Requested by Selene's Daughter, this is a one-shot in the Revelations and Quantum Apocalypses Universe. Set after the apocalypse, the Tran family is woken up when the little girl, Meg, has a nightmare.

About Nightmares and Heroes

It was around 2 am when Meg woke the household up screaming as she had a nightmare. Nina was a bit worried since Meg was only six and had nightmares off and on for the past six months. At first, she thought the nightmares were caused by the movie that her twin sons watched when they were babysitting Meg one night. They were in the clear as far as actually watching the movie since they thought Meg was in bed. They didn't know their little sister had climbed out of her bed to toddle out of her room so she could be with them. The first couple of nightmares had all the elements of the movie, i.e.: clowns, teeth, blood, spiders and so on. Now, six months after the movie, the nightmares had morphed into other things that go bump in the night. Meg had woken up many times crying about a pretty lady burning above her crib and about yellow eyes. Nina knew that she was dreaming of what her adopted father had done to the special children back in 1982. The other recurring nightmare was about a column of light coming out of a floor where another pretty lady was laying. In this dream, Meg saw two men surrounding another lady and stabbing her but it was the light that brought the feeling of horror to the little girl. When Kevin and Nina heard that, they both knew that their little girl was watching the time when Lucifer first escaped the Cage. It worried them since the Winchester Gospels were kept locked in their room until they felt it was time for their children to learn about what had happened just a few years ago. But with Meg's nightmares, they were fast coming to the conclusion that they would have to reveal the truth sooner than they had planned.

Now, their little girl was screaming in terror and the two exhausted parents got up to go to their baby. When they got to the little girl's room, they found that the twins had beaten them there. As they entered the room, their other two boys came in to see what was going on and then baby Mary chose that time to start crying. Nina rolled her eyes at Kevin and nodded towards Meg and she went to attend to Mary. Kevin went to his crying daughter who was now in her brother, Dean's, arms while Sam carded his fingers in her fine hair. Kevin sat on the bed and held his arms out for Meg while Bobby and John crowded around, everyone working to calm their sister down after a bad dream. After a few minutes, Nina came back with the baby in her arms. She stopped in the doorway and looked at her family with tears in her eyes. Even after the six children and twelve years of marriage, she still had a hard time believing that she deserved such happiness. Scenes like what she was looking at always brought tears to her eyes. It was still hard for her to believe that she had received a second chance at having a family and love that she could call her own.

Nina could see that her daughter and sons would not sleep for a while so she came in to the room and sat on the rocker that Meg had. "How're you doing, baby?" she asked her daughter.

"I got scared Momma," the little girl said sleepily.

"What did you dream about?" Kevin asked his daughter softly.

"Scary place. There were two shiny, bright people and two boys who looked like us. Not black eyes this time," Meg replied. "Can you tell me a story?" Nina loved the way her daughter could change the subject so quickly.

"What kind of story do you want to hear? Dr. Seuss or something else?" Kevin asked since he was the one who read the books to the children.

"Not those. I wanna hear one that you tell," Meg said quickly. Kevin grinned at his wife, they knew that their girl was asking for a made up story. It was a perfect time to start introducing the Winchester Gospels to their kids.

"Yeah, dad. One with heroes," Dean requested.

"Lots of action too," Sam backed his twin up.

"With monsters," Bobby chimed in.

"And Angels," John added.

Kevin closed his eyes and thought for a minute about how to tell the story he wanted. It had all the elements that the children wanted. Heroes, action, monsters, and Angels as per his sons' requests, then he looked at his daughter and knew that she would love the ending with the hope it brought. Smiling, he took a breath and, giving his wife a loving glance, he began, "Once upon a time, there was a good king named John…"

"Like my name," John broke in.

"Just like it. He was married to the good queen Mary…"

"Just like baby," Meg was the one who interrupted this time.

"Just like the baby. Okay now let daddy tell the story without too many interruptions," Nina admonished softly. The children nodded their agreement and Kevin started again.

"One day, Prince Dean was born to the queen and king. They were happy but felt there was something missing from their lives until Prince Sam came along. The family was happy but then an evil wizard came and hurt the queen so badly that she went away. It hurt the small family so much that the king vowed to find the evil wizard who hurt his queen. He and his two sons spent years trying to find the wizard but the evil man stayed hidden from them. King John finally asked for help from another King, Bobby, who knew how the wizard worked. King Bobby agreed to help and teach King John and his sons about the evil wizard and all those who worked for him.

"The four of them hunted off and on for many years but, then there was an argument. Prince Sam wanted to go to school and King John didn't like the idea. He yelled at his son and made him feel bad but the Prince was determined to go, even if that meant leaving his family. Then, after four years of being away from his family, Prince Sam got a visit from Prince Dean. Their father was missing and Prince Dean wanted help to find him." Kevin went on to describe the hunt that Sam and Dean went on to find their father, mentioning all the monsters they ran into until Sam met Meg for the first time. "One day, Prince Sam met a beautiful girl named Lady Meg. Lady Meg was under the spell of the evil wizard and it was because of her finally meeting the young Prince, that the enchantment started to break," Kevin said while smiling at his wife. Nina looked at her baby and remembered her first meeting with Sam Winchester and how much he actually changed her life just with that one meeting. Kevin continued his story but watched his children. When Meg started to nod off, he decided to end the story where John and his sons finally met back up together. Because of Meg's nightmares, Kevin ended the story on that nice note.

Noticing his dad was ending the story, Dean roused himself enough to ask, "Can you tell us more tomorrow night?"

"Yeah dad, please?" Sam asked with those deadly puppy dog eyes. Kevin groaned inwardly but smiled anyway.

"Sure can. Tell you what, why don't I continue this story every night at bedtime until it's done?" Kevin asked his sons who nodded their agreement. Then, instead of going back to their own room, both boys laid down next to their brothers and sister. Kevin laughed as he watched how the twins curled around their siblings in a very protective manner.

Kevin covered up the children and, as he and Nina were making their exit, Bobby opened his eyes and asked, "Can Mary stay with us?"

"Please?" John asked with his big blue eyes trying to make the puppy dog eyes that Sam was so famous for.

"You might roll and hurt her," Nina said.

"No we won't Momma, they won't let us hurt her," Meg said waking up a little.

"Who won't let you?" Kevin asked with trepidation. He knew that the property was warded but that didn't mean that demons or monsters couldn't get to their kids somehow. He remembered how Lucifer had tormented Sam in his dreams and he was now worried that his daughter's nightmares were like that.

"Angels, daddy. They watch over us all the time," Meg answered.

"What do they look like sweetie," Kevin wanted to know.

"One has black hair and blue eyes," his daughter said, "Another has brown hair and green eyes…"

"The third one is real tall and has long brown hair. His eyes are always hidden," Sam then said. "Green eyes and long hair have necklaces on and rings, just like girls." Dean snorted at that assessment.

"Well, as long as they will watch you, we'll let you fall asleep with Mary then," Nina said decisively. She knew that those Angels would never let her children be hurt on their watch. Going over to the bed, she moved the covers so she could put her baby down by the twins. "Be very careful, guys. Love you very much." Nina gave all her children kisses then she and Kevin left the room as all twelve eyes closed and soft snoring could soon be heard throughout the room.

The children were so deeply asleep that they didn't hear the sound of three sets of wings as the Angels appeared in the room. Dean grinned at his brother/lover as he made sure the children were comfortable. Cas smiled also as the scene of love and domestic actions of his youngest child. When Sam straightened up, he walked over to Dean and went into his mate's arms willingly. For the rest of the night, the three of them watched over Kevin and Nina's children, fulfilling the job their own mother had told the boys Angels did for them. When Mary started to fuss, the Angels waited until they heard Nina walk to the door before they left.

That day, when Nina was cleaning her daughter's bedroom, she found three feathers that she knew came from Sam, Dean and Castiel. "Thanks, guys, for watching over my kids," she said in a whisper. She could have sworn that she heard a faint, "You are very welcome". Smiling, she went about her day secure in the knowledge that Angels indeed did watch her family.

A special thank you to my beta, Daiyu Amaya. Another to Selene's Daughter for the suggestion and, as always, a thank you for 3DBABE1999 for the original story idea. You three are very special!