Daddy’s Girl
Dean Winchester & daughter!reader
Synopsis: your life growing up as Dean’s daughter (ignores cannon)
You were born of Dean’s short-lived relationship with Lisa. When he was forced to leave his family behind to keep them safe, he was also forced to take you with him. He’d wanted to leave you, to keep you safe, but with Lisa and Ben’s memories wiped of him, you got wiped with him.
“I’m sorry,” Castiel said as Dean held you in his arms. “There’s no way to erase you without erasing her, too.”
Despite how much Dean wanted to keep you safe, he couldn’t find it in himself to regret how things turned out.
…
Sam pursed his lips, and Dean couldn’t hold back his laugh when he spotted his brother covered in broccoli.
You started giggling when you noticed your father’s smile, but Dean clamped his mouth shut when he saw you laughing.
“Hey now,” he scolded, trying desperately to look stern despite still being able to see the broccoli in Sam’s hair. “Don’t throw food.”
“Is yucky!” You whined, kicking your feet.
Dean gave you his signature ‘dad glare’ and you gave him the puppy eyes that he was convinced Sammy taught you just to drive him nuts.
Neither of you were willing to give in, far too stubborn for anyone’s good. Finally, Sam broke the awkward silence.
“How about we try a new veggie?”
…
“What are you watching?”
Dean tore his eyes away from the screen to see Sam standing in the doorway.
“Saw, why?”
Sam scoffed, “Do you think she’s old enough for that?” He gestured to five-year-old you, curled up in your dad’s arms.
“She’s out like a light, she has no clue what’s going on,” Dean assured him.
“So what, she’s your new stuffed animal?” Sam chuckled.
“It’s called parenting, Sammy. Now shut up, you’re gonna wake her up.”
…
“Daddy, look!”
Dean rubbed his hands over his face, closing the lore book in front of him when you came bounding into the war room.
“Hey baby, what’s up?” He asked, his voice thick with exhaustion as he lifted you into his lap.
“I maked the Impala,” you grinned, showing off a pencil sketch of Baby colored in with a black crayon. “Uncle Sammy only helped a little.”
Dean could tell from the detail of the drawing that Sam helped more than a little, but he didn’t care.
“This is great!” He praised. “Baby would be so proud, looks almost as good as her.”
You giggled. “Can I hang it on the fridge?”
“I think it’d be a crime if we didn’t,” Dean insisted, standing up with you in his arms so he could carry you to the kitchen.
…
“Dad!”
Dean staggered back in surprise when ten-year-old you launched yourself into his arms the moment he stepped into the bunker.
“Hey kid,” he chuckled, but his smile dropped when he noticed your strangled breaths, and how tightly you were clinging to him. “You ok? We weren’t gone that lon-“
“Someone’s in the bunker,” you whispered, and Dean now also noticed that you were shaking.
“What?” He demanded, lowering you to the ground and grabbing his gun with one hand, keeping his other hand on your shoulder protectively.
“I-I heard footsteps,” you stammered, still trying to catch your breath. “So I ran, and-and I was looking for a place to hide when you opened the door.”
“You’re sure it was footsteps?”
“I know what I heard!” Your stammer left you when your fear turned to annoyance.
“Ok, ok,” Dean soothed. “I believe you. Now, I want you to go and hide in my room, ok? Stay there, and don’t open the door unless it’s me, understand?”
“B-but…” you glanced around nervously, unwilling to let go of your father.
“I need you to do this,” Dean said. “I need you safe, ok? You’re gonna be fine.”
You nodded, but Dean’s jacket was still clenched between your fingers.
“C’mon now, go!” Dean gave your arm a gentle push, and as soon as the two of you were no longer touching you seemed spurned into action. You ran in the other direction, headed straight for your dad’s room.
Once the door was closed and locked behind you, you immediately went to sit on Dean’s bed, your arms wrapped around your knees as you tried hard to stop your trembling.
You assured yourself over and over again that your dad would take care of it; he’d get the intruder out, and it would all be ok. When you heard footsteps echoing through the hall, your heart lifted, sure that your dad was coming to get you.
But then the doorknob jiggled as someone tried to open it. It stopped, but still no knock came, no “hey, it’s me,” from Dean; nothing.
Until with a loud bang! the door flew free of its hinges.
You scrambled back with a cry of surprise, and your hand found something hard under Dean’s pillow. You snatched it up as the intruder—a tall man with blond hair and a dark suit—stalked towards you.
You lifted the object, surprised when you saw that it was Dean’s gun.
“St-stay back!” You warned. The man hesitated for only a second before continuing his advance towards you.
“You don’t have the guts,” he scoffed. He took one more step—he was only a couple of feet away—and reached out to grab you.
The gun kicked back in your hands as you fired, and you nearly dropped it. A look of morbid shock crossed the man’s face, but it only lasted for a brief second as he slumped to the ground at the side of Dean’s bed.
Your whole body was shaking. Your hands didn’t seem able to let go of the gun. You could feel blood on your face where it had splattered.
“Sweetheart?”
Your whole body flinched at the sound of your father’s voice. He was in the center of the room—you hadn’t even noticed him come in—and his hands were held out towards you.
“Sweetheart, give me the gun.”
Your hands went limp when Dean grabbed the gun. He tossed it onto his bed, his attention never leaving your face, which was turned towards the dead man on the floor.
“Hey, Y/N, look at me,” Dean demanded. Your eyes slowly found your father’s, afraid of what you might find there. But there was no anger, or judgment, not even surprise. There was only comfort, maybe a little worry.
“Let’s go,” Dean said, lifting you into his arms. When he saw you staring at the dead man, he cradled the back of your head in his hand and pushed your face against his shoulder as he carried you out of the room.
“I killed him.”
Your voice came out muffled against Dean’s shirt, and Dean’s heart constricted at the quaver in your voice.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he soothed, subconsciously rocking you in his arms like he used to do when you could barely crawl. “He was gonna hurt you, you defended yourself. You did nothing wrong.” Dean sighed. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. I didn’t want you to have to do that.”
“I killed somebody,” you said again, and Dean’s arms tightened around you. He knew he couldn’t talk you out of this; not yet, you were still in shock. So he’d do the only thing he could.
“It’s gonna be ok, baby,” he soothed. “I promise.”
…
“Where is that girl?”
“You lookin for Y/N?” Sam asked as Dean wandered around the bunker.
“Unless we’ve got another girl living here I don’t know about,” Dean shot back.
Sam just rolled his eyes.
“She’s in the library doing homework.”
“Again?” Dean shook his head. “I think I’ve let her spend too much time with you, she’s becoming quite the nerd.”
“Don’t look at me,” Sam chuckled. “I told her to take a break like an hour ago. That nerdy behavior is all her.”
“Alright, let’s go,” Dean closed the book in front of Sam. “You both need a break.”
“Ok,” Sam shrugged. “Good luck, she’s just as stubborn as you.”
“We’ll see.”
…
“Hey!” You yelped in surprise when your dad lifted you up and out of your chair, Sam watching from the doorway with a grin on his face.
“No more books, you two have spent too much time being nerds this week.”
“But I have a paper to write!”
“You mean that paper you told me is due in three weeks?”
“Well…”
“Uh huh,” Dean said. “You’ve got time, so take a break.”
“On one condition; we watch Lord of the Rings.”
“Sounds good to me,” Sam cut in.
“Oh come on,” Dean groaned. “Could you two be bigger nerds?”
“Don’t pretend that you don’t want to watch it,” you giggled, trying to squirm out of Dean’s hold since he still hadn’t put you down.
“I don’t remember asking for your input,” Dean huffed, setting you down on your bed and digging his fingers into your stomach. You squealed in surprise as your dad tickled you. “And I certainly didn’t ask for your sass!”
“Who-who do you thin-think taught it to me!” You giggled, squirming as Dean didn’t let up.
“Hey now!” Dean scoffed. “Now you’re just asking for it.”
Dean continued to scratch and poke at your sides, your stomach, and your neck until your face was bright red and your laughter was silent.
“Alright, let’s go,” Dean said as he let up, slinging you over his shoulder and making his way towards the Dean cave, Sam following behind.
“Yo-hou’re mean,” you giggled.
Dean just chuckled.
“Love you too, sweetheart.”
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@nyotamalfoy @mrvlxgrl
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Brush Yourself Off; An Ana Winchester Story
First chapter of a Sister-Winchester story. Anastasia Winchester, youngest of three, and her life with her dad and brothers.
“Brush yourself off.”
That’s what dad always said.
It started at the ripe age of four. Or at least, that’s when I became old enough to understand it.
See, being a Winchester didn’t come with the hugs and kisses that normally came from a good dad. Not that my dad wasn’t a good one, he did the best that he could, all things considered.
Truthfully, my brothers did most of the work raising me, with some help from uncle Bobby when dad was out of town.
I still remember the first encounter with something sinister. Something otherworldly. Something dad had been fighting for years. I remember the first wendigo I ever laid my eyes on. I was four.
Dad told me to stay in the car like always. I tried to listen, I really did. Until I heard my brother, Dean, calling out for help.
Dean was my best friend, not just my oldest brother. So naturally, as any logical four year old would, I threw open the car door and raced toward the call as quickly as my little legs could carry me.
I was too late to save Dean from a gnarly gash on his leg, but not too late for the wendigo to spot me, and slash it’s nasty claws against my side, slamming me onto the ground and onto my back, screaming for help just like Dean.
Unsurprisingly, when dad finally made it to us and took care of the beast, he was not happy. I was fine, aside from the scrapes and bruises and a few wounds that probably should’ve been taken care of, but my ego was being quickly beaten down as dad yelled at Dean and I the whole ride back to the motel.
“NEVER disobey me like that again.”, “that was a direct order.”, “you could have been killed!”, “how could you be so stupid?”, he screamed.
When he finally got bored of yelling, or just had nothing left to say, I turned to Sammy in the back seat, my hand still pressed firmly against my aching side, and quietly told him,
“It hurts, Sammy…”
Sam shushed me and wrapped an arm around me just before dad barked out,
“Brush yourself off. You have to toughen up if you want to keep coming on the road with us. If I say you’re fine, you’re fine. Understand?”.
“Yes sir.” I muttered sheepishly, tucking my head into Sammy’s arm.
It was one of the many times that I would be harshly told, “brush yourself off.”. I took it to heart.
I became the perfect little soldier, just like Dean. I grew up sturdy, tough, and independant. I was Dean's little mini-me, dad's perfect little girl. Even when Sam went off to college, Dean and I stayed. I dropped out of school promptly after Sam left, and the three of us were the dream team.
I never asked for help, I never showed my pain. I lived by my dad's words, "brush yourself off.". He would say it after every hunt. Until he wasn't there.
Dean and I didn't start to worry until two weeks went by, and we still hadn't heard from him. Dean was quietly worried, I was more aggressive with my worry. I was more angry. How could the man who constantly told me to brush it off, not brush it off himself? He was my hero. How dare he disappear like that.
Dean and I were staying in different rooms the night I broke.
We rarely did, but I finally convinced Dean that as a teenage girl, I needed my own space sometimes, and as a Winchester, I would be fine on my own. In Dean's defense, he wasn't worried about me because he thought I couldn't handle myself, he was worried because he noticed how not okay I'd been since dad had left. He knew I was tough, but he raised me, he was the only one who was truly there for me through every scraped knee and werewolf scratch. Nothing got passed him when it came to me. I was his little girl. He noticed the way I responded to Sam leaving, he saw how it made me sloppier on hunts. Almost like I just stopped caring about what happened to me. He watched me shut down, but he knew I was too prideful to ever say anything.
That night was the night I just couldn't do it anymore. It had just been festering inside my head. Every victim I couldn't save, every friend I had lost. Every fight I had with dad where he said I would never amount to be as good as my brothers. Every little thing, every insult, every bruise, every monster, everytime I brushed myself off.
I was sitting on my motel bed, just covered in dirt and blood from the hunt that evening, and I just couldn't bring myself to get up. This never happens to me. I'm always the strong one. That day, I felt about as helpless as I did as a little girl faced with a wendigo for the first time.
The clock on the wall just kept ticking, like it was taunting me for being so helpless. I had to do something. I felt paralyzed. I needed... help. But truthfully, I didn't even know if I was allowed to ask for help. I never had before.
With all the energy I could muster, I crept off the bed and to the door. It wasn't that late yet, and Dean hardly slept anyway, so I knew he'd still be up.
If getting off the bed had been hard, lifting my hand to knock on his door was harder than fighting a goule.
He answered as quick as he always did, and his confused look on his face was the worst of everything, because I knew he would never expect this from me.
"You're a mess, kid." he said softly. I just stared at his feet, unsure of what to actually say. "Hey," he tried, "are you okay?" he asked, reaching a hand out nervously before withdrawing it, as if I would break at the touch.
Holding back the same tear that had been threatening to fall for years, I managed to choke out the only thing I could think to say.
"I think I need you to brush me off..."
Just like that, everything the two of us had been taught to do went right out the window. Dean's hand finally made contact with my shoulder and he tentatively pulled me into the room and into his arms. He held the back of my head and tucked his chin onto the top of my head. I wanted to cry, but those pesky Winchester genes were still holding onto every unshed tear. So I just closed my eyes and tried to ground myself instead.
"We'll get you cleaned up, kid, don't worry about a thing."
All I could do in response was let myself drop further into his arms, and he held up my weight without complaint, starting to walk me towards the motel bathroom.
"I'm so sorry..." I whispered, feeling the deepest guilt for not being as strong as my brothers yet again.
"Not a thing to be sorry for, kiddo.", he answered, "we all break every once in a while."
"You don't." I spat back as he lowered me onto the edge of the tub and turned the faucet on.
"Oh I wish that was true, kid, but we all do, even dad." he answered again.
I just looked at him like he had two heads. "I'm not a kid, and you're lying.". He just chuckled and wet a rag to start rinsing dirt and grime off my arms. "Why are you being so nice? You should be mad at me." I asked, wincing just slightly as the rag went over some raw skin that I hadn't noticed before.
"It's what I'm here for, you know that, sister. There's a reason you came to me. Obviously, you knew that you could."
I didn't respond. I didn't even acknowledge that I heard him. He was right, but I didn't know how to admit it. He was always the one there, silently patching me and Sam up. He had been brushing me off for years, but neither of us were allowed to acknowledge it. He was nursing my fevers and helping me walk since before I could remember.
It stayed quiet for some time. Dean didn't ask anything of me, he washed my hair, he got all the blood off of me, and even tried drying my hair with the shitty motel hairdryer. When I was all cleaned up, he grabbed one of his less worn shirts and helped me slip it on. Once I was finally sat on the bed, he sat next to me and sighed.
"Alright, kid." he started, before I cut him off.
"I'm not a kid." I demanded.
He chuckled again in a way that made me feel so small.
"baby, you will always be a kid to me." he said, I huffed, and he continued quickly, "not because I don't respect and admire the incredible adult you're becoming, but because you will always be my kid sister for as long as I'm alive. Just like Sam will always be my kid brother, wherever he is. I raised you two."
At the mention of Sam I visibly stiffened, Dean blinked down at me.
"Oh, hey," he softened his voice, "Is that what's got you so upset?" he pried.
"I really don't want to talk about Sam right now."
He nodded. "I know.", and he didn't press it. "But I have a feeling you didn't come to me for help just because you were caked in blood. I've seen you looking a lot worse and a lot happier."
I wasn't sure how to answer him. He was right again, I was usually so much stronger than this.
"I don't know what's wrong with me." I finally chirped out.
"There's a lot wrong with us, kid. That's what makes us Winchesters."
I just barely cracked a smile. "I know, that's the problem, De. I'm not good enough to hold that name."
He cocked his head and put an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side. "I know you won't believe me, but you are more of a Winchester than any of us combined. You are strong, and you have put up with so much for so long."
I just lowered my head and stayed quiet.
"Hey," he shook my shoulder, "what's going on inside that head of yours?"
"I don't know.". I didn't know. He just nodded.
"That's okay, we'll figure it out.", and it fell into silence again.
"How do you do it, De?" I finally piped up.
"Do what?"
"Brush yourself off."
He tightened his grip on my shoulder. "Same way you always do,"
"Don't lie to me again, Dean. How do you KEEP doing it."
He sighed. "I had no other choice, kid." he answered bluntly. I didn't answer, hoping he would continue. "Someone had to be there for you and Sammy." he continued.
"And what about you?" I asked, guilt settling in the pit of my stomach. He smiled down at me.
"You were there for me too, pipsqueak. If I didn't have you, I would have broken a long ass time ago. That's why I gotta keep your annoying ass around." I cracked a smile. "There she is," he quipped at the sight of my smile.
"Is that why you can't sleep when we don't share a room?" I asked him.
"Hey! Share a back seat with someone long enough and unfortunately you get used to their presence!" he smiled back at me, defensively.
"You never shared the back seat with me!" I argued, "It was always Sam and I in the back!"
"You clearly have some memory loss, kid. Must've gotten knocked in the head one too many times." he joked.
"Bullshit!" I scolded and smacked his shoulder. "You always sit up front with dad!"
"And you're always wrong!" he fought back, "when you were little you used to refuse to sleep next to anyone else! You would cry until I would crawl into the backseat with you. Even dad couldn't get you to bed without me."
I didn't want to believe him, but I had to admit that it made sense. I always had trouble when dad and Dean went out on hunts together and I stayed with Bobby. Even now that I fought for my own room, I never really slept when I couldn't hear Dean on the other side of the wall cleaning his guns.
"Well that wasn't my decision, I was a baby, it doesn't count."
"You're still a baby." he shot back.
"Am not!"
he nudged my shoulder and I nudged him back. "How you feeling?" he asked suddenly. I shrugged.
"I don't know.", I said again.
"Are you gonna be okay?" he asked. I was quiet.
"I don't know." I said once more.
"Do you need anything from me?"
I was about to say no, but he interrupted. "Don't give me the Winchester answer. Give me the baby sister answer, please. I don't need you hiding from me the way Sam always did."
"I said I didn't want to talk about Sam." I said harshly.
"I know.. sorry. Is there anything you need from me?" He repeated.
I had to take a second to think. I never really knew what I needed. The hunter side of my brain knew that I wasn't allowed to think of my owns needs, only the needs of the civilians.
"I'm tired.". It was all I could think to say. "and I'm worried about dad." I added.
"Don't worry about dad, he's always okay."
"I know." I said. "I-..." I paused to take in a deep breath, not sure if I was allowed to say this. This whole feelings thing was new to me. "I miss dad." I blurted out.
This was such uncharted territory for me and I half expected to get smacked in the back of the head by dad just for saying it. That's when it all suddenly dawned on me. I've been with dad for so long, that he had taken away the one thing from me that made me human. I was afraid to feel.
The tears welled up in my eyes before I could register what was happening. I wiped desperately at my eyes, hoping I could somehow hide it from Dean.
"Hey hey hey!" he cooed, as if I was truly a baby again. "You're okay!" he stressed as all Hell broke loose in my emotions. "I know, I know, you're okay, I've got you." he pulled me in closer and tried to help me wipe away my tears.
I was panicking. This had never happened to me before, and if Dean was being completely honest, he was panicking too. He couldn't remember the last time I cried. Even when I was badly hurt on hunts I hardly let a tear fall.
"I-.." he started. "I miss him too." he lied. He truthfully couldn't say that he missed him, more like he was scared. Scared of what could possibly keep dad from contacting us both. He never went more than a week without reaching out somehow. All Dean knew was that he had to take care of you. He had to take care of dad's little girl. That was always his job, before anything else.
"No!" I shouted through broken sobs. I shoved Dean away and stood from the bed, backing away quickly. Dean raised his hands in a surrendering motion and stood up. "This isn't right!" I screamed. "I don't know why I feel this way! I should feel happy he's gone! I should feel RELIEF! Why do I miss him?! He's the reason I'm like this! He's the reason I'm broken! He broke me!". I was an absolute mess. Dean never saw me like this, not once, and he was scared.
"I know, I know, kid. Please. Come here." He took a slow short step toward me, "Please. We can figure this out together. You don't have to be scared. He's not here, he can't hurt you or get mad at you. It's just you and me, kid.". He spoke to me like I could break at any moment. Like I was made of glass. I felt like I was.
"Dean I-..." I didn't know what I needed. "I'm..." I tried to breathe through a sob. "I'm tired." I finally choked out pathetically, defeated.
He looked at me like I was breaking his heart. He took another step toward me and opened his arms slightly. "C'mon then, kid. Let me brush you off, please."
I all but collapsed in his arms again, my sobs now falling into his chest. "I miss him..." I choked out one more time.
"I know. We'll find him."
"No-..." I connected, "Not dad..."
Dean took a breath and shut his eyes, tilting his chin up off my head for just a moment. "I know." he whispered. "I miss him too."
I tried to catch my breath.
"I don't understand how he could leave us... He knows how dad is. He left us here with him."
Every word out of my mouth shocked me to my core. Never in my life had I said a single word against my father. Dean didn't know how to answer me this time. He had his own trauma with dad, and even though I was breaking, he never could. Dad was still a saint in his eyes, but he also couldn't argue with me. Not when I was so broken up.
"You wouldn't have left even if he had tried to take you with him."
I nodded and cried. "Then he should have stayed..." I explained.
Dean brushed a piece of hair behind my ear. "I can't speak for Sam, pipsqueak. But I can promise you that I will never leave you. Under absolutely no circumstances are you ever getting rid of me." he pulled my head up at the end of his sentence and looked in my eyes. I just nodded and tried to hold more tears at bay. "Do you hear me, kid?" he asked.
"I hear you, De."
"Good. And you better not ever forget it." he kissed my forehead and then held my head to his chest again. I soaked in the scent of motor oil and gunpowder and tried to find my breath again.
"Hey kid?" Dean asked.
"Yeah?"
"Since-.." he paused. "Since when do you call me 'De' again? You haven't called me that since you were a kid."
I froze. I hadn't even registered that I had said it. "Well..." I tried to think up an excuse to not seem vulnerable. "I'll... I'll always be a kid to you, right? You just said that."
He smiled over me. "Yeah. Yeah, kid, you're right." He held me a little tighter.
"Hey Dean?" I asked.
"Yeah, kid?" he sounded so soft.
"Can I stay with you tonight?" I asked shyly.
He shifted slightly. "After all that fuss about having your own room?" he teased.
"Please?" I looked up at him with red rimmed eyes and for just a moment he could've sworn I was four again in the back of the impala.
"Yeah, yeah of course you can, pipsqueak. Anytime you need to."
He let go of me and I climbed into the bed. He sat atop the covers near me and turned on the shitty motel TV. Scooby-doo was playing, and I finally felt at home.
"Dean?" I asked much later, and my eyes began to get heavy.
"Yeah?" he responded, still very much wide awake.
"Are we gonna find dad?" I asked.
"Yeah, baby, we are." he told me, confident. I paused.
"And what if he's not okay?" I continued.
"We'll do what he taught us to do." he said firmly, taking his eyes away from the TV and looking at me finally. I looked at him confused.
"We'll brushed him off too."
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Family Line
father of mine masterlist
summary: the hunt for the monster starts. We find out what happened all those years ago between Dean and his daughter.
warnings: canon violence, child abandonment, swear words, angst, daddy issues, character death, descriptions of blood, descriptions of murder, this is written like an episode of Supernatural
word count: 8,5k
a/n: we did it, guys! this is the last part of the father-of-mine series. I’m really sorry about the late upload, but I do hope it was worth the wait! This might be the ending of this series, but not quite the ending of the story … thank you all so much for sticking around and supporting this story, sequels and prequels about dean and his daughter will definitely come!
pt1 pt2 pt3
Sioux Falls 2007
It was late at night, and in Bobby Singer’s Junkyard, the lights were still on. Accompanying the chirping tunes of the cicadas, a fading pop song from somewhere in the ‘70s was trailing out the windows.
On the small wooden table in the kitchen, Dean and Sam Winchester had spread out a multitude of lore books found in Bobby’s bookshelf, some worn out, some torn, and Sam was currently leaned over a particularly ugly-written paragraph dedicated to the magical use of a pan’s flute.
“Dean, I can hear you being silent.” Sam raised his head to look his older brother in the eye. “What is it?”
Dean shrugged, threw a look at the numerous variations of old books about supernatural creatures laid out in front of them, then at his little brother.
“You’re overworking yourself, Sammy,” Dean pointed out. The keyboard clicked as he typed something on the laptop.
“Dean, we’ve been over this,” Sam said. “I’m just trying to find a way for you to not die. You can’t exactly blame me for that.”
“Yes, exactly, we’ve been over it,” Dean countered. “And I told you there’s no way around it. I made a deal, that’s it. Period, no refunds.”
Sam clenched his jaw. “Well, I don’t want that to be it.” He muttered under his breath.
Dean opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself when they heard the sound of tiny footsteps over the floor.
Dean perked up and turned his head.
“Hey, my little love.”
A while ago, the soft tone in his brother’s words would have caught Sam completely off guard. By now, he was already getting used to the way Dean’s eyes had a different look in them – one of pure love – and he spoke with a softness as if his words alone should wrap their recipient up in satin cloth.
Sam turned around to look at who Dean was talking to, and was not surprised to see a small girl trutting towards them, little legs still uncoordinated after only just waking up. Her small fists were rubbing her squinted eyes, the light in the living room must be blinding her.
Y/N made her way over to Dean and made grabby hands up at him.
Dean chuckled and picked his daughter up under her arms, placing her carefully on his thigh as she nuzzled into his dark flannel shirt.
Sam smiled at the contrast of Dean’s shirt, and her bright yellow children’s nightgown with the washed out Led Zeppelin-logo printed on.
Dean’s big hand was rubbing circles on her back, as he craned his neck to bow it down to her.
“What are you doing awake so late, sweetheart?” He hushed.
Y/N nuzzled her nose into his neck. “’d a bad dream,” she mumbled.
Sam could see the emotion cross over his brother’s face for a brief second as he made eye contact with him.
They both knew that this could – would – happen. That little girl had been through so much already, at her young age, had seen and lost things no child should ever see or lose.
They both had known that nightmares would probably eventually start haunting her, but yet, they had still not been prepared for when it was the time.
Dean didn’t know what he should be feeling, his daughter had had a nightmare, and all he wanted was to wrap his arms around her, keep her there, and kill everything in her way to becoming happy.
But he knew he couldn’t do that. And that’s why he wanted to, so much more.
“Really?” He asked instead, hand not leaving her back. “Do you want to tell me what it was about?”
“Everybody was leaving me,” Y/N sniffled, small fist rubbing her nose. “You, Auntie Ellen, Jo, Uncle Sam, Grandpa Bobby.” Another sniffle.
“I was all alone.”
Dean felt like sobbing. A heavy weight had latched itself on his heart. Oh, his little girl. How much he loved her.
“Sweetheart, it was just a bad dream,” he promised to her. “We are not going to leave you alone, I swear.”
Y/N pulled her face from the crook of his neck and looked up at him with red rimmed eyes.
“Pinky promise?” She asked.
Dean lifted his free hand and linked his pinky finger with hers. “Pinky promise,” he said.
Something told him he had made a mistake. But he couldn’t care right now.
Still, he felt like a liar.
“Now,” he said, a conspiratorial tone in his words, “What do you say we get you back to bed and I stay until you fall asleep, hm? How does that sound?”
Y/N didn’t fuss long about it, she just nodded her head and nuzzled closer to him.
Dean understood the silent command, and lifted her into his arms as he stood up. “Alright. Let’s go.”
Sam looked after them as they disappeared up the stairs. Now alone, he turned his attention back to his research. Why he was reading everything about the dog Cerberus right now, he couldn’t quite decipher, but he was grasping onto every straw.
A few minutes passed by, and Dean was still not back. Another few, another few.
Sam frowned as he looked at the clock on the wall. 5.13 in the evening. Sam realized now that the clock was broken.
Curtly, he stood up from the table and climbed the stairs to the bedrooms.
The door to Y/N’s room was open, hiding the colored sign she had written her name on (with Dean’s help) to inform everyone of her territory.
Careful to be quiet, Sam stepped closer to the threshold, peeking into the dark room. A dim night light in the form of a crescent moon was burning on the nightstand. In the bed laid a small bundle of blankets and stuffed animals, which Sam could only guess was Y/N.
Next to her, holding the girl in his arms, Sam spotted Dean, probably holding on for dear life on the edge of the narrow bed.
Sam smiled at them.
Through the silence, a soft, hummed melody reached Sam’s ears, and he perked up.
He knew that song from somewhere, he just couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
Na-na na na. Nana na-a.
Sam’s eyes narrowed. “Dude, are you singing her Smells like Teen Spirit?”
Dean looked at him, grinning. “Yeah. It’s a classic.” As if it was the most obvious thing in the world and Sam was the stupid one.
“I mean, look at her,” he said, his gaze shifting to his daughter again. “She’s gonna be a badass one day. Right? One day, you’re gonna be as badass and cool as your daddy.”
Oh yeah, that girl was out like a light.
Sam just shook his head chuckling. “All right, I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”
Dean didn’t answer him, but he knew he heard him.
A few minutes after Sam had left, currently sitting at the kitchen table again, starting a new chapter of the same book, Dean came downstairs.
Wordlessly, he took his seat across from Sam, and pulled one of the lore books closer to him.
And though he had an idea where his brother’s new sense of determination came from, Sam didn’t say a word when Dean started reading.
༺。° ୨❀୧ °。༻
Now
When you called, for a brief second Sam was worried that Dean was gonna crash the car. The way his face morphed into shock, concern and then anger, while he was talking to you on the phone had his little brother worried.
After you hung up, Sam pretended not to notice the way Dean pushed further into the gas pedal.
The first rays of the morning sunlight made their way over the hills, when Sam and Dean arrived at the Group Home. Dean didn’t bother with a neat parking maneuver, and just turned the motor off, then made his way with fast steps over to the castle.
Sam trailed behind.
They had no problem entering the building, Maria had given them an official key card for their investigations. Dean stormed down the hallways with a fast step, as if he had memorized the entire way by heart.
Sam wouldn’t blame him.
You were sitting on your bed when they came in. Or more, cowering there.
Sam was all too familiar with the look of disturbed terror in your eyes, even when you firmly avoided looking at either of them.
“Y/N?” Dean moved a step forward, stretching his hand out towards you as if to soothingly touch your shoulder, but hesitated in his movement and pulled away.
Sam threw him a worried look that Dean didn’t seem to catch.
“What happened?”
Your fingers were continuously drumming against your knee pulled close to your chest.
“’d a bad dream,” you mumbled. Sam could hear the fear in your voice. Dean sat down in your chair opposite the bed.
“When I woke up, there was …” You swallowed and hardly squinted your eyes. “I don’t know what it was. Looked like two yellow … eyes.”
Sam couldn’t help the disgusted twist his face made at the word. He couldn’t imagine waking up to something like this.
Dean exchanged a look with him. Your story confirmed their theory even more.
On the bed, you had gone quiet again. Your fingers were still drumming an uneven pattern on your skin.
This didn’t make sense. This didn’t make sense. She was dead, Cass was dead. Roy was dead. Dean Winchester was here. He left you, and now he was here, but not for you, no, but for Roy. They were all dead.
And you were next.
“Have you ever heard of an alp?” Your head snapped up as Dean’s question pulled you out of your spiraling thoughts.
“An Alp?” Your eyebrows furrowed. “I mean - yes, I came across that lore when I was still taking German literature.”
“You took German Literature?” Dean regretted his question as soon as he asked it.
“Yes,” you answered, but something had shifted in your tone. It was low and pressed. Shit. He knew he should’ve just kept his mouth shut. Sam felt like smacking his brother across the head.
“So you know what they are?” He asked instead, and you shrugged, looking at your feet again.
“Yes, well, I know that the Germans believed that an Alp would sit on their chests while they slept, and it would feed on their good dreams - plaguing the sleeping person with terrible nightmares. That’s why they used to have shortened beds, because if they weren’t lying down, the alp couldn’t sit on their chest.”
While you talked, realization hit you like a brick. Or more like a huge wave, rather, if the feeling of being violently ripped of all air was anything to go by.
“Oh my God,” You breathed out. “Cass and Roy both had nightmares before they died.” You looked between Dean and Sam with shock-widened eyes. “This Alp thing was the reason for all of this, right? I’m gonna die, aren’t I?”
“Not if we have a say in it.” Dean’s jaw remained stoically clenched as he spoke his promise.
“What did you dream about?” Sam asked.
You ducked your head even further into yourself and picked at the skin next to your nails. “’s it important?”
“It could be.”
You took a deep breath and bit the inside of your cheek. “Same as Roy,” you simply said. “Worst day of my life.”
And, okay. Sam didn’t get into college for being slow, he knew exactly what day that was. And judging by the brief flicker of emotion crossing over Dean’s face, he knew, too.
But he didn’t address it and only cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. “Look, if it really is an Alp – which it probably is – then we already know how to get rid of it.”
“We would lure it into a trap. You know, get us some … bait and then just –“ Dean symbolically dragged a finger across his throat.
You raised your eyebrows in concern. “And how do you think that’s gonna work?”
Admittedly, this hadn’t been your smartest moment, but given the circumstances you were in, you figured you could be forgiven.
Sam dipped his head. “That’s where you come in.”
“You can always say no,” Dean carefully offered. “If you don’t want to do it.”
You lifted your chin in the air. “This thing is the reason two of my best friends are dead,” you said. “I want to pay back the favor.”
Sam nodded. “Alright then.”
“So you guys got a plan?” You asked.
Sam and Dean exchanged a look and Dean sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.
“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, we do.”
—
It was loud in the cafeteria. It always was. Today, though, you were especially aware of it, because most of the noise was heavily directed towards you.
Or rather, about you, which had just the same effect in your opinion.
You had barely entered the big room and had already felt a few dozen eyes fixated on you. The whispering had started when you got closer to the buffet, and the occasional double-take and looking-fast-away-when-she-is-looking had continued when you had sat down.
Of course, how else should it be, you had been given the rehearsed “My condolences” or “I’m so sorry for your loss”.
Long story short, to you it felt like the day of Roy’s death all over again.
Except this time, they were serving pasta, and not chicken with rice.
It was days like these (which, in your opinion, had been happening far too often over the past few weeks), that made you hate this place even more. It’s not like you had had a reason for that before, the supervisors were nice, so were the helping staff and, of course, Maria.
Maria, who had taken you under her wing from the first day you arrived here. She had acted like a mother towards you, the one you had never had, no matter how hostile you had acted towards her.
Still, as you grew older, the whole thing felt simply more washed out and sickening.
Maybe this really was just a side effect of puberty, as your gynecologist had said.
As you let your gaze travel over the many familiar faces, you couldn’t help but notice that Finn wasn’t under any of them.
Finn, your beloved Finn. You then suddenly remembered the text conversation the two of you had had the other night. Before, well – everything. You still needed to stay true to that.
Silently, you made a note to yourself in your head, to drop by his room straight after lu-
A broad silhouette squeezing into the seat opposite you blocked your view over the hall, and your eyebrows shot up as you realized who it was.
“Uhm, hello?” You asked as Dean folded his hands on the table.
“You told everyone I was dead?” He asked, purposely skimming over your question.
You frowned and opened the small package of parmesan. “Well, aren’t you? About six times?”
Dean frowned and you caught him counting something under his breath with his fingers.
You shook your head, making a point of ignoring him and poured sauce over the dry spaghetti.
“That’s not even my point.”
“What, you’re saying you didn’t barge into the middle of my lunch – after the night I had – to scold me over the inaccuracy of your death rate?” You clicked your tongue. “Surprise.”
Dean apparently didn’t deem it necessary to address your sarcastic tone. That, or he knew just how much he deserved it, which you were fine with, either way.
“Look,” he started, and Jesus, this was going to be serious. “I wanted to talk to you about what happened last night.”
Confused, you tilted your head.
“I mean about the dream,” Dean quickly added. “I mean, we both know what it was about, and I just …” He cut himself off, cleared his throat, and let out a short breath that was probably supposed to be failed attempt at a laugh.
“I’m not a big … talking guy, you know? But I just … I always told myself, if I ever had kids, that I would be different then. That …” He stopped again.
“I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry.”
You scoffed. “You’re a bit late for that,” you spat. “I mean, it’s been what, almost a decade? ‘Sorry’ travels far, but not that many years.”
“I know that,” Dean said, “But I want you to know, that-“
“Well, I don’t want to know!” You interrupted him. Maybe too loud, if the simultaneous turn of heads was anything to go by. “I don’t want you to tell me anything. No excuses, no explanations, I want, and I need absolutely nothing from you, you understand?”
Dean bit the inside of his cheek.
“Believe me, I do.” He said. “But still-“
“No!” The dishes clattered as you slammed your hand on the table. “Dean, you don’t understand! You just left me here, at this orphanage –“
“It’s a group home.”
“Same thing, Dean!” You snapped. “Just a fancier word.”
Dean carefully pulled his hand away from the table, folding it with his other in his lap. You could feel him watching you, but you consequently avoided his gaze.
“Look, I’m not gonna have this conversation right now,” You decided. “I am going to go talk to my best friend, and when I go to sleep, I’ll try not to get killed! So goodbye.”
And with that, you picked up your still full lunch-tray, dumped it on one of the cleaning wagons, and made your way out of the cafeteria.
You never turned around to see Dean looking after you.
༺。° ୨❀୧ °。༻
St. George, Louisiana 2012
Dean Winchester was standing by a window. Through the clean glass he had a clear view of green gardens, well-kept flowers and trees leaning in the soft breeze of the wind.
Further away, he spotted the tall hedge walls of something that had to be a garden maze.
“I hope you know just how grateful I am for what you and your brother did for me.”
The voice of Maria Whitlock lifted Dean out of his thoughts, and he turned around to face the older woman.
She spoke in a soothing tone, one that reminded him of a mother he never had, but learned to long for.
Dean nodded. “That’s our job.”
Maria gave him a look and tilted her head. He was standing in her office, a neatly tidied room with a shelf for books and files, and a rather expensive looking desk. Very clean as well.
“What you decided to do was probably very hard,” she continued. “But I can assure you, in most cases, it turns out to be the better option for both parties.”
He didn’t like the way she talked about his plan like it was a good thing, when it wasn’t. It didn’t make him a good person for doing it.
“I’m sure, Dean, that there will be a lovely family out there who will take care of her –“
“No, no, no, that’s not what I meant.” He quickly interrupted her. It was the first time in here he had spoken more than for words. “I don’t … I don’t want someone else to take her in.”
Maria raised her skeptical eyebrows at him. “Do I understand correctly, Dean?” She asked. “You want her to just - stay here?” And her tone was implying exactly what she held of that idea.
“Look, I know how that sounds.”
“I really hope you do.”
“But my job doesn’t allow me to properly take care of her. When Bobby was still - well, she stayed with him, and we visited her from time to time.”
Maria nodded. “I understand. But what you have to understand, is, that this will surely not be easy for her. Whereas many of the elder children indeed do live here, the younger ones are usually adopted by a foster family who can take care of them. Who can love them,” she added.
Dean looked out the window again.
“I understand that,” He said. “But this is how I want it.”
He couldn’t see Maria behind him, as he was turned away from her, but he could well sense the way her observing, maybe judging gaze was burning between his shoulder blades.
“Well, then.” She sighed.
And as Dean watched the flowers dance in the wind, listening to Maria shuffling through her papers, he couldn’t help but think that this might be one of the most selfish decisions he has ever made.
—
Soft wind was tugging at Dean’s hair. Somewhere in the distance he was aware of the rippling water of a small fountain.
Dean tried to not actively think of what he was doing here. Of the consequences his actions would inevitably cause. He knew he wouldn’t be able to bear it.
Y/N’s hand was holding his in a strong grip, as they walked up to Maria and he greeted her.
Maria leaned down to be on eye level with his daughter and smiled at her.
“Hello Y/N, it’s very nice to meet you. Your Dad has told me so much about you! I’m sure you’ll settle in here just nicely.”
Dean crouched down and placed both his arms on Y/N’s for her to look at him. She had been eyeing Maria and the castle suspiciously.
“Look at me, sweetheart,” he started. “Maria is really, really nice. And because Uncle Sam and I have to work so much, she is going to take very good care of you.”
Y/N averted his eyes and stared at her shoes. Then, sh burst forward, slung her small arms around Dean’s neck and buried her face in his chest.
“I wanna go with you,” she mumbled into his jacket. Dean sighed. With a heavy heart, be broke out of the embrace. “I promise I’m old enough, I want to go with you!” She pleaded again. With every word, Dean’s heart shattered just a bit more.
“Look, you remember when you stayed with Grandpa Bobby for a while when me and Uncle Sammy had to work?” She nodded, sniffling.
“This is gonna be just like that. I promise.”
Y/N sniffled again. Then she held out her hand to him. “Pinky promise?”
I promise that we’ll be fine.
I promise that we’d never just leave you alone.
I promise that Grandpa Bobby will be alright.
Dean pulled Y/N into his chest again. He breathed in deep, as if that would somehow help him savor this moment, savor her to be engraved in his brain to never forget. His little girl, the only thing good and pure in his life.
“Have fun, sweetheart,” he said when they broke apart again.
He stood up, and even though he wasn’t that old, everything in his body hurt at the movement.
“But I don’t know anyone here!” Y/N said again. It has been her go-to argument the entire car ride to the castle.
“I want to go with you and Uncle Sam!”
“Y/N!” The sharpness in Dean’s tone felt like it was cutting him. “I said you can’t.”
Her bottom lip started to tremble, before a big tear rolled down her cheek. Then another one, and another one, until she was full-on sobbing.
“Please, Dad!” She cried, and Dean’s heart shattered.
Behind her, Maria put a caring hand on her shoulder.
“Come on, sweetie, say goodbye to your dad.”
Y/N violently shook her hand off her body. “No! No, I don’t want to go with you! I want to stay with my dad!”
Maria and Dean exchanged a look. In her eyes, he recognized something that told him to change his mind.
It took everything in Dean to turn around and walk away.
He fixated his eyes on his car a few feet away from him. He wasn’t walking very fast, but with the weight that felt tied to his feet, it was the best he could do.
Behind him, Y/N kept crying. And as she was pleading and pleading, for him to come back, for him to stay, the feeling of realization started heavily sinking in, that he was really waking away.
Not only from this situation, from his daughters cries, but from her. From his child.
His feet felt even heavier.
When he reached the car door and opened it, he didn’t feel anything. Everything happened in a haze. He vaguely registered starting the car and pressing his foot on the gas pedal.
His daughter’s sobs were still replaying over and over in his mind like the sounds of a broken vinyl, as the naked road flew by the dirty windows.
Sam didn’t address the single tear that rolled down his brother’s cheek. And Dean just kept driving.
༺。° ୨❀୧ °。༻
Now
Since forever on, you had never been quite good with your emotions. Portraying them, talking about them, feeling them.
It was an obstacle.
Looking back at it, you figured it was probably somehow running in your family, the whole being emotionally unavailable thing.
Could that be inherited? According to your biology teacher, yes, but you didn’t know how well you believed that.
Nevertheless, as you knocked on the cold door that was the entrance to your - only left – best friend’s room, emotions welled up in your throat as choking as a tidal wave clashing its weight over your head.
It was dark in there. The curtains had been pulled closed and the thick material wouldn’t let a flicker of daylight in the room.
A smell hung over the entire place, of stale air and leftover food, and the sensation of hopelessness. Finn was sitting on the edge of his bed, a dark silhouette staring crooked at his hands in his lap, only illuminated by the weak light of the bedside lamp.
Without properly acknowledging him, you took quick strides to the other side of the room, and without further ado, ripped his curtains open.
The sun was already lowering down the horizon again, but the leftover light was still enough to turn the dark silhouettes in the bedroom into concrete shapes, of dirty plates, glasses, and clothes scattered all over the floor.
From his place on the bed, Finn groaned lowly, like a small bear being awaken from hibernation.
He rubbed a hand over his eyes as you sat down next to him. The bed dipped under your weight and you moved over a few study sheets that laid on his duvet.
“Hey,” you said.
Finn dropped his hands into his lap again and turned his tired gaze on you.
“Hey,” he said back.
“You wanna talk about it?”
Finn’s eyes tiredly scanned the room around him, the mess it was in, and then shook his head.
“Nah.”
“Alright.” You weren’t, really, but that conversation could wait until another time.
“How you holdin’ up?”
Finn tilted his head to you in a way that said ‘Ain’t it obvious?’ and you shrugged in response. “Stupid question, got it.”
Finn sighed.
There was a silence building between the two of you that you didn’t like. You kept yourself from fidgeting impatiently on the sheets.
“I just-“ Finn cut himself off and ruffled his hand through his hair. “Ever since – well, yesterday – I’ve been thinking about …”
He broke off again, blinking with his face towards the ceiling to avoid the falling of tears.
“Y/N, the last thing I said to her, was – we fought.” Finn’s confession was almost a whimper as he looked at you, awaiting your reaction.
Your heart broke at the look in his eyes, so clouded full with guilt and self-loathing, you almost didn’t recognize him.
“Oh, Finn, she loved you.” You sighed, and placed a gentle yet firm hand on his arm. “She knew what you were going through, what we were all going through. And trust me, she never, not for a second, held it against you. That was one moment out of almost ten years we all spent together. It didn’t mean anything, not in the long run.”
Finn sniffed and rubbed his nose, diverting his gaze to his hands again.
“Finn, she didn’t die hating you.” You put emphasis on every word as much as you could, because you wanted him to hear you, to understand, to believe. You didn’t want to let him wallow in his own self-destructing thoughts about something that wasn’t even true, not in the slightest bit.
Finn just hummed, but didn’t meet your eyes, just kept them trained on his lap. You sighed and let your hand slowly slide from his arm.
For a while, it was quiet again.
“My father is here,” you then blurted out.
Finn’s eyebrows shot up. “The one that died?”
“Yeah.” You weighed your head. “In my defense, I thought he died too, until he showed up in a fancy suit, investigating my best friend’s murder.”
The typical phrase of ‘seeing gears turning in someone’s head’ was the only way you would describe what you were seeing displayed on Finn’s face right now, just before the realization hit him.
“Wait, your father’s one of the hot FBI agents?”
You pursed your lips and nodded.
Finn blinked in disbelief.
“Wow,” He breathed out.
“Yup.” You said, popping the ‘p’. “Just got a lot less hot, huh?”
Finn raised his hands in surrender and shook his head. “For my own safety, I’m really not gonna answer that.”
You let out a laugh and playfully shoved him with your shoulder.
“Idiot.”
Finn grinned. “You love me.”
You hummed. “You’re right, I really do.”
A long while later, the door closed behind you again with a click.
Finn had to promise you to get in touch with you if he felt the need to, and to at least try and keep his room in order. After a brief conversation of how his view of himself and his ‘need to call you’ was very different from yours, you had hugged him and decided to leave.
Before you had walked out, your hand had rested on the handle, and you had turned around to Finn, not quite looking him in the eye.
“You know I love you too, right?” You had said. “No matter what happens.”
Finn frowned, but if he got suspicious, he didn’t mention it. “I know. Same here.”
You swallowed and nodded.
Then you left the room.
Now you were standing outside of his door, gaze drifting into the distance, and the same weight that had been lifted off your shoulders replaced by another one, just as heavy.
Funny, how, even if indirectly, saying your Goodbyes, made the lingering presence of death looming over you like a dark shadow much more real. If only one thing went wrong tonight, then-
You shook your head at the thought. No, Sam and Dean were going to take care of it, they promised. You had to put their trust into them with this.
But if tonight really was it, then you were content with the feeling that the last conversation you had, had been with Finnegan Beckett.
The walk back to your room stretched longer than usual.
--
Sooner than you would like it to, the sun disappeared behind the hills and night reigned over the land.
Sam and Dean were standing in your room, rehearsing their – honestly, pretty vague – plan with you, making sure you knew exactly how everything would go down. To be fair, you didn’t really play a big part in the whole thing, but it was nice having some sort of reassurance.
“Alright, so you know what to do?” Sam questioned once again.
Slowly, you nodded your head. “Lay still and look pretty,” you joked. “And try not to get killed.”
“Leave that last part to us,” said Dean. “You don’t have to worry about anything. By the time you wake up, everything will be over.”
You nodded.
You had seen it in Dean’s eyes, that he wasn’t all in with the idea of using you as bait, but you had done it nevertheless.
You weren’t a little child anymore, especially not his, he wasn’t going to decide what you wanted or not wanted to risk.
You took a deep breath that lifted your shoulders and huffed it back out. You were going to do this. It was easy.
—
Like hell it was.
Whoever told you you had the easiest part of the plan had been fucking lying to you. Turns out, sleeping is way harder with the knowledge of probable death hanging over your head like a dark cloud.
Every time your eyes slipped closed, a glimpse of doubt squeezed its way into your mind. What if Sam and Dean didn’t make it? What if everything went wrong? What if, in the end, you did die?
The sheets were already pooling crumbled by your feet when you slipped out of consciousness.
--
The mass of hot bodies pressing together and towering over you was clamming. A figure was running away from you, you were chasing after it. You smelt old leather and gunpowder. It made you feel comforted. You wanted more of it.
Gravel clattered underneath your boots as you got out of the car on your own, like all the big girls would.
“Look, Daddy!” But Daddy wasn’t there.
“Come on, I’ll help you.” There she was again, the nice girl with the black hair. She held out her hand and you went to grab it, her warm presence looming you in, and then the floor opened up under your feet and you were falling into nothingness.
--
Your heart pounded rapidly in your chest, as you startled awake in your bed, feeling your lungs tighten up and making it hard to breathe.
Your panicked gaze flew to the door of your room – wide open, the light of the hall casting a dim shadow into the room.
“Wha- Sam! Dean!” Hastily, you pulled the covers off your body and hurried out the door. Something must have gone wrong, terribly, terribly wrong.
You followed the sound of footsteps and scuffle down the hallway, turned the lights on where it had gone off at a few junctions.
Your breathing was still shallow, but you pushed through that and your still dazing mind, adrenaline pumping through your veins with every step you took.
Rapidly turning around another corner, you almost stumbled over the long legs of Sam’s body on the floor. You came to an abrupt halt and kneeled worried next to him.
“Sam? Oh my God, are you-“
Sam groaned and moved his head, eyes still pressed shut. “’s strong,” he babbled, and you tried your hardest to understand what he was saying.
By the way he was slurring his words, you had well reason to think he had suffered a concussion.
“It’s alright, stay here,” you ordered him, as he tried to sit up.
Only then, you first noticed the struggling noises a few feet away from you, and lifted your eyes away from Sam to check where they were coming from.
What you saw almost made your heart drop into your stomach.
Not that far away from you, maybe a few armlengths, was Dean, laying on the floor on his back just like his brother. But he was wrestling with something sitting on his chest, something small and hairy, hunchbacked like an old witch but only with the size of a cat.
The thing, which had to be the Alp, had long, bony limbs, and was fighting tooth and nail, hissing, biting and scratching, against Dean.
It reminded you of a gremlin, of sorts.
In your head, you heard Roy’s voice scold you, “There’s a distinct difference between all supernatural creatures. Elves don’t equal fairies, and gremlins don’t equal goblins, because while gremlins are fuzzy and cute in the beginning and only bad later when they turn, goblins have always been known for harassing humans.”
Alright, so no gremlin then.
Near you, Dean was still rolling around on the floor, fighting for the upper hand with the Alp.
Your heart sped up as you realized that something had to be wrong. Because why wasn’t he just killing it?
--
“So how do you kill it?”
Sam pulled something out of his duffel bag and turned it in his hands, the dim light of your lamp reflecting on the material. “Silver dagger dipped in vampire blood.” He spoke.
“Wait – vampires bleed?”
Dean scoffed. “This isn’t Twilight, kiddo. Yes, vampires bleed.”
You shrugged and inspected the phial he had laid into your hand. “I was thinking more of Fear Street, but alright.”
Dean ignored that he didn’t know what that was, but made a mental note to look it up later.
Sam stuffed the dagger back into his arsenal.
“You don’t have to worry about that part, though,” He assured you. “That’s what we’re here for.”
Dean nodded. “He’s right. You just dream sweet, and we’ll handle the rest. Fool-proof.”
You nodded, passing Dean the blood back. You could only hope they were right.
--
The shining silver of the dagger caught your eye. It had most likely been scattered away from Dean and landed near a wall, far out of his reach.
You took quick steps over to pick it up, Dean’s struggling grunts making you alert, and probably the reason why you didn’t think about what you did next, you just did it.
The silver dagger felt light in your hands, coated in the dark fluid of what had to be vampire blood. The blade reflected the clinical white light from the hallway as you lifted it up over your head, and, using the strength of both your hands, pushed it with force into the monster’s upper torso.
The squelching sound it made, as it penetrated bristly fur, skin, and organs, would later make you feel repulsed and gagging, sort of like nails scratching on a blackboard, but in this moment, you just clenched the dagger tighter and pushed it further into the monster’s chest.
The screech it let out could not be compared to any animalistic sounds you had ever heard before. In a swift move, you pulled the weapon out of the Alp’s body, and the small creature slumped to the floor right next to Dean.
You waited for a second. Two, three panting breaths. Dean was the first to move. He put a hand somewhere where the thing’s neck should be.
Then, swallowing in-between his hard breaths, he nodded. “Done,” was all he said. But it was enough for a sigh of relief to leave your tired lungs, and you sunk to the ground right next to him.
Looking closer at its lifeless body, the Alp had more similarity with one of those dead, stuffed animals that hunters hung in their houses as trophies. But maybe that was just rigor mortis.
Through your haze, you barely registered Dean clapping a firm hand on your shoulder. You turned your head to look at him, eyes suddenly feeling heavy as the adrenaline was wearing off. Like sucking air out of a balloon.
“You did good today, kid.” He said, and though you were tired, in his eyes you could see that he meant it. It filled your chest with a warmth that hadn’t been at home in there since … God knows when, and it made you smile.
Near you, Sam staggered closer, still holding his hurting ribs, and tilted his head as he squinted his eyes at the lifeless Alp before you.
“Is it just me or does it … look like a cat?”
You and Dean both looked over at him, and then at the dead monster on the floor.
“Looks more like a gremlin-goblin hybrid,” You panted. “A gromblin.”
Sam threw you a look of pure confusion, while Dean was grinning proudly. You smiled back. It felt honest.
And very likely, it was.
--
It was quiet again.
From the fight and struggles a few days ago was no trace left, as you stood by your desk and sorted through some old photographs you had replaced on your wall.
The pictures you were sorting through mostly showed you, Finn, Roy and Cass together.
At school, at the movies, going out to eat.
You sighed and plucked some tape from the back of another one.
Right at that moment, a knock sounded from your door. Without even looking up from Cass and Roy smiling at you, holding a stray cat, you let out a “Come in,” at the person on the other side of the door.
The familiar sound of the hinges creaking signified the opening and closing of the door. And then, Dean Winchester was standing in your room.
“Uhm …” He was rubbing his neck awkwardly, as you looked at him expectantly.
“Hey. What’s up?” You asked, and put the photographs in a drawer.
Dean took a deep breath and looked at you. He wasn’t wearing the same casual clothes as he had been that terrible night, but had settled on his FBI suit again. Maybe for effect.
“Look, I was just-“ Dean fumbled for a second and then took a seat on the small chair that was standing around. “We should talk. This time for real.”
You tilted your head, and avoided looking at him.
Dean didn’t wait for any response, he simply kept talking. Maye rambling.
“I know I already tried, but it wasn’t my best, so I …” He sighed.
“I never explained anything to you. why things went down how they did. Y/N, please look at me.”
You had sat down in your deskchair, pulling your legs to your chest and now did your best to fix your eyes on Dean.
“What we do, the hunting … it’s no way to grow up for a child. I know how that is. And I never, ever, wanted that for you. I already had plans to end things sooner than they did, but then ..” He shook his head. “Didn’t work out. So, when Bobby died, I saw no other chance than to get you somewhere else. And I took that chance to just … remove you from my life, as hard as it was.”
“But I promise you, Y/N, it was all just to keep you safe. I never would’ve done it if there had been another way. And I wanted you to know that.”
Dean stood on his feet again and placed the chair back on its original spot. You looked away as he reached for the door handle, to get out of your life, again.
“So you’re just gonna leave? Again?” Your words were accusing and they were meant to be that way, but still you almost felt bad, as Dean dropped his hand by his side and let out a sigh.
“Like I said, it was for the best. Still is, in my opinion.”
“What, to remove me from your life again?” You jumped out of your chair, fury burning in your eyes and voice growing louder with every word you spoke.
“Y/N, you don’t get it-“
“No, you don’t get it!” You jelled at him. What was burning in your eyes were now more tears than anger, but it didn’t matter.
“For years, I’ve been trying to … to figure out what I did wrong. For years, I’ve been trying to do better, every day, I wanted to be better, because I thought —. I thought that if I had good grades, and if I started working out, and if I was always on my best behavior … I thought that you would come and get me. But somehow you never did. And I just … I don’t understand, I want you to tell me, what did I do wrong, what made you leave, because I swear, I’ll change. I’ll change, and I’ll work on it, just please…” A begging undertone accompanied your tear-choked words. “Don’t leave me here again.”
Wordlessly, Dean quickly crossed the room and put his arms around you. it took you a second to realize what was even happening, before you clung to his suit jacket, digging all your strength into it, as if the fabric was the only think that kept you from drowning in black water.
You felt the shadow of warmth, as Dean turned his head to press a featherlight kiss into your hair.
“I regret having to leave you.” He murmured next to your ear. “But what I do not regret is keeping you safe. Even if that meant leaving you.”
You sniffled, and pulled away from him. Dean’s own face wasn’t full of fresh tear stains, but still you could see the sincerity and something like sadness on his features.
You wiped your cheeks to clean them off the drying liquids.
“I’m older now,” You said, and Dean scoffed, already knowing where this was headed. “No, please, listen to me! I’m older, I can make my own choices, take my own risks. You saw how great I was a few days ago!”
“Yes, but that was one monster!” Dean countered. “Out there, there are hundreds of those things. We don’t get enough sleep, no nice food, not even nice beds! Trust me, Y/N, compared to this-“ he gestured around your room, “what we do has nothing on it.”
You shook your head. “But you’re together when you do it. You and Sam. And I just want that, I want to be with you.”
Dean sighed and took a step back.
“Please, Dean, I’m begging you!” You urged. “You said you never wanted to come back here, but now you had to, I mean – don’t you think that’s some sort of … sign or something?”
“I don’t believe in signs.”
“Well, screw signs, I’m here!” You pointed to yourself. Your voice was desperate, but so were you.
“I am here, and I want you to take me with you.” And in a whisper, you repeated, “Please, Dean, this time – let me come with you.”
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, Dean heavily sighed and pulled the chair closer to him to sit down.
--
The church bells were tolling a loud, fast tune. It was ironic, you thought, and you didn’t know if you should cry or laugh about it.
You watched as two dark caskets were lowered down into the earth, into two separate 6-feet deep holes right next to each other.
The gravestones had not yet been prepared, but you didn’t exactly need those anyway. If the huge pictures were any indicator on who was getting buried here.
This was your last time saying Goodbye. To Cass and to Roy, and, unfortunately, to the last one remaining.
Funerals weren’t for the dead, you had once read somewhere, they were for the living, for those seeking closure in their desperate times of grief.
You had thought it to be bullshit, what difference would a burial make in a journey of overcoming the loss of someone so important?
But, as you threw a full hand of dark earth onto each of the dark caskets, you somehow understood. It was one weight less.
They were still here, some part of them. Something you could always come back to, they hadn’t just vanished off the back off the earth. That thought was, indeed, comforting.
Damn life lessons that are right.
“Hey,” you suddenly heard a voice next to you, and were a bit surprised to see Finn standing there.
You had been too lost in your own thoughts to even notice him approaching. The lack of sleep probably didn’t help your attention skills much, either.
“Hey,” you answered.
“Look, I need to tell you something,” you started, just at the same time as Finn said, “I know what you wanna say.”
Both of you let out quiet laughs.
“You first,” He said.
You took a deep breath and avoided looking at him, scanning the gravestones before you as if you had known everyone buried under them personally.
“Sam and Dean,” you started, “I mean, they’ve been here for a while and honestly, I never even thought I’d see them again. So I never really thought about what would happen if they would just – show up, you know?”
Interesting, Peter Gravill only lived to be 57 years old.
“But now they’re here, and I just-“
“I get it.” Finn suddenly interrupted you. Your head whirled around so fast you were afraid you were gonna get whiplash.
At your confused look, he added, “I mean, if my parents suddenly showed up on my doorstep and gave me the option of going with them –“ he shrugged his shoulders. “-I would most definitely take it.”
Before you could even think about it, you already lunged forwards and wrapped your arms around his body, burying your face in his neck and holding him tightly.
The hot feeling of tears burned behind your eyes, but you managed to put them away. You pulled Finn even closer.
“Everything’s gonna be alright, kid.”
“You’re still younger than me.”
“I don’t care. I love you.”
“I love you too, Y/N.”
The hug lasted endless, but endless went by way too quickly. You fixed Finn’s suit jacket, apologized for the tear- and make-up stains you had gotten on the expensive material, and waved him a last Goodbye.
Down by the parking lot, a black car was already waiting for you, two adult men leaning against it. They had been watching the entire thing go down from a safe distance, not wanting to interfere in either the funeral, or the emotional Goodbyes.
Sam tried not to think about what laid ahead of them, or behind them, as his niece walked towards them, away from the graves of her best friends, and leaving the only one that was still alive, behind.
His niece. How long hadn’t he said that title, let alone thought it.
He liked the familiarity of it. The rightness.
Dean opened a creaking car door for you, as you reached them.
“You ready?” He asked.
Sam could see your shoulders tighten, as you lifted your chin, and looked his brother straight in the eye.
“Yeah.”
Dean nodded, and you got in the backseat. He slammed the car door closed behind you. With one last look at his younger brother, Dean rounded Baby and took his place as the driver, Sam claiming shotgun.
Behind them, you leaned your head against the window as the engine roared and you drove off.
The car smelt like leather and gunpowder. It made you feel comforted.
And in the backseat of an old 1967 Chevy Impala, listening to the music that was a mix of Metallica, Kansas and Billy Joel, you slept the best night’s sleep you had had in weeks.
taglist:
@psycho-magnotheric-slime , @openmindedperson2200 , @emily-roberts
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