"I want Daddy."
Dean groaned as he sat on the edge of Ellie's bed, his head in his hands. He gripped a chunk of his hair, pulling on it to try and relieve some of the irritation he was feeling. He took a deep breath and sat up sharply, whipping his head to make eye contact with his niece.
"Dad's not here, squirt."
"Then call him and tell him to come home," Ellie sniffled, her knees drawn up under her covers and her arms wrapped tightly around her stuffed giraffe.
Dean sighed, tilting his head and tightening his lips together. He and Cass had finally convinced Sam to go out on a quick hunt, only one state over. It was going to be simple, just a rogue young witch that needed either some guidance from Rowena or a visit from Mr. Witch-killing-bullet. Sam and Cass had only been gone for a day and a half, leaving Ellie in Dean's care, and while she took the separation well at first, the last few hours had been getting increasingly worse. Now it was bedtime, and she was experiencing some pretty gnarly anxiety. Dean recognized this, and had tried some relaxation techniques with her, but nothing was working. He didn't want to call Sam, because he knew that no good would come from it, and it would only make Sam feel bad and never leave the house without her again.
"He's too far away, sweetheart," Dean reached out and rested his hand on her knee, "Even if he left to come home right now he wouldn't get here until tomorrow morning."
Ellie dropped her head onto her knees, drawing a sharp breath before the sobs started. Dean exhaled deeply, biting his bottom lip. He hated to see her like this, especially when he didn't know how to fix it. Suddenly he remembered what Cass had mentioned the first week she'd been there, and patted her knee twice before jumping off of her bed and running out of the room.
"Be right back," he called behind him.
Ellie kept her head down, sniffing as her tears slowed. She leaned over and wiped her eyes on her shoulder, giving her giraffe a tight squeeze. Suddenly she heard a strange noise, and slowly lifted her head to see her uncle standing in the doorway, a guitar strapped to him.
"Now listen," Dean began, his fingers plucking a few strings gently, "I'm no Taylor Swift, so don't make fun of me."
Ellie was able to form a small smile as she watched Dean tune the guitar. He cleared his throat, then took a deep breath before stroking a few chords, humming at first to try and find the right note. He began to pick the melody to Stairway to Heaven, messing up a few notes at first. Ellie rested her head to the side on her shoulder, her eyes blinking slowly as she watched him. When he began to sing, she smiled widely and lowered her knees, leaning forward in her bed.
As he finished the song, Dean had his eyes closed, afraid of the reaction from the six year old in front of him. When he peeked one eye open, she was laying on her stomach on the bed, her head resting on her crossed arms.
"You sing beautiful," she murmured quietly, giving a big yawn. Dean leaned over and rested the guitar against the wall, then slowly walked towards her bed. He reached under her belly, rolling her onto her back so he could lift her and put her the right way under her covers. He laid her back down and carefully covered her, then sat on the bed next to her head.
"You really like music, huh?" he gingerly reached out and pet her head, brushing a small piece of hair from her face.
Ellie nodded, then turned onto her side towards Dean, accidentally pushing his hand off of her head. He pulled it away initially, but she lifted her head and looked at him, "No, keep doing that. Please."
Dean smiled down at her and reached out, rubbing the top of her hair. Her eyes flittered closed, and she gave another big yawn before snuggling into her pillow.
"Love you, Uncle Dean."
He tried to hide the sharp intake of breath with a clearing of his throat, then swallowing loudly. He hadn't heard those words from anyone in a long time. He and Sam used other methods to demonstrate their love, whether it be Sam buying Dean's favorite beer or Dean purchasing organic food for Sam. As he continued to look down at the almost asleep little girl, Dean sighed as he realized that she was changing him, hell all of them, for the better. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her head.
"Love you too, squirt."
When Dean awoke the next morning, the first thing he realized was that he was not alone in his bed. For about a millisecond, he tried to remember if he had gone to the bar and picked up a woman, but as soon as he opened his eyes and recognized the female curled up next to his side he chuckled.
Ellie was curled up into a ball, her cold nose barely touching his side. He shivered when she mumbled in her sleep and reached out her hand, the cold fingers sneaking under his shirt onto his stomach.
"Hey," he reached his arm out and gently rubbed her arm, "Ellie."
Ellie shook her head slowly, further pulling her legs up to her chest. Dean realized that she had no blankets on top of her, and wondered how long she had been like that. He hadn't even woken up when she came into his bed, and if her freezing digits were any consolation for how long she had been uncovered, it had been awhile. He sat up, her cold arm falling from his belly as he reached down and pulled the blankets over her tiny body. Ellie shivered, her hands moving to cross in front of her chest to try and conserve heat.
"El, come here," Dean moaned, reaching under her and pulling her into his arms. Her entire body was cold, and Dean shook his head as he squeezed her to his chest, rubbing her arms to try and warm her up.
"I'm so cold," she whimpered, rubbing her nose against his chest.
"Well when you came in here why didn't you get under the blankets, goof?" Dean chuckled, looking down at her.
She shrugged, shivering again, "I thought you'd be mad that I came in here."
"I'm more upset that you're freezing now," Dean muttered, scooting to the edge of his bed. He stood and moved Ellie so she was straddling him, her legs wrapping around his waist. He pulled up one of his blankets, wrapping it around her shoulders as he walked out of his room. "You hungry?"
Ellie nodded, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm always hungry."
"Good girl," Dean chuckled softly, rubbing her back, "You want pancakes?"
"And bacon?" Ellie added excitedly, giving Dean a quick squeeze around his neck.
"Sure," he walked into the kitchen, dropping the blanket onto the table and trying to place Ellie on the stool. She just tightened her grip with her arms and legs, shaking her head quickly side to side. "Ellie, I have to make breakfast."
"Can't you hold me while you do it?" she pulled away just enough to make eye contact with her uncle, her eyes wide as she tried the puppy dog look.
Dean narrowed his eyes as he looked down at her, then let out a big breath. He shook his head and pulled her over to one hip, making sure his right hand was free. Ellie rested her head back onto his shoulder, a small smile on her face as Dean started pulling the ingredients from the fridge.
Once the food was done, Dean nudged the shoulder Ellie was resting on, "Okay, time to get down."
She whined slightly as he carefully dropped her onto the chair, but quickly recovered once she saw her plate with pancakes, bacon, and eggs in front of her. She grabbed her fork and began to devour it, making Dean laugh as he sat across from her.
Just as Dean was about to place his first piece of bacon into his mouth, his phone rang. He reached into his pajama pants pocket and pulled it out, his eyes flickering over to Ellie when he saw the caller ID. He pushed the screen and pulled it up to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Hello Dean," Cass spoke from the other end.
"What's up?"
"Sam got hurt."
"What?" Dean tried to hide his concern, keeping an eye on Ellie as she continued to scarf down her pancakes.
"The witch placed some sort of spell on him," Cass began, "She wasn't as young of a witch as we thought."
"Can't Rowena do something?" Dean growled, turning his head and trying to stop Ellie from letting her hear.
"She's trying," Dean could hear the worry in the angel's voice, and it was really starting to scare him, "She was able to reverse most of the effects of the spell, but Dean, it's very powerful."
"Well what is it?"
Cass didn't respond right away, again scaring Dean. "It's an amnesia spell."
"What?"
"Sam, he…he doesn't remember Ellie."
A/N: I know, I'm mean. Tell me how mean I am in the review box below. : )