𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐕𝐀𝐍

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

"Lex got Jason fired?!"

Panic. "Katherine!"

She tossed the remote to the side and bolted down the stairs, her beretta in hand. Unharmed, Sophia stood in front of the television, gawking at the screen with Julien in her arms. "What's wrong?"

Sophia goes pale. "Oh my God, you have a gun."

"You screamed!" Katherine defended, switching the safety on.

"Yeah—! You remember those guys you went on a months-long road trip with?! The family friends?"

Katherine hesitated. "Yes?"

"Is that them?" Sophia points to the television. 

Katherine swayed a bit as Dean Winchester's face was blown up on the screen.

Bank robbery in Milwaukee. He had a gun.

Dean.

Can't be. Can't. Dead. Dead dead dead dead dead—

She felt faint. Her head spun, and she lost her footing, just a bit. "No." Sophia looked to Katherine in disbelief as the younger girl sat down on the sofa. 

"That looks like Dean," Sophia protests.

Katherine shook her head, hands trembling. "It's not. It...it can't be."

Sophia's brows shot up."Well does he have a twin? A doppelgänger?"

"No."

Katherine called Dean's cell over and over again, but there was nothing. Not for days. Sketches of the three—three—perpetrators were released. Sam and Dean were definite matches. The third one, though, Katherine didn't recognize—a Ronald Reznik. And apparently, he had died already. Shot on the scene by an FBI agent.

It's early Monday morning. The sun has just barely risen. Katherine went out for a run and started making breakfast when her phone rang on the island.

She gets calls from unsaved numbers all the time. Old hunter connections sniffing around for cases, which she fielded from time to time, misdials, things of that nature.

"Hello?" She answers, moving back to the stove. There's silence on the other end for a moment...almost like static. She waits for a moment. "Hello?" Not static. Rain. Traffic. She's been in a car long enough to know the sound. 

And she's heard his voice often enough to know who this is. "Katherine?"

"Dean," she breathes. Her heart is in her stomach, her skin is on fire, her lungs are stuck and her head is spinning. He's never sounded like this before. So worried. So terrified, on the brink of sobs if he wasn't there already.

"Dean?" She whispers, tears welling in her eyes. She's gripping the countertop to hold her up. I knew it was him on the lawn.

"Yeah," he croaks. "Yeah, it's me."

She has half a mind to ensure Sophia, Charlie, or Chris aren't around. "Dean...what's wrong?" Dread pools in her stomach and threatens to explode. "I saw—I saw what happened in Wisconsin—"

"Sam's missing."

Her legs go numb. "Sam," she croaks. "When—"

"Have you heard form him? Is he with you?"

"No." She glances to her car keys hanging by the door. It's a split second. No debates. "Dean, where are you?"

"Abilene. Kat, if you've heard anything—"