Sorry this took a while! Here is chapter 2. It's a little shorter, but there is plenty more to come.

Disclaimer: obsessedwithstabler and I do not own Supernatural, nor do we own Blackbird by the Beatles.

In the weeks that passed, Dean's absence grew heavier. All they knew was that there was an attack on his station, and many soldiers were killed. Some were identified; some weren't.

Cas's rock was Sarah. Thanks to Sam and Gabriel, he saw Sarah at least once or twice a week. Sometimes Sarah asked for her daddy, which always tore painfully at Cas's heartstrings. He always tried to redirect her by singing to her, reading a story, or playing with the beloved stuffed tiger that she only set down to eat or bathe.

Still, Sarah spent most of her time with her mom. Lauren and Dean had split up when Sarah was a year old, sharing custody since. At twenty months, Sarah was much too young to understand divorce, let alone why her daddy was gone. But she was a resilient child, so she reacted well to Cas and even when her mother went on dates.

Even so, it was strange when Joseph, Lauren's boyfriend of six months moved in. Sarah was wary of him, even though he didn't hurt her or anything. But he was a little loud, which startled her.

One evening, Sarah played on the rug with her blocks while Joseph watched television. She stacked her tower, then nudged it. "Boom!" She exclaimed as it toppled.

Joseph glared at the toddler. "Shh."

Sarah stacked her blocks again, laughing as she toppled the tower again. One of the blocks tumbled onto the coffee table, knocking over Joseph's beer.

Already fairly drunk, and now pissed, he shot to his feet with a growl. "Damn it!"

Started, Sarah dropped her blocks. "I sowwee..."

"Little brat!" He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her to her feet.

Startled, Sarah yelped in pain. "Mommy!"

A hard hand slapped her tiny cheek. "Shut up!"

Crying, Sarah sobbed, "Want Dada!"

"He's dead!" Suddenly the toddler was tangling in the air, one large hand painfully gripping her tiny arm. "Stop your crying!"

Terrified, Sarah squirmed and continued crying. "Dada!"

His anger bordered on rage as he suddenly gave her a hard shake. "Shut up!"

As Sarah cried, he shook her harder. Suddenly, they heard a snap. Sarah abruptly stopped crying and let out a pained gasp.

Sarah didn't make another sound. Satisfied, Joseph went to the kitchen and grabbed another beer. As he opened it, he went back to the couch and sat down.

Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door.

Joseph got up and made his way to the door. "What do you want?"

Sam smelled the beer and he narrowed his eyes. "We're here to take Sarah to the park."

"She's asleep."

He shrugged and shouldered past Joseph. "She can sleep in the car."

He found Sarah in her playpen, asleep and very still. Her chest rose and fell as she breathed, but otherwise she didn't move. She rested on her back, lying on her legs at an awkward angle.

He frowned and leaned down, gently stroking her cheek. "Sarah?"

Sarah's eyelids slowly fluttered open. She held an arm up, but didn't try to sit up.

Gabe gave Joseph a pointed look. "You did something to her."

"No I didn't," he snapped.

Sam carefully picked his tiny niece up and cradled her to his chest.

Sarah whimpered and hid her face. "Owie..."

Gabe scowled at Joseph. "What the fuck did you do to her?"

"Nothing, you fucking leprechaun."

"Gabe, we'll deal with that later. We need to get Sarah to the emergency room."

Scowling, Gabe shoved past Joseph and ushered his husband out to their car.

Gabe looked absolutely livid. "Sit in back with her and start taking pictures. The second she's admitted, they'll be calling the police and child welfare."

"Got it. And we need to call Cas."

"Calling him now." He dialed his brother's number after starting the car.

Cas answered almost immediately. "Gabe?"

"Cas, I need you to meet us at St. Matthews."

"Why? What's going on?"

"It's Sarah."

There was a moment of silence. "I'm on my way." The call disconnected.

Sam smoothed Sarah's back. "Shh..."

She continued to whimper and shake as Gabe backed out of the driveway and raced toward the hospital.

Sarah drifted in and out of consciousness, which terrified Sam. She cried about her arm, but Sam was more concerned about internal injuries. When they arrived at the hospital, Sam carefully carried his niece inside, with Gabe hot on his heels.

A nurse rushed to meet them, and moments later an entire medical team surrounded them and took Sarah.

Sarah whimpered as she was taken. "Want Dada..."

Sam's heart broke. "It's gonna be okay, baby," he called after her.

Cas looked terrified. "What happened?"

Gabe shook his head and urged his little brother to sit down. "We don't know. All I know is Lauren's son of a bitch boyfriend has something to do with it."

"I need to be with her!"

"The doctors are gonna take good care of her, Cassie."

He held his head in his hands. "I need her..."

Gabe rubbed his back. "We'll wait with you."

Cas nodded numbly.

Left with nothing else to do, they waited in sad silence.

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