Hello everyone! I'm sorry it took a while to update, but my nephew and sister came to visit and since they both resided in my room for their stay, I couldn't really write that much... AND I was distracted by my nephew's CUTENESS! And now I'm at my sister's house. I spent yesterday and today cheerily rewriting this chapter while watching my nephew (CUTE!) lol.

I don't own Supernatural! I can't believe we'll be going into our FOURTH season! Time flies!

The following afternoon, Sam and Dean were out near the Impala, preparing for what they had to do that night. Patricia had gone to drop Emma at school, because they was a rehearsal for the play that Emma's class was going to put on. The little girl had insisted, with the help of her teacher, that Patricia could just drop her off, because Emma didn't want her mother to see the show before the big night. So Patricia had come home, and Emma wasn't do home until five thirty.

Dean took out a gun filled with silver bullets, the metal cold against the palm of his hand. He checked to see if the gun was fully loaded, and looked over to see Sam doing the same thing.

"When should we leave?" Sam inquired.

Dean glanced at his brother, and realized that snowflakes were drifting down from the clouds. White specks littered Sam's unruly hair, and his nose was so red that it looked like it could have passed for a clown's nose. Dean would've laughed at him if he wasn't in such a crappy mood.

"When it gets dark," he replied. "Five or five thirty'll be good."

Sam put the gun back into the trunk, and rubbed his hands together furiously. He had never liked the cold weather. Maybe it had something to do with him being born in May. But it didn't seem to faze Dean very much, and if he was bothered by it, he didn't show it. Maybe that had something to do with Dean being born in January… Sam shook his head. He really didn't know—all he knew was that he was freezing his ass off and he wanted to go inside.

The brothers went inside, where a smiling Patricia offered them both a mug of hot chocolate.

"I have to run out to get some groceries," she informed them. "I'll be back in about twenty minutes, okay?"

After she had left, Sam and Dean sat down on the couch. Sam took a long sip of the warm liquid and smiled as it hit the spot. "This people are really nice, Dean," he remarked.

Dean nodded wordlessly, spilling a tiny bit of hot chocolate into his mouth and frowning when it burnt his tongue. He knew he should've waited for it to cool off some more.

"They're so normal," Sam went on.

Dean gave his brother a long look. "Yeah."

Sam took another gulp of his hot chocolate—apparently his was just the right temperature, Dean thought to himself.

Dean scratched the back of his head. "They're good people, yeah. And yeah, they're normal…and that one fact just drives me up the wall."

Sam glanced at him inquisitively. "Why? Why do you let it do that to you? Maybe if you didn't worry about it so much, you could actually have a nice time here."

Dean chuckled. "You know, staying here with Patricia and Emma—man, it's weird. When I'm here, I feel so out of place. I feel so uncomfortable. Because this life—this normal life—it's not where I belong, not anymore. That's why tomorrow, after we're done with this hunt, we're leaving."

Sam frowned, his eyebrows creasing.

When Dean didn't get a response, he looked over to Sam, wondering about the silence was about. He really wished he hadn't, because Sam was giving him a puppy-eyed look that could put all little children to shame. He quickly tore his gaze and stood up, almost spilling his hot chocolate. "Will you quit giving me that look?!"

Sam was confused. "What look?"

Dean shook his head. "That damn puppy-eyes look that you always use when you're trying to force me into having a chick-flick moment!"

Sam let out a huff of breath in amusement. "Sorry. If I knew you'd throw such a fit…" He gave his brother a wide grin.

Dean didn't answer him. He gulped down the rest of his hot chocolate, that was still pretty hot but drinkable. Taking a moment and wishing the hot chocolate was a beer instead, he finally said, "Let's just get this over with, okay?"

"Whatever you say, big brother."

Once it was starting to get dark, Sam and Dean left the house. They didn't get far, however, because they were stopped by Patricia. She had gone to pick up Emma, but hadn't even left the driveway.

Her green eyes were filled with fear, and she looked jittery. She looked up to both of them with tears in her eyes. "I got a—a call from Peter…" She took a deep breath that seemed to shake her entire body.

Dean put two firm hands on her shoulders. "What's wrong, Patricia?"

"Emma," Patricia replied softly. "Peter—Peter, he called to tell me that the rehearsal had let out early, and that Emma was over there right now, and she'd like to stay for dinner."

Sam and Dean exchanged a glance, and Sam saw a glint of something in his brother's eyes. Worry, maybe?

Dean stared at Patricia. "Don't worry about it," he assured her. "We'll bring her home safely."

Patricia took another deep breath, a tear falling unnoticed from her eye. "Please…please do…"

Dean nodded and strode away to the Impala, Sam following closely behind. The younger Winchester couldn't help but notice the tense air that hung around his brother all of a sudden. Sam assumed that this was Dean going into No-One's-Gonna-Die-'Cause-I'm-Gonna-Kill-That-Evil-Sucker mode.

Dean stopped beside the Impala. He threw Sam a look over his shoulder. "Okay, let's waste this evil sucker."

Sam felt a glint of amusement in the back of his mind. Just as he had predicted. It was always the same with Dean. He wanted to protect everyone from everything evil, and he was very protective over the ones that he loved.

Dean bringing the Impala to life jerked Sam out of his thoughts, making him hurry over to the passenger side before Dean left without him.

The light of the full moon illuminated the dark sky in an almost eerie manner. To Dean, it was a sign of what might happen if either one of those little girls were around when Peter transformed. He and Sam went up to the front door, and Dean paused for a moment, listening.

It was much too quiet—almost as if everyone inside was dead already… Dean shook his head, ridding it of the thought. He took his gun out and cocked it, motioning for Sam to do the same. "He must have transformed by now," he whispered to his brother. "So once you see—shoot."

A shrill scream cut the silence, a scream that Dean recognized instantly. He kicked open the door and ran inside, but tripped over something and fell hard on the floor.

"You okay, man?" Sam asked, offering his brother a hand.

Dean sat up and looked at what he had tripped over.

He and Sam both assumed that it was Peter Hammerstone, but they couldn't really recognize him, because the man looked as if he had been ripped to shreds. Strips of skin clung loosely to his bones, and Peter's face could only be described as completely destroyed.

Dean took Sam's hand and stood. "Well…ah… This kinda puts a kink in things…"

Sam nodded solemnly. "Yeah, we were really off-target with this one."

Dean gave his brother a look and opened his mouth to respond, but another scream pierced the air, cutting him off. "Shit," he swore under his breath, running off towards the sound, Sam close at his heels.

They reached a bedroom where they spotted little Emma, sprawled out on the floor. A few feet from her stood a rather small werewolf. If possible, it looked even more hideous than an adult one.

Emma realized that they had come in and her blue eyes widened. There was already a small cut running from her left temple to just below her eye, and a few drops fell from it and ran down her face.

"Uncle Dean!" she cried. "Help me, Uncle Dean! Sophie…Sophie, she turned into…she turned into a monster!"

Dean brought up his gun and aimed it at Sophie, who had also taken notice to his and Sam's presence and was advancing. Dean had the perfect shot, could've ended it right there… But he kept seeing the haunted little girl he had met before. Now he could understand what Sophie had meant about the monster that kept coming back—that monster was her. She was just a little girl, who had a cruel fate shoved onto her shoulders. It kind of reminded Dean of himself, if only a little bit.

He took one hand off the gun and wiped sweat from his brow. "I can't kill a little girl, Sammy! This is insane!"

Sophie continued to come towards them, growling deeply. The once cute little girl was now disfigured, covered with greasy strands of hair, and had long, dark claws that looked like they would hurt like a bitch.

"She's…she's not a little girl anymore!" Sam yelled back, even though he found himself unable to shoot her as well.

Sophie went down on all fours and leapt forward, claws outstretched.

Dean sidestepped, pulling Sam out of the line of fire as well. And Sophie, instead of going after them again, bounded out the bedroom door and ran down the hall.

Dean glanced at Emma again, and again saw the blood on her face, all sympathy for Sophie draining. "I'm gonna kill that bitch," he hissed, beginning to walk out after Sophie.

Sam grabbed his forearm, and Dean shot him a questioning glare.

"She's gonna come back," Sam told him, seriously. "Let her come to us, and then we'll kill her."

"That, is the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my entire life," Dean retorted. "She'll come back?! She's a fucking werewolf, Sam! When she transforms, she turns into a wild animal!"

"She's going to come back," Sam repeated, more firmly. "Settle down."

Dean shook off Sam's hand, went over to Emma and went down on one knee. "Don't worry, Em…" He helped her to her feet and checked out her cut. "Are you okay?"

Emma nodded, looking as if she were fighting back tears. She wrapped her little arms around Dean's neck, hugging him tightly while trembling. "I was so scared, Uncle Dean!"

"Don't worry," Dean repeated soothingly as he rubbed Emma's back. "Me and Sam will take care of this. I'll protect you."

Emma stepped back. "Then you and Uncle Sammy are going to leave?"

Sam's eyebrows shot up. Uncle Sammy?! That's so weird… She seems to be so much more attached to Dean than me… I though I was going to be 'Mr. Sammy' to her…, Sam thought to himself.

Dean smiled slightly, knowing now that Sam couldn't tease him about his uncle title anymore. "Yes, we'll be leaving after we get rid of the monster."

"You're—you're leaving? But…but Uncle Dean…all the monsters…they're…they're always around… I don't want you to go!" Emma exclaimed, more tears filling up in her eyes, but she didn't let them loose, not yet. "Uncle Dean… Uncle Dean…I need you!"

Dean completely froze. After all these months, he had finally heard it. Those three words spoken in sincerity that would prove that the demon was wrong. Sure, the demon had said that it was John and Sam who didn't need him, but right now he knew that someone truly needed him. And that person was this little girl standing in front of him right now. He stared into her teary blue eyes, and knew she really did mean it.

He felt something run from his eye and down his face, and quickly realized what it was.

That's when Emma let go of the tears in her eyes. "Uncle Dean…don't cry…," she sniffled. She took her little thumb and wiped the single tear from Dean's face, a motion that Dean himself had done for her several times before.

"Thank you," Dean whispered, looking down.

Sam didn't have the heart to break up this little moment, but he didn't have to. A loud howl sounded into the night, and 'Sophie' appeared in the doorway once again. Since Sam was the closest to her, she decided to take him out first.

She raked a claw across his chest and threw him back with surprising strength. Sam slammed into the wall so hard, he was unconscious before he hit the ground.

Dean pushed Emma away from him, hopefully towards safety. "Sam!" he shouted before training his gun once again on Sophie. But once again his hands shook. He couldn't keep the gun straight…he couldn't kill a little girl—even when she was twisted out of her original form. Dean blinked several times, trying to make himself pull the trigger. He took a deep breath, licking his lips and aiming carefully, pulling the trigger.

The bullet ripped into Sophie's shoulder, and she howled in pained rage. The werewolf's eyes bored into Dean, growling as she backhanded him, making his head snap around so fast, he thought that it would break off. Sophie then punned him to the ground and slammed his head on the floor.

Dean closed his eyes against the pain, angry with himself for missing a simple shot. He would've shot her again, but he had dropped his gun when Sophie backhanded him. He could even move, she was much too strong. She clawed him hard on the shoulder and slammed him into the floor again. When Dean didn't fall unconscious, she tried again. And again and again until Dean finally fell into the darkness. The last thing Dean heard was Emma's painfully familiar scream—but this time it was different. She was screaming for him—she was screaming for Sophie to stop hurting him…

ahhhh there we go... I don't know when the next chapter will be up since i'm still at my sister's. I have to write on my CRAPPY laptop... seriously, it sucks. it doesn't even have a floppy A drive.. and it always needs to be plugged in because the batteries run out so fast... and it only has like, a 15 gig hard drive. it just sucks...

But anyway, I definitely have more ideas as to what to do next with this story! YES! lots of ideas! (kinda) I'm very excited.

Popo wants to be clicked! if he's not clicked, he'll DIE! Seriously, it's like oxygen for him.

Please stay tuned!