A WEEK AFTER DEAN WENT TO HELL…..

Katie Winchester looked at her reflection in the mirror and sighed. She turned back to the bed where there was just about her entire wardrobe laid out on the bed. She pulled her shirt off and grabbed another. She put it on and then turned back to the mirror. She groaned in frustration and pulled that one off too.

She was nervous. If that wasn't evident by the dozens of times that she's changed outfits. She was going to meet her father today. A man she had only heard lopsided stories about. Lopsided because of she listened to her mother he was supernatural hunting playboy who preferred women in every city. While her Aunt Grace told her that her dad was a great guy. Hardworking, loyal and caring, despite what her mother told her.

She was also anxious too because if her mom was right then she'd find herself an orphan all over again. According to her mother, her father, Dean Winchester-the oldest of the famous Winchester brothers has never wanted to be a father and isn't ready to be one because he's too immature.

Grace Hamilton stepped out of the motel room bathroom and shut the light off. She stopped when she seen that Katie's duffle bag had exploded all over the bed. She smiled, folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the archway as she watched her Goddaughter. God, Dean, she's so much like you. It's scary sometimes. Grace had asked her so many times if she was nervous about meeting her father and she told her, 'No, there's no reason to be nervous'.

She's known Katie all her life and the young girl was nervous. Grace watched as another shirt was discarded. She snickered. "I thought you said you weren't nervous, Katie-did?"

She groaned and threw herself on the bed that had the clothes as she said, "I lied!"

Grace pushed herself off of the door frame and walked to the young girl. She sat down bedside and her looked down at her as she curled one leg on the bed. "Baby, I am so very sorry you have to go through this. If your mother had listened to me you would have met your dad before now."

She nodded. "I know, Aunt Grace." She sighed. "It's just…" she sat up. "…I want him to like me. Heck, I want him to love me." She exhaled. "Sometimes I wondered if mom loved me. And the stunt she pulled the night she died cements-"

"Katie, honey, I explained to you your dad storms into places just as much as your mom did. I've done it. Sometimes you don't know what you're getting into until you're already in it."

She pushed herself up and stormed to the middle of the room. "But mom knew!" she screamed. "She knew! You had told her over the danged phone to not do anything stupid! And what does she do, straps her gun on and storms into a demonic ambush!" Despite the way that Elizabeth Manning, her mother treated her, she missed her immensely. For almost 12 years she was her entire world. She was her mom.

Now, she was gone and now she was going to meet her father. She'd been dreaming about meeting Dean Winchester since her mom let it slip who her father was. If Grace's descriptions of the man were any indication, he was amazing. She could admit-if only to herself-from the stories Grace had told her she couldn't wait to meet him because her father seemed like a hero.

She turned to Grace. "Look, I know, he's a hunter like mom and so's Uncle Sam, but Aunt Grace, I don't see them storming into some place without knowing that possibly it could have been a trap."

She nodded in concession to her niece's assessment. "And you'd be right. When your mom and I left you with Jenny and went to help your dad and uncle Sam find your grandpa a few years ago, I specifically remember getting into many an argument with your mother because she wanted to storm in. She even hit your dad because he refused to let her just charge right in there."

The pre-teen girl sighed. She paced for a few a seconds and then stopped. "Wait. If you and mom went to help them how come mom never told dad about me then?"

"Because your mom had it in her damn head that your dad was still the immature guy that she had slept with almost ten years before." She looked at her niece. "Your dad's a mature guy when he has to be, Katie. He raised your Uncle Sam for God's sakes."

She threw her hands up in the air and growled. "So, basically, she didn't want me to have anything to do with my father, right?"

She nodded. "That would be my guess, yes. I think it's because she knows your father would have protested about how she raised you."

She stopped and stared at her in surprise. "So, he didn't want me raised in the lifestyle?"

She shook her head. "No. He was raised in it, Sweetheart. He hated it. Not as much as your Uncle Sam did, but he did. After your grandmother died, your dad became a four-year-old guardian to an infant and he's been taking care of Sam ever since. He had always told me and your mom that if he was lucky enough-" She looked at the girl- "Did you hear me?" The young girl nodded. "Lucky enough to have children that he would retire or do what your great-uncle Bobby does and become the fountain of knowledge for hunters."

She sighed and plopped down on the bed. "Wow…my life would have been different with him then."

She nodded. She smiled and patted her knee. "Let's get you dressed so we can meet your dad, huh?"

She nodded. "But, I can't find anything-"

"Okay, one thing I'm gonna tell you about your uncle and your father-they wear flannel-you don't need to impress them with fashion." She picked up a black t-shirt that said: Remember when I asked for your opinion? Yeah, me neither. "Wear that. Then when you finish getting ready, please put your stuff back in your bag."

She nodded and looked at the shirt and then her aunt. "Are you sure?"

She snickered. "Kate, honey, I love you more than anyone else in this world, but if you don't not put that shirt on I will pull it on you myself and then put you in the trunk."

Katie smirked at her aunt's empty threat. "Sorry. I just want to make a good impression. I want him to like me at least."

"And I will tell you what I've been telling you for months, Sweetheart. Your dad's gonna love you. And so will your Uncle Sam."

She sighed. She hoped Grace was right,

Katie couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her father was dead?! All of that preparation was for nothing. All that worry was for nothing. Now…now…she was officially an orphan. He'd never know about her ever. She'd never get to know the man that she shared eyes with. And she'd never meet the man that she got her love of bacon cheeseburgers from.

The weight that had hovered over her for the last few months finally slammed into her chest and she let the tears fall with the realization that she wanted it to happen. She wanted to meet him. She wanted to get to know him. She wanted to see if her mom was right. She wanted to finally say 'dad' to someone. She stared up at the man that thrown that grenade in their direction. Her green eyes filling with tears, "H-H-H-How did it-it-it h-h-h-happen?"

"A demon…a crossroads demon," the man in the flannel shirt and trucker hat explained.

In that moment her entire life halted. Both her parents were killed by demons…. She looked at Grace and then the man named Bobby. "Excuse me."

"KATIE!"

The young girl kept walking. Grace sighed and looked back at Bobby as the screen door slammed shut. "Damn it."

"What's wrong with her?"

She sighed, running her hand through her blond hair. "Bobby, that's Elizabeth….and Dean's daughter."

Bobby's jaw fell open. "Dean's her father?!"

She nodded. "I'd been wanting to tell everyone since Elle told me she was pregnant, but…"

He pushed his hat off and rubbed his head. "Damn it. And he never knew did he?"

She shook her head. "No…and that's not the kicker. The reason why I'm here is because Elle's dead. She was killed in a demonic ambush about a month ago," she told him. "Both of her parents were killed by demons."

He sighed. "But, Gracie, he chose it."

"What do you mean he chose it? No one chooses to be killed by a demon, Bobby."

"They do if they've made a deal with them so that his brother lives."

Her heart dropped to her toes. She shook her head, balled her fist and pounded the desk. "Sonofabitch!" She looked at Bobby. "They'll seriously do anything for each other won't they?"

He nodded. "What are we going to do about that Little Girl?"

She sighed. "I have no idea. Is Sam…is he okay?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Dean told me to keep an eye on him, to take care of him, but he left awhile ago and I haven't heard from him since."

"Where'd he go?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. He got into the Impala and drove." He sighed. "I can give you instructions on where Dean's buried. He might not be that far from there."

"What is he doing?"

"Trying to get him back."

She sighed. "Okay. Write them out and I'm going to go check on Katie. And see if she's okay with staying here with you."

"With me?!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah," she said. "Bobby, I can't keep driving her around with me. She's used to it yes, but it'll only be for a little while and think of it this way...she's your connection to Dean. Even if Dean didn't know it, half of his DNA is in someone. Please?"

He saw the plea in her eyes and groaned. "Go. Go talk to her and see what she wants you to do. And if she doesn't mind staying with an old coot like me then I'll keep her."

She smiled and walked out. She walked the entire property, until she found her tucked away in the salvaging part of the property. "Katie."

The young girl sniffled and wiped her tears away. "Yeah?"

Grace walked to her and sat down on the torn apart Chevy that Katie sat on. "I'm so sorry. I should have asked-"

"It's not your fault, Aunt Grace. Stop acting like it is," she snapped, tears in her voice. "It's just my luck though. I mean, my mom didn't want me anymore and now she got what she wanted."

"What's that, Sweetheart?"

"He'll never know me either," she said sadly. "It's exactly what mom wanted. She didn't want me to have anything to do with the Winchester side of my family and now she gets her wish."

Grace's heart broke as she heard the little girl's sobs. "Oh, Sweetheart."

"Now," she tried to even out her voice from the sobs as she continued, "I'll never know him enough to even see if he wanted to be my dad." She looked at Grace, tears falling. "All I wanted was to know him. To finally call someone 'dad', Gracie."

When the girl broke down again, Grace pulled her into her arms and held her as she cried. She herself crying, not only for the little girl in her arms, but because of her best friend's actions and the fact that the man that she considered to be like a brother was gone and that he'd never get to know how wonderful his daughter was. She turned her face into the girl's dark hair. "I'm so so sorry, Katie. I wish I could change it for you." She kissed her hair. "If you want I can look for Uncle Sam, do you want me too?"

She nodded against her chest. "Do…do…do you think he'd want me?"

"Most definitely. But Kate, if I go looking for him, do you think it'd be okay to leave you here with Bobby?"

She eyed her suspiciously. "Why?"

"Because that man in there is the closest thing your dad had to a father. If you want to get to know the man your dad was then he's the man to ask. I promise you his bark is worse than his bite and you'll be totally safe. He used to watch your dad and Uncle Sam for your grandpa."

"Do you think Uncle Sam will…."

She nodded. "I think so. And you never know you might get normalcy after all." She kissed her forehead. "I love you to the moon and stars, Kiddo."

She smiled and hugged her. "I love you too, Aunt Gracie."

Grace sighed. She just hoped she was right about the older Winchester