Chapter One

Little Town Full of Little People

Dean

The air smelled like popcorn, corn dogs, and hay. Little kids scurried along the streets of downtown Lebanon wearing their Halloween costumes, squealing. Claire wore a witch hat, despite her insistence of not wanting to dress up. That was the thing about falling in love, it makes you do crazy things. I should know, Nel had me, Sam, and Cas dressed up as the Ghost Busters.

"I feel ridiculous." I complained as Nel snapped me into my back pack.

"Well I worked hard on these costumes, so get over it."

"And what are you?"

She rolled her eyes, pointing to her pale face paint. "Jackie and I are obviously ghosts?"

Of course. What was I thinking.

"Look What Ellie got me!" Jack exclaimed, showing us the cotton candy in his hand. "It is delicious."

"I'll say." I grinned, plucking a piece of the pink fluff and sticking it in my mouth.

"She has very good taste." Jack said with a nod.

"Come here, Jackie!" Nel said, waiving him over to one of the games. It was pumpkin painting. "Want to do one?"

"Oh yes!" He said with a gleam in his eye. The three kids huddled around the pumpkins. Nel and Jack painted while Claire instructed Jack on creepy paint ideas.

Cas, Sam, and I hung back. "She had a dream." I said low to them.

"What do you mean?"

"It's like we had the same dream last night. Like she was tapped into my head." I glanced to Sam.

"That's...oh." Sam said with a frown. "You think its a psychic thing?"

"Don't you?"

Cas raised an eyebrow. "They do not mention this in the parenting books."

"We already have one super powered kid burning off his soul." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "And another that's a reckless hunter." I sighed. "Pretty sure they don't cover any of this."

"Maybe she could be helpful with our current predicament." Castiel offered, eyeing me.

"No way. I don't want her in my head, Cas. It's a fucking mess in there."

"I mean, Cas has a point. You saw how powerful I was."

"This isn't a conversation we are having." I huffed. "You also saw what happened. You had to juice up to do all of that and we sure as shit aren't doing that to my daughter. She deserves to be normal." I watched her painting on the pumpkin. She threw her head back and laughed at something that Jack said. They looked happy. Fuck she deserves to be happy.

"You brought it up, man."

"Because I am worried, not because I want to use her as a weapon. We've been watching her her whole life... and yours didn't show up until you were twenty three. Why is hers happening now?"

"She's a wild card, Dean. We've always known that she ingested more than I ever did." Sam said carefully. "We don't know what she's capable of. Maybe its coming out from all the stress."

I shook my head. "So it's my fault."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to."

Nel turned to me, catching me watching. She waved at me.

I winked back at her. My daughter, the light of my fucking life. All I wanted was for her to have a normal life. I worked my ass off for that, but I always knew in the back of my head that she wouldn't be able to be normal. How could she after everything we've been through? After the name she was given. Winchester. It was like the kiss of death.

She whispered something in Claire's ear, and she turned to look at me. I shrugged. Wasn't gonna apologize for watching her. Ever since she was a baby I couldn't look at her enough. She looked like Ava. In the way that she moved, and laughed. In her nose. Her eyes in the right light. She was everything. Even though I knew I'd have to say goodbye I wasn't ready. How could I ever be?

"We should just watch her. Ya know?" I said carefully. "And when I go under, you two need to watch her too. We can't let these kids go dark side. No matter what." I turned away.

"Dean where are you going?"

"Getting a beer, Sammy. Don't worry. I promised her a nice day. I don't break promises to my kid if I can avoid it."

I walked away. My feet crunching leaves as I walked down Main Street to the vender selling beer off the tap.

"Hey! Dean!"

I turned to find Cami, the waitress from The Little Pancake, jogging to me.

"Hey." I forced a smile, taking my beer. "You, uh, want a drink?"

"Sure." She smiled widely, pushing her red hair behind her ear. I'd never seen it down before, it had a nice wave to it.

I nodded to the bartender. "We will take another of the same thing." I said, sitting some cash down. The man handed us a another cup and I offered it to her.

"Thank you so much." She said, her cheeks pink. "You here with Eleanor?"

"Yeah." I said with a laugh. "Wouldn't dress like this on my own." I gestured to the costume.

"She's spirited." Cami laughed.

"That's an understatement."

"What about you?"

"Oh, I'm here alone." She said nervously. Her cheeks were painted to look like a cats face.

I smiled a bit. "So no one is forcing you into face paint?"

"Oh! This?" Her cheeks grew even more red. "No, I just saw one of the kids that always comes into the diner... and she was doing the paint and offered. Does it look terrible?"

"Nah." I said with a shrug. "It's cute. Nel used to paint my face, too."

Cami smiled to herself and sipped her beer. "She's a special girl. You two seem very close."

"We are." I agreed, taking a swig of my own beer. "Always have been."

"Most dads that I see come in with their daughters seem so awkward. They're both on their phones, but you two never are. It's nice."

I smiled at her, noticing the sun catching a gold fleck in her brown eyes. "Didn't know you paid that close of attention."

"Of course I do." She said gently.

"Hey Dad, I..." Nel said, jogging up holding her pumpkin. "Oh, hi Cami."

I turned to my daughter to catch her grinning from ear to ear. I internally sighed, realizing what this must look like. "It was nice talking to you, Cami." I said forcing a smile.

"You too, Dean." She responded quietly, with a small smile. "Thanks for the beer."

"Anytime." I said with a shrug. I walked to Nel and threw my arm over her shoulder. "Let's see the pumpkin."

She showed it to me, it was black and white striped with green paint dripping down it. "Beetle juice." I grinned. "That's my girl."

She leaned into me. "Sorry to interrupt you two."

"You didn't. She was just saying hi. We were actually talking about you." I glanced at her.

"We need to practice talking to girls, Dad." She laughed.

"Nah, you're the only girl I need to talk to." I said, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"Why do you do that?" She asked me, stopping us.

"Do what?"

"Refuse to be happy?"

"I'm not refusing, kid. All things considered, I am happy. I don't need to be in a relationship to be full." I pushed her hair behind her ear. "I've had my great love. Don't really need another one." Plus, that's just one more person to disappoint. One more person to miss me when I'm in the coffin.

"You really think there's only one person out there? You don't think we get more than one chance."

I smiled down at her. "For you, sweetheart, you will get a million chances. You're good. For me? Nah. It was your mom. Period, end of story, roll credits. I'm okay with that. You don't need to worry about me." I said, beginning to walk again. Ending the conversation. How could I explain to her that I never wanted any of this? I never let myself want the apple pie life. The marriage, the kid, the home. With Ava I had a taste, more than I ever deserved. I saw her in that bar and everything changed. Then I saw my daughter look up at me with big tired eyes, and fuck everything changed again, but no matter what I was still me. I was Dean Winchester, and shit just didn't work out for me. Even under the setting sun, and growing full moon, the smell of fire, and the laughter of kids, I knew that I wasn't meant to stick around in this world. Otherwise, why was death always knockin on my door? No matter what I did, we would always end up here. We would always end up having to say goodbye.

Ella

Dad's arm felt heavy around my shoulders. He was smiling, but there was something else behind it. There was an unbelievable sadness within him. I wrapped one arm around him in a hug and let go. "I'm gonna go see if Jack wants to ride the Ferris wheel now that it's starting to get dark." I offered weakly.

"Sounds good."

I walked to Jack and Claire. "You guys want to go for a ride?" I asked, gesturing to the Ferris wheel.

Jack gulped audibly. "Really? Is it safe?"

"Nope." Claire grinned.

"Babe stop. Yeah, Jackie. It's perfectly safe." I offered him my hand, sitting my pumpkin down next to Cas, who was sitting on a bench next to Sam. "Watch our stuff?"

"Sure." Cas shrugged.

Jack took my hand nervously, and Claire rolled her eyes, taking my other spare hand. I lead us to the Ferris wheel. I gave the carnie our tickets and the three of us squeezed into the seat.

"Not very romantic." Claire complained.

"Shh." I leaned in and kissed her. "Every moment I'm with you is romantic, no matter what." I promised.

Jack gasped when we started to move upwards he gripped my hand tightly and I smiled widely at him. "Hey it's good." I promised him.

"Yes..." He said carefully, starting to relax. "I think it is."

"I needed to talk to you guys in private." I said, looking at Dad below as other people started to get onto the Ferris wheel.

"What's going on?" Claire asked, eyeing me.

"I had a dream last night. It was really vivid." I said carefully. "I think I saw my moms death."

"How could you have seen that, El?"

I shrugged, shaking my head. "Honestly, I have no idea. But it isn't the first weird dream I've had lately." I admitted.

"Like what?" Jack leaned in to the conversation.

"When you were sick... Jack I saw you die." I sniffled, wiping a tear before it could roll down my cheek. "I don't know... I didn't think much about it. It was my worst nightmare, but then it happened just like I saw it..." I shook my head. "I'm getting really freaked out here. When I mentioned the dream to Dad he got all stiff. I think he knows more than what he's saying."

"Why don't you ask him?" Jack asked quietly.

"I think he will lie to me, Jackie. He's been doing that a lot lately. Apparently he's been doing it my whole life."

Claire laced her fingers with mine. "What does your gut say?"

I laughed humorlessly. "Well, maybe I'm psychic. I don't know it sounds ridiculous, right? But what if... what if it's true? What if I am one of the things my Dad hunts?"

"He would never hurt you, Ella. You've gotta know that." Claire said insistently.

"I.. I do.. I mean I think I do." I sighed as we crept up higher. "But what if there's something else." I met her eyes and then turned to Jack. "What if I have powers... what if I could help him? Don't I have to try?"

"Hey, we don't even know what this is. Don't get ahead of yourself." Claire said, alarmed.

"I don't exactly know who to ask about this, Claire. My Dad? I can't... He won't like it."

"What about Sam or Cas?" Jack offered. "Sam is very understanding about things."

"No... he will tell Dad. He has to, right?"

"What about Rowena?" Claire offered. "I don't like you talking to witches... but she would probably know something about all of this."

"I think I'll call her when we get back." I said, looking down at my Dad. He looked like a spec below. What should I do? I thought, frustrated before he glanced up at me. Almost like he heard me. I swallowed hard. Impossible. "If there's something to this... maybe I can find the answer for Dad. Maybe I can help him."

"Maybe I could." Jack offered. "I could over power Michael."

"No." I said, squeezing his hand. "Jackie I won't let you do that. You won't burn away any more of you soul. Okay? You have to promise me."

He sighed. He looked as helpless as I felt. "Okay."

"You can't tell him what we are doing, Jackie." I said insistently. "He won't let us figure it out. It has to be a secret. That's how you can help. Help me by keeping quiet."

Jack searched my face. He hated lying. I knew he did, but he nodded. "Yes. Okay I will do it."

I let go of Claires hand and hugged him tightly. "Thanks little brother."

"You are welcome."

I released him and let Claire put her arm around me. "I'm sorry I ruined your first Ferris wheel ride."

"No." Jack said shaking his head. "I like spending time with you. I don't care what we do."

"Look at that." I said, pointing out. "It's the whole town. Its starting to light up."

"They all look so small." He said quietly.

"That's because they are small, Jack." Claire said. "There are so much bigger things, places, people than in this small little town. Bigger things than that bunker."

"Hey," I whispered, taking her cheek in my hand. "You okay?"

"No." She whispered, pressing her forehead to mine. "I wanted you to have fun today, but you're so worried. You're always so worried."

"It's basically my M-O."

"I don't like it."

"I'll stop worrying when there's nothing to worry about." I winked. "Which may mean you need to stop hunting." I laced my fingers with her hand that wasn't around me. "Because it isn't just Dad that I worry about, ya know."

"I feel like I'm intruding.." Jack said awkwardly.

Laughter bubbled up inside of me, and I busted up. "God we have such a weird family."

Claire grinned before busting up too. "That's a fucking understatement."

"Okay, no more drama." I agreed. "Let's just have fun."

Claire's face relaxed and she nodded, giving me a kiss.

We got off the Ferris wheel. My three dads met us with popcorn and candy apples. They looked like huge dorks in their costumes, I loved it. Growing up as a Winchester was probably not a normal childhood, but it was the one I had. We all hooked arms and went to find a place to sit in the grass. I leaned against a large tree, and bit into my apple, watching my family. Cas stared intently at his apple, not sure why he got one, as Dad tried to explain to him why it was delicious even though it was fruit. Claire brought out a cigarette to light before Sam grabbed it from her. "No way." He said, sternly.

I grinned. Claire may think that this is a small town life, with small people, but she was just too zoomed out. When you get close it was so much more. The bunker wasn't just a place, it was home. It was the place that I learned to count. The first place I met Claire. Our first Christmas with Jack. The place where Grandma came back to us.

I grew up in that bunker, in this town. It may be unconventional, but it belongs to me. It's my life and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Looking at my family laughing, in front of a darkening sky, I knew I wouldn't trade them for anything. We would stay together, the six of us, no matter what I took. Dad looked at me and smiled. We will save you, Daddy. I promise. Even if it takes the last breath in my body, I will not let you rot in that coffin.

His eyes widened for a moment, just long enough for me to question if I was really seeing it, but he quickly adjusted, his face relaxing. He gave me a thumbs up.

"Do you think Clementine would like candy apples?" Jack asked us.

I grinned widely. "You can't give her stuff that isn't cat food, Jackie. It'll make her sick."

He looked down, sadly. "But it's so delicious. She deserves to have something that is this good."

I walked to him, pulling him into a hug. "You can let her lick your fingers when you get home. Then she can try it without getting sick."

"You're so smart, Ellie!" He said, brightening up immediately.

"She sure is." Dad grinned.

We looked up to the dark night sky as fireworks began to explode over our heads. I scooted close to Dad and leaned my head on his shoulder like I'd done every year since I was a little girl, and we watched the fireworks explode. For once since the night Lucifer was killed, things seemed peaceful, like maybe everything would work out.

Maybe.