Good Evening Amazing SPN Family! I hope you are wonderful and well this evening! I have a weirdo case story coming at you- hold onto your hats, lol.
Okay- full disclosure here. I just went through Hurricane Irma. It made landfall just south of where I live. Thank God it was a category two by the time it hit us, and I and my loved ones and our homes were spared. But have you all seen what's going on these days? Puerto Rico just got decimated by Hurricane Maria. Texas is still recovering from Hurricane Harvey. And the damage that I saw Irma do- I'm telling you, I've never seen anything like it in real life. Seeing it in your front yard is a lot different from seeing it in the movies. We've all joked that right now with all the hurricanes and earthquakes and tsunamis and everything going on, we feel like we're in season five of Supernatural. And y'all- it's some scary shit.
So because there's all these terrible and scary things happening right now, I'm asking you to be kind to each other. Be kind to someone. Tell them you love them. Do something nice for someone- buy them an ice cream cone. Do the dishes. Give them a hug. Send a random text message telling someone how special they are to you. We can still keep the faith and get through terrifying times like this. Just share the happiness and the love.
So more total disclosure here- you guys and your support mean so much to me, that for a while during the hurricane, I fell asleep with the flash drives of my stories in my hand. I didn't want to lose them, because you guys mean so much to me. Please know that.
Jenmm31- honest to Chuck- the reason I made it through the hurricane with my sanity intact. She kept me calm through one of the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced. She is a true blue friend. And I'm lucky to have her. So go show HER the love and check out her stories. They're freaking brilliant.
Love each other. I love you guys!
A/N- In this story, Natalie is 16. This is part one of a three part story. Please see profile page for disclaimer.
On a dark, desert highway somewhere outside Pasadena, California, the '67 Impala raced the sunset. Truth be told, to look at her, she almost looked lazy, despite the speed at which she was going. The driver was in a rock coma, listening to the opening bars of "Stairway to Heaven" by the great Led Zeppelin. The shotgun, while keeping his cakehole shut, was staring listlessly out the window. The brat tucked into the backseat was moving her fingers in time to the music, as if she was playing the pan flute on the track. She was feeling tired and comfortable, just relaxing in the Impala- her home away from home.
They had just come from a case- and a hell of a case at that. A Djinn had been picking off hunters, starting in Washington, then working its way through Oregon and Northern California. When Dean got the call, the family immediately high-tailed over, joined forces with Jody and the rest of the assembled hunters, and nearly got themselves all captured in the process. But they had managed to save most of their fellow hunters. Natalie shook her head, staring out the window, trying not to remember Helen and Cody, the two hunters they'd lost. But you might as well have bid the sun to stop setting for all the halting she was able to do about those thoughts. It seemed disrespectful NOT to think about them- as if she wasn't honoring their memories. But thinking about them hurt. A lot. She had been fortunate thus far- in sixteen years, she hadn't really lost anyone close to her. They had lost people, sure, but this time was different. Even though she had only an acquaintance with Cody, she had hung out with Helen- had been sort of friends with the older woman. And they had all been Hunters together on the same case. They had been comrades in arms together; fighting the good fight.
Natalie made herself think about them for one more solid minute before she felt that that was enough self-torture for today. She yawned as she turned her attention towards the front seat. Sam heard the yawn and grinned.
"Not tired, are you, Bug?" he asked, teasing her. Despite being mid yawn, Natalie snorted with laughter.
"No. You guys just must be sucking up all the oxygen in here, and my brain is gasping," she teased back. Sam chuckled under his breath before yawning, too.
"Knock it off, you-" Dean got out before a yawn nearly split his face in half. "See? It's contagious. Stop it."
Natalie grinned, but shook her head. Suddenly, inexplicably, she was tired- very tired. It was such a foreign feeling to her that she wondered if it had been creeping up on her so well that she didn't recognize it for what it was until it hit her like a dump truck. Her head felt heavy as a boulder, and she leaned it up against the car window. Sam heard the thump of her head, and turned around. When he saw her slumping against the window, his look immediately turned from teasing to concerned. Natalie dismissed it with a wave.
"I'm fine," she mumbled.
Sam arched one eyebrow at her in disbelief, but didn't say anything.
"I'm FINE," she said grumpily.
"'Methinks the lady doth protest too much'," Sam said gently.
"What?"
"It's a quote from Shakespeare, Dean."
"Sam-speak English. Squirt- you okay?"
"Fine."
"Well, truth be told, I'm feeling tired too," Dean said, casually calling his daughter out on her lie. He squinted his eyes as he looked down the road. "You guys see that? Up ahead?" He pointed to a patch of light. Natalie sat upright to look out the front window. Like her father, she squinted too.
"It looks like some kind of sign," she mumbled.
"Yeah, well, if it's a hotel, we're putting up for the night. We're all beat, no sense in fallin' asleep at the wheel," Dean declared. Natalie rubbed her fists into her eyes. It wasn't like Dean to stop so soon- it was really only about eight thirty in the evening. But seeing as they were all feeling the exhausting after-effects of the hunt, she wasn't going to say anything. Besides, this feeling of being tired was really screwing with her brain, and she didn't like it.
As they got closer, they all saw with relief that it was, indeed, a motel. "Seems like a strange place for a motel, out in the middle of no where," Sam mused, looking around while stretching his eyes open wide. Even he was clearly feeling the exhaustion. He read the fading neon sign out loud.
"'Fort Lilac- one hi 'and you'll never leave'!'" he said, a definite tone of disgust in his voice. "That is a terrible tag line for a motel," he commented dryly, looking at the aging sign.
"It sounds like it's straight out of the 1950s. You know- 'everything's dandy with a tootsie roll candy!'" Natalie quipped. "Something like that."
"Don't quit your day job."
"Shut up."
"Fort Lilac," Dean repeated. "What is it, like a barricade made of daisies?" As they got close though, they realized it was anything but that. Despite the obvious age of the neon sign bearing its name, the hotel itself looked beautiful. The exterior was sleek architecture, with a fresh paint job. The contrasting gold and black colors were striking, even at night. Behind the front glass doors, a warm, golden light shone through, inviting them in.
"Call it what you want, I'm just glad it's here," Natalie said, sitting up again and craning her neck to look to look around. That's when she got a good look at the other cars in the parking lot. She whistled low. "Dad, check it out," she practically moaned.
Dean's attention turned to the other cars then as well, and a rumble of satisfaction came out of his chest. "Would you look at that," he whispered, almost reverently. The parking lot was full of showroom worthy cars. Everything from muscles cars near or around Baby's birthday to Volvos that were probably not even available to the public yet. The sheer amount of car porn in the lot was enough to make both Dean and Natalie drool. Even Sam could appreciate the beauty of the polished chrome hubcaps and tail fins. The silver Aston Martin on the left caught his eye.
"Wouldn't mind taking one of those for a test spin," Sam said quietly.
"So do you think we've stumbled onto some car convention or something? Because that would be freaking awesome," Natalie said, sitting up and forgetting about her tiredness.
"Let's hope so," Dean said. He found an empty spot next to a Mercedes Benz and very carefully pulled in, not wanting to get too close to the Benz's flawless paint job. "You all be careful getting out," he exclaimed bossily as he turned Baby's engine off. Sam and Natalie rolled their eyes in tandem as they exited the car, snatched their bags from the trunk, and headed towards the front door. When he was sure they couldn't hear, Dean looked down on the Impala's mirror finish. He leaned in towards it.
"Alright, Baby, I'm leaving you with the Benz for the night. You two have fun," he whispered, pointing to the Benz next to her. "Be safe. Use a car cover." He trotted towards his family, grinning like the cat that ate the canary at his hilarious joke. Sam had stopped close to the door, and turned around to see what was keeping his brother.
"Tell me you weren't saying 'goodnight' to your car," Sam said patronizingly.
"What kind of a dork do you think I am?" Dean said, brushing past him and choosing not to answer the question. As they approached the glass double door entrance to the hotel, a very lovely lady stepped right up to them, pushing them open wide.
"Hello!" she purred, tossing her long, sleek hair back. "Welcome to Fort Lilac. 'One hi, and you'll never leave'!" she said, uttering the company tag line cheerily. "Please come in!"
"Don't mind if I do," Dean said, grinning at her as his eye roamed up and down. She was stunning. Her long raven hair complemented her lovely porcelain skin tone. Her almond shaped eyes were a striking shade of blue. And that dress looked like it was one deep breath away from splitting at the seams.
"My name is Tiffany, and I'm the hotel concierge," she said, a warm, well-practiced smile on her lips.
"Well, hi there Tiffany. I'm Dean, and I'm sure as hell glad we're staying here tonight," Dean said back in his best come-hither voice. Natalie cleared her throat obviously, with a bit of a glare at her father. He had enough presence of mind to look slightly embarrassed at the silent chastisement, but once Tiffany turned and walked towards the counter and he got a good look at her backside, the abashment dropped plain off his face. Natalie ground her teeth together. She hated it when Dean did that.
"I know, I know," Sam said low in her ear, trying to soothe his niece, and fully aware of what she was thinking. She turned towards him, obviously displeased.
"Every time? Seriously? Every time?"
"Let it go, Bug."
She grumbled something inaudible in response.
They reached the front counter. Dean immediately pulled out his wallet and started going through the check in process. Sam and Natalie looked around the opulent and ornate lobby. The gold panels on the wall were drawn up with some of the most gorgeous hand-painted art Sam had ever seen. They each had gold-flaked bamboo frames perfectly fitting them, giving all the art work a sense of flow despite the individual pictures.
Tiffany caught Sam looking at them. "Stunning, aren't they?" she commented. Sam swung around to look at her, and she pointed to a panel that was on a masking wall to a staircase. "Authentic Japanese artists created them." She shrugged modestly. "My mother was Japanese. She insisted on having them done by real artists from Japan. I have to admit, they do add a certain élan to the place," she said, smiling as she looked at the oversized wall art. She looked back at the computer screen, typing in Dean's information, but continued to talk. "I'm the owner, so please forgive me if I take too much pride in my hotel."
"No, no, not at all," Sam said. "It's actually really beautiful. You should be proud."
"Well, thank you. I can't take all the credit for the interior though. My mother insisted that I always keep the lobby in this style. I inherited this hotel from her when she passed."
"I'm so sorry," Sam said, genuine sympathy in his voice. She smiled at the comment, but offered none of her own on the subject. Instead, she continued to talk about the hotel.
"It was supposed to be 'Fort Cherry Blossom', but that was just too on the nose, you know?" she said with a small giggle. "I asked her to call it Fort Lilac instead. You should see the blossoming trees around here. The smell of the lilacs is unforgettable."
"Wow. I didn't realize that lilacs were indigenous to this area," Natalie said, a tone of surprise in her voice. Dean smiled proudly at her vocabulary. He had a kid that could use a word like "indigenous" and know what it meant. Must have been her fantastic genes.
Tiffany looked at her, an impressed grin crossing her face. "You're right. They're not. I've just always had a…shall we say….flair for the unusual." She pointedly looked at Dean and smiled, causing his brain to think a thousand things that, if voiced, would have earned him a punch from his daughter. "Trying to keep lilacs alive in this area is nearly impossible, but I'm pretty stubborn," she said with a chuckle as she checked her computer screen. "Alright now, I think I've got you three set up. If you'll follow me, I'll show you to your room."
"Wow. Door to door service. Literally," Dean said, his smile nearly splitting his face in two.
"We're known for our hospitality," Tiffany replied back warmly with a suggestive smile. Right before Natalie was about to make a smart-ass remark, the lights suddenly flickered once, twice, then the whole motel was plunged into darkness. "Dammit," Tiffany hissed, her perfect persona cracking instantly.
All three Winchesters immediately reached for the flashlights in their pockets and clicked them on. Tiffany suddenly looked surprised at the three beams of LED light shining at her, but then chuckled. "Are you all former boy scouts or something? You know, 'always be prepared'?"
"Yeah. Something like that," Sam said back with a smile.
"I'm so sorry. We're hosting a convention now of….shall we say…of a certain age group that is known for their rowdiness and shenanigans."
"Let me guess. College frat boys from some rich guy school?" Dean quipped sarcastically, looking out the lobby window to his left. The other two Winchesters followed his gaze to the opulent courtyard. There appeared to be beautiful cascading water fall, artistically splashing over polished stones and surrounded by palm trees and frangipani plants, ringing with glowing tiki torches. It was tough to tell with the massive amount of drunken idiots crashing into each other and dancing crazily to some unheard beat of vulgar music.
Tiffany rolled her eyes and turned back towards the group. "How did you guess?" she answered sarcastically before remembering herself. "My apologies for my lack of tact. It's been a little frustrating around here recently. Luckily, all the rooms here are incredibly soundproofed they shouldn't bother you. Well, in that regard. The boys seem to enjoy tripping the fuse box. This is the third time today. Again, my apologies."
Natalie, however, wasn't bothered in the slightest. Most of these guys looked only a few years older than her, and, to her young eyes, looked very promising. "Look at all the pretty, pretty boys," she murmured, practically drooling, not really realizing what she was doing. She took one step towards the window before she felt Dean's hand snatch her collar and yank her back. "Hypocrite," she hissed at him. He smiled snidely at her in response.
Tiffany withdrew a stub of a candle from her pocket. Apparently, this HAD happened several times recently. "Here, let me," Dean said chivalrously. He produced his lighter and flicked it on, touching it to the wick. Tiffany smiled at him. Natalie shot daggers at him.
"Thank you. Please give me one moment to reset the breakers- I'll be right back." Without waiting for an answer, she turned and walked down the hallway next to the concierge desk. The shadows from her dancing flame flickered off the walls as she retreated.
"Well. Rich frat boy get together. Explains all the fancy cars in the parking lot," Dean said in his gravelly voice. He turned to see what Natalie thought of that, but she had turned her attention backwards, gazing fondly out the window at the rough housing machos. Dean slapped her upside the back of her head.
"OW!"
"Put your tongue back in your mouth there, Casanova."
"I'm just looking. You do it all the time. You're drooling over the concierge lady so bad, you're practically standing in a puddle."
"That's different."
"How is that different?"
"You're grounded till you're thirty- that's how it's different." Natalie just good-naturedly chuckled in response. Dean, however, took a hold of her arm and turned her so she was facing him. "Nat, I'm serious. I don't want you around those guys while we're here. You copy?" She could tell he wasn't playing this time- he meant business. She nodded back, even though she thought he was going a little overboard. Better to be safe than sorry.
"Yeah. I don't like drunk guys anyways. They smell terrible," she agreed cheerily.
Sam spoke up dryly. "You should know. Your father's been one for years."
"I resent that, Samuel." Just then, the lights in the motel came back on. All three Winchesters pocketed their flashlights just as Tiffany came back around the corner.
"There now, that's better. So let me show you the way to your rooms. If we hurry, we can still catch the dinner buffet in the dining room."
*SPN SPN SPN*
About ten minutes later, after dropping their bags off in a way-bigger-than-normal room, the small family found themselves ensconced in a corner booth in the hotel's dining room.
"Well, this is a nice change of pace," Sam said, examining the fine china that had been provided at the buffet.
"Yeah- as soon as I'm done licking the plate, I'm totally going to look at it too," Dean said, his mouth crammed full of food already.
Natalie giggled and looked around. The Japanese style had carried over into the dining room. The window shades were all made out of a light woven bamboo and had all been drawn for the night. There were large paper screens placed decoratively along the walls, and a flock of delicate origami cranes were suspended from the ceiling on invisible lines. The rich, red, thick carpet provided a sense of mystery and elegance that was hard to miss.
"The buffet is pretty good," she commented, swiping a piece of bread around the edges to get the last of the lemon Dijon sauce left over from her spinach stuffed chicken. "Lots of variety."
Just then, a waiter sauntered over to them. "You folks still doing alright?" the older man asked with a pleasant, avuncular smile.
"Doin' great, man, thanks," Dean said, attempting to swallow his enormous mouthful of food and respond like a human being.
"This your first time at Fort Lilac?"
"Uh, yeah. We've never really been in this neck of the woods before," Sam said quickly before Dean could embarrass him again with his lack of social graces. "Beautiful place."
"Well, thank you. We don't get a lot of visitors out here. Only the really special people find their way here," he said, with a friendly wink at Natalie. She smiled her sideways smile in response. The older gentleman continued, "People who actively seek out the most attractive places in the world. Well, and, you know- the ghost hunters."
Natalie dropped her bread in surprise. "I'm sorry- the what?"
"Oh yes, Miss. The place is haunted."
All three Winchesters were instantly on alert, but tried to look casual about it. "Oh really?" said Sam. "What makes you say that?"
The older man chuckled. "Well, I suppose that's a bit of a tall tale. But back in the day, we had a spirit that roamed these very halls. Some say it was an old captain of the coast guard. He used to frequent the place, especially after World War II. When he died, he just stayed. Used to knock on tables, open curtains, all that kind of scary stuff," he said, directing it at Natalie, clearly trying to playfully scare her. Dean watched with a barely concealed grin as his daughter slowly got more and more irritated with being treated like a frightened child. The waiter didn't notice- he kept on speaking. "But it did all die out a while ago- somewhere around 1969."
"Wow," said Dean. "That's…specific."
"Been here for a very long time, son. You notice these things. We haven't had a problem since. But you never know. Tonight just might be the night that old spirit comes back," he said again, making spirit fingers towards Natalie. She simply smiled in a pinched way, which Dean knew meant that she was stabbing him in her mind. With another lighthearted chuckle, the older man took his leave.
The moment he was out of earshot, Natalie's bitch face turned on Sam and Dean. "Okay, do I LOOK like I'm five or what? What the hell was that about?" she fumed, angry at the patronizing tone of the older man.
"Calm down, kid. He's an old fart. He didn't mean any harm," Dean said. "You'd probably scare the shit out of him if he realized that you DO hunt ghosts for a living." He slapped his hands down on the table. "Now, if you two will excuse me, there are at least three kinds of pie up there, and I intend to make each one of them my bitch."
*SPN SPN SPN*
As they were walking back to their room after the delicious dinner, Dean looked over at his daughter. She was keeping pace with them walking down the hallway, but staring at her fingers, which she kept tenting and then tying in knots. He dropped away so that Sam was in the lead, and sauntered up next to her.
"Hey space cadet," he said, nudging her with his shoulder. "You okay?"
She sighed lightly. "I guess." Dean knew exactly what that meant. She was thinking about the hunters they had lost again. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"Kiddo, you gotta let them go."
"I know, but-"
"No, there ain't no 'buts' on this. You keep thinking about them, it'll eat you up inside. Trust me- I know."
"That feels like I'm-disrespecting them, somehow. Like if I don't think about them and how they died, then they'll just be forgotten or something."
"Natalie, listen. Your heart is way bigger than anyone I know, okay? You care probably more than anyone about anything. And that's great, kid. I don't ever want you to lose that. But for your own sanity- especially if you want to stay in the hunting game, you're gonna have to learn to grieve and let it go. Helen and Cody were good hunters- they just got caught at the wrong place and time. There was nothing you could have done."
"I just feel like I failed."
"You didn't. You hear me? You had nothing to do with their deaths. That was all on that damn djinn. You weren't even close to them when it happened- you couldn't have given them backup."
"If I'd have gone with them, I would have."
"Yeah, and then you would have left Jody without backup, and that thing could just as easily have gone after her. I'm telling you. This wasn't your fault. Where you even GOT that idea is beyond me. You need to let this go."
"Easier said than done."
Dean dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "That, I can relate to," he said, resting his chin on the top of her head. "But listen. I'm here, Sam's here. We'll talk this out with you as long as you need. Okay?"
"Okay," she whispered back, squeezing him around the middle. "Hey."
"I know. You too."
"I know."
*SPN SPN SPN*
They all went to bed without further incident. Tiffany had been right- the hotel had been incredibly well sound proofed. They all slept hard and right through the night.
The next morning, Natalie rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stretched lazily before she even sat up in bed. Unlike most of their usual rooms, this couch was ridiculously comfortable. Usually, if she got lucky, the bed was a hideaway. She was so used to sleeping on couches that it didn't really matter. A hideaway was more of a special perk than a necessity. But here, not only was it a hideaway bed- it was a hideaway bed with a memory foam mattress. It was like being back in her own bed at the bunker. Other than her bed at Bobby's, it was one of the few beds she was actually incredibly comfortable in. She may have even actually slept in for once, she thought, judging by the slant of the sun coming in through the window.
After another couple minutes of lazily lying there, she finally sat up. She could smell something warm in the air- a strange smell, but not unpleasant- a bit like coconuts. She turned her head in the direction of the double beds in the room to see if her father and uncle were up yet.
Surprisingly, she didn't see either one of them in bed. Chuckling to herself, she got up. She NEVER slept longer than the two of them. She looked around the small pony wall separating the room from the tiny kitchen unit, expecting to see one or both of them. But they weren't there either.
Brow wrinkled, she took a quick look into the bathroom. Nothing. A tiny flicker of worry ignited in her chest, but she tried to dismiss it. She quickly made her way back towards her bed, picking up her phone. If they were going to have left her alone in the room, they would have at least sent her a text letting her know where they were. But there was nothing on her phone.
"Dad? Uncle Sam?" she called out tentatively.
There was no answer.
