Return of Winchester

Chapter 15 Chats Over Coffee

Dean vacantly watched the scorching coffee pour into the crappy styrofoam cup. He hadn't realised that it had finished until the guy behind him scolded him for hogging the machine. He apologised and stepped out of the way coffee in hand. What was wrong with him? His brain couldn't seem to focus on anything. The only thing running through Dean's mind was "I have a daughter, I have a daughter, I have a freaking daughter." He couldn't tell if he was happy with that fact or if he wasn't allowing himself to feel much of anything about the situation. But he couldn't deny the sheer amount of fear that filled him when Sam had told him. It wasn't that he hadn't been concerned for her before he knew who she was to him. But after there was an unmistakable pang of fear that shot through him. When she woke up he didn't think he had ever been so relieved to hear someone talk about Furbys in his life and he didn't even know this kid. The thought almost made him scoff at himself.

He broke out of his musings when he spotted Sam rounding the corner. He mentally prepared himself.

"I haven't fingered out how I feel Sam." He said before his little brother could beat him to the punch. "She okay?"

"Yeah just coming off the meds. A nurse is checking her over." Sam said leaning against the hall railing.

Dean noticed the dark circles under Sam's eyes.

"How long's it been since you slept?"

"Too long." Sam rubbed his eyes with his thumb and four fingers.

Weary, that's how Sam looked. Dean rested his hand on his brother's broad shoulders. Sam looked up at him. Dean offered him the coffee that he took gratefully.

"I missed you, Dean. It's been a long two years." Sam tentatively took a sip.

"Yeah, I missed you too Sammy. At least for the month, I was in that cell."

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Dani had been lying in her hospital bed for almost two days and she was bored out of her mind. She wanted to get clean more than anything. She had been given a sponge bath the previous day but it wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to stand under the boiling hot water and scrub away the feeling of Hestia's presence off her skin. Dani gently ran her knuckles over the spot of skin under her chin.

That was it she wasn't going to lie there any longer. Using the bed rail to sit herself up she pivoted to place her bare feet against the cold floor. She let out a breath she had been holding. Almost the entire right side of her body throbbed. She pushed off the bed. Not completely able to stand up she shuffled her way to the small bathroom. 

The scalding water soothed her aching muscles. The hospital shampoo didn't do much to help get the leftover grit out of her hair. She scrubbed at her scalp as much as she could without stretching too much and opening the stitches. After stepping out of the shower and drying herself she put her hospital gown back on. She had just started brushing her teeth when she hear the door to her room close. Poking her head around the doorway the toothbrush still sticking out of her mouth she found that it was Dean. He had two cups of coffee in his hands. He had changed into some of Sam's clothes.

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" He asked.

"Yeah," Dani said matter-of-factly around the toothbrush.

Dean's eyes flicked to the side then back to Dani. He raised his brows as if to say Okay.

"I uh brought coffee."

"Thanks," She said. Though it came sounding more like fanks.

Dean went to put both of the coffees down on the side table. Dani went back to scrubbing her teeth in the restroom mirror. Dean rubbed his hands over his denim-clad thighs in a nervous sort of gesture before he spoke.

"How you feelin'?"

"Like I got stabbed." She said humorously.

"Well, hopefully, Cas can fix you up when he gets here."

"You looking forward to seeing him?" She asked.

"I mean I guess." Dean brushed it off but something in his face gave him away.

Dani stopped mid-scrub to look at Dean for a long moment. She smirked well smirked as much as she could with a toothbrush in her mouth.

"Huh." She muttered knowingly then turning back to the mirror.

Dean's face dropped.

"What?" He asked defensively.

"Oh, nothing." Dani chirped. She seemed to file something away for later.

She spat into the sink and rinsed off the brush with two short little taps on the side of the sink to remove the excess water.

"Where's Sam?" She asked reentering the main room.

"He went back to the motel to take a shower and get some shut-eye."

Dean's eyes drifted back to Dani as if he was trying to solve a puzzle, this went on for just long enough for it to be considered awkward.

"I'm not expecting anything," Dani said breaking the silence.

"What?"

"Just if you were wondering. You can relax I'm not expecting anything from you." She said digging around in her bag for her phone. "You may have contributed to me biologically speaking but I'm not expecting anything from you."

Dean couldn't tell quite what the feeling was that was bubbling up in his chest. Somehow the way she had said that got to him. So nonchalantly as if for all the world she was talking about what to put on a shopping list, not the fact that he was her father.

He was a father, and not just in the adoptive sense like the three of them had been to Jack. He had a biological daughter. No one else but his...and whoever her mother was but that didn't seem like that was going to be resolved any time soon.

In a way what she said hurt like he wasn't worth expecting anything from. Quite frankly it pissed him off. She didn't even know him and here she was expecting nothing from him like he wasn't worth her time.

"There's no pressure is what I'm saying." She said.

He hadn't even realised that she was still talking. She was watching him again. She seemed to do that a lot. Just watch.

"You don't expect anything?" There was a harshness to his tone that he didn't mean to be there.

She seemed to notice and instantly switched tact. Her tone was a little more serious and diplomatic.

"Look I don't know where you stand on this, and I'm not going to assume. You may have not even gotten your head around it yet." Her voice was calm and even, she took her time clearly trying to figure out how to best convey what she meant. "But what I mean is I don't want you to make a decision on this with any pressure of...me needing anything from you. If you do make a decision on this I want it to be because you want to make that decision and not because you think you should or because you think I need you to. I don't need a dad. Is what I'm saying."

That feeling was back in his chest again.

"Right." That was all he got out. Dean picked up his coffee cup. He turned it in his hands for a moment or so then left the room without saying another word.

AN: This is the second to last chapter of this book but I have another one lined up to start writing soon. Also if you are not a fan of Destiel stop reading here because it will be a thing moving forward, It won't be the primary focus but still. They need closure. Anyway hope that you enjoyed this part and this book overall. Thank you for all the support so far. See you in the next chapter. 

Write soon

Meg❤️💋💙