7.

As they pulled up to the drive way, they could hear cries of help coming from the inside the house, followed by a blinding white light. Dean's heart was racing a mile a minute. OH NO! We're too late! He told himself, than Sam and himself exited the car, both drawing their angel blades. Sam hesitated, as he tried to come up with a strategy for entering the house but Dean, not wanting to wait another second, broke the door down with one kick and ran inside, Sam right on his heels. The living room was dark; there was not light at all, but as Dean inched forward, he saw something crumpled up on the floor next to the hallway. He bent down, and gasped, horrified at what he saw. "Sylvia?" he said, hoping to see any sign of life… but there was none. She was dead. Sam gazed down at her lifeless body, both men frozen in shock, then, suddenly, they heard a voice coming from a back bedroom. The angel, Sam thought, He's about to kill Jenny! Before Sam could even take the first step, Dean bolted forward, practically gliding through midair as he swooped in the hallway, past the bathroom door and straight into the bedroom.

A tall, very thin man stood by the crib, his right hand placed on Jenny's forehead. Without hesitation, Dean lunged forward, aiming the blade directly towards the back of the angel's head. He, however, sensed Dean's presence and quickly spun around, grabbing Dean's arm and squeezing it until he finally willed him to drop the blade. Sam stood back; hiding his blade under his jacket, hoping the element of surprise would prove useful in a moment. Apart from the angel's lanky figure, he appeared average in every other way, except for his stance; straight, rigid, showing no signs what so ever of fear or excitement. "Dean Winchester… and Sam? So nice of you to drop by." His voice was smooth but cold and emotionless. "WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH MY BABY!?" demanded Dean. The angel's hands hadn't left Jenny's head, and that made Dean's blood boil. "I'm here on an assignment to prevent the future generations of Winchesters from infecting the Earth." Dean was taken aback. "Infecting? What the Hell are you talkin' about?" Sam chipped in, "Who did we infect? What did we ever do to you?" The angel spoke again, but this time his voice was hostile, almost livid, "What you did to us? You KNOW what you did! It's because of you that hundreds of demons escaped from Hell; that Lucifer was set free; that leviathans now walk the Earth, creatures that have been locked away since the beginning of time!" The angel's rage grew stronger as he spoke again, this time with sincere hatred in his voice, "And thanks to that revolutionist, Castiel, thousands of my brothers and sisters are dead!" There's a moment of silence, than Sam speaks. "Look, we can't change what's already happened; what's done is done. But killing Jenny isn't going to solve anything." Sam's tone was soft, careful, as to appeal to the angel's conscience. The angel was not fazed, and simply stated, "Of course it will! Your family, your lineage, is plagued with misfortune, and every move you make to help save mankind always results in a new threat to the world, and even beyond that!" The angel turned back to the crib, starring straight down at little Jenny, "By preventing your bloodline to continue, we are helping to secure the safety of humans and angels alike." Dean took a step forward, "I understand that you're pissed; I get that. But my daughter isn't the problem, I am. I'm the one who broke the first of the sixty six seals that freed Lucifer; I'm the one who trusted Cas to bring down Raphael, so if you want to kill someone, kill me. But please just leave my daughter alone!" Dean's plea of mercy touched the angel, for he had never seen such an act of selfless love in a human before. "I am moved by your willingness to sacrifice yourself for your daughter, but the issue still stands, as long as a Winchester is alive, there will always be chaos among the angels, demons, and humans. Balance must be established in order to set stability in our universe, now, please excuse me while I attend to the task at hand…" Just as Dean was about to attack the angel, virtually committing suicide, Sam uncovered his blade from his jacket, and in a flash dove forward, thrusting it into the angel's back, followed by yet another bright light, than the angel toppled to the floor, leaving behind the burnt shadow of his angel wings.

All the commotion frightened the child; feeling utterly terrified as she screamed out. Dean picked her up out of the crib, holding her much closer than he had before. "Shh, it's ok baby, it's ok. Daddy's here, everything's gonna be alright now." As Dean continued to try and comfort his daughter, Sam cleaned up the mess that was left behind. He took the angel's empty vessel and Sylvia, wrapped them in plastic bags, and lugged them out to the car. At first he was concerned that the neighbors might have called the cops already upon all the screaming and flashing lights, but when the sound of sirens didn't come, he concluded that they all were probably used to keeping quiet about their activities. With baby in tow, the brothers left the events of the horrid evening behind, this time Dean holding Jenny as Sam drove. They traveled up North for several hours before stopping, trying to put as much distance between them and Alabama as possible. The only stop they made was to burn to bodies of Sylvia and the stranger the angel had used as a mat suit. Even though Sylvia was clearly an unfit mother, Dean's heart ached for her, as she was the mother of his precious Jenny. I'm sorry Sylvia, I truly am. It was nearing 7 A.M. when they decided to stop in the small town of Saltillo, Mississippi, very tired and weary. Instead of renting a two- bed room, they took a one- bed room with a crib for little Jenny, which, for obvious reasons, made quite a statement to anyone who spotted the odd trio. Usually Dean would try and clear up any false conclusions that onlookers may have about Sam and himself, but today he didn't care; the only thing that mattered today was that they made it on time, and his little girl was alive, alive and safe.

Almost immediately, Sam collapsed, completely drained from the night before and from the straight five hour drive. Dean, however, couldn't sleep, and just sat there, starring at the little bundle that lay so peacefully in the crib beside him. What am I gonna do with you? I can't keep you; who'd look after you while Sam and I hunt? But I can't leave you either, another angel, or demon, or something might come and try to… he couldn't finish his last thought, it was too painful. Dean let his head fall into his hands, as tears threatened to fall from his blood shot eyes. What should I do? Jenny made a noise, and Dean walked over to her and laughed as she squirmed around in the crib, her little hands gripping onto the wooden pegs at the crib's side. "How in the world did someone like you come from something like me?" As she shifted her little body around, Dean recalled a saying that his mother had said to him many times when he was small, "Angels are watching over you", she used to say. He found it less than comforting now, but the memory of his mom gave him peace, as he said to his baby, "She's watching over us, your Grandma, so is Sam, and I'll ALWAYS be watching over you!" Jenny beamed a great big smile up at her Daddy, to which he smiled back at in return, tears running down his face. Dean, who was usually not a man of faith, looked up and exclaimed, "Thank You! Thank you for saving my daughter… and for saving me!" Then he bent down and kissed Jenny on the head, and laid down next to his now snoring brother, letting the peace and darkness of sleep finally take him over, thinking to himself as he drifted off, I have a family, a little bro and a little baby girl! I have a family! My family.