Title: Important to You
Rating: T
Warnings: mentions of past canon character death; female Harry
Spoilers: specific spoilers for Pilot from Supernatural¸ and vague-ish spoilers for pre-series backstory; vague-ish spoilers for 1-5 of Harry Potter
Characters: Dean and Sam Winchester and Rose Potter; mentions of John Winchester and Jessica Moore
Word Count: 1,053
Summary: He wasn't sure what he was expecting when he broke into his brother's apartment, but she definitely wasn't in the top 100. He needs Sam's help to find their father, but he's not sure he would have come if he had known she would be here.

Dean wasn't sure what he expected when he broke into Sammy's apartment.

The fight, sure. It was only natural, with their background. He supposed he was lucky that the Sasquatch didn't have a gun on him.

But he definitely wasn't expecting the girl who turned on the lights.

"Rose?" he asked in disbelief.

"Dean?" Rose said.

"Rose?" Sam asked, curiosity in his voice.

"Sam?" Dean said, looking at his brother.

"What's going on?" Sam asked. "You two- know each other?"

Rose went over to Sam and wrapped her arm around his waist. "I met Dean about six months before I met you. We traveled together for a while before I met your Dad. He didn't like me very much and told me to leave, so I did."

"You traveled together?" Sam asked, incredulously, staring at Dean with wide eyes.

Dean bristled at the insinuation he could hear in Sam's voice, but before he could defend himself, Rose spoke up.

"Not all the time. He'd drop me off in the closest city to wherever he needed to be and go off to his research. I'd mess around in town, seeing the sites and everything. He'd come back a few days later, sometimes a little worse for wear, and we'd move on."

Sam raised an eyebrow at Dean.

"I'm working on a book of urban myths and legends," he said, giving the same story he had made up almost four years ago when he first as Rose to join him.

"How's it coming?" Rose asked, looking at him.

"I think I have a working first draft, but I don't really know where to go from here."

"Want me to take a look at it? I have some acquaintances in the publishing world who may be able to help you if you really want to publish it," she offered.

"Yeah, sure. The 'script is in my car. Sammy? Wanna come help me get it?"

"I think you can manage that just fine on your own," Sam said, crossing his arms and sounding sullen.

"I need to talk to you."

"Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of Rose. My girlfriend. The one you let travel with you for six months."

Dean narrowed his eyes. Apparently Sam thought he had told Rose more than he actually had. "Okay," he began slowly. "Dad hasn't been home in a few days and I can't get a hold of him."

"So he got trashed and isn't answering your calls. Not the first time it's happened; not the last. You know what else it's not? My problem."

Dean sighed. "Okay, fine. He's on a Hunting trip. And I can't reach him."

Sam froze. "We'll be right back, Rose," he said, taking Dean's arm and ushering him out of the building.

They got into an argument as Sam followed him down to the car. Dean finally got the kid to shut up by saying that he didn't want to do the hunt alone. Sam agreed to do just the one, as long as he was back in time for his interview on Monday morning.

Dean agreed, if only to placate the kid and grabbed the backpack that contained the manuscript and his research notes before they made their way back up to the apartment. They found Rose dressed and in the middle of packing two bags when they returned.

"Oh, hey," she said, glancing at them before returning to her packing. "I know Sam has that law school interview on Monday so I thought you would want to get going as soon as possible. I figured I'd save us some time by packing while you two were out."

"How did you know I'd agree? I didn't even know that," Sam said.

"Because he's your father," Rose said, simply. "Now, come on." She zipped up the bags and swung one over her shoulder. "I'll call Jess in the morning and ask her to come over and keep an eye on the place for us."

"Wait. Us?" Sam repeated.

He was a little slow on the uptake as far as Dean was concerned. He'd caught the plural in her first response.

"Well, yeah. I'm coming with you."

"What? No, you're not. Dean, tell her she can't come."

Both of them turned to him and he looked between them, warily. He knew how stubborn Rose could be and knew that if she had made up her mind, there was no way he and Sam were going to change it, but at the same time, he didn't want to take sides in a domestic argument.

"Why?" he asked instead, looking at Rose. "You don't even like my dad."

"No, I don't your father. And he doesn't like me. I get that. But he's your dad. He's important to you, and to Sam, even though he won't admit it. And what's important to you is important to me."

"But-" Sam began.

"Sam, you have issues with your dad. I get that. But he's still your father. I never knew mine and I'm not going to let you waste what you have. If something happens to him and you don't do everything you can to find him and make things right between the two of you, you're going to regret it for the rest of your life."

Dean watched as Sam seemed to deflate. He pulled Rose into his arms and ducked down to bury his face in the crook of her neck. He mumbled something that Dean couldn't catch and Rose laughed lightly.

"Come on, Sasquatch," she said, patting his back. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll be back."

"I'm still not comfortable with you coming," Sam said, straightening up.

"Noted. But I'll be fine, Sam. Besides, when you find him, you're going to need the moral support. It's my duty as your girlfriend to be there to smack some sense into him if he's an ass."

Dean shifted uncomfortably. If that was true, then why hadn't she done anything when John had demanded that he get rid of her? Why hadn't she fought to stay with him?

He shook his head and clapped his hands, unwilling to let them see that they were getting to him. "All right, People. We're wasting some perfectly good nighttime driving hours. Let's get a move on."