Hi all! So, I have to start by letting you know I do not own a single detail associated with Supernatural. I do, however, own all the details about Kate.

Updated 7/12/22: Just as an FYI, I re-wrote this chapter twice now, because something just hasn't sat right with me about it. It was lacking in some form or another. I have since fixed it though, so please re-read and I hope you all enjoy it!

Chapter 10: In my time of Lying prt:2

John had thought it would be best if Kate kept the plan to herself so, she hadn't breathed a word of it to Sam, but she felt awful because it was just more secrets. She knew that John had already made the hard decision. He was determined to save Dean; by any means necessary. John had also known if it came down to the wire, Sam would pull him back, or make the valiant attempt to. However, Kate saw him this morning, and it was clear to her that John seemed determined to see this through. One way or another.

A few hours had passed since her chat with John, and she was now discharged from the hospital. Luckily for her, Bobby was still willing to put her up for a bit longer. 'Nonsense,' he'd told her, 'you need somewhere to go. Especially with the demons gunning for you even more now.' Sam was currently driving her to Bobby's as he still needed to check out the trunk of the wrecked Impala for the Colt. Kate nonetheless felt exhausted, but she knew that was probably due to her concussion.

"So, you think of any ideas that might help get Dean back?" He asked breaking the long silence.

"I've got an idea, but it depends on what's needed for it." She said. Her voice was quiet. John had told her she needed to get the book from Sam, as it would just raise more suspicion for him to get it. Not to mention, Sam would be more than willing to argue with him about it. Kate had a feeling John was making some last-minute preparations before he died, but she didn't know any specifics.

"Well, what is it?" Sam asked, clearly he wanted in on it. A pause passed as Kate was half-tempted to just tell him everything right then, but she didn't want to be the cause of any more tensions between him and his dad. Especially if it really did come down to John taking on Dean's life-threatening injuries.

"I don't want to explain just yet." She began, "Not until I'm sure it will work."

She had expected Sam to fight her, to get frustrated, or even mad. Instead, she was surprised at his next words, "Well, what can I do to help?" He asked as the vehicle slowed to a halt in Bobby's driveway. Kate looked around at the junkyard spanning out for miles behind the warn-down blue house before them.

"Do you have any reaper lore books?" She ventured. Sam's look told her that she might as well have just spelled it out for him.

"You wanna use the reaper?" He asked her suddenly.

"I'm still in the researching phase of the plan, alright? I don't even know if it's possible-." She began to explain quickly as Sam cut the engine. She knew it was, but she was hoping to not have to trade one life for another.

"It is." He told her effectively cutting her off. His mind was clearly going back to when they'd encountered the faith healer and his wife. "It is possible, but it's dark and risky. Do you really want to leash a great white like that? Besides, where're you-?" He cut himself off as he opened the door of the van Bobby had let him borrow, and got out. "You know what? I don't wanna know."

"Sam," Kate called out as she followed him. He didn't respond to her.

"Sam!" She shouted as her hand gripped the sleeve of his Carhartt jacket. When he spun around she could see the cloud of anger over his features, this wasn't just about her plan to bind a reaper anymore.

"You know, I trusted you. We trusted you." He said to her, his voice sharp with an accusatory tone. "And, all this time you knew what was coming at us? Yet, you never said a word."

"I- I tried. I told you-." She defended. Kate didn't want to do this now. She needed to conserve what energy she did have for tonight to go as planned and arguing with a Winchester would take a good chunk out of what little she had.

"You told me to get off the back roads that night, yeah, but even before all that. When Dad was possessed and knowing the demons' plans for us." He pointed out. "You knew all of that was coming; You knew how it would play out; You knew people would get hurt, and yet you still didn't say a word." Kate's head tilted down at his words. She knew he was right, she partly blamed herself for all this due to her not speaking up sooner. Mostly, she knew he was hinting about Dean's coma.

Another silence passed between them, while Sam was waiting for a response. "I didn't think you'd believe me. Even if I told you." She muttered even as she said the words she felt lame.

Sam scoffed, "That's crap, Kate. You know the things we see on a daily basis."

At her silence, he started to turn and walk up the front steps to Bobby's when Kate yelled after him, "I just wanted to go home!" Sam paused, slowly turning around to stare at her, his confused expression pushed her to go on. Her anger still flared at his lack of patience with her.

"I-I'm not from here. None of this is real; not where I come from. I- I don't even know what I'm doing half of the time! I'm- I'm not a hunter, Sam. I'm not trained like you, or-or Dean." Her voice grew quiet as she finished her sentence. She was laying her biggest secret at his feet, and she was unsure of how he'd take it. She had been pleasantly surprised at how well John took it, but she proved the truth of her story by knowing he was planning on making a deal with Azazel. With Sam, she wasn't so sure how he'd react. "I was so focused on getting back home, and going back to where I'm from that, I guess I let things slip here. I was distracted by my own problems, and I let people here get hurt. For that, you don't know how truly sorry I am."

Sam remained silent, so Kate continued, "I know how this sounds. Trust me, I do, but, it's the truth."

"What do you mean, 'where you're from'?" Sam asked her slowly. He was still trying to process her words.

"I don't know how else to explain it. One minute, I was home, and the next I was waking up where you guys found me in Richardson."

"What?" Sam asked, she could see the shocked expression on his face and knew he'd need a second to catch up.

"I must be from some Alternate universe." She stated simply. She knew that the show hadn't introduced alternate realities for a while, but she figured that would be the easiest way to explain her presence here. She left out this being a show part, she knew Sam and Dean weren't too crazy about the idea that their lives were broadcasted, let alone being produced into a show for a bunch of viewers, no matter how big of a hit it was.

"We've been hunting with you and this whole time, you've just been figuring it out as you go?" He asked her. Kate was mildly surprised that was what he'd settled for asking her. She nodded, not wanting to say anything. "Well, that explains a lot." He said with a small smirk over his lips. He suddenly took a step down off the stairs and moved to stand before Kate now. "Look, if you're planning what I think you are. You can forget it. Dean wouldn't agree to that in a million years. He hated it the last time I forced him to see that faith healer. He didn't like switching his life out for another persons." Sam explained.

"I know." She stated, "But what if it's the only way?" She asked her blue eyes catching Sam's hazel ones. "If we don't do this, something worse will happen." She finished.

"Wait, what does that mean?" Sam asked her, his tone changing to one of concern.

"I- I can't-. I don't want to change things too drastically." She told him dismissively. She tried to sidestep him and head into the house, but this time he grabbed her arm and spun her back towards him. She was closer than she'd intended to be, his tall figure seemed to tower over her 5'5 frame. She was surprised at the sudden imbalance and nearly tripped into him. His other hand came around to prevent her from falling.

"What's going to happen Kate?" Sam was staring down at her using his classic puppy dog eyes. She sighed in response as her wall crumbled.

"Someone's going to die. At this point, Sam, I -I unfortunately just don't know who." Sam slowly released his hold on her arm as he took a step back. His facial expression was heavy now.

Kate continued trying to explain quickly, "That's why I want to bind the reaper at the hospital. I'm thinking if I can bind it, I can make a deal, or- or something." She didn't want to get into the details about John. It wasn't her secret to tell, not to mention John had specifically asked her to keep that to herself. She figured he'd assume she meant Dean.

Sam nodded, his eyes unfocused. He seemed to sense how dire the situation was now. It was as though it sunk in that Dean was really on death's doorstep. "Yeah, yeah. Alright." His voice was soft, she could tell he wasn't sold on her plan one hundred percent, but really; what other choice did they have? She knew the other option wasn't one that either of the boys liked either.

"I'll go get the book. We- we'll look for the binding ritual." He said, with that, she followed him into the house.

It had been a few hours by now; Sam had returned to the hospital to check up on Dean and John. Sam had clued Bobby in on her plan to bind a reaper. He thought that she was crazy to do it, but he obliged to help at Sam's request to save his family. Which left Kate to work with Bobby to get the ingredients needed for the ritual. She was amazed at the stuff this man had already had on hand.

"Well, that just leaves bones, and human blood." He said as he set down the Coptic cross on his desk.

"Okay. Let me worry about those things."

"Let you-?" Bobby stared at her incredulously. "What? You've got a graveyard stashed in your bags upstairs?"

"Well, no but-." She began.

"Alright then." He said simply, "I don't know if it will work, but Rumsfield got into something out back. Must've been a rabbit or somethin'." Bobby had passed the doorway into the kitchen and returned with a plastic bag.

"Animal bones?" Kate asked him with a skeptical tone. "We're binding a reaper, Bobby."

"Well, I don't know about you, but my reserve of human bones has long dried up." He told her sarcastically as he shook out the rabbit bones. "So, let's use what we've got."

Kate huffed her hands running through her brown hair. She was beginning to feel the stress, she didn't want to be doing this any more than Bobby or any more Sam had approved of it, but the other option was to sign John Winchester up for a century of torture in hell. Although none of the guys around her had actually asked her how she felt about binding herself to a reaper, she guessed that didn't matter much in the grand scheme of things.

Suddenly, Bobby's door opened, and John Winchester stood in the doorway. He held a black velvet drawstring bag in his good hand while his left arm was still strapped in a sling.

"John." Bobby said, "What're you doing here? Shouldn't you still be-?"

"Heya Bobby," John greeted softly, a small half-smile grew over his lips as his eyes met Bobby's. John stepped further into the house as he quickly shut the door behind him.

"I know, I said, 'don't be a stranger,' but, I didn't mean don't knock before waltzin' in, ya idjit." Bobby pointed out. He grabbed his open beer bottle and took a pull from it, "Whatcha got there?" He asked as he nodded over at the bag.

"I've got what you need for the ritual," John said as he held out the bag to Kate.

"Bones?" She asked him after a long pause permeated the room.

He nodded as she took the bag with shakey hands. Kate felt her anxiety spike as soon as her hands touched the soft velvet, she was holding actual human remains. Her brain was having difficulty processing that fact. "Human bones?" She heard her voice ask the question, but it felt as though she'd heard someone else say it.

She slowly pulled the opening of the bag a bit wider and glanced down into the bag to find white bone particles at the bottom. They were dried out and broken up, but she could definitely tell they were human. She gaped down at the bag in her hands, her eyes widening in shock. "Where'd you-?" She began, but John cut her off.

"Do you need to know?"

"Nope," Bobby said as he grabbed the bag from Kate and moved towards the makeshift altar. "If you can't handle seeing human remains, how are you gonna complete this ritual there, girly?" She heard Bobby ask from behind her. Kate inhaled a slow breath as she closed her eyes lightly, her frustration was rising, but she remembered no one but John, and Sam knew exactly how unskilled she was in the ways of hunting. She willed herself to push through her emotions, visions of Dean lying unmoving in his hospital bed from earlier swam before her mind's eye. She remembered the tubes sticking out of his throat and nose. She knew that she needed to do this to save his life.

When her eyes opened, they were met with the familiar determined dark eyes of John Winchester, "Kate? You ready?" was all he asked her. He also knew what was at stake here. He was ready to throw down his life for Dean's. His determination ignited Kates and with a small nod, she turned back to face the altar.

"One more thing." He said as he handed over a silver chain, on it was a smaller Coptic cross, also silver. She held her hand out for John to give it to her; making quick work of putting it on. Kate then moved over to the altar and she grabbed the knife that Bobby placed by the alter and sliced the palm of her hand, the blood dripped down the side of her palm into the bowl over the human remains John had provided, and with that, she began chanting the spell to bind her to Dean's reaper, Tessa. Her Latin was rusty, so Bobby was the one that had read it to her, correcting her errors as she went.

Kate continued chanting, now able to repeat the Latin on her own, a sudden wind picked up around the trio of hunters. It got progressively stronger until the candles went out, and a young woman stood in the middle of the study, she wore a confused expression as she took in her surroundings. She wore a short black dress, it matched her dark hair and eyes. She was stuck within the sigil that Bobby had drawn in chalk over his hardwood floor. Kate knew her to be the reaper Tessa.

"Wha-?" She asked.

"Did it work?" Bobby's voice broke the silence.

"Don't you see her?" Kate asked him, her voice displaying the anxiety she felt.

"I see nothin'," Bobby replied. Kate glanced over at John who also solemnly shook his head. Bobby grabbed up the book that they'd borrowed earlier from Sam, and began to flip through the pages quickly. "It must be because it's your blood in the altar kid," Bobby explained.

"What am I doing here?" Kate heard Tessa ask finally, as her gaze narrowed. Kate gulped quietly.

"You can't reap him." That was all Kate needed to say. She stood her ground, voice firm through her fear.

"Ah, so this is a rescue mission," Tessa said crossing her arms over her chest, her defenses rising.

"Not quite." Kate shrugged as she moved aside allowing Tessa's eyes to scan the altar.

"You bound me?!" Tessa's voice was raised and her face changed to one of anger. Kate kind of figured she would react like this, but it still shook her to her core. She wasn't enthused about messing around with a reaper.

"I want to make a deal," Kate reasoned.

"I don't do deals." Tessa snapped at her, she took a couple of steps closer but stopped short as she realized she wasn't able to harm Kate while trapped within the sigil.

"Well, I know what your end game here is, and believe me if this deal doesn't pull through, you're still going to lose Dean's soul," Kate began to explain quickly, her fear was palpable, it had to be. "I figured at least this way you get to reap someone."

"What?" She heard Bobby ask, Sam probably didn't include that little fact when he'd originally told Bobby about the plan, as he hadn't been told either. "I thought we were trapping it, not swapping one person for another." His eyes honed in on John now.

John shushed him quickly. Bobby just stared, his eyes flickering between Kate and John as it clicked into place for him. "John, no." Bobby's voice was soft, but John didn't respond.

"What does that mean?" She heard Tessa ask in a suspicious tone.

"It means that regardless of what happens here, you aren't getting Dean," Kate told her. "Even if you don't deal here, someone else does, and here's a hint, it's not a reaper."

Tessa eyed Kate up and down and then glanced over at John, her eyes scanned him over as she got there herself. "I assume the deal is a father for a son, is it?"

Kate didn't answer, she had been hoping for Tessa to be willing to heal Dean in order to be unbound. It didn't seem likely now that Kate was here though. "Or, You can decide to heal him up, and then we'll let you go," Kate stated with way more confidence than she was feeling.

"That's not how this works." Tessa replied quickly with a smirk, "There's a natural order to things-."

"Make an exception then," Kate told her bluntly. She had seen enough of the show to know that exceptions were made all the time, especially in Sam and Dean's case.

"I'm afraid, I can't." Tessa was pacing the length of the floor now as she continued speaking with Kate.

"Of course, you can. I've seen it done myself." Kate's arms crossed over her stubbornly. Her bravado was wavering, but she'd faced down demons before. She could do this.

"Fine." Tessa began with her chin rising in defiance as her gaze locked on Kate's, "I could, but don't want to. Although why would I? You drag me out of my hospital, bind me here to you, and now you start demanding favors from me, as though I owe you something."

"Alright, fair point." Kate agreed, Fuck. She really didn't want to trade in one Winchester for another, but it was clear Tessa wasn't going to be bending the rules. She hasn't even really agreed to that. Kate pointed out mentally. She huffed annoyed.

"I'm sorry, this not going the way we planned?" Tessa stood in the center of the room wearing a slight smirk. "Look, even if I did agree to this deal, you do know Dean would know this idea came from you, and he'll hate you for it." Kate hesitated at that, she had known that fact when she started this, but she wasn't exactly hyped on the idea of angering Dean Winchester. Although, she also wasn't keen on leaving John to get tortured in hell for the next century either.

"But, he'll be alive, and John won't have to suffer." Kate cut herself off. She wasn't sure how much she wanted to spill given that Bobby was here, she wanted to keep the future events close to her chest.

"Won't what?" She was surprised to hear Bobby's voice. She glanced at him from Tessa with a surprised expression. "What in gods name are you plannin' to do that would warrant this?" His last statement was directed at John himself.

"Bobby-." John began with a heavy breath.

"Don't feed me a load of bull, John. I'm quicker on the draw than that. I know that list you gave to Sam earlier was for summoning a demon, not for protection. You were gonna make a demon deal?" Bobby's voice held shock in his tone, his eyes shifted over to Kate now. "And, you? Your next bet is to get a reaper to switch 'em out?" Kate looked anywhere but at Bobby now. A tense silence fell over the study, "Do the boys know?"

Kate said nothing, but John answered, "No," Bobby scoffed angrily in response, "I told her not to tell them,"

"You're something else, John Winchester," Bobby said as he finished his beer quickly with a shake of his head. "And, you're dragging her down with ya." He finished his voice filled with disdain.

"We're already here, Bobby..." Kate told him softly, quickly cutting off the growing argument between the elder Hunters.

"I just want to save my son," John said tiredly. Kate could see the same exhaustion on him that she saw this morning. She assumed he was talking to Bobby, or her- but Kate was surprised to his eyes focus on exactly where Tessa stood. "Please," John added, his eyes taking on a similar expression that Sam had hit her with earlier that day. It struck Kate now, with Dean in a coma, John seems to have finally been jolted out of his entrenched revenge vendetta on Yelloweyes. It seems the importance of family versus the importance of his quest were at odds and now life's circumstances are finally teaching it to John - or he's finally learning, after twenty-two years.

"You-You can see her? But, how?" Kate breathed out. Her shock wasn't just plain on her face, but in her voice as well.

"I put a bit of my blood in with the bones, I gave you." He told her, his eyes not leaving Tessa, who'd stared over at him hard. She undoubtedly knew who he was. Kate hadn't expected John to pull one over on her. They had made this plan together, why would he need to? Kate thought begrudgingly. Clearly, he hadn't trusted her to pull it off without him. Kate huffed now pissed off. Tessa wasn't just bound to Kate as she had hoped. She was bound to John as well, and if John wanted to trade his life for Deans. That was clearly what he was going to do; consequences be damned. Kate had just unwittingly given him the road map on how to do it.

"Damnit." She whispered, her voice soft. She ran her hand through her unkempt brown hair stressfully.

"What?" Bobby asked, his head twisting to look over at her. "What's wrong?" His eyes darted around the room as he was unable to see the reaper.

"John is also bound to the reaper." She said as she moved to turn around to change the altar.

"Sorry Kate, can't have you doing that." John had appeared next to Kate. He pushed her away from the altar, but in the process, her head had bashed into the side of the desk. Again. She groaned as her eyes unfocused, blurring out her surroundings. She fell to the floor with a groan of pain. She hadn't totally healed from her last concussion so she knew headshots were one of her bigger weaknesses right now. She fought to remain conscious knowing they were in a dangerous situation, she also knew that if she'd passed out right then John was for sure a goner. She tried to swallow down nausea that rolled over her suddenly. She knew all these symptoms weren't very good signs for her head, as if it wasn't already messed up.

"John! Stop!" Bobby went to grab him, but the man had already crossed over into the reaper trap. "Balls!" Bobby huffed out, now standing at the line of the trap.

As Kate turned her head to keep him in her sights, her surroundings swam in a sea of blurriness. She had to lean back against the desk for support otherwise she'd have ended up on the floor. "Pretty brave stepping in here with me," Tessa said in way of greeting John. Kate groaned inwardly, John was the same bound and determined old man he was before only, now his end goal had changed. Up to this point, it was always 'destroy the demon, and keep my boys safe.' The new goal was simply 'save Dean.' She knew once he set his mind to something there was no stopping it. Kate had subconsciously known that this was coming, no matter how much she tried to change things. John was sacrificing himself for his son. Maybe he did it because he finally saw that his family was more important. Unfortunately, Kate knew his decision came too late to be of much consolation to the boys.

"You can't hurt me." He told her simply. Kate could practically hear the cocky grin in his words. "You're bound to me, sweetheart. I'm the one in the driver's seat." All Kate could do was watch from her spot on the floor as Tessa huffed now uncrossing her arms. It was clear that her putting up a fight was useless, at this point, she just wished to be unbound and on her way back to the hospital, the place was filled to the brim with souls to reap, with her not there it must be steadily overflowing.

"If you're not giving me the option to say no, then what're you waiting for?" She asked him.

Kate's head was now throbbing, it had begun as a dull ache in the base of her skull from the blow, but the pain soon began radiating all around her skull. She watched John move to step in closer to the reaper. Kate watched as Tessa began to offer her outstretched hands.

"John." Kate interrupted, "Don't," she said simply.

Kate could feel the pull towards unconsciousness, she tried hard to keep a grip over herself, but she had a feeling it was a losing battle, whether John had done it purposely, by knocking her unconscious he ensured that she wasn't in control.

Bobby had quickly moved to kneel next to her. His concerned expression told her she must look like utter crap right now. His gaze moved over to John, who appeared to be holding his hands out to nothing but air.

"I'll need proof that Dean's back, before we release you, of course," John said as his gaze hardened on Tessa.

"Oh, I wouldn't expect anything less from John Winchester," Tessa replied, shrugging in response.

Just like that Kate's well-laid-out plan was blowing up in her face. She hadn't expected John to swap things around so quickly, and before anyone could react a glow emanated from the reaper trap. As it progressively brightened, Kate's eyes became heavy until she could no longer fight the pull into unconsciousness.

Thank you all for reading! Your views are greatly appreciated.