure our answers are right before we turn homework in." Andy said.
"We got some answers without checking and then didn't know how to do the work on the test." Owen said.
Caleb processed what they were saying. "You mean that you copied TJ's work and had nothing to show for it when he wasn't there for you to copy during the test. How did you cheat on the test?"
Andy chewed on his fingernails. "We told the teacher and we didn't really cheat on the test as much before the test."
Caleb nodded. "Does TJ know you took his answers?"
Andy gasped. "TJ didn't do anything!"
Caleb put a hand up to silence him. "I don't think TJ went behind the teacher's back to give you answers. I think you did it behind his back."
Andy frowned. "We didn't mean to."
Jody cleared her throat. "Sounds like you did mean to. Sounds like you got lazy and expected him to do your work for you."
"How long has this been going on?" Caleb asked. "Is this why you became friends with him? Have you been using him this whole time?"
Andy shook his head. "No, dad. I promise. Just a few times. I was friends with him before I copied his work. He wasn't even in my class most of the time."
"You just took advantage of him when it was convenient." Caleb said.
"Just a few times." Andy repeated.
"We did a lot of practice problems and know how to do the test now and she is going to let us retake it." Owen said.
"Do either of you think you deserve to be able to retake it?" Caleb asked.
Neither boy answered him.
Caleb rubbed his face. "Andy, you know better. How many times did you tell April that you had all your homework done after just copying it from TJ? She and I both help you when you don't understand something. I cannot think of a single reason why you would feel the need to cheat."
"I had other homework too." Andy said.
"Did you copy his answers for that too?" Caleb asked.
Andy's eyes drifted.
"Andrew Ethan answer me, right now." Caleb said.
"There was one thing but that was all, I swear." Andy said.
"What was it?" Jody asked.
"The paper we had to fill in the blank after reading the story." Owen said.
Jody knew what he was talking about and at the time, had been surprised he finished it while in school. "I don't even know what to say to that."
Caleb was disappointed and frustrated. He was certain Andy knew better. Andy was smart. "Can I talk to you outside?"
Jody opened the door to the conference room and stepped into the hallway.
"I will talk to TJ's mom. I cannot believe they did that." Caleb said.
"I'm in the same boat. I don't think they would have said anything had they not gotten caught either." Jody replied.
"Andy and I are going to have a talk and then he won't be allowed to have a sleepover for a while. I'm going to ask the teacher for extra work and he is going to apologize to TJ and his parents." Caleb said.
Jody nodded. "Sounds fair. I'll take Owen home here in a minute."
Caleb opened the door again and told Andy it was time to go.
Andy gave Owen a sad look and followed Caleb out of the room. "I'm sorry, dad."
Caleb didn't respond but placed a hand on Andy's shoulder to steer him toward the parking lot. He cranked his truck and took a moment to breathe before talking to Andy. "Why would you even think about doing any of this?"
Andy shrunk. "I made a bad choice."
"A few bad choices." Caleb said.
"I wasn't being mean to TJ because he can't talk. I just did the first answers to check my own and then it got out of hand." Andy admitted.
"What do you think TJ is going to think?" Caleb asked.
Andy's mouth dropped open. "Oh, dad. Please don't tell him. He trusts me."
"You are going to tell him. I am going to talk to his parents and they will decide if you need to tell him personally or not. You are going to apologize to his parents." Caleb said.
Andy kept his mouth shut on the ride home. He also wanted to know why he did it. He didn't have a good answer aside from the fact that he didn't always make the best choices.
Caleb opened the front door and told Andy to go to his room. "I'm going to talk to your mom and then will come talk to you."
Andy trudged up the steps and fell onto his bed, certain that his life was over.
Caleb called April to update her but also see if she needed help with the little kids. He could hear Ian cutting up and told April to put him on speakerphone so he could talk to Ian. He told him to cut it out. "You can bring him and the baby home and I can watch them if you want to shop by yourself."
April told him it was okay and she would be home in a little while.
Caleb hung up the phone and took a deep breath. He reminded himself that cheating was a normal kid thing as opposed to hunting ghosts at school. The lesson needed to be learned but Andy's life wasn't at risk. He knocked on Andy's door once before opening it. "You had to have known cheating on anything was going to be a problem."
Andy sat up. "I wasn't thinking much until this morning."
((TW))
Caleb sat down beside Andy. "I believe that you didn't use TJ due to his disabilities. You did use him though. That isn't okay. That is not a habit I want you to learn."
Andy nodded.
"You know the drill." Caleb said with a heavy sigh.
Andy scooted back. "Wait, aren't you gonna talk to me about it?"
"I did." Caleb said.
"But." Andy said.
"Do you have anything you want to add?" Caleb asked. He nodded and pulled Andy's arm. "This isn't a gray area like what happened with Jimmy. This is black and white."
Andy pulled back. "I've never done it before."
Caleb stood Andy in front of him. "You aren't going to do it again either."
"I had to do a lot of work at the police station. Isn't that good enough?" Andy asked.
"What do you think?" Caleb asked.
"I think it is good enough. I have to do extra homework too." Andy added.
"Did you do something you knew was wrong?" Caleb asked.
Andy didn't answer him.
"Is there any excuse for what you did?" Caleb asked.
Andy's eyes drifted. "I didn't cheat on the actual test."
Caleb pulled him to the side and over his knees.
Andy yelped.
Caleb brought his hand down hard on the back of Andy's leg. "The rules have been the same for long enough for you to know not to copy from someone."
Andy was caught between wanting to fight for himself and really not wanting to get into more trouble. "It was just the homework." He gritted his teeth. That didn't help his case at all.
Caleb was surprised that Andy cheated in the first place and almost equally surprised that he was trying to downplay it. He swatted him harder and peppered his backside with a bit of frustration behind the swats. He didn't have a lot to say and wasn't going to argue with a 9 year old. He eventually shook his hand out. "Do you cheat on anything?"
Andy sniffled. "No, sir."
Caleb gave him the rest of the swats on the backs of his legs and stood him up. "You do not cheat and you do not give me an attitude about it when you get caught."
Andy nodded swiftly. "I'm sorry!"
Caleb pulled him into a hug. "I expect you to grow up and be a good person as an adult."
"Am I a bad person?" Andy asked through tears.
"No. You made a bad choice. It is just a bit different if you do it again as an adult." Caleb said.
Andy hiccuped. "Didn't you cheat more than once?"
Caleb held his head to his chest. "You are going to learn quicker than I did. Besides, my dad took a belt to me after the first time. I don't think you want to go through that."
Andy shook his head. He really didn't want to go through that and thought Caleb was probably nicer than his dad had been.
((ETW))
Caleb felt his phone buzzing. "I want you to stay up here and collect yourself. When you get ready, you can work on homework at the table."
Andy nodded and wiped his eyes. He wasn't upset that Caleb was taking the phone call as it must have been important.
Caleb stepped out of Andy's room. "Hey, babe." He was cut off by Ian screeching.
April was frazzled and got out bits and pieces of the story as she fought Ian to get in his carseat.
"Are you okay? Is he okay?" Caleb asked. "Ask a nymph to help you. Get him here and catch your breath."
April wanted to hold onto Ian but the nymph would take him to Caleb. She was shaky and didn't have the strength to fight him.
The nymph brought Ian to the house and deposited him in front of Caleb.
"Ian Grant!" Caleb growled.
Ian stopped screaming and sat down on the floor, still upset as well.
Caleb crouched down. "Did you run away from your mom?"
Ian crossed his arms.
Caleb stood him up and swatted him a few times. "Did you run away?"
Ian nodded but sulked.
Caleb sat Ian down at the table and told him not to move.
Andy slid into the living room. "What is wrong? Where is mom?"
"Ian ran away from her and she is a panicked mess. A nymph brought him here so she can drive home." Caleb said.
Andy gasped. "What do you mean he ran away?"
"Your mom can explain when she gets home. I couldn't hear her because Ian kept screaming." Caleb said.
"Do you need to go help mom?" Andy asked.
"A nymph is going to. I'm here with you two." Caleb said. "You might as well get started on that work."
Andy grimaced. "I wasn't quite done calming down yet."
Caleb just gave him a look.
Andy sighed and grabbed his backpack. He placed it on the table and looked at Ian. "You are lucky you aren't old enough to cheat on stuff."
Ian whined and slid to the edge of the chair.
Andy ran around and grabbed him. "No. You have to stay."
Ian kicked off again, angry that he was being restrained.
Andy's eyes grew wide as Caleb turned around. "I'm trying to get him to stay."
Caleb picked Ian up and swatted him again.
Andy cringed.
Caleb sat him back down. "Knock it off."
Andy swallowed hard. He waited for Caleb to walk out of the room and leaned over the table. "I kinda already made him mad. I don't think he has a lot of patience for you."
Ian sat back with his arms crossed. He scrunched his nose at Andy and turned back to look at the doorway to the kitchen so he could glare at whoever walked through first.
(Marie's house)
Kim and Dean traveled to Marie's house to look at the web of evidence that the girls were working on.
Dean stepped back to view the entire wall. "Just how much research have you and this kid done lately?"
Charlie shrugged. "A little."
"Sam already fussed at her." Kate said.
"He is just fussing at everyone today." Taylor added.
Sam rubbed his face. "Why are you trying to throw everyone on me today?"
Taylor smirked. "Dean is tired of being a single mom."
Dean smacked Taylor's head. "I'm delegating."
"Don't be offended, Sammy. He just sees you as an adult now because you have a baby." Kate said.
"Whatever happened to Andy?" Sam asked.
"Nothing good." Kate said.
Dean checked the time. It was late enough. He called Caleb to ask how things were going since he was supposed to help Andy in some way.
Caleb blew air through his nose. "I have the kids because April is a nervous wreck. Ian ran away from her and almost got hit by a car. The side mirror hit her in the side but just left a bruise."
"Damn." Dean said.
"Are they all just out of their mind today?" Caleb asked.
"I wouldn't be able to tell. Kate and Taylor are always like that." Dean said.
"Oh man, if there is supernatural stuff going on that made them act up, you're gonna feel bad about getting on to them." Kate said.
"Supernatural or not, I can't let them pick up habits like that." Caleb said.
"Aw, you can't really be mad at them if it was actually supernatural." Kim said, lightly.
Kate rolled her eyes. "I vividly remember a time that I was affected by the supernatural and it made me sick. They got really mad at that."
"You absorbed demons and they made you turn into a brat." Sam said.
"I still think it was unfair." Kate said.
"You decided to be a brat with or without the demon sickness." Dean reminded her.
"If you say so. I'm just letting Kim know that she was wrong." Kate said.
"The boys haven't been possessed. Andy made a really bad choice and Ian is just being Ian." Caleb said.
Taylor had been quiet. "I'm surprised you aren't pissed off about the hellhound thing."
Dean raised an eyebrow. "I was. Kim helped talk through it though."
"Hmm." Taylor said. "Talking through it or not, it just seems uncharacteristic for you to calm down like that."
Dean narrowed his eyes.
"It's almost like Kate may have had a hand in that." Taylor said with a smirk.
Kate gasped and hit Taylor. "I did not siphon his anger! You are going to get me murdered."
Caleb chuckled. "I'm going to check on April."
Dean hung up the phone. "How do I really know you didn't siphon anything?"
Kim sat down on a bench. "I watched her the whole time."
Kate groaned and hit Taylor again. "You suck."
Taylor laughed. "I didn't even accuse you of anything."
"You insinuated it and that's enough to get me into hot water." Kate said. "Don't take the credit away from Kim."
Dean suddenly paused. "Has anyone spoken to dad?"
"Not in a bit." Sam said.
Dean quickly dialed John's number and almost choked when he picked up. "Are you on a freak hunt?"
"No." John said.
"Good. Don't hunt stuff for Ellen by yourself." Dean said.
John cleared his throat. "Dean."
"I made a stupid comment about wishing I could see what was in Kate's head and Gabriel gave me a vision that scared the shit out of me. Part of it was you banged up and dying because you were hunting something for Ellen and I think it was a freak." Dean said.
John processed Dean's tone of voice and what he was saying. "I'm not going to hunt anything without backup unless I know exactly what it is."
"Sorry. I just realized I haven't heard from you and that was part of the vision too." Dean said. "It is a long story."
"Tell him about the hellhounds." Taylor said.
Kate's mouth dropped open. "You son of a bitch."
John heard them in the background. "What hellhounds."
Dean rubbed his face. "Kate has been seeing hellhounds and Taylor knew about it but neither of them planned on telling anyone."
Both kids gasped. Taylor pushed Kate away. "Wait a minute, that isn't at all what happened."
Dean held up his phone. "You two can tell him the whole story. I'm delegating." He gave them a wink and handed Kate his phone.
Kim hugged Dean. "That was a little mean."
"Well nothing I said was wrong. She has been seeing them and he has been hiding it right along with her." Dean said. He took his phone back. "Sammy and I talked to them and it isn't as simple as I made it sound. They do need to talk to you though."
Kate shot Dean a look. "Traitor."
Dean smiled. "I'm delegating."