Dean was 15 and Sam was 11 when their Dad took them to Texas for the first time. Sitting in a motel room in Corpus Christi, Dean complained to his Dad, "Couldn't we have come here during the summer? Or at spring break? You know when there would be girls here in bikinis?" John just laughed at him and shook his head.

"You know we go where the job takes us, when it takes us," John said to his son. "Come on, let's go. I'm meeting someone in half an hour."

It seemed unusually warm to the Winchester boys considering it was the second week of November. Dean walked out into the bright Texas sun and 88 degree temperature, wishing for cooler weather and maybe even snow. If he couldn't have girls in bikinis around him, he didn't see the point of being at the beach.

They stood on the quiet, empty beach, waiting in anticipation. "There's no one here, Dad," Dean was starting to say when they saw an older man and young blonde girl approaching them. The girl looked to be about his age, her blonde curls framing her face.

The man strode up to John, reaching his hand out to shake hands. "Are you John Winchester?" he asked. The man was unusually large, almost giant in size, making both Dean and Sam think of what a real Texan would look like.

"That's right," John said, taking the man's hand. "Slim?"

"Yes, and this is Katy," Slim introduced the girl to John and he took her hand too, looking intently into her blue eyes.

"Nice to meet you Katy," he said. She glanced at him and then stared down at the sand. She looked back up at John as he continued, "These are my boys, Dean and Sam." Katy shot them a shy smile and released John's hand.

Walking away from them a little ways, Slim turned back to Katy, "We'll just be over here," he said to her. She nodded and turned to face the gulf, the wind blowing her blonde hair. Dean was immediately taken with her. "So," he said, walking up beside her. "You from around here?"

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, her blue eyes twinkling. "No," she answered. "I'm from up north."

"Oh?" Dean's voice brightened at the thought that she might be from Kansas, maybe somewhere close to what he always considered home.

" Dallas," she added, looking over at the two men talking. With the wind whipping past her and the crash of the waves, she couldn't make out what they were saying. She saw Slim holding up his hand, showing John the ring on his pinky finger.

"Oh," Dean said again, following her gaze. He could see that his father was clearly upset about something.

"Is that all you can say? 'Oh?'" Katy asked mimicking him.

"Oh, uh, no." Dean answered, frustrated that this girl had him tongue-tied.

"Well, you've got the one-syllable words down pretty good, that's for sure," Katy laughed at him, but didn't take her eyes off the men down the beach.

Sam had wandered closer to the water's edge and was poking at something in the sand with a stick. Dean saw him and ran over to him, "Sammy!" he called. "Get away from that, Sammy! It's a jellyfish! You don't wanna get stung by that thing!" Dean pulled his brother away from the water.

John and Slim walked back up to them and Slim put his arm around Katy. "Thank you," he was saying to John. "For everything. See you soon." He leaned down and kissed Katy on top of her head and they walked off down the beach.

"What was that about, Dad?" Dean asked him, watching Katy walk away. "Is it a job?"

"Yeah," John sighed, also watching the girl, pity for her showing on his face. He was holding what appeared to be a box of bullets in his hand. He turned towards the car before Dean or Sam could see his expression. "Come on, let's go. We've got work to do." John set his jaw, focusing on the task ahead of him, not letting his sons see his concern for this man or the young girl.

Back in the room, John was storing up gear in a duffle bag. Guns, holy water, even a silver machete. He was pulling out all the stops. He loaded 3 guns with silver bullets from the box Slim had given him back at the beach. "Come on," he said to Dean. "You and Sammy are coming with me on this one."

"What?" Dean asked, not believing his luck. He was tired of being left behind most of the time, especially at his age.

John handed each of them one of the guns loaded with silver bullets. He took Dean by the shoulder and looked him square in the eye. "You are not to fire this unless you have to? Got that?" John said, looking at Dean and then over at Sammy.

"Yes, sir," Dean said, his head down.

"Yes, sir," Sam said, reluctantly taking the gun. He was as good a shot as Dean, but didn't enjoy the hunt as much as his brother did.

"You're only coming along to protect the girl," John told them. "Don't let anything happen to her."

Dean's attitude brightened. He was going to get to see Katy again.

"Don't even think about it," John teased his son, laughing at him as he took him by the neck in a rare jovial moment.

The mood darkened with the sky as they made their way to the edge of the pier. Slim and Katy were already waiting there for them. They had been fighting and there were tears in her eyes.

"Is she…" John started to ask Slim, seeing her distraught condition.

"She'll be fine," Slim answered. "I told her. Everything."

"You did the right thing," John said to his new friend. Turning to Dean, he said, "Stay with her. Don't let her out of your sight." He turned back to Slim, "Are you sure you're ready for this?" John asked him.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Slim answered, pulling on the ring on his pinky finger.

Before either man could move, something dark swooped down and grabbed Slim, yanking him out of sight into the sky. John went running after them, shooting blindly into the sky after them. Katy saw him firing towards whatever had taken Slim and ran at him screaming, "No! No, don't!" Dean ran after her, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her back. The two of them fell to the ground with Dean's arms around Katy's waist. "Let me go!" she shouted at Dean, struggling with him but he was bigger and stronger and didn't release his grip on her.

"No!" he said to her with all of the authority he could muster. "I've been told to protect you and that's what I'm gonna do! Now come on!" He pulled her toward the pier, hoping whatever had grabbed Slim from the sky wouldn't be able to reach them underneath it. Sam joined them, helping Dean pull Katy away from their father and whatever demon he was chasing.

Seeing the boys running with Katy, the demon screeched and dropped down after them, dropping Slim onto the beach nearby. Two other figures appeared in the sky behind it, all three going after the three children. John saw them change direction but he was too far to get off a shot. "Dean!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Fire!"

Dean released Katy and rolled to his back, taking careful aim and firing up at the sky. Sam followed suit, and they each clipped one of the flying creatures, sending them wailing off into the sky. Seeing Slim released, Katy ran to his side as the third creature dropped to the ground. What had looked like wings was merely a cape now, fluttering behind the creature as it turned into a man, walking towards them. Katy looked over at it, her eyes wide. "Dad?" she said, stepping towards it. None of the Winchesters heard her over the wind and the waves crashing on the pier.

"No, Katy," Slim said to her, pulling her back from the demon. "It isn't him. Not anymore." He pushed her behind him to face the creature that now appeared human. Holding his arms out in front of him, he shouted at it, "You can't take her! I won't let you!"

With one swift motion, the demon swung around, his cape flying, a silver sword flashing out from underneath it, swinging at Slim's arm. In one slice, three of his fingers fell off, taking the ring with them.

Dean was the closest of the three Winchesters, and he ran at the demon, emptying his clip into its back. It shrieked and hissed, turning on the boy, and when it did Dean got one good final shot between the eyes. The impact of the bullet sent the creature reeling back, dropping its sword to the ground next to the fallen ring as it collapsed on the sand, black oozing out of the gunshot wound in its head.

John came running at them and started toward his fallen friend, but Dean saw him first. Slim's eyes were solid black and he was grinning wickedly and reaching for the fallen sword. Dean ran at him, gun raised, ready to fire, but his gun was empty.

"Nooo!" Katy shrieked at him, jumping up and tackling him from behind, arms flying, hitting him as hard as she could. On the ground, he twisted underneath her, turning around, putting his arms up to defend himself. She kept swinging, punching him even harder now in the ribs, in the face, anywhere she could -- adrenaline and rage coursing through her.

As Katy attacked Dean, John ran at Slim, firing his own gun, but he was too far away now to get a good hit on him. Realizing he was outnumbered and outgunned by the Winchesters, the demon now possessing Slim hissed at them and vanished in a puff of smoke.

John ran up behind Katy, pulling her off Dean as Sam stood back and watched, astonished that his brother was being beaten by a girl. John held her arms to her chest from behind her and she was kicking and screaming as he allowed her to release all of her anger, his strong arms wrapped tightly around her. "It's okay," he said into her ear. "Just let it out." He held her tight as she let out one last shriek and finally collapsed to the ground.

John turned to Dean, seeing the questions in his son's eyes. "Dad, was he…" Dean started to say.

"Was he a demon? He was becoming one, yes." John leaned over and picked up Slim's finger from the ground, the ring still on it. "He was a portal. Demons use his body to climb up out of Hell, taking over, possessing him. The only thing keeping them out was this ring," he said.

"Then why did it look like he was about to take it off?" Dean asked. "And why did those… those things attack him when he did?"

"He was taking the ring off," John said to his astonished son. "To pass it on to her," John looked over at Katy, still on the ground, hugging her arms around her body and rocking back and forth. "Next week is her 16th birthday. Without this ring, she'll become a portal, just like Slim did. Whatever those creatures were, I assume they didn't want her to have it." He looked to the sky. "Come on, we've got to get out of here before they come back. Dean, get that sword," John ordered his son as he went over to help Katy to her feet. When she refused, John reached down and lifted her off the ground, carrying her to the car, Dean and Sam running after him, the sword in Dean's hand.

John place Katy gingerly in the back seat and went to the trunk for the can of lighter fluid. He turned to his sons, "Stay with her," he said and headed back for the beach to take care of the demon body that Dean had killed.

Sitting in the front seat of the car, with Katy curled up in a ball in the back seat next to Sam, Dean continued to question his father. "If he was taking the ring off," Dean asked, "Why did he need you here?"

"Not now, son," John said looking at Katy in the rearview mirror.

Back in their motel room, Katy was curled up at the head of one of the two beds, exhausted. John sat at the desk, examining the ring, Dean standing close by. "Without this, she'll be just a shell, Dean, nothing more than a portal for any demon to climb out of Hell and do whatever it wants. Slim couldn't stand the thought of that happening to her. All he wanted…" his voice deepened as the words he spoke reflected his own feelings, not just Slim's, "all he wanted was for her to have a normal life."

Not hearing the sentiment in his father's words, Dean asked again, "Dad, why did he call us there?"

"I was there to kill him when he turned." John answered, knowing this mistake could come at a great cost to his family. He took the ring and walked over to Katy, kneeling down beside her next to the bed. Dean went outside to join Sam. "You okay, Sammy?" he said to his little brother. Sam was standing by the empty pool and watching the sky.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he said, not wanting his big brother to see his fear. "You got beat up by a girl, Dean!" Sam started laughing and Dean threw a pretend punch at him.

"Bitch!" Dean said.

"Jerk!" Sam spouted back.

The following week, Dean was sitting in Katy's family beach house with her on the couch. The sword hung on the wall over the mantle. He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "Happy birthday, Katy," he said to her, reaching into his pocket to pull out a silver pendant, an African talisman. He slipped the leather cord over her neck, using the opportunity to put his arms around her. She held up the talisman to get a better look at it, the silver ring shining on her right ring finger. She'd had to wrap string around it to get it to fit. "It's a protection talisman," Dean said. "Not that you need it," he added, looking at her ring. "But I thought it might bring you better luck from now on."

She smiled at him, "Thank you, Dean."

John came into the room just as Dean leaned in for another kiss. He cleared his throat and Dean jumped up, startled. "Am I interrupting anything?" John asked, winking over at Katy.

"Umm, uh, no, sir," Dean said uncomfortably. "We were just… I was just giving Katy her birthday present."

"Yeah, I know what you were just," John enjoyed the opportunity to tease his eldest son. "Go outside for a minute, Dean. I want to talk to Katy."

"Yes, sir," Dean said, looking over at Katy, his eyes imploring her help in getting to stay with her just a bit longer. When she didn't protest John's statement, he turned and walked out the front door.

John sat next to Katy, his hands clasped in front of him. "You do realize, don't you, what will happen if you ever take that ring off?"

Having caught onto the boys' respectful tone to their father, she said, "Yes, sir, I do."

"And you know you can call on me anytime you need anything at all?" John asked.

Katy locked his gaze. "I won't be calling you. Do you realize what you are to my family?"

"Yes, I do," John said, standing. He ran his hands through his hair. Now he was the one who was uncomfortable. "I, uh, I believe my son's waiting for you outside."

Katy stood to go out and meet Dean down on the beach. She turned back to John. "I appreciate the offer, I really do. I know it won't be easy, but I'll be okay. I just..." she hesitated, not knowing how to ask him what she needed, "John, I need you to do something else for me."

He looked down at her. Barely sixteen and this girl had to take on a world of evil on her own. "What is it?" he asked, knowing he would do anything in his power to help her.

"I know that I'm going to be… well, you know. I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this," she held up her hand, indicating her ring and her situation. "The fewer people who know, the better." She let her head drop.

John knew exactly what she meant. She was going to be hunted for the rest of her life because of that ring and there was nothing he could do about it. He put a hand on her shoulder and leaned down to kiss her on top of her head. "Of course," he said to her.

She looked up at him with sad, blue eyes and suddenly reached her arms around him in a hug that caught him off guard, burying her face in his shirt. He hugged her back and wondered to himself if this is how it felt to have a daughter. Releasing him just as suddenly, she turned and ran out the door after Dean. John stood there for a moment, the weight of this world of evil enveloping both of their families bearing down on him. He silently hoped that just for tonight the two teenagers down on the beach wouldn't feel it too.