𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐕𝐀𝐍

𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐘-𝐒𝐈𝐗

"There's one missing," Sam notices, pointing to the only spot on the shelf that isn't covered in dust, and that is exactly in the shape of a box. "And there's blood on the cork."

"Great," Katherine drawls.

Dean purses his lips. "Well maybe they didn't open it," he chirps. Katherine mocks him in a high, nonsensical voice. His jaw drops. "Hey!" He cries, wounded.

Sam laughed, anyway.

"I'm gonna go check if they picked anything up on the cameras," Sam decides. 

Ten minutes later, he's back in the storage unit with the two, laughing.

Katherine looks up from a stack of files with a raised brow. "Why...are you laughing?"

Sam holds up a sticky note. "The idiots parked right in front of the security camera. I've got their plates."

She cracks a grin. "That was easy." Her smile immediately drops. "No. No, no, there's gotta be a catch."

"No catch," Dean says as he moves past her. "Let's go get the sons-a bitches."

"That guy working the front desk was freaked," Sam says to his brother. Dean frowns. "We could see on the footage that one of them hurt his shoulder and there was blood everywhere."

"Was he working when this happened?" Katherine asks. 

Sam shrugs and shakes his head. "Gonna assume not...otherwise he would've said something about hearing a gunshot, right?"

It's less than an hour's drive to the location of the registered plate, and by the time the Winchesters reach the apartment complex, it's midday.

They hit the front desk with Katherine first, their little secret weapon. Her charm and big blue eyes, wide smile—it can get them almost anything in the world. This, however, was not the scenario for it.

She stormed in there like woman scorned and demanded to know where Brayden Wade was staying. With two tall, built men behind her, the meek concierge quickly bent to her will, directed her to 308, and watched as the three hurried up the stairs.

Sam twisted the door open near silently, and Katherine and Dean followed him in. There's quiet conversation floating towards them from down the hall. She raises her gun and stalks alongside Dean. He leans against the wall facing the main room, while Katherine takes the one with cover. It's so very Dean. If he can't sideline her like he promised he wouldn't, he'd take every precaution he could with her.

Katherine would be lying if she said she didn't think about that still. It's not romantic. He's just protective and bull-headed and has a death wish.

"—let's get out of here, go have some fun—"

"—royal flush—"

Cards.

"—no way we're handing it over to that stuck-up bitch now, not after all we've been through."

Katherine glances towards the door as Sam creeps up the dingey hallway.

And then she waltzes out into the kitchen. Dean's eyes nearly pop out of their head. Maybe he almost faints. She's playing with his blood pressure.

"Hey, boys," she chirps, looking at the two men in the living room with a grin. "Which, uh..." She gestures to them with her gun. "Which one of you is Brayden?"

A stupid question. She already knew from when they pulled his plates and his license.

The brunet looks at the buzzcut blond. He stays looking at Katherine. She quirks a brow at him. "You?" The other man reaches for his gun. "Don't move!" She snaps. Sam and Dean edge into view of the two men. The "shit" factor sinks in.