"You know the rules." He said, raising an eyebrow in question, silently asking her to recite the rules.
"Stay close and stay alert." She recited carefully, hope sparking up in her eyes.
"And most importantly?" He urged, leaning his head toward his...
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||CHAPTER SIX // TURNING POINT||
"Baby, what's wrong?" Dean asks, stopping and crouching in front of her. He's noticed that she won't look at him, and it confused him the way she seemed desperate to get away from him.
Dakota mumbles a reply quickly, talking too fast for the Winchesters to understand her clearly. She fidgets with her hands nervously and avoids eye contact.
"I can't understand you," Dean sighs, laying a hand on her shoulder. His whole expression changes to hurt when she flinches slightly, she didn't mean to-she's just never seen her dad like that and it scared her. "Are...are you scared of me?" He questions heart brokenly, his green eyes wide with hurt. Sam's own eyes widen with surprise at the question.
"In the diner..." Dakota whispers loud enough so they could hear her. "The way you were talking to that demon, I know she's the bad guy, but the way your voice sounded. It was scary, I didn't like the way you sounded." She explains, her eyes fixed on her hands as she shifts her weight from foot to foot.
"Dakota, look at me." Dean says, not continuing until her eyes drift up to meet his tentatively. "I'm so sorry you had to hear me like that, I got angry at the demon for threatening me. That's no excuse for using the tone of voice I did, I'm sorry that I scared you. I never want to intentionally scare you, I would never hurt you either."
Dakota's lip quivers at the hurt expression covering her dad's face. She didn't mean to hurt him. "I'm sorry, daddy." She says, placing a hand on his cheek.
"Why are you sorry?" He questions her in confusion.
"I didn't mean to make you sad." She apologizes, patting his cheek gently before dropping her hand.
"No, you don't have anything to apologize for. I was the one who scared you, I'm your dad—I shouldn't scare you like that, ever." He says, placing a tentative hand on her shoulder, relieved when she doesn't flinch from him. He soothes her into a loving hug, he looks up at Sam with sad eyes before pulling away from his daughter.
"Are we going to see Bobby now?" Dakota questions, looking from her dad to her uncle with hope sparkling in her eyes.
"Yeah, baby, we're going back to the hotel you and Sam were at. Bobby's meeting us there soon."
Dean straightens up and reaches a hand out to the small child. She slips her tiny hand into his larger one and follows them towards the car that was parked a few blocks away.
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Dean leans back on the pull out couch, his back against the actual couch while his legs crossed in front of him on the mattress. A forgotten book was in his lap, he was researching possible things that could have rescued him when he fell asleep. Dakota was passed out across his chest, her hand gripping onto his t-shirt loosely as she sleeps. One of Dean's arms was thrown across her back, keeping her against him while the other one holds the book. Her hair was over his shoulder and brushed against his neck when he breathed in.
