Okay, so I will preface this by saying that I am a dog lover through and through. However, back when I wrote the duckling oneshot, someone mentioned a Dean story with a cat and for whatever reason, this happened. Nice fluffy story this week (literally!)

Rebel8954, Yep, no Dean AU I write will ever have a loving father (biologically speaking at least, since there's always Papa Reigns). Yeah, I'm on the same wavelength about when/if Robert comes back. I'm thinking they will have to work together on something etc. Lots of tension and friction and all that good stuff!

SkittlezLvr79, I like to see Dean's dad in this series as one of (if not the main) reason that Dean became a cop. He wants to be nothing like his old man at all...for obvious reasons! I have a few ideas for the return of Robert bouncing around, but either in a multi chapter short or a full length story…

Cheryl24, Thanks, I'm glad you liked that last one! People have been asking me to do something with Dean's family/past for a while and I couldn't resist the idea of crappy Daddy Ambrose! Good guess about the blind date in this one, but no...although maybe in a way it's a little like that? With a twist though!

Wolfgirl2013, Thank you!

Mandy, Aww, sorry about the personal standpoint on the last one. Families. Can't live with them, can't live without them. Glad you're feeling better though. Feeling unproductive is the worst, I go by the motto 'something every day' even if it's not a lot/good. Glad I gave you the real cop vibes in the last one...this one is more our boys being our boys!

Womenwrestling010, Aww, thank you very much. I hope you like this instalment too, even this is more cute than dramatic (I hope)!

Skovko, Yup, this AU's Daddy Ambrose is just another reason why Dean needs Seth and Roman so much and why he sees them as his real family. Probably also why he has such a weird but fatherly bond with Vince too, because his own pop was a disaster zone!

Derick Lindsey, Yeah, I kind of felt like Dean's dad has to come back. Like a bad penny! With regards Dean's girl, I'm not really sure if she fits in this world in a living sense. I like to think she's more effective as a sort of semi mystical, flashback memory figure. Like, we see her as Dean saw her more than as she really was perhaps? I kind of see her as a combination of Renee and Lauren in my Lauren stories though, or she would be basically like that if that helps?

Minnie1015, Haha, the game they played at the beginning was basically just to give them something to do in a diner so I could have Dean throwing food down his front like a baby and also so they could stumble on Robert's obituary. My mum used to go through the obituaries each week when she was a community nurse too to see if she knew anyone because she nursed a lot of elderly people. Seemed similar (sort of!)

Not-that-kinda-gurl, Yep, that last one was a bit of a heartbreaker. Got another of those coming up in a few weeks too, but interspersed with fluff and drama and fun (I hope!)

New member of the team coming up...

Here Kitty Kitty

The kennels were pretty much overflowing with pooches. Big ones, black ones, brown ones and white ones. Ones that were quiet and a bunch that would not shut up. There were old ones, happy ones, little puppy dog ones and grumpy ones, to the point that Dean could feel his head spinning with woofs and not mention with Seth and Roman who were stood in the shelter with him, being no help whatsoever.

"Hey come and check out this one man."

Blinking up from a bulldog that was slumped in one corner looking every inch like some sort of middle aged blackout drunk, Dean found Seth poking a finger through some meshing and tickling what appeared to be the lovechild of a rat and potentially a snow white colored, living toilet brush.

Dean wrinkled his nose in response to it,

"The fuck is that?"

"It's a Chipoo man."

"A what?"

Seth rolled his eyes wearily, as if the breed of the tiny little beast yipping in front of them — because yeah, nothing said please take me home quite like that — should have been obvious to everyone around him. Or at the very least to his brother.

"A Chihuahua poodle mix. See? Because first you got the curly style coat of the poodle which is good because it doesn't really shed a whole lot and you also got the brains, because poodles are smart dude and then from the Chihuahua you get…"

"A glorified rat?"

Seth narrowed brown eyes at him,

"I was going to say loyalty and a lack of complex health issues, but go ahead Dean, laugh it up. Because for your information I was against this in the first place. You were the one that begged me to come help because you think it's a good idea to get a freaking puppy even though we all know you won't have time to take care of one. Not with the hours we work and…"

Dean put his hands over his earlobes and blew a husky groan out,

"Ugh, alright alright. Geez man, m' sorry I made fun of the creepy rat dog. Now please oh pissy oracle tell me more about their brain power and their fluffy coats an' shit."

Seth huffed,

"No, screw you Dean."

Great.

Rolling his eyes Dean turned back into the corridor, which was literally a long row of identical wire doors and then landed on a large tattooed figure stood adrift from them, possibly pretending he had no clue who they were and peering with intensity into a kennel. Dean yelled at him,

"Hey uce, our baby brother is bein' a brat. Says he won't tell me 'bout rat poos or somethin'."

Seth rolled his eyes again.

"Chipoos man."

"Yeah that. Seth won't tell me 'bout the Chipoo things. Roman?"

Perhaps he really was trying to ignore them after all, considering that their powerhouse stayed hunkered down before the kennel instead of stepping in to break the bickering up, which was pretty much his role in their quirky family grouping. Besides being their resident muscle and an all round badass of course. Exchanging a look, Dean and Seth crossed in towards him which thankfully meant leaving the chipoo behind. Because as open as Dean was to any shape, size or description, he drew the line at having to walk a small white loofa on a leash and so was therefore in the market for something more…

Manly?

Although luckily it seemed as though Roman agreed, based on the way he then proudly waved them over like a kid in toy store.

"Hey uce, look at this."

"D' ya find me a dog over here dude?" Dean chirped brightly as he sauntered his way over, expecting something medium sized and possibly floppy eared, like the dog from out of Up perhaps or like, Homeward Bound or something.

Except…

"Oh holy fuck."

Roman had found him a freaking horse.

No really. There was a god damn pony staring back at him through the mesh, looking more hang dog than a literal hang dog and with more skin and jowls than any one pooch could need. So much so the excess flab was pulling down its eyelids and there was also a hunk of drool hanging off the slobbering jaws. But okay, there was something pretty cool about it, because maybe he could ride it around the streets like a steed or use it to frighten bad guys into surrendering. It could be his police dog or…

"This is Daisy."

He blinked.

"What?"

Roman was still hunkered low down beside her, but he was tapping on the papers beside the cage door as he did and sure enough there it was written in black and white indelible. Her name was freaking Daisy.

He threw his hands up,

"Oh come on, I mean how am I meant to scare the bad guys yellin' Daisy? I need a Killer or a Brutus or a Cujo here you know?"

"Bad guys?"

"Uh…no?"

Dean scratched his head awkwardly as Seth glared up from his bent position on the floor, since he too had lowered to give Daisy a scritching and okay, barring the name thing she was admittedly pretty cute. If the three hundred pound lovechild between a hippo and a canine could ever technically be really classed as cute.

"Hold up man, I thought you were here for a companion, so what the hell are you talking about chasing down bad guys for?"

Dean shrugged,

"I dunno, but you can never be too careful."

"Plus he does get himself kidnapped a hell of a lot," Roman put in helpfully as he clambered back upright and then chuckled at the tongue childishly poking back his way, "So maybe a big old guard dog is the perfect way to go here?"

"And he is supposed to fit that in his apartment exactly how?" Seth responded hotly, throwing a hand towards Daisy who they all looked at in acknowledgement.

Oh.

Dean blinked,

"Okay, so I mean, like, maybe somethin' smaller then?"

"Like a chi…"

He put a finger up in brisk warning.

"Nope."

"So then why don't you go and pick out a dog that you like babe?" Roman offered sensibly.

But then that was the point. Dean had no clue what kind of animal he wanted and had only plumped for dogs because they seemed the perfect choice — besides all the pooping and his not having a real backyard bit — and besides which his girl had freaking loved dogs and since it was her that he was trying to fill the void of, it had to be something cuddly and cute. Hence the whole reason he had dismissed the idea of gerbils, not to mention geckos, parakeets and tropical fish as well. Because he needed a pet that he could chill with on the sofa and that could sleep on his bed.

It freaking had to be a pooch.

But the more and more he wandered up and down the kennels, the more confused and kind of pent up he got. Because it suddenly seemed like a freaking huge decision and he was paranoid about picking the wrong kind of dog.

Or any dog really.

Because how could they replace her and how could any living thing fill in that gap?

Fuck.

There was a door at the end of the lengthy kennel block which led out towards the paddocks and where the farmyard animals were and suddenly needing to grab a himself a breather, Dean stepped through it and back out into the early summer sun, before leaning back hard against the concrete of the building and then tipping his head up.

"I mean, you think m' crazy for doin' this right?" a beam of sunlight hit his face and he snorted, "Oh I get it. I bet you're laughin' real hard at me up there, ain't that right beautiful?"

"Meow."

"The fuck?" Dean glanced down again and was surprised to see a large tabby cat peering back up, with it's head tipped on one side like it thought he was mad or something. Which maybe he was since he was stood alone outside, freaking out about being at an animal shelter, staring up into the clouds and god damn talking to himself.

Except not himself really.

"Shoo."

He poked it with a boot tip and in response it blinked and then promptly lay down before rolling itself in a warm patch of sunlight the way that he did in his bedsheets when he was super freaking tired. In terms of its size it was a pretty unusually big cat and seriously, were their steroids in the water or some shit? Because first the giant horse dog and now a hulking kitty? Had they stumbled on a top secret government testing lab?

It was long haired, in fact almost too long haired to be honest, with tiny little black tufts on the tips of its ears and with big pale eyes that stared back at him unblinking, which was totally reassuring and comforting.

Not.

Clearing his throat and trying to ignore it — since clearly trying to shoo it was no freaking good — he got back to the business that the unwanted feline had so rudely interrupted.

Ahem.

Now where was he again?

Oh, right.

"So if you could like, give me a sign or somethin' beautiful," he offered out hopefully peering back up at the sky, "Or like, point to right freakin' dog here or somethin' then….hey, come on dude, will you freakin' knock it off?"

Hulk cat was rubbing around his legs like a cheap date, having at some point peeled itself back up out of the sun and presumably with the sole purpose of making him uncomfortable. Because seriously, the thing would not leave him alone. Frowning, Dean took an awkward sidestep away from it.

Except it followed him.

"Meow."

"Look man," he sighed, "M' here to get a freakin' pet dog alright dude? M' not really a cat kinda person. Never was. Too many claws an' eatin' birds an' that shit you know? So how about goin' an' makin' eyes at someone else?"

He went to step away again and of course the cat followed — which a teeny tiny part of him kind of weirdly admired — but was stopped by the sound of someone nearby gasping, which put his long time police senses of sudden red alert, since noises like that were often followed by gunshots or screaming or crying…

"Meow."

Or, evidently, a huge and impossible freaking cat.

"Oh my, is that Lucifer?"

"Huh?"

Dean blinked up in bewilderment and then right into the face of a pretty young girl, who had been in the process of leading a horse out from the stable block but who had pretty much stopped dead on seeing the cat, which had taken up position near enough on his boot tip and was licking a paw without a care in the word. The girl beamed,

"Wow, you must be honored, Lucifer never goes up to total strangers, in fact she has a reputation for being kind of mean."

Dean frowned,

"Hold up, are you talkin' about this thing?"

Between them they both looked down towards the puss, which was blinking back up at them like a cherub or something and making a deep and contented sounding purring sound.

The pretty blonde nodded,

"She's as mean as they come alright, everyone here has had a whack or two from her. I mean, she even bit a visitor once and they were that close to putting her to sleep over the whole thing," she held up her thumb and finger then brought them together to show how dire the situation clearly was and absently Dean lowered down into a hunker and then started to pet through the long tabby fur, "They gave up all hope of rehoming her after that one and so I guess she just sort of lives here at the shelter now."

Dean blinked.

Huh.

"So lemme get this straight here. What you're sayin' is that people won't take a chance on this lil' gal because she's not one of those floozy cats that loves everyone? An' because she likes to kinda choose who her friends are instead of pimpin' herself out?"

The shelter worked paused,

"Um…"

"Because for your information," Dean offered back in outrage, "All you need is one person, or, maybe like, two to turn a grumpy jackass around an' make 'em better, an' I should know too because I freakin' was one."

"Meow."

The demon kitty nuzzled his hand in confirmation and for a second it was like Dean was looking at himself. Or, okay, so not exactly because he wasn't a stray cat and nor had he bitten anyone. Recently. But other than that they were pretty well suited and especially when it came to the not liking people stuff. Or not liking some people. Because others were okay he guessed and speaking of which...

"Hey Roman," a voice called out, sharp and nasally recognizable immediately, "I found him. Geez man, what are you doing out here? Me and the big guy thought you had vanished and, hey is that a cat?"

"Pfft."

Lucifer arched up her back and so Dean tickled her a little bit harder beneath the chin fluff and then scolded her kind of like a parent with a child. Or else like a man with a cat. Which he wasn't. Because that was the problem. He didn't have any pets.

"Hey, easy dude. This is Seth. We like Seth. I mean, we didn't for a while. In fact we kinda hated him to tell the truth. But it's totally good now."

His younger brother frowned at him,

"Dean, what…"

Although thankfully the confusion was broken up by Roman who emerged from the kennel block at a trotting pace and then blew a breath out in evident relief, like he actually been worrying about the copper blonde or something. Which was totally unnecessary. Or okay, maybe not, since his earlier point about Dean getting kidnapped and stalked and beaten up had pretty much been on the nose. He grinned and in response Lucifer made her little purr noise. Because who didn't love Roman?

"You okay out here babe? Been making a new friend, huh?"

Dean grinned,

"Uce, this is Lucifer. Lucifer, this is the big dog, but like, don't worry or anything, it's just a nickname he has or whatever, because really he's more like a big freakin' teddy bear. Except, maybe don't tell him I told you about that part."

"Lucifer, huh?"

Roman crouched down to scritch her and in response the choosy tabby gave his hand a little sniff and then graciously allowed him to tickle along her jawline. Although she straight up tried to take a literal swipe from out of Seth.

"Pfft."

"Oh come on. She likes everyone but me?"

Dean shrugged,

"Nah, she kinda hates everyone, she like, freakin' bit someone or somethin' this one time, an' so now they think she won't ever get a home an' shit. I guess they gave up on her or somethin' like that."

"Can't think why man," Seth offered back deadpan, rubbing at the claw marks on the back of his knuckles and then glaring as Lucifer started purring like a nun and rubbing herself backwards and forwards against Dean lovingly, but eyeballing the tech man the whole damn time.

Roman blew a breath out,

"I mean hey, sure she's nice uce, but she's not exactly that big loveable companion dog you came here for. So I guess what I'm saying is are you sure a cat's the answer?"

Dean gaped,

"Hold on. You seriously think I wanna take her?"

Roman shrugged,

"Don't you?"

"No."

"Are you sure about that babe? Because it looks to me like she's taken kind of a real shine to you."

Between them they all turned to watch the grouchy feline, who had slithered back off again to roll in the sun, but who promptly trotted back to rub her face over his kneecap and to bump against his hand with her little wet nose. She was fiery and changeable and moody and he liked that. But god damn it he was categorically not a cat man and nor was he a cross stitching little old lady and so therefore he never would be a cat man.

He went to shake his head no, but then stopped in a heartbeat as a break in the clouds lit her up in holy light as she sat and licked her little white tipped paws super daintily. Besides what, had he not asked his girl for a sign?

He looked up,

"Uh beautiful? You do realize this thing is a cat, right? Like a proper freakin' cat with like claws an' that shit, which is totally gonna mess up that knitted comforter you bought us?"

In response the sun seemed to shine a little harder. Or maybe not, but for a second it sure looked like it did and so shrugging his shoulders Dean turned back towards the blonde girl, who was busy leading a horse on a rope around in loops and so in hindsight then he could totally have picked a worse pet.

Seth frowned at him,

"Dean?"

But he had made up his mind. Or well, his girl had made it up for him anyway and she had always known best. After all, she'd picked him. He called across the fencing.

"Uh, so I kinda wanna take the cat home, but is there some kinda form I gotta fill out, or do I just take her or..." he tapered off awkwardly, thumbing back over his shoulder at the puss and then watching as the girl stopped so suddenly in front of him that the horse she was leading bumped into her back. Blinking in bewilderment she fumbled her hat up from its knocked forward position.

"You want Lucifer?"

Dean nodded,

"Yeah. Because I know she's not a dog, but see I work real long hours an' a dog might get lonely or like, pee on the floor so…"

"I'll get you a basket."

The girl took off running, which frankly Dean took to be a pretty bad sign. Or perhaps she was just keen when it came to rehoming things. Because, after all, that was her primarily role. Even so though, he turned back to his brothers and then pointed in her direction.

"Should I be worried 'bout that? Because like, she took off real fast like she thought I might change my mind an' stuff. I mean, did I just adopt freakin' Hitler out here?"

Seth raised a brow,

"Dean they named her freaking Lucifer, so what do you think man?"

"Meow."

Dean glanced back down and then narrowed his eyes towards the purring little critter that was winding like some sort of Chinese puzzle around his legs. The thing was, Dean had never considered himself a tactile person. Not in the way that his girl had been at least, because she had been willing to fling her arms around anyone or to snuggle up into him last thing at night and that, right there was what he missed more than anything.

Bending down he plucked the cat up underneath the furry armpits then let it dangle in front of him.

"Meow."

"Okay dude look, you an' me need to make some like, ground rules. Because first of all ya gotta promise not to go scratchin' my freakin' stuff. An' second of all no bringin' in baby birds an' all that shit. Oh, an' no more hissin' at Seth either you hear? Because I told you before, he's one of the good guys. So what do you say, do we have a freakin' deal?"

"Meow."

Dean took that as a feline affirmative,

"Good."

In the distance he could see the pretty blonde woman who had gone to get the pet carrier hurrying back, followed by what looked like an army of shelter workers, who had clearly come to see if she was telling them the truth.

"Still not too late to go back and get that Chipoo," Seth offered teasingly, giving the tabby a tentative scratch and then whipping his hand back like the thing was made of saw tips. In response to him Lucifer flicked her tail in silent warning, but held herself back from sinking her teeth into his hand, or from painting bright red bloody claw tracks across his knuckles and so Dean liked to think of it as progress of sorts.

Roman chuckled,

"Or how about that big scary looking guard dog, so I can maybe stop worrying about your crazy ass for once?"

"Hey, my ass is not crazy."

"Sure it's not uce."

Frowning in outrage at the slight on his character, Dean stepped backwards and then fell over a bucket of food. Or nearly fell anyway since he styled it out perfectly by landing in a one handed slump against the wall. Roman and Seth exchanged a look of long suffering and then grinned as Dean scrambled back up and cleared his throat.

Ahem.

"Nah, I think I'll just stick with my cat uce. Because I figure she's kinda like a little guard dog too, but one that's all freakin' hissy an' scratchy."

Seth rubbed his knuckles super bitterly,

"She sure is."

"So then babe," Roman smiled, putting a hand on Dean's shoulder and then giving it a big broad brotherly squeeze, "I guess that means this little girl is now an Ambrose."

Dean nodded,

"Yep, but m' kinda thinkin' 'bout changin' her name."

"Really man?" Seth frowned, "But I thought you wanted a Killer, or a Brutus or something mean sounding like that and Lucifer does sound pretty freaking cool dude."

Dean shrugged,

"I know, but I think she needs a new start an' a name is like, pretty freakin' important."

"So then what are you gonna call her babe?" Roman rumbled out. Beyond them the incoming horde of shelter workers had cleared the kennel block and were rounding the bend, clearly wanting to see who was taking home their devil cat. But Dean barely saw them. He was thinking way too hard. Cradling the cat in his arms a little higher, he glanced up to the clouds like he was running his name choice through and was rewarded with a beam of light breaking through the cover and lighting them up.

She liked it.

"M' gonna call her Hope."

Dean has a cat! I figured the poor guy needed some sort of companionship at home and also, this is a good step for him in terms of handling his grief and beginning to move on. Hope will get occasional mentions from now on too.

Next week there is a cat burglar on the loose and due to unforeseen circumstances, Dean has to call in a backup crew. He is not happy, but then who doesn't love a grouchy grumbly Dean?!