𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐕𝐀𝐍

𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐘

"Hey," he murmurs, stepping closer to her. "You got, say, five minutes?" He quietly asks in her ear. Katherine smirks, leaning away from him, glances him up and down, and starts back for the desk. "What's that mean?"

She leans her palms against the edge of the counter, and the female behind the desk turns away from the computer monitor. "Hiya." Katherine drops her badge out. "Officer Russell—we're gonna need access to your surveillance tapes."

The meek brunette quickly nods, fumbling at the lanyard of keys around her neck, and rushes off to the back. The Brains—Sam and Katherine—sit at the monitors and replay the footage as they wish, scrolling back until Bobby identifies the suspect, and Dean goes...to the bathroom.

"Anything yet?" Dean asks.

"Dunno," Katherine hums with a smirk, leaning back in the chair with crossed arms. She nods to the monitor Sam currently is playing the footage on. "Could just be a guy, or it could be our guy."

Dean watches a man, perhaps in his thirties, with brown hair and a beard, walk up to the blonde woman in question. He puts his hand on her shoulder, and they both look at the victim, standing by a tier of shoes.

Katherine tilts her head back and raises a brow at Dean. He tilts his head down to look at her. "Sammy?" Katherine hums.

"Yeah."

"Could you make a printout of that mug up there?" She asks. "Four copies. We're going to a stakeout."

Sam and Bobby take one end of town, Katherine and Dean start on the other. They all ask around about the guy from the store. What his name is, where he hangs out, who his friends are.

But there's no action for Dean and Katherine. Not the literal kind, or the kind that would get Dean laid. She hasn't so much as grazed his hand.

Sam feels like he's being followed. Bobby says he's just paranoid. Fear for Dean translating into his own head.

Katherine sits in the passenger seat of the Impala, arms crossed tightly over her chest as she glares at the side entrance of some skeezy bar.

"That bar never did nothin' to ya," Dean says to her, turning his chin back to the green awning.

"That awning is hideous."

Dean laughs, throwing his head back. When he laughs like that, it's contagious, at least to Katherine. She'd always look at him and smile genuinely, eyes all squinted and bright, wrinkled at the corners. Her lips seemed to pull wider, her dimples dig deeper and longer. Everything with Dean is genuine. The happiness, the sad times, when she's raving mad. Since their first car ride together, everything had been genuine.

Dean stares ahead, drumming his fingertips against the steering wheel, and purses his lips. A thought has been eating away at him for a little while now. At first it was a thought. Now it's a bit of a panic. Staring into the opaque red eyes of that crossroads demon is when he really thought about it. A brief flicker. But it rooted deep into his memory, and he thought of it every time he saw Katherine smile.

He wouldn't be able to see any fine lines appear on her skin. He wouldn't watch her hair turn silver, or thin out. Hell, he may not even see the day she cuts it all off. He wouldn't see her carrying a laundry basket full of clothes, or roll toys into a closet when company came over.

"Can I ask you something?" Dean asks as he turns his head towards her.

"You just did." Katherine smirks, her dark blue eyes flitting to the side. "'Course you can."

"Do you want a family?"

Her smile fades a bit. It's still there, but her voice is flatter. She's a bit puzzled. "What?"