Bobby had received several phone calls from people in town letting him know that Hendrickson was still snooping around and general making a nuisance of himself. Normally he wouldn't have thought too much about it, but today it was making him more than a little nervous. He and Ellen had gone to the little house that they had already stocked with items that they thought the boys would need for the next couple of weeks. It was bad enough that the federal agent was on their tail, but Bobby hadn't forgotten the deal that was coming due all too soon.
Looking over at Ellen, he knew her apprehension. The boys should have been there by now, and the only text they got from Sam was they ran into a detour and was running a little behind schedule. Calling Dean's phone had ended with the same results as all the other times, it was turned off and they had no idea why.
The sun had already made its appearance over the horizon and was starting to shine through the trees when both hunters heard the sound of a vehicle pulling up towards the house. Not one to take things for granted, Bobby and Ellen both grabbed shotguns and anxiously waited. It wasn't too long when a four wheeled drive truck pulled up into the shadows and stopped. They couldn't see into the truck so they had no idea if it was someone who just stumbled upon the place or if was the boys. Tensely they waited until they saw a very tall man with short blonde wavy hair get out of the truck and shut the door. After watching him a moment as he stretched, Bobby recognized the bracelets on the wrists and looked at Ellen in shock. Seeing that she agreed with him they turned back in time to see… yes, it was Sam… walk around the truck.
Sam was opening the door to the passenger side making both Bobby and Ellen think that Dean was hurt, when they heard Sam speak softly. "Dee baby, we're here. Let's get you out of your seat and inside."
Shocked, both Bobby and Ellen stayed quiet as they watched Sam pick a little girl up out of the truck before reaching in and grabbing what looked to be a stuffed dog. Bobby was just about to ask what the hell was going on when the little girl spoke.
"Daddy, I's seepy."
Looking over at Bobby and Ellen, Sam smiled when he answered, "I know baby we'll go inside and go to sleep. I want you to meet a couple of people first. This is Bobby and Ellen, they're friends."
Dee looked at the people her Daddy introduced her to and gave a small smile before she nuzzled up into her Daddy's neck again.
Sam smiled at Dee then looked at the others, "I'll explain everything later; right now we really need some sleep."
Nodding, both Bobby and Ellen agreed and stepped to the side. When they saw Sam walk inside they turned to each other and exclaimed, "Was that…?"
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Sam was tired and he knew that Dee was exhausted. She had tried to be a brave girl and stay awake most of the night, but Sam had often found her dozing in her seat making him smile at the irony that it was usually him dozing in the passenger seat with Dean driving through the night. However, most of the night had consisted of detours and road construction leaving them behind schedule and more than a little frustrated.
Laying Dee on the bed, he made sure to cover her up before he went out and got the bags they would really need. He knew that even though he needed sleep right now, he needed to make sure that his little girl had everything she needed when she woke up. Sighing, he walked out into the living room to see two very confused hunters staring at him in disbelief.
"I see you figure it out. Let me get the bags and I'll fill you in." he said as he wearily went out and grabbed Dee's little backpack and his duffle. Taking a moment to look around, Sam could understand why Bobby picked the place. It was quiet, secluded, and most of all had a sense of peace that he and his brother hadn't felt in such a long time.
Ellen watched Sam out the window and worried. "He looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders." She told Bobby as he warmed up the coffee for everyone.
"Well wouldn't you if you had a league of demons on the loose, a rabid federal agent on your ass, and a brother who suddenly decided to get in touch with his inner child and feminine side all at once mere weeks before the deal is due?" he asked, wondering how this happened and how in hell they were going to be able to reverse it.
Walking into the house again, Sam could tell what was on their mind and he wasn't sure how to begin without sounding totally unhinged. "We were taking a night off just hanging out when he ran across a woman with an unrest ghost problem. We helped her out, and she turned out to be a witch. She said she's help Dean get out of the deal if she could and the next thing I know I have Dee crawling into bed with me after having a nightmare. Hendrickson happened to be in the same town we were following a lead on a carjacker fitting Dean's description, we manage to get away after dragging an agent with us, and we've been running ever since." He knew that there was probably more to the story, but his brain was having trouble engaging and he figured that if it was important, then he'd fill them in later.
Ellen looked at Sam and wasn't sure what she was hearing. "This witch turned Dean into a little girl? Why?" she asked, knowing that there was something she was missing, some crucial.
"Huh? Oh… uh…she's not just a little girl, Dee's my daughter. Lillian turned Dean into my daughter to keep the deal from being collected until it was nullified. I'm still a little confused about the details, but that's the basics… I think." He said, trying to remember if he had already drank his coffee, or if he had been sitting there with an empty cup in his hand the whole time.
"Wait… she's your daughter? Sam, what the hell? How… nevermind… why would she do that?" Bobby asked, knowing that he'd seen a lot of strange things in his time, but he was starting to think that this beat it all.
Sighing, Sam shook his head. "I don't know Bobby, basically to hide Dean until the deal is done, but Dee is my little girl; the daughter Jess and I would have had."
Silence took over the room as what he said finally penetrated their brains. "Oh Sam, I'm so sorry sweetie." Ellen whispered sympathetically.
"It's alright Ellen, at least now I know that somewhere my family is intact, and I can be happy with that." Sam said sadly as he made his way towards the bedroom, towards his baby girl.
"Damn, that boy just can't catch a break can he?" Bobby asked, wondering not for the first time why things couldn't be simple. "I wonder if Dean will remember any of this?" he asked more to himself than to Ellen.
"I don't know, but I do know that if Dean gives Sam a hard time about playing 'Mr. Mom' I'm going to club him. How's Sam going to feel when Dean's back but his little girl is gone?" she asked seeing that Bobby was wondering the same thing.
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The sun had already been in the sky long enough stop kissing the East side of the house and start to beat on the West. Neither Ellen nor Bobby wanted to leave the house until they both knew that Sam and Dee were really alright, and even then they weren't sure they would leave them alone. Bobby was reading over the newspaper while Ellen was fixing a late lunch when they heard the tentative sound of little feet on wood floors slowly making their way through the house.
Glancing up, Bobby saw a tousled blonde head with green eyes and freckles peek around the corner before it quickly disappeared again with the sound of giggles in its wake. Looking over at Ellen, Bobby couldn't help but smile, the girl reminded him of a little Sammy playing hide and seek with anyone and everyone who would let him. "Ellen, I'm starting to think we have mice around here. Maybe I should go find a cat, a really big and mean cat to gobble the mice up." He said gruffly watching the corner for any movement.
Ellen at first had no idea what Bobby was talking about, then she realized that Dee must be playing, "Hmmm, I don't know Bobby. I'm thinking that maybe we need to find out the size of the mice first, we might need something really big like a…. oh, I don't know… a tiger!" she said just as she jumped around the corner and tickled Dee until she squealed.
Bobby was already chuckling when he saw Ellen jump around the corner, but it turned into a huge belly laugh when they heard a loud thump from the bedroom and the sound of scrambling feet coming down the hallway.
"DEE!!!" Sam yelled, sure that something horrible had happened. When he saw Dee and Ellen smiling, and heard Bobby laughing loudly, he knew he'd been had. "Ha Ha you guys, I really thought something happened." He said while holding out his arms to Dee.
After jumping into her Daddy's arms, Dee exclaimed, "Bu' it a'mos' did Daddy! They ge' a tiger an' eat me!" she said with her eyes wide.
"They were going to get a tiger to eat you? Well, you don't have to worry about that, Daddy's here. Why don't you go get Page and bring him in here?" Sam told her while letting her down.
Dee took a moment to toss a smug look over her shoulder and stick out her tongue at Bobby before running back down the hallway, leaving Bobby laughing even harder to the point of almost falling out of his chair.
"Oh boy, Sam, you really do have your hands full with her don't you?" Bobby asked, sure that he was going to get a cussing out, but was surprised when Sam told them about what happened at an IHOP with two officers causing both Bobby and Ellen laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes. "Yeah, sounds like you're getting a little payback Sam." Bobby said when he could finally breathe again.
"Daddy, can you help? I can' ge' my s'nd'ls on." Dee said with a pout, holding the offending objects in her hands.
Sam took a moment and looked at the tiny shoes, still amazed that someone could be so small. Looking at Dee he asked, "How about you go barefoot today?" Seeing her shocked look he wondered if he had said something other than what he thought he had, but then Dee nodded her head and gave him a big hug around his neck making him feel as if everything was alright with the world.
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Lillian was in the process of looking at Real Estate listings online when she sensed her visitor behind her. "Hello Ruby, I was wondering when you'd show up."
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Ruby asked in total disbelief. "I'm surprised that Sam isn't dead on the floor by now!"
"The terms of the agreement were if Dean tried to back out, then Sam would die, correct?" Lillian asked, having already suspected a similar clause. "Well, he didn't even know about it, neither did Sam; therefore neither tried to back out so they can't be held accountable." She said calmly as she continued to look through the listings, maybe a beach house would be a nice change.
"Do you have any idea what you have caused?" Ruby demanded; she knew that Lillian knew more than she was willing to admit, but that didn't give her the right to interfere.
Lillian sighed, "Yes, I do. The current trustee of the contract is pissed because this particular loophole wasn't thought of earlier and I exploited it. Since it's a binding contract, no one can do anything until it's been determined what should be done, and that won't be until after the rest of the terms have been met; meaning everything's on hold until the year is up. Now, do you mind? My brother in law is determined to have me burned at the stake if I don't leave soon, and I don't do well in extreme heat!"
Ruby was furious, her plans were falling apart. How was she supposed to swoop in and save the day, effectively winning Sam's trust, when Dean didn't need to be saved anymore? Everything had been thought of, every moment and detail that would bring Sam closer to her and to her goals, and now because of one meddling…
"I don't meddle; I help to keep the balance that so many others are determined to put in chaos. Keep that in mind demon, before someone reminds you of it… permanently." Lillian warned before she waved her hand and watched Ruby disappear out of her sight. "Wicca, what do you think of the mountains?"