A/N: Thanks for the reviews and I'm so relieved to hear that a lot of you like Dean as a father and like his interactions with the girls. I've been so nervous writing those parts! Thanks for the support! But now things are really going to start rolling...

"Dean, should I call Mom?" Rebecca asked after another five minutes had gone by. Her stepfather was sitting at the kitchen table, repeatedly running his hands through his hair so that now it stuck up like he'd been electrocuted. He was mumbling under his breath but Rebecca wasn't getting closer to finding out what he was saying or if he was even making any sense. She had washed her dishes and cleaned up the kitchen without being asked and if that wasn't enough to imply she was freaking out about Dean freaking out, she had her cellphone in hand, one painted fingernail over the button that would call her mother.

"No," he mumbled. "Don't call anyone." He stared at her phone as if seeing right through it before his eyes focused and he sat up straight. "Give me your phone," he said, holding out his hand.

"No," Rebecca said, holding it to her chest and giving him a look that suggested he had just asked her to sacrifice her first born.

"Rebecca, give me the phone," he all but growled, standing up and snatching the phone from the teen's hands.

"What the hell?" she screeched, all father-daughter bonding moments gone in the same instant.

"Go to your room," Dean ordered. Rebecca folded her arms tight across her chest, gaze turning cold. She didn't see what the big deal was. Dean was acting weird over some random dude showing up at the house. He wasn't just acting weird, he was completely losing it.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong," she demanded. Dean scowled and she took a step back. He was actually pretty scary when he got mad, not that she had seen Dean mad. In fact, this was probably the angriest she had ever seen him, next to that time Kayleigh had spilled an entire container of glitter in the front seat of Dean's car, the Impala or whatever. Even then he had just pressed his lips together and spent four hours in the garage with the vacuum and roll of paper towels.

"For once just do what you're told," Dean said, pointing down the hall. "Go to your room and do not come out until I tell you."

"I didn't do anything," she whined, her voice lilting up an octave.

"I know," he said and she watched as he shut her phone off completely and stuck it in his pocket.

"Then why am I in trouble?"

"You're not!" Dean took a deep breath and tried again, "You're not in trouble. I just need you to go to your room."

"Fine," Rebecca said and she turned on her heel, making a dramatic exit that ended with a slammed door. But Dean had already locked the back door that led into the yard and moved onto the door connected to the garage. It wasn't until he was at the front door that he said anything.

"Alright Cas," he said to the ceiling. "I know you're listening you bastard, so you might as well show up." Dean waited not so patiently, watching the door to Rebecca's room. If anything happened to his family…

"Hello, Dean."

"What are you doing here?" Dean asked the angel who had materialized in front of him without a sound.

"I think the appropriate response to my greeting is another hello," Cas said, not quite frowning but not smiling either. He was unshaven by a couple days and his hair was shorter than the last time Dean had seen him but he wore a white button down with khaki pants, looking every part of the civilian he was not.

"What is going on?" Dean growled. On his way locking the house down, he had grabbed a gun and Ruby's knife, both tucked into the waistband of his pants, not that either would do any good on an angel. "We had a deal," Dean continued. "You were supposed to leave me alone. It's too dangerous for you to be here. I don't need you leading anything supernatural to my family."

"That's why I am here." Cas said in his low voice. Those blue eyes darted down the hall where Dean's stepdaughter was brooding. "Someone's found you. I'm trying to protect you."

"Who found me?" Dean said.

"I don't know yet," Cas said. "It might be angels or it might be demons."

"This house is warded," Dean protested. "I made sure nothing could get in." Castiel rolled his eyes over to Dean and said in a condescending tone,

"You should have done a better job. You've gotten lazy." It took all of Dean's will power not to backhand the angel across the face.

"Listen to me, Cas. I've got two little girls in this house that need to be protected. You were supposed to be watching this house from afar. You owed me that!"

"I owe you nothing," Cas snarled, taking a step toward Dean who in turn leaned away, feeling uncomfortable for the first time since the angel had shown up. The two stared at each other for a solid minute before Cas looked away. "I don't know what is hunting you, Dean, but I came here to warn you. And to get you out of here."

"Where are we supposed to go?" Dean said.

"The Bunker," Cas said as if it was obvious.

"I can't take them there," Dean said. Opening his old world to his daughters would be a one-way ticket to scaring them out of his life forever. Not to mention Liz had made him promise to never bring up hunting again, which he had been happy to do. Dean had shut that door over a year ago and for the first time in his life, he was okay with not being a Hunter. More than okay. Dean appreciated his new life and woke up most mornings grateful that someone somewhere had decided to give him a second chance to do things right.

"You have no other choice," Cas said. "It's the only place that will keep them completely safe." Dean was silent. He knew Cas was right but it didn't make the decision easier. If anything, it bothered him that the angel had just shown up here all of a sudden with some high and mighty plan to save Dean's family from whatever supernatural thing was coming after them. Protecting them was Dean's job, not Cas's.

"Dean, what's going on?"

Rebecca had come out of her room, arms still crossed but her face was hesitant and she even looked a little frightened, even more so after she saw Castiel standing in her living room.

"That's the guy," she said, stopping before she got any closer. "That's the guy that was asking for you."

"Hello, Rebecca," Cas said. Her eyes narrowed.

"How do you know my name?"

"I'm an -," Cas started but Dean finished the sentence for him.

"He's an old friend."

"Why is he here?"

"He came to help me out with something. It's okay. He's friendly." The angel gave the teenager a smile that was more creepy than anything else, like he was trying too hard to contort his face. She scrunched up her nose and rolled her eyes, directing her attention back to Dean.

"Can I have my phone back?"

"No," he said. "Go pack a bag with a couple changes of clothes for you and your sister. And whatever you need for a couple days away."

"Where are we going?"

"Road trip," Dean said and the look on his face was so serious that Rebecca left without comment.

"Where are the others?" Castiel wanted to know. "Your wife and little one?"

"Piano lesson," Dean said. "They should be home in an hour or so."

"We can't wait that long."

"Well I'm not leaving them," Dean snapped. "So we're going to have to." Cas followed him as he traipsed to his study where he kept the guns. He tapped in the passcode and started pulling firearms out and inspecting each one, throwing a few into his old duffel bag that he kept in the same room. Ruby's knife he kept close to him as well as his favorite pistol.

As he bent to pull the hidden flasks out of the cabinet, his vision went blurry for a second and he swayed against the doorframe.

"Dean?"

"'m fine," he muttered. "Head rush." When he had turned off Rebecca's cell in the kitchen he had also disabled his own so that no one could activate the GPS trackers in them so he had no way to reach Liz. All he could do was wait until she came back.

"Dean, we must go," Cas urged again Dean threw the duffel into the trunk of the Impala, throwing the tarp that usually covered his car into a corner of the garage. "Something's close, I can feel it." Dean shot him a worried look but shook his head.

"I can't leave Liz."

"You would rather risk all our lives?"

"I didn't ask you to stay," Dean said sharply. "Feel free to leave at any time."

"You are just as foolish as before," Cas said. Dean was about to hurl an insult back when there was a scream from inside the house.

"Rebecca!" Dean yelled, sprinting back into the house and down the hallway. The sight that met him was one matched only by his worst nightmare.

A tall man with skin the color of black coffee held Rebecca in a tight grip, one hand around her throat while the other grasped a knife with teeth the size of Dean's fingers.

"Dean," Rebecca whimpered, tears already staining her cheeks. Glass crackled beneath their feet as the man took a step backward toward the open window, dragging Dean's stepdaughter with him.

"Let her go," Dean said. "It's not her you want. It's me. You and I both know that." The man grinned, displaying two gold teeth. When his head cocked to the side, his eyes flickered to black and Dean's grip on Ruby's knife tightened. The demon hadn't glanced at it once; he wasn't the least bit scared of the ex-hunter or the angel standing next to him.

"That's where you're wrong, Dean Winchester," the demon said, his voice surprisingly silky for such a rough looking man. "I want everything that's yours. You would just be a bonus." Rebecca whimpered again then gasped as the man's fingers tightened around her throat. Dean leaned forward as Cas took a step closer, wielding an angel blade in his right hand.

"Don't come any closer," the demon said. "Or you know what happens." Dean had been in this position enough times to know exactly what was going to happen. They were going to stand there in a stalemate until the demon took action, either by leaving with Rebecca or killing her and fleeing. So Dean made a move first, diving forward, Cas still at his elbow.

Dean didn't go for the demon or even for Rebecca but for the knife. He just wanted to get his daughter as far away from it as possible. His hands found purchase on the demon's wrist but the man's grip was strong and Dean struggled to twist the knife away. Meanwhile, Cas had managed to wrangle Rebecca away from the demon and had her across the room.

"Stupid Winchester," the demon said but Dean wasn't as out of shape as he thought and managed to put enough weight behind his actions to snap the demon's wrist. The man wailed and stumbled back a step but recovered as Dean leapt forward, Ruby's knife outstretched. The demon had just enough time to give an evil glint of his eye before he tilted his head back and exited his host body. Just in time for Dean to sink his knife into a living, breathing human being.

The body fell against the wall and Dean fell with it, blood seeping out of the chest wound and soaking his hand. He stumbled for a second, desperate to get away from the dead man and then righted himself.

"Are you injured?" Cas asked, once again at his side. Dean took quick inventory; besides a pounding in his head he was fine.

"I'm fine. Not this guy, though," he said, bumping the body with the toe of his shoe.

"Not our problem," Cas said coldly.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked Rebecca who was pressed up against the opposite side of the room. Although her tears had stopped, she was staring from Dean to the bloody knife in Dean's hand to the dead man sprawled on her bedroom floor. She was bleeding from a few cuts on one side of her face but seemed surprised when Dean pointed them out.

"From the glass," Cas said, taking a closer look. "Just superficial. She's fine." Dean ignored him.

"I know you're probably really scared right now," Dean said. "And I'm so sorry, Rebecca. But there are more people after us and we need to get out of here." She turned her terrified gaze from the corpse to Dean.

"I want my mother," she said and it was the last thing Dean expected to hear from her.

"I know," he said. "Listen, Cas is going to take you somewhere safe and I'm going to wait for your mother and sister and come later. Okay?" But when Cas reached out for the girl, she shied away, cowering against the wall.

"Don't touch me," she said shrilly. "I'm not going with some stranger. Someone just tried to kill me."

"I know," Dean said again but Rebecca wasn't done.

"And then you killed him. You killed someone, Dean. In my room. And it was all after this guy showed up out of nowhere. So no, I'm not going with him." Dean heard Cas make a noise behind him and turned around.

"What?"

"She's very intelligent," Cas said. "She reminds me of Sam." Dean's head throbbed and he rubbed his forehead with his non-bloody palm. He turned back to Rebecca.

"I promise you that Cas is not going to hurt you. He's going to keep you safe."

"I want you to keep me safe," she said, surprising him again. He would of thought she would be petrified of Dean after seeing him sink a knife into some guy's heart. He had expected her to be frightened, angry, confused, but she was looking at him only with pleading eyes.

Protect me, they said.

"Dean," Cas started.

"Shut up," Dean said. "I'm thinking." But his head was exploding with pain and his thoughts kept slipping away before he could do anything with them.

"Fine," Dean said through gritted teeth a minute later. "Cas, go do a sweep of the town and tell me where Liz and Kayleigh are. We might have to go get them." Rebecca's eyes widened when Cas disappeared in front of her. She looked to Dean for an explanation but he had sunk onto her bed and was rubbing his eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. Did you pack your stuff?" She shook shards of glass off the top of her overnight bag in which she had stuffed clothes for her and her sister as well as a toothbrush, a hairbrush and other essentials. As an afterthought, she had thrown in her sister's favorite stuffed animal, a ratty looking dog she had had since she was a baby. Otherwise she would never hear the end of it when it came time to go to bed. All that seemed trivial now though. Who needed a toothbrush when you had just been almost strangled and knifed by an intruder?

"Jesus Christ," Dean groaned from a couple feet away, the knife beside him on the bed as he cradled his head in both his hands. It felt like someone had lit a fire in his skull.

"Dean?" He didn't answer and she had no idea what to do. Here she was standing in her destroyed bedroom with her stepfather who looked like he was dying. Rebecca had read about things like brain aneurysms and she was smart enough to know something was very wrong. Was she supposed to call 911? Or wait for the Castiel guy to come back? She just didn't know. She was about to start crying all over again when Cas appeared with a rustling pop, face grim.

"Bad news. I couldn't find them. Dean, what's wrong?" Without glancing at her, Castiel knelt before Dean who was now almost completely folded over at the waist. "Dean what is it?" The Hunter muttered something that Rebecca couldn't detect.

"We need to get out of here," Cas said a moment later, standing up.

"What's wrong with him?" Rebecca asked.

"I don't know."

"Who was that guy?" she said.

"I don't know." Rebecca huffed.

"What do you know?" Cas narrowed his eyes at the young girl; she was certainly Dean's daughter, from the glare in her eyes to the sarcastic flavoring of her words.

"Get your stuff," he said, disappearing and reappearing a second later with a beat up duffel bag. "We're leaving."

"Where are we going?"

"You ask too many questions," he told her before reaching out to grip both her and Dean at the same time. The floor lurched beneath her feet and then everything went black.

xxx

One minute Dean was talking to Rebecca and the next he was lost somewhere in a maze of pain. He had never felt a pain quite like it; it felt like someone was probing through his brain with white-hot coals for fingers. He felt his body sit down and then he heard a distant voice that might have been Rebecca's but the scene in front of him was gone. Everything was distorted and blurry and Dean had the distinct memory of staring into one of those kaleidoscope toy things as a child.

The pain faded to a sharp throbbing and Dean picked up his head. But he wasn't in his house anymore and Cas and Rebecca weren't anywhere in sight.

Instead, he was in a non-descript motel room, sitting on some random bed and there was a figure sitting at the table across the room, his back to Dean.

"What the hell?" Dean muttered, shaking his head to get rid of the lingering pain. It went nowhere. The figure, which came more into focus as the seconds ticked by, turned at the sound of Dean's voice. The voice that came next was one Dean hadn't heard in five years, one he had never expected to hear again at any point in his life and maybe not even after that.

"Hey, Dean."

"Sam?"