This is the beginning of a story that has been a long time in the making. I don't know how popular the idea will be, but this has been getting far too close to me - seriously, I feel a personal attachment to this story on a level that can't be normal - to not share.

Let me know what you think, if I should keep going or if the entire idea is rubbish!

I don't own Supernatural, or any publically recognisable characters.


"Take your brother and sister outside as fast as you can and don't look back! Now go, Dean, go!"
"C'mon, Sammy! C'mon! I got you, Tally. S'gonna be okay. It's okay, Tally. It's okay, Sammy."

Natalie Winchester was the youngest child and only daughter of John and Mary. To hunters, she was known, at her own insistence, as Nat, the girl who had grown up too fast, who wore jeans and sturdy boots and had been comfortable with guns and knives since she was 4. To her brothers, because they had brought her up and she couldn't stop them, she was called Tally, which she hated but endured because she loved her brothers. When Natalie was only a baby, she had been carried out of a burning house by her 9-year-old brother, while her 5-year-old brother was close on his heels.

After that fateful night, she had never stayed in the same town for more than a few months, more familiar with motel rooms than she was with a permanent residence. She had never made proper friends, never having stayed in one place long enough to do so. The flip side to this was that it made her bond with her brothers into something unique and special. They were, quite literally, what she lived for, all that she had. John…well, suffice to say that John never seemed to value Natalie as much as he did Dean and Sam. He didn't seem to think that girls were as trustworthy on the hunt, didn't think that girls were suited to this sort of life.

Nat had been 4 when she first discovered that her father was not, after all, a travelling salesman, and that all the monsters under the bed really existed. John had been out to the bar, instructing Dean and Sam to stay behind. Nat had been messing around in the motel, completely used to never having the same room for more than a few nights. She had crawled under one of the beds and her small hands had found a leather-bound book. Insatiable curiosity being one of her main traits, she opened it, and recognized her father's handwriting. Nat had sat on the floor in that room for ages, looking at scary pictures and diagrams in what turned out to be her father's journal. And once she had had enough of wrestling with the unfamiliar words, being unable to make out much more than the simplest words and names, she had put the book back, gone next door to the room she was sharing with Dean and Sam and demanded to know what was going on. Her older brothers, now aged 13 and 9, had shared a look, before sitting down on one of the beds and explaining everything. "The first thing you should know, Tally," Dean had said, twisting one hand into her curls, "is that Dad is a superhero."

Then had followed the long explanation. Dean and Sam contributed equal amounts, leaving nothing out. Their mother's murder, what John and Dean hunted and what Sam would start hunting very soon, why it was the family business. Everything. And afterwards, when she was sitting quietly on the floor and trying to understand everything, Dean calling their father and explaining what had happened. John came through the door five minutes later, a hard look on his face, saying "Tomorrow we start her training. Tally's had her childhood, she needs to grow up now."

Nat had grown up very quickly indeed after that day. For some reason, nothing that she did was ever good enough for John. Yes, he was hard on Dean and Sam, but that was nothing compared to how he treated Nat. Dean and Sam trained her too, except when they stopped at Uncle Bobby's. The first time that they had visited Bobby after she had realised the truth, he had been horrified to see the silver dagger that was hanging at her waist. That had been the time that she heard Uncle Bobby get the angriest at her father ever. There had been a lot of shouting, and then Bobby had imposed a strict no-training rule at his house, meaning that none of the Winchester children could practise anything to do with fighting the supernatural and paranormal whilst at his house.

In the blur of her early childhood, only a few memories stuck out, and they were so very different to the normal memories of a little girl. John coming into a motel room one night with his face scratched up and blood seeping out from under his shirt, Dean immediately demanding that she go to the other room. The first time that she had seen Dean and Sam in action, the big brothers that she knew so well fighting each other, at an age too young to realise that they were not angry at each other, but were merely practising. She had cried that night, thinking that they had fallen out, and it had only been when Sam had woken up and coaxed out of her what was wrong that he had laughed and told her not to be silly, that of course he and Dean hadn't fallen out. Long, long car rides, sitting in the back seat of the Impala with either Dean or Sam, either fiddling with a gun or knife or with a doll. She had had one doll, a very small one called Dolly that had red curly hair just like hers and a patchwork dress. Nat had gotten rid of Dolly when she was 7, because John had said that dolls were not acceptable for hunters. One spectacular argument between John and Sam over Nat losing her childhood too fast which had her in the other room curled up in the corner. Not crying, because John had taught her very early on that hunters never cried, but shaking slightly and staring at the floor, arms wrapped around her knees.

After the age of 7, she could remember more and in more detail. Could remember constantly asking when she would be allowed on a hunt, always getting shot down by her father. Not once could Nat remember John giving her any signs of affection. He was much closer to a drill-sergeant than a father, although she never said that. Dean and Sam, the two people that she loved above all others. She would do anything for her De and her Sammy, and that included all of the supernatural options. She could remember lying in the Impala with her head on Sam's lap as Dean drove, his fingers fiddling with her long curly hair that was the exact shade of flames. Dean letting her sit on his lap and have a go at steering the Impala when they had a particularly long, straight and deserted stretch of road. Their bond was something different, something unique and special. They were all each other had.


So, that was an introduction to Natalie, who I honestly feel like I know as a friend now, I've been developing her in my mind so much. It's strange but I pretty much know her life story. Has anyone seen Matilda The Musical? If so, then a line from 'Quiet' describes this very well - a story delivered to me fully written :)

Please review? I don't know if the idea is honestly a good one or not :/