Finally Family

Dean strode into the bunker kitchen with an obvious bounce in his step, which automatically made Sam wary. Dean in an upbeat mood? Not a good sign. Especially since they were so close to Christmas; the one holiday that Sam didn't particularly care for. Moments after Dean walked in, Adam followed close behind him, whistling "Let It Snow" under his breath.

It had been a whole year and half since they'd rescued Adam from the cage and brought him into the bunker. Yes, it had been decidedly awkward at first, but now he and Dean were nearly joined at the hip, their mutual love of cars bringing them surprisingly close together and acting like true brothers. For Sam, it had taken him a bit longer, but they were finally comfortable with each other...however, at hearing their younger brother whistling and humming Christmas songs just quietly enough so that it could be recognized only if you listened too closely was driving him insane.

Dean, on the other hand, seemed perfectly content with it, and even sang the words on occasion, driving Sam even more crazy.

Rolling his eyes, Sam let out a loud exhale and said, "Could you please stop doing that?"

His older brother just shook his head, still grinning like an idiot.

"Nope. No can do."

However, Sam recognized the look on Dean's face…and knew something was up. Whatever it was, he knew that he wouldn't want to do it, and so he tried to head Dean off, to keep him from saying what he was about to say…but it was too late.

"Guess what, Sammy?" Dean asked, his eyes almost manic with glee. Before Sam could answer, Adam jumped in and said, way too brightly, "We're gonna cut down a Christmas tree today!"

Sam groaned.

"Oh god, do we have to? I mean, you realize just how hard it'll be getting that thing into the bunker, right?"

Dean simply shrugged and said, "We can always bring Cas along. He can always use his angel mojo to bring it in inside."

As if hearing his name, the angel appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, his head tilted to the side in that way of his, and he said, "Bring what inside, Dean?"

Dean grinned and flashed the angel a broad smile, and Sam tried not to grin. Ever since Cas had decided, even after receiving his grace back, that he was going to stay with them at the bunker, Dean had become more and more demonstrative around him, letting down his guard more often. So often, in fact, that it had caused Adam and Sam to bond over one thing: that Cas and Dean were idiots who just needed to pull their heads out of their asses and admit their feelings for each other.

"The Christmas tree, Cas. We're getting one today!"

His grin was toothy and wide, and he held Cas's gaze effortlessly, both of them perfectly comfortable with staring at each other, and Sam withheld a snort at the sight and instead glanced over at Adam from the corner of his eye, who returned his look, giving him a slight eye roll in response. Yeah, it was getting rather annoyingly obvious.

Cas shook his head, saying, "Why are you getting one? Isn't the tree itself a pagan ritual that simply mixed with the Christian culture over a period of time and has now lost what its' true significance means? And, besides, cutting down a tree is barbaric unless you need to do it to stay alive."

Sam had to keep himself from laughing at Dean's expression at the angel's words, looking as though he was personally offended by them.

Without missing a beat, however, Adam spoke up.

"Because it's tradition, Cas."

Dean gave his youngest brother a nod and smile of approval and then looked back at Castiel, green eyes locking back on blue, and repeated, "Exactly. Because it's tradition. So, strap on your angel wings, because you're helping us out whether or not you want to."

Cas tilted his head again, his blue eyes hardening to a slate gray.

"I thought I had free will, Dean. Are you implying that I no longer have the freedom to make my own decisions?"

Seeing where it was headed, Sam cut it off at the pass, saying, "He's not telling you that you don't have a decision, but that he would appreciate it if you supported us in going to get a tree to celebrate the holiday." As soon as he said it, however, he realized that he was cutting off the one support that he had to not going out and getting a tree. He let out an internal sigh, but let it go. He could see Dean grinning in his direction however, and he knew that he was now roped into it, too. Oh, well.

Cas considered his words for a moment, and then said, "Well, in that case…I would not mind coming along. In the sense of tradition, of course."

Dean's grin suddenly turned into a barking laugh of victory, and he pumped a fist in the air before saying, very loudly, "Grab your coats, people! We're headin' out right now! No point in wasting time." And with that, he turned and grabbed his coat from the back of one of the kitchen chairs, Adam following suit, as if they had both known all along that they could convince the other two to go along with their plan.

Letting out a sigh, Sam followed, snagging his coat from a hook next to the front door of the bunker as they walked out of it, noticing that Dean had grabbed an ax that had been sitting next to the door, casually swinging it over his shoulder.

As soon as they were outside, however, Dean stopped all of them and looked at Cas.

Arching an eyebrow, he said, "So…you gonna give us a lift?"

It only took a moment for the angel to understand what he was asking and he gave Dean a look, but the hunter responded by merely smirking back at him. In an eye roll worthy of any of the Winchesters, Cas let out a long-suffering sigh and put a hand on either brother's shoulder, while Adam grabbed Sam's shoulder, and they next thing they knew they were standing in the middle of the woods. And it was fucking cold. Damn, was it cold. Like…too cold to be anywhere near Lebanon, Kansas.

"Where…the fuck…are we, Cas?" Adam chattered out, immediately dropping his hand and crossing his arms in front of his chest, attempting to stay warm, as his breath came out in thick white plumes of air. Dean and Sam were in much the same predicament, and Sam echoed Adam's sentiment, saying, "Yeah, Cas…where are we?"

The angel was seemingly completely unaffected by the cold, and ignored the two younger Winchesters and looked at Dean, his eyes still as hard as before.

"You said we were cutting down a tree. So, I chose a remote location where you would not be heard."

Dean glared at him.

"Where are we, Cas?" the older hunter repeated, his tone rough and agitated. He tried to show how unaffected he was by the cold by not mimicking his younger brothers, his arms at his sides, his fists tightly clenched, the knuckles of his right hand going white around the handle of the axe. Castiel smirked back at him and replied, "We're approximately one hundred miles north of White Horse, Yukon."

"We're in fucking Canada?"

Cas continued to smirk.

"You said you wanted to cut down a Christmas tree, Dean."

At this, Dean glared at him. "Yeah, but not in the ass crack of the wilderness! I was thinking, oh, I don't know, maybe someplace like Colorado? You know, someplace that wouldn't be trying to kill us due to natural inclement circumstances!"

"You never specified. My mistake."

Sam, fed up with their passive aggressive flirting, interrupted the flow of their bickering, and managed to gasp out, "Look, Cas, I know you're pissed, but could you, I don't know, maybe warm us up if you won't take us someplace warmer? Now is not really the time to be having this conversation. It's at least twenty below, and we're human. We need coats before we die of hypothermia, here."

"What he said," said Adam, who had inched closer to Sam, pressing himself into his side, obviously trying to get warm. Sam didn't protest, and let him, knowing that Cas would give in sooner rather than later and so he wouldn't have to worry about it much longer.

Rolling his eyes, he disappeared for a few seconds, and then returned with three thick coats and handed them to each of them. Adam tore the coat from the angel's hand and wrapped it tightly around him, Sam and Dean following suit, all three of them letting out small sounds of contentment as they felt the warmth seep into them. Why Cas was being such a jerk about the whole situation, Sam knew it was because of Dean and how he was acting towards him. It was getting tiresome.

Dean took his time, however, as if trying to prove to the angel that he was as much unaffected by the cold as he was. He then hoisted the ax back over his shoulder and started walking, looking for a decent tree to cut down for the bunker.

All four of them were walking, when Adam suddenly stopped and pointed.

"Uh, I think I found it."

Sam looked, as did Dean, and Dean grinned wide.

He swung the ax off his shoulder and moved to the base of the tree, and then said, "Perfect choice, Adam," right before he swung the blade expertly at the trunk. The instant it hit, however, Dean grunted. Sam tried to hold back a smirk as he saw his older brother use most of his effort to wrangle the ax from the unforgiving wood that seemed to be determined to hold the ax hostage.

After fifteen minutes, however, of little progress and feeling less warm than he'd expected, Sam said, "Dean…seriously? Just tell Cas you're sorry, and let's get out of here and just go buy a damn tree."

Dean shook his head and swung one more time.

"Nope. No can do, Sammy. We're cuttin' this sucker down. Tonight."

Adam rolled his eyes and looked over at Sam and Cas imploringly. It was obvious to all of them that Dean was only doing this out of stubbornness, no longer truly in the Christmas spirit, and it was getting almost sad to watch, but they stayed silent, their arms wrapped tightly around themselves as Dean continued to attempt to chop the pine tree down. After twenty more minutes of futile tries to fell the tree, Sam walked over and said, "Dean."

The older hunter didn't look up.

"Dean…just let it go."

Dean stopped swinging and glared at him.

"No," he snarled, his voice almost raw at the visceral sound of the word. "We are getting this tree. It is going to be our tree, and we are going to have a goddamn awesome Christmas, you hear me, Sammy?"

Suddenly Sam understood what was going on and he backed off. He looked over at Adam…and then to Castiel. It was the first time that they'd ever been a family without any horrible darkness or anything bad looming over their heads…and Dean wanted to spend it as a family. At the bunker. With a tree. God…

He just wanted to have a real Christmas.

Letting out a sigh, Sam said, "Dean…we'll get it home. Just…please? Come back home."

His grip on the ax lessened and he stood up, pulling his shoulders back. Staring his brother in the eye, he tilted his head and gave him a look, an eyebrow raised, and Sam could practically hear the protest coming before it was voiced, and he cut him off.

"Stop it, Dean."

He stopped.

"I know…I know you want Christmas at the bunker. At home."

Dean finally relented, the ax going limp in his hand, and he gestured to Cas and said, "Take us home, Cas…" Instead of looking pissed or upset at Dean asking him to use his powers, he gave him a faint smile and nodded, and they resumed their previous positions and a moment later they were back outside the bunker. Cas, however, didn't follow them as they walked back into the bunker, suddenly disappearing, leaving Sam and Dean slightly miffed, Adam brushing it off, not as bothered by the angel's flighty behavior.

The moment they were inside, however, they were shocked.

There stood Cas…along with the tree that Dean had been trying to cut down.

Cas gave a half-hearted smile in their direction, though it was mostly directed at Dean.

"Uh, merry Christmas, Dean. Is…is this acceptable?"

Sam looked over at his older brother and saw the lightness in his eyes and withheld his own manic grin as Dean nodded and said, "Yeah, Cas…it's perfect."

Adam, seeing the moment, but not particularly caring for it, brushed past them and headed straight for the kitchen, and said, "Goddammit, you two, just freakin' fuck, already," causing Sam to snort, Dean to turn bright red, and Cas to look more intently at the oldest hunter and say, "Is that a tradition, as well?"

Sam laughed and clapped Dean on the shoulder before following Adam into the kitchen.

Seconds later, they both heard a muffled thump and Adam and Sam snuck a look around the corner and were pleased to see no sign of the two of them.

Finally.

It felt like family.

A.N. - This was for the Supernatural Writing Challenge on Tumblr for the month of December. My prompt was christmas tree. I loved writing this one!