Chapter Text
Prologue:
-One Year Later-
Moline, Illinois
"Dean get a move on! You're going to be late!"
Dean groaned and opened his eyes halfheartedly, staring at the alarm clock parked on their bedside table.
7:00 a.m.
Fuck.
He heaved himself up out of bed and went to take a shower. By the time he made it to the small kitchen area of their apartment, Kae had finished cooking breakfast. She was standing in front of the small stove, transferring what she'd cooked to a paper plate.
The smell of scrambled eggs made his mouth water.
Kae turned and smiled at him. She was wearing a plain pink t-shirt and gray sweatpants. Her hair, no longer marred by streaks, or highlights, but now its natural brown, was tied back in a ponytail and held up off of her neck by a large clip.
"Morning," she greeted as she joined him at the table and settled Skylar into his high chair before retrieving the plate she'd prepared from the counter and set it before Dean as he sat down. "Sleep okay?"
He made a face. The last few nights he'd been plagued by nightmares -- about what he hadn't said, but she knew they were probably about Sam and the Cage, and so she hadn't said anything. He'd had them for weeks after Sam had fallen into Hell with Michael and Lucifer, and it killed Kae to know there was nothing she could do to make them stop.
When Skylar had been born, they had. Kae wasn't sure what had prompted their return, but she hoped they'd go away again.
"Maybe you should go see that shrink Grace mentioned." she suggested hesitantly as she laid a hand on Dean's arm gently.
"And tell him what? That my brothers fell into a giant hole in the ground and were both possessed by archangels - sorry, Satan and an archangel?" Dean shook his head and picked up the fork she'd set next to the plate. "Not endin' up in the nut house." he took a few bites of the eggs and sighed. "While we're on the subject, you hearin' voices anymore?"
Kae shook her head. She didn't like to think about the strange, feminine voice that had frequently invaded her mind before and during her pregnancy. She and Dean hadn't been able to find what could possibly be doing it, and Bobby had turned up dry with answers, so Kae had simply steeled herself to block the chilling suggestions and comments from her mind.
"Not since Sky was born...you know that." she sighed. "You should eat. Not good to go to work on an empty stomach."
"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black sort of thing?" he challenged.
"I ate with Sky after he woke me up two hours ago," she countered. "And you know I'm off today anyway."
"Lucky."
"Proud of it," she grinned, but it faded after a moment. "Can you believe how domestic we've gotten?"
He shrugged.
"You know I spent my whole life on the road. Still feel like a fish outta water some days." he smiled, leaned over and kissed her cheek. "but I wouldn't change it."
"Me either," she agreed before glancing at the clock. "You should go...Sean will have your ass if you're late."
Dean groaned and nodded. He got to his feet and Kae followed suit before she quickly unbuckled Skylar from his high chair and transferred him to his father's arms. Dean grinned at him and pressed a quick kiss to the top of his head.
"Be good for your mama, alright?" he told Skylar. "No funny business."
"He's two months old, Dean. No funny business is like speaking Chinese to him." Kae chided, though she was smiling.
"Talking in English to him is basically talking Chinese to him," Dean shot back, "The only word he knows is 'pie'."
"You claim he knows the word pie." she corrected with a laugh at his look of mock indignation. "See you later."
"See you later."
---
After three hours, pointless morning game shows, Kae was bored. She had put Skylar down for a nap and was dozing on the couch when she heard it.
Kae...
Her head popped up from the armrest of the couch so fast she nearly cracked her neck.
Did you forget about me?
No. Kae thought as she settled down further into the couch and tugged the gray and green afgan that covered her up to her chin. Please leave me alone. Please go away.
She could have sworn she heard laughter somewhere in the back of her head.
Sweetheart I'm not done with you by a long shot.
Kae sat up and clutched at her head, fighting the urge to cry. She couldn't be in the apartment, she needed air. So with that, when Skylar woke from his nap, she settled him into his carrier.
"So what do you think about the park, Sky?" she asked him. Skylar shoved his fist in his mouth. "I'll take that as a yes. Let's get outta here."
---
The park was nice, quiet for that time of day. Kae sat on a bench a little ways away from the jungle gym where two or three kids were running around. She bounced Skylar on her lap and watched the children play with a small smile on her face.
"Kae?"
She looked up quickly, startled by the new voice, but relaxed when she saw a woman with blonde hair and green eyes staring at her. She was wearing a Biggerson's uniform shirt and khaki pants.
"Grace," she responded, smiling at her coworker. "Didn't expect to see you here."
"I got off of work early," she shrugged, "and Kyle loves the park." She gestured to the boy with blonde hair, hanging from the monkey bars and then turned her attention to Skylar. "He gets cuter every time I see him."
Kae chuckled. "I'm sorry, but he's mine."
Grace laughed and looked out at the jungle gym again.
A chill ran up Kae's spine suddenly, and she tightened her grip on Skylar -- not enough to hurt him, but enough that it was secure. Something was wrong.
Kae scanned the area around the jungle gym and then the tree line where the hiking trails started. She let out a small gasp as she saw something moving in the trees.
"Hey, Grace...uh, can you - can you take him for a moment?" she asked, looking up at her friend in a daze. "I'll uh...be right back. Bathroom."
Grace nodded, and Kae passed him to her without further comment before heading in the direction of the bathrooms. However once she did reach them, she skirted around the building and headed for the treeline, heart pounding rapidly in her chest.
Kae...
Oh fuck. Not this again. Kae ignored the voice, heart pounding rapidly in her chest as she searched the area for anything out of the normal. Stray branches scraped up her arms and legs as she forced her way through where a tree had no doubt been struck by lightning at one point, causing the severance of most of its branches. After a few minutes of nothing, she gave the area one more glance before swallowing the lump in her throat and heading back to the jungle gym where Grace was waiting with Skylar.
"Everything alright?" Grace asked as she handed Skylar back to Kae.
"No...I..." Kae shuddered, feeling as though she were being watched. "...have to go. Sorry."
She hurried off to her car, managed to get it unlocked and Skylar safely buckled into his car seat before getting in the driver's seat and driving off.
---
"No Bobby, I'm not kidding - something's here." Kae buried her free hand in her hair and tangled it in the brown strands. "And...that voice happened again."
"What makes you think something's there? I haven't heard anything," Bobby replied, "at least - fifty miles out there's a nasty skinwalker, but nothing in Moline."
"I don't know, I saw something, or -- I thought I did." Kae sighed softly and retrieved a bottle of water from the refridgerator before collapsing on the couch. "You sure?"
"Yeah." There was the briefest pause on Bobby's end of the line and Kae took the opportunity to adjust her hold on her cell phone to keep it from sliding out from under where it was cradled against her ear, propped up by her shoulder. "And as far as that voice goes, there's a number of things that communicate telepathically. You sure it's not -?"
"We've been over this before, it's not Lucifer," Kae snapped. She'd also had the discussion with Dean when the voice had first started. "I'd know."
"Okay, okay," Bobby said, and she could almost see him rolling his eyes in her head and had to fight not to laugh at his annoyed tone of voice. "It say anything other than your name?"
"Just asked if I'd forgotten about it, and that whatever it is, it's not done with me."
"Mmm." Bobby said thoughtfully. Then,
"How's he doing?"
"Dean?" Kae was startled by the quick subject change. "Oh...he's still looking for a way to bust Sam out. We haven't talked about it since Sky was born, but I know he's still looking."
"You gotta make him stop."
"Make him?" Kae scoffed. "Bobby you can't make Dean do anything."
"Yeah...well...I'll keep my ears open 'bout the voice," Bobby said in a resigned voice, "and as far as if anything's popped up down there, I'll see if I can get a hunter nearby to pop down and canvas the place. You take care of your boys, and call me if you need me, you hear?"
"Yeah." Kae sighed heavily as she heard a knock on the door. "'Bye Bobby."
"'Bye Kae."
Kae went to open the door. A woman with dark hair stood in front of her. Strange tattoos covered her left arm all the way from her shoulder to the tips of her fingers. She wore a simple black cami, dark jeans, and boots.
Kae frowned.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
The woman grinned.
"Hell yes."
And then she punched Kae in the face, knocking her to the ground. A swift kick of her foot to Kae's head knocked her unconscious.
---
When Kae awoke later, she found herself bound to a chair.
Skylar. Oh God...
"Don't worry Kaelyn," a feminine voice said coolly, "I'll take good care of him for you."
Kae blinked once, dazed as her eyes settled on the woman she'd seen early standing outside the apartment door. Now she sat on the couch - with Skylar in her lap.
"No..."
"I gotta admit, I came here for Dean," the stranger mused, "My brother trailed him to work. Can't wait to see how that pans out...but anyway," she grinned, "I just couldn't pass up such a golden opportunity when I found out about the two of you."
Kae couldn't take her eyes off of Skylar. He didn't seem hurt, and for that, she was greatly relieved.
"What the fuck did Dean do to you?" she asked once the grogginess began to wear off and she became more alert.
"He and his brother killed our father," the brunette responded. "Must've been...four years ago now?"
"So this is about revenge," Kae murmured. She tugged lightly at the ropes that bound her wrists, trying not to be too obvious. If she could get out of this and get Skylar safely away from this bitch -
"Damn straight." pause. "I'm Brigitta by the way."
Kae nodded.
"Okay."
"Okay what?"
"Kill me," Kae told her, "just don't hurt him, okay?"
Brigitta rolled her eyes. "Why would I bother? Live bait is so much better than dead bodies all over the place."
"But you're going to kill us anyway, aren't you?" Kae asked, forcing herself to keep her expression calm as excitement flooded her veins: she'd found a frayed part of the rope.
"Dean, yeah. You and this guy?" she gestured to Skylar. "Mmmmm."
"Brigitta, please -" Kae bit her lip as she began to work at the ropes faster, until they were loose enough that she was able to get out of them, and reached for the knife she usually kept in her pocket. "Get the fuck out."
Brigitta's eyes narrowed and she set Skylar aside before lunging at Kae, knocking her back down onto the floor.
"You know, I was actually thinking I'd spare you," she hissed as Skylar began to cry loudly. Kae groaned in frustration as she struggled to throw Brigitta off of her. "I mean, why rip you from your son the way Dean and Sam ripped my father from my brothers and me? Boy am I glad I changed my mind." Brigitta's eyes glowed blue, as did the tattoos on her arm as she reached for Kae's head and gripped her chin tightly. Kae let out a startled gasp as an array of images flashed in front of her eyes. "I know. It's only gonna get worse." she laughed as the glow faded from both her eyes and tattoos. "Enjoy your final hours, sweetheart."
As Brigitta was trying to get up off of Kae, something suddenly grabbed her and hauled her away from Kae.
"Sam get Kae - Gwen has the kid. It's alright, we've got her!"
Kae couldn't think straight - images swam in front of her line of vision, of the wraith killing Skylar...of Dean being slaughtered by demons...of Dean preparing to kill her...Her head felt like it was about to explode, and she began to scream. She saw Sam lean over her and could only struggle against him as he picked her up. It was another illusion. It had to be. Sam was dead.
Suddenly, something barrelled into Sam, making him lose his grip and drop her. Kae let out a grunt of pain and sat up slowly, just in time to see Dean land a punch to Sam's face before two men she didn't know were hauling him off of Sam.
"Sk-Sky," she croaked.
"He's alright, sweetheart," an unfamiliar hand caressed her forehead, and she flinched away, the hallucinations making it feel like the claw of a wraith. "Gwen's got him."
"Get away from me," she shoved the stranger, who in return pinned her to the ground. "Get away!"
"Damn it Mark, get the antidote!" the man yelled to someone she couldn't see. "It's alright, Kae. You're just gonna go to sleep for a little bit."
Something pricked her arm, and after a few minutes had passed she began to feel very drowsy. The last thing she saw before her eyes slid shut was Sam's face.
"Sam..."
And then she passed out.