My name is Taylor Winchester.
But I prefer Tate.
I am two and a half years younger than Dean and eighteen months older than Sam. My birthday is actually one week after my mom's death.
And yeah, you know that whole story and everything so I won't go into that.
But you don't know my story.
See, John (I refuse to call him "Dad", sorry boys) learned about hunting not too long after her death. And he trained my brothers and I to help him. Yeah, we were all real cute with our guns and knives.
I was six when the incident happened. And John learned the dangers of having a girl hunter.
Hunting is a boy's game. Always has been, always will be. Girls only help. They don't run the show.
So when John dropped us off at yet another random hunter's home to run off with said hunter, the stepson of again said hunter babysat.
And he was creepy.
Dean said he was 18 and he was cool. He talked to Dean and played with Sam.
But it was I he favored the most.
I think you know where I'm going with this.
Dean walked in on us and told John. And my transformation began.
He cut all my hair off.
He made me wear Dean's, and eventually Sam's, hand-me-downs.
They called me Tate anyway.
And I was like that until they couldn't hide it anymore.
At school, when I went, I stayed by myself. I didn't fit in with the boys, but couldn't exactly play with the girls. I had one too many accidents because I just refused to use the "correct" bathroom. So many school personal called John and told him "she shouldn't be having accidents at her age" and "you should take her to a doctor".
So I just stopped going.
It was 7th grade when it really hit.
I met this boy. Still remember his name too.
God, he was cute.
But obviously I couldn't do anything about it.
And it hurt. I remember Sam trying to get me to talk after hearing me cry in a hotel bathroom one day after school. He told Dean. Then Dean tried to get me to talk. To this day, they still don't know.
They don't know that while I was hanging out at his house after school with his other guy friends, I got my first period. And I bled on his mom's new sofa. She didn't mind, she understood accidents happen. After all, she "was a 13 year old girl once and remembers what it was like."
Yeah. She outed me. I don't blame her for thinking I was just some hyped up tomboy or something.
Rumors at school spread like wildfire.
It wasn't until one of the popular girls snuck up behind me and pulled my shirt over my head, revealing my brand new boobs to the world.
John refused to accept these changes were happening.
But they were.
He bought me medical wrap to use as a binder. And for one week each month, one of the boys had to stay back with me because John wasn't "taking the risk" that I start bleeding on a hunt and the monster being attracted to that and taking me or something.
Do you know how embarrassing that was? Sam never minded, but Dean was always pissed. John made them switch off so it was fair.
My first year of high school I experimented with girls. I was still carrying on this show that I was a guy so no one ever knew.
She was over at the hotel studying. The guys were all out and I had the place to myself for at least 48 hours. Which ended really quick.
It all happened so fast. We had taken a break and turned on a movie for a bit. She looked over at me and started kissing me. And I started kissing her back. We kicked the books off the bed and laid down.
Enter John.
He basically picked her up and threw her out the door.
That was the final straw.
I learned Sam and Dean could bring home girls anytime they wanted and he'd never bat an eye.
And I was shipped off to Bobby's.
Now Bobby knew. He was one of the few hunters that did. After the incident when I was six, John didn't want word getting out. Hell, Bobby didn't even know until he accidentally walked in on me trying to bind myself after a shower when I was twelve. THAT was an interesting fight he had with John.
Ever since then, I felt weird around Bobby. I always thought he paid more attention to Sam and Dean because they weren't the freaks of the family. No matter what they said or how they felt.
Bobby never cared.
I remember that first night. He made the same dinner he always makes. And he sat me down and we talked.
He said he wasn't my parent and that he wasn't going to force me to do what I didn't want to do. On some level he understood John's doing even though he didn't support it. What he wanted to support was me and whatever decision I made he would stand by it. And he'd fight John through Hell and back just for me.
So I ditched the boy phase. If you could even call it that.
I was homeschooled until I was comfortable. I grew my hair out, Bobby bought me new clothes and shoes. I discovered I was still a bit of a tomboy, but I was happy now. He helped me get whatever "girly" stuff I wanted or needed. I even experimented with makeup.
When I was sixteen, I got a job at the movie theatre in town. I met a girl there who was my age. We clicked right away.
About halfway through what would have been my junior year, I enrolled in the high school.
This was when the guys visited for the first time since I left.
John was pissed.
Bobby stood by his word.
Sam and Dean were just happy that I didn't have to keep this secret anymore. That I could actually try and be me. They realized I was actually a pretty cool sister and we kept in touch more.
And once Sam saw how good I had it, that's when he started fantasizing.
My senior year, I met a boy.
We fell in love.
I lost myself to him on graduation.
And that summer before we left for college, I found out I was pregnant.
He left anyway.
And with Bobby's help I raised my daughter.
I took a gap year before enrolling at the community college. I met another boy. We fell in love, got married, moved in together, and had our son.
Things kind of fell apart with everyone after that.
Until Sam called me from a pay phone crying and freaking out. Said John found out about college, which I didn't know anything about but still supported. He didn't know what to do, so I told him to come over. He stayed for a little over a month til he could figure things out before moving to Stanford.
And then Dean showed up. Said John was missing. He begged for my help, said he didn't want to bother Sam at school. But he could bother me and take me away from my family I was growing. I told him what he could go do to himself.
The phone rang in the middle of the night. It was my little brother crying again. Some poor girl named Jess died. That was now the third time in all those years that I realized they still needed me and that I couldn't get away from them, no matter what I did.
I may have been done with them.
But I wasn't done with my brothers.
I told my husband I had to go. I got on a flight to Stanford and stayed with them for a week. They went off hunting together and finding John, which I didn't say anything about, and I went home.
This time we actually fulfilled our promise to keep in touch.
They called after every hunt to tell me how it went. I told them how things we're going on my end. It worked.
They called to tell me John died. No, John sold his soul. I wasn't there when they burned his body.
They occasionally visit from time to time when they're near. Apparently, there was a thing a couple towns over and they teased that they could use one more person for old times sake.
Again, I told them what they could go do to themselves. As a joke this time.
We kept in touch over the years. I know everything. Even things they won't tell each other. A couple times, things got bad, and one of them would come crash at my place since Bobby passed. His burning I was at.
And now here we are. I never did tell my husband or kids what my brothers do. Even when they ask. Maybe someday when Sam and Dean retire. If they ever retire. You'd think after how many times they've died and come back they'd get the message, but no.
Oh yeah, and Mom's back?
But that's a whole nother story.
