Stumbled

Verse: Supernatural/Nikita

Genre: Family/Angst

Rating: PG-13

Pairing(s): Bobby/Alex

Song: Possession by Sarah McLachlan

Summary: So there was no handbook on this, no one to warn him on how to help a broken girl and no one to blame him if he stumbled.

Back when he was part of a married couple, Bobby Singer had this rather one sided idea that if him and Karen ever had kids, she would of course take on most of the work.

When Karen died and Bobby was left to pick up the pieces of his shattered heart, he swept the idea of kids up with his heart. He didn't shelve the idea nor did he even play with the idea that he would one day be able to move on with his life.

Karen was his one time deal and if he was a little soft, he would have admitted she was pretty much his soul mate. And the years after her death he found things to fill that gnawing hole that was opened with his wife's death.

Unlike most things on the cards dealt to him, kids wasn't going to be one of them.

The boys became his next best thing, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that even that would no where near patch the hole. Nothing would likely do that.

Until of course that doe eyed girl stumbled in to his view and he figured that there might be someone out in this world worth giving a damn over besides the boys. And when that dark haired beauty offered him and Alex the chance to change their lives and help each other, he figured what the hell. Maybe having a kid wouldn't be so hard.

And it probably wouldn't have been, if neither Bobby nor Alex had been screwed up from the start.

He never once lied; never once promised that he was some saint.

He just was.

The man who lived through more than most people and the funny thing was; she had lived through just as much.

From the out side looking in they should have been the prefect fit; should have sparked something in each other. The problem was two broken people barely made a whole person and after three weeks they discovered that.

The screaming didn't start until he decided she wouldn't be apart of the demonic fight; she had shit in her life and she didn't need more that his past would bring. But Alex wasn't one to hide any more; wasn't one to back away from a fight because after all her training she had it finally drummed into her head that she could change the out come.

His guns were explained with the fact that he was a strange old man. Until that demon had come looking for him.

It wasn't even Bobby the damn demon wanted but the boys; he would leave a message albeit a messy one. Instead he had found Alex and though she put up one hell of a fight, it was Bobby's rock salt bullets that ended the demons sorry life and dealt Bobby with another crappy card.

"I'm not leaving" the girl was stubborn; no more than that, Bobby was sure she had a death wish. Most people ran a mile after discovering a demon. At least that was most normal people did; and even then it took one messed up son of a bitch to hang around.

Add to the fact that Bobby had all but ordered her from the house and he was sure the girl had gotten a far worse injury then he first thought.

"It ain't up for no discussion girl; this ain't your fight" he was a mean son of a bitch but the thought of Alex being hurt because of him or the boys just twisted his stomach and what was left of his heart.

Standing toe to toe Bobby was sure he could have her out of his place in two minutes flat; if he had the heart to do it and the way his mind stormed back to the sight of her facing that demon, he was sure his heart would heal.

"That thing attacked me; it's my fight now old man" the seething words and the fire in her eyes meant something more to him than just a stubborn girl. It reminded him of the hope that if he had a child he would never have to worry that they weren't up to the challenge if demons came knocking.

But in the flesh, knowing that something could hurt Alex had him regretting ever wishing for that when he had Karen and the hope of a child.

There is no handbook anyone hands out to handle these types of situations; no one warning him on how to handle the thought of the heart ache he would face if something happened to her. And there was no one to warn him how he could stumble.

"This ain't your home little girl; I felt sorry for ya and I'm sure regretting that seeing as your more trouble than your worth" the look on her face proved that even if he slapped her around the face, he couldn't have hurt any more.

The breath seemed to woosh out of her and before he could blink she was gone, spinning and storming from the room and the house. It took the slamming of the door for him to understand that not only was he a mean son of a bitch but a stupid one at that.

An hour passed with him slamming things open and closed, with a bottle of jack sitting on the table mocking him and a voice that sounded like Karen scolding him from pushing away a broken girl who needed him just as much as he probably needed her.

Maybe he was right; maybe that if he had the chance to have children with Karen, she should have done most of the raising. She wouldn't need no handbook nor someone telling her just what she was doing wrong or right. She wouldn't have stumbled.

The picture of his wife stood smiling at him and he understood, at that table in the presence of Karen and Jack, he figured it all out.

Giving the chance Karen wouldn't have stumbled and she would have guided him, but fate had taken her away and giving him a chance to help someone else in this world. He would stumble and he would screw up but the point he had always taught the boys was to never stay down.

Sitting in self pity wasn't his style; should never have been done and now it had been he had to move his sorry ass and make up for it.

Had to get back up after his stumble.

She wasn't hard to find; hell even if she had disappeared in a crowd he was sure he could have picked her out. But sitting in that road side diner, looking into her free cup of coffee, he hoped that maybe she would stumble too in this strange set up.

She didn't look at him when he slipped into the seat opposite her, but he knew she spotted him before he even stepped into the place. She was on her guard and it killed him to think she could never truly relax, but it also made it easier for him to accept what came next if she forgave him.

"Any good" her snort made him smile; they both knew he wasn't for soft and easy words. He was gruff and tough, no changing that and she must have been accepting of that when she agreed to be his daughter on paper.

"Just as bad as yours" the gruff laugh drew looks and any other time he would have glared until they looked away, but he had some apologising and explaining to do.

"I told you that I wasn't easy to live with; I ain't easy to do anything with kid. My life, the one you got your self thrown in head first when that thing came looking for me," he could push her away, could make her hate him but he needed her to understand that being a Singer meant a lot more times when it's not a sure thing that they would come out the better fighter.

"Isn't meant for a girl like you; after ever thing you've been through the last thing you need to be doing is being dragged into this. I was being selfish when I agreed with that woman; agreed that maybe you might be better off with my name instead of a dead name" he shook his head, wishing he didn't have to try to push her away in order to keep her safe.

The silence dragged for a few minutes before she lifted her head and pinned him with those doe eyes.

"After everything I've been through; the horrors I've face and been apart of" glancing around, taking in the diner and it's people, she looked at him and studied him.

Smiling softly she shrugged and seemed to understand something.

"I haven't got it in me to run away; I could have said no, walked away when you offered me that chance to be Alex Singer. Probably should have but I figured that fighting with a dead last name didn't mean anything. I would be a part from this world and I've learnt a fight is a fight. You are never sure if you are a better fighter than the other man; you can only hope and plan" the sigh broke something in him.

"I might freak out and I might lose one day but that doesn't mean I wouldn't anyway if I wasn't Alex Singer" smiling he liked the sound of his name attached to someone who was both worth fighting for and fighting with.

"Ah hell your a smart kid; why team up with a mean old son of a bitch like me for" they both knew that he had given in, he wouldn't run her off and they both knew they had a long way to go.

"I can't be that smart; I agreed to be your daughter didn't I" and with those words they broke out in laughter.

He didn't have a handbook on how to deal with this; to deal with a family of his own and he didn't have any one to point how to fix a broken girl but he only had one person who would blame him if he stumbled.

And Alex Singer didn't plan on letting a little stumbling lose her a father worth fighting for.

The End.