Hey everyone! Here's Part 2. Is something weird happening with the Fanfiction website? Anyone else having trouble?
Special thanks to Bella Winchester for her nudges to see this story, and to Jenmm31 for being the best co-author ever. Something I forgot to say in the last intro- y'all surprised the hell out of me with how much you liked Taron from the last case. Yup, he'll be back, I'm already working on another case for him, and yes, he will play a much larger part in the continuation of Natalie's story after she's 21. As for whether or not they'll fall in love...you'll just have to keep reading. ;) Love you assbutts and idjits and jerks and bitches.
In this story, Natalie is four. This is part 2 of a 2 part story.
Sam and Dean's hearts were going a mile a minute. They had faced countless terrors all their lives at the hands of monsters, demons, and murderous humans. However, having the littlest Winchester missing was its own brand new version of terror. And they didn't know how to fight it.
Sam made Dean retrace his steps, thoroughly searching the aisles they had visited just in case Natalie had decided to play Hide and Seek. Finding nothing, Sam nearly sprained his neck whipping his head around when he caught a glimpse of an employee.
"Sir, SIR!" Sam yelled out, as if the man wasn't more than ten feet away. But he stopped politely. Before he could ask what he could help with, Sam spoke.
"Sir, we've got a missing child, she's been missing for about fifteen minutes. Can you help us?"
The employee suddenly became very official. "Yes, sir, not a problem. We'll find the child. Follow me," he said in a calm voice. He turned and headed off, Sam and Dean right on his heels. "Can you describe what she looks like?" the employee asked over his shoulder as he made his way towards the closest work station.
Dean jerkily nodded his head, his panic ever increasing. "Yeah, uh," he began, his mind suddenly forgetting how to use words. "She's about yea high," he said, holding out his hand to indicate Natalie's height. "Black hair, green eyes, purple tee shirt and jeans, blue sneakers. Four years old, answers to the name Natalie."
The man nodded. Dean wanted to ask him what the hell that nod meant and where his kid was, but the man picked up the closest phone and punched in a series of numbers. Suddenly, his voice was amplified over the loud speakers. "Attention employees. We have a Code Blue. Code Blue at electronics." He hung up the phone, the loud click echoing through the huge building. He smiled encouragingly at the brothers. "We'll find her, don't worry."
Dean opened his mouth to snarl something degrading at the man's calm when he should obviously be freaking out, but just then, the phone rang. Dean's lungs felt like blocks of ice as he watched the man pick up the phone and press it to his ear.
"Yes. Yes. Four years old, black hair, green eyes….Okay, great. Thanks, we'll be right there." He listened for a moment. His eyebrows suddenly shot up in surprise. "Oh. Um…okay. Well, we're on our way." He hung up the phone. "They found her. She's okay. Follow me." Without waiting for an answer, he turned on his heel and began walking.
A million thoughts rushed through Dean's mind. Was she really okay? What if it wasn't Natalie? What if some other kid got lost and they mistook her for Natalie? What if someone had already kidnapped her and they were making their getaway as this guy calmly walked to another aisle?! And what the hell had they said on the other end of the phone to surprise this guy? All Dean knew was that if Natalie wasn't in absolute perfect condition when they found her, he was burning this place to the ground.
While he was stewing, he barely noticed when they rounded the corner. Up ahead of them were three other employees, a tall guy about Dean's build, and a little girl in a purple shirt sitting cross legged on the floor with a very pissed off, determined look on her face.
"Daddy! Unca Sam!"
Dean had never heard more beautiful words in his entire life. He barreled past the guy who had helped them, nearly knocking him into a wall of gardening equipment, and scooped down to pick up his heart. Natalie threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his flannel, squeezing as tight as she could.
"Oh god, you're okay," Dean managed to breathe out. "You're okay, baby girl. It's okay. I gotcha. You're okay."
Natalie finally looked up at him, her eyes as wide as he'd ever seen them. She pointed to the tall guy. "I thought he was you and he wasn't!" she said rapidly, then pointed to the other employees. "And they said that I had to move and I told them no because you said not to move if I ever get lost, remember?"
Trying to work his way through understanding the four-year-old babble, Dean squinched his eyes up, then looked at the other adults. "What happened?" he asked, confused.
"I just told you!" Natalie said impetuously. Dean nodded, still too relieved at holding her in his arms to be annoyed.
"Yeah, yeah, I got your version, kid," he said, his eyes narrowing at the others in the aisle. He took a couple menacing steps towards the tall guy whose eyebrows shot up in surprise of Dean's sudden vehemence. "You trying to pretend you were me and take my daughter?" Dean said in that deathly low voice that meant business.
The guy immediately held up his hands in surrender, his face going pale. "Whoa, whoa buddy," he said, his voice shaking at Dean's rage. "You got the wrong idea. I only wanted to help her. I never even touched her. Did I, kid?" he asked Natalie, who shook her head.
"Nope," she said, before tucking back into Dean's neck. "He didn't." She waved at the guy who was now too nervous to wave back. At the slightly mollified look on Dean's face, the man continued.
"I was in the regular battery aisle- I think you were too? A couple minutes ago? Then I walked away to get my other stuff. I got to this aisle and suddenly the kid just ran into my leg. She was playing a game on her phone and I guess she didn't look up or something- must have thought I was you and followed me. I honestly didn't even realize she was there until she ran right into me, and when she saw I wasn't you, she immediately sat down on the floor and refused to budge."
"Alright, good," Dean said, as if this was a police interrogation and the man had just proved his innocence. "So what's this crap about you telling my kid to move?" he snarled at the three employees.
A middle aged woman stepped forward. She clearly wasn't planning on taking any shit from this guy, she didn't care how freaked out he was. "We asked her to move, sir," she said in a snide tone. "Because children are not supposed to be unsupervised in a hardware store. It's incredibly dangerous." She smirked at Dean, clearly unable to read the room.
Sam quickly put his hand on Dean's shoulder as Dean stepped forward. The last thing they needed right now was for Dean to go to jail for smashing an old lady's face in. "She clearly wandered away, we didn't leave her unsupervised," Sam said hotly, more in control than Dean but still plenty pissed at the implication this lady was trying to make. "But she's here now, thank you all for helping," he said to the group at large. "We can't thank you enough." Most nodded their thanks back, but the older lady was clearly jonesing for a fight.
"If your child had cooperated when we told her to move to the front of the store, I'm sure we could have found you a lot faster," she said snippily. "It's our policy."
That did it for Dean. He took a calculated step towards the old hag. "Listen lady," he snarled, causing her to take a step back in alarm. "My kid has been told that if she gets lost, to stay put and let us find her. Maybe if you had brain one in your noggin, you'd realize that she did exactly what kids are supposed to do, not tagging along after some freaking strangers that don't give off a kid-friendly vibe just because they TOLD her to follow them. So you can take your corporate policy horseshit and shove it up your ass," he snarled. Taking a moment to relish the absolute shock on the old bat's face, Dean spun around and began marching back towards the entrance.
And just for good measure, Natalie stuck her tongue out at the mean lady as they walked away too.
*SPN SPN SPN*
On the way home, Natalie was far from the bouncy and vibrant child she'd been on the way there. She fidgeted and whined in her car seat, clearly anxious about being physically separated from Dean after the incident. Dean actually pulled over after a while and, much to Sam's protestations, plunked her on the seat next to him, keeping one arm firmly wrapped around her. Their dad had done it with them when they were Nat's age, so Dean had no idea what Sam was freaking out about.
Natalie didn't make it easier on them once they got home either, insisting on being in Dean's arms or on Sam's lap until dinner time. When Dean made her sit in her own chair in an attempt to help her get back to normal, she pouted and fussed until Bobby called her out on it, which in turn meant they had to tell Bobby the reason for Natalie's attitude.
Upon retelling the story, the tightness in Dean's chest returned. He suddenly pushed his chair away from the table. "Need some air," he said stoically. "Be right back." He could feel Natalie's eyes on him as he turned, but if he looked at her right now he was gonna lose it. He just needed a minute. He stormed his way out to the front porch, shutting the front door behind him and taking deep, gulping breaths of fresh air, which did nothing to relieve the pain in his heart.
Sam quickly looked at Natalie as the door shut. Her eyes were wide with fear as Dean disappeared from her sight. Sam quickly scooped her into his lap, hoping to calm her. She relaxed a bit at the physical contact, but her eyes kept straying to the door. Sam knew she was .5 seconds away from bolting out to the porch- he had to distract her.
"Hey Bug," he said, as gently as he could. "You think you can help me out with something?"
It worked like a charm. Natalie's large green eyes swung to him, always eager to help. She nodded. "Good girl," Sam praised. "I need you to stay here and finish your pizza and keep Bobby company while I go talk to your dad. Okay?"
Natalie bit her lip nervously. "Is Daddy mad at me because I was bad and got lost?" she asked in a tremulous little voice. Sam's heart twisted as he cuddled her in to his chest.
"No, sweetheart, he's not mad at you," he reassured her. "You weren't bad. We all just got mixed up. You were very good to wait like we told you to and not to talk to strangers." Sam knew that if they lived normal lives, they'd be having a discussion on talking to strangers in authority when there was a dangerous situation, but since they didn't live normal lives, the point was moot. "So. If I let you sit in your dad's chair, think you can keep Bobby entertained until we're back?"
The first genuine smile appeared on the child's face since their return. "I can do that!" she said, sliding off Sam's lap and scrambling into Dean's chair, looking very serious about her new assignment. Sam smiled back and clapped a hand on Bobby's shoulder in thanks as he stood up to go talk to his brother, snatching two beers from the fridge on his way out.
Dean didn't even turn around when he heard the door open and close. He did, however, yank the beer out of Sam's hand and gulp down half of it within three seconds. Finally, he snorted and shook his head.
"How could I have been so stupid, Sam?"
Sam sighed patiently. "You're not stupid, Dean," he said softly.
Dean wasn't having Sam's patronizing tone. "What the hell do you mean, not stupid?" he exploded. "I lost my freaking kid, Sam! I let my guard down for two seconds and I lost her. THAT'S what I freakin' mean when I say I'm stupid!" He shut his mouth quickly, shaking his head. Suddenly, more words burst from him like he couldn't help it. "And when I realized she was gone? That felt worse than being in hell. I'd rather be cut up seven ways to Sunday- have Alistair go town on me all over again- than go through that again. And the first thought that went through my damn head? Someone had taken her right from my side. Someone had snatched her up while I wasn't looking, because there was no way I could have left her. But nope- that's exactly what I did. I left her."
"Dean- you didn't leave her," Sam broke in. "You thought she was right behind you. She's always been right behind you- she followed you half way through the store without even thinking about it. You didn't leave her."
"I DID leave her, don't you get it?" Dean snarled back, his eyes full of pain. "I went somewhere else and didn't make sure my four year old CHILD was with me. You know who does that, Sam?! Shitty parents, that's who." Sam made to interrupt again, but Dean barreled on through. "And what if a cop finds her next time before I do? Before some bitchy saleslady in a blue vest does? CPS gets called, and it's over. It's done. I lose her for real."
"Dean, if every parent got arrested for every time a kid got lost in a store, then everyone would be in jail," Sam said calmly. "It was an accident. An ACCIDENT. It doesn't make you a shitty father. You know what WOULD make you a shitty father? Not looking for her. Not giving a damn that she's lost. Once you realized she wasn't there, you did everything in your power to find her. You didn't stop till she was back with you. You will always move heaven and earth to find her. That makes you a GOOD father. Why can't you see that?"
"Of course I was going to look for her! But I never would have had to look for her if I didn't lose her in the first place! I let my guard down for one second and this happened. In a freaking hardware store, of all places. If I can't protect her in a store, how can I in the real world-in OUR world?" Unable to face his brother, Dean turned around, glaring into the dusky evening. "It's...I'm scared, Sam. Today was a real wake-up call. And I don't fucking like it," he said, almost too low for Sam to hear.
Sam gulped, then went for it. "Dean, I know you were scared. Hell, I was scared- I can't imagine what it must have felt like for you," he said, addressing Dean's back as he knew his brother was unable to turn around and look at him for now. "But think about what happened. You taught her what to do in the situation, hoping she'd never need the info. Well, she needed it- and she followed it to the letter. She kept herself as safe as she could, just like she'd been taught, and waited- because she KNEW you were coming to rescue her." Sam took a step in. "Natalie knew you hadn't left her. She knew what to do because you told her what to do and she listened. AND she knew that you would not stop until you found her." Sam saw Dean's grip tighten on the bottle- an indication that he was listening, but he was still silent. Sam let him process, and eventually, Dean broke the silence again.
"What if I don't teach her enough, Sam? I don't teach her how to take care of herself properly and then one day that's just it. It's over. All because I wasn't there to protect her from something. I just...that can't happen."
"It won't, Dean. Listen. You and I have made it this far in life. We've been through things that people only have nightmares about- hell, we've LITERALLY been to hell and back. And we made it. And you think you're not going to teach your kid enough? You've already taught her more than Dad taught either of us at that age. And let's face it. Natalie's a hell of a lot smarter than either one of us already. And who says we're not going to be there for her? We were there today. Look man, parenting isn't easy. There's no instruction manual. She got separated from us today. Okay- so we don't let her walk around the store without holding one of our hands. We now know that. We're going to be learning a lot on this job, and that's just the way of it."
Dean's head dropped with a sigh. "Sammy," he said, his throat thick. "I…I can't lose her, man. I can't. I won't survive if I lose her."
Sam stepped forward and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "You won't lose her. None of us are going to let that happen."
Dean swallowed hard. He sure as hell wasn't going to turn around and let Sam see the tears in his eyes. "I never thought I'd lose you either, Sam. But I did. Four years ago," he said, low.
Sam exhaled heavily. That hit him like a punch to the gut. "I lost you too, Dean. Six years ago. But we've both been lost, and come back. We always come back. Now Natalie has too." Sam smiled softly to himself. "It's a Winchester Rite of Passage."
That served to break the tension, and Dean chuckled a bit, looking down and subtly wiping his eyes while Sam pretended not to notice. Dean finally turned around and faced his brother. "Yeah, I guess it is a Winchester thing," he said, the ghost of his cocky grin on his face. "God, you think we could do it a little less dramatically after all this time."
"Well, drama runs in the family too," Sam said with a grin. Dean laughed a little, before nodding his head and looking Sam in the eye.
"Thanks, Sammy."
"No problem. Hey, c'mon. Pizza's getting cold."
The brothers walked back into the house and were immediately greeting with the very loud, enthusiastic voice of a wound-up four year old. "...and I thought he was Daddy, but he wasn't! It wasn't him! So I sat down and he tried to talk to me but I didn't talk to him 'cause I'm not a'sposed to and then this really mean lady came and she had a blue vest and she wasn't a demon because I checked and then Daddy rescued me! I knew he was gonna rescue me because he'll always rescue me. And he rescued me and yelled at the mean lady because she's a bitch and I stuck my tongue out at her and we got the stuff that Unca Sam found and he rescued me too but so did Daddy..."
Natalie stopped short when she saw her beloved father and uncle. "Hi Daddy! Hi Unca Sam!" she squealed, delighted that he returned. She tumbled out of Dean's chair and beelined it over to him. Dean scooped her back up in his arms. He was struck dumb by her proclamation that she knew he was always going to rescue her, so all he could do was hold her instead. "I was telling Pops all about how you and Unca Sam rescued me!" she said proudly.
Dean snuggled her in, as tight as he could. If, at the age of four, she already knew so firmly that he would always save her, maybe, just maybe, he was doing something a little bit right.
Bobby, however, snapped his fingers twice to get their attention. "Hold on," he said to the little girl, shocked. "What did you just say about checking to see if the lady at the hardware store was a demon?"
Dean looked with surprise at her- this was a bit of information that he hadn't heard before. Natalie shrugged like it was no big deal. "I didn't say much to her because I'm not a'sposed to talk to strangers, but I just looked at her once when she was being really yelly and said 'christo' and she didn't flinch so I figured she wasn't a demon. If she was I was gonna put a nail in her foot 'cause that's how you can hurt demons. She wasn't a demon though. She was such a bitch I had to check, though," she said, as casually as if she were talking about the color of the sky.
Sam clapped a hand over his mouth, trying to hold in his laughter at the look of horror on Bobby's face. No way was he going to scold Natalie's language if it made Bobby look like that. Dean's own grin threatened to split his face in two.
"That's my girl," he said, nuzzling Natalie's temple before holding his hand up so she could joyously high five him.
