Her Own French Mistake- S9 Interlude

Lily woke up in a bed that was not the bed she had gone to sleep in. It was too comfortable. She sat up, the light streaming in from the windows blinding her. Where the hell was she?

The room was nice. A lot nicer than she had ever seen. The wall behind the bed was made of stone; there were four large windows alongside the wall, overlooking the ocean; the ceiling was high, three lights hanging down; there was a loveseat in front of the windows. Pictures of children dotted the windows. Her children. They were both smiling happily. In the apparent most recent ones, Gemma wore a pale pink sweater over a grey dress and Henry was in a plaid shirt and khaki baby pants.

There was another picture in the very middle of the wall. A family photo. Henry was hoisted on a man's shoulders and Gemma was hugging Lily's side. Lily was obviously pregnant. Very pregnant, by the looks of it.

She got out of the bed, her feet sinking into a lush rug. She moved closer to the photo. Was that…? Her heart sped up. The same swept back blond hair, kind blue eyes, easy-going smile.

Finn.

"Babe, I let you sleep in enough but you gotta get to work!" And that was his voice. That was Finn's voice.

What was this? Was this some sort of alternate universe where Finn lived and they got married. She had mixed feelings about this. On one hand, she loved Finn. She had loved him hard. But on the other, she knew that this wasn't where she belonged. Where she belonged was with Sam. Her soulmate.

She heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Finn was soon standing in front of her, dressed in day clothes already. What time was it? He wore a pair of faded jeans and a tucked in polo. "I already took Gems to school. Henry's downstairs in his high chair. You've got to be on set in two hours." He told her.

On set? What? Her head was spinning.

"I'm sorry, what's going on?" She asked quietly.

He walked across the room, feeling her head. "You feeling okay, babe? You look a little pale."

She nodded, saying she was fine. "I'm just a little confused, I think. But uh, I'll get ready for work and be downstairs soon."

He kissed her forehead gently, leaving the bedroom. Seriously, what the hell was going on? She looked at the nightstand by the side of the bed she had woken up on. There was a little note that hadn't been there before. She picked it up.

Your name is Kate Shepherd. You are an actress on the show Supernatural. Your husband is Tommy Shephard and you have two kids and a third on the way. Act natural. This is for the best. Help will come when it can. Until then, good luck.

What? Something flickered in the back of her mind. A memory. A very vague one. There had been a time, a case where Sam and Dean had been transported to a parallel world where their lives were a TV show. Was this…? Was this like that? Were they here?

She rushed to get ready, showering and brushing her teeth quickly. Sam had told her that their hair and makeup was done on the set before filming so she didn't bother with any of it. She got dressed, grabbing a phone that she assumed was hers and ran down the stairs.

"That was fast." Finn laughed from the kitchen. No. Not Finn. His name was Tommy here. Tommy must be the name of the man who played Finn.

Ah, she felt better already. "Don't want to be late."

He smiled. "Eat first. Can't forget to feed little Dean."

She glanced down at her stomach. Oh. Right. She was pregnant. She looked at Henry who was smiling widely in his high chair. "Hey, handsome. You didn't think Mommy was gonna leave without giving you a big kiss, did you?" She picked him up, kissing his cheek. She handed him to Finn, exchanging her son for the blueberry muffin and travel cup.

"Green tea. Good for you. Don't forget that we're going to the OB during your lunch."

OB. Right. Baby doctor. She nodded, saying she wouldn't forget.

Tommy-Finn kissed her quickly on the lips. "I love you, Kate."

She hesitated.

Her heart leapt at seeing the two men. At seeing Sam. "Sam!" She called, waving her hand.

Both the brothers looked back at her. Sam's face was briefly knit in confusion, but then he smiled.

"Already in character, huh?" He laughed as she walked over to them.

Dean grinned at her. "Kate's always been an over-achiever." He nudged her shoulder. "How was Tommy's trip to Tokyo? Did that firm agree to the buy-out?"

What was he going on about? And why did he call her Kate?

"I uh, we haven't talked about it." She stammered.

Someone called for a Jensen and Dean jogged off, promising to catch up later. She was left with Sam and she felt nervous. Awkward, even.

"You're acting weird. And I think I know why." He said in a sly voice. She raised her eyebrows innocently. "This is your last season on the show." A sick feeling bubbled in her stomach. This wasn't good. "It's finally setting in. You've been here for nine seasons. You're devoted nine years of your life to this show and now you're leaving to do bigger and better things. You're letting Tommy go back to work for the first time since Gemma was a year old and you're taking time off. You're sad."

He didn't know her. This wasn't Sam. This was a man who had no idea that she was not Kate Shepherd. She was alone here. She didn't know how to get home.

"Don't worry about it, Kate. We'll keep in touch. I didn't name my kids after your husband for no reason."

She swallowed, nodding slowly. "That's it. You got it. I'm sad about leaving the show." Her voice cracked.

This man who was not her husband smiled down at her. He reached out, putting a hand on her swollen stomach. "When's this kid coming out anyways? Been waiting on him for like eighty years now." He laughed.

She laughed too. She didn't know what else to do. He didn't know her. "I need to get to hair and makeup. I'll see you soon."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah. See you soon. We're still on for dinner tonight, right?" The sheer confusion on her face hinted at the answer. "Right. Jensen and I will be at your house around 6 with the families. Hope you two are cooking something good."

Families? What families? This was too much. Way too much for a woman who was seven months pregnant. Her head was spinning, her vision going blurry.

"Hey, maybe you should sit down for a minute. You're looking pale." He led her off the set to a trailer that had the name Jared Padalecki on the door. This was him. Sam was Jared. Jared was Sam. He took her inside the trailer and made her sit on the couch. He poured her a glass of water and handed her a pack of saltine crackers. "Are you eating enough? You're acting pretty freaked out."

She nodded, saying she was eating plenty. She had to make him believe her. He couldn't know that she wasn't this Kate woman. "I'm just worried about leaving the show, you know? Like you said, this has been my life for nine years. I just won't know what to do with all that free time."

Jared-Sam sat down beside her, sliding his arm over her shoulders.

"Listen, I know how much you love this show, Kate. You have devoted so much time to it. But I also know what it's doing to your family. To you. No one has forgotten about how torn up you were when you missed Gemma's first birthday for filming. Or how you almost worked yourself to death when you were pregnant with Henry. Or how it almost split you and Tommy up. Kate, what the directors did with Finn's death…that was really messed up. We all get it. You're a great actress. You could have nailed that scene. They didn't need to keep the fact that they were killing him off from you."

With every word, she just got more and more confused. She took a drink from the water bottle and then glued her eyes to the floor. "You have done an amazing job here. No one is going to forget it or you, Kate. But do not let this show ruin your family."

Her baby was fine. Still perfectly healthy. Getting mysteriously transported to a parallel universe hadn't messed him up at all.

"Jared called me earlier, while you were filming a scene with Misha and Jensen." Tommy said as he drove her back to set. "He said you were acting weird. He's really worried about you."

He should be! He was her husband! "I think he's overreacting." She said softly. "I'm fine. I'm just really upset about leaving the show."

Tommy glanced over at her. "Right. Leaving." He said the word like that was exactly the opposite of what was going on.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, rubbing small circles around her swollen stomach.

Tommy's grip on the steering wheel caused his knuckles to go white. "You know exactly what it means, Kate. Leaving would mean that you wanted to go. You aren't leaving the show. You're getting written off because of what happened when they killed Finn off." She had no idea what he was talking about. Naturally. "Anyways, it doesn't matter. What's done is done. You'll get used to being home after a while. Gems is really happy that you're coming back home."

Gemma. Her angel. And Henry. And Dean. She had to get out of this shitty world. She had to get back to the real world, where Sam was.

Tommy pulled up to the set, parking the car. "Are we cooking dinner together tonight?" She nodded, her hand resting on the door handle. "Okay. Well, I gotta go pick the kids up so I'll see you at home in a few hours. Love you."

"Love you too." She forced the words out. It was enough to cause him to smile. She got out of the car, watching him drive off.

"How's my little namesake?" Dean- no, Jensen here- said from behind her.

She turned around, smiling. "He's good. Perfect, of course."

She was alone in the bathroom of her huge house. The bath water was hot, the surface of the water covered in bubbles. Her head rested on the back of the tub. "If anyone out there can hear me, I really need some help right now." She said quietly. "I'm stuck in this alternate universe and I really need out. I mean, this is a problem for me. I'm really pregnant and my husband is being held together by some glue and an angel. Please just get me out of here." She sighed heavily. All she could think about was Sam. What if something happened to him while she was stuck here? What if he found out about Ezekiel and pushed the angel from his body? What if he died? "I want my best friend back. Please help me."

She didn't even have freaking powers here. She was helpless. Waiting on some damn angel or God knows what to pull her out.

"Momma!" Gemma's shrill voice cut through the silence as the toddler ran into the bathroom.

Lily stepped out of the bath rub and pulled the robe around her body. "Hey, princess. You look awful cute today." She struggled to bend down and kiss the top of her daughter's head. Her eyes were wrong. Gemma's eyes were not that bright Sam green that had broken Lily's heart after giving birth to her. They were blue. The same blue that had looked back at her every time she stared into Finn's eyes. Tommy's eyes.

This world was fucked up.

"Daddy says to help with dinner!" Gemma dragged Lily to the bedroom.

"Okay. Let me put clothes on." Lily changed into a chunky sweater dress and tall boots, letting her hair fall from the clip that restrained it. "Let's go, little one." She took Gemma's hand and the two of them walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

Tommy was in the kitchen, the room smelling like vanilla and…turkey. It wasn't time for turkey. It was freaking September.

"You look good, babe. Dang, I'm glad I married you." Tommy grinned at her. Her face flushed.

"Gems, go play with your brother while we make dinner." Gemma ran from the kitchen, going towards a room of the house Lily had yet to see. She tied an apron around her neck but her hands wouldn't reach to tie it around her back.

Tommy chuckled, helping her tie the strings.

"Uncle Jensen is here!" Gemma shouted from the other room. Right after, Jensen-Dean walked into the kitchen, his arm slung around the waist of a pretty woman with dark brown hair. A woman with a baby.

It was a little girl. And she was precious.

"Figured we'd bring a surprise guest to dinner." The woman was smiling.

Tommy was gushing. "Danneel, she's perfect. I can't believe it's been three months already."

Dean had a daughter. No, no he didn't. Jensen Ackles had a daughter.

"Hey, pregnant lady. How're you feeling?" Jensen asked, hugging her carefully.

She shrugged as he pulled away. "Pregnant. Now give me that baby. I want to hold her." She laughed at Danneel, who was very obviously Jensen's wife. Danneel handed her daughter over carefully.

"She's beautiful." Lily whispered.

Danneel said thank you in a very quiet voice. "Makes you excited to pop the little guy out, doesn't it?" Lily nodded slowly. But not until she got back home. "JJ's such a good baby. Sleeps right through the night. I remember when you used to complain about Henry not wanting to sleep. I'm so thankful that JJ's always tired."

JJ. It was a cute name. Very fitting for the tiny human in her arms.

"Oh my God, Jared! They brought the baby! Get it here!" There was a woman in the doorway of the kitchen. A very pregnant woman. Much more pregnant than Lily.

Her stomach churned. Ruby.

She had to tell herself that this was not Ruby. One, because Ruby was dead. She had made sure of that. And two, because this was a different world. This was the woman who played Ruby.

Jared-Sam carefully moved past her, a boy about Gemma's age on his hip. His face broke out in a grin at the sight of the baby.

"It's gonna be all babies here in about four months." Jared-Sam chuckled.

He was married, here in this alternate reality. And he had kids by another woman. Granted, she was married too and also had kids. But she knew that this wasn't real. He didn't.

Lily handed JJ back to her mother and wiped her face. The other woman sat down next to her, hands on her stomach tightly. "How're you feeling? Jared said you were pretty shaken up on set today."

Lily bit her tongue. "I'm fine now. Thanks for asking. How are you?"

This woman smiled, nodding. "Ready for little Shepherd to come out. Tom's so excited to be a big brother."

Okay. Time out. Tom? Shepherd? Oh God, they named their kids after her husband. How close were they?

This was too much. "I think I'm going to be sick." Lily mumbled, rushing from the room. She stumbled into a bathroom, locking the door. She leaned her head against the door. She really had to get out of this world.

"You look great. As always." Someone said in her ear.

She was at this thing, something they called a panel. They sat on a stage and answered questions from their fans. She pulled the cardigan closer. "Thanks."

Jared-Sam put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you okay? I know you're probably tired of everyone asking, but you can tell me anything, Kate. If you're not feeling up to this panel, just let me know. We'll get you a ride home."

She smiled up at him and then winced. He frowned, his eyes flickering to her stomach. "I'm okay. Promise. The little man is just really active today. I think he broke a couple ribs." She wasn't kidding. Dean had been kicking her insides around all day.

Jared-Sam didn't smile back. "Just let us know if something's wrong, Kate. I mean it. If even something feels wrong, say something."

God, he was a hoverer.

"Jared, Kate. Time to get on stage. Water's up there." One of the workers told them.

Stairs. She was gonna have to walk up some stairs. "Come on." Jared stood at the top of the stairs, his hand outstretched to her. Grateful, she took his hand and he easily helped her up the small set of stairs. "Gen tries to do the stairs by herself all the time. Never works." He chuckled.

Gen. Genevieve. His wife. It had been so easy to hate Ruby. Ruby was a straight bitch. But Genevieve was the sweetest woman ever. Naturally.

They walked out on the stage, Jared's arm eased around her waist as he helped her to her seat. There were four seats. Three were stools and one was an actual armchair. Just for her. The crowd cheered and shouted as two other men walked out from the other side. Jensen and Misha, who she learned played Castiel.

Jared helped her sit down and then handed her a microphone. Her three companions sat down; Jared and Jensen were beside her and Misha was on the other side of Jensen.

"Hey! How's everyone doing tonight?" Jensen asked into his microphone, all smiles.

The crowd cheered again just as the baby kicked. Hard. She grabbed her stomach, wincing slightly.

"Easy, you little shit." She laughed quietly. The room went silent. She looked up. Everyone was staring at her. Her eyes flickered down to the microphone in her hand. "Whoops. Forgot about this." She waved the microphone slightly. "Little Dean's really excited about being here tonight." She laughed.

The fans erupted in laughter. At least they thought she was funny. She was getting better at being Kate Shepherd. Not like it was hard. Kate was a lot like her. Just…normal.

Jared laughed uneasily. "Okay. Who's ready to get some questions answered?"

The crowd cheered. He picked a girl in a Supernatural shirt in the front of the crowd. "How are everyone's families?"

Nice question. Broad enough for everyone. Misha said that his two kids, West and Maison were doing extremely well. Jensen gushed about how perfect JJ was and that she was a lot easier to watch than Kate's kids had ever been. Jared spoke about how Thomas was really excited to be a big brother and Gen was ready to have Shepherd at any time.

All eyes went to Lily.

"Oh, well. You know. Everyone's perfect. Gemma really loves preschool. Henry's…he's getting awful fat on me. And," she touched her stomach, "Dean's just energetic." Like magic, he kicked again. Was that a kick? It felt almost like…no. It couldn't be. "I'm really happy to be able to stay at home with the kids after we're done filming season nine. Tommy's excited to go back to work."

There was a murmur across the crowd. Oh. This was the uncharted territory.

"We all thought that you didn't want to leave the show." A fan from the back shouted.

Dean kicked again. That was not a kick. Was it? "I don't." Lily said. "It's just time for me to go. Nine years is a long time and I think it's time for me to focus on my family."

They must have known that wasn't the real reason she was leaving the show. Another fan came to the front. "I heard that you were getting written off for cussing the directors after the Finn scene happened."

The three men on stage stiffened. Lily groaned as something inside her snapped. "Fuck." She muttered into the microphone.

The baby was not kicking. She was having contractions. She was in labor.

She could not be in labor. She was seven months pregnant and she refused to have her baby preterm.

"Kate?" Jared asked her, his microphone turned off. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head quickly, her hands clutching at her stomach. "The baby…I'm in labor."

He was on his feet immediately, carefully pulling her out of the chair. "Misha, call the hospital and tell them we're on our way! Jensen, call Tommy and tell him to meet us at the hospital. Kate's in labor!" He shouted.

One of his hands held hers while the other gripped her waist as he led her off stage. "Shit. This fucking hurts." She groaned.

Jared laughed quietly. "I knew something was wrong. Why didn't you say something sooner, Kate?" He led her out a back entrance and shuffled her into the backseat. Jensen and Misha climbed into the two front seats and Jared sat in the back with her, still holding her hand.

"I can't have this baby." She whispered. "It's too early." He couldn't die. Not again.

Jared pushed the hair from her face. "It's gonna be okay. Everything's gonna be okay.

When she woke up, the pain was gone. Everything felt…normal. Jensen was at her bedside, head bowed to the ground with his elbows on his knees. Asleep.

"Hey. If I'm awake, you're awake." Her voice was raspy. Her jerked, sitting straight up.

He looked at her, clearly happy to see she was up. "How're you feeling, Lil?"

Lil? As in…Lily? As in…this was Dean. She was home! "A lot better now that I know you're Dean and not Jensen." She laughed softly.

His brow furrowed. And then it softened. He knew exactly what she was talking about. "Oh. How was that?"

She told him about everything. He was married to a woman named Danneel and they had a baby girl named JJ. Cas was married with two kids. Sam was married to Ruby- surprise, Dean already knew that- and she was pregnant with their second child, another boy whom they had named after Lily's husband, who played Finn. She told him about Gemma's blue and not green eyes.

"Sam. Where's Sam?" She asked. Her husband was nowhere to be found in the room. "And the kids?" Instinctively, her hands touched her stomach. "The baby. Is he okay?"

Dean shifted over to sit next to her on the bed. "Calm down. I'll tell you everything but it has to be slow. Your body isn't doing too hot right now so you can't get worked up. Or else the doctor's gonna have to come back and I really don't like her. And you'll probably tear your stitches and that shit hurts."

He brushed the hair back from her face. "Can you spit it out before I go to sleep? Whatever pain meds they have me on are strong."

Dean chuckled, shaking his head. "We'll do good news first. So, Gems and Henry are at the bunker with Cas. Little Dean is doing great by the way. He's in the nursery. We've got the best looking after him." The nursery. He was alive. Oh, thank God. She squeezed Dean's hand. "He's perfect, by the way. Green eyes, light brown hair and lots of it. Real lady killer already." Of course he was. All of her children were.

"And Sam?" She whispered.

Dean swallowed. "As of now, we aren't sure." What did he mean they weren't sure? How hard was it to lose Sam Winchester? She noticed the large bruise on the side of his head. "A lot of shit went down. The angel…he wasn't who he said he was. Ezekiel died in the fall from Heaven. His name is Gadreel. Apparently, he's not a great guy. He uh, look, Lil. We got nothing right now. Gadreel took the tablets and…he killed Kevin."

She struggled to sit up. Dean gently pushed her back down. "Kevin's…gone?" Dean nodded solemnly. "Shit." She pushed him away, sitting up.

"What do you know about this Gadreel douche?"

She sighed, rubbing her face. "Nothing good. He's…Gadreel is the angel who let Lucifer into the Garden of Eden. He's been locked away ever since. I guess when the angels fell, all of them did, including him." Her stomach ached. "Dammit, Dean. I told you that calling an angel was a bad idea."