Hey SPN family! Hope your week is off to a fabulous start. So I completely forgot I had this story sitting in the vault. Just a little silly look into the stubbornness and creativity that is Natalie Winchester :) Thank you all for the encouragement on starting the next chapter of Natalie's saga. I'm starting to sketch it out. I'm probably going to try to write as much as I can before I publish to ensure that I can publish on a more consistent basis, so we'll see how that goes...no promises. Special thanks on this story to Jenmm31 who gives the best notes and encouragement a girl could ask for. AKF y'all.
In this story Natalie is seven. Please see profile page for disclaimers.
"Please please please please please! I'll be your slave for life!"
"Okay, no, and after that, so much more no."
Natalie gave her biggest theatrical huff, completely exasperated by her uncle. "Aw, c'mon! That slave line always works with Dad."
"Always, huh? Then why didn't you use it on him this time?"
"Because he already said no."
"So you're trying to butter me up so I'll argue on your behalf. Do you really think that's a good idea?"
"Is it working?"
"Are you kidding me? Seriously?"
"But I'm too big for a babysitter!"
"Natalie, you are seven years old. No responsible adult leaves a seven year old alone."
"But I'm a MATURE seven year old. You always say that."
"And if you didn't have a whoopee cushion in your backpack right now, I'd almost believe it."
"Dad has one and you leave him alone all the time!"
"Just more proof that I shouldn't."
"Oh, C'MON Uncle Sam! Please?"
Sam sighed patiently, turning away from his laptop. He leaned forward into the earnest face of his niece, placing his elbows on his knees. "Bug, it's not gonna happen. Let it go." He reached out and ruffled her hair affectionately. "Look. You're very responsible and mature, and maybe soon you'll be okay without a babysitter when we're on cases. But you know better than to try to get around your dad by going through me. And you know he's already told you that you're getting a babysitter tonight. If you don't want to end up in trouble, you need to lay off, right now." He smiled kindly, despite the rebuke.
Natalie twisted her foot into the carpet once, looking slightly ashamed of herself, but flattened down her hair with a sigh. "Sorry, Uncle Sam," she said in a tiny voice, not looking up.
Sam leaned forward and planted a kiss on her bowed head. "You're forgiven," he said. He longed to pull her into his lap and cuddle her, but her recent streak of super stubborn independence wasn't going to allow for that. He simply rubbed his hands on her arms as she looked up and smiled at him. "How's the homework coming?" he asked, to change the subject.
"Almost done."
"Why don't you finish it up so I can look at it before your dad gets back with dinner?"
"Okay," she agreed with another small sigh. She trudged back to the coffee table where Sam had agreed to let her work. As she plopped down on the floor, she looked back up. "Do you know who Dad got to…" Her little mouth twisted in displeasure. It was obvious she didn't even want to say the word 'babysit'. "…come over tonight?" she finished primly.
Sam pressed his lips together, trying not to laugh outright at her. "I'm not sure, Bug. I'm sure you'll like her, though," Sam said with a smile. Internally he was incredibly grateful that only he could tell when she was lying- not the other way around.
*SPN SPN SPN*
It was 7:55pm, and Dean noticed that Natalie's eyes hadn't left the motel room door for the last ten minutes. The babysitter was due promptly at eight, and as the minutes ticked by, Natalie's lips had become more and more pinched as she watched. Dean had really hoped he wasn't going to have to have a talk with her again, but he could see the wheels turning in her brain and knew he had to circumvent this somehow.
"Alright, squirt," Dean said, breaking the silence. "You know the drill. You behave tonight for Julia, understand?"
"Yes, sir," Natalie said absentmindedly, her eyes never leaving the door. Dean snapped his fingers a few times.
"Hey," he barked. "Earth to Natalie." She tore her eyes away from the door finally.
"What?" she asked innocently.
"You're giving me lip service when I'm talking to you, kid."
"You said to be good, and I will."
"Yeah, but you don't mean it."
"I do so."
"Really. You're gonna be on your best behavior tonight," Dean asked dryly. Natalie chewed her lip for a minute. Promising to be good to Sam was one thing- promising to Dean was another.
"Is she old?" she asked bluntly. At the other end of the room, Sam huffed in exasperation.
"Natalie, that's rude," he scolded. Her eyes cut over to him, squirming slightly at the bitch face he was giving her.
"Sorry," she said, before her eyes swung back to Dean. "But is she?"
Sam rolled his eyes. Natalie was too much like Dean for even him to handle sometimes. Dean fixed his daughter with The Eye.
"Look, it don't matter what her age is, you got that?" he said. "You will behave and treat Julia with respect. Am I clear?"
Natalie fixed her narrowed gaze back at the door. "So that means yes," she muttered. "If she pinches my cheek, I can't be responsible for my actions."
"Natalie Grace…" Dean warned. Natalie's shoulders slumped a bit at hearing her middle name. Her dad wasn't playing if he broke that out. "Are we clear on your behavior?" Dean asked again, a bit more forceful this time.
"Yes, sir," she said quietly. Dean exchanged another glance and eye roll with Sam. Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Dean was the closest, so after a quick glance through the peephole, he opened it. A very matronly looking lady of around seventy was standing there in a blue knit sweater, khakis, and holding a giant handbag. Natalie groaned inwardly. Yup- they had gotten her a Mrs. Claus. Again.
"Hey Julia, come on in. Thanks for coming over tonight," Dean said, trying to smile but knowing the second he turned around, his daughter would be glaring at him. He avoided this as long as possible by stepping to the side and keeping his eyes on Julia's face as she entered.
"Oh, it's no trouble at all!" the cute grandmotherly lady gushed. "As soon as you said that you boys were needing a babysitter tonight, I just thought to myself that I could go to Bingo any old night, but this was my chance to help out two handsome detective heroes!" Everything inside of Natalie wanted to make a gagging sound at the old lady's words, but she locked it up when she caught Sam's arched eyebrow in her direction.
Oblivious to the little girl's displeasure, Julia made a beeline straight for her. "And you must be Natalie!" she said in a voice dripping with honey. "Aren't you just the cutest little princess ever?!" Julia reached out and pinched Natalie's cheek.
Dean braced himself for the atomic bomb, but Natalie's lips flattened out to a suspicious grin. He saw her hand barely twitch towards her hip. No one else would have caught it- but he did.
"Sam, why don't you give Julia the rundown?" Dean said briskly. "Natalie, c'mere." He turned and walked towards the motel room door. Natalie was a bit startled- what did he want her to go outside with him for? That usually wasn't a good sign.
"Uh, yeah, no problem," Sam said, nodding at his brother before smiling at Julia. "Let me show you the emergency numbers," he said. Knowing that she had no choice, especially since her father was fixing her with The Eye again, Natalie reluctantly slid off the couch and followed him outside.
The second the door was shut, Dean folded his arms sternly. "What did I just say about behaving?" he scolded. Natalie's eyes went wide.
"What did I do? I didn't even do anything!" she protested. What the heck?! She'd just been sitting there, she hadn't even mouthed off when that old bat pinched her cheek.
"Yet," Dean said, finishing her sentence. "Empty your pockets." He didn't miss the fact that Natalie suddenly froze in place.
"Why?" Natalie asked cautiously, stalling.
"Because I told you to. Pockets. Now," he ordered. With a sigh, Natalie pulled out the mini deflated whoopee cushion. Dean stretched his hand out to her. She handed it over with ill grace. "Keep going," Dean instructed. With an angry glare, Natalie shoved the joy buzzer into his hand as well. "That all?" he asked, knowing her too well. She gave up then, digging out what looked like a small packet of chewing gum from her back pocket. Dean took it and examined it. Yup- pepper flavored. He arched an eyebrow at the seven-year-old. She threw on a lopsided, cocky grin.
"In my defense, that would have been hilarious," Natalie said, pointing at the gum. Dean examined it for another moment, nodding once, before leaning down and looking her right in the eye.
"You wanna think about what exactly I would have done to you if you'd pulled this tonight after the talk that we just had?" Dean asked her, holding the gum up to her face. Natalie gulped once, all bravado sliding off her face.
"No, thank you," she said meekly.
"Then in that case, you better be on your BEST behavior tonight," Dean threatened. "You step one toe outta line and you can bet you're gonna be having babysitters until next year. No trying to get out of bedtime, no trying to get extra snacks, no watching movies you know Uncle Sam won't let you see, none of it. Julia tells me about anything you try to pull tonight, and you're toast." Dean searched her eyes carefully. "Are we in any way unclear?"
Squirming very nervously now, Natalie shook her head. "No, sir," she whispered.
"Good," Dean said, standing upright. He shoved the prank toys into his jacket pocket. He couldn't wait to try the pepper gum out on Sam, but that was later. Had to do the fatherly thing and set a good example for the kid now. He grinned at his wanna-be prankster, trying to set her at ease after laying down the law. "It's one night, kiddo. You'll survive."
Natalie looked up at him, despairing. "She pinched my cheek, Dad," she said in a flat tone, disbelieving him utterly. Dean chuckled and wrapped his arm around her as they walked back to the door.
"I know, squirt," he said consolingly. "I'll try to go younger next time. Deal?" he whispered to her. He was sure Julia couldn't hear the conversation, but Sam might. He ushered Natalie through the door before she could come up with a snarky response.
Sam was just finishing up going over the bedtime routine, and it was time for the boys to hit the road. With hugs and whispered reminders to behave, Sam and Dean were out the door.
Julia turned back to Natalie, who was sitting like a stone on her couch. "Well, sweetheart, I brought you something that I think will tickle your fancy!" she said, waddling her way over to the couch with her enormous handbag swinging. Plopping down next to her, Julia pulled out a coloring book. "Here, this is for you," she said, thrusting it into Natalie's hands.
Natalie looked at it in horror. Coloring books of all kinds were cool when she was six, but she was seven now. She had more refined taste in her coloring. "Wow," she said, trying to make it sound like she was excited and failing miserably. "This…is Sesame Street."
"Such a clever girl! You read that all by yourself!" Julia gushed. Natalie's eyes swung to the older woman in disbelief.
"You know I'm seven, right?" she couldn't help but ask.
"And what a smart little seven year old you are!" Julia simpered, ruffling her hair. Natalie nearly reared back in terror as Julia reached for her face next, but she simply patted her cheek. Natalie sighed in relief- at least she hadn't pinched it. "Now why don't you work on coloring some of that, sweetie?"
Oh no. No WAY was she coloring in a Sesame Street coloring book. She tried to figure out how to get out of this, with Dean's threat echoing in her head. Swallowing hard, she put on a huge fake smile for the older lady. "Um, thank you for the…coloring book," she said, fake grinning so hard her face nearly split in two. "But would it be okay if I read some of my book instead?" she asked hesitantly. "I have to for my school stuff," she hastened to add, praying that it would be enough to deter the little old lady.
Julia put her hands over her heart, gasping. Natalie freaked for two seconds, thinking the woman was having a heart attack or something, but Julia fluttered her hands in front of her face, apparently overcome with emotion. "What a good little girl you are!" she squeaked out, her eyes filling up with tears. Natalie willed everything inside her to keep the fake ass smile plastered on her face. Was this woman for real?! Who cried at doing schoolwork?!
"Of COURSE you can do your reading!" Julia bubbled. "In fact- OH! Do you know what would be fun?" she said, the sugar practically cascading from her lips.
"No. What," Natalie said dryly, unable to hide her obvious disdain for whatever Julia was about to propose.
"What if you read aloud to me? Wouldn't that just be too much super fun?"
Thinking about the possibility of getting stuck with a babysitter until she was eight, Natalie forced her lips into a thin smile. It was a family trait- anyone who knew the Winchesters knew that smile meant that they were stabbing you in their minds at that moment. But luckily for her, Julia was too caught up in 'super fun' idea to pay any attention. "Sure," Natalie said, swallowing the lump in her throat. She pushed herself off the couch and walked around to the other side of the coffee table, mostly to get away from the woman. She was sure she'd get diabetes if she spent another moment that close to her.
She plucked The Lightning Thief out from under her math book. She and Dean had started discussing gods and goddesses in their lore studies, so Sam had complimented it with this series to help. "Can you show me the book, precious?" Julia asked as if Natalie was two.
Her forced smile in place, Natalie held up the book. "Have you ever heard of Percy Jackson?" she asked Julia, trying to be nice. Julia shook her head. "Okay, cool, I'll start over so you know what's going on, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, Natalie reluctantly sat back down on the couch next to the lady. She cracked open the book and began at the beginning. After a few minutes of her reading steadily aloud, Julia broke in in between the short chapters.
"My goodness," she said, fanning herself a bit. "That seems like an awful lot of dark, scary stuff for such a little girl," she cooed. Natalie bit her tongue so she wouldn't smart off. This woman had no idea that the 'little girl' sitting next to her had kicked the actual King of Hell in the nuts, literally. She must be an idiot if she thought that this stuff was scary.
And suddenly, the light bulb turned on in Natalie's head.
"Oh, no, I love it!" Natalie said, turning to Julia with a wide-eyed grin. "I especially love ghost stories! Do you?"
Julia gulped. "I can't say that I really do," she said faintly. "How does such a little girl know about scary things like ghosts? Not that ghosts are real or anything…" she said, trailing off limply.
Bingo. Natalie noticed earlier that Sam and Dean had been vague with Julia about where they were going. Natalie knew them well enough to know that meant that Julia wasn't in on the secret of what they were actually up to. Apparently, it was because Julia scared easily.
Hee hee hee.
"Oh, of COURSE ghosts aren't real," Natalie said, nodding vigorously. Julia seemed to recover her simpering smile at that. "But I think that's what makes the stories so cool," she continued in a matter of fact way. "How clever people have to be to come up with them, you know?" she asked, all Bambi-eyed at her babysitter. Time to lay it on thick.
"How clever?" Julia asked, her own eyes wide as saucers. "You mean…with their stories?"
"Oh yeah," Natalie said. "Like- have you ever thought about…werewolves?"
"Werewolves?"
"Yeah. A lot of people think that they just roam in the woods and stuff, but you know what would be a great story?"
"What?"
"If werewolves were actually people that lived among us. And you never know when they're going to shift and tear someone to pieces- even if it's their next door neighbor or something!"
"Oh good heavens! That's too much for a little girl to think about! We shouldn't be talking about these scary things."
"But it's just pretend, right?" Natalie asked instantly, putting on her best little waif look. "Because if it was real, it would be WAY too scary. But since it's just pretend, it's a great story! And Uncle Sam- he's my teacher- he says that it's really good for a child's development to have such an imagination for creative writing and stuff." She tilted her head and smiled adorably at the stunned woman.
"I..I suppose that…as long as you know it's not real, having an imagination is…a good thing," Julia stammered, trying to back herself out of the corner.
"Oh yeah," Natalie said, picking up the ball. "Uncle Sam says that imagination is the key to a bright future, and bright futures open the doors to the whole world." She had no idea where she was coming up with this crap, but this lady was buying it and this was fun as hell. "But seriously, could you imagine if werewolves were real? Like if they didn't have to wait for a full moon to appear- they could just…" Natalie let her voice drop dramatically. "…transform," she whispered.
"Well, that's…that would make an interesting story, I suppose," Julia said faintly.
"I know, right?" Natalie said, standing up and getting as animated as she could. "And just imagine. Their eyes would just glaze over yellow, the pupils becoming single slits. They're not even human anymore- they're all feral instinct. Their fingernails painfully transform into razor sharp claws that can gut you in seconds. And their teeth sharpen to a fine point that they use…TO RIP OUT THROATS!" she suddenly shrieked at the top of her lungs.
Julia jumped a mile, then pressed a hand to her heart. She gave a nervous, awkward laugh. "Oh my goodness," she tittered, her face flushed. "You definitely have some imagination, Natalie."
"Thank you!" Natalie replied sweetly.
"Well, what do you say you do some coloring now?"
"Oh, sure, I can do that," Natalie said brightly, digging in her backpack for crayons. She opened the coloring book at random, not really giving a crap what page she landed on. As she dumped her crayons on the table, she watched Julia out of the corner of her eye. She noticed Julia's face returning to a normal color, and her breathing even out. She waited until she was sure the older woman was back to normal before looking up.
"Have you ever wondered about vampires?" Natalie asked brightly.
And she kept it up for a solid 45 minutes. Natalie went through her entire mental catalogue of monsters, telling the terrified Julia all about wendigos, tulpas, banshees, djinns, shtrigas- you name it, it came out of her mouth in the form of childhood imagination. Poor Julia's face drained of color pretty early on, and Natalie didn't let up. She played up the excitement and creativity part so Julia wouldn't make her stop. She kept a careful eye on the clock, and waited until three minutes until bedtime to spring the big one.
"But I guess the one that I think would be the MOST creative of all," Natalie said in a dramatic, low voice. "…would be the Changeling."
"A…a changeling? Wh-what's that?" Julia asked, breathlessly.
"A child that looks just like a normal little boy. Or girl. But who is really a soul sucking monster," she said, hissing out the last word. "The mother monster kidnaps children and sends perfect replicas back to their homes in the kids' places. And they look and act JUST like the child." Not entirely true, but hey- this was supposed to be a fictional story anyway. Besides, some creative liberties would freak this old bat out even more. "Late at night, when everyone thinks the little girl is sleeping, she creeps into her parents' bedroom and sucks their souls away. The only way that you can tell if a little girl is a changeling is to see her reflection in a mirror. And you wouldn't believe what they look like."
"Wh-what do they look like?"
"They have hollowed out eye sockets. You can only see the blackest depths of hell in them. Their skin is gray and wrinkled with age and disease. But their mouths are what's really the scariest. They don't have lips- just a round hole FILLED with rows and rows of fangs. They say that if a changeling sucks out your soul, you're doomed to spend eternity trying to find the creature that killed you, and you don't even know that you're dead." Natalie slowly let her eyes drift over to the clock on the nightstand. "OH LOOK!" she squealed brightly, making Julia jump another mile. "It's my bedtime. Gotta go brush my teeth!"
Natalie scrambled up, snatching her pajamas from her duffle bag. She changed in record time- she had to brush her teeth before Julia calmed down TOO much. She raced to the sink and began brushing with a vengeance. She was pleased to see that Julia hadn't moved from the couch. "Miss Julia?" she said innocently. "Can you come see that I brushed real good? I want my daddy to be proud of how well I brushed my teeth. You can come look at me in the mirror!" she said, deliberately laying into the last three words.
Natalie was thrilled to see Julia's head snap towards her in terror at the idea of looking at a little girl's teeth in the mirror after hearing about how to identify a changeling. Shaking, Julia slowly made her way towards the bathroom sink. Once she got just close enough, Natalie pulled her lips back, baring her teeth in a terrifying fashion. Julia shrieked and jumped a bit.
"See how clean they are?" Natalie said brightly with a huge smile.
"Y-yes, I see," the poor old lady said.
"Okay! I'm going to bed now. Thank you for watching me!" Natalie said, charging the woman and throwing her arms around her in a tight hug. She snickered to herself that the woman was so petrified that she couldn't move. Without another word, Natalie hopped onto the couch and buried herself under the covers.
*SPN SPN SPN*
It was around one a.m. when Sam and Dean pulled back into the parking lot of the motel. Everything had gone perfectly according to plan- for once. Simple salt and burn, quick EMF test, and so far, they were in the clear. The only thing now was to see how much of the motel was left standing after leaving the kid with a babysitter she couldn't stand.
Dean inserted his room key into the lock and took a deep breath. Sam gave him a sympathetic smile. Dean twisted the doorknob and pushed. However, the door only opened about a half inch before coming to a dead halt. He heard a sharp little squeak from behind the door, along with a flutter of activity. "Julia? Natalie?" he called out, a little louder than was kosher for one a.m. in a motel. "What's going on?"
"Dean? Dean is that you?" came a frightened voice.
"Yeah, Julia, it's me. Are you okay?" Dean answered back, fear gripping him. Sam stepped closer, trying to see into the room.
"Oh goodness, yes, yes, we're both fine. Just…oh golly, hang on…" The door shut again, and Dean reared back in surprise. The boys heard the unmistakable rattle of a door chain, but there was a larger, more ominous sounding clink following it. Finally, after some grunting and what sounded like furniture scraping across the floor, the door opened. Sam and Dean exchanged one confused look before bolting across the threshold.
"Julia, what happened? Are you okay?" Sam asked as Dean made a beeline towards Natalie, who was dead asleep on her couch. Sam looked around the room. He didn't miss the fact that there was a large chain in a pile next to the door. Julia must have wrapped it around the doorknob.
"Oh goodness, yes, we're both fine. Forgive me- I…I just got a little carried away, that's all," Julia said, her face going bright red.
"Carried away? What does that mean?" Sam asked, confused.
"Did someone…try to get in?" Dean asked, both tense and careful. Julia waved her hands dismissively.
"Oh goodness, no. Nothing of the sort. I just…well I'm a silly old lady, and I suppose I just got spooked."
"Spooked? What spooked you?" Sam asked cautiously. Dean, however, caught on quicker.
"What did Natalie do?" Dean asked sternly, cutting right to the chase. "Did she do something to scare you? Was she bad for you?"
To both of the boys' enormous surprise, Julia shook her head. "Oh no, no, not at all!" she said, looking around them to the sleeping child. "She was a perfect little angel."
"Wait- what?" Dean asked, completely thrown.
"She was polite and well-mannered, and went right to bed on time after…" Julia gulped hard. Sam noticed her face turned liquid paper white. "…After brushing her teeth in the mirror," the older lady said faintly. She seemed like she was about to pass out just saying those words. Sam looked at his older brother in confusion. Dean shrugged back, not having a clue either.
"So she…she just brushed her teeth and…went to bed?" Sam asked, his brow knit together.
"Without a fight?" Dean asked bluntly.
"Oh, goodness, no, no fight at all. She was so sweet. She colored in her book and she read aloud to me. She's been sleeping like an angel ever since her bedtime."
"So…well, forgive me," Sam asked delicately. "But you seem…upset," he finished lamely. He didn't know the proper way to ask an older lady why she was crapping her Depends.
"Oh, that little girl just has…has a very active imagination, that's all," Julia said, swallowing hard. She turned and bravely smiled at Sam. "But that's good, right? It opens the door to the future, right?"
"I…guess?" Sam said. Julia clapped her hands softly together once.
"Well! Now that you boys are back I'll just be on my way," she said in a rush as she gathered her handbag. "Oh and... uh…I don't think…Oh, I just remembered that I have a…a book club meeting tomorrow night," she said, stumbling over her words. "I'm terribly sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to watch Natalie tomorrow."
"Oh," Dean said, caught by surprise. He remembered damn well that Julia had said she would be free tomorrow night if needed, but the poor woman was so uptight now that it didn't seem right to call her out on it. He quickly paid her and watched from the door as she nearly catapulted herself to her car. He called a weak thank you to her. She barely gave him a wave as she scratched out of the parking lot.
Shutting the door, Dean turned to Sam. "What the hell?" he asked his little brother.
"I don't know."
"No, seriously. What the hell?"
"I don't know! She said Natalie was completely well behaved. I don't know why she just bailed on tomorrow like that. Luckily I don't think we're gonna need her, but that was weird."
"What was that bit about Natalie having a 'very active imagination'?" Dean asked, looking around the room. "Usually when she fires up her active imagination, something gets destroyed." Nothing in the room even looked remotely out of place. He couldn't figure it out. "Ah, what the hell," Dean finally said, shrugging. "The case is closed, the kid behaved, and the motel is still standing. I'm taking the win on this one."
Dean walked back to Natalie, who was sleeping the peaceful sleep of the Rebelliously Smug. He tucked her blanket in under her chin. "You tricky little minx," he whispered, a grin spreading across his face. He placed a gentle kiss on her temple before turning back to his brother. "Hey Sam. Want some gum?"
