SUMMARY: Dean is caring for Aly while Sam is learning to hunt with their Dad. John teams up with some hunters who are not who they appear to be, leading Dean to call Bobby Singer for help. Same AU as 'The Adventures of Alyson Winchester'. CONTENT WARNING: violence, swearing.

Aly: 5, Sam: 13, Dean :17

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I started this intending for it to be another one-shot about Aly and Dean, and it veered off into a dark place. I let it go where it needed to, because I think in the end, it's about how the Winchesters work together to take care of each other as a family unit, even in the face of bad things happening to them. And that's something that is positive.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

"Deeeeaaan, I need heeeeeelp-"

Dean thought if he heard Aly whine one more time he was going to lose his freakin' mind. Ever since they had gotten on the road this summer, that's all she had done. It was like her default way of speaking had become a nasally whine, and it was driving him bonkers.

"What, Aly?" he sighed, and walked to the door of the bathroom. Alyson stood at the sink, her hair dripping, trying to keep a towel wrapped around her body and also work the brush through the huge tangle that it had gotten caught in.

"What'd you do now, kiddo?" he asked, trying to make his tone a little gentle as he noticed tears in her eyes.

"It's all tangled-ed an' I can't get it out an', an', what if I can't never get it out, an' it huuuuurts!" She closed her eyes and tears spilled down her cheeks. She pulled on the brush with her hand and then the towel slipped off of her and puddled around her feet.

Dean walked into the bathroom and pulled the plug in the tub first, then he sat down on the closed toilet seat. He pulled her into the V of his legs and picked up the towel, then started to wrap it around her torso.

"Whoops," he said, tickling her side, but that didn't even raise a smile. He tucked the end of the towel in on her chest, and then said, "Turn so I can see what I'm working with here."

Somehow she had mananged to get the bristles tangled deeply in the snarls at the back of her neck. He tried to pull the hair out one way and then another, and she whimpered and fidgeted, finally pulling her head away from him at one point.

"Aly hold still!" he snapped.

"You're hurting meeee!" she whined.

"I'm doing the best I can here, kiddo," he said curtly. He had started to ease the hair out of the bristles little by little, and eventually, gradually, it was mostly done.

"Almost there," he said. She stood on one foot and then the other, and shifted her weight from side to side.

"Okay, it's out. Wait-" he said as she grabbed the for the brush. "Let me do it, so it doesn't get tangled again."

"But Deeeeean, you don't do it riiiiiight!" she whined again.

"Tough. And can you cool it with the whining?"

"I'm not whining!" she snapped.

"Yeah you are. That's all you do these days."

She turned her head and stuck her tongue out at him. He swatted her butt lightly and turned her so she was facing away from him.

"How about a thank you instead of attitude, huh?" he asked her.

"Thanks, Dean- ow!" She bent her head away from him as the brush caught in a knot.

"Sorry," he muttered. He was gonna have to get Sammy to show him how he brushed Aly's hair again, he just couldn't get the hang of it, but somehow Sam had the magic touch and could always brush Aly's hair smooth without one complaint from her.

Thinking about Sam was a sore spot right now. Dad had taken Sam with him, it was just a simple salt-n-burn, and Sam had done a lot of the research on it. Dad had said that this summer, Sam could start hunting. Dean wanted to be there for Sam's first time for all of it, but Dad said that wouldn't be possible unless they took Aly somewhere like Pastor Jim's and left her.

Dean was supposed to go on the salt-n-burn but Dad had gotten pissed at him for staying out late with some of the kids at the motel and had grounded him for a couple days. Then the case had some along. Now Dean was stuck doing babysitting duty instead of hunting with his Dad.

"There," Dean said, running the brush through Aly's hair a couple last times. "Done."

"Thanks, Dean," she said gratefully, and turned to hug him. The thin motel towel slipped off of her again, and as he hugged her back, he tickled her ribcage again, and this time was rewarded with a giggle. He let her go and as she bent down to pick the towel up, he patted her bottom, and said, "I see Aly buns, if I see them again I'm gonna smack them!"

She gave a little giggling shriek and ran out of the bathroom and over to her duffle, where she started to dig though it to find clean underwear and pajamas. That was something they had started when she was a toddler because she had loved to run around naked after her bath, and then the boys would chase and tickle her, and she would get riled up. John Winchester did not approve of riled-up children right before bedtime, so he usually put a stop to things, and on more than on occasion it had been with swats to the bottoms of all parties involved. But they still teased her, especially if their Dad wasn't around to enforce things. So there were quite a few nights that Aly had in fact gone to bed after a rough and tumble play session where she had gotten very riled up. Dean thought it just made her sleep better, he didn't see what the big deal was, but Dad's word was law, so when he was home you had to abide by it.

Dean put the little plastic brush on the edge of the sink and walked out to the main area of their motel room. It was almost like a miniature apartment- there was a large living room area to the left and on the right side of the room was a mini kitchen with a sink, stove, mini-fridge. Then there was an actual bedroom, with 2 queen sized beds in it. Their Dad had brought in the cot for Aly- when she had been younger, he had invested in a small folding travel cot to bring with them, and that was her bed.

Dean flopped down on the sofa and grabbed the remote, flicking it on and searching through the channels. He wondered how many bottles of beer were in the fridge and if his dad would miss one. No, better to wait to be invited. If the hunt had gone well, and John was relaxed, he might invite Dean to have a beer with him. If he took one there was a risk that he'd get his ass handed to him, and he didn't need to get into trouble again.

Aly came over to him and started to sit on the sofa. She was wearing a little pajama set that was a shirt and shorts, with little stars and moons all over the fabric.

Dean grabbed her arm before she sat down and pulled her forward across his knees.

"Do I see Aly buns? Nope...but you still need a smack!" he teased, giving her a gentle swat on the bottom.

"Hey!" she complained, but when he let her up she was smiling. She got up and then sat down hard in his lap.

"Oof" he said, and she grinned at him.

"Keep it up, and you're gonna get tickled," he growled, but there was no heat in it, and she knew he was teasing.

"When's Daddy and Sam coming back?" she asked him.

"I don't know, when they do."

"Why does Sammy gotta learn how to hunt? He don't like guns."

"Well...Dad wants us both to have the same skills that he has, and hunting is important." Dean explained, hoping she wouldn't keep asking him questions. They told Aly that Dad was a regular hunter, and that he was teaching the boys how to hunt too.

"Can I shoot a gun too?" she asked.

"No, not yet, you're still too little," he told her. "Not until Dad decides you can."

"But I wanna be like you and Sammy," she said with a pout.

"Not until you're older, kiddo," he said. "It's almost time for you to get ready for bed."

"Can't I stay up? Pleeeeease?" she wheedled.

"No, Aly, you need to go to bed on time. I already got in trouble with Dad recently, I don't need him coming down on me for anything else right now."

"But I won't tell!"

"Yeah, but when you turn into Little Miss Crankypants tomorrow afternoon, because you stayed up late, he'll know."

"I do not turn into Miss Cranky-whatever you said!" she said indignantly.

"Yeah, ya do," he told her. "And then he'll make you take a nap, and we all know how that will go. I'll be in trouble and you'll end up with a sore butt."

"Nuh- uh!" she said, still indignant. She frowned at him.

"Aly, he'll know, the man always knows," Dean told her. "He just does."

"How?"

"I don't know, he's got some special Dad- sense going on. He can always tell when you're lying and he always knows when you've done something you're not supposed to. And you are supposed to be brushing your teeth right about now."

"Oh- kaaay," she got down off of the sofa and walked to the bathroom, her shoulders slumping like it was the worst thing in the world. In a moment, she appeared in the doorway of the bathroom, holding her toothbrush and toothpaste. He sighed and stood up, then walked over to her and put the toothpaste on the brush for her. He stood and watched her brush, and then rinse and spit.

"One book tonight, Aly," he told her.

"Aww...why?" she whined, and he almost cringed.

" 'Cause I'm tired," he said. He didn't want to say he was tired of taking care of her, but that was how he felt. He wanted to just have some time alone, apart from being John Winchester's son and a big brother and caretaker.

"But Deeeeean-" Aly continued to whine.

"No, Aly, I said one."

"No fair!" She glared up and him and crossed her arms in a pout.

"How about straight to bed with no book, then?" He said in a hard voice.

"No!" She stomped her foot.

He put his hands on his hips. "Cool it, little girl," he growled.

They glared at each other for a moment, then he left the bathroom. She followed him and picked a book- it was the book about the little French schoolgirl tonight. He said a silent 'thank you' again that she had outgrown Goodnight Moon.

She walked over to her cot and sat down on it, and he sat down on the floor next to it. It was smaller than a regular cot and low to the ground.

He read her the story, and then closed the book and leaned over to give her a hug and a kiss.

"G'night, Dean," she said, yawning.

"Good night, short stuff," he said, tweaking her nose before he stood up. He leaned down and pulled her covers up, then straightened up and left the room.

Dad and Sam came home a couple of hours later. Sam was excited, and he told Dean everything that had happened, talking loud and fast. Dad had to shush him a couple of times. Dad had let Sam do the honors with a book of matches, and light the bones on fire. Dean knew that Sam was on that adreneline high that comes from a successful hunt, and that he'd be there for a while.

"Go ahead and hit the shower, Sammy," their Dad said. "Wash all that graveyard dirt off."

"Yes sir," Sam said, standing up. He was in a good mood, and more than willing to be obedient instead of arguing.

Dad brought over a bottle of beer to Dean, and sat down on the sofa next to him. They clinked bottles, and Dad said, "Next hunt, you're up, as long as you can obey the rules around here. Everything go okay?"

"Yes sir," Dean said, taking a sip of beer. "Aly went to bed on time without fussing."

"Miracles never cease," Dad said with a grin. Aly's hatred of going to bed was well known in their family.

They sat companionably, drinking their beer, and when Sam came out of the shower, John went to take one as well. Dean handed Sam his bottle when they heard the shower start, and Sam took a long drink of beer. He grinned as he gave Dean the bottle.

"Thanks, dude," he said.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

Dean did not like the men that his father had brought into the room. They stood uneasily by the door, but their eyes roamed around the room as if they were taking everything in and cataloguing everything.

"I'm going to help them out, and then you can come with me for the next one," Dad told Dean easily. "They've had experience with...this sort of thing."

Dad had met the hunters at a bar, and they had talked for a long time, and they had told him there was a creature they were hunting that they just couldnt get a bead on, and that they had heard that John had excellent tracking skills.

"Sure, Dad," Dean said.

Aly came into the room from the bedroom just then, and ran over to their Dad.

"Daddy, don't go!" she said.

"I'm going to help these two, and then I'll be back." Dad leaned down and caught Aly in a hug. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. "You be back tonight?" she asked him.

"Possibly," he said. "You be good for your brothers."

Dad grabbed his duffle, and the men followed him out of the room. Dean locked the deadbolt and put the chain on as a precaution, even though it was the middle of the afternoon. Something about those two did not sit right with him.

By the early evening, Dean was fed up. Sam was grumpy, for whatever reason, probably because he was being a 13 year old bitch, and he and Aly had been picking at each other for a while. And the big problem was, they were stuck inside, so he couldn't very well tell them to go play on the playground because it was his fault.

Dad had caught him with the motel manager's daughter, making out in the alcove where the the soda machines were, two nights ago. Dad always knew. Now Dean had a curfew of 5 pm and had to stay inside all night. It was the middle of summer, and didn't get dark until after 8 pm. And if he couldn't go outside, that meant that Sam and Aly couldn't go outside either. It wasn't always that way, but Dad had decreed it this time, probably to drive this punishment home to Dean. He did not approve of Dean horn-dogging around. Dad had told him the next time he caught Dean with a girl, he'd get the belt.

He'd previously said, "I don't care of you're 16 or 21 or 26, if you're unmarried, it better be covered, because I'm not having any more little Winchesters running around the tri-state area."

But this time there was none of that, only Dad's disappointed frown, and the growl of "Get your ass inside, boy, and if I catch you chasing any more tail, my belt is coming off, and you won't sit for a week." Dad's standard threat, but he said it about Dean making out this time, so he must have been serious.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

"Sammy, get outta there," Aly whined, banging on the bathroom door. "I gotta get ready for bed."

Sam opened the door a crack. "Can you let me finish taking a shower, for crap's sake?"

"You are finished!" Aly tried to push the door open, and Sam wasn't expecting it, and she managed to open the door a few inches.

"HEY!" Sam yelled, grabbing his towel and holding it in front of his waist. He was naked and dripping wet, having just gotten out of the shower. His face turned bright red.

"I'm drying off!" he shouted, frantically trying to push Aly away.

"Alyson!" Dean ran over to the door. He took one look at Sam's mortified face, and felt bad for him, and annoyed at his little sister. He grabbed her and pulled her out of the bathroom. Sam slammed the door so loudly that the windows rattled.

"Lemme go!" Aly yelled, fighting against him.

Dean turned her around to face him. "You don't barge into the bathroom like that!" he said loudly. "Especially after someone's just come out of the shower!"

"You said I gotta get ready for bed!" she said stubbornly.

"Well, you can wait!"

"Git off!" she tried to pull away from him. "Lemme go!"

"Stop it"! He yelled, and he turned her to the side and landed two swats on her rear end.

She stared up at him her lower lip trembling, and he let her arm go.

"Owww!" she whined.

"Just go to bed," he said. "Go."

"You're a big meany!" she said, sticking her tongue out, and ran into the bedroom. He heard her sniffling a moment later, but he was still too annoyed to feel bad about it.

When Sam came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, he went into the bedroom and Dean could hear him talking softly to Aly. Even though Dean was the one who took are of both of them, Sam and Aly already had a special connection, and Sam could get Aly out of a grumpy mood or convince her to do something better than Dean was ever able to.

Sam cajoled Aly out of the room and got her ready for bed, and then made her walk over to Dean, where he was sitting on the sofa.

"Sorry I didn't listen to you an' called you a big meany, De," she said quietly, and he saw the shine of tears in her eyes. She must be really upset if she was calling him by the name she called him when she was a toddler. She almost never said that any more.

"Come here, you," he said, pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry I swatted you," he said, kissing the side of her head. "You're a good kid."

She put her arms around him and rested her head on his chest. "Can I stay up 'til Daddy comes back?"

"Nope," Dean said, pulling back from her. She didn't whine, though, and went into the bedroom with Sam. He had promised to read to her.

The sound of the door banging against the chain woke Dean. "Little pig, little pig, let me in!" Dean heard a shout. He sat up- he and Sam had fallen asleep on the sofa watching an action movie.

He ran over to the door and looked through the three inch crack- his Dad was standing there with the hunters on either side of him, but something didn't look right.

"Hey, son, let us in," Dad said, and his voice sounded funny. Dean closed the door, and took the chain off. Then he opened it and stepped back.

The hunters pushed John in ahead of them, and Dean realized they both had their guns drawn. His Dad had been beaten up a little too, he had a cut and bruise on his cheekbone and another bruise on the corner of his mouth.

"Dad, what's-" Dean said.

"Shut up, boy," the taller hunter said. His name was Clay, and he was tall and thin with greasy, stringy hair. The shorter, stockier hunter was JimBob.

"Now, we decided that we like what your Dad has to offer, so we're gonna take it. Get me the keys to the car," Clay said to Dean.

Dean looked at Dad, questioning.

Dad nodded. "Just do what they say, Dean," Dad said, trying to sound reassuring.

"Dad!" Sam said, and everyone turned their attention to him. He had just woken up on the sofa, and he hurried over to stand next to Dean.

"What are you doing?" he challenged, his hazel eyes flashing.

"Sammy, no," Dean muttered. He started to walk over to the dresser.

"But Dad, that's your car. What are we gonna do without-"

"Not now, Sammy," Dad said. His voice shook a little bit.

Dean found the keys in Dad's duffle. He turned to bring them over, and Clay said, "Bring that duffle too."

"But- this is my Dad's clothes and all, his hunting supplies are in the car," Dean said.

Clay rammed the butt of his sawed-off into Dad's side, and he groaned.

"Shut up, boy, I ain't interested in what you got to say," Clay snapped.

"I'm sorry," Dean said quickly.

"Hey, you got any beer?" JimBob asked.

"Yes, we should-" John said. "Dean-?"

Dean walked over and handed the keys to Clay, and set the duffle on the ground in front of him like he was making an offering. Then he walked over to the fridge. For a second, he wondered if he should try and hit one of the men with a bottle, but then they both had guns. It was too risky.

"Bring it here now, boy!" JimBob bellowed, and Dean hurried back to them. He twisted the caps off and handed each hunter a bottle.

"D-daddy? What's all the noise?" Aly stood in the doorway of the bedroom, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Her eyes got big when she saw that the hunters were holding guns.

"Come here," Sam held his arm out to her, and she ran to him and buried her face in his side.

"Aww, ain't she cute," JimBob said. "Maybe we should take her with us. I always wanted a kid."

Clay said, "You damn fool, kids is a lotta work. You gotta do everything for 'em and tell 'em what to do, make 'em food and tell 'em when to brush they teeth and go ta bed. They can't do nothin' on their own."

"You must be a kid then cause you never brush your teeth!" JimBob laughed at his joke.

"Shut the hell up!" Clay stepped around their Dad and punched JimBob in the mouth.

JimBob spit on the floor and wiped the blood from his lip.

"All right, here's how this is gonna go," Clay said. "We're gonna take your phones, and we're gonna take your Dad. We'll let him go after a while, and he'll find his way back to ya eventually. But you ain't gonna call no-one, hear, cause if ya do, we'll know, and I'll come after you and I'll gut all three a' you like Thanksgiving turkeys."

Clay looked at Dean. "Bring me your phones." Then he nodded at JimBob. "Deal with the phone," he said, jerking his chin at the hotel phone. JimBob took out a big hunting knife, walked over to the phone that was supplied by the motel, and sliced the cord leading into the wall.

Dean handed Clay his phone and Sam's phone. Clay tossed them onto the ground and then stomped on them.

"What's- why's he doin' that? Sammy, make him stop!" Aly cried out, looking up at Sam.

"Shh, Aly, hush," Sam said quietly.

"Yeah, kid, shut it," Clay said. He stared at Dean. "Now, just in case you get any ideas about being a hero, kid, I'm gonna give you a taste of what I'll do to your Dad here, if I see police cars come after us."

He turned, and hit their Dad in the head with his gun. Dad's knees buckled as a cut opened up on his head.

Clay and JimBob took turns hitting him until he was almost unconscious. Sam hid Aly's head in his arms and hummed to her to cover the sounds of the beating. Aly sobbed in Sam's arms, her arms wrapped around his waist.

The hunters grabbed Dad and dragged him outside. A few moments later Dean heard the rumble of the Impala's engine as it drove away.

He was scared, but he knew he had to be strong from his brother and sister. He walked over to them and hugged them, holding them both in his arms tightly.

"It'll be all right," he told them. He could feel both Sam and Aly shaking.

"Daddy!" Aly wailed. "I want Daddy!"

"We'll get him back," Dean said resolutely, trying to hide the fear that he felt. He let them go, and walked over to his duffle, and pulled out a second cell phone, hidden in an inner pocket. "This is the emergency phone, Bobby gave it to me," Dean showed them. He called Bobby Singer.

"Dammit," Bobby said. "I heard o' them, they're usin' different names, but they're well known on the hunter's circuit- they're scam artists. People've been trying to catch them for almost a year now. I'll be there in about 3 hours. Y'all sit tight, ya hear me?"

In about 2 and a half hours there was a knock on the door. Dean let Bobby in, and he grabbed Dean in a strong hug. Then Bobby walked over to Sam and Aly. Sam stood up, holding Aly on his hip, and Bobby hugged them too. He cupped his hand around Aly's head.

"It's all right, kiddo," he said. "I'll bring your Dad back to ya."

He turned to Dean. "You come with me, so's you can drive the car back. I'll take John, he may need some... medical care. Y'all get packed up, and come to my house when you're ready."

"Yes sir," Dean said. He felt grateful that someone else was here to take charge. He looked at Sam.

"Get the room packed, so we can leave as soon as I get back," he told his brother. Dean stepped over and hugged Sam and Aly, and kissed Aly's tear-drenched cheek. He had no doubt that Bobby Singer would find his Dad.

It took them a couple of hours. Bobby talked on his phone and his CB radio as he drove. He and a couple other hunters worked together, tracking and hunting the hunters, and finally closed in on the Impala and the beat up truck that were driving together.

The cars had been penned in by two large trucks, in the corner of the parking lot of an old abandoned storefront.

Bobby pulled his truck off to the side, and pulled a tire iron out from under the seat. He stuck his hunting knife in his belt.

"Take the car and get outta here, Dean," Bobby said. "You ain't gonna want to see any of this."

When Dean got into the Impala, it smelled like BO and fast food grease and some sort of odd musk. He pulled into a gas station, wiped the seats down and opened all the windows for the drive back.

In the motel room, Sam was holding Aly, asleep in his arms. "I tried to pack but she wouldn't let me go," Sam said.

"It's okay," Dean told him. "Let's get started."

Sam laid Aly carefully on the sofa, and he and Dean quickly worked to pack up the room and get everything into the car. Dean finally carried Aly out to the car and Sam got into the back and held Aly in his lap.

They drove to Bobby's house, and Aly slept the whole way there. Once they got inside, she woke up crying, so they decided to have her sleep with them.

Bobby called Dean a couple of hours later and let him know that he had taken John to a friend of theirs named Calvin, who was a doctor. John was there for three days, healing up. Dean found a a couple of old board games, and the three of them sat around watching old cartoons or having a Monopoly tournament.

They were sitting at the table, eating dinner, when they heard Bobby's truck rattling into the yard. All three of them ran outside to see their Dad climbing out of the passenger side. He moved slowly and stiffly, but he got a big smile on his face when he saw them.

"Daddy!" Aly ran to him first, and he bent down to her and gave her a loose hug. She looked confused when he didn't swing her up into his arms like he usually did.

"Sweetheart, I can't pick you up, I'm hurt," he explained.

"Be gentle with your Dad, he's got a lot of bruising," Bobby told them.

Dean and then Sam stepped up to give their Dad a gentle hug and a gentle back pat, and then they all went into the house together. Dean looked at their father, assessing his injuries. He had a black eye and a split lip, stitches on his head, and some scrapes on his arms and knuckles.

"Never again," Dad said as he looked at Dean. "I'm only going to work with hunters that I know."

"At least we got 'em," Bobby said. "They've been fleecin' people for months. And you got all your stuff back, too."

"Most importantly, I'm back with my family and we're all safe." John looked at Dean and then Sam. "Thank you for being so responsible, boys, and helping out. I feel good knowing that I can depend on you to do the right thing." John put his hand on Dean's head. "You did good, son." He smiled at Dean, and Dean felt happy and proud that he was back in his Dad's good graces again.

At least he was for now, until the next pretty girl came along.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello Dear Readers! If this is your first time reading one of my fanfics, please check out my profile for more stories with Alyson Winchester. The main story is called 'The Adventures of Alyson Winchester', and there is now a sequel called 'Winchester Interrupted: The Further Adventures of Alyson Winchester', and there are also several one-shots about Aly at different ages. I hope you enjoy them, and if you do, please leave me a review!