Hey hey hey SPN Family! I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving, or if you're not from America, a lovely Thursday. :)

I was at the Jacksonville convention last weekend- got to see the infamous mugshot shirt in person. Best. Moment. Ever.

Here's a two parter, inspired by the amazing tamilyn313. She gave me this idea ages ago and has been incredibly patient while I took forever getting it from my head to the page. So major kudos and hugs to her! Special thanks to the best beta/Sammy in the world, Jenmm31, for all the help on this!

A/N- this is a two part story. In this story, Natalie is eleven months old. Please see profile page for disclaimer.

Hold on. You have to hold on. Think of them, okay? Just pull their faces into your memory and hold on. Think about him. Think about her. THINK DAMMIT. That's it- don't let go. You're stronger than this. Hell, you've beaten it before. Stay awake. Stay here. Stay strong. C'mon. C'mon. C'mon! Think…think of them…hold on…you have to…

Blackness.

*SPN SPN SPN*

Sam held his breath and his gun at the ready, listening carefully for any indication that the creature was close. Once he was sure that there was nothing around the corner, he slowly sidestepped towards it, keeping his back to the wall. Moving quickly around the edge of the wall, he thrust his gun in front of him with precision, his steely gaze taking in everything all at once, missing nothing. The hallway appeared to be empty- but something was definitely here. It had to be.

With a tread so soft it wasn't even discernable, he made his way down the hallway, all senses sharp and alert. He knew he was getting closer to the heart of the building, and if Dean were moving at the same pace he was, as per usual, he'd be closing in as well. They had every reason to believe that the monster was holding his latest victim here, and they were determined to rescue him before he met the same grizzly fate as the other three unfortunates. The triple murders, back to back, were what had brought the Winchesters here in the first place. They were adamant that there would be no more.

Nerves tight and breath even, Sam continued down the hallway, his ears and eyes straining for something- anything- that would give him a clue. The gritty, dingy hallway seemed to stretch on forever. Sam was just beginning to think that this might be a dead end, when something moved in the shadows.

He pointed with deadly aim and precision at the movement, but it straightened up out of its own protective crouch. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Just me, Sammy," it said in a gruff, familiar voice.

Sam exhaled the breath he hadn't realized he was holding when he recognized his brother. "See anything?" he asked, his eyes still darting around the hallway.

"Not but nothing," Dean grumbled, rolling the hand holding the .45 around in irritation. "I don't think it's here."

"Yeah, I was starting to think the same thing," Sam admitted with a sigh. "I mean, there's just nothing here, no signs of a struggle, no blood, hell, I haven't even heard a single sound."

"Damn thing might've gotten the jump on us," Dean said in a none-too-pleased voice. "Son of a bitch. Well, c'mon. Let's go back to the motel and regroup. I'm starving."

*SPN SPN SPN*

Dean turned off the headlights as he pulled into the parking space right outside of their motel room. "Don't wanna wake her," the young father said anxiously. Sam nodded with a smile. Natalie was eleven months old, but it was still…kinda cool every time Dean got so protectively paternal after almost a year. Not to mention they'd have a hell of a time getting the kid back to sleep if, indeed, the lights from the Impala woke her up. For a baby, she sure didn't seem to want to sleep, like, ever.

The boys quietly exited the car, shutting the doors with care. Sam didn't feel like being told off by Dean at 3 am yet again for letting the door slam too loudly. They crept their way towards the room, turning the lock carefully. Dean poked his head around the corner. He saw the single lamp glowing on the bedside table between the two beds, the bassinette unmoving, and an angel in a trench coat sitting quietly on the couch, his hands resting on his knees and his eyes trained on the sleeping baby in the bassinette.

"Hey Cas," Dean said in a hushed voice. Castiel turned his head robotically towards the brothers. Sam could almost hear the muscles in the angel's neck creaking, because it was obvious that he hadn't moved in hours. "Everything go alright?"

Cas stood up and walked calmly over to them. "Yes," he said simply. "She ate without getting food all over her face tonight."

Sam bit his lip to hold in the laughter, reminded of last month when Cas babysat for the first time and the absolute mess of a room they had walked into as a result. "Good. That's really good, Cas," Sam said encouragingly. If the angel was going to be doing more babysitting, he definitely wanted to encourage the positives with him.

Cas nodded. "Diapers still confuse me," he said in his low, puzzled tone.

"Yeah, well, they ain't my favorite thing in the world either, but what are you gonna do," Dean said. He abandoned the conversation, making his way to the bassinette. Sam knew it was because he wanted to see Natalie sleeping comfortably and safely for himself. Sam focused back on Cas, wanting to know how the rest of the night had gone.

"When did she eat last?"

"I gave her a bottle around midnight."

"Did she wake up and want it, or did you wake her?"

"She woke up. She didn't really want the bottle, but it was the only thing that could calm her down. It was very obvious that she wanted Dean. Or you. But seeing as I was neither, she wasn't pleased." Cas looked over at the sleeping baby, then back at Sam, his head slightly tilted. "She can be extremely loud when she's upset. Have you noticed this?"

Sam snorted quietly. "Oh yeah. We've noticed." He looked over at Dean, who had just arrived at the bassinette. He half expected his brother to pick Natalie up and cradle her himself- he usually seemed to need it after a hunt- but instead he watched as Dean watched her sleep. A look of peace stole over Dean's face. Sam turned away, almost as if he was embarrassed to be witnessing such a personal and private moment of his brother's.

"Did she cry for very long?" he asked Castiel, who nodded.

"About twenty minutes. The phone rang several times during it. I ignored it."

"Great," Sam grumbled, knowing that someone had probably called the front desk to complain about the noise. More than likely, they'd have to switch motels again tomorrow. Wasn't the first time in the last couple months, and Sam was pretty sure it wouldn't be the last. "Well, babies cry," he said out loud, trying to somehow justify it to all the grumpy people who were now undoubtedly asleep.

"Yes, I am more aware of that than I think I was before," Cas said, thinking that Sam was talking to him. Sam smiled thinly, not wanting to correct him.

"Well, thanks for taking care of her, Cas," he said, clapping the angel on the shoulder amicably.

"I quite enjoy babysitting," Cas said, an uncharacteristic smile crossing his face. "However, as soon as Natalie begins speaking, then it will make everything much easier."

"Tell me about it," Dean said, rejoining the conversation. He nodded towards the sofa, away from the bassinette, and headed there, Sam and Cas right behind him. He dropped heavily onto the right side, rubbing a tired hand down his face. "Cas, you got anything on your holy agenda that you can't blow off for the next couple days?"

Looking confused as usual, Cas chose to address the wrong thing, as usual. "'Blow off'?" he asked, puzzled. "If you're needing an explosion, I'm sure that I can assist in some manner." Sam barely managed to cover his snicker as he sat down on the other end of the couch.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Blow off means to…blow something off," he said, struggling to explain the concept. "It means that you ditch something that you're supposed to do to do something else."

"Oh, I see," Castiel replied. "You would have me," he raised his hands and did finger quotes, "'blow off' my usual duties in order to do something else?"

"Yahtzee," Dean said, pointing at the angel.

"You wish to play board games?"

"Son of a bitch, would you just let me talk?"

"I can assure you, my Father's not a bitch. Although I'm not entirely sure who my mother is, so the name you just used for me may be accurate."

After much more discussion and translation, it was eventually worked out that Cas would stick around with the Winchesters for a couple days as back up. The fact that the boys had been so certain of the monster's location, but had come up empty, was troubling to them, especially Sam. All signs had pointed to the building, why had they come up dry? Regardless, it was only going to help to have someone like Castiel on hand to watch Natalie or help in the case, whichever became more necessary.

The next morning, a delighted gurgling sound woke Sam up. It was way too early- the sun was barely beginning to peek over the horizon. But a baby waited for no one. Dean was still out for the count, snoring his head off. Sam rubbed his eyes, willed himself to sit up, and turned towards his wiggling niece.

"Hey sweetheart," Sam said in a still-gruff-with-sleep voice as he stood up and made his way towards the bassinette. Natalie's head turned at the sound of his voice, and once Sam made his way into her field of vision, she squealed and smiled delightedly. That made Sam grin himself. It never failed to amaze him and warm his heart when the baby smiled in recognition, clearly happy that he was around. He reached down into the bassinette and picked her up, cradling her to his chest. "Did you sleep okay?" he asked her in a quiet, joking tone. She gurgled and banged her hands on his shoulder in response.

Sam made his way over towards the small kitchen, trying to keep a good, solid grip on the wriggling baby and mix her up a bottle, all at the same time. After a moment, he heard Dean stirring behind him. Feeling a bit of guilt at waking him up, but some relief that he wouldn't have to watch Natalie alone, Sam looked over his shoulder.

"I'll put the coffee on as soon as I've made her bottle," he called out to Dean. He just received a grunt in return. Shaking the bottle carefully, he bounced Natalie in time to the shakes as well. She giggled sweetly, loving the movement of bouncing and just generally being active. Finally, Sam threw a burp cloth over his shoulder in preparation, and laid Natalie down in his left arm. He put the bottle to her lips, and she reached up, grabbing it with surprising strength as she began sucking it down. She had lately taken to wanting to hold the bottle herself, which was a blessing because it freed his other hand up to do stuff. Keeping one eye on her and the other on the task at hand, Sam started brewing the coffee as quickly as he could.

Dean drug himself out of bed and stumbled sleepily into the kitchen. He snatched a cup from the sink, sniffing carefully to make sure it didn't have baby formula or something weird in it, and rinsed it out in prep for the glorious brew. He looked over into his brother's arms, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he looked at his daughter. "'Morning, shorty," he said to the baby, still absorbed in her bottle. Upon hearing her daddy's voice, Natalie's eyes shifted to his face. She squirmed once, seemingly unable to decide if she wanted Dean or her bottle more. Finally deciding on her bottle, she nestled back contentedly into Sam's arm. Dean chuckled.

"Well. I see what side your bread is buttered on," he joked, before turning his attention back to the coffee maker, willing it to go faster. "How long has she been up?" he asked, his eyes on the stream.

Sam shrugged. "Not really sure. I just got up about ten minutes before you, and she was awake already."

"Change her diaper yet?"

"No. Doesn't smell like she needs it."

"Ain't gonna argue with that logic."

Dean poured himself a cup and went to sit at the table. However, the moment he was out of his daughter's eyesight, Natalie started fidgeting and whining while trying to finish her bottle. It became a struggle for Sam to try to hold on to her, forget any hopes of getting a cup of coffee for himself. Finally chucking the empty bottle across the room, Natalie twisted in Sam's arms, her tiny hands reaching for Dean as she whimpered pitifully.

"Dude, can you take her?" Sam asked, making his way over to the table, holding onto the struggling baby. "She obviously is over me." Dean chuckled, took another quick sip, and then set his mug down.

"Hand her over," he said, reaching his hands up. Natalie went willingly into his arms, cooing as Dean took her. Sam had just turned back towards the coffee pot, when a shocked and angry cry sounded behind him. He looked back, surprised. Natalie's face was screwed up, trying to decide if she should really start crying or not. Sam looked at Dean in surprise.

"What happened?" he asked. "She get surprised or something?"

Dean just shook his head, looking as confused as his daughter did in his lap. "I dunno," he said, shrugging. He bounced the baby a couple times on his knee. "What's up, squirt? What was that about?" At the bouncing, Natalie seemed to settle down. Dean looked up at Sam and shrugged again. "Guess she's over it," he joked. "When's Cas supposed to show up?"

"Hello, Dean," came the sudden reply, directly in front of him.

"Son of a BITCH, Cas, I hate it when you do that."

"Yes, I know."

Dean just rolled his eyes as Natalie let up another wail. Turning his attention to her, Dean shushed her, bouncing his leg again. "See what you did? You scared her," he said accusingly to the angel. Castiel's eyes turned to the fretful baby.

"My apologies, Natalie," he said politely. But the baby refused to be placated. She started whining and whimpering again. Dean brought her up to his shoulder, rubbing her back gently.

"It's alright, you're okay," he murmured to her. The tone momentarily soothed her. She laid her head down carefully on his shoulder, not really sure about it all. Before Dean could ask Cas any questions about the case, Natalie suddenly reared up and let out another ear splitting wail.

"SAAAAAAAAAAAAH," she cried loudly. Sam immediately pushed himself off the kitchen counter where he was leaning and rushed over. Castiel watched with a confused expression on his face as Sam approached Dean.

"She said 'Sah'," Cas said, unaware that his statement of the obvious was making them both irritated. "Is she trying to say 'Sam'?"

Sam shot him a bitch face, then tried to take a breath to calm himself. "We think so," he said, looking back down at his niece. She was stretching herself over Dean's shoulders, reaching out desperately towards Sam. "Dude, I think…" he said, nervous as to how Dean would react. "I think she wants me."

Dean looked slightly affronted, trying to bounce and soothe her again. When she continued to stretch and whimper for Sam, he said in a huff, "Looks like it. Here- take her." He unwillingly surrendered his daughter, keeping his eyes trained on her for any signs of what could be causing her discomfort. Sam pulled Natalie into his chest, where she immediately buried her face in his neck, letting out a desperate cry. Sam immediately went into bounce mode.

"Sam," she said plainly, if not sadly. It was enough to make all three men stop in their tracks.

"Wow," Sam said quietly, resuming bouncing. It was so rare that she had gotten his name right, that it took him a moment to recover. "That's right, Natalie, I'm Sam," he said, his voice full of wonder and joy despite the obvious discomfort in the room. "I'm Uncle Sam."

"Sam," she said again immediately, nuzzling into his neck and quieting down. She reached for the flannel edge of his shirt, bringing it to her mouth and sucking on it. Sam's eyebrows bobbed in surprise.

"Guess she's okay now," he said, patting the baby's back as he continued bouncing. "I wonder what that was about?"

Dean shrugged casually, but Sam knew better. He was trying to be lackadaisical, when he was actually hurt that his daughter wanted his brother more than she wanted him. "Probably just cranky from my morning breath," he said, a little too heartily. Before Sam could say anything, Dean slapped his thighs and stood up. "Alright. Gonna brush my teeth and see if she wants to come to me after that," he joked, heading for the bathroom. As if she understood what he said, Natalie reached out her little hands towards him, making another whimpering noise. That brought the twinkle back to Dean's eye. "Gonna have to make up your mind where you wanna go, kiddo," he teased, before walking into the bathroom.

Once the door was shut, Natalie turned back in Sam's arms to look at the angel. She tilted her head, looking at Cas and trying to figure it all out. She pointed at him, but looked at Sam. "That's Cas," Sam said. "You know him." Natalie looked at the angel with wide, curious eyes for a moment, before collapsing shyly on Sam's shoulder.

"That was adorable," Castiel said in his simple way. "I am understanding more and more why humans keep having babies. If they are all as charming as this one." Natalie sat up in Sam's arms, pointing at the angel again.

"Cas," Sam said. "That's Cas. Can you say 'Cas'?" he said encouragingly to the baby, who simply blinked at him, then tilted her head again, observing the angel.

"Why does she not say my name?" Cas asked, tilting his head and looking strangely similar to the confused baby.

"Because she's only eleven months old, Cas," Sam said patiently. "It takes babies a while to start to say names."

"She was calling Dean 'Da-da' last time I was here. And she says it all the time now," the angel said, frowning.

"Yeah, well, that's what she's hearing a lot of, and she's made the mental connection. I mean, hell, she's only said 'Sam' like six times, and I've been right here with them since day one," Sam said, blushing a bit but trying to hide it. It was silly to know exactly how many times his niece had said his name, but he couldn't help counting.

"Still, that makes sense," Cas said gruffly. "I suppose that if I want her to say my name, I will need to be around more." He walked right up to the baby in Sam's arms. She reared back, a bit surprised, but didn't start crying. She simply looked at Cas with the curiosity that was reflected in his own face. "Say my name," Cas commanded. Natalie responded by reaching out and tugging on his lips.

Cas jerked his head to the side a bit, then fixed his glance back on the baby. "Natalie, my name is Castiel." More delighted with her new game than the name of the angel, she reached towards his lips again. Cas stepped back out of her reach, perplexed.

"Maybe she is intimidated by my lips and is attempting to remove them," he said thoughtfully. Sam couldn't help it- he straight up laughed at that, as Natalie made a displeased noise and stretched herself, trying to reach Castiel's lips again.

"Cas, she's a baby. She wants to touch anything that moves and put it in her mouth."

"That's disgusting."

"Well, that's what being a baby is all about."

Rolling his eyes, Cas muttered under his breath. "I fail to understand how this species ever made it past ten years, let alone reproduce," he grumbled, before turning back to Sam. "How can I teach her to say my name?"

But Sam had another question first. "Why is this so important to you?"

Cas blinked for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure," he answered truthfully. "But- I think it is because I would like to be involved in her life somehow. And her saying my name signifies something." He looked at Natalie again. "My name is Castiel." His eyes flicked briefly over to Sam. "Or you can call me 'Cas', as your father and uncle do. At least until you're able to say my full name." At this point, the bathroom door opened, and Dean came strolling out.

"Alright, so what's the game plan?" he asked, rubbing his hands together. Natalie's head whipped around at Dean's voice and watched him as he strolled up to the group. Immediately, she tilted out of Sam's arms and towards her father. "Whoa, squirt," Dean said, barely thrusting his arms out in time to catch her. "You gotta stop that. Gonna give your old man a heart attack," he said, cuddling the baby into his chest.

Sam hadn't been entirely as surprised as Dean was- he was too used to Natalie doing this. He walked back to the counter to pick up his coffee cup and hopefully finish before Natalie decided she needed to be in his arms again. "I say we need to go back to the warehouse. See if whatever-it-is left any more clues," Sam said, knocking back more coffee.

"Sam, that place is a dead end. We both know it. We need to find a new trail, or something."

"Well, where else do you suggest we start, other than the last place that we knew it was?"

Silence.

"Alright, Smarty Pants, good point." Sam grinned at his brother, and turned to Cas.

"What do you think?" he asked. "You think that's a good place to start, or did you have any other ideas?" But before Cas could speak, Dean interrupted.

"Tell you what. Why don't you two go check out the warehouse, eh? Let me spend some time with my kid, now that she actually wants to be around me," Dean smirked. Natalie had laid her head down on his shoulder, blinking her eyes sleepily. Sam looked over at Cas, who nodded back.

"Very well. We can go to the warehouse and look for evidence of where the monster may have gone to next," the angel said gravely. In a few minutes, Sam was ready to go. Dean had seated himself on the sofa, bouncing Natalie on his knee again. As he was lacing up his shoes, Sam couldn't help but notice that Natalie was making strange noises again, something between baby babble and a whimper. Trying to be casual, he walked over towards his brother.

"Alright, we're heading out. You going to be okay?" he asked nonchalantly. Dean picked Natalie up from his shoulder and stood her on his lap.

"Yeah, we're gonna be just fine," he said bracingly. Natalie reached her hands out to his lips. "See?" he said, muffled due to the baby now hanging off of his mouth. Without warning, Natalie suddenly let out another cry, withdrawing her hands from Dean's face. She blinked at him, then reached for his flannel. "Well, maybe I spoke too soon," Dean said grumpily. "You two better get going before she starts bawling that she wants you again." With a concerned look at his niece, Sam nodded, heading back towards his bed, where his gun lay waiting.

Natalie reached towards him. "Sam," she called out from Dean's arms. As much as Sam wanted to go hold her, Dean was right- they'd never get anything done if he kept stalling and letting Natalie distract him.

"It's okay, sweetheart, I'll be back soon," Sam said, giving the baby a gentle smile as he tucked his gun into the waistband of his lower back.

"Sam!" she cried, putting her fingers in her mouth and whining. Not acknowledging how truly hard it was getting to leave her, Sam just nodded to Cas, picked up the keys to the Impala, and left. "SAM!" Natalie screamed as the door shut. Once she realized that Sam wasn't coming back, she began to cry. The familiar lopsided grin on Dean's face slid off instantly the moment the door shut. Natalie, seeing the angry look on her father's face, let out another whimper.

"You're fine," Dean said, standing up. When she make a squawking angry noise in response, he set her down in the middle of the floor gently before walking over to the window. He watched as the Impala slowly pulled away, out of the parking lot. He turned back to the baby, a grin slowly creeping across his face. "Finally," he muttered. "I thought they'd never leave." As another car passed outside, Natalie watched Dean as a reflection from a side mirror flashed across his face. His normally green eyes suddenly turned a glowing silver-gold color.

The baby began to cry loudly. No one heard her.

Stay tuned for Part Two!