Part 3. Thank you for those who have expressed concern with my last post. I will be okay. I'm adding a huge postscript to this that you can read if you want to explain some things, but please know even though I haven't been able to muster up the strength to reply to individuals yet, I'm working towards it. I love you all.
My undying love and gratitude to Jenmm31, who's been going through this, every step of the way, with me. May you all be so lucky and blessed to find the Sam to your Dean.
A/N- in this story, Natalie is 18
"Wait, wait!" Derek said hysterically, his eyes darting between Natalie's advancing steps and her silver knife. "Look, you can have my wallet, my phone, whatever you want! Just don't do this, please!"
Natalie actually halted in her tracks for a moment. "Your wallet?" she scoffed, trying to hide her surprise at his reaction. "How about I take your freaking LIFE for all the lives you've taken, you bastard?"
"Wh-what are you talking about?" Derek asked, panicking. "I've never killed anyone!" He seemed like he was on the verge of hyperventilating. Dean's eyes shot to Natalie's for a moment. She had assured him on the phone that this was the shifter, but this behavior was unusual, even for a cornered monster. Derek's nervousness was a bit too sincere to not at least question it. No one was that good an actor. Natalie gave Dean the slightest head nod in return, letting him know she was on it.
"Oh really?" she asked in a snarky tone. "Maybe you haven't, but how about…hmmm let's see…Bryce? Or maybe Colin?" she asked, feigning doe eyes.
Derek looked like he stopped breathing altogether. "How…how did…." he stammered, his eyes round as dinner plates.
Natalie's face morphed briefly into a superiorly smug smile before answering. "How did I know you were all three guys?" she finished his question. Derek's jaw dropped open. "Easy. You have a nervous habit, buddy. You do this…" she rubbed her index finger around her thumb. "…when you're under the gun. And so did Bryce and Colin. Not to mention your names go right down the alphabet. Bryce, Colin, Derek. Next one would have been…what…Elliott? I'm guessing your real name starts with an A, doesn't it?" she asked in a light, polite tone.
"It's…it's Artie," the shifter mumbled, his cheeks turning bright red. Natalie pointed at him.
"Yahtzee," she said triumphantly. "Big kicker was that everything centered around that damn coffee shop. You knew that I was going to be there on a daily basis, so you took the opportunity to try to get as much out of me as you could so you could take all of us out more easily." She shook her head, suddenly furious. "I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out," she spat, almost to herself.
"Stay focused," Dean warned her, his grip on the shifter tightening. Dean knew Natalie was beating herself to hell over this, but she needed to stay on task right now. Natalie swallowed down the regret, the iron returning to her gaze. She fixed those steely green eyes on Artie, who was looking absolutely flabbergasted.
"How…how do you know all this?" Artie asked, his eyes growing wide with terror. Natalie snorted in derision.
"Please. You really thought you were going to tangle with the Winchesters and not get caught?" she said pompously.
"The…the Winchesters?" Artie asked. But to their surprise, he didn't seem worried. More… confused. Natalie's smug smile became just a bit crestfallen.
"Yeah, the Winchesters," she said, trying to inject some strength into it.
"I'm…I'm sorry…should I know you?" Artie asked, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Natalie exchanged a quick look with Dean. He was looking as shocked as she felt.
"You mean to tell me you've never heard of the Winchesters?" Dean asked, unable to help himself.
"Uh…no?"
"The WINCHESTERS. Maybe the Winchester Brothers?"
"Um, sorry, dude, but I…"
"Are you freaking serious?"
"Are you guys like famous or something? I'm sorry, I don't watch a lot of TV."
At that, Dean shoved the kid behind himself and turn around, standing shoulder to shoulder with his daughter. He pointed to his own face. "This?" he asked hotly. "Never seen this mug before?!" Dean seemed personally insulted by the fact that Artie wasn't shaking in his boots from their last name. Natalie reached down gently and took her father's hand.
"Dad?" she said in a light tone. "Stay focused." Dean gave her a slow burn glare, to which she just smiled. Taking a deep breath, Dean flipped his silver blade around in his hand. Artie panicked again and started stammering.
"W-wait, hold on," he begged, hysterical again. "How the hell do you guys know all this stuff? About…me? And…." He couldn't bring himself to say it.
"And the fact that you're a shifter?" Natalie finished brutally.
"How the hell could you possibly know that?" Artie whispered.
"We're hunters," she answered. Artie's face drained of all blood. He took a step backwards, but only encountered the brick wall.
"You're…you're HUNTERS?" he gasped, his eyes darting wildly between father and daughter. Suddenly, Sam stepped out from around the corner, also wielding a silver knife. Artie jumped a mile. "Geez, where the hell did you come from?!" he said in an unnaturally high-pitched voice. Sam just crossed towards his family and stood on the other side of his niece, the same deadly expression on his face. "Oh my god," Artie said, his breath beginning to speed up, his eyes darting wildly between all three of them. "I asked a hunter on a date. And not just one date…oh my god…on THREE different occas- oh my god, oh my god…" He collapsed on the ground, on the verge of a full-scale panic attack.
Natalie just stood there, watching him in utter confusion. This hadn't turned out anything at ALL like she expected it to. She could sense rather than see Sam and Dean's complete perplexity at the situation as well. She took a tentative step forward. "Artie?" she asked in a gentler tone. "You really didn't know I was a hunter?"
He shook his head violently. "No! No way! I couldn't have asked you out if I had known! I don't have a death wish!" he babbled in his panicked tone.
"So you actually weren't trying to trap me or figure out what I was up to?" Natalie asked, her forehead wrinkling in confusion.
"No! Not at all. I had no freaking clue!"
"So…you're a shape shifter who asked me out, but wasn't trying to kill me," Natalie said flatly, completely confused. Artie's face blanched.
"No! I mean, yeah, like no…I wasn't trying to…to kill you," he finally stammered out, still huddled on the ground. "When I saw you at the coffee shop where I work, and you were so nice to me, I just HAD to take a chance. I couldn't believe it when you said yes. I mean, you're so pretty and I'm just…me. So I asked my dad what kind of guys pretty girls liked, and he said a bad boy. So…I tried to be like that. Like the bad boy type I've seen in movies and stuff. I thought you'd like it," he mumbled, picking himself off the ground a bit.
"You…you deliberately acted that way because you thought I'd like it?" Natalie asked, flummoxed. Artie nodded slowly.
"But THAT totally blew up in my face," he said, shrugging bitterly. "I was such a dick, I'm really sorry. That's not me. But I just…you threw me because you were so cute and I didn't know how to act. So then I…I tried to be someone else. Someone that was all earthy and romantic and stuff, and that didn't work either. I didn't mean to insult you, I really didn't," he begged, holding his hands out to her in supplication. "Like I can hear what a jerk I sounded like, asking you to make love to someone you just met and in public too…"
"When you did WHAT now?!" Dean roared suddenly, taking a step towards the shifter. Before he could get any further, Sam's hand snatched Dean's arm, holding him back. Natalie appeared not to notice the outburst. She took another step towards Artie.
"So you tried again," she finished his statement. "With this Derek persona. You ran all the way around town, shifted, and literally ran into me again," she said quietly, putting the pieces together. "Why?" she asked finally. "Why did you keep trying to run into me so you could ask me out again, if you didn't know I was a hunter?"
"Because…because I thought you were really cute," Artie said, almost in a whisper. He wrapped his arms around his knees as he tried to hold himself together. "I…I've never seen anyone as pretty as you before, and I…I blew it on the first try, but…I mean…I can change my face so…I had to try again. I had to try until I got it right. I couldn't help myself. You were too cute."
Natalie's jaw hit the cement. She slowly turned and looked at Dean, her eyes wide and shining. "He did it because he thought I was CUTE," she said joyously, blushing and looking bashful all at the same time.
Dean gave her The Eye.
Natalie cleared her throat awkwardly. "Yeah, yeah, you're right, not a priority right now," she said robustly, standing up straight and looking at Artie again. "Okay, so…so you've been shifting and being different people because you thought I was cute," she said again, this time with a little giggle. A loud clearing of a throat behind her made her straighten up again. "But…surely as a shifter, you know what's happening in this town. And who is causing it." Her hunting eyes watched his body language carefully.
Artie swallowed hard, and after a long moment, he gave a small nod. "Yeah. Yeah, I know," he mumbled, shamefaced.
"Who's behind it?" Natalie asked. When Artie didn't answer right away, Sam and Dean stepped forward, right next to Natalie again.
"The lady asked you a question," Sam said, his voice hard as iron. Artie gulped hard and looked up at them.
"It's…it's my dad," he whispered. "My dad is the one who's doing it all."
"Your dad?" Dean asked, his loud voice making them all jump. "Speak up, boy."
Artie nodded quickly, then gulped. "He's not my real dad. He…he says that I was abandoned as a baby, and he found me and took me in. He's the reason I'm alive at all."
"Where did he find you?"
"He won't tell me. He said it was lucky that he found me. We're both purebred shifters- we can just change our appearances. We don't have to shed our skin."
Natalie exchanged a quick glance with Dean. Oh boy. This situation had just gotten a whole lot stickier. As they had learned from a particularly trying case, purebred shifters were extremely rare. So rare…that other shifters often killed the parents of a newborn just to get at it. But this wasn't the time to delve into that- it just gave them an idea about the monster who was really behind these murders. Natalie tried to focus them back to the subject at hand. "Artie, if you knew your dad was doing this, why didn't you stop him?" she asked, as gently as she could.
"I tried!" Artie said desperately, unclenching his hands and standing up quickly. His swift motions caused all three Winchesters to tense up and bring their blades up to bear. Artie held out his hands again in supplication, terrified. "Whoa, whoa, sorry, just…standing up. I didn't mean to do anything. I'm sorry," he begged. Dean slowly lowered his blade, which was Natalie and Sam's cue to do the same. Dean gestured for him to continue his explanation. "Like I said, I tried. My dad…he's…he doesn't listen to anyone, especially not to me. We…we used to have a business in town. It was a pawnshop. Just a simple place, you know? We both worked there. And my dad…he started getting greedy. He would cheat people out of the full value of their things. I called him on it…until…" Artie trailed off, looking down at the ground.
"Until he made you stop talking," Natalie finished quietly, the pieces suddenly snapping together in her brain. All of Artie's body language, shifter or not, spoke of someone who had been physically abused before. It was almost heart breaking, seeing him like this, so abjectly terrified. Artie just nodded, looking at the ground. Natalie turned to Dean, begging him with her eyes to have some mercy here. Dean averted her gaze, nodding at Artie roughly. She got the message- continue on the line of questioning. Swallowing hard, she took a slight step towards him again.
"Artie?" she began softly. "Look at me, please." She waited patiently until he looked up at her. The fear in his eyes was almost more than she could bear, but she hardened her resolve. "Tell me what happened after that."
Artie gulped and nodded, a single tear sliding down his face. "So…so when word started getting around in town that the deals my dad did were unfair, people stopped coming to us. We hung on as long as we could, but…but we went under. And my dad…well, he was…really mad. He'd never used his…abilities before for personal gain, but it was like he went nuts." Natalie saw Sam shift slightly out of the corner of her eye. According to the police reports they'd dug up, the monster most definitely HAD been robbing for a while, but not killing. Neither of them said anything, though, and let Artie continue.
"He started breaking into houses of people that had stopped trading with us to get to their stuff. Of course it was pretty obvious that there was the connection with the pawn shop, but as we could…y'know… change our faces, everyone thought we had packed up and left town, so the police never pursued that line." Natalie looked behind her at Sam, who nodded grimly. There had been nothing in the papers about the connection in all the robberies. Natalie turned back around, giving Artie an encouraging nod. "But it was like the more houses my dad broke into, the angrier he got. He…he stopped caring about not being seen. And if someone happened to be home when he broke in…he…he killed them." Artie's voice suddenly broke on the last word, and he brought his hands up to his face, sobbing. "I couldn't stop him. I tried. I tried to follow, I tried to warn people, I tried to get people out of the houses I knew he was going to target. I even got a job to try to earn money so he'd stop the robberies. But…but he just wouldn't stop," he said, trying to speak through the tears.
"It's alright, son," Dean said suddenly. Natalie's head whipped around to her father. That was the last thing she expected out of him. He was walking slowly towards the shifter. Artie's eyes were suddenly wide with panic again, but he didn't move. Dean put a hand on the boy's shoulder. Artie flinched as he did, but once he saw that Dean wasn't going to attack or hit him, he relaxed a modicum. "You did what you could. And I know first hand how hard it is to go up against family. I respect that in you."
Artie nodded and looked Dean in the eye. "Thank you, sir," he said. Dean looked slightly taken aback, but also looked pleased. He exchanged a quick glance with Sam before focusing back to Artie.
"Listen. We need to stop the murders. We need to stop your father. And to do that, we need your help," Dean said, his own Dad voice going full blast. "Will you help us?"
Artie blinked a couple times. "I…I don't know how to…betray him," he finally whispered. "I mean, he saved my life. How can…how can I be the one who gives him up?"
"Artie, he's hurting you. And other people," Natalie said, a bit forcefully. "How can you let him keep doing that?"
Artie looked at her, lost. "He's the only family I've got," he said. "I don't know who I am apart from…from all this." Artie suddenly looked back at Dean. "What if I turn out just like him?" he suddenly asked, the desperation clear in his voice.
Dean squeezed his shoulder a bit. "You won't," he answered definitively. "Look, you've already proved that you're nothing like him. You'll find your way. And you'll do it with one less obstacle in your way." Artie looked deep into Dean's eyes for a long moment. Then he nodded. Dean squeezed his shoulder again. "Good man," he said. "Tell us where your dad is."
Taking a deep breath and looking at the ground, Artie spoke in a low voice. "He's at our house. It's out on the edge of the city," and he gave them the address.
Dean nodded again and removed his hand from the boy's shoulder. "Okay. Now we're going to need to keep you somewhere safe until this is all over. You understand?" Artie nodded.
"Dad?" Natalie asked, her voice strained more than usual. Dean looked over at her. "What if we stayed at the motel? I can keep an eye on him, and you and Uncle Sam can do the job." Dean couldn't help but notice Natalie's eyes straying back to the shifter, who was undeniably handsome.
"Yeah, I don't think so," Dean said gruffly, his voice hardening in displeasure. "I have another idea." He held up his hands at the suddenly furious look in his daughter's eyes. "Calm down, I won't kill him," Dean said, rolling his eyes. Natalie let out a little huff and crossed her arms. She knew it had always been one of Dean's secret dreams to kill a guy that had taken out his daughter, so it wasn't an unwarranted reaction. Natalie looked back at Artie.
"It's okay," she said, her voice much softer and sweeter than before. She could literally see Dean's blood pressure rising, but she didn't care. "He won't hurt you. You can trust him," she said pointedly, her eyes flicking over to her father briefly as if to say don't make a liar out of me, Dad.
Despite the emotion and stress he was feeling, Artie gave her a crooked smile. "Wow," he said, a little breathlessly. "It sure was lucky for me that you were the first Winchester I ran into, huh?"
Natalie couldn't help but giggle. THIS was the sweet guy that she'd been attracted to initially. She gave him one of her rare smiles. "It's all going to be okay, Artie," she said. "I'll protect you."
"Listen, I know this is probably the wrong thing to say right now," Artie said in a rush. "But Natalie, I think you're the best thing that's ever happened to me-"
"OKAY, we're done," Dean said loudly, interrupting Artie's declaration of love. "We need to get this show on the road. Artie," he said sternly, forcing the boy to look back at him. "I'm not going to kill you. You trust me on that?"
"Yes, sir," Artie said sincerely.
"Good," Dean said. "Sam?"
Natalie expected Sam to go to his brother, but was surprised when Sam reached out and latched onto her arm instead. She looked over at him, wondering what was going on.
"Uncle Sam, what-" she began, when a movement from Dean caught her eye. He was raising the hilt of the knife over Artie's head. She realized what was about to happen one second too late. "Dad, don't…!" was all she got out before Dean slammed the butt of the knife into the shifter's skull, knocking him out cold instantly. She moved towards Dean, absolutely furious, but Sam's grip on her arm stopped her. She struggled violently, only causing Sam to yank her backwards and hold both her arms down. She stomped her foot in frustration. "Dammit, Dad!" she roared. "You didn't have to do that!"
"Yes, I did," Dean said stubbornly.
"You said you weren't going to hurt him!"
"No, I said I wasn't going to KILL him. And I didn't."
"You didn't need to knock him out, though!"
"Yes I did. It's part of the plan."
"Oh, that's bullshit and you know it. You only did it because you've always wanted to drop a guy that I've dated."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Go get in the car."
Knowing it was pointless to try to chase that dog, Natalie turned to the side furiously, causing Sam to tentatively release the hold on her arms. She stomped down the alley towards the Impala, cursing under her breath the whole way. Dean watched her until she was definitely out of earshot. Sam casually strolled up next to his brother. They both looked down at Natalie's former flame lying unconscious on the ground.
"That was incredibly satisfying," Dean muttered to Sam out of the side of his mouth.
"Yup," Sam replied back instantly. They gave each other a quick fist bump before picking up the limp shifter and hauling him to the car.
*SPN SPN SPN*
A knock on the door startled him. No one ever came to the house. He quickly exited the room he had been working in, shutting and locking the door behind him, and made his way to the front door. He peered through the peephole. It was a young girl, and she looked small. Consoling himself that he could kill her easily if he needed to, he yanked the door open.
"Yes?" he asked, making his irritation at being interrupted plain. The girl looked at him with wide, green eyes.
"Oh, uh, I'm sorry, sir," she said hesitantly. "But, um…is Colin here?"
"Colin?" he asked roughly. He suddenly remembered that that was going to be the kid's code name for whatever slut he was taking out today. "No, Colin's not here."
"Oh," she said, blinking in surprise. "I…um…thought he'd be here by now. Sorry, I'm kinda nervous…"
He snorted derisively. This must be the little bitch his worthless ward had taken such a shine to. "S'okay, darlin'," he said, suddenly giving her a lascivious grin. "Colin tell you to meet him here?" His eyes suddenly raked up and down her small body. She was pretty. He'd personally had prettier, but he'd rub that in the kid's face later. Maybe the kid was finally starting to listen and bring the victims to him. Finally, the burden of that kid was worth something.
Looking grateful for the opening in the conversation, the girl nodded vigorously. "Yeah, he did. We just had such a great lunch date, and he said that he wanted to…to introduce me to his dad," she said, suddenly shy and blushing. "We got separated on the drive here, but he text me the address." She craned her neck, her long black hair rippling in waves behind her. "I can't believe he didn't beat me here," she mused.
"It's quite alright, darlin'," he said, taking a step towards her, a sinister gleam in his eye. "Why don't you come in and get to know me while we wait for him?"
Looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes- just the way he liked them- the girl nodded again. "Okay, cool! But…" she bit her lip. "I kinda parked weird in the driveway." She took a step back and pointed to the left of the house. "Is that okay?"
Giving an obvious sigh of frustration, he stepped out of the front door to see exactly how this bitch had parked. Leave it to a female to screw up something as simple as parking. The girl stepped down off the porch to get a better look at her car.
He never even heard the hunter behind him as he stepped out of his door for the last time.
*SPN SPN SPN*
Throwing open the trunk, Natalie looked down at the still unconscious form. Sighing lightly, she reached in and gently patted the side of his face. "Artie. Artie, wake up," she said softly. With a start, the boy suddenly came to. Before she could stop him, he sat up so fast he whacked his already-sore head into the trunk lid.
"OW!"
"Sorry, sorry," Natalie said, reaching out to him, rubbing his arms consolingly. Artie craned his neck around while he massaged his head.
"Where are we?" he asked groggily, trying to untangle his cramped limbs. He suddenly became fully awake, looking around uncertainly. "Is this…is this a car trunk?"
"Yup," Dean said, coming around the corner. "C'mon, hop out," he said, extending his hand to the boy and helping him out.
"What was I doing in a car trunk?" Artie asked perplexedly.
"Don't ask," Natalie muttered, shooting Dean a look that he furtively ignored. As Artie got his bearings, he froze at the sight of his own house.
"Is it…is he…." he stammered.
"It's done," Sam said simply, walking up beside his brother. Artie stared at them all, his eyes finally landing on Natalie. When she offered him a sweet, supportive smile, he gave a shaky nod and cleared his throat.
"Thank you," he said simply. He looked like he wanted to say more, but was unable to. Sam and Dean just nodded back. Natalie reached out and took Artie's hand.
"So, you're free," she said. "You can do whatever you want to, go wherever you want to. Start a new life if you'd like."
"Wow," Artie said, breathlessly. "I never thought I'd live to hear that." He gave a small chuckle, before looking back at Natalie's gorgeous green eyes. "I…um…really, thank you. I mean, you could have just…killed me. When you found out what I was. And you're just…you're just looking out for me. I just- you're just a really great…surprise."
Natalie giggled. "Well, you've got to stay on your toes when you're dating someone like me."
"So…look, I don't want to push my luck here, but is there any way that you-"
"Nope," said Dean loudly, making both kids jump. Artie just nodded, flushing beet red, while Natalie gave her father the ultimate bitch face. "Say your goodbyes, we're leaving now," he said to his daughter, unaffected by her glare. He turned his gaze back to the boy. "Artie, stay out of trouble. Don't make us find you again for the wrong reasons. You got me?"
"Yes sir, Mr. Winchester," Artie said earnestly. Dean nodded one last time, then jerked his head at Sam. The two of them walked far enough away to give Natalie a tiny sense of privacy.
Artie looked at her. "Thank you for…well, for everything. But mostly…"
"Yes?"
"Not kicking me in the crotch on our first date, even though I really deserved it."
Natalie laughed outright at that. She put her hand on Artie's shoulder and pulled him down, giving his cheek a sweet kiss. "Have a great life," she said warmly. He gulped and nodded, unable to say anything else. She turned on her heel and walked straight to the back door of the Impala, climbing in without turning around one last time. It was kinder that way.
As they roared out of town, Natalie sighed, leaning back against the leather seating. "What a day," she moaned.
Dean chuckled. "Don't sweat it, kid," he said.
"I can't freaking believe it took me so long to figure out he was a freaking monster," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Bug, it's happened to the both of us too, when we were much older than you," Sam said consolingly over his shoulder. "It's another Winchester Rite of Passage."
She giggled at that, then sighed again. "Well, I definitely think I'll cool it on the dating scene for a while after this."
Low enough in the front seat so she couldn't see, Sam and Dean surreptitiously bumped fists again as they barreled down the back roads towards home.
THE POST SCRIPT CONTAINS SPOILER ALERTS FOR THE SEASON FINALE. IF YOU DID NOT WATCH YET, DO NOT PROCEED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. COME AT ME WITH ANYTHING NEGATIVE AND I WILL SALT AND BURN YOU. FLAMERS WILL DISAPPEAR.
"I picked up a pen; I wrote my own deliverance."
This line from Hamilton has been racing around in my head since 9:30 last Thursday night. You can have all the opinions that you want about the finale, but for me, it was exactly right. It was what Dean wanted, it was what Sam wanted (you wanna argue about that? I got 15 years of episodes that ALL say it for me), and I got my wish that, in the end, they were together and they were safe, they were at peace, our boys were happy.
That having been said, I haven't stopped crying. I'm beyond devastated that the show is over. In a lot of ways, the Winchesters and all of you are the first true family I've ever really known. And I refuse to live in a world where the Winchesters no longer live. So I'm now firmly living in this AU. It's MY universe, and I control (to borrow another Hamilton phrase) who lives, who dies, who tells the story. I had no idea that when I started writing this story five years ago, that it would become the thing that is helping me process and survive the finale, to find my own peace. Again, this is no disrespect to the show's finale. It was right, it was exactly what that universe needed to do. But that was that universe, and this is mine.
I didn't intend to publish this case story so soon, but in it, if you do the math, Dean is 50 years old. I needed to see that after the finale, and I thought that maybe some of you did too.
I promise you, this story will not end. And Sam,Dean, and Natalie will not die in this AU. I simply can't handle it, and I need something to help me keep fighting. I know exactly how this AU parallels with the real show, and I can promise you that it's something Chuck never thought of, so it will technically fit canon. You're trusted me so far- trust me on this.
I might write it out some day, but right now it's way too fresh and painful. Maybe someday, but no promises.
Dean told us to Always Keep Fighting. Jared and Jensen, Misha, Kim, Briana, all of them have told us to Always Keep Fighting. So that's what I'm going to do. I picked up a pen, and I'm writing my own deliverance. I will Always Keep Fighting.
-Emma
