"The strongest evidence of love is sacrifice."
- Carolyn Fry.
Beth cradled Kat to her chest protectively, hurrying after Dean and Castiel. The half-angel was slower than the two males, barely able to jog let alone run as she'd only given birth to her daughter a couple hours earlier and was still recovering from the process.
The reason the Winchester siblings and their now human companion Castiel were on the run was because from the moment Kat had been conceived, she'd had a price on her head and from the second Kat had been born, demons had been chasing them, desperate to be the one to get their hands on the child and deliver her to Lucifer, who had promised a very large reward to whoever could get Kat to him. Lucifer wanted Beth and Castiel's daughter so he could raise her and then train her to use her as a weapon to gain an upper hand in the apocalypse.
Beth, her previously angelic partner and her brother were determined to never let that happen. They would die before they let Lucifer get a hold of Kat.
"Beth, come on!" Dean called urgently, slowing down to wrap an arm around his sister and herd her into the abandoned house they were going to take brief shelter in.
Beth watched with tired eyes as Castiel and Dean immediately opened up the duffel Dean had been carrying and pulled out the salt so they could spread it around the doors and windows. She walked slowly into the dust-covered living room and carefully sat down on the couch. She peeled back a corner of Kat's fluffy yellow blanket to get a look at her new-born child. Kat was staring back at her with wide blue eyes with flecks of green and brown in them. A soft sound of distress slipped from the baby's mouth and Beth quickly started rocking her gently. The movement calmed her down right away, though a small arm escaped the blanket and waved around rather enthusiastically.
"You're so confused, aren't you?" Beth murmured softly, taking Kat's tiny hand in her own. Kat grabbed onto Beth's first two fingers with a surprisingly tight grip. "I know it's only your first day on this earth, and you're probably scared because all of this is strange to you but I want to tell you that I'll never let anything hurt you. I love you more than my own life, Katharine and I… I'm so sorry that I've brought you into this mess. I never wanted this for you, my little miracle, but I'm gonna make it right. I'm gonna keep you safe." Beth paused, blinking back a sudden onslaught of tears. "You probably don't understand what I'm saying, but you need to know that we all love you, so much."
Castiel walked into the living room, interrupting whatever Beth had been about to say next. The tall, dark haired male sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. "Are you okay?" He asked softly, lips brushing against her temple.
"I'm tired of running," Beth whispered as she raised her eyes and met his gaze. "I just want to protect her."
"I want that too, Beth," Castiel said, resting his forehead against hers. "But running will keep her safe."
Beth shook her head sadly. "No. It won't. Eventually, Lucifer will catch up to us and he'll take her from me."
"I won't let that happen, Beth," Castiel promised fiercely. He looked down at his baby, a sense of pride filling him at the knowledge that he'd helped create such a perfect little being.
"There is only one thing we can do," Beth started, right as Dean entered the room, dropping a canister of salt into his duffel bag. "You and Dean will take Kat and run and I will stay behind to clean up the mess we've made."
"What? No!" Dean and Castiel exclaimed at once. Kat let out a startled cry at the sudden shouts. Beth stood up and rocked the baby from side to side.
"I'm not debating this," Beth said firmly when Kat had quietened down. The crying started back up when a sudden bang filled the air. Beth transferred Kat to her right arm and moved her so she was resting against Beth's chest with her head under her mom's chin.
Dean quickly zipped up his duffel bag and swung the straps up onto his shoulder. Castiel took Beth's free hand and tugged her after Dean towards the kitchen, just as the front door was suddenly blown off its hinges. Wood flew in all directions, causing the trio to duck their heads down to avoid the debris.
"Heya Beth!" A familiar, chirpy voice called out. Beth let out a soft gasp as she turned and met the dangerous eyes of the demon Meg.
"Beth, we need to go!" Castiel hissed in her ear. Beth nodded jerkily and turned back around, darting into the kitchen and moving aside to let Dean slam the door shut and spread a thick line of salt across the doorway.
"Cas, you need to listen to me," Beth said, tugging at Castiel's coat. "You can take Kat and get her to safety." When Castiel went to protest, Beth moved her hand up and curled her fingers around the back of his neck, pulling him closer to her. "This is her only chance to survive and we need to take it. I can distract them. I can slow them down to give you time to get her away from here."
"Beth, I can't lose you," Castiel whispered, his breath fanning across her face. "You're my life."
"You're not going to lose me and Kat's your life now too," Beth told him. They both looked down at their child. "She needs you, Cas. Please protect her, for me."
"Okay," Castiel agreed. "I'll do it."
"Dean? Can you take Kat for a minute?" Beth requested politely. Dean nodded, he carefully took Kat into his arms and walked a few feet away to give Cas and Beth some privacy. "I love you, so much, Castiel." She brought both hands to his face and pressed their lips together in what would be their last kiss, even if they didn't know it at the time. Cas' arms went around her waist, holding her to him tightly.
"I love you too," Castiel murmured against her lips. He pulled back and took the time to just memorize every inch of her face. "Do me one favour, don't get yourself killed. Kat needs both of us."
"I'll do my best," Beth promised, gracing him with a tiny smile. "You need to go now."
Castiel reluctantly released Beth and stepped away, taking Kat from Dean so the dark blonde haired hunter could say his goodbyes to Beth. The ex-angel walked quietly onto the back porch, staring down at his daughter with gentle eyes.
"Beth, please don't do this," Dean said desperately. "I've lost Sammy, don't make me lose you too. I won't be able to live with myself if anything happens to you."
"Dean," Beth said, a hint of pity in her voice. She took his hand in hers. "You're the best big brother I could ever have asked for. You've done so much for me in the time we've known each other and I will be forever grateful. You gotta promise me that you will keep my little angel safe. And keep Castiel in line."
"I love you, princess," Dean replied quietly, drawing her into him and hugging her with one arm. Their hands were still interlocked between them. "You don't need to worry, I won't let anything happen to Kat… or Castiel."
"Love you, brother bear," Beth smiled up at him as they released each other. She raised their hands, cupping her free one around his and pressing a kiss to his knuckles. "Go, now."
"I'll see you soon, Bethany," Dean said, and then he was gone, disappearing out the back door and down the porch with Castiel who was clutching Kat to his chest.
Beth braced herself, her eyes glowing bluish-white as the demons finally burst into the house and were headed her way.
"Don't let me down, Castiel," she whispered to herself. "You too Dean."
Dean and Castiel had made it at least 2 miles when a sudden explosion had them spinning around in horror. The house they'd taken refuge in had been blown to pieces, a burning white light briefly filling the air before it flickered and died out.
"Beth… Beth!" Castiel shouted in panic. He was fully intending on running back in the direction of the house when Dean's hand shot out and he grabbed Castiel's arm.
"Cas!" Dean snapped, though his heart was pounding in fear and pain. He knew there was no hope for Beth now but he would make sure he fulfilled his promise to his sister. "Castiel, we need to go. We have to protect Kat!"
"Beth's in that house!" Castiel argued.
"Listen to me, man. There's nothing we can do for Beth now but we can do everything we can to keep her daughter alive!" Dean's eyes flickered down to the sleeping baby in his arms and Castiel followed his gaze.
"We should go," Castiel said finally. He looked back towards the destroyed house before he lowered his head and followed after Dean with a heavy heart and the somewhat familiar sting of tears in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Beth," Dean murmured, briefly raising his eyes towards the sky.
Camp Chitaqua
October 3rd, 2014
A small child with long brown hair and blue eyes with green and brown in them ran after her uncle, who was a few steps ahead of her.
"Uncle Dean! Slow down!"
Dean did as he was told, coming to a quick stop and reaching down to scoop his niece into his arms, lifting her up to rest on his hip. "You're getting slow in your old age," Dean teased, gaining a pout from Kat.
"I'm only four!" Kat said, and held up four fingers as if to prove her point.
"Ah, you know I'm only teasing, Kitty," Dean said with an easy grin. Kat wrapped her arms around her uncle's neck and pressed her cheek against his. The two of them were silent as they continued on their path towards the small garden where a small slab of grey stone had been placed with Beth's name, date of birth and date of death on it.
When they made it to the garden, they both sat down by Beth's stone and Kat placed the small bouquet of red roses by the stone. Kat then moved over to her uncle and opened his arms so she could sit in his lap before closing his arms around her. Dean smiled slightly and rested his chin on her head.
"Hi mama," Kat started, looking at the head stone. "I just turned four today. Aunt Claire made me a cake with jam in it and sprinkles on top. Uncle Dean gave me a cool necklace and daddy made a bracelet for me with butterflies on it. I wish you were here, daddy told me you went to Heaven to keep me safe so I wanted to say thank you, mommy. I miss you though."
"Hey, munchkin," Dean murmured, clearing his throat of the lump that had settled there at Kat's speech. "Do you wanna see something cool?"
"Okay." Kat nodded eagerly, watching as her uncle reached into his jacket and pulled out a small photograph. Dean held the picture up for Kat to see and pointed at the woman with dark brown hair that stood in front of Kat's dad. Castiel had his arms wrapped around the dark haired woman and the two of them had massive smiles on their faces.
"That's your mom, her name was Beth," Dean explained. He reached back into his pocket and pulled out a picture Beth had given him of her and Adam and their mom when they were 17. "And this is your mom, your uncle Adam and your grandma Kate."
"She's pretty," Kat said, still looking at the picture of her mom and dad. She slowly turned to look at the other picture. "Mom had another brother?"
"Yeah. There's me, and her twin Adam and…and our other brother Sam," Dean replied.
"What happened to them?"
"They went to Heaven too, Kitty. Your mom and uncles and grandma are happy where they are. They're watching over us, munchkin," Dean lied, dropping a soft kiss to her head. "Now, come on, it looks like it's gonna rain soon." Dean nudged Kat off his lap so he could stand up and stick the photographs back in his pocket before he picked Kat up again and headed back in the direction of the cabins.
Both of them were unaware of the dark haired woman standing beside a tree, watching them with sad eyes. She stared after them until they turned the corner and then she disappeared from the garden, leaving no trace that she'd ever been there.