A/N: Thank you for the reviews, especially sjwmaw and Ponygirlrunner25! Your comments keep me writing!

By late the next night, many of the hunters had reported back multiple vampire kills, but none of them were talking about the location of their leader. Dean was on his way back to the bunker so Sam could go out hunting for a bit, much to Ellie's disagreement.

"Why can't you all just stay here?" Ellie crossed her arms as she leaned against the wall, watching her father pack his bags. "There's enough hunters out there."

"Ellie," Sam sighed, looking up to the ceiling. Ever since he had told her that he was leaving as soon as Dean got home, she had been arguing with him. "This whole thing is because of me."

"No, it's because of me," Ellie snapped, her brow furrowed in anger. Sam turned his head and looked at her with an eyebrow cocked. "You didn't even want kids, and now..."

"Whoa," Sam held a palm out as he walked over to her. Ellie was looking at the floor now, biting her lips and willing the tears in her eyes to go away. "Where the hell is this coming from?"

"Claire said that you never wanted kids," she murmured, dragging a toe along the floor, "And now you're stuck with me and because of it you have to go hunt an entire nest of vampires and—"

"Ellie, stop," he shook his head abruptly and grabbed the sides of her head, forcing her to look at him. When he realized there was a lone tear falling down her cheek, his used his thumb to wipe it away. "I am not 'stuck' with you."

"Yes you are," she whimpered, closing her eyes tightly, "You didn't want kids—"

"Do you know why I didn't want kids?" Sam interrupted, dropping his hands from her head and moving them to her shoulders.

"No," she sniffed, biting the insides of her cheeks.

"Because the world is so messed up," Sam spoke quietly, "And not just because of the monsters, El. But then you came along and now I cannot imagine my life without you. I am not stuck with you, you're stuck with me."

Ellie rolled her eyes at that, reaching up to wipe her tears away with her wrist before mumbling, "Not if you get yourself killed."

Sam sighed and shook his head, "I'm going to be fine. I've gone on hunts for way worse monsters before."

"Just," she paused, looking around the room before finally landing her gaze back on his eyes that matched hers, "Please be careful."

Sam smiled before pulling her towards him, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. She rubbed her nose into his chest, taking a big breath. She would never admit it to anyone, but her dad's scent was her favorite. She squeezed his waist tightly, her eyes clamped shut as she told herself she would not cry again.

"I love you Dad," she whispered, pulling her head back to look up at him but keeping the grip on his waist.

Sam leaned down and kissed her nose before placing a gentle hand on the back of her head and pulling her back to him.

"I love you more, baby."

"Love you most," she muttered, taking one last breath before she took a step back. He reached out and ruffled the top of her hair, making her roll her eyes and swat his hand away before she smoothed her hair down.

"'Sup Squirt?"

Ellie spun around and smiled when she made eye contact with her uncle, rushing over to give him a hug. Dean bent over and slid his hands under her arms, squeezing her and lifting her off the ground.

"Stop," Ellie squealed, trying to push against his chest to get away.

"What, you didn't miss your favorite uncle?" Dean chuckled, giving her ribs a quick tickle before letting her back down.

"Who says you're my favorite?" She cocked an eyebrow with a smile. Dean narrowed his eyes and placed a hand over her face, pushing her head backwards.

"Shut up," he mumbled, turning to look at Sam, "You heading out?"

"Yeah," Sam went to his bed and grabbed his duffel bag, slinging it over his shoulder as he joined them in the hallway. "Keys?"

Dean groaned for a moment before digging into his pocket and pulling out the keys to the impala.

"Take care of her."

"You too," Sam gestured with his head towards Ellie, who scoffed. He walked to her and placed a hand around the back of her neck, pulling her head towards him and giving her a quick kiss on the top of her head. "Behave yourself."

"Don't I always?" She looked up at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Sam rolled his eyes and gave her one last kiss on her hair before he walked down the hall to the garage.

"Where's Garrett?" Dean mumbled as he and Ellie walked down the hallway the opposite direction.

Ellie shrugged, "I don't know. Did Dad tell you I beat Garrett in pool?"

"No," Dean snorted, "Your dad told me you hustled the kid in pool."

Ellie waved him off, "Technicality."

Dean extended his fist, looking down at her out of the corner of his eye, "Good job, Squirt."

Ellie grinned and bumped his fist with her own as they walked into the kitchen. Cass was sitting at the table on his cell phone while Garrett was at the stove stirring something that smelled amazing. Ellie rushed over to Garrett, smelling the air.

"What are you making?"

"Get out of here, you'll see when I'm done," he playfully pushed her to the side.

"Ass," she stuck her tongue out and walked over to sit next to Cass.

"Brat," Garrett replied with a smirk.

Dean watched the interaction from near the doorway, his brow furrowed. Sam had informed him of Ellie and Garrett's budding friendship, but he still didn't like seeing it.

"What movie are we watching tonight, Uncle Cass?" Ellie asked, leaning on her elbows on the table, "It's your turn to pick."

"I'm not sure yet," Cass sighed, "I'm looking at an article titled '40 Best Movies To Watch With Children'."

"We're not children," Ellie moaned, rolling her eyes.

"You are," Garrett muttered from the stove.

"For another five days, shut up," she grumbled.

"Just because you'll be thirteen doesn't mean you're not a child," Dean scoffed, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

"I'll be a teenager," Ellie grinned, "That means I won't be a kid."

"Mhmm," Dean shook his head, then looked over at Garrett as he spoke, "Ellie, why don't you and Cass go get the TV room set up?"

Ellie narrowed her eyes at him, trying to read his facial expression. She finally gave up and slid off of the chair and followed Cass to the hallway. She paused in the doorway, turning back to look at Garrett.

"I'm just finishing this up and I'll be there," he replied with a quick smile, his eyes flickering over to Dean briefly.

"Okay," Ellie gave Dean one last glare before leaving the room.

Dean waited until Cass and Ellie were out of earshot to speak, "Do I need to worry about you, Gar?"

Garrett continued looking down at his work, swallowing loudly. He shook his head and cleared his throat, "No sir."

"You sure?" Dean walked slowly to the stove, his voice low and gravely, "Because I can certainly remember being a fourteen year old boy. I know the types of...urges you have."

"I don't think of her like that," Garrett muttered, biting the inside of his cheeks, "She's just a friend."

Dean moved so he was standing directly behind him, and leaned forward to whisper in his ear, "Better make sure it stays that way, boy."

"Yes sir," Garrett whispered, swallowing quietly. Dean stayed in that position for a moment, breathing heavily to intimidate the kid further before he finally backed away. He peeked over Garrett's shoulder at the small pot, his eyebrow raised.

"Seriously though, what are you making?"

"Um, chocolate covered fried Oreos," Garrett muttered, removing a lid from a plate next to the stove to reveal a mound of deep fried Oreos perfectly cooked to a light golden brown. The pot he was continuously stirring had melted chocolate in it that was almost ready for the dipping process.

"Oh, cool," Dean nodded, then turned to leave the room so Garrett didn't notice his mouth watering.

When Garrett entered the TV room with the plate of deliciousness, Ellie squealed and jumped up to try the first one. Dean was sitting in one of the lounge chairs and accepted one when Garrett offered, turning his head to hide the orgasmic face that was happening after biting into one of the treats. Cass was sitting in the other lounge chair, currently trying to figure out what movie they were going to watch. Dean finished his Oreo and turned back, fighting back a growl when he saw Garrett sitting next to Ellie on the couch. The hunter quickly got up and squished between them, wiggling his butt to make sure they were as far apart as possible.

"What are you doing?" Ellie moaned from where she was hugging the armrest inadvertently.

"Nothing, just want to sit next to my favorite niece," Dean smiled down at her, slinging an arm around her shoulder.

"You're being weird," she mumbled before shaking her head and looking towards the TV where Cass had finally settled on the live action Beauty and the Beast.

"Seriously Cass?" Dean moaned, dropping his head back onto the couch.

"I enjoy musical theatre, you know this Dean," Cass shrugged as he adjusted his positioning in his seat, "And it's appropriate for this audience."

"Whatever," Dean mumbled, sighing as he brought his head back up.

About fifteen minutes into the movie, movement to Dean's left caught his eye. He looked without moving his head and tightened his jaw when he realized Ellie was on his phone. He was about to yell at her to put it down and enjoy the movie when he realized what exactly she was doing on it.

The damn kid was texting Garrett.

When the hell had they exchanged numbers? Dean cleared his throat and turned his neck to pretend to stretch, holding back a growl when he saw that Garrett had his phone on next to his thigh, a smile on his face as he typed. Dean abruptly snapped his head back to stare at the TV, although he was not really paying attention. He snuck a look down at Ellie's phone and saw the last few text exchanges between the two of them.

E: I know, I'm sorry. He's weird. *shrugging emoji*

G: He's just protective of you, I get it.

E: Whatever. You want to play pool when the movie's done?

G: Sure, this time I won't go easy on you.

E: Shut up! *tongue sticking out emoji*

Dean couldn't take it anymore, and reached out and grabbed Ellie's phone, locking it before he threw it onto the lounge chair.

"Hey," she yelled, looking at him with an annoyed expression.

"No phones during movie night," Dean growled, keeping his eyes trained on the television. Ellie sighed exasperatingly and crossed her arms, throwing Garrett a quick apologetic shrug before turning to watch the movie.

By the time the movie was done, Ellie had fallen asleep leaning on Dean's shoulder, and Garrett was yawning as his head bobbed with sleep. Dean nudged his shoulder, and Ellie just moaned and rubbed her head on his arm.

"Get up, Squirt," he murmured, reaching out to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. "Go to bed."

"No," she whined, squeezing her eyes closed tighter, "Carry me to bed."

"Ha!" Dean snorted, shaking his head, "Maybe five years ago."

Ellie refused to move, so Dean just leaned forward and stood off of the couch. His plan backfired, however, when Ellie fell over and landed instead on Garrett's lap, her ear pressed against his thigh. The young man's eyes went wide as he looked up at Dean, holding his hands up above his head. The hunter's brow furrowed as he glared at him, about to pounce forward when Ellie sighed and pushed herself back up to a sitting position.

"You're mean," she mumbled at Dean as she stood up and stretched, walking over and grabbing her phone off of the chair.

"Just go to bed," Dean muttered, shoving her towards the doorway.

"Fine," she stuck her tongue out and stumbled to the hallway, a yawn approaching.

Just as Dean opened his mouth to talk to Cass, the three males heard a chirping noise. When Dean and Cass slowly turned to look towards the sound and realized it was coming from Garrett's phone, the young man gave them a quick but scared smile after he read the text he had just received.

"Was that a text?" Dean narrowed his eyes down at the boy.

"What? No."

"Oh, really?" Dean nodded slowly, walking towards the couch, "Then let me see your phone."

"I'd really rather not."

"Don't make me take it from you," Dean said quietly, holding his hand out in front of him. Garrett sighed before he begrudgingly handed over his phone. Dean smirked before he turned the device over, clicking on a text that he had just received from someone saved in his phone as 'Winchester'.

E: Don't pay attention to Dean. He's just being a dick.

Dean's jaw dropped dramatically, his eyes looking up to meet Garrett's. The young man merely shrugged and gave him a pained smile.

"Oh she's in for it now," Dean growled, shoving the phone into Garrett's chest and storming out of the room.

Ellie was sitting on her bed, about to change into her pajamas when her phone alarmed with a text message. She swiped her phone open and smiled when she saw it was Garrett.

G: RUN! Dean saw your text!

Her eyes got huge and just as she ran into the hallway, she ran into a strong chest. She didn't have to look up to know who it was, and she instead just grunted and tried to turn around and run away. Dean instead grabbed her upper arms and picked her up in the air, turning and dropping her back into her bedroom, making her lose her step and falling onto her butt.

"So," he began, crossing his arms, "I'm being a dick?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ellie scrambled to her feet and dusted off her bottom, looking him in the eye with a straight face.

"Don't play with me," Dean groaned, "Your mouth has been quite the problem lately."

"Like you should talk," she scoffed, instantly regretting her words when Dean narrowed his eyes at her.

"I am an adult," Dean spoke quietly, pointing a finger at her.

"Maybe legally," she snorted, raising an eyebrow.

Dean choked on air for a moment, his face scrunched up in confusion as he looked down at her. She had always been his little niece, who loved him and would never say a bad word about him. She would come to him for advice when she didn't want to talk to her dad. Now, however, she was turning into a completely different person and he did not like it.

Oh right, she was turning into a teenager.

"Listen up," Dean crossed his arms again in an attempt to look more like the authority figure in the room, "You better stop cussing. I might not be your dad, but I can still take away your phone."

"You wouldn't," she narrowed her eyes, mimicking her stance.

Dean inhaled slowly and stepped closer to her so their toes were touching. He leaned down close to her face, his jaw tightened.

"Try me."

They stayed like that for a while, staring each other down before Ellie finally gave in and sighed.

"Fine," she mumbled, "I'll stop cursing."

"Good girl," Dean smirked, backing away and moving to leave her bedroom.

"Except..." Ellie trailed off, biting her lips.

Dean stopped in the doorway, turning his head to look back at her, "Except what?"

"Nothing," she smiled, waving a hand, "Never mind."

Dean stared at her for a brief moment before leaving her room, "Night Squirt."

"Good night," she responded, craning her neck to make sure he was gone before she pulled out her phone and opened her messages.

E: Way to go, got me in trouble for using bad words.

G: He took my phone, what was I supposed to do?

E: Idk, but not show him a text with me calling him a dick!

G: Is he mad?

E: He just told me I can't curse anymore.

G: Aw, poor baby can't call me an ass from now on.

E: Oh, I'm still calling you an ass. Just not in front of my Uncle.