Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural! I only own this idea and my two OC's!

Dean

His finger tapped a rhythm on the wooden table in front of him. The lonely lamp that was lit in the kitchen didn't give a lot of light though it didn't bother him as he was deep in thoughts. His other hand held a cold beer bottle, half empty. His gaze was locked on the table as his thoughts were on the words Castiel had said to them that afternoon. They troubled him, made him feel like there wasn't anything he could do to keep Lily safe when the time came. After all, that was what it had sounded like to Dean. It hadn't been a threat from Castiel, but a warning and there just was something about the entire warning that made him wonder whether or not Castiel was indeed telling the entire truth, whether or not he knew something that he wasn't allowed to tell. And in that case, who was telling him not to tell the truth to them? From what Dean understood, the angels were becoming more and more free by the minute, thanks to Castiel, so what was keeping him from telling the truth? There were no more bosses up there that told them to keep quiet, right? Was he missing something?

Dean sighed, feeling as though he didn't know anything anymore. All he wanted right now, was to keep the people that were the closest to him safe. Sam and Bobby could manage without him quite well though, and so could probably Eleanor as well. But Lily was innocent and shouldn't have to go through something like this. The only thing she should have to worry about was whether or not she was going to get what she wanted for her birthday, nothing else.

He glanced at the bottle in his hand, feeling as though the liquor wasn't giving him the satisfaction it usually did. For a brief moment he considered grabbing one of the whiskey bottles, but he shook his head at that idea, figuring that it would be better to simply go to bed. It was late, after all.

Leaving the bottle on the table, Dean started to make his way up the stairs, turning the lights off behind him. He was the last one awake and the house was quiet. The hallway upstairs was dark though he didn't bother to turn the lights on as the door to his and Eleanor's room was the first one to the right. As he placed his hand on the doorknob, the door that led to Lily's room opened, the hinges creaking. Lily looked out, her eyes landing on Dean. Tears streamed down her cheeks and Dean immediately let go of his door, walking over to Lily.

"Hey," he whispered, not wanting to wake the others. "What's up?"

Lily just stood there, her hand still on the doorknob while Dean crouched down in front of her. He was slightly unsure of what to do, though he didn't have to think long about that since Lily quickly threw herself against him, her petit hands holding a tight grip on his shirt as she sobbed into his shirt.

"Hey, hey," said Dean, lifting her up and walking inside of her bedroom, closing the door behind him.

The small lamp placed on the bedside table was turned on, most likely Eleanor had let it on as Lily couldn't sleep without a lamp turned on yet. Eleanor had told Dean that Lily had a special lamp back in their house which gave off only a little bit of light, causing the ceiling to dance with small stars and planets as the light reflected shadows on the ceiling. Lily had always been mesmerized by those shadows which had been the one thing that had made her fall asleep easily. That, or Eleanor singing a soft song to her.

"Tell me what's wrong?" asked Dean as he sat down on the bed, Lily sitting on his lap now, her hands still holding his shirt tightly.

"Monsters were here," said Lily between hiccups, tears still streaming down her face.

"You had a nightmare?" asked Dean, knowing that this was what parents asked their children although he himself had to suppress the urge to search through the room with an EMP-meter in one hand and a shotgun in the other.

Lily nodded her head. "He was there."

"Who?" asked Dean, knowing from Eleanor that Lily had nightmares about Crowley which was probably what she meant this time as well.

"The man with the strange voice," said Lily quietly.

"Crowley?" asked Dean, the name causing Lily to push herself closer to Dean. His Scottish accent probably had sounded rather odd to Lily since she always referred to him as the man with the strange voice. "He's not going to get to you, Lily. Not while I'm here and not while mummy's here."

Lily didn't reply, she just wiped her nose with the sleeve of her pajama-jumper before leaning her head against Dean's chest, her eyes looking rather tired.

"Come on," said Dean as he shifted her so that she was placed on the bed. "You need to sleep."

"No," said Lily, her hands reaching out for him again as he was about to stand up in order to give her the room to lay down under the covers.

"It's okay," said Dean, smiling at Lily as he grabbed her hands, standing up slowly before crouching down next to the bed. "I'm not leaving yet."

She nodded her head before, while holding a tight grip on Dean's hand, placing her legs underneath the covers again, laying down her head on the pillow. Dean placed the small stuffed animal she adored, the little pig, underneath the covers next to her, using his free hand as his other hand was still being held by Lily.

"Now," said Dean. "That man with the strange accent… he's not going to get to you again. Not now, not ever. I won't allow it. Mummy won't allow. Uncle Sammy won't allow it. Uncle Bobby won't allow it."

Lily nodded, the tears having stopped coming. "Angels are watching over me."

Dean stared at her for a while, the little girl's eyelids drooping from the sleep that consumed her.

"Yeah…" he said, looking away for a second. "I hope they are," he whispered, Lily's tight grip on his loosening as she slowly started to drift to sleep.

He looked at their hands, a soft smile appeared on his lips before he tensed, seeing something he didn't like. The smile faded away as he moved her hand so that her palm was facing upwards.

"What the-" he whispered, seeing a cut inside of her palm.

It wasn't bleeding anymore, but it looked like it had bled quite a lot once. It was in the process of healing and something inside of him told him that this was the work of Crowley.

"Son of a bitch," he thought to himself as he stood up, walking towards the door again, anger washing over him.

Eleanor

Her eyes felt heavy as someone placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her awake softly. She tried to ask whoever was shaking her and disturbing her sleep to "piss off" but it just came out as a strange grunting noise from the back of her throat. As she opened her eyes, glaring up at the one who had awoken her from her sleep, she saw Dean's green eyes staring down at her. She would've shrugged him off and turned away from him, had it not been for the worried and angered look on his face.

"What?" she managed to say, her voice a bit harsh as she was still annoyed that he had awoken her.

"Crowley hurt Lily," said Dean, making Eleanor sit up straight, her eyes wide open, staring at Dean who still stood bent down slightly.

As he straightened his back, he brushed a hand over his face, sighing as well.

"What? Now?" asked Eleanor, shifting so she was sitting on the edge of her bed, opening the small drawer in her bedside table and taking out the knife that Castiel had turned into a demon-killing-knife.

"No," said Dean, earning a relieved sigh from Eleanor. "Earlier when he had her in his grip."

"Where?" asked Eleanor, placing the knife back in the drawer, though not closing it as she looked up at Dean with eyes filled with worry for her baby-girl.

"Her right hand. A cut in her palm. Like he wanted to get her blood," said Dean, his eyebrows furrowing. "Like the cut Sam had in his hand after he'd given blood to open the door to the Ark."

"Shit," said Eleanor. "You think that he wanted her blood for something?"

"Yeah, the question is what," said Dean, placing his hands on his hips as he sighed again.

Eleanor watched him, seeing his tensed body and worried face. She reached her hand out to him, earning a confused look from Dean first before he hesitantly took her hand, letting her guide him to sit down next to her on the bed. She cupped his face with her hands, staring deep down into his eyes as she smiled a soft smile, not a relaxed one, not a happy one, but a reassuring one.

"We'll figure out what he wants," said Eleanor, brushing her thumb over his cheekbone. "In the meantime, all we can do is keep her safe."

"There's nothing on the Ark," said Dean. "All we know is the confusing facts that Cas gave us."

"I know," said Eleanor, hushing him as he was about to continue ranting. "But you're the Winchesters… You always find a way to the truth and once you do, you push through it. And I'll be here, by your side."

Dean nodded slowly, simply sitting there, looking at her as Eleanor held his face in her hands. Although he looked rather awkward with the way she was touching him, she could feel him relax slowly which was exactly what she wanted. In order to keep Lily safe, they needed to both be ready to fight. They couldn't be worrying about things that had happened a long time ago and although it bothered Eleanor greatly, she also found that it was harder to be mentally prepared to protect someone when she was worried or tensed.

"You need to get some rest," said Eleanor quietly, letting go of Dean.

With Lily quietly eating next to her, she and Sam sat in the kitchen, two cups of coffee placed on the table in front of them. It was quite late in the morning though Lily had had a rough night and so, she had awoken later than usually. Though, not later than Dean had. Sam was on his laptop already, searching for any kind of information that could be useful to them while Eleanor continued to read through the books that Bobby owned. Bobby himself had already positioned himself in the study, continuing his search as well.

It had become a routine for them to simply continue with their studies each day and although it was tiring, it was the only thing that they could do. Lily was the only thing that made them take a break from time to time as she wanted to go play outside with one of them, mostly Dean, or go to the park with them all. They needed breaks, of course, and if it hadn't been for Lily, they would all already have burned themselves out.

Dean came stumbling into the kitchen at the same time as one of Bobby's phones started to ring from inside the study, Bobby almost immediately picking the phone up. Dean kissed the top of Eleanor's head before ruffling Lily's hair, earning a giggle from the little girl to which Sam smirked. Dean placed himself next to Lily with a grunt, his eyes still looking tired.

"I need to get out of here," said Dean, rubbing a hand over his face. "We need to go on a normal hunt. Get our minds off of everything for a while."

"No," said Eleanor, closing the book she was reading and earning a look from both Winchester boys, Lily continuing to eat her cereal. "You two need to get out maybe. I'm not going on anymore hunts."

Dean looked at her, seeming to want to protest against what she said as his lips quivered slightly, clearly wanting to form words which he knew would only start an argument. However, his gaze landed on Lily and quickly he formed his lips into a straight line, looking away from Lily and Eleanor, leaning his elbows on the kitchen table and looking down at it.

"Haven't seen anything weird on the news," said Sam, shrugging. "Plus, finding actual answers might be a better thing to do."

"How about we go out and find those answers, huh?" asked Dean, leaning his hand on his hand. "It's not like these books are going to give us the answers. Demons are."

"Dean," warned Eleanor, glancing at Lily who tensed at his words. She sighed, standing up and placing Lily on her hip, turning to walk out of the kitchen when Bobby appeared in the doorway.

"I've got a case for you boys," said Bobby, his eyes flickering between the two brothers and Eleanor.

"What is it?" asked Sam.

"Why don't you get your toys, Lily-girl?" said Eleanor as she placed the child on the floor again, earning a nod from her before she waddled away.

"Two people found dead inside of their houses. No sign of a break-in," said Bobby.

"How'd they die?" asked Dean.

"Hearts were ripped out," said Bobby, the three hunters all looking at each other with knowing looks.

"Werewolf," said Eleanor, earning a nod from Bobby.

"That's what I thought as well," said Bobby before looking away from Eleanor. "You up for it?"

"Yeah," said Dean with a sigh, earning a look from Sam. "Gives us the chance to maybe go and find some answers as well."

"And what do you mean by that?" asked Bobby, earning a scoff from Sam as Dean stood up.

"Dean thinks that demons are the ones that can give us answers on what Crowley wants with the Ark and Lily," said Sam.

"Now we think he's still after the girl?" asked Bobby, crossing his arms over his chest.

"She was cut by the son of a bitch. He took her blood," said Dean, his eyes flickering to Eleanor who looked down at the floor. "I want answers."

"We all do, Dean, but going out there and hunting demons, torturing them for answers isn't going to help," said Bobby.

"How do you know that?" asked Dean as Sam closed his laptop, clearing his throat.

"Look," he said, standing up. "We go out there and finish this werewolf, alright? And then… Then we'll discuss this."

"You're on his side?" asked Eleanor, crossing her arms over her chest as well. "With the torture idea?"

"Are you?" asked Sam, Dean staring at Eleanor with unreadable eyes.

It was true that the books hadn't given them anything and things were going slow. Too slow. Castiel's warning about Lily not going out on her fourth birthday worried her and she wanted to clear whatever was happening before her daughter's birthday. They still had three weeks, though during the course of several weeks, they had barely gotten any information on the Ark at all. Plus, any answers on the Ark wouldn't guarantee an answer for what they needed Lily for nor whether or not Crowley indeed was still on her tale.

"I think I am," said Eleanor, earning a look from Bobby. "Look, these books aren't going to give us the answer to why Crowley's after Lily, okay? They're not. And that's the one answer I want and need."

Dean nodded his head. "Then it's settled. We'll go out there for two weeks, tops, while you keep on digging into those books and the internet, keep on finding information if you can. If we don't get any answers, then we'll try a different approach. But for now, we gotta at least try."

"I agree," said Eleanor to which Sam sighed.

"Fine," said Sam, shrugging. "We'll try. But if it doesn't work out, we will go back."

"'Course. It's her birthday then after all," said Dean.

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