Two Hunters and a Baby.

Disclaimer: Sigh no matter how hard I try I just don't own anything to do with Supernatural or the characters of the show. Although anything that comes from my fevered imagination is ... kind of ... that's my excuse anyway!

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CHAPTER 2

'Dean, Dean the baby.' Sam mumbled tossing his pillow at Dean sleeping soundly on the other bed, 'Dude get up.'

Dean mumbled incoherently and pulled his pillow over his head, as Isabelle's wails grew louder Sam pulled himself out of bed and stumbled over to the cot. Picking his niece up he grinned when she quietened down as soon as she saw him, 'you little monkey.' He whispered as she started to gurgle and laugh.

Quietly he changed her nappy and heated a bottle, sitting in the chair by the window Sam watched the dawn break as Isabelle suckled happily, 'well not as if I was sleeping anyway.' He grinned as he relaxed his lanky frame a little more, 'wish we knew more about you.'

Isabelle stared up at Sam with a solemn look in her eye and then gripped his finger tightly almost as though she knew exactly what he had said.

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Dean yawned and stretched, he went to wake Sam up when he realised that his bed was empty, 'what the?' and then he turned to look at the cot finding it empty too.

'Sammy?' He yelled panic rising as he raced to the bathroom and threw the door open. 'So anyway that's what your Dad was like when he was a kid.' Sam said to Isabelle as he let them in the front door.

'Sam what the hell?' Dean fumed as he saw his younger brother balancing Isabelle, two coffees and a bag of freshly baked doughnuts.

'Hey Dean, we just went for a walk to get breakfast, Isabelle was wide awake and we didn't want to disturb you.' Sam grinned but his grin turned to a frown when he saw the look on Dean's face, 'what's wrong Dude?'

'I ah ... didn't know where the two of you were.' Dean stammered feeling himself turn red with embarrassment.

Handing the baby over to Dean Sam hid his smile as he set their drinks and doughnuts out on the table, 'sorry it's not much but the bakery was the only thing open at dawn.'

'Dude what time did you get up?' Dean asked laughing as Isabelle tried to chew his nose.

'Issy woke up about five or so, after I changed and gave her a bottle she was still awake so we decided to go for a walk and let you sleep.' Sam explained as he opened a jar of baby food, 'I was ahh awake anyway.'

'Sam?'

'Nothing, really just the usual.' He said passing the jar to Dean as he sat down, 'Dude this is so weird.'

'What is?'

'I mean look at us, two days ago we were fighting a creature from hell and this morning we are giving a baby her food and acting like this is normal.'

'Yeah I know it is freaking weird, when I woke and saw the two of you gone ... Dude good coffee.' Dean grinned as he managed to give Isabelle a spoonful of her baby cereal and sip his coffee at the same time. 'So today we gotta find this kid some decent clothes.'

'And try to work out who her mother is.' Sam prompted as he finished his coffee, 'want me to take her?'

'Nah it's fine Sammy, you go have your shower.' Dean said sounding distracted, 'Issy and I need to ahhh talk.'

Sam frowned and opened his mouth to say something else when he stopped himself and shaking his head went into the bathroom.

'Okay Issy let's have a serious talk.' Dean said and then blew raspberries on her belly, 'glad we understand each other.' He finished as he watched her yawn and snuggle closer to him, 'man you are a trusting little lady aren't ya.'

'She knows she's safe with you Dean.' Sam said softly as he came out of the bathroom, his skin still shining with dampness, his long brown hair slicked back while it was still wet. He quickly went through his duffle bag until he found some clean clothes, 'so you got any recollection of a Merci?'

'Nope none Dude and that's the weird part, the name Merci would stick I mean it's not exactly an everyday kinda name.'

'True, so what Issy is five months old, assuming that it was a full term birth it would have happened what fourteen or so months ago.'

'Right before I came and got you at Stanford.'

'Thereabouts anyway.' Sam shook his head in amazement, 'do you realise that it's already been over a year ... man it's coming up to Jess' ...'

'Yeah I know, hey it's not far from here do you want ... I mean we can drop by and...'

'Nah we find Issy's mum first and find out about her.' Sam said as he wiped his hand over his face as though he was wiping a spider's web away. Shaking his head he finished dressing before he turned to look at Dean again. 'Want to go have a shower while she's asleep?'

'Huh? Oh yeah thanks Dude.' Dean said as he put the baby down in the porta-cot.

'Dean we're going to find what's going on.' Sam said unsure of his brother's sudden thoughtfulness.

'Sam ... ah nothing.' He said as he strode towards the bathroom, 'keep an eye on her okay.' He added as he shut the door behind him.

Sam finished straightening up while Dean showered, he thought about Jess and what it would have been like if they had had a baby. Turning around he stared in amazement at the transparent form of a young woman bending over Isabelle's cot, she seemed to be filled with silver sparkles and radiated nothing but warmth from her body.

'Who are you? Get away from Issy.' Sam demanded as he shook himself out of his sudden stupor.

'You can see me?' She asked turning to face Sam, she was beautiful, with waist length hair and a musical voice. 'How can you see me?'

'Who are you?' Sam insisted again.

'My name is not important.'

'Yes it is.' Sam insisted as he picked Isabelle up and cradled her protectively against his chest, 'now who are you? Where did you come from? And how the hell did you get in here just now?'

'My name is Azuraus.' She said simply, 'I am...'

'Dude who you talking to?' Dean demanded as he came out of the bathroom surrounded by a cloud of steam.

Sam span around scanning the room but the strange ethereal woman had gone, as quickly and as silently as she had arrived. 'What the?'

'Sam talk to me what's going on?'

'There was this ... something freaky is going on here Dean.'

'Sam you are starting to spook me out, is Issy alright?'

'Yeah she's fine, Dude there was this ... this woman but not a woman she was standing at the cot, but.'

'You're not making any sense Sammy.'

'I was just straightening up and turned around and there she was.'

'Who?'

'That's what I am trying to tell you, this woman was standing over the cot but she was transparent filled with tiny sparkles, she was beautiful man and I don't think she was a nasty. All you could feel from her was warmth, anyway she was surprised when I could see her and I got her name ... Azuraus but when you came out she disappeared.'

'How did she get in here?'

'Dunno the door's locked.' Sam sat down and looked at Isabelle still sleeping soundly in his arms. 'I think she was ... some sort of guardian for Issy.'

'Guardian? Like in Guardian Angel?' Dean quipped but with a frown not his usual smirk.

'Maybe I dunno Dean but she didn't mean Issy any harm, I could feel that.'

'Okay Haley Jo I believe ya.' Dean grinned, 'so anything else that ol' Sammy shining got from her?'

'Nope not really.' Sam answered choosing to ignore the deliberate barb, 'so what do you want to do now?'

'Well we head into town and do a check on birth certificates at the library.'

'That could be a huge search Dean, we have no idea where she was born or the exact day.'

'Well for one I know where I was fourteen months ago so odds on that's where ... she was ahh born, we know how old and that her mother's name is Merci it's a start anyway.'

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As they pulled the impala up in front of the small library the boys became aware of everyone watching them as they got the baby out and her nappy bag, 'Dude do you think Rosa has been busy?' Sam laughed as he watched two women staring at them, before they smiled, waved and walked away.

'Ya think?' Dean grinned as he lifted the baby up on his shoulder a little more, 'Hey umm Issy is stirring I might take her for a walk while you do whatcha do best.'

'Dean!' Sam growled but all he saw was the back of his brother and Issy's wide eyes watching him over her Daddy's shoulder.

An hour later Sam hurried from the library, checked the car before heading down towards the shops when he saw Dean coming towards him pushing a stroller with Issy sitting up in it.

He laughed when they got closer as he saw the goofy grin on his brother's face and then he saw the new clothes on the baby. 'Dean what the?'

'Like her new look?' Dean grinned as he squatted down next to the stroller, Issy had on a pair of baby jeans, a tiny black Metallica T-shirt and a red bandana around her head. 'I had the T-shirt printed up while we waited, now she looks more like my kid.'

'Dean ... she is ... cute!' Sam laughed as he saw the same smile on both father and daughter, 'she really is your kid now.'

'Better believe it, now ahh got anything?'

'Yeah, I found her birth certificate.' Sam said sobering a little, 'hey why don't we go get lunch and a coffee while we go over it?' He started across the road towards a small café without waiting for Dean to follow. 'Hey Dean the stroller?'

'Easier than carrying her all the time and somewhere to hide some ahh extra protection.' Dean said as they found a booth at the back of the shop.

'Hi there, oh she is a cutie.' Their waitress cooed at Isabelle when she handed the boys a menu each, 'would you like a highchair for her?'

'Ah yeah thanks.' Dean said, 'we wouldn't be able to get her bottle warmed up either could we?' He added producing a full bottle from the baby's new backpack.

'Dean the backpack?'

'Dude nappy bags are just so uncool.' Dean grinned showing Sam the small black backpack with a skull and cross bones on it.

'You are incorrigible do you know that.' Sam chided trying not to laugh.

'Here we go boys.' The waitress pushed a highchair up to their booth and handed Dean the bottle, 'your little girl is beautiful ... where's her Mama?'

'Ah no Mama just me and Issy.' Dean said giving the pretty young woman his most devastating look, 'oh and my brother here.'

'Oh what a great uncle you are.' She said smiling brightly at Sam, 'so what would you guys like?'

After they ordered their lunches and coffees and some mashed up vegetables for Issy, Dean gave her a bottle while Sam showed him what he had found.

'Isabelle Marie Winchester was born on the 20th April 2006 at the Lawrence Hospital, Kansas, weighing in at seven pounds two ounces, mother's name is ... now this is where it gets interesting ... mother's name is Merci that's it no surname nothing and her father's name is Dean Winchester.'

'So she put me on the birth certificate?' Dean mused looking down at the bright-eyed little girl who watched him with a solemn stare, 'she really is my daughter?'

'Looks like it.'

'But why can't I remember the mother? Why can't I just say yep that's the one?' Dean looked over at Sam, 'Dude there was only one girl at the time and her name was definitely not Merci.' Dean stopped speaking when he saw Sam wince and pinch the bridge of his nose. 'Ah Sammy not now, not here.'

Sam blinked and tried to focus on Dean but the pain seared through his mind, blinding him as the vision started coming to him in fragments.

'Hey is he alright?' The waitress asked as she cleared their plates, her eyes filled with concern as she stared at Sam, now pale and covered in a sheen of perspiration, his eyes squeezed shut and his breath coming in short shallow pants, he looked so ill so quick. 'Do you need an ambulance? Hey it wasn't our food.'

'No, no it's alright Sam here ... ahh he gets bad migraines once it passes he'll be okay.'

'You sure?'

'Yeah his ahh meds will kick in anytime now.'

The waitress glanced back down at Sam who seemed oblivious to the conversation about him. 'Okay but if you need any help or anything just call me, I'll bring your fresh coffees back in a moment.'

'Thanks ahh Terri.' Dean said as he quickly read her name tag.

Isabelle wailed softly as she watched her uncle from the safety of Dean's arms, 'sh it's okay Issy, Uncle Sammy will be just fine.' Dean said, wishing that he could believe his own words.

TBC