A Father's Greatest Nightmare

Dean and Sam both felt like shit. Cas, Balthazar, and Gabriel were all sat on the couch, crying themselves hoarse and there was nothing either Winchester could do to stop it. A few hours ago they had gotten a call from a local hunter. Several children were being killed in the area, each falling prey to a monster that hides under beds or in closets only to later drag the child under the bed or inside the closet to feed on them. Yep, the Boogeyman wasn't just some stupid story. It was 100% real and fucking scary. That was why they're angels were crying. They wanted to come with. They didn't want to get left behind, but the Winchesters could risk getting the angels hurt. Bobby had offered to go instead, but Sam and Dean both declined. Two was stronger than just one and those kids needed all the help they could get.

The brothers both let out strained sighs and wrapped their arms around their angels, giving them a massive bear hug.

"It'll be fine," Dean whispered.

"We'll call and keep you posted, alright?" Sam tried to bargain. The angels only kept crying, clutching to their hunters tighter. Charlie entered the room then and pulled the angels from the hunters, holding them close to her chest.

"You guys go ahead. We've got them," Charlie reassured the hunters. Sam and Dean hesitated. They hated leaving the angels when they were upset, but if they didn't go now those kids would be eaten alive.

The boys rolled up next to a house that a short auburn haired woman stood in front of with a gun held tightly in her hand. They got out of the car, each carrying their own weapons. The woman grinned with relief on seeing them and rushed to their side.

"Sam, Dean?" The hunters nodded. "I'm Chelsea. You boys ready for this?"

"As ready as we'll ever be. What makes you think it's here?" Sam asked, nodding at the orphanage. Chelsea brushed a stand of hair back and glanced between the boys and the dark orphanage.

"This place is a kid goldmine and I talked to some of the staff and they said that the kids have been complaining about things under their beds lately," she stated. The brothers nodded and Chelsea led them inside. The orphanage was small and had several halls leading to hundreds of bedrooms filled with several children each. As they went on checking each room Chelsea told the boys a bit about herself. She'd been hunting the boogeyman since she was a little girl. It attacked her and her cousin when they were nine. He had tried to protect her, but in the end the boogeyman took him.

"How'd you escape?" Dean asked, pushing a door open and peering inside. Nothing. He closed the door again. Chelsea lifted something from her pocket. A flashlight.

"Creatures of the night don't like the light too much," she said with a grin. Dean and Sam both smirked and they all moved on to the next set of doors. Chelsea opened and the hunters looked in, mouths falling open in terror at the sight. Blood pooled from under each bed in the room. The dismembered body parts of children sticking out from beneath the fallen sheets. Bile rose in their throats at the sight and they quickly moved to the next room, finding the exact same thing.

"HELP!" a child screamed from far down the hall. The Winchester's and Chelsea broke into a run and came to the second to last door on the end of the hall. They tried the door, but it was locked tight. The brothers took a few steps back and charged.

Dean and Sam burst through the door, wood flying in all directions. The boogeyman snarled at them, but didn't stop at slashing at a little boy's throat. The child let out a gurgling screech and the brothers charged again, but this time at the monster. As they attacked the creature Chelsea ran to the child on the bed, trying her best to stop the bleeding. He was four, maybe less. Tears were running down his face and his entire body was shaking.

"You're alright. You're alright," Chelsea tried to tell him, but it was all a lie. In a matter of seconds the boy's body went still as the last of his blood drained from his cold body. Chelsea's eyes went ablaze with anger and she charged at the monster Sam and Dean were trying to hold back. She pulled out her flashlight, shining it at the hideous creature that took the appearance of ink floating through water. The creature howled and vanished into the shadows only to reappear behind the young hunter. Sam and Dean called out in warning, but the creature was fast. It sank its yellowing teeth into her shoulder and ripped out a chunk of meat. Chelsea screamed, but she didn't give up, she twisted her body around and lifted her gun to shoot the creature.

"What's all the noise-AH!" Everyone froze as three children peaked into the room. The creature turned its attention away from the hunters and looked at the shocked children.

"RUN!" Dean screamed at them. The children did just that and the monster chased after them. Chelsea collapsed to the ground, losing blood fast and unable to stay on her feet. Dean and Sam ran past her and followed the monster as it chased after the kids. The kids ran into a bedroom already filled with the boogeyman's victims, hoping to find somewhere inside to hide. However, the boogeyman is the master at hiding and can find anything. It burst into the bedroom with the Winchesters right behind. The children screamed, hugging at each other and sobbing uncontrollably with fright. The hunters flashed back to the crying angels at home and suddenly their own hearts were filled with fear. The boogeyman cast his gaze between the hunters and a toothy grin broke across its face.

"You two have the eyes of parents," the creature whispered in a rough, but distant voice. Dean felt a shiver run down his spine. "Wonder what your children taste like." It turned back around and gazed at the three children huddled together. It waved a hand at the kids and both brothers gasped as the children's bodies shifted and took the appearance of their angels. "Just like them I bet."

"HELP!" the child that looked like Gabriel sobbed and the boogeyman raised a clawed hand to slice them. The hunters felt their feet move from under them and they ran at the creature, fighting it and trying to draw attention from the children. The children screamed and cried the entire time, making the hunters' hearts squeeze tighter by the second. The boogeyman let out an annoyed growl and pushed the two hunters into the wall with some invisible force. Sam and Dean gasped, feeling their airways suddenly start to close. They struggled, kicking hard and flailing their arms, but they couldn't beat off the invisible force. The boogeyman grinned then and flicked its wrist. Darkness flooded the hunters' eyes and their bodies crashed onto the blood covered floor unconscious.

The brothers woke to the sound of crying. Dean and Sam both struggled onto their knees eyes widening as they realized what had happened. They looked around, eyes falling on Chelsea. She was sprawled out on her back with blood pooling from her body and dead eyes staring out into nothingness. Next to her was the flashlight and a pile of black goo. Next to that were three bodies. One moving and two not. Dean and Sam hurried over, reaching out to the two limp children on the cold floor. A scream burst from Dean's lips as they turned the children over. Their insides were torn open and their arms and legs were almost practically chewed off. That wasn't what had ripped a scream out of the older Winchester though. The boogieman's spell was still affecting them. The two children had bright blue eyes. The same blue eyes of Castiel and Balthazar. Dean unconsciously lifted the two into his shaking arms, tears falling down his face. Sam reached out to his brother, shaking the hunter.

"Dean, it's not them," Sam tried to tell his brother. "It's not them." Dean didn't move. He only continued to rock the two in his arms and stare at them in complete and utter horror. Giving up, Sam turned to the child sitting on her knees next to the bodies. Sam blinked. She looked just like Gabriel. A Gabriel with blood pooling from a long cut along his chest and thick claw marks tearing open one half of his face. Sam shook himself and the image of Gabriel shifted back into the form of a little girl again. He quickly wrapped his arms around the girl, whispering to her reassuringly when she started to struggle.

"It….it started eating them," the child rambled, blood bubbling from her lips. "T….then it went after me, but then the….the lady saved me, but…." Tears burst from the child's eyes. "…but she died too!" Sam clutched the girl a little tighter.

"Hey, hey it's going to be fine, Sweetie. We're going to get you some help," Sam tried to tell her. The little girl reached down and pulled up her shirt, revealing the tear that showed off her ribs. Sam felt like he was going to hurl.

P…please d…don't leave m…me," she whimpered softly. "I….d…don't…want t…to be…alone." Dean looked up suddenly, mouth dropped half open. Sam ignored his brother and pulled the little girl closer to him, holding her tight as her body shook. When she too went still Sam put her down on the ground. He looked to Dean then. The hunter was still staring at the children, completely convinced that they were the angels. Sam pulled out his phone, plunking in a number and pressing it to his ear.

"Hello?" Balthazar called from the other end. Sam closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before answering.

"Hey, Balt. It's Sam," the hunter said. "Dean just needed to talk to you guys." There was a pause on the other end and Sam heard Balthazar shout for Cas and Gabriel.

"Why's he want to talk? Is he hurt?" Balthazar asked, suddenly sounding worried.

"He's fine. He just…needs to hear you three," Sam said. There was another pause before Cas' voice popped up on the other end.

"Dwean?" the little angel called into the phone. Sam smiled a little and turned to his brother, holding the phone to Dean's ear. "Dwean, are you there?" Cas asked on the other end. Dean's eyes widened.

"C…Cas?" Dean whispered. Two other voiced joined Cas' on the phone and Dean glanced down at the children in his arms and the one Sam had put on the floor. The images of the angels vanished and three little girls stared up at him instead. Dean pushed the two girls from his lap onto the floor and got to his feet. Sam grabbed his brother when his legs threatened to give out and held the hunter until he was able to gain more control over his legs. "Dwean?"

"I'm here," Dean called into the phone, voice shaky. "W…we're almost done here. We'll be home soon."

"Promise?" all three voices asked.

"Promise," Dean whispered before Sam hung up. "Thanks, Sammy." Sam nodded and squeezed his brother's shoulder gently while glancing at Chelsea's and the children's bodies.

"Let's take care of this and get home," Sam said. Dean nodded and the two left the room, heading to the Impala to grab what they needed.

On hearing the front door open, the angels ran to meet their hunters. They had been upset when the hunters refused to take them, but Charlie had fixed that up by playing with them until she finally fell asleep along with Kevin and Bobby. The angels didn't go to bed though. They wanted to stay up and wait for their hunters.

When they spotted the two they stopped in their tracks, eyes widening. Both of the hunters were soaked in blood and their eyes were distant. When they met the angel's gazes they just stood and stared at the three like they were ghosts. It was almost like they were seeing something else. The angels shifted on their feet uncomfortably as the clock ticked loudly in the background.

"Dwean? Sam?" Castiel whispered at last, ending the never ending silence. Both Dean and Sam looked at the angel and suddenly Dean was on his knees, clutching all three of them close. The angels wrapped their arms and wings around him and soon hot tears began to soak into the fabric of their pajamas. After a brief second Sammy too dropped to his knees and enveloped his brother and the angels into a tight embrace. The angels adjusted themselves so they could hug the taller hunter too, glancing between each other with worried expressions. They wanted to ask what had happened. They wanted to find out what upset their hunters so bad, but now wasn't the time for that. Gabriel and Balthazar both snapped their fingers and the blood disappeared from the hunters' skin along with the bloodied clothes. Sam and Dean smiled gratefully as they noticed the soft pajamas now cloaking their shaking bodies. The angels pulled away a bit, tugging on the pants legs of their hunters and dragging them to the living room. Once there, Gabriel pushed the brothers onto the couch side by side while Cas put in a movie. Balthazar in the meantime magiced up some warm mugs of hot chocolate for the hunters before cuddling between the hunters on the couch. Gabriel took Sam's lap then and Cas scampered into Dean's once the movie was ready. While Dean and Sam watched the movie and sipped at the hot chocolate the angels gently brushed their wings against the hunters and feeling the two relax against the soft feathers. The hunters fell asleep not long after, chocolate drained from their mugs and movie only half over. The angels stayed up though, watching over them and chasing away their hunters' greatest nightmares.

Thanks SweetAngelXxX for the request.