𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐕𝐀𝐍

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

"You know what I've always wondered?"

"No."

"If you have to present a passport if you drive into Alaska." Katherine turns to look at Dean with a dramatically raised brow, multi-toned hair whipping in the wind as the Impala speeds down the two-lane faded blacktop. "It's a fair question," she says in defense, witnessing his flat expression. "Besides, Alaska would be way better than middle-of-nowhere Wisconsin."

"Alaska is middle-of-nowhere."

"Is not," Katherine protests, reaching for the window lever.

"It's the attic child of America."

She gasps, whipping around to face him. "You take that back!"

"Guys?" Sam chirps from the back seat. "Still hungry back here."

Katherine crosses her arms and gazes out of the windshield. "There's an exit half a mile up," she says to Dean, gazing at a road sign for food.

"And?"

"And? Sam and I are starved."

Dean pushes his lips out, as if he's really debating if they should stop for food. He's always game for food. "I could go for some grub," he decides after a moment.

"And you need sleep," Katherine adds. "You won't let either of us drive and you've been going for eleven hours."

"What's your point?"

"That maybe we should stop for a while."

"She's right," Sam pipes, his head resting against the backseat.

Katherine gingerly ties her hair up, wincing as her hairline is tugged. She isn't as banged up from that wendigo as she could've been, that's for sure, and she's also sure she's had worse.

Much, much worse.

Grub first. It's half past eleven AM, so lunch is in order. She swipes a newspaper from the stand outside the neighboring inn and joins the Winchesters inside, where one—or both—of them is already being swarmed by a busty blonde waitress in a low-cut t-shirt and jeans.

Katherine slides into the booth beside Dean with ease, orders a rootbeer and a burger. She'll have to find an avocado later to soothe her hankering. Katherine flips the newspaper over and over, searching for anything that could be a case, crossing out articles and circling potentials.

The girl, Wendy, swings by frequently to check on drinks, and even after the trio already has their food she lingers. It's easy to understand why, but that doesn't mean it's any less frustrating for Katherine. Sam would chuckle every time the girl dramatically rolled her eyes and made a point of chewing for long periods of time.

"Boom," Katherine mutters, sliding the newspaper to Dean. "Brad Pitt." She points to the crossword with a smirk and tosses a french fry into her mouth. From her backpack beside her, her phone trills obscenely loudly, and she scrambles to answer it. "Just a sec," she says, pressing her phone to her ear, and swiftly moves from the table with the Winchesters watching curiously after her. "Hello?" She stands outside the diner, squinting in the afternoon sun.

"Heyo," Sophia chirps.

A grin instantly splits across Katherine's face. "Soph. How you enjoying the snow?"

"Oh, it's great," Sophia says. Katherine pictures her gazing out of the window with a flat expression and a glass of wine in hand. "Yeah. Except I can't fucking go anywhere. Nobody's shoveling! It's a disaster! And they expect me to go to class?!" Katherine laughs. "Story of my life. Anyway, how're you? You sound like you're somewhere sunny."