Domestic Destiel is my favorite Destiel.
The tall, tawny-haired boy approached the door to his home quietly. He stood before it for a moment, bright green eyes appraising. He could hear muffled shouting coming from behind the large wooden front door. With a sigh, the boy turned the handle and pushed the door inward.
"Johnny!" cried a girl just inside the door. Her long brown hair (the same color as the boy's) was pulled into a haphazard braid that threatened to unravel. Johnny saw irritation in her other-worldly blue eyes.
"Johnny," she repeated, "What did you with my Taurus?"
Johnny scowled at his sister.
"Beth, why in the world would I take your gun?"
"I can't find it," she persisted.
"Talk to dad," he replied dismissively. Beth frowned and shook her head.
"Tell dad that I lost another gun?" Beth repeated, eyebrows raised. "Do you want the house to implode?"
"No, but speaking of, I wanted to tell you something-"
Johnny was cut off by the thunderous sound of boots on stairs. Dean Winchester and Castiel came trotting into view, both sporting suspiciously mussed hair and improperly buttoned shirts.
Beth and Johnny took on horrified looks at the implication of what their parents had been up to.
"Hey, Johnny boy," Dean said, grinning and tousling the boy's hair when he reached him.
"Hey, dad," Johnny replied.
"How was school?" Castiel asked, smiling. He and Dean leaned casually at the base of the stairs, making a valiant show of innocence.
"Fine," Johnny said unenthusiastically. Dean glanced at his watch.
"Is your uncle still not here?" he muttered. "Dammit, Sammy."
As if on cue, Sam Winchester burst through the front door, followed closely by his wife, Kelly. Dean smiled widely and trotted forward to give his brother a friendly pat on the back, and to give Kelly a light kiss on the cheek. She was taller than Dean, and her blond hair tumbled over a shoulder when she bent to facilitate his greeting.
"You certainly took your time getting here, little brother," Dean said conversationally. Sam shrugged and Kelly said something and started laughing. Beth, on the other side of Johnny, was urgently informing Castiel of her most recent weapon misplacement.
"It might be in Louisiana," Beth hissed loudly, to a visibly concerned Castiel. Their matching blue gazes simultaneously wandered over to secretly regard Dean.
Johnny gritted his teeth and ran a hand through his hair.
"My girlfriend wants to meet the family," he yelled.
It was among one of the few spoken phrases that could silence such a large congregation of Winchesters so rapidly.
Dean and Beth fixed incredulous gazes on Johnny, who stood glaring at the mass. Sam and Kelly exchanged a knowing glance, and Castiel's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"You sure?" Beth asked weakly.
'Casual but neat,' had been Sam's exact instructions for the attire and setting of the evening. He and Kelly had arrived at the house early to help with dinner and to make an extra sweep of the dining room to remove anything 'garishly cultish or satanic.'
Dean decided early on to leave such matters to his younger brother, who'd had first-hand experience successfully masking hunter lifestyle.
"You can have one knife on you at dinner, as long as it's small and well concealed," Sam told Dean as he gathered spell-books from the shelf.
"This is ridiculous," Dean muttered.
"Be supportive," Sam said sternly, fixing an eye on Dean. "This means a lot to the kid."
Castiel wandered into the room, and Dean's expression visibly softened. Castiel greeted his husband with a kiss before turning to survey the progress of the dining room.
"How long does he expect us to keep up this ruse?" Castiel asked, looking at Dean with concern.
"Just for tonight," Dean sighed, wrapping a hand around the ex-angel's waist. The front door slammed open, followed the muted crashes and the sound of heavy footfalls. Castiel and Dean smiled. They always knew when their daughter was home.
"Beth, Johnny and Olivia are going to be here in less than an hour," Sam called. Beth trod into the room to regard her family. The teenager had an enormously swollen black eye and a yellowing bruise that patterned the better side of the same cheek. Kelly sighed, hazel eyes failing to hide her consternation.
"Alright, Bethany, upstairs; let's get you cleaned up," she said.
"You should see the other guy," Beth stated, grinning, before leaving the room. Dean laughed while Sam and Castiel shook their heads.
"That girl gets into more fistfights than you did when you were her age," Sam said. Dean shrugged.
"She wins most of them," he said defensively.
The next forty-five minutes were spent in a mild frenzy finishing meal preparations and normalizing portions of the house.
Dean was busy fussing over the buttons on Castiel's shirt when the front door creaked open and voices carried into the house. Dean made a face at Castiel, who gave him a warning nudge. Johnny came into the dining room with a smiling, red-headed girl. Her smile grew when she saw Dean and Castiel.
"Dad, Pops, this is Olivia," Johnny said hesitantly. Olivia offered her hand, which Dean and Castiel respectively shook.
"I'm Dean," the hunter said, "This is Castiel," the ex-angel beamed.
"It's so nice to finally meet you," Castiel said. "Johnny's told us so much about you,"
"Oh," Olivia blushed, "Good things, I hope!"
"Mostly," Castiel continued. "Although he has also informed us of some of your more unfortunate-"
"Thirsty?" Dean asked Olivia loudly, forcefully pushing his husband toward the kitchen.
"You sit down, dinner will be out in no time," Dean continued without waiting for an answer. He followed Castiel into the kitchen, leaving a concerned looking Olivia and a slightly enraged Johnny. Beth bounded into the room before Olivia had a chance to question Johnny on Castiel's comment.
"Hey, big brother," Beth said carelessly. "Hey Olivia, how's it going?"
Johnny stared at his sister. She gave him a brief, apologetic look.
"Tony Mathews looks a hell of a lot worse," she said after a moment. Olivia smiled uncertainly at Johnny, who closed his eyes in a sort of resignation.
Sam and Kelly emerged from the kitchen carrying plates.
"This is my Uncle Sam," Johnny stated, "And my Aunt Kelly."
Olivia shook their hands politely.
Kelly turned her gaze on Beth, who was absently poking at her bruised eye.
"It's nothing compared to the damage that Wendigo dealt," Beth said thoughtlessly, shrugging. She, Kelly and Johnny stiffened immediately. Olivia hadn't seemed to notice.
"Yes, that Wendigo," Olivia continued loudly. "You know, Aunt Kelly, that rare, uh, Swedish fox-hound breed."
Kelly nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes, they're notoriously vicious," she offered.
"Do your parents need help with anything?" Olivia asked Johnny, entirely oblivious to the desperate discussion of foreign dogs going on around her.
"Let's check," Johnny said, glad for a distraction. He grabbed the girl's hand and tugged her toward the kitchen.
Dean's arms were wrapped around Castiel's neck, one hand buried in his mass of unruly black hair. Castiel's hands, which had presumably begun on Dean's waist, had snaked down considerably lower. Castiel had Dean crushed against a corner, bodies flush.
"Not angelic possession per say, but I would like an angel inside of me," Dean murmured into Castiel's neck.
The two glanced up to see Johnny, looking mortified, dragging a bright-faced Olivia away.
Johnny directed Olivia to a chair and sat beside her. Dean and Castiel, looking not the least bit abashed, emerged from the kitchen after a few moments, arms laden with dinner.
"Hope you like burgers," Dean said, grinning, as he set a basket of buns in front of Olivia. She smiled back and nodded.
After a shuffle of cutlery and chairs, the party had successfully seated themselves at the dining table. Sam had taken a seat beside Olivia, with Kelly on his other side. Castiel then Dean sat beside her, leaving Beth to finish the arrangement sitting between her father and her brother.
"These burgers smell amazing, Mr. Winchester," Olivia said.
"Please, call me Dean," the hunter offered. "Mr. Winchester was my father."
Sam rolled his eyes.
"And you can call me Castiel," the ex-angel piped up helpfully. "God was my father,"
Dean choked slightly on a bite of burger.
"Oh, are you religious?" Olivia asked conversationally.
"Not particularly," Castiel replied. Olivia nodded uncertainly.
"So, where are you from, Olivia?" Sam asked suddenly. Olivia smiled at him.
"Well, I was born in Montana," she said. Kelly grinned.
"Isn't that funny, that's where Sam and I met," she said.
"Oh, really, how did you meet?" Olivia prompted.
"Well, it was, uh, a-" Kelly began.
"Hunting trip," Sam continued. "We were both out on hunting trips and we, uh, ran into each other and decided to team up. The rest is history, I guess you'd say."
Sam and Kelly exchanged affectionate looks.
"Hunting is sort of a family thing for you guys, isn't it?" Olivia asked.
"The family business," Beth confirmed proudly, smiling warmly at Dean. He grinned back.
"A family business that requires a lot of equipment," Beth continued. Dean's smile became confused.
"Yep, a whole lot of equipment. It can be hard to keep track of every single piece of it all the time," Beth said. Dean's smile rapidly disappeared.
"Sometimes you lose things," Beth finished bluntly. Dean's eyes widened with understanding.
Olivia watched their exchange with quiet, mystified interest. Johnny sat staring at his sister incredulously.
"And sometimes those lost things come out of your savings," Dean countered quietly, glaring at his daughter. Beth took on an outraged expression.
"Dad!"
"We will discuss this later," Dean told her sternly. Olivia regarded her burger despondently.
A heavy silence fell over the table. Sam and Kelly exchanged concerned expressions, while Dean raised his eyebrows and winked at a grinning Castiel. Beth continued to pout, and Olivia looked at Johnny expectantly.
They were all relieved when the doorbell rang. Beth slid out of her chair and trotted to the door to answer it. The table members heard exclamations of joy from the front room. Beth came back into the kitchen, followed by a tall, smiling redhead.
"Charlie!" Sam, Dean, Castiel and Kelly cried. Charlie spread her fingers in a Vulcan greeting.
"Evening, bitches," she said fondly. Her eyes fell on Olivia, and she smiled.
"This is my Aunt Charlie," Johnny informed her. "Aunt Charlie, this is Olivia, my girlfriend."
"Nice to meet you," Charlie said. Olivia returned the sentiment.
"Sorry to bust in on you guys during dinner," Charlie continued.
"Nonsense!" Dean said, standing up. "Come into the kitchen, I'll get you a plate."
Charlie followed Dean out of the dining room.
"Bad time?" she asked once they were out of earshot. Dean shook his head.
"Na, Charlie, you know you're always welcome. This entire dinner is sort of throwing me off, to tell you the truth. I haven't had to pretend to be normal in my own home for decades- I forgot how much I hate it," Dean replied tiredly. Charlie nodded, sympathetic.
"Well, I have some good news for you then," she said. "You know that case I've been working on a couple towns over, the Walker ghost?"
Dean nodded, handing Charlie a plate of food.
"I've been tracking it," Charlie's voice lowered. "I don't know what her game is, but I followed her here. She's somewhere on the property, Dean."
"She won't be able to get into the house," Dean said. "We built salt and iron barriers into the walls."
"She could be bound to an object," Charlie countered.
"What sort of object moves?" Dean asked. Beth came into the kitchen, a strange look on her face.
"Dad, there's a cat in the living room. I think it got in through a window," she said. Dean squeezed his eyes shut in frustration.
"Does it have a collar on it?" he asked levelly. Beth nodded.
"A freaky, old-as-balls, supernatural-looking collar?" Dean continued. Beth paused before nodding again.
"Fantastic," Dean said, looking at Charlie. "There is a ghost toting cat in our living room and my son's white-bread girlfriend in the dining room. What could go wrong?"
The lights above them started flickering, as if on command. Dean opened a kitchen drawer to retrieve two pistols containing iron bullets. He held one out to his daughter, eyebrows raised.
"Beth, I swear to Cas, if you lose this one-"
Beth grinned and took the gun from her father.
"Ok, back to the table," Dean hissed. "We gotta let Sammy and Cas know."
Dean took his seat beside Castiel, earning a warm smile from the man. Dean narrowed his eyes, trying to think of the least conspicuous way to get his husband the message. Dean's eventual solution was to grab Castiel by the face and pull him into a surprise kiss, which the latter seemed entirely unopposed to. When they parted, Dean smiled romantically and murmured into Castiel's ear:
"There is a ghost in the house that we need to torch pronto,"
Castiel drew back, surprise and concern coloring his bright eyes. Dean lowered his eyebrows warningly, tilting his head toward Olivia. Castiel nodded in understanding.
Charlie had taken a chair over to sit beside Castiel, and was loading her burger with condiments.
"Hey, Sam, you want to pass the SALT?" Charlie asked, practically yelling the last word. The table members looked at her oddly, but Sam's suddenly serious expression suggested that he knew what Charlie was hinting at.
A flickering dining room light confirmed his suspicions.
"The wiring in this house is always on the fritz," Dean said to Olivia, smiling.
"Same at my mom's apartment," Olivia said.
"Sammy, wanna give me a hand with the fuse box?" Dean asked pointedly, raising his eyebrows at his brother. Sam nodded. The brothers left the room, followed shortly by Beth.
"You live with your mother, Olivia?" Castiel asked conversationally.
If Olivia thought that it was strange to require two grown men and a teenage girl for fuse repair, she didn't say anything. She nodded at Castiel.
"That's right. I don't remember my dad; he left a couple months after I was born."
Castiel looked sympathetic.
"I doubt that Johnny remembers his mother very well,"
A head shake from Johnny prompted Castiel to continue.
"Dean talks about her, occasionally. I don't think that he knew her very well either. He always says that she was enormously brave, though, right up to the end."
Castiel's eyes softened as he focused on Johnny.
"I remember; Dean came to me, exhausted, carrying his almost year-old child that he had only just learned of. He was frantic. He didn't know what to do with you after your mother died. Dean was afraid to take you, but he was terrified to lose you. I suppose those emotions drove his actions, in the end."
Castiel smiled.
The table occupants surrounding him all regarded the fallen angel with bright eyes and softened hearts. Johnny turned his head away from his father to regain any composure that he could.
In the background, various crashing sounds and cat yowls filled the air, but the assembly in the dining room seemed too moved by Castiel's words to notice. The smell of smoke drifted through the house. Dean, Sam, and Beth trod pack into the room, all breathing heavily. Dean was holding a large iron rod, Beth carrying a disgruntled, collar-less, orange tabby.
"Fixed it," Dean announced bluntly. Castiel and Charlie gave terse nods.
Beth deposited the cat in the front room before re-joining her father and uncle at the table.
"We are not keeping that cat, little lady," Dean told his daughter. Beth narrowed her eyes, accepting the challenge.
Johnny's eyes wandered from his sister's mischievous grin, to his dad's fondly exasperated expression, to his pop's benevolent, confused countenance. He looked at Olivia, who smiled widely at him.
"I like your family, Johnny," she told him quietly.
The other table members were too busy in their own respective arguments and conversations to catch her words. Johnny smiled back at Olivia.
"I like them too," he said.