Milly sat on the driver's side of an abandoned 1989 Ford escort missing all four of its doors. She was lost in her book as she reclined in the seat that would no longer come back up.

Athena had left her with only a few things in the purple backpack she had, one being a copy of Matilda. It was her second time reading the book, since the first time she read it eight days prior, She had to look up the meanings of half the words, ruining the magic of reading. As she read it again that day, she felt like it was written just for her. The story seemed to wrap her in a comforting hug. She felt understood by it.

So Matilda's strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone

Milly read the last line over and over again like it was being said to her out loud.

You are not alone.

And she wasn't. She had Bobby. But deep down there was the nagging feeling that she didn't really belong there. She didn't really belong with him. She tried to ignore it because she enjoyed his company and there really wasn't a reason why she shouldn't feel at home with him, but there it was. It was an itch to be elsewhere like there was somewhere she was supposed to be. Reading helped that feeling. Almost like with every book, she was able to trick her mind into believing it was somewhere else.

Sam and Dean had arrived at Bobby's earlier that morning, after finishing another one of their jobs. They had come back a few times since Milly had been brought to Bobby's but never for more than a few days. She'd grown used to it, never expecting them to stay for long, but when they happened to be there, she took advantage of it. She'd take every chance she got to show them that she wasn't like those creatures in the books she read.

After a few days, the tone of Sam's voice began to shift into a kinder one, and on occasion, he'd go so far as to ask her what she was reading. However, her luck began and ended there. The elder Winchester brother still wanted nothing to do with her. He'd give her short, one-word responses, without even looking at her.

It wasn't going to deter her though. If she was learning anything from her books, it was that the good guys win because they don't give up.

So neither would she.

The three hunters sat in Bobby's kitchen having just discussed a potential case in Nebraska.

"You're gonna take Milly with you."

Sam and Dean's heads snapped up to look at him in surprise.

"I'm not sayin' I want her gone, but you two need to get your heads outta your asses."

Deciding to ignore the last part of that comment, Dean chuckled nervously.

"Bobby, no. We can't take a child to-"

"It's Nebraska, boy, not the end of the world."

Dean turned to Sam for help, but the younger brother remained silent.

"Sam? Wanna back me up here?"

Sam had been trying to come to grips with the whole situation for weeks now and he came to the conclusion that they weren't going to shimmy their way outta this one.

Was it the ideal circumstance? Hell no.

But they've handled worse. And maybe this didn't have to be such an awful thing. They were always taught growing up that family is the most important thing in the world, and it was looking like this kid was just that. Family.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Sam shrugged causing his brother to sit there in disbelief.

"To us? Wanna take a look at our track record?"

"He's got a point," Sam admitted, turning to Bobby.

"You telling me you can take on demons but you're scared of a little girl?"

Dean frowned, feeling like that wasn't a fair comparison. Either way, it didn't sound good.

"I'm not scared-"

"Great. You can tell her when she comes back in." Bobby told them, wheeling away so they couldn't argue.

The brothers shared a nervous look before Dean took a swig of his drink. A memory from only a couple of days ago found its way to the forefront of his mind.

~~~~~Flash back~~~~~~~~~~

The diner was calm and quiet around the brothers as they ate and did some research for their latest case one afternoon. It was looking like a simple salt and burn, they just needed to find where the remains were buried. Dean looked down at his burger in contentment when suddenly the familiar voice of Paul McCartney began playing over the radio. A wave of bittersweet nostalgia washed over him when he recognized the song as Hey Jude by the Beatles. It was the song his mother would sing to him instead of a lullaby. He hadn't heard it in what felt like forever. He always used to listen to the song like it was his mom speaking to him.

Hey Jude, don't be afraid.

You were made to go out and get her.

The minute you let her under your skin,

Then you begin to make it better.

His whole life he only thought of the song one way, but now with Milly in the picture, he was beginning to hear it differently. It felt like the lyrics had taken his head and forced him to look in the direction he'd been avoiding the whole time.

Hey Jude, don't let me down.

You have found her, now go and get her.

Remember to let her into your heart,

Then you can start to make it better.

He shut his eyes, trying to think about something else, and ignore the song. Whether it was his mom trying to communicate with him, or just a crazy coincidence, it didn't matter. He knew himself. He knew he was nothing but bad for that kid no matter who she was.

Hey Jude, don't make it bad.

Take a sad song and make it better.

Remember to let her under your skin,

Then you'll begin to make it better.

"You don't know that." He muttered causing Sam to look up from his laptop.

"What?"

"Nothing." Dean shook his head, rubbing his forehead.

This fucking song. It was screwing with his head. He couldn't allow himself to believe he was capable of taking care of a kid, because he wasn't. No one in their right mind would entrust Dean Winchester with a child. In the best-case scenario, they would end up resenting each other. And the worst case? She'd end up dead because that's what happened to people around them. Especially the ones they let themselves care about.

"Dude seriously, what's up?"

Dean looked at Sam and sighed.

"Nothing. Just thinking."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"What are you, my shrink?"

If Milly really was his daughter, she should be as far away from him and Sam as she could get.

Milly was completely oblivious to the tension in the room when she came back inside. Sam and Dean sat together at the table and she walked in so quietly they almost missed her.

"Uh hey kid, we gotta talk to you about something," Dean said once he noticed her, and she paused awkwardly.

"Oh, okay."

He glanced over at Sam who moved his eyes in a way that said "do it".

"We're taking you with us on our next job."

Milly wasn't sure if she'd heard him correctly at first so she looked over at Sam who nodded at her in confirmation. Hope emerged from the doubt that had been keeping it shoved away and a small smile appeared on her face.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Dean sighed, trying to mask his discontent, but Milly didn't even notice. The fact they were willing to bring her along at all felt like an enormous step in the direction she'd wanted to go in. She wondered if it meant all her efforts were paying off, they were finally seeing her for who she really was, or at least who she was trying to be.