DARK SIDE

Author - ICantBelieveImNotButter
Category - Series
Rating - MA15+
**WARNING** - This fic contains strong adult themes that may offend some readers
Setting - AU reality, roughly based on the season 2 episode 'Born Under A Bad Sign'
Characters/Pairings - Sam, Dean, John, Bobby, 2 OFC, Dean/OFC
Spoilers - None
Summary - Something is going on with Sam that could risk the lives of Dean's daughter and girlfriend.
Notes - Set 6 months after 'Four Men And A Baby'
Disclaimer - All things relating to the Supernatural series is the property of Eric Kripke. No copyright infringement is intended.

CHAPTER ONE - SIX MONTHS

Sam Winchester sat in the kitchen of Bobby Singer's house.

It was early in the morning, around 8:30am, so Sam was just finishing his breakfast of toast and eggs. As he ate, he couldn't help but the grin that was plastered across his face. Beside him was his almost six month's old niece in her high chair. For the past five minutes, she had been staring at him, following his every move with great interest. Her entire attention focused on him so of course he was finding it hard not to feel a little proud.

Mary was in the middle of having her own breakfast by her mother, who was sitting on the other side of the table. It was more like Pepper was 'trying' to feed her daughter but it was difficult since all the child wanted to do was watch her Uncle.

"Alright." Pepper said suddenly. "That's it." She stood up and moved behind the high chair to the other side of the table, yet this didn't seem to faze Mary who remained fixated on Sam.

"You can feed her, Sammy." Slightly annoyed, Pepper held a small plastic spoon and jar of baby food out to Sam.

Sam slowly took his eyes off the baby to look at her mother and tried to look confused, though it didn't work. He knew he was distracting Mary and Pepper knew that he knew.

Pepper shook her head, "There's no way I'm going to be able to feed her if I have to keep fighting for her attention."

"Sorry."

Sam took the offered food and spoon. He offered Pepper a sheepish smile.

Pepper let out a deep breath, relaxing before a small smile graced her lips. "It's fine, Sammy." She turned back to Mary and stroked the little girl's curly sandy blonde hair. "Mommy should have known that you'd rather play with Uncle Sammy that to help Mommy by having your breakfast." She cooed to her daughter.

Mary gurgled happily in response and clapped her hands against the tray on the high chair. Sam stood up and moved to the seat Pepper had just been. Mary turned her head to watch him as he walked behind her.

"You love your Uncle Sammy, don't you darling." Pepper stated with a laugh before kissing the top of her daughter's head.

"Ba!" Mary happily gurgled.

Sam grinned widely. He adored Mary so much, and he loved that she loved him back. For a while, he had been scared that he wouldn't be able to connect with her, after all, he'd never been around many babies in his life but luckily, he found it pretty easy. It was great that Mary always seemed excited to see him. Not as excited as she got when she saw her father, but close.

Pepper walked over to the sink and started sorting out the small pile of dishes there just as Sam scooped some baby food onto the spoon. He held it out before Mary and she quickly opened her mouth for it. She did this each time Sam brought the spoon towards her.

Sam couldn't believe how quickly Mary had grown and developed over the last six months. She could now say 'Dada' and 'Mama', as well as 'Nana' and then of course she could say a few sounds such as 'Bah', 'Gah', 'Oh'. Mary had also started crawling recently and had gotten pretty fast at it. You really cannot take your eye off her for a second because she does have a habit of taking off and getting into things that she shouldn't, and there was no stopping her if she saw something that she wanted, as she was such a curious little girl. When she was only three months old though, Dean had ensured that the entire house had been baby-proofed.

Sam had spent the majority of his time over the last six months simply being at home so he could spend time with Mary. In truth, it had taken some getting used to and Sam sometimes missed traveling around but it felt nice to finally have a home. He and Dean had been on a few hunts as had Bobby and their father. Mostly they were seeing to things that had come out of the Devil's gate. They always tried to stay away for no longer than a week because none of them wanted to be too far away from baby Mary, and one of them always had to remain at the house with Pepper and Mary. Whenever Dean was away from the house he would call Pepper every morning and every night to see how Mary was.

Sam knew that sooner or later he would have to decide that he wanted to do with his life. He didn't have a problem with the way things were going now; he just wanted more for his life than hunting and helping his brother look after his family. Of course, Sam loved being able to help with Mary, but seeing Dean with a family made Sam wonder what it would be like to have his own family some day.

Soon Mary had finished the last spoonful and Sam was using a damp cloth to wipe her face and fingers after he had given her the spoon to play with, which she did happily. Pepper grabbed the empty jar and threw it in the bin. Once Sam had finished cleaning Mary, he quickly cleaned the table before tossing the cloth in the sink.

"There we go, Mary. All done." Sam smiled at his niece.

Mary lifted her arms out to him with one hand still holding the plastic spoon.

"You want a cuddle, hey Mary?"

The baby bounced in her seat and Sam stood up and picked her up before holding her on his left hip. Mary clapped her small hands together happily. She dropped the spoon to the floor, no longer needing it now that she had her uncle Sammy to play with.

"So, what are you up to today Miss Mary?" Sam asked, faking his most adult voice.

"Bah!" Mary bubbled happily.

"We're going shopping for new clothes." Pepper replied, leaning her back against the sink.

"New clothes for Mary or new clothes for Mommy?" Sam asked

Pepper smirked, shrugged slightly and said, "Well, clothes for Mary since she's grown out of most of hers. But, if I happen to see something I like..." She trailed off.

Sam laughed, his head thrown back. When he sobered, he took a moment to watch Mary.

"I can't believe how quickly she's grown."

"I know." Pepper nodded.

"Oooh." Mary cooed with fascination.

She reached out with her small hand and stuck her fingers into Sam's mouth while he laughed once more. This made Sam stop to spit her fingers out. He didn't want to risk accidentally biting her. Mary didn't care because she just kept sticking her fingers back into his mouth whenever she could.

"So," Sam began, spitting out Mary's fingers again. "Is Dean going shopping with you?"

"I don't think so." Pepper shook her head slightly. "He didn't mention that he was coming. Granddads' coming though."

"Mind if I tag alo--" Sam stopped as Mary grabbed his bottom lip, digging her small fingernails into his mouth. "Aah."

Pepper ran towards them. "Let go of Uncle Sammy's mouth, sweetheart."

Sam lifted one hand up and carefully pried Mary's fingers from his lip. Mary seemed to think it was all a huge game and had no idea that she could hurt her Uncle. Sam bounced her slightly, hoping to distract her from his lips. Mary laughed and clapped her hands together a few times and then she waved them in front of Sam's face. One arm met Sam's left eye.

"Ow," Sam mumbled softly since he didn't want to startle her.

"Oh Mary." Pepper sighed. "That wasn't very nice."

Mary looked over at her mother then bounce happily again, oblivious to what had just happened.

"You should really cut her nails." Sam muttered.

"I am sorry Sammy."

Pepper reached out her arms towards Mary, in hopes of saving Sam from any more torment.

Mary turned back to Sam and grabbed onto his shirt. Then she turned her head to the side before placing it against Sam's shoulder. Sam grinned broadly. She was hugging him. He was being hugged by his baby niece.

"Aww!" Pepper gushed.

Sam leaned his cheek against the top of her head and hugged her tightly. Pepper quickly dashed out of the room and came back half a minute later with her camera. She took several pictures of the scene in front of her, and only stopped when Mary lifted her head back up.

"I love you, Mary." Sam told her before he kissed her forehead.

Pepper smiled, "You know that she has you wrapped around her little finger, right?"

"I know." Sam smiled. "And I don't care."

Pepper laughed slightly. "Then I think Mary would love it if you ca--"

Pepper stopped suddenly, being interrupted by a loud scrapping noise coming from upstairs. Together, Pepper and Sam looked towards the kitchen door with frowns on their faces. They slowly turned back to each other in confusion.

"What was that?" Sam asked.

Pepper shook her head, "I have no idea."

"Is Bobby doing anything upstairs?"

"No. No, Granddad is outside working. John's out on a hunt, so the only one upstairs is Dean."

"What is he doing?" Sam asked as they heard more noises.

"I have no idea..." She mumbled. "But I'm going to find out."

With that, Pepper placed her camera down on the table and headed out of the kitchen. Sam waited a moment, wondering if he should follow or not, but curiosity took over and he soon followed the path that Pepper had just taken.

It didn't take Pepper and Sam long to figure out that the noise was coming from the nursery. Together they slowly approached, not really knowing what to expect and were surprised to see Dean dragging Mary's crib across the floor and towards the door.

"Ah, Dean?" Sam began slowly. "What are you doing?"

Dean jumped slightly in response. He had been so caught up in what he was doing that he had not noticed anyone come in the room. He turned around to face his brother and girlfriend.

"Mary's gonna sleep in our room for a few nights." Dean replied, as thought it should have been obvious, then he turned back to finish what he was doing.

Sam frowned and shared a worried look with Pepper.

"Um...Why?"

Dean stopped and let out a low sigh but didn't turn around.

Mary, who had seen her father, started bouncing excitedly in Sam's arms. Her face lit up and she started squirming trying to get away from her uncle so she could reach her father.

"Dada!" The little girl yelled happily. "Dada! Dada!"

Pepper turned to Mary and smiled softly.

"Sammy, can you take Mary downstairs for a moment?" Pepper gently asked. "While I talk to Dean for a bit."

"Ah..." Sam looked from Dean to Pepper and then slowly nodded. "Yeah, sure."

He turned around and Mary leaned over his shoulder, still watching her father.

"Dada, Dada, Dada." She said repeatedly in frustration. She wanted her Daddy and she could not understand why he wasn't going to her. He normally did.

Dean finally turned around at the sound of his daughter's voice. He took in her bright eyes and smiled softly. He began moving towards Sam, causing Mary to lift her arms out and wave them towards Dean. As Dean got closer, Sam turned around towards him just as Mary decided she wasn't going to wait and tried to lean out of Sam's arms. Thankfully, Dean caught her before she leaned to far forward.

"Dada!" Mary happily announced once safe and secure in Dean's arms.

She bounced against his chest and kicked her legs.

"Hi, Mary." Dean softly murmured before he kissed her forehead.

"I'll be downstairs if you need me." said Sam.

Pepper nodded, "Thanks Sammy."

She watched as Sam walked out of the room while Dean carried Mary back over to her crib.

A part of Dean hoped that she wouldn't want to have the conversation he knew was coming while he was holding their daughter, but he knew better.

"Dean, what's going on?" Pepper carefully asked.

"Nothing." Dean shook her head.

"You're moving our daughter's crib into our bedroom for a few nights." She pointed out. "Don't tell me that nothing is going on. You've been acting... I don't know, strangely these past few days."

"No I haven't." He replied stubbornly.

Pepper sighed, "Dean, I'm not dumb. I can see what's going on." She paused while looking at Mary, who was babbling incoherently in Dean's arms. "Is this because...are you doing this because of how old Mary is?"

Dean didn't say anything and instead looked down into his daughter's bright green eyes. She grinned and raised a hand up to his mouth. Dean kissed her tiny fingers, in an attempt to prolong answering Pepper's question.

Pepper folded her arms gently over her stomach, her face softening as she watched her boyfriend and daughter.

"Dean..." She began on a sigh.

"...You're gonna tell me that I'm being paranoid." He stated, just loud enough for her to hear. His eyes never leaving Mary.

"She's fine."

"I know that." He replied hastily. "But I..." He paused and finally looked over at Pepper. "I can't get the night Mom died out of my head. I keep seeing Mom and Sam, and then they turn into you and Mary..." He shook his head and turned his eyes back to his baby girl. "I can't take that chance..."

He trailed off and gently kissed Mary's forehead.

"Dean..." Pepper slowly walked towards him. "Dean, I get that you're scared but... believe me, we are safe. The Yellow Eyed demon is dead. He isn't coming back."

"Doesn't mean that something else wont try--"

"--Even if there were some other demons out there that tried to get to us, it wouldn't be like it was for you." Pepper tried to reassure him. "Mary and I have so many people protecting us. So many things on our side, there's no way any Demon could get into this house."

Dean looked at her for a moment then shifted his eyes away. He knew that she was right. He knew that between himself, Sam, his father and Bobby they had the place well protected but that didn't stop him from worrying or from wanting to protect them at any cost.

Silence stretched between them for nearly two minutes. The only sound that could be heard was coming from Mary as she giggled and cooed at her father. Dean looked over at Mary. She was so innocent and he prated that she never understood the fear that he was feeling in this moment.

"You have to let me do this, Pepper."

"Alright." She slowly agreed. "Mary can stay in our room, just for a few days."

Dean nods just once and shifts Mary in his arms.

"Dada!" Mary cried out happily and bounced, kicking her legs.

Smiling gently at the happy baby, Pepper said, "You'll be able to finish here while Mary and I are out shopping."

He quickly turned to her. "Are you-"

"-Sammy and Granddad are going with us." She assured him quickly.

She knew that with the way he was feeling now, there was no way that they would be left alone.

"Why don't you take a break for a while? You can get Mary ready." She suggested.

Again, Dean nodded.

Pepper took a step closer, leaned over their daughter, and kissed him lightly.

"Things will be okay." She whispered as she pulled back.

Dean watched as she walked out the door. He really was lucky that she was so understanding with him.

"Da! Oooh." Mary giggled.

Dean smiled at her. Suddenly feeling better than he had been. She always could make him feel better no matter what his mood.

"Let's get you ready for Mommy."

"Mama!"

Dean chuckled softly and kissed her temple.

Pepper walked into the kitchen where Sam was sitting at the table waiting for her. Bobby was busying himself by making himself a coffee. He turned around, mug in hand and smiled at Pepper.

"And where's my beautiful great granddaughter?"

"Dean's getting her ready upstairs."

"Did you talk to him?" Sam asked.

Pepper nodded, sighed and sat down.

"And everything's okay?"

Bobby looked from Pepper to Sam and realized he was missing something.

"What's going on?" He asked as he stepped closer to the table.

"Dean's feeling a little...over protective at the moment." Pepper replied.

"Did you find out why?"

"Yeah, Sammy." She sighed. "It's because Mary's nearly six months old. And after what happened to your mother when you were six months, well..."

"But Yellow Eyes is dead." Sam said, a little confused.

"I don't think that has anything to do with it Sam." said Bobby.

"Well yeah, but, I mean it's not like any of us don't know what to do if a demon does attack the house."

"Do you really think that matters to Dean?" Bobby asked, "We could have the force of the US army and it still wouldn't matter."

Sam thought for a moment, adverting his eyes from Bobby's. He knew that Bobby was right and he knew that this would not be the last time that this would happen.

"So what do we do?" Sam asked after a long pause.

"We'll just have to be patient until Dean feels comfortable again." said Bobby

"I wish he didn't feel like this at all." Pepper said sadly, her head hanging low.

Bobby walked over to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I know it's annoying, but you would have had to have known that he would be like this--"

"--It's not annoying Granddad, it's frustrating." She replied, turning her head to look up at him. "I don't like that Dean feels this way and there's nothing I can do to help him."

"Pepper..." Sam began

She turned her head to Sam. "I know it'll pass Sammy...but..."

Bobby squeezed her shoulder and bent down to kiss the top of her head.

"Just give it time." He said.

Pepper sighed and nodded.

"Do you think we should call dad?" Sam asked.

"And tell him what? That your brother is a little extra over protective because of how your mother died?" Bobby asked pointedly as he took a seat beside Pepper.

Sam shrugged slightly, "I don't know. Maybe he could talk to Dean."

"I don't think it will help, Sammy."

"John's too busy with his hunt anyway." replied Bobby.

"How is he going with that?" Pepper asked with a slight nod.

"As far as I can tell it's just a standard hunt." Bobby replied. "Should be over soon. Why don't we just focus on taking that beautiful little girl shopping?"

"Yeah." Sam said and Pepper nodded.

Back in the nursery, Dean was sitting on the floor with Mary after having changed her into a fresh diaper, purple overall dress with a long white sleeve shirt underneath. He had also put white socks on her feet encase she got cold. She had shoes but Dean didn't see the point in putting them on if she wasn't going to stand up while she was out.

He watched as she crawled away from him as quickly as she could to the corner where her M&M doll lay. Dean remembered the day he had bought it for her and smiled slightly. He'd known then that she would have loved it and he was right. She had many other toys (many, many others) but her yellow M&M doll was by far her favorite. If she was upset and Dean or Pepper weren't there to calm her, Sam and the others would always go and get the toy to sooth her. It usually worked too.

"Ba da ba." Mary babbled happily, apparently having a conversation with her toy. "Gah. Ba ba."

Dean rested his head against the wall he was leaning against with a soft sigh. At least his fear wasn't being transferred to her. He would do anything to protect her from that. He was glad that she was always so happy and that she had so many people looking after her, loving her. She pretty much had the perfect life and yet he felt guilty. Guilty because of the world he was apart of. Every day he feared that his world of hunting would somehow collide with this world and he hated it. He knew that being a parent would be hard, even for normal parents, but he had no idea that it would be this hard.

Mary giggled, bringing Dean's full attention back to her. He looked over at her and coudn't help but let out a deep laugh. There she was sitting on the ground, holding her M&M doll in her arms while she chewed on its tag. She was getting to the stage where everything went in her mouth. Mary brought her eyes up to meet his, still chewing on the tag.

"Come here, baby." Dean said, still laughing.

He held his arms out towards her. Mary immediately dropped the doll, no longer fascinated by it, and crawled as fast as she could towards her father. Once she was within reach, dean scooped her up into his arms.

"Daddy loves you."

"Dada." Mary giggled.

Dean smiled. He lifted her up above his head. She laughed loudly and kicked her legs. Then he brought her to eye-level and kissed her nose. She continued to laugh, making his heart swell. After a minute or two, Dean carefully stood up with Mary safely in his arms.

"Let's go, Mary." He told her. "Daddy's still got some work to do and I think Mommy's ready to leave now."

Bending down slightly, Dean pressed a gentle kiss against his daughter's cheek before carrying her out of the nursery. Hopefully by the time Pepper came back he would have everything set up. As he headed towards the stairs, Dean rested his chin against the top of Mary's head.

"Thank god you only turn six months old once." He murmured.

TBC

Next Chapter - John's Hunt

Author's Notes - For those who are interested in my upcoming videos based on this series, I have finally chosen who Pepper is going to be. Recently I heard the song 'Halo' by Bethany Joy Galeotti. I saw a picture of her and thought she would be perfect. Now I have never seen One Tree Hill before this (though I am getting into it now) so I didn't know that she isn't always a blonde. However at this point I don't really mind. Meaning that even though I have stated that Pepper is blonde, she may not always be in the videos.

Also if anyone has any song suggestions please let me know. And go to my profile to take my poll on what you'd like to see more of in my stories. Please check out my youtube account - ShadedAlpha to see a quick cast vid of 'How Life Should Be'.