Good Morning. You're Beautiful.

I was asked for this scenario early on, but honestly had no idea how to deal with it until a couple months ago. So for those who requested this one, here you go, lol.

Special thanks to my Sammy, Jenmm31. She's got two parts of a three part story on her page about Sam's daughter, Emily. She's a brilliant and talented writer, and if you like my stuff you're going to LOVE this story. Go show her some love and check it out!

Love each other, SPN family.

A/N- in this story, Natalie is 13. Please see profile page for disclaimer.

Natalie took a deep breath. She looked at her thirteen-year-old self in the cracked motel room mirror. "Okay, Winchester, you got this. No big deal. Just do it." With the echo of her own voice in her ears, she gripped the knob to the motel bathroom's door, twisted it boldly, and walked out into the room. Her uncle and father were currently up to their eyeballs in research, trying to figure out the origin story of the haunted building they were here in this little backwater town to save. Natalie had been working right alongside them, until a more pressing matter got her attention. She knew now what she had to do, but doing it….that was another matter entirely. She needed to ask for something and it wasn't going to be easy.

She tried to walk up to Dean casually. She never noticed before how awkward every step she took was. She tried to slow down, thinking a casual stroll would be less suspicious. She turned slightly to the side, as she felt this gave her an air of supreme disassociation. Placing her hands on her hips seemed too definitive, so she tried crossing them over her chest. When that felt too weird, she dropped them halfway down her sides, but then pulled them back into her chest, feeling that her arms were suddenly as long as a chimpanzee's.

In the middle of her self-imposed life-crisis of walking, Sam looked up to see his niece doing what looked like an uncanny impression of John Wayne. "Um, Bug? You okay?" he asked after staring at her for a moment, trying to figure out what the hell she was doing.

Inwardly cursing herself, Natalie shook off her strange walk, sighed, and just lumbered up to the table normally. "Yeah, I'm fine," she grumbled in response. Dean's eyes hadn't left his laptop until her last statement. They quickly flicked up to Sam's upon hearing Natalie's tone. Sam's eyes briefly caught Dean's. He knew they were thinking the same thing.

Now that Natalie was officially a teenager, she was starting to turn into what they feared most- a teenager. To be specific, a teenage girl. The boys had talked about her mood swings and sudden attitudes towards them in private several times.

Sam thought they were getting off easy. Natalie had been more moody lately- but that was to be expected, now that she was thirteen. And her bad moods didn't last that long- maybe an hour, or two if she was really pissed. Sam quietly remembered several times where he was in bad moods for days when he was a teenager. He was reluctant to bring this point up though- mainly to avoid giving Dean any more fodder for calling him a girl.

Dean, however, felt quite differently about Natalie's transformation. He was so used to his little tomboy, his little angel who told him everything and expressed her love for him by playing pranks and giving him attack hugs, that to suddenly be confronted with a moody, secretive teenager was unsettling. He had no idea that she really WASN'T as moody and secretive as the average teen- she was just different from how she normally was.

He was comforted by the idea that she was still just as gung-ho about hunting as he was. She always insisted on helping on each and every case, whether it meant doing research or identifying the strange and random objects they would bring home. She'd even done a few salts and burns, and could rattle off an exorcism faster than Bobby. Dean reveled in this, as, in his mind, it meant that she wouldn't leave him when she got old enough to make those kinds of decisions for herself.

However, now was not the moment to deal with that, Dean told himself. Now was the moment to figure out whatever the hell Natalie was trying to do.

"What's up, squirt?" he asked casually.

"Can…um…can I have ten bucks?"

Dean's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. She had never asked for money before unless they happened to be at an arcade. "What do you want ten bucks for?" he asked, confused.

Natalie shifted from foot to foot. Dean's eyes quickly darted over to Sam again. She was antsy. Never a good thing. This was weird. She finally set her jaw and looked him straight in the eye.

"Just for stuff," she answered evenly. That made Dean snort a little with laughter.

"For stuff, huh?"

She exhaled heavily, suddenly on the defensive. "Yeah, just for stuff," she said, a touch of impatience in her voice. Normally, that would have made his own temper flare itself, but his concern for her overpowered that. She was acting weird, and he didn't like it, so he needed to make her feel better. He couldn't stand the idea of her being upset.

"Calm down there, kiddo. I'm just askin'," he said placating as he reached for his wallet. He withdrew a ten and held it out to her. "Here you go."

Instantly, the frustration fell off her face, and something like relief crossed it. She sighed happily and reached for the money. "Thanks, Dad," she said, her happy go lucky tone back in place.

"Natalie? You okay?" Dean asked, searching her eyes. Now that she was happy again, he felt like he could ask without pissing her off. She looked startled at the question, but then threw on her shit-eating grin.

"Yeah, I'm great. Thanks for the money. I'll pay you back," she said, folding the bill and tucking it into her pocket.

"Don't worry about it," he said, now convinced that something was wrong. He knew that grin- he TAUGHT her that grin. "Kid, if you need something, all you have to do is ask. You know that, right?" he said, looking at her with his piercing green eyes. But she dismissed it with a wave of her hand.

"I know. I just don't want you to have to deal with it while you're working on your case. Did you find anything out about the building yet? I swear there's more than one ghost there," she said, leaning over Dean to look at the website he was on. Dean's eyes sought Sam's once more. Sam just gave an almost imperceptible shrug. He didn't know what was going on with her either, but clearly she didn't want to talk about it any more. Dean decided to try to let it go.

*SPN SPN SPN*

A couple weeks later, after clearing out the haunted building and saving the day, the Winchesters found themselves at Bobby's, restocking, refueling, and researching. Natalie had been tasked with finding them a new case and trying to identify it before they could get there. Dean had been watching her every step, and she was doing great. However, this morning, before they could even crack open the laptops and continue, she approached him again.

"Hey Dad, can I borrow some money?" she asked. Dean didn't even try to hide his confusion this time.

"Again?" he said, a tone of joking masking his concern. "What, you got a bookie on your ass that I don't know about?"

To his relief, that made her chuckle. She shook her head, still smiling. "No, I just wanted to pick up something at the store."

"Just let me know what it is- I'm making a run into town later today, I'll get it for you."

"No!" she answered loudly. That made Dean rear back in surprise. She instantly modified her tone, adopting that casual Dean Winchester inspired grin. "Sorry, got a little excited there. Naw, it's just stupid stuff, I don't want you to have to bother."

"C'mon kid, it's no bother. Just tell me what you need." This time, Dean definitely saw a flicker of impatience cross her face.

"It's just stupid stuff, Dad. Can I please borrow the money?" she asked evenly. Dean wanted to push her on it- it wasn't like her to keep secrets from him- but he didn't want to make her any more upset. He decided to give her a gentle ultimatum.

"Yeah, you can. But next time, you tell me what you need. Kapeesh?"

There was a moment of hesitation. "Sure. Sure, I'll tell you."

"Okay, then," he said, handing over a ten.

*SPN SPN SPN*

A month later, they were back on the road. This time, in Tennessee, with a Tulpa on the loose. One morning, right before they walked out the door, Natalie once again ambushed Dean with a request for money.

"Alright, kid," he said, folding his arms and looking her straight in the eye. "What's going on?"

Natalie immediately folded her arms back, looking like Dean in miniature. "Nothing. I just wanted to hit the store while you guys were gone."

"Yeah, not gonna fly this time. Last time this happened, I told you that you were going to tell me what you needed. Remember that?" he pressed, staring at her. She swallowed hard and averted her gaze. It was clear she hoped he hadn't remembered.

"You…said something like that," she mumbled, not wanting to give in. She stared at the floor, shifting from foot to foot.

"Yeah," Dean said, not letting her off the hook. "C'mon, kid, it's me. Just tell me what you need, I'll get it for you. Okay?" he said, gentler than before. He didn't want to admit it, but this keeping-secrets-from-dad thing was starting to scare him. When she didn't answer, his panic inwardly rose. "Natalie, whatever it is, you can just tell me. Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Do you need something for school?"

"No."

"Are you trying to buy makeup or some crap like that?"

"No! I just…I just want to do it myself, okay?" she asked, finally looking back at him, her eyes pleading. Dean almost gave in- he was a sucker for the puppy dog eyes- but his concern for his daughter kept his resolve firm. He shook his head.

"Nope. You don't wanna tell me, that's just fine," he said, lying through his teeth about it being fine. "But then you don't get the money."

A flash of anger lit up her eyes momentarily. Dean watched, stunned, as his little angel gritted her teeth, nostrils flaring, and crossed her arms even tighter.

"Fine. I don't need your stupid money anyways," she said, turning and stalking off towards the couch where she slept. His temper instantly ignited at her words despite the growing concern gnawing at his insides.

"You better watch your mouth, little girl," he warned, his eyes narrowing as he watched her stomp her way across the room. "You know better than to speak to me like that."

She turned back around. He was expecting more attitude, even her silent treatment. What he wasn't expecting was her eyes to be filled with tears. His jaw would have dropped had he not been frozen in place at her unexpected reaction.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, before sitting down on her couch and curling into the fetal position. Before he could say anything, she pulled one of her books off the floor and cracked it open in front of her face, hiding her from view. Dean wanted to go to her, to force her to talk and tell him what the hell was bothering her, but she clearly just wanted to be left alone. What the hell was wrong with his baby girl?

*SPN SPN SPN*

A couple months passed by, and in that time, Natalie didn't ask for any money. Nor did she give any indication what she had been up to. Sam and Dean had quietly compared notes. She didn't have any new clothing that they could see, or books, or games, or anything. Dean wondered if she was buying snack foods or something, but they never found any wrappers or anything like that in the trash. Since it hadn't really come up again, they grew tired of the same circular conversation with no new information, and dropped it. It hadn't come up again.

One day, while out in the field alone while Dean was scoping out the crime scene, Sam was walking back to the Impala, his hands full of files that he had borrowed from the police station. His cell phone rang abruptly in his pocket. Transferring the files to his left hand, he fished out his phone and checked the caller ID. It wasn't a number he recognized- but it was a local number. Curiosity made him answer.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this a Mr. Sam Winchester?"

"Yes, it is. Who's calling please?"

"This is Miss Mason- I'm the secretary from Waldon High School. We have a Natalie Winchester here- she says that you're her uncle?"

Out of all the things Sam ever expected to hear, that was among the last. He stammered for a minute before answering. "Uh- yes, yes, that's my niece. Is she….what is she doing there?"

"That's an excellent question, sir," came the terse reply. "I suggest you come get her immediately and maybe we can clear this up."

Completely flabbergasted, Sam had no choice but to aquiest. "Uh, yeah, sure thing, I'm on my way."

*SPN SPN SPN*

Ten minutes later, Sam found himself in the front office of the local high school. He walked up to the reception desk. "Excuse me? Are you Miss Mason?" he asked of the middle-aged woman sitting behind the counter. Her eyes flicked up to the tall, handsome man.

"Yes, I am. Can I help you?" she said, smiling coquettishly. Sam, however, wasn't in the mood to play.

"I'm Sam Winchester," he started, but before he could say anything else, the smile slid off her face.

"Oh," she said, her voice dropping about two octaves. "You're Natalie's uncle."

Almost afraid to admit it, Sam answered tentatively. "Um, yes?"

"She's back here." Without further ado, Miss Mason stood up, pushed her chair away from her desk, and came around to the front of the desk to lead Sam towards the principal's office. She was entirely silent as she furiously stomped her way towards the door. Trying to give the angry woman a wide berth, Sam followed. Miss Mason opened the door without knocking. Sam looked inside, and saw Natalie sitting in a chair against the wall, her arms folded, staring at the floor as if her life depended on it.

Sam had no idea which way to step here. What was Natalie doing in a high school she didn't attend? Since when did she even step foot in a school? Why was she in the principal's office? Why had they called him and not Dean? Before he could say anything, the fierce older woman sitting behind the desk in the room stood up.

"Mr. Winchester, I presume?" she asked in a no-nonsense voice. Sam knew immediately this was not a woman to mess with. "I'm Principal Trostli. Please, have a seat." She indicated the chair in front of her desk. With a quick glance to his right at his niece, he sat down, completely stupefied.

"Is…is there a problem?" he asked tentatively. Principal Trostli's mouth set in a firm, thin line.

"If you count a minor who is not a student at our school sneaking onto school property, then yes. There's a problem," she answered in a perfectly flat tone. Sam's eyes widened, and he looked over again at Natalie to try to figure out what was going on. But she was still resolutely staring at the floor, offering no explanation.

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea she was sneaking onto your campus. How long has she been doing this for?" he asked.

"Only today- as far as we can deduce. She made her way to the nurse's office, but once we discovered that she wasn't a student, we brought her in here immediately," the principal answered crispy.

"Wh-why was she in the nurse's office? Natalie," Sam said as he turned back to her, instantly worried. "Are you sick?"

"She's not sick, but she won't tell us why she was there," Principal Trostli said, interrupting. Sam's eyes darted back to her, then back at his niece. Natalie just folded her arms tighter against her chest and kept her mouth shut. "Now, I could press charges against her for trespassing on school property," the principal added, a tone of force in her voice. Out of his periphery, Sam saw Natalie fidget uncomfortably. He held out his hands in surrender to try to stop that idea immediately.

"Please, that won't be necessary," he said, trying to keep his panic out of his voice. "I'll take her off property now, and I can guarantee she'll never do this again. I am so sorry," he added, just wanting to escape the suffocating atmosphere in here.

Principal Trostli nodded once, savagely. "See that she doesn't. Next time, I'll call the police first before I call you."

Sam swallowed hard. "Understood. Again, I'm so sorry," he said, standing up. "Natalie," he growled at his niece, his temper getting the better of him. "Let's go." She immediately stood up to follow him, her gaze never leaving the floor. Sam thought about making her apologize, but he knew her temper was flaring right now, and he could see her easily shooting off her mouth and getting them both arrested. He put one firm hand on her shoulder and steered her out of the office, past the sniffing and judgmental secretary and into the parking lot. He could feel Natalie's anger and stiffness falling away the further they got from the office.

Neither one of them spoke until they got to the car. Once she had dropped into the passenger seat and closed the door however, Sam turned and started in on her.

"What the hell was that?!" he yelled at her. She sunk a little lower in her seat, her arms still tightly crossed. "You wanna tell me why you snuck into a public school- into a nurse's office- in broad daylight?!" He waited for an answer, but she just kept her lips shut as she gazed at her knees. He threw the car into reverse and backed out of the parking lot. As he pulled onto the road, he looked at her once more quickly. She clearly had no intention of talking.

"I'm assuming you gave them my number so you wouldn't have to tell you dad about this little stunt?" he asked, trying to tone down his voice.

"Yes," she finally admitted in a small voice.

"Well, then you better tell me what the hell you were doing in there, young lady."

"Please, Uncle Sam, I can't," she said, her voice still lifeless and flat.

"You mean you won't."

"Come on, I won't do it again. Okay? Can we just drop it? Please?"

"Are you kidding? Natalie, you nearly got the cops called on you today. That would have meant that social services would have gotten involved, not to mention you'd have a police record at the age of thirteen. No, we cannot 'drop it'."

"Look, I know it was stupid. Punish me all you want, okay? Just trust me, I won't do it again."

"What were you doing? I want to know."

"I….I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, you're gonna."

"No, I'm not."

"Then I'm telling your father."

Sam saw Natalie's horrified face swing towards his. "You wouldn't."

"You bet your ass I will."

"Come on. Please. I'll do anything. Just don't tell Dad."

"Then tell me what you were doing there."

Sam saw Natalie look down at her lap and breath hard twice. She finally answered as if it were painful. "Please. Please don't make me tell you."

Even though it twisted his heart, he had to know. He shook his head. "No deal." He watched out of the corner of his eye as Natalie folded her arms back over her stomach and pulled her knees into her chest- her classic position for when she knew she was in deep trouble. Neither one of them could think of anything more to say all the way back to the motel.

*SPN SPN SPN*

Fifteen grueling minutes later, Natalie was still curled up with her knees tucked into her chest, but this time, she was seated on the couch in the motel room, with an furiously angry father and uncle in front of her. She hadn't spoken a word since they arrived back at the hotel, so it had been up to Sam to fill Dean in. The reaction had been instant and earth shattering. Dean had been shouting for the last five minutes, and it was clear he had no intention of letting up now.

"So let me get this straight," he said, smoke pouring out from his ears as he paced back and forth in front of his daughter. "You snuck onto a high school campus, into the nurse's office, got caught, almost got the cops called on you, called YOUR UNCLE instead of me, and you still think you got a good reason for keeping your trap shut about whatever the hell it was you were trying to pull?!" he roared. He saw his daughter shudder once from the onslaught, but keep her mouth closed tightly. He had been screaming at her practically since he'd gotten back to the motel, but he was no closer to figuring out what she had done than Sam had been. Instead of the answer he felt like he should be getting, Natalie simply set her jaw, determined to wait the Dean Tsunami out.

Finally, he snapped. The anger in his voice was masking the bigger concern- the fear he felt. She was now sneaking around behind his back, getting into all sorts of trouble, almost getting thrown into juvie- Wish she hadn't taken after me there, he thought angrily to himself- and still wasn't telling him what was going on. This wasn't his Natalie. This wasn't his little girl any longer. He was out of options. He played the only card left in his hand.

"Fine. Then tomorrow, we're heading straight for South Dakota."

Natalie's head shot up at that. "For home?" she asked, breaking her silence.

"Yup."

"Why?"

"I'm leaving you at Bobby's."

"WHAT?!"

"You're gonna pull this kind of shit, endanger yourself like this? I'm not dealing with it, Natalie. I'm not putting up with it. You choose to behave this way, these are the consequences." Dean put his hands on his hips, trying to look stern and betray the deep chasm that had opened in his heart, saying those words. He glared down at his daughter, trying to be unforgiving.

Suddenly, without warning, her wide, fearful green eyes overflowed. She dropped her face into her hands, sobbing her heart out. Dean looked at Sam, who was looking just as thunderstruck. Neither of them moved while she cried- they had no idea what to do. Finally, she managed to choke out.

"I give up. I'll….I'll tell you, okay? Please. I'll tell you," she said, gasping and hiccupping. "Just don't abandon me at Pops, okay? Please," she sobbed, before she couldn't speak any longer.

"Okay," Dean said, hating himself for what he had just done, but relieved that she was going to tell him. "Start talking."

Natalie swallowed hard and rubbed her knuckles into her red eyes. That didn't help- it reminded Dean of when she was a baby. She used to rub her knuckles into her eyes to stop the tears. He could hear his heart tear in two pieces at that, but he couldn't back down- not when she had endangered herself so much and he had finally broken her resolve to keep silent. She finally caught her breath enough to speak. She made herself uncurl, dropping her feet to the ground. She twisted her hands in her lap and addressed them.

"I snuck into the school for….supplies," she mumbled quietly.

"For supplies?" Sam interjected.

"Like- what? Pencils? New books? What did you want?" Dean pressed. "And why the hell didn't you just ask me for them?"

Natalie shook her head. "Not those kind of supplies."

"Like bandages? Or medicine? Was that why you were in the nurse's office? Bug, we've got everything right here you could need," Sam said, trying to get to the bottom of things. But Natalie shook her head.

"No, it's…."

"What, Natalie?" Dean said, his temper getting the better of him again. The tears poured down Natalie's face again, dropping onto her clenched hands.

"Like….girl supplies," she finally stammered out, barely loud enough to be heard, completely avoiding eye contact.

"Girl supplies?" Dean repeated, totally confused. "What does that…" A sudden movement from Sam caught his eye. He looked over at his brother. "What?" he mouthed at him, not wanting to break the moment. Sam was staring at him like it should have been obvious. Dean shook his head, not understanding. Sam finally heaved a sigh and mouthed the answer.

"She started her period."

Dean's mouth dropped open in shock. His gaze whipped back to his daughter, who was still clutching her hands in her lap and sobbing her heart out. All of the sudden, the mood swings and surly attitudes fell into a time line for him. They were happening- about once a month. At the same time each month. She was…because she had….

"Ohhhhhh," Dean said, the pieces of the puzzle finally falling into place. He instantly felt horrible for what he had said. He dropped down on the couch next to her. He wanted to put his arm around her and pull her in tight, but he was afraid that would just make her more upset.

"Nat," he said, his tone completely different from before. "Why didn't you just tell me?" he said gently.

She gave a great shuddering sob, and dropped her face into her hands again, losing herself at Dean's quiet tone. "Because you'd freak out and I didn't want to make you upset," she managed to get out. Sam took that as his cue to sit down on the other side of her and start gently rubbing her back.

"Bug, how could you think that we'd freak out? It's not like we didn't know this was coming," Sam said soothingly. "It's okay. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's part of growing up."

"I'm not ashamed of it. I just don't want to talk about it."

"Why?"

She refused to look up. "Because you guys freak out over anything too girly. And I thought I could handle this on my own. I'm freaking strong enough to deal with this shit, but I just messed up and now I've…." She couldn't continue. She started sobbing harder than ever before. Sam's heart was breaking too much to scold her for swearing. And Dean, feeling like the worst father in the world, couldn't take it any longer. He reached over, pulled her into his chest, and let her cry. He rested his cheek against the top of her head and just held her. Soothed as always by his touch, Natalie finally let loose and cried herself out. Once she finally calmed down enough, he spoke.

"Baby Girl, listen," he said. "I'm sorry you felt like you couldn't tell me. I, uh, I know that's my fault. I've…not always been the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff," he said, his voice strained. "But you listen to me. This is nothing to be ashamed of, and it's nothing that you should have to be trying to figure out all by yourself, okay? If you…if you want to keep gettin' your….supplies by yourself, that's okay. I'll give you the money, okay? You don't need to hide it from me, and you don't need to pay it back or whatever crap that was. You just need to tell me. I need you to tell me," he said, almost pleading. That made her cry even harder. Dean was terrified that he'd upset her even more, but she calmed down quickly.

"I wanted to tell you," she said, sniffling. "I hated not telling you, but I just thought that you'd be so grossed out and uncomfortable that I didn't want to put you through that. You remember when we had 'The Talk'?" she asked, looking Dean right in the eyes. The sudden and awkward look on his face was all she needed to see to prove her point. "I've never seen you so uncomfortable in your life, and I just didn't want to put you through that again." Dean shook his head, suddenly grinning.

"You were so concerned for my feelings that you snuck onto public property to steal tampons from a school you don't go to so you didn't have to tell me?" he said, a dry humor in his voice. At that, Natalie let out a watery giggle.

"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds ridiculous," she admitted, causing Sam to chuckle, too. The tension in the room released.

*SPN SPN SPN*

An hour later, after Natalie had mopped herself up and been assured beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was not being taken to Bobby's, Dean took a stroll alone. He needed to clear his head- and take care of a few things.

"Okay, Winchester," he mumbled to himself. "You got this. No big deal. Just do it."

*SPN SPN SPN*

Dean walked back into the motel room, and made a beeline straight for his daughter who was sitting at the table with Sam, working on her homework. He thrust a plastic drug store bag towards her.

"Here," he said. "This is for you." Natalie took the bag and opened it. Inside were a box of tampons and a package of pads. She looked up, shocked, at her father. He thrust his hands into the pockets of his jacket and looked back at her with a smile.

"I don't know if that's the right kind, but that's what the saleslady suggested."

Natalie's mouth dropped open. "You...you asked someone for help?" she said faintly, disbelieving it. "For…this?"

Dean shrugged. "Of course I did. You're the most important thing in my life. You have no idea how far I'll go for you." Before he could get the rest of his speech out, Natalie dropped the bag and raced into his arms.

He didn't need to finish the speech. She already knew the rest of it anyways.