SUMMARY: The Winchester's day at the zoo takes an unpleasant turn when 4-year-old Aly disappears. Mild spanking of child; Don't Like It, Don't Read. Same AU as The Adventures of Alyson Winchester.
Aly 4, Sam 12, Dean 16
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"Aly," Sam said. "Do you really have to wear that?"
Aly spun in a circle, causing the fluffy pink fabric of her skirt to bell out around her knees. She was wearing the ballerina tutu skirt from her Halloween costume; it was one of her favorite things to wear at the moment.
Since John was now a firm believer in "Pick Your Battles", especially with a headstrong 4 year old, he allowed her to wear it most of the times she wanted to. It was made with chiffon or tulle or one of those fancy sounding fabrics, and had two rows of wide ruffles on the hem and little fabric flowers sewn on the waistband.
Sam thought it looked absolutely ridiculous, especially when Aly wore it with an outfit like she had chosen today- her green rubber rain boots that had frog heads on the toes, and a shirt that had bright pink, yellow, and orange stripes on it. The outfit was completed by white tights that had large blue polka dots on them.
"Come on, Sammy, she'll be easy to pick out in a crowd." Dean said easily. He was past the stage of being embarassed by things like what his family wore, and besides, he thought Aly was adorable.
"C'mere, tiny dancer." Dean said to her. He took her hand and held it up in the air, and she spun in a circle, trying to look like a ballerina, and giggled.
"That's why I'm letting her wear it today." John told them, "It's been suggested that your kids wear something distinctive when you go to a large public place like the zoo, so that they're easy to see and easy to remember if they get lost. Be glad I'm not making the three of you wear matching shirts." He grinned at them, in a good mood.
"Daaaad!" Sam rolled his eyes, and John ruffled his hair.
"Aly, you need to use the rest room?" John asked her.
"No Daddy, I wented." she said.
"Good girl." he said. "Boys? You good? Then let's go."
He let Dean drive the Impala to the zoo, although it made his heart rate elevate a little too much, but the kid needed practice right now, espeically on the highway. So he bit his tongue and braced his feet on the floor of the car and tried to smile in a supportive way.
As they got out of the car, John said, "All right, rules. We stay together. No wandering off-"
"Can we see the panna bears?" Aly interrupted excitedly.
"Yes, we will." John said. "No running ahead, and Aly, you hold someone's hand at all ti-."
"I wanna see the wions an' tigers too!" she said, jumping up and down.
"Aly, are you paying attention?" John asked sharply, becoming annoyed with her. The rules were of utmost importance to him; he wanted to keep his kids as safe as possible, and drilling the rules into their heads was a neccessity. Unfortunately, the rules were not always important when you were four years old.
"Yeees!" she said with annoyance.
He squatted down in front of her. "Okay, tell me what I just said. What are the rules?"
She looked shocked for a moment, and then dropped her head, looking ashamed.
"Uh, hol' hans', an', an', uh..." she peered at him through her bangs and bit her lip.
He put his finger under her chin and lifted her head so that she was looking at him.
"We stay together. No wandering off, and no running ahead." he enunciated clearly. "Is that clear, young lady?" His tone was harder than he meant it to be.
"Yes, Daddy." Now her lower lip was trembling and he felt like an ass for getting stern with her. He had been in such a good mood earlier; but the stress of worrying could pull the rug out from under his mood in an instant.
He sighed and gathered her into his arms, standing up. "Tell me what you want to see while we're here." he said as he led the boys across the parking lot.
"Um, the pannas, an' the wions an' tigers, an' the giwaffes, an', an' hippos too!" she laughed. "Hippos is funny!"
"That they are." he said. They had arrived at the front gate and John put Aly down on the ground.
"Sammy, wanna hol' your han'." she said, scooting around John to Sam.
Sam sighed. "Okay." he said grudgingly, still a little embarrassed to be seen with her in her outfit. They stood in line quietly while John paid for the tickets.
Once they were inside the zoo, Dean started walking on the other side of Aly, and he took her other hand.
"Sam, on the count of three, lift her up." he said. "Ready, Aly? One, two, three, UP!" he said, and he and Sam lifted Aly up in the air. She shrieked with laughter, "Again, again!"
"One, two three, UP!" Dean said again, and Aly laughed loudly again as they lifted her. A couple people turned around to see what the noise was about and when they saw Aly being lifted, and her little ballerina skirt flying through the air, they couldsn't help but smile at the joy on her face. They did this a few more times as they walked.
"Stay on your toes, boys." John told them. "There's a lot of large groups here today." He counted at least three different groups wearing identical shirts, one group of teens was wearing light blue t-shirts with "Property of All Saints Youth Group" emblazoned on the front of them. Another large group seemd to be some sort of family reunion, with people of all different ages wearing identical orange t-shirts. John craned his neck constantly to keep an eye on Aly, she was still so small and short for her age, she got all but swallowed up in large groups.
"Keep a tight hold on her, Sammy." he told Sam.
Unfortunately all too soon, Aly got away from Sam. Up ahead there was a signpost with line drawings of different animals- lions, tigers, and big cats to the left, and zebras and giraffes to the right.
"Wions an' tigers!" Aly crowed happily, pointing at the sign and running ahead of them.
John's heart sped up a little.
"Alyson Elisabeth!" he called out. "Get back here!"
She turned, and he saw her face change from excited to worried.
He walked quickly up to her and picked her up, holding her against his chest with his arm under her bottom, and he swatted her butt once.
"What's the rule?" he barked angrily.
"I—I- sowwy Daddy!" she wailed, and burst into tears. She buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed, and he felt a mixture of panic and annoyance at himself for reacting that way. She was so sensitive, he knew she was going to be weepy for a while now, but dammit, the kid had to learn to follow the rules and do what he told her to.
"All right, let's go over here." he said, walking over to a bench that was under a large tree.
He took his wallet out of his back pocket and gave Dean some money. "Go get us some drinks." he said. The boys walked away together. He put his wallet away, and sat down with Aly on his lap.
He rubbed her back as her chest hitched.
"You were told not to run ahead, weren't you?"
"Yes Daddy." she said, her face still against his shoulder.
"You need to follow the rules." he said calmly. "I need to know that you're safe."
"Okay, Daddy." she said plaintively. "I sowwy."
"Don't do it again." he told her. "If you do, you'll get more than just a swat."
She put her arms around his neck. "Sowwy Daddy!" she said again, and dammit, here came the tears again. "I not twyin' to be bad!" she wailed.
"I know you're not. You need to remember what I told you."
She sniffled, looking up into his eyes. "I not bad?"
"No, pumpkin, you're not bad." he reassured her. "You're my good girl, and I want you to have fun today. Always hold on to someone's hand, okay?" He kissed her forehead, and she leaned into his chest. He hugged her and rubbed her back some more until the boys came back with plastic cups of soda for them and John and lemonade for Aly.
Dean reached down and handed her the cup. "Here, short stuff." he said.
"Fank you." She took the cup and drank. John started to put her down, but she grabbed his shirt. "Cawwy me, Daddy?"
"All right." he agreed, standing up. She was still feeling a little unsure of herself and he felt like he could afford to be indulgent with her. He shifted her onto his hip and asked, "Where are we going now?"
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They had walked around the zoo for about two hours, and were now sitting in "The Savannah Cafe" having lunch. John had cut Aly's hot dog into small slices and kept an eye on how many french fries she put in her mouth at one time. Ever since her choking incident last year he was very mindful of how she ate.
"There's a talk on birds of prey in about 20 minutes, but it's on the other side of the zoo." Sam looked at the paper map that had a schedule of events on the back. "They're going to show how they train them."
"Man, wouldn't it be cool to hunt with a hawk or a falcon? You could send it in ahead of you to peck out an eyeball or something." Dean said.
"Do we want to try and see this talk?" John looked at them and sipped his coffee.
"Yeah, I'd like to." Sam said.
"All right." John looked at Aly. "Finish up, Aly." he said. She picked up three hot dog slices and was bringing her hand up to her mouth to cram them in, and he took her hand and stopped her.
"No, young lady." he said sternly. "One at a time. You know better."
Aly's eyes got wide at his stern tone and then he saw her lower lip tremble again.
"Geez Dad, over-react much? She's not a baby any more, she's got teeth now, ya know." Sam said.
"Sam, you weren't there when she choked on an apple slice." John said irritably. "It was—well, it was scary." He felt uncomfortable admitting this to his sons.
"When did this happen?" Dean asked him.
"Some time last year. I took her with me to a coffee shop when I met with some hunters, and she...took too big of a bite, or didn't chew it well enough, or I wasn't watching her, or all of the above, hell, I don't know. But it was pretty damn scary because her lips started to turn blue almost instantly."
"Geez!" Sam said again. "Sorry, Dad."
"It's all right, you didn't know. But that's why I'm so insistent about cutting her food up now."
Dean reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "I get it. We'll keep a better eye on her too, won't we Sammy?"
"Yeah." Sam agreed. He looked at Aly. "You want to go see some birds?"
"Wanna see giwaffes!" she said.
"We will." John told her. "We're going to go look at birds first. I think we should ride the tram over to the lecture." John looked at the boys. "That way we'll get over there quicker and it will be less walking for little legs."
"Dean, can I has a piggy-back wide?" Aly asked.
"Not right now, short stuff." Dean said. "Let's go catch a tram."
"What's dat?" she asked.
"It's like a train. We're going to ride it to the other side of the zoo." Sam told her.
"We go on a wide?" She asked, wide-eyed.
"Yes, it's just outside the restaurant." John told her. "Come here." He said, taking her chin in his hand. He picked up a napkin and started to wipe the ketchup off her mouth.
She reached for the napkin."I do it, Daddy." she said, taking it from him.
She wiped her mouth off, and then tried to get off of the chair she was sitting in. The booster seat she was using made her too high off the groumd, so John lifted her down and set her next to him.
"You stay right here." he told her, and then turned away to gather up their trash. Dean stood up and picked up his and Sam's trash and walked a short distance away to a trash can.
John turned back around, and Aly was not there. He looked around, feeling a slight panic in his stomach, and then noticed her halfway across the restaurant at a trash can.
"Alyson!" he called. "Over here, NOW!" His voice was louder and more gruff than he meant to be, but dammit, he was starting to get angry with his little girl.
She trotted over and said proudly, "I fwowed away my twass!"
He grabbed her shoulders and gave her a little shake. "What did I tell you before!" he said angrily.
Her forehead creased in confusion and hurt. "But Daddy, I din't wun ahead! An' I commed wight back!"
"I told you to stay right here!" he said a little louder. He turned her to the side, and then swatted her bottom twice.
"I sowwy!" she wailed again. John leaned down and said to her, "Do I need to take you out to the car for a spanking because you're not listening to me?"
She looked up at him and her tear-filled eyes widened. "No, Daddy, I be good!" She hiccuped, covering her bottom with her hands and taking a step away from him.
He felt like the world's shittiest father right then, because of how she was looking at him. He reached out to her and pulled her towards him. She whimpered and stiffened as he lifted her up to sit on his knee.
"Aly, you need to stay right by me or your brothers all the time. Do you understand me?" He turned her face up to his. "I don't want you to get lost."
"Okay Daddy." she said, and tears spilled out of her eyes.
"There goes the tram." Sam said grimly.
"Go see if you can find out when the next one comes." John said.
Sam stood up and walked outside to look at the tram schedule. John put his arm around Aly and gave her a quick hug, then picked up a napkin from the table. He held it to her nose and said, "Blow," and she blew her nose and then he wiped her face with another napkin. He set her down and stood up to go throw away the napkins.
"Dean-" he said, motioning to Aly. He walked over to the trash cans as Sam came back inside.
"There's another one in 10 minutes. We might miss the beginning of the talk." he said.
"All right, let's go wait out there." John said as they walked back over to where Dean stood with Aly. She was holding on to his hand with both her hands and he was lifting her up in the air.
"Wheee!" she said, lifting her feet up.
"Let's go outside." John said, figuring that Dean had Aly.
He turned and they walked outside. A golf cart-type of vehicle that was used by zoo staff drove by slowly and John paused to let the vehicle pass by. One of the large church groups surged forward, surrounding him and the boys, and he stood and waited for them to filter past as well.
Another large group started to wander up and John glanced around, intending to pick Aly up and hold her while they were waiting. He caught Dean's eye above the crowd.
"Bring her over here." He called.
Dean turned to Sam, who was standing a couple of feet behind him, reading something on the back of the map.
"Sammy, you got Aly?" Dean asked.
Sam walked over to John, frowning. "No, I thought she was with you." he said to John.
The three of them looked around and couldn't see her anywhere.
"Oh my God." John said, panic rising like bile in his throat.
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"Aren't you a little cutie!" the woman said to Aly. "I like your skirt!"
Aly spun in place. "I was a bawwa- bawwa- a dance wady for Halloween." she said proudly.
"Come with me!" said the woman, taking Aly's hand.
Aly stopped for a moment and looked around. "Where my Daddy?" she asked, frowning.
"Your father? Your father is John Winchester, isn't he?"
Aly looked up at the woman, whose eyes looked funny.
"I'll take you to him." she said. "He told me to get you and bring you to him."
She took Aly's hand led her toward the back of the restaurant. "Let's go." she said. They walked through the kitchen and out a back door. Aly looked around; she had never been in a place like this before.
"We gonna go on a wide." She told the woman. "I gotta fin' my Daddy."
"I know, kid." said the woman, her voice sounding hard. Aly stopped walking and tried to pull her hand away.
"Come on!" she yanked Aly's hand forward. Aly started to feel scared at that point. She looked around. They walked down a hallway and then out a door, and then they were outside, on the edge of a parking lot.
"I want my Daddy!" Aly exclaimed, and started to cry. She tried not to, but the woman scared her. She wanted to be brave like Daddy was always telling her to be.
"No, you're coming with me now." the woman said, and her demeanor changed from smiling and nice to hard and mean. She yanked on Aly's hand and started dragging her across the path.
"Nooo!" Aly howled. "Wan' my Daddy! Wan' Sammy! Wan' Dean!" she dragged her feet and tried to pull her hands away.
"Dammit, kid!" the woman snarled. "Let's go!"
John was hurrying along the path at the edge of the parking lot, right outside of the restaurant where they had eaten. He was hoping that if Aly had gotten lost she would not have gotten far and be in this area.
Suddenly he heard a little girl's high pitched voice, full of panic and fear. "Nooo!" the child howled. "Wan' my Daddy! Wan' Sammy! Wan' Dean!"
It was Aly, sounding like she was just around the corner. Relief and anger surged up in him as he ran.
"Dammit, kid!" he heard a woman snarl. "Let's go!"
He saw them then, a short stocky woman with mousy brown hair, holding onto Aly's wrist and attempting to pull her along the pathway out to the parking lot. Aly was resisting and leaning backwards.
"Stop!" John shouted. The woman and Aly both stopped and looked at him. Aly had tears on her cheeks and her face went from fearful to relieved.
The woman straightened up and gripped Aly's forearm tightly, pulling her close.
"Well, well, if it isn't John Winchester." The woman said in a playful tone. "Look who I've got."
"Let her go." John said, walking slowly forward. The hair on the back of his neck was standing up.
"That's close enough!" she spat. "I'm going to take her with me so that we can go play... just like you 'played' with my boyfriend a couple of years ago."
She yanked on Aly's arm. "How about it kid, want to go play with me?" She looked down at Aly a moment, and then when she looked up at John, her eyes were that shiny bottomless black that meant she was possessed.
John felt cold fear creep up his spine. He and Bobby Singer had captured a demon, when Aly was about a year old, and they had tried to get information about what had killed Mary, but the demon hadn't been forthcoming at all...and by the time they were done, he was very much the worse for wear.
John felt utterly powerless- he had nothing here, no knife, no gun, no salt, no holy water...everything was in the trunk of the Impala safely packed away.
"No!" Aly struggled, pulling her arm suddenly, and the woman wasn't expecting it, so she was knocked off balance. She stumbled, and then all of a sudden, a tall figure came running from the other direction and tackled the woman, knocking her to the ground.
John almost cried with relief- it was Dean, and he wrestled the woman down and punched her in the face. "Let her go! Bitch!" he spat.
Sam was right behind Dean and he picked Aly up from where she had fallen down next to the woman.
Sam hurried up to John as he walked towards them. Dean was straddling the woman, and he hit her face, and then hit her again.
"You fucking bitch! Don't you ever touch my sister again!" John was startled at the cold rage in Dean's voice.
"Dean." John said. "Dean!" he put his hand on Dean's shoulder. "Stand down! She's out!" The woman's head slumped to the side, eyes closed, and blood trickled out of her nose.
He gripped Dean's upper arm and helped him stand up.
"Are you all right?" he asked, as Dean shook his bloody hand. Dean nodded, his chest heaving. They both turned towards Sam, holding Aly, who was sobbing and trembling.
John reached for her and she grabbed onto him and clung to him. "Dada I scawed!" she wailed. He could feel her shaking.
"I know, baby girl. You're safe now." he said breathlessly, hugging her tightly.
"Let's go." he said to the boys.
They heard a rasping sound. "Know...where you... live..." the woman wheezed. "Gonna...take... her..." She looked up at them and John couldn't believe that she had the audacity to smile that evil smile again. "He...wants...her..."
Sam ran up to her and drew his foot back, kicking her in the stomach hard.
"Fuck you!" he hissed as the woman gasped. He aimed another kick, and John saw a car approaching across the parking lot, a car with bubble lights on the roof. The police.
"Let's go, NOW!" he barked. They hurried to the car and piled in, Sam buckling Aly into her seat as John was pulling onto the main road.
"Boys," he said to them, "When we get home we need to pack up and go, ASAP."
"Yes sir." both Sam and Dean said quietly. They had had to do that before, so they knew not to ask why.
"Dad," Dean said, "Why did her eyes turn black? What did she want with Aly?"
John looked in the rearview mirror at Aly, who was staring with glazed eyes out the back window. She had her thumb in her mouth and the other hand was holding one of Sam's tightly. Tears dripped down her cheeks slowly and her chest hitched every so often.
John glanced at Dean. "She was a demon...looking for revenge." he said, and left it at that.