Supernatural Fan Fiction ❯ Kashmir ❯ 4: Season of the Witch ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

4: Season of the Witch - Donovan

As she pulled her SUV off the gravel of her family's driveway and on to the main road, she pushed the commands into her steering wheel to make a call she was slightly nervous about. The whole plan relied on the brothers being relatively close to Tulsa, where she was heading for a good old-fashioned witch hunt. Fucking witches… hate them. For once, her mother picked her case. According to her, a witch hunt was the perfect way to learn to hunt with someone new… “it's how I met your father” she says. “Be nice to the boy” she says.

She released something close to a frustrated growl as the line rang. Just when she was about to hang up, his voice came through the other end.

“Thought you forgot about me.”

She laughed despite her mood. If she wasn't mistaken, she heard a little disappointment behind his words, but she shook the thought free and decided to dive right in.

“Not at all, Winchester. Just doing a little research on my next case with the family. In fact, that's why I'm calling. Look… How close are the two of you to Tulsa?”

The line was quiet for a moment, then she heard the rustling of paper and him muttering to himself.

“Probably about eight hours out if I drive. Sammy here is taking his sweet time.”

She heard the small struggle on the other end and couldn't help but smile at the brothers' antics.

“Perfect! Look, if y'all have the time, I could really use a little back up on this one.”

“Yea. We can squeeze it in. No cases of our own at the moment anyway.”

“Thanks. I'll send ya the coordinates to meet and explain more once y'all get there. See you soon.”

“See ya.”

With that, the line went dead. She had about seven hours to drive before she reached Tulsa. She'd have plenty of time to get settled in and prepare before the brothers arrived. She sent a quick text to her mother and sister to let them know the plan was in motion. If she was honest with herself, she would admit that she was a little giddy at the thought of seeing the eldest Winchester again. Thoughts of the dream she had a few nights before streamed back to her. Not doing this now… She huffed and turned her music back up and lit a cigarette as she tore down the interstate toward her destination.

It was getting close to five by the time she heard the Impala pulling in to the motel parking lot. Only a few moments after, there was a heavy knock on her door. She got up from couch and opened the door, greeting both brothers with a big hug.

“Long time, no see guys.”

Sam was the first one through the door, followed closely by Dean. She couldn't help the way her eyes trailed over him for a moment. He was wearing a dark gray t-shirt underneath an army green button-up. His heavy leather coat hanging perfectly on his shoulders. She had to resist the urge to move closer to him. If he noticed her struggle, he didn't say anything.

After saying hello, they sat around the small room as Kat explained the case. They went through all the research she had brought with her. After a few hours of studying her notes they had devised a sound game plan. It was nearing eight when she heard her stomach rumble and recalled that she hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning. Grabbing her keys from the night stand, they agreed to grab a bite to eat before heading to bed.

She drove them over to a nearby diner for dinner. Surprisingly, the awkwardness was minimal for their small group. They made small talk as they ate and drank a little before calling it a night. The ride back to the motel was relatively quiet and uneventful, each preparing themselves for the task the next day.

After parking her SUV next to the Impala, they said good night and went back to their respective rooms. She had taken the liberty of booking them a room adjoining hers so that, if something happened, they would all be able to reach each other. As she went about her nightly routine, she could hear the occasional raised voice next door, sounding more like Dean than Sam, then quiet talking again. She shrugged to herself and resolved to let the brothers have their privacy.

Next door, the argument between the brothers continued. It was nothing new. Ever since New Orleans, Sam had dogged Dean about the pretty hunter, constantly asking him when he had spoken to her. He had this strange curiosity about Deans relationship with Kat, and now it was even worse.

“Come on man! She called you… brought us in on a hunt. She doesn't need backup. Ya said it yourself. She has a whole family of backup. She brought you in for a reason, but you still clam up around her. I mean… didn't you notice her checking you out when we came in?”

Dean was silent for a moment, thinking back on arriving at the small motel. He remembered walking in and seeing her, long blonde hair in a loose braid pulled over her left shoulder. She wore a plain white cut-off tank under a plaid flannel. Her jeans were old and obviously well-worn with frays along both thighs and the knees long since torn out. Her white Converse were barely visible beneath the full flair of the jeans. Once again, her appearance struck him, although he refused to admit it. What he could admit, if only to himself, was that it was very possible that he was so consumed with checking her out that he missed her doing the same.

“She was not checking me out, Sammy. And just because she asked for backup on a hunt doesn't mean that there's some ulterior motive behind it.”

Sam heaved a heavy sigh at his brothers' stubbornness.

“Just admit that you have a thing for her and I'll leave it alone.”

“Don't have a thing for her Sam. Let it go.”

Dean half mumbled his denial to Sam before rolling to his side, facing away from his brother, and trying to sleep. Definitely don't have a thing for her… well maybe a small thing. She is attractive after all… and knows her classic rock… Deans thoughts continued on a similar pattern as he drifted off.

Morning came early as her alarm blared through the stillness of her room, jerking her from a comfortable sleep. She stretched lazily and got up to grab a bite to eat before meeting up with the boys to get ready for the hunt. After starting a pot of coffee, she checked the weather as she tugged her Converse on her feet. She still wore her white tank-top from the day before, but had exchanged her jeans for a pair of leggings to sleep. After noting the chilly temperature, she tugged her favorite pullover on before pouring her coffee and stepping out of the room for a quick smoke. She made her way to the back of her SUV and opened the rear hatch. She climbed up to take a seat and reached into her snack bag for a breakfast bar. She ate most of her breakfast in silence, her thoughts interrupted by his voice.

“Gotta respect a girl that's up and at 'em early for a hunt”

The grin on his face gave her a small flutter in her chest, but she chose to ignore it.

“Ya know what they say… Early bird gets the witch, bitch.”

He laughed, moving closer to sit next to her with his own coffee in hand. He situated himself as she motioned to the bag she had produced her breakfast bar from.

“Not much, but breakfast is in the bag, if you want it.”

He nodded and turned to reach into the bag. He pulled out a snack size cherry pie, a grin spread across his face as he turned back around with his prize in hand, pulling a snicker from her.

“And she doesn't forget the pie.”

She just shook her head, finishing off her cigarette and coffee as she sat with him while he ate. It wasn't long until he finished and stood from his seat, offering his hand to help her down. They returned to their rooms to get ready for the hunt.

After the day of preparation, it was close to sunset when the Impala rolled into an older looking neighborhood. The plan was for Dean and Kat to create a distraction by posing as a new couple looking to move in to the neighborhood as Sam broke in the back door and got into position. Everything was flawless until it all came crashing down.

The witch was stronger than any of the research she had done with her family or the Winchesters had indicated. As soon as the plan had gone into motion, the witch had caught on. Launched by an unseen force into a nearby wall, her head slammed the tile floor with a sickening crack. She was out, which left Dean and Sam to finish off the job.

Sam was the one with the witch-killing potion, so Dean distracted the witch for Sam to be able to molotov her and recite the incantation. His plan worked, but a little too well. Before Sam could finish, the witch was using a spell of her own, muttering into her clasped palm.

Kat awoke just in time to witness the witch open her palm and blow a black powder in Dean's direction. It seemed to dance through the air with a mind of its own before heading straight into Dean's nose. She sprang into action, despite the ache throughout her body.

She reached Dean just as his body began to collapse, wrapping an arm securely around his chest. She was too weak to withstand his full weight dragging both of them to the floor. Everything was in slow motion for her. The arm that wasn't holding him to her, held his head close to her chest as she braced them for impact.

As her brain caught up to her surroundings, she looked down to see him conscious, thankfully. Frustration was visible on his face.

“Can't move… I can't move”

She was momentarily frozen. She looked back toward Sam, seeing the rest of the witch disintegrating between them as he launched toward her and his brother. To be honest, she was terrified, and if the look on Sam's face was any indication, so was he. She held Dean closer to her, taking comfort in the steady heart beat that she could feel just under her left palm. Her right hand had yet to release his face from her chest.

Sam tried to help him stand, but it was no good. It was like he was paralyzed. It would be on Sam and Kat to carry his limp body to the car. Dean muttered complaints to himself as they somehow managed to get him into the backseat of the Impala. At this point, she was grateful that they had opted to bring only one vehicle.

After Dean was in the car, she proceeded to climb in with him. As she maneuvered his upper body, Sam leaned in from the passenger side to help. He pulled Dean into a sitting position as Kat sat, her back against the closed door and frame, stretching her legs into the space behind the passenger seat. Once she was settled, Sam guided Dean to lean back against her. She secured her arms around him once again as Sam made his way to the driver seat and started the engine.

“Are you in any pain?”

Her voice was soft as she questioned him. He responded with a no, refusing to meet her eyes. She paused a moment, trying to figure out what exactly this spell was doing to him.

“I know you can't move, but can you feel anything?”

She smoothed her hand over the upper part of his chest for emphasis. She barely heard the yes he whispered as he closed his eyes. She was relieved at that. The damaged didn't seem to effect anything but his ability to move, so maybe it wouldn't be difficult to reverse.

As Sam drove them in the direction of the hotel, she had no idea what they would do from there. They definitely had to go back to the hotel to get their things, but there was no way she would be able to take her Mercedes anywhere. She definitely had a concussion and was in no condition to drive, and there was no way Dean would be able to go anywhere without someone restraining him. She sighed lightly and reached for her phone, resigning to call her mother for help. It would be the easiest way out of this mess, since this was her bright idea anyway.

Her mother picked up on the first ring.

“Kat… what's wrong?”

“Mom…”

She paused to collect herself. She couldn't even come close to falling apart in front of the boys.

“It's Dean. Something's happened. He's awake, but the witch whammed him with some type of spell before we could kill her. He's completely paralyzed.”

“Where are you?”

She could hear the worry in her mother's voice. She would surely be sending half the house into action as they spoke. Her eyes met Sam's in the rearview as she replied.

“Tulsa. We're in the Impala heading back to the hotel. I took a solid blow to the head and can't drive. The plan is to get our things and head back to the bunker since its closer than the compound.”

“Smart girl. Michael is researching now and Faye and I are heading your way. Send me the coordinates for the hotel and the bunker. We will bring your car to you.”

“Thanks”

With that, she hung up and sent the coordinates. Michael was the technical genius of the family. She knew he would be texting her for details of the spell shortly. She kept her phone in hand as she wrapped her arm back around the eldest Winchester lying in her lap for the rest of the silent ride back to the hotel.

After pulling into the parking lot, Sam helped her out of the back seat with a promise to be back as quickly as possible to Dean, who only grumbled at them and rolled his eyes. The two able-bodied members of the team moved into action, gathering up the bags from the hotel rooms. Just as Sam managed to fit their bags into the trunk of the Impala, Kat emerged from her SUV with the snack bag, a pillow, and a blanket in hand. He gave her a questioning look as she shoved the bag into his hands and the pillow and blanket into the front seat.

“Food so we don't have to stop and something to make this a little more comfortable.”

Sam simply nodded, and after the brief struggle of getting her back into position behind Dean, along with the pillow that cushioned her back from the car and the blanket that she draped over the two of them, they were back on the road. She checked her clock. It was close to midnight now and her mother and sister were a solid seven hours behind them. She knew it would be a long drive back to the bunker, but she did her best to keep as still as possible to make sure Dean was comfortable for the five-hour trip.

After about an hour into their drive, she heard him address her softly.

“Hey… Kat. You alright?”

She smiled down at where his head rested against her chest, his face tilted slightly toward hers so that he could see her in the low light. She nodded gently, trying not to jostle him more than necessary.

“Fine… just gonna have a knot for a few days. Not the worst I've had.”

He seemed satisfied with that and relaxed again. They stayed that way for a while. Everyone was exhausted but she was fighting sleep hard, knowing that was a terrible idea with her concussion. To distract herself from sleep, she began to deftly run her fingers through Dean's hair. I'm sure he will complain if he wants me to stop, but just in case, it will help him relax some.

After several minutes of gentle ministrations in his hair, his light snores pulled her from her thoughts. She smiled to herself and looked up to meet Sam's eyes in the rearview again. The look he was giving her was something that she couldn't quite understand, but she could see the smile behind his eyes. She gave up trying to analyze Sam in favor of starring out the car window again as Dean slept soundly against her.

It was close to four in the morning when Sam pulled the Impala into the garage. She was exhausted, but she gently shook Dean's shoulder to wake him. His eyes stared up at her unfocused for a moment before he took in his surroundings. Dean being this quiet unnerved her a bit, but she refused to overthink things now. She climbed from behind him and out of the car, wincing as her body protested. Together, she and Sam pulled him from the vehicle and carried him to his room. They positioned him on the bed and told him to call out if he needed them. All they got was an eye roll in response.

Sam was obviously worried and Kat hoped that she would be hearing from Michael again soon. After she had told him everything the three of them could remember about the witch and the spell, he had set to work and said he would call as soon as he had something. She put a lot of faith in her giant younger cousin and that made Sam feel a little better. As they walked into the library to do a little research of their own, Kat couldn't help but wonder what was going on in Dean's head keeping him so quiet.

Her phone rang around an hour after they arrived at the bunker. Her mother was on the other line letting her know that Faye had her car and they were heading to Lebanon to deliver it. She thanked her mother for what felt like the hundredth time since the first call and went back to her research.

It was around seven when her phone rang again. This time it was Michael with a possible cure for Dean's paralysis. According to him, they were lucky that Sam had already molotoved the witch. Since the potion had weakened her, the spell she used wasn't at full power. Kat had passed the phone to Sam to let them discuss the specifics of the cure as she made her way to Dean's room to check in on him.

His eyes shifted towards her as she cracked the door open. She gave him a soft smile and approached his bed, sitting on the edge. She couldn't suppress the smile that spread across her face as she delivered the good news. His eyes brightened instantly and he let a smile of his own cross his features.

“Good news sleeping beauty, Michael is on the phone with Sam now. I believe we have a possible cure.”

“Thank God! I was beginning to think I'd have to rely on you and Sammy to carry me around forever.”

“Think again princess. You'll be on your feet in no time. I just wanted to give you the good news. I'm gonna head back and see what Sam needs help with. Need anything at the moment?”

He said no, but as she stood to leave, he stopped her.

“Kat… thanks. For tonight, I mean. You didn't have to do all this for us. We woulda figured it out eventually.”

She gave him a soft smile as she turned around to face him again. She crouched next to the head of his bed and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.

“Of course I did. Pretty much my fault for getting y'all involved anyway. Besides, what am I going to do if my favorite hunter is out of commission?”

She stood again and turned to leave without giving him an opportunity to respond or stop her. She made her way back into the library where her phone was lying on the table, but there was no Sam. As she made her way through the bunker, she found Sam in the kitchen going through cabinets and placing jars on the counter along with a crumpled piece of paper of his scribbled notes.

“Need any help?”

He looked up at her for only a moment before going back to mixing in the pot on the stove the ingredients of whatever potion he and Michael had discussed.

“Nah. Nothin' too complicated. Had everything here we needed. Only catch is that, according to Michael, it will take a few days to get the spell completely out of his system.”

She was a bit surprised that it wouldn't take effect immediately, but she couldn't complain. She would stick around as long as the brothers needed her to. It was the least she could do after dragging them into this just because her mother said it would be a good idea.

She was in Dean's room helping Sam give Dean the potion he had concocted when a horn blared outside. She looked at the clock on the wall and realized it was most likely her mother and sister. Sam moved from his position of holding Dean up while she sat the bowl with the potion down on his nightstand. With a promise to return shortly, they left Dean to his own devices once again.

They made their way out of the garage entrance of the bunker so that Faye could pull Kat's car in. Faye climbed out and hugged her little sister tightly. She was just grateful that everyone was going to be fine and that she had been home when she was needed. Her mother rushed in and hugged her girls after parking her Yukon just outside the garage.

“Mom, Faye… this is Sam. Sam, this is my mom, Chari, and my big sister, Faye.”

As her mother and sister took a step back to regard him, she watched both of their faces in amusement. Her mother hugged the taller man enthusiastically. Faye on the other hand was quite reserved about the whole interaction. She would have to remember to question her about that later because her mother chose that moment to embarrass the life out of her. She was beyond grateful that Dean was not within earshot.

“Kat, I sure hope the brother that you're so enamored with is as attractive as this one. You know Sam, I'm definitely looking forward to grandchildren one day.”

She and Faye both turned beet red. The sisters hurried to get their mother back to her vehicle to save themselves future embarrassment. As the women said their goodbyes, Chari made Sam promise that, once Dean was feeling better, they would be making a trip to the compound so that her family could properly thank them for their help with the hunt.

After her mother and sister left for their twelve-hour drive back home, Kat and Sam returned to Dean's room to finish administering the cure and help him get settled in. Once Dean was taken care of, Sam escorted her to the vacant room next to Dean's. He helped her unload the bag she had brought and she settled in for her stay with the brothers.

She took a deep breath as she finally got ready to go to sleep that night. Nothing in the last twenty-four hours had gone the way she had planned, and she was grateful that Dean was going to be alright. Once more, before climbing into bed, she decided to peak next door and check on him.

He was asleep. Much to her relief, his head was turned toward her and looked to be much more comfortable. Guess that's a good sign that the cure is doing its job. She went back to her room and crawled into bed, flipping off the small lamp on the table, before surrendering to sleep.