Good Morning! My, you're looking fantastic today. Go look at yourself in the mirror and remind yourself that you're awesome.
Here's part 2! So as some of you may have guessed from the title, this story is inspired in part by the song. If you haven't heard it, GO listen to it now, it's so freaking good. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your reviews. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate them. Special thanks to Jenmm31 for pushing me to some emotional limits on this part, which was much needed. Go show her some love and read her amazing stories, if you haven't already. She's incredible.
A/N- this is part 2 of a 3 part story. If you haven't already, please read the chapter before this, otherwise this ain't gonna make a lick of sense. Natalie is 7 and a half in this story.
As Dean sped off into the night, following the sound from down below, Sam turned towards the darkened apartment with a deep breath. Fear was threatening to choke his nerves, heart and brain, but with his iron will, he pushed it down. He had to think about finding Natalie first, and to do that, he needed to remain calm, not give into the fear. He clenched his jaw like his life depended on it, drew his gun, and walked into the apartment silently. He wanted to call out to her, but that was foolish in case the demon was still in the apartment. He had to be silent as the grave.
His mind whirled in a thousand directions, but he made himself focus. What would Natalie have done if she had figured out it was a demon? Which made him realize- maybe she didn't know. Maybe she wasn't aware that Jackie had been possessed. He crept with silent footfalls towards the door to her room. Every shadow on the wall drew his eye, making him check for the monster. When he reached Natalie's door, he gently pushed it open, zeroing in on her bed. It was still made, meaning she hadn't been in it yet.
The fear threatened to seize Sam by the throat again upon realizing Natalie wasn't there, but he immediately reminded himself that there were a thousand places to hide in this apartment, and if the demon had in fact taken Natalie, Dean was already on its tail. Sam made a quick scan of her closet and under her bed, finding nothing except toys and clothing.
He tried to focus again, denying the panic that was rising in him. Where would she have gone? Where might she have been in the apartment tonight? He suddenly remembered overhearing Dean talking to Natalie before they left, telling her that she could hang out in his room. It wasn't much to go on, but it was something. That was the next place to try.
Swallowing hard, he moved, back to the wall, into Dean's room. A quick scan told him Natalie hadn't been in that bed either. He checked under the bed, under the desk, even behind the dresser, though it was tight to the wall- she was resourceful, and hadn't been trained by two hunters for nothing. He turned and walked towards the closet, the last possible hiding place in the room. Keeping his gun at the ready, he twisted the knob and quickly opened the door. He was rewarded by a very large splash of water right in his face.
The shock of it was enough to make him freeze for half a second, before he realized what it must be. Holy water. Only one person in this apartment would have had holy water on them. Shaking the droplets out of his hair and swiping his face quickly, he opened his eyes, just in time to see Natalie's face light up with joy at the sight of him and her mouth to open like she was about to shout. He quickly put a finger to his lips and shook his head violently at her. She immediately understood and snapped her mouth closed. Relief flooding his system, he stepped into the closet with her, silently shutting the door behind him.
It was pitch black in the closet, but by feel, Sam knelt down and pulled Natalie into his chest. He felt her tiny arms go around his neck, and her face nuzzle into him. Needing to just hold her for a moment to make sure she was okay, he allowed himself to count to five before leaning back just a little. Even as his eyes were adjusting, there was only a small slit of moonlight coming from under the closet door, so he had to do everything by feel. He placed his hand on the back of Natalie's head and pulled her ear close to his lips.
"Are you okay? Just nod yes or no, Bug," he whispered as quietly as he could. Hand still on her head, he felt her nod 'yes'. Relief flooded his system yet again. He gently pulled her back towards his ear. "Is the demon still in the apartment?" He felt her nod 'yes' again, and his blood turned to ice. That was when he heard the voice from the hallway.
"Come out, come out, where ever you are," Jackie's voice called, in a mocking singsong fashion. It was so bizarre, hearing that tone come out of the sweet middle-aged lady's mouth. It was her and so horribly not her at the same time. Sam felt Natalie jerk nervously in his arms, and he quickly dropped his lips to the top of her head in a silent kiss to try to calm her down. He tightened his grip to make sure she didn't make a move that would draw the demon's attention.
They heard the creak of the floor in the doorway to Dean's room. To his horror, Sam realized that the demon must have been watching him the whole time, waiting for them to return and find Natalie so it didn't have to. He heard Jackie move through the room, not caring to be as silent as Sam had been. She threw back the covers on the bed and knocked over the chair. The loud crash startled Natalie enough that she gave a tiny gasp. Quickly, but carefully so as not to hurt her, Sam wrapped his hand around her mouth so she wouldn't make any more involuntary noise. But it was too late.
The closet door suddenly flew open. Jackie's silhouette stood out in the moonlight as she grinned down upon her prey. Quick as a flash, Sam shoved Natalie behind him and lifted his gun, pointing it right at the demon's face. She just chuckled.
Sam slowly stood up, never blinking, never daring to let the demon out of his sight for even a nanosecond. He knew that firing the gun would be useless- the demon would keep the meat suit alive and fighting until it evacuated. But it was the only weapon he had. There was no way he'd be able to reach the flask of holy water in his pocket before the demon would intervene, so he wanted to try to keep her at bay as long as possible.
"You know that gun will only hurt Jackie, right?" the demon inside Jackie sneered, as if she could read Sam's mind. "And I know you Winchesters- you don't hurt the innocent unless they leave you no other options." Sam didn't respond- he just kept himself as a physical blockade between the monster and his niece.
"Strong, silent type, huh?" the demon remarked, looking Sam up and down, commenting on his lack of words. "That's fine. THAT one-" she said, pointing behind Sam to the child hunkered down in the closet. "-that one does enough talking for all of you. Smart kid. Pretty quick on the draw, too. Once she figured out what I was, she gave me the slip and ran. Couldn't find her to save my life, so I figured I'd let you do the dirty work for me." Jackie smirked. "Thanks for that, by the way."
"What do you want?" Sam asked roughly, cutting to the chase.
"Just to see if the rumors are true. Tell me- did Mozek crack quickly? Or did it take her a while?" A flicker of confusion must have flashed across Sam's face, because the demon rolled her eyes before explaining. "The demon that you captured in town. She was the bait- she just didn't know it. Had to promise her the sun and the moon to get her to lure the Winchesters away so I could check the place out. That's what happens when you draw the short straw," Jackie said, a terribly whimsical chuckle in her tone. "She should have known that all demons lie to get what they want." She rolled her eyes again like an exasperated teacher. "Boy does she have a lot to learn."
"So it was you who sent the other one as a diversion," Sam snarled, his tone dangerous.
"Guilty!" she said in a jovial tone, raising her hand. "Wish I could take credit for the whole idea. But at least I'll be rewarded for the information I'll be bringing back down below." She shook her head and clucked her tongue delightedly. "Dean Winchester has a daughter. Can you imagine what Hell is going to do with that one?"
Upon hearing those words, Sam flew into a rage. He immediately shifted the focus of the barrel of his gun to the demon's left kneecap and fired. It buckled for a moment, howling in pain as it felt the blow to its vessel. Sam took advantage of the demon's agony to aim a swift and powerful kick to its midsection. Jackie flew across the room, slamming into the opposite wall.
"Natalie, go!" Sam hollered behind him, not wanting to take his eyes off the demon even for a second. He heard the scramble of the seven year old extracting herself from the closet and racing towards the door- but so did Jackie.
"Oh, no you don't!" she screamed with a flick of her hand. The floor lamp next to the dresser suddenly flew across the room, blocking the door and Natalie's exit. Natalie jumped back in just enough time to keep herself from getting impaled from the flying rod. Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw Natalie dart back behind him, and that was enough for now. Jackie's eyes turned a solid black as she screamed with rage, charging Sam.
Sam managed to escape her first sweeping attempt at tackling him by ducking at the right moment. He reared back up, landing a swift punch directly to her face, causing her to fall back for a moment. However, she came up swinging. The first punch caught Sam by surprise as she slammed her fist into his ribs, winding him. On the second one, he felt the skin of his cheek tear as one of the rings on her right hand caught him right on the bone.
Suddenly, the demon screamed, its skin sizzling and smoking in the pale moonlight. Sam whipped his head around to find Natalie standing on the bed, flinging her container of holy water at Jackie. The demon spun around, fire in her eyes as she looked at the child with the flask in her hand.
"You little BRAT!" Jackie hissed. Determination in her own eyes now, Natalie crouched down ferociously like she was preparing to attack Jackie.
"NO!" Sam hollered, charging the demon again, knocking her to the floor. They collapsed in a heap, Sam on top. Quick as a flash, the demon used its super human strength to roll out from under him, pinning him to the floor. She quickly snatched his wrists, keeping his hands apart. She leaned right down into his face.
"Sam Winchester- taken out by a demon as his bastard niece watches. Can you imagine the party they're going to throw me below once they've heard what I've done?" she sneered, her mouth an inch from Sam's as she prepared to take his life.
Before she could say another word, however, her eyes widened just for the briefest of moments before her eyes and mouth suddenly glowed orange. The demon inside Jackie managed to let out a gasping scream before falling forward, revealing Dean standing behind her, demon knife in hand.
"Guess you're never going to find out," Dean growled, as the demon collapsed in a heap on top of Sam. Dean reached down and heaved the dead woman off his brother. "Sammy, you okay?" Dean said in his rough but worried voice, seeing his brother's bloody face.
Sam nodded, picking himself up off the floor. "Fine. I'm fine, Dean." Before he could say anything else though, Dean turned around and scooped his daughter up into his arms, holding her as tight to his chest as he could.
"Baby Girl, you okay? You okay?" he kept repeating, clutching her like a lifeline. Natalie had to say that she was fine several times before he stopped asking, and just continued holding her, keeping his eyes pinched shut. The relief that swept through his system made him want to weep. In moments like this, all he wanted to do was chuck it all- throw his whole hunter's life in the trash and start all over again, just so he never had to worry about the most precious thing in his life being in this position. He knew it was an impossibility- he was in too deep, had always been in way too deep- but just that spark of an idea of a safe life gave him comfort for the moment. He'd never admit it, ever. It was still another measure of desperately needed relief that he would just keep to himself as he held tight to his reason for being.
Sam breathed heavily, taking a swipe at the beading blood along his cheekbone. That unmercifully dragged Dean back to the present, away from his thoughts. "Did you get whatever it was that was downstairs?" Sam asked his brother.
Finally opening his eyes, Dean looked at Sam determinedly, ready to shake off the dark thoughts. "Yeah, I did," he said, victoriously. "Son of a bitch was just another freaking distraction." Dean looked down at the poor woman who had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was now dead because of it. "I'm guessing whoever was in Jackie was the ringleader."
"Maybe not," Sam said hesitantly. Dean's green eyes snapped up to him as he continued to speak. "She said something like 'wish I had thought of the plan' or something like that."
"You think she was working for someone else?" Dean asked roughly.
Sam shrugged. "Could be."
Both brothers stared at each other for a moment as they tried to puzzle out who it might be. Finally, Dean broke his gaze away, shaking his head.
"Well, one thing's for sure. We're getting the hell out of dodge, tonight," he said roughly. He looked down at the body again, and then looked at Natalie in his arms. Sam instantly knew what he was thinking. Dean was normally the one to 'take care' of the body if there was a body to be taken care of. However, there was no way he was going to take Natalie with him to do that- that was a line that they just weren't ready to cross yet with her. But Sam knew that after the trauma of tonight, it would literally physically hurt both father and daughter to be separated, even for a few moments.
"Hey," Sam said gently. "Let me take care of Jackie. You two go pack, alright?"
Giving his brother a silent look of gratitude, Dean nodded once, and, still clinging tightly to his daughter, stepped out of the room. He quickly made his way over to Natalie's room, looking her right in the eye.
"Alright, kiddo, time for Jack-Rabbit-On-A-Hot-Date packing. You remember what that is?"
Natalie nodded confidently. "Do it good and do it quick," she promptly recited.
In spite of the tone and terror of the evening, Dean had to smile. Natalie had no idea of the double-entendre behind her words, so it cracked him up every time he got her to say something like this. He squeezed her once affectionately before setting her down on the floor. Without missing a beat, Natalie put her hands on her hips and looked at Dean, all knowing.
"I TOLD you Jackie was mean," she said in her superior seven-year-old voice.
*SPN SPN SPN*
Baby flew down the back roads, as if she herself knew the importance of getting Natalie out of their location, just in case more demons were on the way. Cutting through the night with her purring engine, she obeyed Dean's every command, speeding down the dark highway, getting their precious cargo to safety.
It had taken less than ten minutes for Dean and Natalie to pack all their belongings, and for Sam to get rid of the body. Even the seven-year-old Natalie knew how to move quickly and efficiently, owing to the fact that she'd been training for things like this basically since birth. Dean hadn't let her out of his sight for even a nanosecond as he stripped the apartment bare of anything that suggested the Winchesters had ever even thought about the place. Once Sam's deed was done, and despite the fact that she was perfectly capable of doing it herself, Dean had buckled Natalie into the car himself, needing to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was in there safely. Natalie, who normally protested at anything like this, sat quietly and obeyed her father perfectly, knowing that this was what he needed right now.
Sam and Dean hadn't talked about where they were going- it didn't matter. All that mattered, for the moment, was getting away from that place. A few hours into the already late night, around 3 am, Natalie had finally fallen asleep in the backseat, her head leaning on her Ninja Turtles blanket folded against the window. Dean checked on her three times to make sure she was completely out before speaking.
"Dude," was all he needed to say. Sam leaned forward, dropping his head into his hands, the fatigue and stress of the night all rushing back.
"I know," he quietly groaned back, not wanting to wake his niece.
"What the fuck, man?" Dean muttered, trying to keep the exasperation and fear in his voice to a minimum. Natalie might be asleep, but he swore she could sense stuff like this, even when she was unconscious. "Who the hell is coming after her? And why?"
"Well, it's obviously some higher up in Hell," Sam said, lifting his tired eyes to the road, trying to puzzle it out.
"What makes you say that?"
"Dean, think about it. None of the demons would give us any names, except for that one underling. They were ready to die before giving us that information."
"Good point. Not many demons actually gonna keep their traps shut unless they're legit worried about their own skins."
"Exactly. BUT after Crowley tried to get her that last time, you'd think that would have been deterrent enough to keep any demon from trying to get to her."
"Unless he covered it up."
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it. King of Hell gets his ass kicked by two hunters, an angel, and a cripple. You think he's gonna want that to go viral? His reputation would be mud," Dean said, shaking his head. "I'm willing to bet he's either the mastermind behind this whole thing, or someone's trying to blackmail him with the info, and they just needed the kid to legitimize it."
Sam stared off in the distance, processing Dean's words. "I don't know. I mean, it could be true. It's just a hell of a risk for Crowley to take if he's trying to get to her again."
"Since when has he ever been one of the world's greatest strategists?"
"True."
"Well, we could talk this out till we're blue in the face and still get no where, or we could figure out where the hell we're going. What do you think, Sammy? Red pill or blue pill?"
Sam checked over his shoulder. Natalie was still sleeping peacefully, her little mouth slightly opened as she breathed evenly. Another wave of relief mixed with terror swept through his guts as the events of the night flashed in his mind. He turned back around quickly.
"Should we just go to Bobby's? Lay low for a bit?" Sam asked.
"That would be your best option," Castiel said suddenly from the backseat as he gazed upon Natalie. It took every ounce of Dean's concentration not to swerve off the road at the sudden shock of hearing the angel's voice in the backseat. He was about to let loose with a roar of frustration, but his concern for his daughter's peaceful sleep overpowered it. Barely, but still.
"Cas," Dean hissed. "You CANNOT do that while I'm driving."
"Yes I can. I just did."
"I mean you WILL NOT ever do that again. I almost just crashed the car. With Natalie in it." Dean looked in the rearview mirror, catching Castiel's eye like he was a misbehaving child in the backseat. "You really want that on your hands?"
Cas thought about it for a moment, then nodded in understand. "I see your point. My apologies."
Dean nodded once shortly in acceptance of the awkward apology, then focused on the road ahead again. Sam swallowed hard, rubbing his now sweaty palms on the thighs of his jeans before speaking.
"So Cas- any new information?" he asked quietly.
Cas shook his head angrily. "No. I am still in shock as to how simply those hell spawn fooled us all." Dean was about to reply that only the ANGELS had been fooled- he and Sam had simply tried to come to their aid upon request, but as Cas was the only connection they currently had to the other side of the veil, he thought better of it and bit his tongue. Cas continued. "I intend to make sure whoever is after Natalie will suffer. To use the common phrase- their heads will roll."
Sam shot a quick look at Dean. Cas had always been incredibly protective of Natalie, which had served them all well several times. However, they knew the angel too well to know that this error in judgment was not sitting well with him, and his anger was a result of it.
Sam sighed. "Look, Cas, we know that you didn't know it was a trap, otherwise you never would have called us. Okay? We know that you didn't mean to…expose Natalie to that."
"You've always had her best interest at heart," Dean said, staring straight ahead, stoic. "That ain't ever gonna change."
Castiel nodded unhappily. "I do feel the sincerest remorse and regret for my hasty actions in calling you two and thereby putting Natalie in danger," he admitted finally, his gaze resting on the sleeping child. "I was just so concerned for the other citizens of the town that I didn't stop to think that it could possibly be a trap."
"Well, none of us saw it coming," Sam said bitterly. "But look, the important thing is that she's okay, and none of the demons involved were actually able to report on the situation."
"Which begs another question," Cas said, wanting to get to the heart of the matter. "Who is doing this? Who were those demons supposed to report to?"
Dean shook his head. "We don't know. That was the conversation you interrupted when I nearly totaled Baby," he said, shooting another look at the angel in the rearview mirror. Taking a deep breath, he continued in a calmer voice. "You really think it's a good idea to head to Bobby's?"
Cas nodded. "Yes. It's as safe a place as any. Besides, I think it might be best if you leave Natalie until-"
Dean held up his hand. "Stop right there. Ain't gonna happen, so don't even finish the sentence. You got me?" he growled, iron in his voice. Cas swallowed the rest of his words, nodding that he understood. "I'm not letting the kid out of my sight until we know who's at the bottom of this. End of discussion."
There was an awkward pause as Baby continued down the highway for a stretch. Finally, Sam broke the silence. "Listen, Dean-"
"Sam, if you say what I think you're about to say, I swear…"
"Just…just listen for a minute, okay? We're not going to just leave Natalie at Bobby's. We won't even leave town, okay? When we get back to Sioux Falls, let's call Jody. She and Claire can come over. Between them, Bobby, and Cas, they can watch over Natalie while you and I get to the bottom of this. We can stay close by- within ten minutes of her. There's no way anything on earth will get through those four- not when it comes to Natalie."
Dean glared at his brother in his periphery. "And what exactly are WE going to be doing to get answers?"
"I have a plan."
*SPN SPN SPN*
Two days later, around eight pm, Jody, Claire, Bobby, Castiel, and Natalie all watched the Winchester brothers scratch away from the salvage yard. Sam watched them in the windows of the house until they turned a corner and he could no longer see the house.
"I think, all things considered, we got the easy job tonight," Sam said in a light voice, trying to keep the mood upbeat. "I mean, our job's pretty easy- THEY have to get the kid to bed." He looked over to see how his brother was taking this attempt at humor.
Dean was clearly not pleased. Sam bobbed his eyebrows once and resumed looking out the window in silence. They had agreed on this plan while driving to Bobby's, but Dean wasn't happy about it. He had begrudgingly agreed that it was the best course of action, but it did mean physically being away from his daughter, and right now, that just was not going to sit well, no matter how you slice it. Dean was eager to get this done, get the intel, and get back to his baby girl.
On the outskirts of Sioux Falls, in an old abandoned warehouse, Dean and Sam set to work with a focus bordering on obsessive compulsion. They worked swiftly as a team, each knowing their own part of the ritual and executing it flawlessly. Finally, Dean finished drawing the last line as Sam dropped the last ingredient into the scrying bowl. The brothers locked eyes for a moment, silently asking if the other one was ready. They both saw what they needed to see. Sam struck the match and dropped it in the bowl. And then, there he was.
"Hello, boys."
