Goooooooooood Morning, SPN Family! I got such great response asking for part 2, I'm not going to make you wait, ha ha! Here you go!

A MAJOR shout out to tamilyn313 for the original idea for this story. I hope you enjoy it! Special thanks to my dearest beta and friend Jenmm31. Speaking of amazing stories, Jenmm31 has got a great selection of stories herself! Go check it out- there's a couple new ones in my favorite series "Growing Up Winchester Style". Enjoy!

Thank you for reading, reviewing, and following. You all make my day. Love you bitches and jerks and idjits and assbutts.

A/N- this is part 2 of a 2 part story. In this story, Natalie is eleven months old. Please see profile page for disclaimers.

Sam resisted the urge to turn around and look back at the motel room window where he knew he had just left his niece and his brother as he pulled out of the parking lot. He set his jaw and focused on the road. Castiel noticed the tension, but misinterpreted it.

"Sam, I would be more than happy to stay behind with Natalie if you'd rather have Dean at your side," the angel said helpfully. That seemed to shake Sam out of his funk for a moment.

"What? It's…no, Cas, that's not it," he answered, stammering. "I just…it…never mind."

"Is it that you don't want to leave Natalie?" Cas guessed shrewdly.

Sam sighed. "Yeah, I guess. It's just weird, you know? She's never asked for me like that before. It's just…I didn't think it was going to be so hard to just….I mean, it's not like I'm leaving forever," he finally spat out, frustrated at his lack of ability to articulate his feelings. "She's fine with Dean. Hell, she usually prefers him."

"I think it's very obvious that she's attached to you as well."

"I guess so. I guess I just don't understand why she was acting that way. That's all. No big deal. We've got work to do, and the sooner we do it, the sooner we can go back."

*SPN SPN SPN*

Making sure that the Impala was truly gone, the Dean imposter turned back towards the room triumphantly. "Well. How 'bout that," he grinned, rubbing his hands together. "Sometimes I surprise even myself." His eyes quickly darted over to the crying baby. Natalie was still sitting where he left her, wailing her head off. Rolling his eyes, he walked straight over and picked her up.

"Shit, you are loud, you little brat," he snarled. Hearing the voice that only used to comfort her use such harsh tones, Natalie began to cry even harder. Growling in frustration, the creature moved towards the unmade queen sized bed, plopping her down unceremoniously into the middle of it. "There. Will that make you shut up?" he said harshly.

Natalie did stop crying, now that she was no longer in contact with whatever this daddy imposter was. She stared desperately as he pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and selected a number. Putting her fingers in her mouth in an effort to comfort herself, she watched with wide, wet eyes as he put the phone to his ear. His eyes flashed silver-gold again as the light hit them when he turned to look at her. Even though she didn't understand what was happening, she knew that wasn't right. She started breathing like she was going to start screaming again. He held up a warning finger to her face.

"Don't you dare," he said threateningly. Not understanding the warning, she began a low whimper again. The creature rolled his eyes in frustration as he waited.

"Hello?" came a voice on the other end of the line.

"I got her," the fake Dean whispered triumphantly.

"Sam," Natalie mumbled, terrified.

*SPN SPN SPN*

Five minutes later, Sam and Cas pulled up to the empty warehouse. Still abandoned, still showing absolutely no signs of life whatsoever, Cas simply exited the car and began walking straight towards the nearest entrance. Sam, who would have preferred a little more stealth and at least a vague game plan, gave Cas a bitch face that he didn't see. Sam looked quickly around them, but there was nothing to indicate that they were being watched. He slipped from the car and immediately began running after the angel.

Wandering the same empty halls they had last night, Sam kept his eyes peeled. Maybe there was something here that he had missed in the darkness. As they trotted down the hallways, he took in every inch, his eyes picking up nothing new. Finally, after about five minutes of worthless searching, he spoke.

"Are you getting anything, Cas? Because I'm coming up dry again," he mumbled. "Do you want to split up?" Cas didn't appear to hear him. He looked more like a bloodhound, smelling something but not sure what it was. "Wait, are you getting something?!" Sam asked in a rush. Cas's head whipped back and forth, his eyes narrowing.

"I'm not sure," he said, low. "I…I feel…."

After a tense moment of silence, Sam couldn't wait any longer. "You feel what?" he prompted impatiently.

"I feel…I think it's Dean," Cas replied, turning his confused eyes to Sam. Sam reared back in surprise.

"What do you mean, it's Dean?" Sam asked, thoroughly confounded. "He's back at the motel."

"Yes, I know. That's why I don't understand what I'm feeling. I just…" and before he finished the sentence, Cas took off down the hallway.

"Wait, whoa- Cas? Cas!" Sam called out. He had no choice but to go running after that beige trench coat.

*SPN SPN SPN*

In the motel room, fake Dean punched the 'off' button on his phone, a sadistic grin spreading across his face. "I can't believe it," he sang to himself. "Everyone said it was gonna be impossible to pull one over on the Winchesters, but I DID it. HA! I'll be remembered forever for this one." He was about to continue his monologue of self-congratulations, when another ear-splitting wail interrupted him.

Annoyed, he turned to the screaming baby on the bed. "Oh will you SHUT UP?" he roared. Almost defiantly, Natalie upped her volume. Gritting his teeth, the monster swooped down and picked her up, shaking her just a bit. "I'm not the one you need to be afraid of, so there's no use crying now."

Due to her extreme terror and confusion, Natalie's cries subsided to shuddering whimpers as she bit down on her fingers desperately, seeking comfort. But there was none to be found. Even the flannel this man was wearing felt different to her. "Sam-am-am-am," she sobbed out, needing someone to come to her and make sense of this madness.

"Sam can't hear you, you little brat," the creature said to her in a mocking tone.

"SAM!"

"Say it all you want to- nobody's coming. Well, except my friend. He's going to be so pleased to finally get his hands on you. That's when the real screaming will start."

Finally understanding that Sam couldn't hear her, that he wasn't coming, Natalie screamed the only other name that she could remember that wasn't Da-da.

"CAS!"

*SPN SPN SPN*

Back in the warehouse, Sam nearly crashed into Castiel as the angel came to a sudden, screeching halt in the hallway.

"What's the matter?" Sam asked in a rush. "Cas, what is it?" he said forcefully. All the blood had drained out of the angel's face. Cas was staring into space like he had heard something, and it was the worst thing he could have ever heard.

Whipping around quickly, Cas spoke in a suddenly furious voice that surprised Sam. "We need to go. NOW." Before Sam could even inhale to respond, Cas clapped a hand on his shoulder. There was suddenly nothing in the hallway but a swirl of dust from where the two men had just been standing.

*SPN SPN SPN*

Back in the motel room, the monster was still holding Natalie as he stared out the window, looking for the sleek, dark blue car that his friend should be arriving in. "I don't understand what's holding him up," fake Dean mumbled to himself, irritated at being stuck in the room with this crying kid. With a loud growl, he walked back towards the bed. His path was suddenly intercepted by the appearance of Sam and Castiel. He froze, surprised as all hell by the sudden reappearance of the hunter and the angel. Sam, who wasn't entirely sure what was happening himself, took a split second to steady himself.

"Dean?" Sam asked, thoroughly confused. His eyes took in the situation. Dean had simply frozen, Natalie still screaming in his arms. Hang on- that wasn't right. Dean would never let Natalie scream like that without trying to comfort her. Sam's face suddenly became ridged and furious. "Not Dean," he growled, whipping his gun out of his waistband. He hesitated at pointing it at whatever it was, because Natalie was still in his arms. Cas, however, had other thoughts and feelings.

"SAM," he commanded loudly as he marched right up to the creature. Seeing the angel coming, the creature panicked. As if he knew what was going to happen, Cas barked an order. "Get her!" he shouted at Sam. The hunter's eyes instantly focused on his niece. The creature, now truly trapped with an angel and a pissed off Winchester gave no thought to anything other than saving his own neck. He threw Natalie to his right towards the queen bed and dove to his left.

Sam's guts twisted into a solid ball of steel inside him as he watched Natalie sailing through the air. Without even realizing it, he coiled and sprang towards her, catching her midair and twisting his torso before crashing into the headboard. He had managed to pull her in tight to his chest, cradling her head so she wouldn't feel any of the impact, and so he absorbed all of the shock of hitting the wall on his back. It winded him so badly that all he could do for two seconds after the crash was try to get his lungs working again. Natalie's screams of terror were reverberating in his ears, though, so he pushed through the pain, taking deep, gasping breaths as he tried wildly to refocus on the baby in his arms. "Hey, hey, hey," he choked out. "It's okay, baby, you're okay now, sweetheart, it's okay Natalie," he said, still panting and gasping.

Finally hearing a voice she truly knew, finally feeling comforted, Natalie stopped crying instantly. She blinked up into Sam's face, as if she was expecting him to turn into something else as well. When he didn't, she grabbed fistfuls of his flannel shirt. "Sam," she said, a mix of sobbing and relief in her voice. Sam brought her to his shoulder, holding her tightly, and then registered the scene before him. His eyes widened in shock at what he saw.

He had seen Castiel angry before, but this was one for the damn books. The angel's face was contorted with an otherworldly, bestial rage. He stalked the Dean imposter across the room, death in his eyes. "What did you do to her?" Cas snarled so fiercely at the creature, that Sam actually leaned back against the wall in fear of the terrifying sound. The creature, getting the full brunt of Castiel's wrath, was rendered speechless. "ANSWER ME!" he roared at the cowering monster.

"Hang on, hang on!" the creature spat hysterically, holding one hand out to the angel. "I didn't do anything to her, alright? She's fine! Just look at her!" He shakily pointed to the baby, still trembling in Sam's arms. "See? No harm done at all!" He laughed weakly, crazily, overcome with his own terror at the angel's raw power.

"What were you going to do to her?" Cas snarled in a low, deadly tone, advancing on the creature.

"Nothing, I swear! I swear it!"

"Then why did you have her in the first place?! Why are you here?!"

"I was ordered to, alright? It wasn't me! I was just following orders!"

"Orders from who?"

"I don't know, I don't know! I don't know who it was, they just said…" Whatever it was that had been said was lost, as Cas stretched a hand towards the creature, who suddenly cut off his babbling explanation as if his throat had been slit. Cas twisted his hand into a fist. The creature screamed as if all of his internal organs were being turned inside out. With another flick of his hand, Cas sent the creature flying up to the ceiling, where he smacked against it, full force, before crashing to the ground again.

"Since you didn't mind letting her scream, I'll return the favor," Cas growled at the prostrate and whimpering figure on the ground. He twisted his fist again, and the creature writhed in unmistakable agony. "I'll give you one more try," he said, his chilling voice emanating around them, sending shockwaves of primal power through the room. "Who. Ordered. You. Here?"

"I…told you…" the creature gasped. That wasn't what Cas wanted to hear. He stepped closer to him, and the monster capitulated, recoiling in terror. "Okay, okay!" he yelled, panicking as the angel moved in. "Look, I wasn't lying, okay? I don't know who it was, ultimately," he said, gasping. "But I was…it was the Alpha, okay? My Alpha, I was doing it on his orders, and he was doing a favor for someone. That's all I know, I swear!"

"Seeing as you failed in your orders and you know nothing else, I believe that makes you worthless," the angel said, blades of steel in his voice. He clapped his hands on either side of the creature's head, fury radiating out of every cell in his body. The creature's eyes and mouth suddenly sprang open, shooting bolts of pure white light from them, his last scream etched on his face forever before he fell to the ground, dead. The room was suddenly painful still.

Sam's lungs were screaming at him, reminding him to breath, but the sheer energy and force of Castiel's power had rendered him absolutely immobile. When Cas turned to him, he tightened his grip on Natalie automatically; a sheer knee-jerk reaction to the power he had just witnessed. The realization of that moment made him come back to himself. He forced himself to breath, much to the relief of his lungs. His eyes swung down to his niece, still clasped in his stiff arms.

There were tear tracks on her face, and she was still gulping and gasping herself from crying so hard for so long. Sam instantly felt like a bottomless pit of lava had opened up in his soul and was burning him from the inside out, so great was the shame and regret that he felt. How could he have left his beautiful, innocent niece alone with a monster? He should have known. He should have read the signs. Natalie crying at Dean touching her- the real Dean's touch had always seemed to soothe the baby. Her crying out for Sam to hold her while Dean was still in the room. How she tilted herself out of Sam's arms and it seemed to surprise Dean- Dean was ALWAYS ready for that. How had Sam missed this? How had he not seen- but before he could start berating himself out loud, Cas rushed forward.

"Is she alright? Is she unharmed?" the angel said, the concern making his panic raw. It was such a shift from the all-powerful being that he had just been a moment ago, that Sam was, once again, rendered speechless for a moment. However, he numbly nodded his head and, with a gulp, found his voice.

"I think so," Sam said thickly, looking down at Natalie again. "I don't see anything wrong."

"May I?" Cas asked, almost pleading, his hand stretched towards the baby's head. Sam didn't know what to say, so he just mutedly nodded again, keeping his eyes sharp on his niece for her reactions. Cas gently passed his hand over the baby. A soft, warm, golden glow seemed to emanate from his palm. Natalie grew calmer as the gentle light passed over her body. She brought Sam's flannel to her cheek almost sleepily.

"She's physically fine," Cas said after he had finished his examination. Natalie laid her weary head on Sam's shoulder, still rubbing her cheek with the flannel.

"'Physically fine'?" Sam said back, the tension in his voice obvious. "What does that mean?"

"It means there's no physical damage to her," Cas explained in a heavy voice. "However, given the rather traumatic turn of events, she might not be-" he used his finger quotes again, "'okay' in the sense that you are used to her being okay."

Trying to work through the convoluted sentence, Sam shook his head, rubbing the baby's back soothingly. She must be traumatized. She couldn't possibly understand what had happened. He wasn't at all sure how Natalie was going to take seeing Dean after the….Dean.

"Cas, we have to find Dean. The real Dean, not…whatever that is," Sam said quickly, giving a brief head jerk to the creature who was still lying on the floor. "It's gotta be a shifter, don't you think?"

A look of cold calculation morphed Castiel's face once again. Sam took a step back, wide-eyed, at the barely concealed rage on the angel's face. "Don't let her see this," Cas ordered in his low, dangerous voice, as he stalked once again towards the creature. Sam put his hand on the back of Natalie's head, keeping her gently pressed into his shoulder, while blocking her vision. He squinted his own eyes, just in case, wondering if Cas was about to summon another blinding white light.

Instead, Cas knelt down next to the creature, inserted his hands into the dead monster's mouth, and ripped the skin directly off the skull. It was as simple as tearing a piece of paper for the angel, but the sickening tearing sound of skin and the resulting splatter and gush of blood and body fluid was beyond revolting. Sam had to work hard to keep the bile rising in his throat down. He swallowed hard, twice, then forced himself to look at the creature. Sure enough, there was an entirely new face underneath the shreds of skin and smears of blood.

"Yes, a shape shifter," Castiel said gruffly, flicking his hands as if there was excess water on them after washing, as he stood up. He looked irritated at the amount of blood and skin that was still on them, and flicked his hands harder, causing blood and flesh to splatter across the motel room walls.

"Cas, c'mon," Sam couldn't help but complain, trying to shield the baby from the gore, before clamping his lips shut. Cas had just saved them both and identified the monster- who was he to ask him not to make a mess. But Cas looked around himself, not having realized the grimy gore he was spreading.

"My apologies," he said, in a voice that was much more what Sam was used to hearing. "I can clean this later. We need to find Dean now." And before Sam could do anything else, once again, Cas placed a hand on his shoulder. Sam had the good sense to get a tight grip on Natalie before they all disappeared.

*SPN SPN SPN*

Instantly appearing back in the abandoned warehouse, Sam made sure he was steady on his feet for a half second before looking down at Natalie, desperate to make sure she was okay. The baby sat up, surprised at the sudden change of surroundings, but then waved her hands and squealed delightedly at the new atmosphere. Sam couldn't help but exhale in relief. Of course she was perfectly fine and apparently, she enjoyed teleporting. Go figure.

Castiel had the bloodhound look on his face again, his head twisting aimlessly side-to-side as he tried to find the trace of Dean that he had picked up before. It only took about five seconds, and he was running down the hallway again. Sam, gripping Natalie tightly, followed as quickly as he could, but Cas was running too fast and Sam couldn't run top speed with a baby in his arms.

Sam finally caught up to him. He followed the unmistakable whiff of burning metal. As he rounded the corner, he saw a door that had been blasted open. Rushing through the frame, he stopped dead as he saw Dean lying on the floor, his arms and legs bound behind his back, hogtie style. His eyes were closed, and he wasn't moving at all. Sam felt his guts twist horribly at the sight of his big brother.

"Cas, he's not…" Sam choked, unable to say the words. To his immense relief, Cas shook his head.

"He's not dead, just drugged," Cas said. He passed his hands through the ropes binding Dean. They fell away like yarn that had been cut with lawn pruning shears, and Dean's unconscious limbs flopped sickeningly to the floor. Cas began examining a small puncture wound on the side of Dean's neck.

"Can you wake him up?" Sam asked, trying to keep the rising hysteria out of his voice for Natalie's sake. Cas didn't answer. He turned Dean onto his back, and passed his hand over the hunter. The warm, golden glow appeared from his palm, the same way it had just a few moments ago with Natalie. Sam watched as Cas's face strained with concentration over Dean's head, struggling to remove all traces of whatever drug was keeping him in shadow land. After a tense minute, Dean's eyes suddenly flew open. He gasped like he had been underwater for ten minutes. His green eyes quickly focused on the nearest being to him.

"Cas?" he asked, his voice creaky and rusty from being completely unconscious for so many hours. Dean's eyes flickered over to his brother. "Sammy," he croaked out. Sam nodded back, unable to trust his own voice at the moment and trying to keep the tears in his eyes from leaking out. Then Dean saw that Sam was holding his daughter.

"Natalie?" Dean asked, the panic and the lack of vocal use making the sound coming out like screeching metal. Dean struggled to sit upright, to get to his precious baby girl. "What happened? Is she alright?!" he asked, his voice still scratchy, fumbling as his limbs refused to cooperate.

"She's fine, Dean, she's fine," Sam said in a rush, stepping closer to his brother and holding out a hand to reassure him.

"What is she doing here?" Dean said, desperate to know what was happening and why his baby was in the field.

"It's a long story, but I swear to you, she's okay," Sam said, bouncing his niece a couple times to prove his point. Dean just nodded once, coughed, and tried to sit up again. Cas helped him out.

"Thanks," he said gruffly, his voice starting to warm up a bit. "Did you get the shifter?" he asked, still breathing a bit heavily and wiping the residual spit from the corner of his mouth.

"You knew it was a shifter?" Sam asked, looking at Dean with wide eyes. Dean nodded begrudgingly.

"Well, when he suddenly came around the corner as an exact copy of me, I took a wild guess," Dean said, the sarcasm clear in his voice. "Son of a bitch jammed a freaking syringe into my neck. I tried to stay with it, but what can I say. Whatever that shit was had me on the dark side of the moon," he said sardonically. Sam grinned in relief, grateful to hear even that tone in his brother's voice right now. Natalie turned her head on Sam's shoulder, intrigued as well. When she saw Dean, her eyes went wide as saucers. Dean looked at her and smiled.

"Hey Baby Girl," he said softly, holding his hands up to her. Instead of the laughing, loving baby he was used to, however, Natalie gave a shriek of terror and buried her face in Sam's shoulder again. Sam took an automatic step back and began bouncing and soothing her.

"Shh, shh, it's okay, Natalie, you're okay," Sam murmured into her ear, bouncing her gently and rubbing her back all at the same time. He could see the confusion and the heartbreak in Dean's eyes, and that did him in almost as much as Natalie's cries.

"Wh-what's the matter with her?" Dean asked, his eyes matching hers in their confusion, before suddenly turning to cold fire. "Did that son of a bitch do something to her? Did he-"

"Dean," Sam cut him off, his throat tight. "Dean, it's all my fault," he mumbled, shame faced.

"What? What's your fault?! Sam, what happened?!"

Seeing the situation escalate quickly, Cas stepped in. "Dean, Natalie is unharmed," he said to the hunter, putting his hand on Dean's shoulder. Dean's eyes darted back and forth between his daughter and the angel, unsure of which one to focus his attention on. "She's going to be just fine. She's just had a shock, that's all."

"A shock? What the hell does that mean?"

"It means," Sam said thickly again, his eyes unable to meet his brother's for the shame he felt, "that I didn't realize it was a shifter. I thought…when we split up in the warehouse, that…that it was you who I ran into later. We…the shifter and I…we went back to the motel, and…"

"And that bastard pretended to be me? For how long?" Dean said, his voice turning hard and angry, making Natalie start wailing even louder. Dean reared back, almost as if someone had slapped him. "Wait…why is she…" he began, breaking off, unable to make sense of the fact that his daughter was scared of him. Sam couldn't answer Dean. He simply pressed the side of his face to Natalie's cheek, shushing her gently and continuing to pat and soothe.

"She's crying because neither one of us realized that we were leaving her alone with a monster this morning. She was left alone with what we thought was you," Castiel said heavily, expecting another Dean Winchester explosion. "The monster was harsh and uncaring. He was trying to get her for someone else, he said, and had no great love for her."

Dean just sat, a million things whirling through his overwhelmed mind at once. Finally, he choked out the most important thing. "She's okay, though? I know she's scared, but that bastard didn't hurt her, did he?" he asked forcefully, his eyes boring holes into Castiel's. "Cas, did he hurt her?"

"She is unharmed."

"And you two- you two are okay too?"

"We are fine," Cas answered for the both of them, but Sam had something else to say.

"Dean, I'm so-" he began, the tears welling in his eyes. Dean shut his eyes and held up his hand, stopping his brother's words.

"Sammy, don't," he said, surprising them all. He struggled to get to his feet, his muscles cramping and aching from being forced into such an awkward position for so long. Cas put a hand under his arm and assisted him. Nodding his thanks to the angel once again, Dean refocused on his little brother.

"But Dean, I…"

"I said shut it, Sam. Look. Those things are freaking CREATED to do what they did. Okay? It would have been easy to be hoodwinked by them. Hell, I probably would have been if the tables had been turned, okay?" Dean said, looking at Sam, his eyes narrowing as he took in Sam's response. Sam just bit his lip and looked away. Dean knew that reaction. Sam had had that coping mechanism ever since he was five. When he was self-flagellating, he would bite his lip and avoid eye contact.

Dean sighed, frustrated. "Look, Sammy, I ain't gonna lie. I'm not thrilled that my infant was left alone with a monster, okay? Definitely not the best move you've ever made," he said, his tone irritated. Sam seemed to take that, turning his eyes back to Dean, ready to take the verbal lashing he felt that he had coming. Dean knew that look, too. Whenever Sam had been feeling super guilty about whatever shenanigans they had gotten themselves into, he would look their dad dead in the eye, ready to take whatever punishment came his way. Dean bit his own lip, trying not to let that get to him too much. He made a colossal effort to modulate his voice. "But look…it was a mistake. Even I can't deny that. She's…gonna be fine. You're okay, Cas is okay. You took it out, I'm guessing?"

With a small jerk of his head towards the angel, Sam replied in a small voice. "Cas did." Dean looked the angel gratefully.

"Thanks, man."

"Of course."

"Sam, you two saved her. Okay? You saved my daughter. And me. You think I'm gonna be pissed about that?"

"But Dean…"

"But nothing. You saved her. That's the part I'm going to remember, okay? Yeah, it's gonna take me a hot second to get there-give me time- but that's what I'm gonna do," Dean said, looking Sam square in the eye. Finally after a moment, Sam nodded, trying to keep the relief concealed on his face. Dean nodded back, knowing that more words weren't going to help his little brother at the moment. He took a deep breath.

"Natalie?" he said gently. The baby turned her head towards the sound again, but still held on to Sam's shoulder in fright. "Natalie, it's Daddy. It's the REAL Daddy, squirt. Wanna come here?" he asked, trying to keep his voice as gentle as possible as he reached his hands out to his baby.

Natalie watched him warily, holding tight to Sam's shirt. It SOUNDED like Daddy…she reached a tentative hand out to him, the other one firmly locked on Sam's flannel. Dean reached up and touched her outstretched hand.

It was if all the muscles in the baby's tiny body suddenly relaxed. Her eyes went wide, and with another whimper and sudden lean, she tilted herself into Dean's arms. Without missing a beat, Dean reached out and had her securely in his arms. Sam closed his eyes, a mixture of relief and regret swirling in his brain. It was that very move that should have tipped him off, right from the beginning…

"Sam, don't," Dean suddenly commanded. His hazel eyes flew open at his brother's scolding word. Dean was just staring at him as he held onto his daughter, one eyebrow cocked. Sam knew that look. It meant that Dean knew that he was berating himself needlessly in his own mind. He had seen that look for years. Swallowing hard, he relaxed his face and nodded, banishing the thought from his mind. Dean gave him a slow, lopsided smile and a nod. He turned his attention back to his baby.

"So did I pass the lie detector test?" he said jokingly to Natalie, who was still staring at him with wide eyes. She gently patted his face, staring blankly at him, before suddenly snuggling down into his neck and cooing happily. "Guess that's a yes," Dean said, trying to mask his own wild happiness at Natalie's acceptance.

Natalie turned her eyes towards Sam. Never losing physical contact with Dean, she reached one hand out to him. "Sam!" Natalie said joyously, as if asking if he could believe that the real Dean was back. Sam's heart opened back up just a little. She was clearly okay now, and apparently didn't hate him. Before he could respond, her eyes shifted again, taking in the angel standing right next to her father. "Cas!" she squealed in delight.

Dean did a double take. "What the hell?!" he said, looking stunned. "When did she pick that up?"

Castiel just smiled softly at the baby, who giggled back at him, almost as if they were sharing a great secret. Dean didn't let Natalie go for the rest of the day, or that night either.