Alas, we have reached the end of this journey together. Thank you so much for your diligence and support as I have spat out this lil' tale. Y'all are the best!

Epilogue: Side Effects

"Hey, kid." Dean nudged my knee—the only place not aching with the fury of a thousand suns.

This was what I imagined Hell felt like. My face felt twice the size of normal, making it hurt to move at all. My ribs felt twisted in pain, my arm was throbbing steadily, and even my gums ached. I groaned at Dean's persistent poking at my knee.

"I know, I know," he said. "Take these pills, and I'll let you go back to sleep."

I tried to push myself up the bed, but with one arm and bruised ribs, it was almost impossible.

Without a word, Dean moved closer and lifted me into a somewhat sitting position.

"Thanks," I mumbled as he dumped a pile of pills into my hands. I squinted at them through my swollen eyelids. "Jesus Christ, Dean. Are you trying to kill me?"

He rolled his eyes and pointed to each group of pills in turn. "Pain killers, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, and anti-nausea. I checked—they ain't a deadly combo."

I eyed him faux-suspiciously as I popped all the pills in my mouth at once. He waited patiently to hand me a glass of water. After I took a long sip to choke them all down, he took the cup back and placed it on the bedside table.

"Back to sleep, sleeping ugly," he said, wrapping his hands under my shoulders and dragging me back down into a lying position.

I kind of needed to pee, but sleep seemed much more important at the moment. I let Dean mother me, tucking me in and the whole lot. It was then that I realized I didn't currently have two mother hens. "Where's Sam?"

"Ran to the store for some supplies and food."

I squinted an eye open and could see sunlight peeking through the closed blinds. "What time is it?"

"Eleven," he said. "Go back to sleep. We'll go get your arm a cast once you can keep your eyes open for longer than ten seconds."

I grunted. "You're the one feeding me sleep-inducing pain pills."

He said nothing. He focused on sharpening a knife in front of him.

I squinted an eye open at him. "Why don't you and Sammy get some sleep? God knows we all need it."

He shrugged. "I got a whole five hours." He grinned and went back to his knife. "Besides, I gotta make sure you don't fall into a coma or something. Big brother duties and all that."

I gave a soft snort. "I thought you said you researched the drugs' interactions."

"I did," he replied indignantly. "I just might've relied on Yahoo Answers. And I ain't bettin' your life on BigButts69's ideas."

I think I smiled before I fell back into sleep.

"What're you gonna do?" Sam smirked at me. "Scream?"

I pulled away from his grip on my arm. "Get away from me."

"What?" Dean stalked towards me. "Big brothers are scary now?" He scoffed and smacked me across the face. "Grow up."

"Better yet," Sam suggested, "leave." He turned away from me, focusing on cleaning his hunting knife.

Dean looked me over disdainfully. "I like his plan."

"Dean," I started.

He smacked me in the face again. "Did I say you could talk back?" He shook his head and shoved me.

"No!" My tears returned, but I couldn't let them free; Dean and Sam would just hate me more if I cried. "But I—"

"God, you're always whining!" Sam gave a short laugh, moving closer. "If you keep this up," he threatened, applied pressure to the center of my forearm, "I'll give you something to whine about."

His grip on my arm tightened painfully, and I cried out.

"Kate!"

My eyes snapped open, and Sam hovered over me. I panicked, and wanted to move backwards, but his hands quickly came down on my shoulders.

"Hey, hey, hey," he said reassuringly. "You're OK. It was a dream."

It sank in then that we were in a motel, and Sam was worrying over me while Dean hovered anxiously behind him. This was real; that had not been.

I closed my eyes and sank back against the mattress.

"How you feelin'?" Dean prompted gruffly, crossing his arms.

"Kinda achy," I said. My face and arm still dully ached.

"The pills should be wearing off soon," he noted.

"What time is it?" I asked, trying to gage from the sunlit windows.

"A little after three," Sam said.

"Three?" I struggled to sit up more, and Sam helped me. "God."

"You feel up to strappin' a cast to that bad boy?" Dean asked, giving a nod towards my bandaged, broken arm.

I scrunched my nose. "If I don't have to move much."

"Thatta girl," he praised, moving closer to help me up. "I'll even take all the turns at a granny's pace."

I gave him the stink eye. "You better."

The entire ride over, Sam and Dean took turns casting anxious looks at me through the rearview mirror. Despite the agony it would push onto my ribs, I was seriously considering lying down across the backseat so I would be out of the mirror's sight. We pulled up to a hospital before I got the guts to do it.

I groaned and made no move to get out of the car after Dean had parked. "Deeeeaaaaan."

He had the backdoor open and was waving for me to scooch out. "Nope. Come on; let's go."

I turned my pleading look towards Sam. He gave me a what-can-I-do shrug and moved towards the hospital entrance. I gave another dramatic groan and slowly scooted myself out of the Impala.

"There ya go," Dean congratulated me, helping me to my feet with my good arm. I swayed a bit after standing up, the lasting bit of pain killers making my brain swirl. "Woah, easy there." Dean put his arm gently but firmly around my waist, careful of my aching ribs.

"I need more drugs," I complained as we walked towards the hospital.

"We'll see if you can get a morphine drip while the doc looks ya over."

I gave him a disgruntled look. "Dean, there's gonna be a lot of questions. And poking. And probing. And unnecessary poking."

"Relax," he said as Sam followed us towards the hospital's side entrance. "You'll be fine." He banged his fist thrice on the white, metal door.

The door swung open in the next moment, and a tall man in a white coat opened the door. It was hard to miss the cigarette perched on his lips as he stared at us. His eyes lit up as he saw Dean, and he took out the cigarette. "Deano!"

"Carter!" Dean cheered, shaking his hand jubilantly. "Thanks for hooking us up, man."

Carter stuffed the cigarette into his lab coat pocket and waved off Dean's words. "Anything for you, D. Follow me in." He held the door open for Sam to grab, and Dean helped me hobble after the doctor.

"How do you know him?" Sam asked, voicing my thoughts.

"That boys' home that I spent a couple of months in?" Dean prompted, looking back at our brother. "Carter was a good buddy there. He covered my ass a few times, and I covered his. I told him what I did one day, and he believed me when I was able to help him exorcise a ghost at his sister's house. Anyways, he went on to become a doc, and I dabble into his medical knowledge here and there."

"You sound like a good friend to have," Sam commended.

I gave Carter an approving, skeptical look. "And just how much is this friendship costing us exactly?"

Carter threw back an amused look while Dean glared down on me. "Normally, I charge friends extra, but you caught me on my lunch break; today's pro bono." He brought us into a private room after glancing down the hallway. "Here should be fine." He shut the door behind us.

Sam stood off to the side with his arms crossed as Dean eased me onto the examination table.

"So your brother said you took a beating?" Carter prompted, snapping gloves onto his hands.

I tried to give a half smile through my swollen, aching face. "I didn't think it was obvious." I shook my head lightly. "I just need a cast, doc."

Dean rolled his eyes and stepped in. "Her ribs are all black and blue, her face is ten times fatter than it should be, she's got some cuts and bruises on her arms, and her left arm is busted."

Carter stepped up and lightly prodded my cheeks before shining a light into my eyes. "Your facial bones are all intact, and your pupils are responsive. If you ice it, I'd say you lucked out there."

Carter gently took my arm and started his probing. I gritted my teeth and breathed through my nose. "Yeah, that's definitely split in two. It's severely swollen, but it should heal fine in a cast."

He nodded towards my abdomen. "Can I examine the ribs?" Tentatively, I lifted my t-shirt up with my good hand. Even in my peripheral vision, my usually pale skin was disgustingly dark; Sam and Dean's pained eyes confirmed it.

"None of the skin is damaged," the doctor noted, gently tracing my blue ribs with gloved fingers. "All of the damage is purely internal. You don't have any signs of organ damaged, but if your ribs are fractured, they could pierce something." Carter felt around more, but ultimately called for an x-ray for any break confirmations.

"That's not necessary," I said, pulling my shirt down. "Whether my ribs broken or not, I'll wrap 'em and promise not to pierce any organs with 'em."

"Kate, listen to the guy with the degree," Dean admonished.

I gave him an are-you-serious look. He knew that he wouldn't even be near a hospital if it had been him in this situation.

"An x-ray wouldn't hurt," Sam prompted me, moving closer.

Carter shrugged, snapping off his gloves and tossing them into the bin. "She doesn't need the x-ray if she doesn't want it. Just ice the ribs, keep them wrapped tight. No strenuous movement until they don't hurt and all the blue is gone; you don't want any stray bones to swim around into your lung."

Carter moved towards the door and shoved a signed piece of paper towards Sam. "'Scrip for pain pills. I'll send in someone to slap on the cast. Leave out the door you came in, and if anybody asks for insurance, point them to me."

Dean clapped him on the shoulder. "I can't thank you enough, Carter."

He shrugged and offered a winning smile. "It's the least I could do after Danielle." He waggled his eyebrows, and Dean chuckled knowingly. Sam and I exchanged an exasperated look.

Dean turned back to us with a dazed smirk. "What?"

I got my cast, we filled the prescription, and I was on my way to tripping out in the backseat of the Impala on a very, very long car ride. Until we pulled up to the motel.

"I'm gonna stay in the back," I said, settling against the seat carefully. They could handle grabbing our stuff.

Dean opened my door. "Move it, kid."

I squinted up at him. "Why?"

"We ain't hittin' the road right away, that's why."

With a confused look, I pushed myself out of the car. "Why?"

"Uh, because maybe you should have more than twelve hours of recuperating time?" Dean shut the car door behind us. He stayed on my heels to help me, but I wasn't as haggard now that the meds had kicked in.

"That's dumb," I said, following Sam into the motel. "I'm fine." Sam turned, mid unlocking the door, just to give me a you're-crazy look.

"Sam and I thought we'd just have a few low-key days here. That way—"

"Few days?" I turned towards Dean. "No. One night, tops."

Dean scoffed and turned me back towards the open room door. "Yeah, you can make the demands when you're not high off your ass."

"No, Dean," I complained, the drugs starting to make everything weird and tiring. "I wanna leave today."

Dean ignored me, helping me sit on the bed. He helped me raise my shirt as Sam handed us ace bandages. Even through the drug-filled, I could see my brothers grimacing as they tightened the wrap around my blue ribs.

"I always wanted to be blue," I mused aloud. "Like that, that, that one band from the 90's that was, uh… blue."

"Yeah, well, enjoy it while it lasts," Dean grumbled as he helped lower me to the bed. Sam dropped a towel full of ice on my ribs and a towel full of ice to my face. Dean started untying my boots without prompting, and I was grateful—there was no way I could reach the laces without killing my ribs. This was dumb. Who the hell deserved imaginary brothers to beat the crap out of 'em? God, why did witches have to be such dicks? Well, Kevin wasn't that bad. He helped—

"Kevin!" I exclaimed, rocking into a sitting position. Ice fell to the crappy bedspread.

Sam moved closer to reposition the makeshift ice packs, and Dean held his hands out to steady me.

"We didn't help Kevin!" I explained as the drugs made thinking really hard. "I told him I would, but I didn't help him because we scrammed before we did, but I told him—"

"He was long gone when we left," Sam said. "We checked."

"We have to find him," I said, pushing myself up and off the bed.

"Woah, Slater," Dean said, stopping me from standing up. "We'll find him when you're on the up and up, alright?"

I fell back against the mattress. "'M not Slater; you're Slater." Sam put the cold towels back where he wanted 'em.

"Good one." Dean turned to Sam. "I'm gonna go grab us some actual food. You up for some babysitting?"

"I'm not a baaaaaaaby," I whined while keeping my eyes closed.

"I got this," Sam said.

"Get some rest, kid," Dean said, patting me on the top of my head.

"I'm not a kiiiiiiiiiiiid."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Dean shooed me off as he headed out the door.

I laid for a minute in silence as Sam shuffled around in the kitchenette. If I kept my eyes closed, it was like a ghost was haunting the kitchen cabinets or something. "Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think ghosts are real?"

"Kate… you've seen ghosts. You've exorcised ghosts."

"Yeah, but do you think they're real?"

I must've passed out at some point, because the next thing I knew, it was dark and everything hurt like a bitch. Even my head was pulsing with pain.

Some part of me knew I was dreaming, but my brain focused on the images at hand.

"You gonna stop being such a pain in the ass anytime soon?" Sam asked, shoving past me into the kitchenette.

"I just need some drugs," I said, fumbling for a pill bottle. They were all empty.

Dean stepped up and scoffed. "You tore through those in a day. Should've kept some for next time crap like this happens, but you never think ahead. You never see past anybody but yourself, Katelyn." He shook his head and turned away from me.

And, suddenly, we were back in that forest, in the midst of those woods, right on the property near the house.

"Life would be so much easier without you around," Sam said easily with a shrug. He checked the bullets in his gun and cocked it.

"You think Mom would've been proud of anything you've ever done?" Dean looked me over disdainfully. "You think Dad would have? Katelyn, you're twenty-four, and you've got nothing to show for even existing. You're pathetic."

"I-I've helped people," I protested weakly.

Sam sighed in annoyance. "Are you going to end yourself or do we have to clean up your messes again?"

My lip trembled. "No, Sam. Dean. I know, I've—"

"Give me it," Dean commanded, grabbing the gun from Sam. He strutted towards me, and his eyes glinted darkly. "I'll do it myself."

"Kate, Kate."

My eyes shot open to a darkened silhouette. I instinctively shoved him away and hurried over the bed so I'd have a buffer. "Back off!"

"Kate!" Sam said, his hands held up in surrender. "It's OK!"

I made my eyes focus, and I could see the hurt in his hazel eyes. This was Real. This was Sam. And Dean wasn't… He hadn't…

I broke down in tears, hating myself for feeling this fear of my own flesh and blood. I was afraid of the ones who had raised me. I was trembling and craving their comfort but still afraid of their physical touch.

Sam gathered me in his arms all the same, hushing me as I battled a hurricane of emotions.

"I wanna go," I gasped through tears, pulling back. "I wanna leave."

Sam looked confused. "What? Katie—"

"I wanna go, please," I begged through a sob, sinking away from his chest. "Please, I want to leave this town. Please!"

Sam gave a nod and helped me to my feet. He moved away and headed towards the bathroom door. He banged on it with the side of his fist. "Dean!"

I had to leave. I had to get out of this god-awful town and leave those brothers that hate me and want me dead because they would always live here. I frantically started pulling stray clothes and pill bottles and anything I could grab into any available duffle bag. Some part of me heard a stream of water shut off and Dean's muffled shout.

"We gotta go, Dean!" Sam called back. Even subconsciously, I could tell that he was trying to keep his tone in control. He moved towards me and caught my wrists, preventing me from grabbing more stuff off the floor. "Stop; you'll hurt your ribs more."

I pulled away from his large hands, desperate tears coming down. This motel, this town was making me claustrophobic. I was on the brink of a full-blown panic attack at this point. I was crying, moving towards the door.

"Dean!" Sam shouted again.

"What?!" Dean stepped out of the bathroom door in a towel, panic and frustration all over his face. He took one look at me and rounded on Sam. "What the hell happened?"

Sam was immediately defensive. "She woke up like this, Dean. She just really wants to head out of town."

Dean grabbed his jeans in a jerky movement and started shoving them on under his towel. His anger and lurching movements reminded me of the other Dean, the one that wasn't real, the one that would rather come at me with the barrel of a gun—

"Oh, God," I cried, clutching my middle as sobs racked through me painfully.

"Hey, hey," Sam tried to soothe me. "Let's get you a pill, OK?" He swiped up one of the pill bottles and dumped a few into his palm. He came towards me with them, and all I saw was his hand reaching towards me, and he was trying to give me something, and I didn't want anything, I just wanted to go.

"NO!" I shoved his hands away, spilling the pills onto the crappy carpet. I backed away and scrambled to unlock the door.

"Sam, take her to the car!" Dean shouted.

I flinched and threw open the door.

Sam was next to me instantly, and he gathered a comforting arm around my shoulders. "Hey, we'll get you out of here, OK? We can leave faster if we take the car. Let's go get in the car."

I stumbled at his side towards the Impala, starting to breathe a little better now that we were out of the motel room. Sam hurried to unlock the door with the keys and moved to help me into the backseat.

"No," I cried, not wanting to go back into a confining space. "I just wanna leave. Let's just walk. I'd rather walk."

"Dean's grabbing our stuff, and then we'll speed out of here, Katie," Sam promised me with urgent eyes. "We just gotta sit in back, alright?"

I gave a nod, but a cry still bubbled out of my throat and tears pushed through my eyelids. I sat in back, and Sam crawled in after. He carefully rotated me so that I could lean against his chest, and I sank into his comfort.

Dean threw our stuff into the trunk and hurried into the driver's side. Sam tossed him the keys, and Dean was revving the engine out of there in the next instant.

Sam held me against his chest, his big arms overlapping me. I started to breathe easier as the town sped by and as I realized that this was Sam and Dean. They wouldn't let anything happen to me.

I closed my eyes, blew out a gust of air, and relaxed against my brother.

"Katie?" Dean's voice was rightfully anxious.

"Sorry," I whispered.

It was quiet for a few long, tense minutes.

"Where am I drivin' to?" Dean asked.

"Anywhere." I opened my eyes to see dark trees stream past the car window.

We spent the night in some cabin in the middle of nowhere. Sam and Dean pushed pain pills into me when we parked, and I was too pained and tired to care.

It was bright outside when my groans must've alerted my big, hovering brother, because Sam was offering pills and a glass of water in the next minute. I peeled one eye open and looked around. "Where'd Momma Bear Number Two go?"

Sam gave me a strained smirked and nodded his head towards the other bedroom door across the hall. "Hasn't slept much."

I noticed the circles under Sam's eyes with guilt. "Neither have you."

He shrugged, as if to brush it off, but he couldn't deny it. I downed one pill but gave back the other; I didn't want a foggy brain today.

I combed a hand through my hair and was instantly grossed out—grease and knots galore. "Ugh. I'm gonna take a shower; you take a nap."

Sam was instantly closer as I stood up. "I'll help you."

I gave him a look. "I can manage a shower on my own, big twin of mine."

He rolled his eyes. "Let me at least find you a garbage bag to cover your cast."

I shoved him back towards the bed. "Don't bother; I'm just gonna let it hang out the side."

His worried expression overwhelmed his face.

I rolled my eyes this time. "Take a nap. I'm just gonna sit around once I get out anyways."

He sighed in defeat and sat on the king bed. "I'll just rest my eyes. Let me know if you need anything." I gave him a loving smile and ruffled his hair, just the way he hated it. His expression was affectionately annoyed.

About five hours later, I was slouched on a couch, binging the hell out of the free cable TV mounted on the wood wall.

"How long have you been up?" Dean questioned, strutting into the room behind me.

I flipped through the TV guide. "Not long."

Dean plopped onto the couch, his arm instantly claimed the back of it. "Where's Sammy?"

"Asleep."

I could feel the worry radiating from Dean's eyes. "You've been out here by yourself?"

"I am twenty-four, big brother." I flipped through some trash reality TV, and noticed Dean's interest momentarily captured. I rolled my eyes and dropped the remote on the couch.

"And… how're you today?"

I sighed and ran a hand through my brunette hair. "Better. Sorry about last night… I was… That whole curse thing still freaks me out, I guess."

Dean carefully pulled me closer to him. "You don't have to apologize for anything, kid. I'm just damn grateful you're as OK as you are."

I let out a breath and relaxed against him. "You're a good brother."

He grunted and focused on the trash TV in front of us.

"We're going to have to find Kevin," I said after a while. "Maybe he'll stop murdering people if that coven in the east trains him."

Dean grunted. I smirked, knowing that was as accepting as my brother got.

"And Dean?"

He waited.

"Thank you. For everything."

He settled against me more and kissed the top of my head. "Whatever, kid. It's my job."

And that's the end! If you want to leave me a parting review, I wouldn't oppose. ;)

(In regard to any continuation possibilities: a sequel-ish story is in the works, but I have no idea when it'll be close to finished. If you want to stay in the loop on that, I'd recommend following me as an author.)

Thanks, guys!

-Alice