A/N: I thought I might as well start posting this now (even though I've only written six chapters). This is the third part to my AU. The first part is The Seeker and the second is Hunter. The first three chapters deal with the end of the Hunter so it's going to be a pretty slow going story (seriously; six chapters in and Im not even up to the main action yet, lol). The title is taken from the Stealer by Free and the song that Dean sings as a lullaby is Weep no More by Bad Company.
Chapter One
They both could hear Sam's cries of pain and it caused them so much anguish. The house was like a maze but Dean could see the door to freedom. He pulled it open and they both ran to the car.
"Dean! RUN!" He heard Sam scream before he saw him. His little brother was beaten and bloody and running towards them.
"SAMMY!" Dean cried as he saw a man come up behind him. Sam just had time to turn around before the man pulled out a knife and slid it effortlessly into Sam's stomach. "NO!" Dean yelled as Sam fell to the ground with a lifeless thud. He just lay there and didn't move. Dean knew he was dead but he didn't want to believe it. "SAMMY!"
"Dean," Jess pleaded. "We have to go before they catch us." Dean made no attempt to move so Jess had to use all her strength to drag him to the Impala. She helped him into the passenger seat before speeding off as quickly as she could.
Dean woke up; a cold sweat dripping down his face. He had the same nightmare over and over most nights and once he woke up he also knew he wouldn't get back to sleep. He stared at the clock; it was two in the morning. Not wanting to disturb Jess he quietly climbed out of bed and made his way downstairs. He silently walked through the living room, not bothering to turn the lights on; he knew his way round the house in the dark anyway so it made no difference. Heading towards the kitchen, he ran the tap until the water was cold before filling the glass and taking a long drink to soothe his parched throat. He hated those dreams; they only served to remind him of his failure.
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It had been a year. One whole year since he had watched his baby brother stabbed in the gut by that bastard Jake and dying alone. He couldn't save him. To Dean it didn't matter that Sam had saved their lives; handed them the Colt and gave the opportunity to escape. All that mattered was Sam was dead.
There had been no body to burn or bury. They went back to the place he died shortly after Dean had killed Azazel but all the demons were long gone, as was Sam's body. Dean supposed that was one of the problems; because he had not been able to gain any closure that a funeral might have done. He sometimes had nightmares about what they might have done to his brother's body and it made him sick. The more he thought about it the more depressed he became.
His heart wasn't in the hunt anymore. He and Jess had taken a couple of hunts shortly after Sam had died but Dean came to the decision after a lot of soul searching that he couldn't do it anymore. Jess had been great and stood by him in his decision, so they found somewhere to live. Bobby had been good enough to offer Dean a job; which was good since Dean's employment history was not going to bowl anybody over and it wasn't like he could tell a potential employer that he'd spent most of his life hunting down ghosts, demons and other evil things.
So things soon settled into a routine. The house was small but it was more than adequate for the two of them. Dean was surprised at how little he missed the hunting. He had always thought that he would go crazy if he had to live a normal life but he didn't. If anything he enjoyed the simplicity of it, getting up, going to work, coming home again. He had been so far removed from normal for so long he had forgotten how good it was.
But he was depressed. Sometimes he felt like crawling into bed, falling asleep and just never waking up. Some days he didn't even attempt to get out of bed. It was those days that worried Jess the most. She never knew how to react when he acted like this.
"Hey," she said to him one day when he was lying in their darkened room. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay," he lied. The truth was he was far from okay but he didn't want to worry her.
"What have I said about lying to me?" She asked as she lay down on the bed behind him, wrapped her arms around his chest and kissed his neck.
"That I shouldn't," he said; half-sarcastically. Jess smiled, he actually sounded like the old Dean for a moment. But it passed and he became quiet again.
"I know you miss him," she didn't say his name but it was obviously she was talking about Sam.
"I miss him so much," his voice was quiet but it was filled with so much pain it almost broke Jess' heart.
"We could talk about it if you want."
Dean shifted on the bed and rested his head on Jess' chest; closed his eyes and just listened to the beat of her heart. "I should have saved him," he eventually said.
"You did save him, Dean," she reassured him.
"Then why isn't he alive?" His voice was small and childlike.
"Sweetheart, you couldn't have done anything different to save him. He knew he was going to die, he accepted that. All he wanted was for us to be safe and we are."
"But it's not fair. Why do I have to lose my entire family?" Dean could feel the anger welling up inside him and he didn't think he could keep it buried much longer.
"I know," Jess soothed, stroking his hair. "It isn't fair but there's nothing we can do."
"I just wish there was."
And so it continued. Dean had his good days and his bad days but somehow they managed to survive. On his good days Dean went to work and generally managed to act like a normal human being even though he didn't feel like it and on his bad days the depression kept him down. Bobby understood, he knew what it was like to lose someone he cared about.
Then Jess got pregnant.
It had happened a couple of months after Sam's death and neither of them had been expecting it. If anything the prospect of becoming a father terrified him beyond belief. He barely had any experience with children and he was scared that he would be a failure. No matter how much Jess tried to reassure him but he was convinced that everything would go wrong.
After all; it was Dean's life.
His thoughts on the subject changed the moment he had seen his child on the ultrasound scan. It was so tiny yet so perfect; he almost cried to see it. His eyes were transfixed on the monitor and his hand held Jess' tightly as they joyfully stared at their unborn child. He had never been a believer in love at first sight until that moment. He had fallen completely and totally in love with his child.
After that his depression lifted. He now had a purpose for living again; he was going to be a father and when before the prospect had terrified him, now he was looking forward to it.
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"God, I am getting so big," Jess commented when she was in her sixth month. She and Dean were curled up in bed one sunny Sunday morning. "When I stand up I can't even see my toes," she laughed. Dean smiled and pulled her closer to him, kissing her softly on the lips before wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug.
"You look beautiful," he reassured her.
"Really?"
"Of course, you're all glow-y."
"I am?" Jess asked, giggling and Dean nodded before kissing her again. He rested the palm of his hand on her cheek and gently caressed the soft skin.
"I love you," he whispered once he had broken the kiss. Even though he had felt it for a long time this was the first time he had said those three words out loud.
"I love you too," she replied kissing him in return. Jess had never thought she could feel like this for a person after Sam but Dean had taken a place in her heart and filled the gaping hole that had been present since Sam's disappearance over two years previous. She still loved her former boyfriend, she always will but he was dead and nothing was going to change that. She felt the baby kick; it was like it knew its parents were happy. Jess took Dean's hand and placed it on her expanding belly.
"I love it when the baby kicks," he told her, kissing her temple gently. Jess smiled, feeling completely content. For the first time in years she felt like she was in a normal relationship, with a normal boyfriend, living in a nice house and about to have her first child. "What are you thinkin' about?" He asked, noticing she had gone very quiet all of a sudden.
"I love this," she said, taking a moment to think. "I love all of it; being here with you in this house and about to have a baby. It feels so good."
"I know. I never thought that normal would be an attractive life choice but now that I'm living it, it's not so bad."
"Not so bad?" Jess laughed. "Anyone would think that you hated being normal."
"I used to hate normal," he admitted. "I used to laugh at all those people who settled down and had kids, a white picket fence and a mortgage. But now, after everything that happened; it doesn't seem like such a scary prospect."
"You're going to be a great dad, you know that?"
"You think so?"
"I know so."
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Dean fell in love all over again with his daughter the moment he held her in his arms. She was so small yet so completely perfect in every single way. He could feel himself tearing up just looking at her tiny face but if anyone ever asked, he would deny it to his dying day. They decided to name her Mary after Dean's mother.
Leaving the kitchen, he made his way back upstairs and back to his and Jess' room. Walking over to his daughter he stood over her cradle and watched her until she began to stir. He looked over at the clock; it was now three in the morning. He had been downstairs longer than he realised. Before she started to cry Dean picked Mary up and gently held her in his arms.
"Come on, let's get you something to eat," he whispered softly; kissing her forehead before carrying her downstairs.
Mary was a month old, Dean couldn't believe it. She was growing so quickly he felt that if he were to blink then he would miss everything. He heated her bottle and sat down on the sofa to feed her.
"Hey," he heard Jess' voice from the doorway.
"Hey, I didn't want to wake you," he smiled.
"It's okay," she returned the smile and sat down beside him; gently stroking her daughter's head. "I was awake anyway."
"So you were just pretending to sleep?"
"I've been awake since you had the nightmare; I was just waiting for you to come back to bed."
"You go back, I'll be up soon; she's just being a little fussy tonight, aren't you sweetheart," he said to Mary who simply continued to suck on her bottle.
"Okay," she kissed him quickly before returning to the bedroom.
Once Mary had finished her bottle she was still fussing.
"Oh sweetie, are you gonna settle down for daddy?" Her answer to that was no, she wasn't going to settle. "Okay, you're gonna force me to sing aren't you? I thought so." Dean searched his brain for any lullabies but he couldn't think of any; so he sang the first song that came into his head. "Well, you asked for it," Dean cleared his throat and began to sing. "Mary; don't you weep no more, Mary; don't you weep no more. Well I got your letter today, packed my bags and I'm on my way so don't you weep no more. Now dry your eyes, don't you shed no tears. The sun is rising; put away your fears," Mary started to settle as he rocked her gently in his arms until she slowly fell asleep.
Making his way back upstairs; he placed Mary back in her cradle before looking over at Jess; who had fallen back to sleep. Dean smiled, he felt so happy at this moment in time he didn't want any of it to change.
Then he heard a knock on the door. Wondering who the hell would be knocking at this time of the morning; he warily made his way down the stairs for the third time that night and looked out of the glass. He couldn't see who it was, only a dark shadow pounding on the door. Cursing their lack of weapons; they had got rid of them all before Mary was born, Dean crept into the kitchen and picked up the sharpest knife he could find and went to open the door.
The dark figure was still stood there; still knocking when he returned and cautiously Dean reached for the handle, turned it and slowly opened the door. Dean dropped the knife on the floor when he saw who it was standing right in front of him.
It was Sam.