"Sam, this crop stuff is just about a bunch of nerds who never had a girlfriend their whole lives." Dean explained, driving down the road toward Roswell, New Mexico. "They're like thirty now. They make up secret codes and analyze Greek mythology and make secret societies where other guys who never had girlfriends can join in. They do stupid crap like this to feel special. It's a scam. Nerds were doin' it twenty five years ago and new nerds are doing it again."

"When has it ever just been static, Dean?" His brother rebutted, equally committed to his opinion. "It's never just a bunch of nerds who can't get girlfriends. It's never just frequency. It has to be some kind of code."

Natalie, who was listening intently from her car seat, spoke up. "Why can't they get girlfriends?"

"Because the nerds are too busy, sweetheart." Her father replied from the front seat.

"So you're a nerd, daddy?"

Dean smiled with amusement glancing at her through the rear-view mirror. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you don't have a girlfriend."

"You're the only girl I need in my life, Natalie Winchester. Don't you forget that."


Dean was deeply buried in a book about Ancient Latin prefixes, feigning fascination, when a small hand stuck a piece of paper under his nose. He looked up to find Natalie standing beside his chair, her eyes motioning for him to take the paper she held out.

It read, in her childish handwriting,

Words A

Math C

Cats D

Guns C

"What is this, honey?" Dean looked up at her, moving his arms when she started to climb onto his lap to sit on the open book with her socked feet on his knees.

"It's my report card."

He furrowed his eyebrows, reading the paper again and saying in his most serious voice, "It says you have a C in Guns. What happened there? Math and Cats I understand, but Guns?!"

"Well," She started to explain with her eyes lowered. "I shot the cat. That's why I have a D for them. And I got a C for shooting the cat."

Dean covered his mouth with his hand, trying to hold back the wide grin that started up a deep laugh which would surely show when he spoke. "I'm still proud of you. Wanna know why?"

Her face brightened at his lack of disappointment. "Because you love AC/DC daddy!"


"Addo, watch out!" Natalie screeched at the top of her lungs when Adam stepped into the living room. She clutched the pillow on the couch, watching her Uncle with wide eyes. "The floor is lava. If you step on it, you'll die."

Adam decided to play along and held onto the wall. "Where do I step then?"

"Here!" She flung the pillow she was holding toward him so it landed close to where he stood. "Jump on that."

"Oh-kay," Adam hesitantly breathed pretending to contemplate the jump though the pillow was just two feet away. With overly dramatized actions, he landed on the small pillow, wavering and flailing his arms in circles at his side. "What do I do now?"

Nat ran across the length of the couch, reaching over the armrests to reach the large objects on the crowded shelves which lined the living room walls. "I can't find anything, Addo."

"How about that book?" He pointed out the thick book on the coffee table.

Nat picked it up in her small hands, grunting at the weight of its heavy pages. "I can't throw this to you."

"Slide it across the floor."

She did as he said, sitting on her knees with her butt in the air as she leaned down over the couch to slide the book towards him. And, with bated breath on his niece's part, Adam stepped onto the book, reaching back to grab the pillow. He threw it a little way ahead of him to close the space between him and the couch.

"Be careful, Addo. Don't fall into the lava."

"I don't think I can make it, rebird. It's a long jump."

"You can do it." She thrust her hand out towards him. "Just grab my hand and I'll pull you."

"Are you sure? I'm really heavy."

"I'm sure." Natalie said resolutely. "I love you so much and I won't let you fall into the lava."

With one large jump, even though it wasn't necessary, Adam let out a fearful shout as he took Nat's small hand in his, breathing heavily as he lay against the couch. "That was soo close."

"I have to tell you a secret, Addo." Natalie leaned forward, cupping her hand over his ear. "There's no lava. It was all pretend."

Adam ruffled her hair. "You sure fooled me, redbird."


Of all the places in Washington D.C. that Natalie could go to, she chose the National Cathedral. Dean had to just about sprint up the white steps to catch her before she broke through the large wooden doors and disturbed the reverent silence inside.

"Why do you want to go in here?" he asked, sitting the young girl on the steps outside. "Wouldn't you rather see the giant pencil or the giant Abe Lincoln?"

Of all the giant things in the tiny city, Dean Winchester's daughter wanted to go into a church. A church.

"I thought I'd get to see Uncle Cas inside."

"Sorry to break it to you honey but Uncle Cas isn't…" Dean caught himself, drawing his sentence back into his throat when he realized the intensity of how his daughter hung onto his every word. "What the hey," He shrugged finally. "We can go in but you have to promise to be quiet, okay? If you're loud the nuns will punish you. They carry long yard sticks around and they aren't afraid to use 'em."

Natalie quickly nodded, clasping her father's hand tightly as they entered the dim cathedral. She was so preoccupied with scanning the crowds of tourists for mean looking old ladies armed with long sticks that Nat missed the lighted candles breathing sweet incense out and the statues of the Saints who all looked like women. She did in fact notice one thing high above her head.

"Daddy," she began inaudibly, tugging at his sleeve until the tall hunter crouched down to hear what she was saying, his eyes following where her finger pointed. "Why are there lasers shining through the windows?"

Dean chuckled. "Those are stain-glassed windows."

"Can't they clean it so it won't be stained?"

"Well, if they did that then it wouldn't be colorful anymore."

"Maybe the nuns will beat the stain out but keep the color."

"Maybe you're right." He led her out of the Cathedral. "Where do you want to go next?"

She thought for a moment, poising her pointer finger under her chin. "Uncle Sammy said there was a giant library."

"Of course Uncle Sammy said that." Dean rolled his eyes, looking down at Nat as she jumped down one step at a time.

"But Addo said that there was an airplane museum too."

"Now you're talkin'." He muttered beneath his breath, swooping down and securing his daughter under his arm while running down to the sidewalk making airplane noises all the way back to the Impala.


If there was one thing Natalie Winchester could do it was setting people straight. Whether it be her father or her Uncle Bobby or random strangers, she knew what to do.

"You look weird." A girl at the playground sneered and pointed at the monkey hat Nat wore on atop her head in the middle of July.

In reply, Natalie countered with, "I feel sorry for you, you don't know how to have fun,"

And when Bobby sat down to give her 'the talk,' she knew exactly how to handle the situation. "Uncle Bobby, this better be the talk explaining the difference between a revolver and a pistol because I still haven't gotten that shit figured out." Needless to say, she got slapped across the head for unnecessary language.

But when she adamantly stuck to her guns, insisting that she would get married despite Dean's warnings, Natalie set things straight by walking out the door to the sound of her father telling her to "never come back."


The next and final chapter will be an idea from lolsmileyface6! I really can't believe that we've come this far :) without your support and your ideas and interest, this story would have been abandoned fifteen chapters ago!