Dee was sitting alone on the hood of an old Corvette in Bobby's yard. Every time they were back in South Dakota a visit to Sioux Falls and being surrounded by a familiar sea of old wrecks was comforting. She was nursing a beer stolen from the fridge and this time the space provided a welcome relief from tension that had only grown since she'd finally confirmed to her father what seemed SO obvious to her. The fact that she was a girl. They were calling in on Bobby, supposedly because they needed information on a job but Dee was pretty sure it was more like her Dad just needed someone to talk to. Stoic as he was, John Winchester was still human, human and freaking out.

She took a slug of her beer and brushed the bangs that were now long enough to persistently fall into her face away from her eyes. Even after skipping the regulation Winchester haircuts her hair remained a frustrating work in progress, one she more often than not wished she didn't have to think about so much.

She'd been outside for a while, avoiding her Dad for as long as she could get away with it and she had to head back soon. She may have been giving John a wide berth but she could at least check on Sammy. Her little brother's increasingly teenage bitch fests about hunting were becoming more regular and that pissed her off but the kid remained staunchly on her side when it came to her gender. If John could have his allies then so could she. She was about to finish up her beer when the door to the house swung open and Bobby strode out making his way in her direction.

Bobby Singer was a fellow hunter, her father's friend and kind of an "uncle" to her and Sammy. Dee had always liked him, he was just as driven when it came to hunting as John but he'd always been more human, insisting that they get the chance to be kids through games of catch or encouraging words when John seemed oblivious. His opinion meant a lot to Dee but like her Dad she wasn't exactly sure he'd take the news that she was a girl well. It didn't seem likely that he'd just understand.

Full of purpose he hopped up onto the car with her. Without so much as mentioning it he calmly lifted the beer from her hands and for a moment they both sat, staring back toward the house. As wind whistled past them blowing hair into Dee's eyes for a second time Bobby turned to her to speak, his face rumbled into a thoughtful knot.

"So... you're a girl."

She fixed her eyes on him and gave an emphatic reply, nodding as she spoke.

"Yeah."

She was honesty tiered of hiding, tiered of pretending just because it was easier not to confront her father. For a while it hadn't been difficult to simply follow Sammy's plan and forge the right paper work to get a hold of estrogen and testosterone blockers, things that had begun to make SUCH a difference in her life. It had however reached a point where she was just too sick of lying about who she was. She wasn't going to pull her punches anymore, with John or with Bobby.

"I am." She added.

Bobby took a breath, his brow furrowing further as he looked at her. He ran a hand through is beard, thinking before he finally spoke.

"Can't say I get it."

Dee opened her mouth to reply but Bobby cut her off before she could speak.

"I know somthin's been up for a while, your Dad did too but he can be an eejit about that kinda thing. Talkin' about what's goin' on in his head I mean."

Bobby's expression lightened and a smile peeled over his face as he reached to ruffle a hand through Dee's hair.

"Guess it runs in the family, huh!"

His eyebrows creased together again, this time with sympathy as he let his hand drop, gently squeezing Dee on the shoulder.

"He cares about you though and not just as a soldier, not just because of the hunting. Because you're his kid."

Dee could swear she heard the inevitable pause in Bobby's voice before the word kid. She could swear that she heard the barely formed beginnings of son and the twist of discomfort as he replaced it.

"Maybe he shoulda paid more attention to that." He carefully continued. "Not expected SO much outta ya, you were so young when you lost your Mom."

It didn't surprise Dee that Bobby was going with that. The idea that this entire thing was because she'd grown up without her Mother had honestly crossed her mind before she got okay with who she was. Back when she'd thought she was going crazy and she was scared as fuck by it.

"That's not what's going on Bobby." She insisted.

At the very least, even if he couldn't understand, she wanted him to know that much.

"This just is. It's got nothing to do with Mom or how Dad raised us and I'm not the one

who's got a problem with that remember. Bein' a bitch about hunting, that's Sam's department and he actually IS a boy, taste in music to the contrary!"

She felt bad using Sammy to make a point, however valid that point was. In this case though she didn't think he'd begrudge her doing it.

"It's just something I have to deal with okay. I know it's hard to getbut you and Dad both trust me with a knife and a shotgun in the middle of the night against some evil thing. You trust me to have your back. You don't have to understand, but you do have to believe me okay?"

Bobby looked at her and she could tell what he was thinking. It was a situation he never expected, heck that he never even considered as a possibility but he'd had to re consider what was real and what wasn't at least once before. There had to be a chance he'd do it again.

His grip on her shoulder gently tightened and she felt stupid how much she wanted this to be okay, how much she needed the approval.

Bobby looked away again, back to the house and if she thought she could tell what he was thinking a moment earlier, now she didn't have a clue. When he finally did speak he looked her dead in the eye and it was utterly familiar, he spoke in a tone she'd heard a hundred times before. One she knew she'd bet her life on trusting.

"Not sayin' I get it but sometimes there are things that need to be done, you may not understand 'em but they gotta be done anyway."

Dee nodded back, her mouth quirking into a smile.

"You bet." She confirmed.

She was honestly greatfull that they'd at least talked about it. It felt like a thousand miles away from the uncomfortable silence she'd gotten out of her Dad.

"Thanks Bobby." She added.

As if he knew what she was thinking Bobby spoke again.

"Just give your Dad some time okay. I know it's hard for you but it's not a picnic for him either."

At that Dee felt herself flash with anger, not so much toward Bobby, apparently he got it easier. Instead it was anger that John got the space to do things his way, to make this about how HE felt, to make her feel like a freak, like a problem for being her own person as well as a Winchester. For once she could almost see where Sam was coming from when it came to their father.

Without being able to help it, maybe on pure instinct she quickly switched back to good soldier mode and didn't push the point. Instead, through gritted teeth she let out a pensive,

"Yeah."

Bobby ruffled her hair again and laughed.

"This mean we're gonna start seein' hair braids 'n make-up 'n high heels?"

With a raised eyebrow she laughed back at him, shaking her head and pulling the baggy plaid sleeves of her shirt over her fingers. She'd been kind of digging the half worn away nail polish she currently wore but as Bobby spoke she was filled with a sudden self conciousness.

"Seriously Bobby?" She replied.

"On a hunt? That's not exactly gonna help in a fight is it?"

It wasn't like she was dead against any of the things he'd mentioned, some of it she could absolutely see herself getting into, hypothetically. That wasn't what this was about though and she needed Bobby to see that too.

"Y'know women can fight. Women can hunt. Don't expect that to change!" She insisted as they hopped off the car and began to make their way toward the house.

Bobby looked back at her and took a swig of the beer he'd confiscated earlier, before declaring.

"Oh great, just what I need. Women's lib!"

Dee laughed again and smirked.

"You bet! You expect me to just sit around waiting while the men folk hunt all the monsters?"

Bobby adjusted his cap and chuckled,

"heh, I s'pose not. This is going to take some getting used to y'know. I guess it's par for the course with a little hell raiser like you!"

Dee felt warmed by the thought and although she knew he really didn't get it, having Bobby more or less on her side was a very good thing.

"If I'm such an awesome hell raiser." She replied, smirk firmly in place and only growing broader.

"Can I get my beer back?"

Bobby paused reaching the house, his hand on the doorknob.

"Not 'till you're 21 kid."