#2 in the Little Children verse. This one is Dean-centric since it deals with Dean's view on his new family.

As usual, I don't own any of the Supernatural Characters nor do I own Jay. Supernatural belongs to Eric Kripke and Jay belongs to all of us.

His Family

Dean stood in the shower, grumbling about little brothers and stupid pranks. Granted, he was very grateful that Sam felt good enough to pull such a prank but, really! Green goo perched in a bucket on a door? He was really angry that he had even fallen for such a childish prank. What really got to him was that Cas seemed to be in on it too. Now, the two miscreants were cleaning up the goo while he was stuck in the shower, trying to get it out of his hair.

As he showered, Dean began to think about his family, the new one that included Charlie as the younger sister, Kevin as the baby brother, Castiel and Sam as the twin brothers (trouble twins) and even Crowley as the father figure. When Bobby had died, Dean truly believed that he, Sam and Cas were the last of their family. It was hard for him to not cry at the loss but then Kevin happened into their lives. He was a lot like Sam in the smarts department and a lot like Dean in the food department. At first, Dean looked at Kevin like a cousin since he still had his mother and girlfriend until Crowley, in his role as the King of Hell, killed them. Now, Kevin lived with them and had become the baby brother that Dean loved to mother hen as much as he did for Sam. Charlie, who they met when they were battling Dick Roman became the sassy little sister from the start. Dean loved her prickly independence and humor. When the brothers had offered her a room in the bunker, she jumped at the chance to be with them. He still groaned whenever he thought of the way she had decorated her room but it was her choice and as long as he didn't have to look at it, he could live with it.

Kevin, Charlie and Sam bonded in their geekiness while Dean looked on with indulgent humor. He had to actually drag the three…make that four of them away from the library to make sure they ate and slept. Four since Cas also loved the discussions and books. Dean had listened in to some of the debates and heard how much the ex-Angel brought to the table when the group discussed history, the Universe or even books.

When Cas had made it back to the bunker, he had been a mess. Not only had he been betrayed by Metatron who had taken his Grace to kick everyone else out of Heaven but he was unsure of his welcome by Dean. Dean had taken one look at Cas' crestfallen face and hugged him, telling him that he was home and Dean would take care of him. Cas cried, something he hadn't done since he was Emmanuel. It was the family who kept Cas from sinking into drugs and alcohol, something which Dean remembered from Zachariah's future. When he needed a room to sleep in, he cried because he needed to sleep. Sam, hearing the sobs from his room, asked Dean to let Cas sleep in his room. When Dean asked him why, Sam said that when he was younger and upset, hearing Dean breathing next to him helped. After hearing Sam's reason, Dean and Kevin wrestled another bed into Sam's room and rearranged everything so now there was two beds and two dressers for both Sam and Castiel.

It was strange, Sam had never decorated his room but Cas had taken it upon himself to do so. Now there were paintings, candles and deeply colored objects around the room. Cas had even found a stuffed toy that looked just like Sam's childhood toy, Spot. That toy graced Sam's bed and Dean had even found his brother holding it in his sleep after a really bad day. There was a drawing that Sam had done which Cas had framed and hung between their beds. It was of a toddler and three men, two of which Dean recognized as Cas and Gabriel the third, though, he didn't know. The picture showed Pastor Jim's church and there was a bench near the group. When Dean asked his brother about it, Sam just shrugged and said it was something that popped into his head so hard, he had felt compelled to draw it.

"Who's this?" Dean had asked, pointing to the unknown man.

"Jay," Sam said.

"My brother," Cas replied.

"Did you know him, Sammy?" Dean asked gently, knowing that his brother was still skittish. He knew that they still had issues they were working on, one of which was secrets they had both kept from each other. He tried to tell Sam through his tone that this one was okay, since Sam had drawn himself as a baby.

"I met him one time at Pastor Jim's. Dad was working with someone, I don't remember who, and you were fishing with Caleb. I remember the two of you saying that I was too little to go with you and it hurt, especially since Jim had to work on his sermon for that Sunday. I don't remember how I got outside but I remember the feel of grass under my feet and the sun on my face. It was great! Then I saw Jay working on a bench outside of the church. I remember the peace and love I felt sitting on his lap, working on that bench. He even shared his lunch with me and answered all the questions I had wanted to ask you and Dad," Sam reminisced with a smile.

Carefully, Dean asked his brother, "What questions, Sammy? I remember answering everything you asked even if you repeated the question over and over."

Sam smiled sleepily and whispered his answer, "I asked him why God took Mommies away."

A lump formed in Dean's throat. "What did he say?"

Answering like the three year old he had been at the time, "Jay said that God needed Mommies to help Him in Heaven. I said I wanted Him to give Mommy back fow you and Daddy. Said that you and Daddy missed hew." Sam closed his eyes and smiled as he fell asleep.

Dean looked in concern at his brother. A hand landed on his arm as Cas said, "It's okay, Dean. He's deep in his memory of Jay."

"Cas, who is Jay?" Dean wanted to know.

"Someone who loves you and Sam very much," Cas replied.

Remembering everything they had gone through for the past few years, their trips to both Hell and Purgatory, the Angels hating his brother, finding and losing Adam, losing their family, Dean got angry, "Where the hell was he when everything happened? Why didn't he help!?" Dean whisper shouted.

Cas looked at his sleeping brother and carded his fingers through Sam's hair, "What makes you think he wasn't there for you?" he asked quietly. "Why do you think that Sam still has his faith or that he didn't turn into a demon when caged all those years with Michael and Lucifer? For that matter, where do you think Sam got his strength to fight Lucifer or even survive the Wall breaking? Jay was there, Dean. He couldn't interfere with any decisions you made and, as for the deaths you speak of, what makes you think it wasn't their time? Everyone has a time limit on their lives, the only thing that is a variable is the way we die. The only one that doesn't is Father, no matter what Death may say."

Dean looked down at Sam, "Jay must really love Sam, huh?"

"As he does you, Dean," Cas replied.

Dean gave him a hug then kissed his brother on the head. Smiling at Cas, he left the room. For some reason, the answers that Cas had given him made him feel a thousand percent better. They were the reason that he was able to accept Crowley in their lives.

When Sam was stopped before the last step in curing Crowley, the demon had found himself with a conscience and feelings of remorse. Dean had been extremely reluctant to take Crowley with them but Sam was very adamant about it. In fact, his baby brother made himself absolutely boneless until Dean agreed to his request.

Dean went back into the church and let Crowley loose. Then the two of them lifted Sam into the Impala and they drove back to the bunker. What really surprised Dean was that Crowley was able to cross the threshold of the bunker since their home was the only safe place from evil, warded by every powerful sigil and wards ever found. With Kevin's help, they were able to get Sam into his room and hooked up to an IV with intravenous antibiotics.

After Sam was set up, Crowley insisted that the two younger men get some food into themselves and some sleep while he took care of their patient. Dean really didn't trust Crowley but he was hungry enough to get some food then he went back to Sam's room where he found Crowley with a bowl of cold water and a rag. He stayed in the doorway watching the demon care for his brother and wondered at the miracle of the thing.

After a couple of days, Crowley had left for a few hours. When he came back, he had a bedraggled Castiel in his arms. He helped Dean clean Cas up and check him out for injuries or illness. While Dean was cooking some stew for dinner that night, Crowley measured Cas and went out to get some clothes, all out of his own wallet. Crowley also bought some foods that he thought would help the two patients, remembering to pick Dean up some pie, Charlie some chocolates and Kevin up some burritos.

With Charlie's help, Crowley was able to make sure "his" boys were off the FBI's most wanted list. Now, two men named Sean and Dan Worchester were wanted by the Feds for murder, grave desecration, fraud, robbery, and other crimes. Charlie was able to take care of all the computer records while Crowley took care of the rest, pictures, videos, memories and the written records. Sam and Dean Winchester had a clean record as did their car since the Worchesters drove a black '69 Caprice. Even their physical descriptions had been altered. Sean was a 6'0, dark complected man with brown eyes while Dan was 5'8", with a lighter complexion and deep grey eyes. Even their birth dates had been altered, Sean was born in 1980 and Dan was born in 1982.

Crowley also insisted that "his" kids continue their education. When Dean objected to the possible dangers of being in a campus setting, Charlie told him that many colleges had courses on the computer. Dean felt better after that since Sam, Kevin, and Cas decided to use the computer for their college courses. Sam, contrary to what Dean thought he would take, decided to become a historian with a minor in law. Cas also surprised Dean by taking courses in counseling. His reason, he told Dean, was that many of his siblings would need help adjusting to life as humans. Kevin continued his studies in mathematics and computer sciences. When Crowley asked Dean what he wanted to study, Dean surprised everyone by studying electronics. He had some ideas about devices to help other Hunters and wanted to learn how to build them. Dean also decided to start a body shop in town to help finance everything even though the vault in the bunker had plenty of cash and Crowley was happy to help financially.

Finally, Dean felt that he got all the goo out of his hair. He got out of the shower and dried off. Putting clean clothes on, he thought of a perfect prank to pull on the Trouble Twins. It involved a water balloons and a trip wire. Charlie would help him set it up, he thought. He knew that he had his own twin in the lady. Smiling mischievously, he went to find her so they could set up their prank. It was something that would get back at Sam and Cas for the goo but not overtax Sam's fragile health.

Bobby was right, Dean thought, family doesn't stop or even start with blood. Family are a group of people who care about and would die for each other. The next few months would bring challenges with Abaddon out there now gunning for them and the rest of humanity, the opening of Heaven's gates needed to be done and a bunch of dazed Angels needed help but Dean was content. After all, he had his family.