Chapter 1 - Hazy Shade Of Winter

Cas and Gail had cuddled for hours, watching TV, with few words exchanged. They were both mentally worn out from all of the emotional ups and downs they'd experienced over the last couple of days. And now, they were about to embark on another Tablet mission. And even though they had every reason to believe they would eventually see Henri in Heaven once Heaven's politics were sorted out, both of them felt sad that such a good man would have to die so painfully. It should be Benoit and his ilk being eaten away by cancer, Gail had said viciously. Cas's arms had tightened around her for a moment when she'd said that, but he had said nothing. Then she had told him that she shouldn't have said that, but what she'd actually meant was that she shouldn't have said it out loud. That was how she honestly felt, deep down. How was it fair that a wonderful man like Henri should suffer so much? Hadn't he and his family suffered enough, at the hands of people like Benoit and his followers? She was glad that Cas had blown up their headquarters with almost all of those horrible people still in the building, and she was glad that Henri had killed Kurt, too. And if that made her a crappy Angel, which it probably did, Gail had ceased to care at the moment.

Then, at dawn, Gail had taken the TV remote from Cas's hand and turned the television off. "I know we've been blue about Henri, but we're still newlyweds, and we did receive the happiest news we could have ever gotten in Mongolia," she'd said to him, trying to make herself smile. "So, do you think I could get a little loving before we're off to our next adventure?"

"Of course," Cas had answered, grateful to her for trying to lift his spirits. Then he smiled gently. "You don't look blue to me, though. Do I look blue to you? Maybe you're thinking of that Smurfs program we saw a while back."

As a quip, it was decidedly lame, but at least he was trying. The road ahead was going to be bumpy enough. They'd better try to shake themselves out of their doldrums, if they could.

He kissed her, holding her tightly, and she clung to him even more fervently than usual. They started off tentatively, seeking comfort from each other, more than anything else. But soon they were both crying out, as usual.

After they made love for the first time, Cas pulled the covers back over them. The weather was getting quite chilly now.

"I hope we will be able to obtain the Tablet soon after we get there," Cas said to her. "I promised you a nice Christmas here, and I meant it. No matter what. It's time that we had a purely happy occasion, one that lasts longer than five minutes. We all deserve that, and we're going to have it. Come what may."

Gail snuggled against him, smiling. "I completely agree," she said, pleased to hear him say it. "That'll give us something to look forward to." She could just picture it now. "Turkey, tree, presents. The whole nine yards," she continued. "We'll invite everyone over for Christmas Eve Day, as early as they want to come, and nobody'll be allowed to leave until the 26th. In fact, we'll get you to whip up a big snowstorm, so nobody can leave."

Cas smiled. "Our neighbours may not appreciate that."

"Screw 'em," she retorted good-naturedly. "I'm sure they get to celebrate Christmas every year. This will be our first Christmas together, and I want it to be just perfect."

Cas laughed, and he began to caress her underneath the blanket. It was amazing. Last night when they'd gotten home, he had felt depressed and depleted, and now he was happy and excited about spending Christmas in his new home, with his wife and all their loved ones. And it was all due to Gail. She was astonishing.

"You shouldn't talk like that. You're an Angel," he teased her, but he was kissing her face now, again and again, to demonstrate to her that he was only joking.

"I already packed my halo," she retorted mischievously, "and considering what we're about to do to each other, it's probably just as well, don't you think?" She looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.

Cas was shaking his head slowly. She was unbelievable. And she was also quite correct. She was touching him now, and he was extremely excited. He threw the covers off of them and looked at her body speculatively. "Where would you like me to start?" he asked her softly.

"Anywhere you want," she replied, and he bent down to kiss her on the lips, using his tongue.

"I'll start here," he said. "Always here."

Gail gave him her tongue in return. "That's a good start," she said, settling back into the pillows.

"As the expression goes, you haven't seen anything yet," Cas said lightly, and suddenly, his tongue seemed to be everywhere on her body. She moaned, she giggled, and then she cried out. "I love you, Cas!" she exclaimed. Then she was reaching out for him, and he smiled up at her. "You seem to be under the impression that I'm finished here," he said charmingly. Then he bent his head to her again, and she cried out once more, writhing underneath him. Cas held her steady and continued what he was doing until she finally calmed down.

"Now we can talk about me," he said, raising himself up. He slid into her and she automatically wrapped her legs around him. "I love it when you do that," Cas said in her ear.

"And I love it when you do what you're doing right now," she answered. "Go faster, Cas, please."

He sped up as she asked, and a moment later, he was moaning loudly. Gail wrapped her arms around him and held him close to her as he pushed forward once more, and then he was still.

It was full-on morning now, and sunlight was filtering in through the bedroom drapes. "I guess that's our cue," Gail said, kissing Cas's face gently. "Looks like it's shower time."

Cas sighed. She was right, of course. He kissed her and cuddled with her for another minute. "You go ahead, first," Gail said to him. "I'll clean our clothes and pack our bags. Then I'll go, when you're done."

"You're amazing," he blurted out, kissing her face.

Gail smiled. "Why? Because I can clean a few pieces of clothing and pack? Every woman alive can do that."

Cas smiled back. "No. Because...you healed me. I was sad and discouraged when we got home last night, and now I'm refreshed, and my faith is renewed. You did that for me, Gail. You always do. Is it any wonder that I love you so?"

She touched his face. "I'm glad, Cas. You do the same for me. Today is a brand new day." She kissed him softly on the lips, then smiled and said, "Now, you'd better move, or we'll have to phone Sam and Dean and tell them we'll be late."

Cas was still smiling. How he wished they could do just that. He gave her one more kiss, and then he rose from her and headed to the shower.

About half an hour later, they popped into the bunker. The humans were in the kitchen just finishing up breakfast. "Oh, good, you're here," Tommy said to them. "Everyone seemed pretty anxious to get an early start. I've got the usual slide show already set up."

They all trooped into the library area, the humans carrying their coffee cups with them. Robbie was sitting on the couch, flipping channels on the remote. Frank walked up to him and grabbed the remote, switching it to the setting for Tommy's computer.

Jody looked at Tommy with her eyebrow raised. He gave her a half-shrug. "It's your call, but it might be best to send Robbie to his room, to get started on his assignments." Then he smiled thinly. "I gave him some reading to do on Romanian geography and culture. I figured if he couldn't be with his parents, at least he could learn a little bit more about where they were going. And the reading he'll be doing will be a lot more PG than what we're going to talk about here."

Jody gave Tommy a hug. "You're such a good dad," she told him, and he flashed her a grin, pleased by her compliment. "Let's go, kiddo," Jody said to Robbie, gesturing to the boy. He sighed, but he knew the drill by now. They were going to talk about grownup stuff, and then his Mom and Dad and half his Aunts and Uncles were going to leave, to get another Tablet to defeat the Devil. Robbie was really disappointed that he had to stay locked up here in the bunker, but he guessed he understood, too. The adults were all heroes, trying to rid the world of the bad guys, and Robbie needed to remind himself that this was all much bigger than him. He had complained about the situation one night, and Tommy had sat him down and told him very sternly that he had to grow up about it. What his parents and the Angels were doing was saving humanity, and it was a cause that Robbie's Mom had died for. Robbie had burst into tears, running to his room, and Barry had yelled at Tommy that he'd been too hard on the boy. But a few minutes later, Robbie had come back out of his room and crawled onto Tommy's lap, hugging him and apologizing for being so selfish. Tommy had hugged Robbie back and kissed him on the forehead, telling him to go get a bowl of ice cream and then go see what was on TV. Then, when Robbie left the room, Barry had pulled Tommy to his feet and embraced him, saying he was sorry, he had been wrong.

Frank had been heading to the kitchen to get himself a beer, and he'd stopped short, witnessing the latter scene between Robbie and Tommy. Tommy had confessed to Frank a few minutes earlier about what he'd said to Robbie, because he had felt bad about making the boy cry. But Frank approved of the way that Tommy had handled the situation, and what he was seeing now only bolstered his opinion.

As Robbie had rushed by Frank with his bowl of ice cream in hand, Frank had started to wonder about their entire situation. Were he and Jody being selfish when it came to Robbie? They clearly weren't the only parental figures in the boy's life, and they'd spent a lot more time away from him lately than they had planned on when they had originally arranged to take him. Maybe they should talk about a different type of arrangement, going forward.

But for right now, things would remain status quo. Frank tousled Robbie's hair and Robbie said, "Dad! Don't mess up the 'do! It took me all morning to comb it just right."

"Well, that was your mistake, right there," Frank told him, grinning. "If you never comb your hair, it'll just style itself."

"Ladies and gentlemen, my brother, the fantastic role model," Gail said, smiling.

"Ahh, what do you Angels know about our human problems?" Frank groused good-naturedly. "Cas probably rolls out of bed perfectly coiffed, shaved, and dressed in the morning."

"No, Frank, I shower and shave, just like you do," Cas told him.

"But, to address your point, he does roll out of bed perfect," Gail added, as Cas smiled at her.

"Is everyone ready?" Tommy asked briskly. Gail smiled at him. He sounded just like a teacher.

"Class, settle down," Chuck quipped, and they all laughed. Cas took Gail's hand and led her over to the sofa as they flashed Chuck appreciative smiles. They were so happy that he was back to his normal self now.

Once everyone was seated, Tommy put the first slide on the TV screen. It was a black and white picture of an unusual-looking man.

"Vlad Tepes," Tommy said, "also known as Vlad the Impaler."

"Wow," Frank said. "Why the long face?"

"And look at the big porn 'stache he's got," Dean said, smirking.

Sam was fascinated. He'd heard about Vlad the Impaler, of course. Dean had always claimed that Sam had a "thing" for serial killers and admittedly, the younger Winchester had been interested in true crime from a very young age.

"He reigned Wallachia in the mid-1400s," Tommy continued. "His date of birth and the date of his death are unknown."

"That's because he's undead," Frank said, smirking. "Blah, blah!"

Jody rolled her eyes. "OK, Frank, we get it. He's a vampire. Har har. Moving along..."

Tommy smiled. "His father, Vlad II Dracul - hence the name - was a member of the Order Of The Dragon, which was founded to protect Christianity, believe it or not. Vlad Tepes was viewed as a hero, protecting his country from potential invaders. He got his nickname from how he dealt with those enemies. He would have his soldiers impale their captives on sharp stakes and display them on the lawn outside the castle to serve as an example for other would-be enemies. They would be alive when they were impaled, of course, so it would take them a while to die if none of their major organs were pierced, and they would die painfully. Rumour had it that Vlad Tepes would even have a table set up outside on nice days, and have a feast served. There are drawings of him chowing down on what I fervently hope is a chicken leg in full view of his screaming, bleeding victims. But they're drawings only. It's not like they had the Internet back then, and his servants could post the pictures on Instagram. It's pure speculation at this point."

"Even so, I think I speak for us all when I say 'ewww'," Chuck quipped, and they all laughed.

"Times were different back then," Cas remarked. "They were much more barbaric. That kind of behaviour wouldn't have been all that unusual for the region, and for the times."

"Well, you oughta know," Dean said, "seeing as you're the only one in the room who was around back then."

"I just hope we don't see YOU in one of those drawings," Frank quipped.

"That's very amusing, Frank," Cas said absently, but he wasn't smiling. They could joke all they liked, but they had no idea what things had really been like back then. Sam liked to watch a TV show called "Game Of Thrones", and Cas had tried to watch it with him once. The show depicted the brutality and bloodthirsty ways of that era fairly realistically, Cas had thought. He didn't enjoy watching that show, but he understood that it might be of vicarious interest to someone who had not lived through those times.

Tommy had changed slides. "Bran Castle," he told everyone, "is a 13th-century palace near Brasov, in Transylvania. It's commonly known as 'Dracula's Castle'. It's one of the locations Sam and I think needs to be considered as a possible place for the Tablet to be. We can confirm from historical documents that Vlad did live there. But sorry, Frank and Dean, Bran Castle has nothing to do with the novel, and the myth of Dracula. Bram Stoker definitely named his character after Vlad's father, and he most likely used the castle as inspiration for the beginning part of his novel. But I'd tone that stuff down when you get there. As you can probably imagine, the locals resent the association of Vlad Tepes with the fictional vampire. As I said, he's considered a national hero."

Sam grinned now. "That doesn't stop them from making a quick buck from it, though. When Tommy and I Googled Bran Castle, we found out that the road leading up to it is lined with stalls hawking Dracula lighters, T-shirts and mugs, etc., etc. Even fake fangs."

"Really?" Frank said, perking up.

"That does it. I'm confiscating your wallet before we get there," Jody told him, and everybody laughed.

"Yeah, they're certainly not above exploiting gullible tourists," Tommy said, shaking his head. "Everyone thinks the entire country is overrun with superstition, and they're all backward there. But even though they do have some unusual superstitions and legends there, they're no weirder than a lot of ours, really. Sam told me a few stories about some of the monsters that he and Dean have encountered, and that lore is really no worse, just a bit different, culturally speaking."

"Is Elizabeth Bathory real?" Jody piped up suddenly. Heads swiveled to look at her.

"How did you know about her, Jodes?" Sam asked her, intrigued.

"I read about her somewhere," Jody replied, "and I remember thinking that, if she was a real person, she might have been history's first recorded female serial killer."

Sam looked at her with admiration. "I've never felt closer to you than I do at this moment," he said teasingly. "Yeah, she was a real person, Jodes."

"Do you wanna enlighten the rest of us?" Frank asked him. "And, more importantly, stop looking at my wife that way, or I'll have to challenge you to a duel, or something. That's what you old-timey guys would do, right, Cas?"

"Sometimes," Cas agreed, nodding. "Or sometimes, we would just take a sword to the meeting early and behead our rival before we even got to the dueling ground."

Frank looked at Cas, then at Sam, then back at Cas. He couldn't tell if Cas was kidding, or not. But when Frank looked back at Sam, Cas's lips twitched, and Gail nudged him. Good one, her eyes said.

Tommy cleared his throat. He did feel like a teacher with this group, sometimes. But considering the types of situations they'd had to face, he couldn't really blame them for injecting a little levity into the proceedings sometimes.

"She WAS a real person," Tommy confirmed. "But since she doesn't really factor into the subject at hand, I didn't mention her."

"Well, now I've gotta know," Frank said. "Just tell us quickly, and we can move on."

Tommy and Sam exchanged glances. "She was a local woman of some nobility who was very vain about her looks," Tommy told the group. "Legend has it that one day, a young servant girl was brushing the Countess of Bathory's hair, and the brush got stuck. The girl pulled her hair, and I guess it hurt the poor thing. So apparently, she turned around and smacked the girl, so hard that it drew blood. Beats me how, exactly; maybe she was wearing a ring, and maybe it cut the girl's lip. Anyway, allegedly the blood dripped onto Liz's skin and in her twisted mind, it made her skin suddenly look more youthful. Guess what happened next?"

"No way," Frank said. Jody, Sam and Tommy were nodding. "Way," Tommy confirmed. "She started rounding up young servant girls, bleeding them, and taking baths in their blood."

"Holy crap," Dean said, amazed.

"Hey, never underestimate a woman when it comes to her beauty regimen," Jody wisecracked.

"Wow, she was worse than Dracula," Frank commented.

Gail looked at Jody, and both women were fighting not to smile. All these guys thought that Dracula was cool, but they were horrified at the thought of a female being a bloodthirsty killer. Was that a double standard, or what?

"Oh, I don't know," Gail said airily. "If Riley calls me 'Ma'am' one more time, I might consider trying it."

Riley looked stricken. He had been sitting on a chair he'd brought over from the library table that he'd placed beside the spot where Cas sat on the couch. Gail was starting to find Riley's hero worship of Cas highly amusing. Sam and Dean had let him stay at the bunker, and he showed no signs of wanting to leave. Maybe since Bobby was no longer God, or even an Angel, he didn't feel as if he had the authority to tell Riley to go back, or maybe Riley just didn't want to go. She supposed they would have to sort young Riley out, one way or the other. Perhaps if Cas asked him to go back to Heaven, he would. She very much doubted that Cas would want someone as young and green as Riley involved in any of their missions. But while he was here, she wasn't above teasing him, just as she would any of the others.

Gail and Jody laughed, then Gail looked at Riley and said, "As I'm sure you've seen, we all like to tease each other here, Riley."

"Yeah, the meaner she is to you, the more she likes you," Dean piped up.

"Oh, look who's talking," Gail retorted.

"Bite me, Mrs. Castiel," Dean shot back, grinning.

"Speaking of which," Tommy said loudly, trying to bring everyone back to the point, "there's a Dracula's Castle Hotel in the Borgo Pass, which could be another place for the Tablet. It's another tourist trap. There's even a crypt and a coffin in the basement of the place. We booked all of you in there. The hotel's restaurant is the original building of the house where Vlad was born, so the structure itself dates way back. You'll like this, Dean: the ground floor of the hotel has a small museum called the Museum of Ancient Weaponry."

"Yahtzee," Dean said happily. "I can't wait to see what kind of weird-ass weapons they have in there. Maybe we'll have to steal a few for here, Sammy."

"You do realize that half of the people in this room are Angels, right?" Sam said, grinning again.

"Well, some of us aren't any more, and we're not getting any younger, either," Bobby said irascibly. "Quit your foolin' around. I'd like to leave sometime today."

The Winchesters fell silent, and Tommy continued, "The town where the impalements actually took place is called Targoviste. It's 64 miles northwest of Bucharest. We've identified that as a possible third location, but since that's a whole town, maybe you want to try the hotel and restaurant first, since you'll be staying there, anyway. Then the castle, if you come up empty there. Then, if you need me to, I can do some further research."

"What's the weather going to be like?" Gail asked him.

Tommy smiled. He and Sam had known she would ask. "I have some good news for you, Gail. It'll be cool and dry. You may even see the remnants of fall colours on the trees. You'll be just on the cusp of winter when you get there. Winters are cold there, especially in the mountains, and there could very well be a bit of snow."

"Yayyy," she said, smiling. "Finally, a livable climate. "I might even have to buy a winter jacket when we get there."

"Culturally speaking, you should find the people there friendly and very hospitable," Tommy continued. "Many of them have pretty good senses of humour, from everything I've read. I guess you'd have to, when where you're from has such a bad rap, mythologically speaking. Most of them should be able to speak some English, especially in the more tourist-y locations. They also speak French, German, and Romanian, of course. Most of the people you'll encounter will be Christians. In fact, you'll probably arrive just in time for Saint Andrews' Day. He was known as the First Called, or the First Chosen. Legend says, among his other talents, he could hit the ground with his walking stick, and water would just spring up out of the ground."

Gail looked at Cas. That sounded like something her husband might be able to do with his blade. Maybe she would get him to try it.

"For you humans, especially Frank and Dean, there's more good news," Tommy continued in a cheerful tone. "The cuisine there is based pretty heavily on meat. Lots of comfort food. Soups with pork, sausage, and lamb. If you're feeling especially adventurous, there's a local dish called 'drob de miel'."

"Do we even want to know what that is?" Frank asked him suspiciously.

"It's a sort of lamb haggis, made from offal," Tommy replied, somewhat evasively.

"Can we have that in English?" Dean said.

"Heart, liver, and lungs," Cas told him.

Dean made a face, and Cas gave him a tight smile. He reminded himself that none of them here would have ever butchered an animal for the purposes of sustenance. His Father had put animals on the Earth to serve man, and it had been considered a crime not to kill animals for food, and also to use as many parts of the animal as you could. In the ancient times, offal had been a staple in many meals, and no one would have turned their nose up at it if the alternative was to starve.

"That's OK, Dean, they'll also have beer, and plenty of it," Tommy told him. "They also drink a lot of wine, and the local booze is 'tuica', which is a plum brandy. Watch that stuff; it packs a punch. I was there as a young correspondent and I overindulged, and the next morning I woke up in bed with a guy whose name I couldn't even remember." He grinned ruefully. "Sorry, hon," he said to Barry.

Barry shrugged. "Hey, we all had our flings when we were younger."

"Cas didn't," Dean piped up.

"Dean!" Gail exclaimed. "Why would you say something like that?" Truthfully, it didn't really bother her all that much, coming from him. They were a pretty close-knit group. But she knew that the male ego could sometimes be a fragile thing, and she didn't want Cas to be embarrassed in front of all his male friends.

But Cas was smiling, practically beaming. He took her hand and brought it to his lips. "That's right; I didn't," he said proudly. "I was waiting for my person. She took a long time to get to the altar, but I could never have been with anyone else, so I had no choice but to remain chaste until she finally got here."

Wow, Frank thought. He'd always suspected as much, but Cas really had to have some kind of chops to have held out for that long. Jody hadn't been Frank's first, and he knew he hadn't been hers. But that didn't matter to him, because now, they would be each other's last.

He was definitely not above teasing his brother-in-law, though. "'I made it through the wilderness, somehow I made it through'," he said.

Jody knew what he was doing, and she tried to resist, she really did. But the words flew out of her mouth anyway: "'Didn't know how lost I was, until I found you'."

They were both grinning, and Cas looked at them and said, "That's beautiful. Is it a love poem?"

Gail was glaring at her brother and sister-in-law now. "It's the overture to two people getting their asses kicked, that's what it is," she said.

Now Sam and Dean were grinning, and Barry and Tommy looked at each other. "I was beat," Barry said. "Incomplete," Tommy added.

"I'd been had, I was sad and blue," Chuck piped up.

"But you made me feel, yeah, you made me feel shiny and new," Sam contributed.

"I will pull my blade on everyone in this room," Gail threatened. She was trying to stay angry, but her lips were twitching furiously now. Even Bobby's eyes were crinkling with amusement.

There was a moment's silence, and then everyone started to sing "Like A Virgin". Cas looked confused, and then he nodded. Now he got it.

Gail was looking at him, trying to gauge his reaction. He looked back at her. "Does everyone know that song?" Cas asked his wife.

"It was a pretty popular song," she told him. "They all think they're being really funny."

"Do YOU think it's funny?" he asked her, curious.

Gail broke into a smile. "I kind of do," she told him. "I hope that doesn't hurt your feelings."

"Do you know the song, too?" he inquired.

She nodded. "Yeah, I do, Cas."

"I want to hear you sing it with them, then," he said.

She gave up. It was impossible to resist, when everyone was singing so happily together. Even Dean was singing along now. So she joined them for the chorus as Cas looked at them all in amazement.

When they were done, Cas applauded. "That was very enjoyable," he said. "Perhaps you should all form a choir."

Dean was looking at him suspiciously. Cas was doing that inscrutable thing that he did sometimes. "Are you mad at us, Cas?" he asked his friend.

"Why would I be mad, Dean?" Cas said mildly. "Because everyone in the room is having fun at my expense?"

Dean did a double-take, then said, "OK, everybody lock their doors and paint sigils on their walls."

Cas smiled. "Sigils don't work on me anymore, Dean. I'm able to transcend them now, if I'm properly motivated."

Gail was smirking at the look on Dean's face. Cas was simply having fun with him now. Well, she was pretty sure he was, anyway. She would double-check with him later, when they were alone, to make sure his feelings hadn't been hurt. But for now, she confirmed, "It's true, Dean. He got past the sigil that Lucifer had put on the library wall. It's like the power of positive thinking, or something. And if he did it once, I'm sure he could do it again."

Dean looked startled, and Gail burst out laughing. "Sure, you can laugh," Dean grumbled. "He's not gonna kick YOUR ass."

"Well, maybe all of you should have thought of that before you started your little song," Gail retorted.

"Okay, we've had our fun, but is there any chance we can get back on the subject?" Tommy said.

"What WERE we talking about, anyway?" Chuck asked him.

Tommy threw up his hands. "I don't even know any more. It's a good thing we don't do this kind of thing all that often. If I was a teacher and you were all my students, I'd have quit my job by now."

"Hey, I've got a really important question," Dean said. "When am I gonna get to drive a car on any of these missions? I thought since we were going to Europe, I'd get to drive a cool import, or something. Hell, I'd even settle for a mini-Cooper, at this point."

"Austin Powers?" Sam said, amused. "'Groovy, Baby,'" he added, attempting an English accent.

Dean looked at his brother. "Never do that again," he admonished him sternly.

By now, Bobby had resigned himself to the fact that this group was determined to digress. But now, he thought that might not be such a terrible thing after all, within reason. They'd all been through so much lately; maybe they just needed to blow off a little steam. Truth be told, so did he. With everything that had been going on, Bobby really hadn't had a chance to process his own feelings about being a human again. On the one hand, he had missed being here with the boys, being in the midst of all the action. But, on the other hand, being a human again meant that he was now feeling each and every year of his age. Maybe he should stop acting like such a grumpy old man all the time and try to have a little fun every once in a while. Maybe that was what kept you young.

So he said, "Considering where we're going, maybe you should be driving Herman Munster's car."

The Winchesters looked at Bobby in surprise. When was the last time they'd heard him say anything even remotely hunourous. Neither of them could remember.

Sam grinned. "It'd be more like the Addams Family, for our generation," he said, "but I don't know what they drove. If anything."

"The way Cas and Gail act, they could be Gomez and Morticia," Dean said. "And Frank could be Lurch, cause he's so tall."

"Hey, Sam's tall, too!" Frank objected.

"Yeah, but until Sam gets a haircut, he's gotta be Cousin Itt," Dean said, smirking.

"Who's willing to shave their head?" Sam said good-naturedly. "We need an Uncle Fester."

Tommy turned off the computer. "I give up. You people are impossible."

"Sorry, Tommy. I don't know what's gotten into everyone today," Gail told him. "We'll listen now. We promise."

"That's OK, Gail," he replied. "I know how you guys get, sometimes. But I'm just trying to make things easier for you when you get there, that's all."

"See now, you've hurt Tommy's feelings," Gail chided Dean and Frank. "He does a wonderful job with all of his research. You guys need to behave yourselves."

"Us? What about you?" Dean said, astonished.

"Since when are you the boss of me?" Frank protested.

"Well, she may not be, but I am, and I say, can it," Jody said sharply. "Gail's right. You guys need to show Tommy some respect."

The men fell silent, and Tommy smiled. "Thanks, Ladies. OK, so I was just about to talk about Romanian etiquette, and superstitions. I believe I mentioned they're not necessarily more superstitious than we are, but they do have a few kind of odd ones. And I know etiquette sounds trivial, but it'll make things easier for you over there if you don't offend the locals." He waited for someone to interject, but there was nothing forthcoming for a change, so he continued: "The Angels won't be eating and drinking, of course, but you'll offend your hosts if you don't take their offer of a refill, so Cas and Gail, keep that in mind. Even if you do refuse, they'll insist, so you might want to figure out a strategy for that. Avoid aggressive negotiations for anything, if you're doing business with a local. It's considered rude if you don't establish a bit of a personal relationship, first. Ask about their kids, or whatever. No blunt, direct talk."

"We'll send Cas in for that assignment, then," Dean wisecracked. Jody shot him a look. "Sorry," he said quickly, and Gail had to avert her face to keep from laughing.

Tommy powered on. "It's good etiquette to bring your host a gift. The woman who runs the hotel would be a perfect example. If one of you handsome guys wanted to bring her a gift, you could probably finesse your way into a few more places in the hotel to search."

"What's she look like?" Dean asked with a grin, unable to resist.

Now Tommy smiled. "Plump, and grandmotherly. It looks like she's in her mid-60s."

"Over to you, Sammy," Dean said, and everyone laughed.

"Anyway, if you decide to give her flowers, just make sure that there's an uneven number of them. An even number of flowers is unacceptable. It's considered very rude, because even numbers are only used at funerals."

"Maybe just skip the flowers altogether, and bring her chocolates, instead," Dean said, smirking.

"It's considered very bad luck to break a mirror," Tommy continued quickly, before anyone else had the opportunity to go off on another tangent. "Just like people believe here. Seven years' bad luck. But then, it goes left of centre from there. I know you'll be taking lots of weapons, but one local superstition is that if you play with a knife, 'the Angels will run away from you'. Make of that what you will," he added with a faint smile.

"There you go, Gail. If Cas pisses you off, you can just do that," Dean said.

"Wow, I don't know what was in your cereal this morning, but we may have to stop by the animal shelter for a muzzle," Gail said to him. She'd actually thought that what he'd said was a little funny, but she didn't want to encourage him right now. Bobby was starting to look cranky again.

"It's not all fun and games," Tommy plowed on. "They believe that if a painting falls from a wall, a close friend or relative will die very soon afterwards. If a cat sits on someone's grave, that person's soul has arrived in Hell. And, if there are 13 people in a room at one time, the one sitting closest to a mirror will die."

"It's a good thing that Ethan, Kevin and Becky are still in Heaven, then," Chuck remarked. "If we include Robbie, there were only 12 people in the room earlier."

They all looked reflexively at the mirror that hung above the fireplace in the living room area. Frank and Jody were sitting underneath it on the loveseat, and Dean was sitting in the chair next to Jody. Jody looked from her husband to Dean and back again. "If these two keep it up, that could end up being a fact, instead of a superstition," Jody said, but she was smiling.

"Okay, the last thing I'll talk about is the gypsies," Tommy said. "That term is actually politically incorrect. They're Romani people, or 'Roms', for short. They're wary of Americans because there are so many negative stereotypes associated with their culture. They do have some colourful expressions, though. If you want to tell somebody to go to hell, you say 'du-te dracu'."

"There's that derivative of Dracula again," Sam commented.

Tommy nodded. "Yeah, and 'Pe dracu' basically means b.s., like, 'it's too good to be true'. The literal translation is 'Only the Devil could believe that'. There are other, more vulgar expressions that I won't get into. Oh, and Jody and Gail will like this: A 'magar' is a jackass; it's a term for males who are stupid, rude, or annoying. I'm just going to let that one lay there, with no editorial comment whatsoever."

Gail and Jody smiled at each other. "That one's definitely going in the memory banks," Jody quipped. "In fact, I may have to get a couple of personalized license plates made up for Christmas." She and Gail laughed, and after a moment, so did everyone else.

"And the last thing I'll leave you with are some words of caution," Tommy said. "Guys, if you're ordering a drink and you want lemon with it, be very, very careful of your pronunciation for lemon. If you say 'la muie' instead, you're going to get slapped in the face. Well, by any woman of quality, anyway."

"OK, you've gotta tell us what that means, now," Sam said, curious.

Tommy grinned. "All I'll say is that the latter term describes a certain act which my gentleman friend and I may or may not have indulged in that night, when I drank too much tuica."

Sam looked at Dean. "I'll Google it later," he told his brother.

"That's it, folks. That's all I've got," Tommy told them. Everyone stood, thanking him.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Cas said, gesturing to Barry.

"Sure, Cas, what is it?" his friend asked.

"I'm not sure how long we'll be gone, so I want to make sure you have everything you need here, before we go," Cas said to him. "I don't want anyone to leave the bunker, under any circumstances. From now on, until we take care of Lucifer, I don't want to see any humans leaving here without my protection. Is that understood?"

"Sure, Cas," Barry said soberly. "There's no way we're taking that chance again." He remembered the last time, when Cas had gone to Paris and he and Tommy had tried to drive Robbie to school. Robbie's father had shown up, and so had Lucifer, and Robbie had been taken. Luckily, the Angels had been able to retrieve the boy.

"I mean it," Cas said sternly. "I'm going to ask Riley to stay here, just in case I'm needed. You have my cell number, of course, but he can call us on Angel Radio, if need be. If you need anything, or you sense any kind of danger, I want you to contact me immediately."

"We'll do that, Cas," Barry told him. Then he looked at Gail. "You're right, he's sexy when he's stern."

Gail smiled. She got up on her tiptoes to kiss Cas smartly on the cheek. "I agree," she said. "I had an idea," she said to her husband. "I think I want to pop over to our place and bring our candlestick over here. There won't be anybody there anyway, and that way, we'll have double the protection here. What do you think? It couldn't hurt, right?"

Cas put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze. He thought she was sweet to think of it. "It might not help, but it couldn't hurt," he agreed.

Gail touched Barry's arm and then winked out of the bunker. Barry looked at Cas. "I'm so glad to see the two of you constantly together, weathering all of the storms," Barry said to him. "Every time I get discouraged, I take inspiration from the two of you."

"Gail once told me that love trumps everything," Cas said softly. "We have to believe that, Barry. At times, it's all we have."

"I do believe it," his friend answered. "I believe in you and Gail, and all of you. And to answer your question, we have everything we need for a while, Cas. When you were in Paris, Bobby and the other Angels brought a whole bunch of food and other supplies here. He said he had the feeling we were going to be on lockdown for a while. But if you're gone a long time and we do run out of something really important, like ice cream for the kid, we'll call you." He grinned to show that he was teasing.

Cas looked at Bobby, who was talking with Frank and Jody. Cas walked over to where the three of them stood.

"Can I speak with you a moment, Bobby?" Cas asked him.

The men moved away from the couple.

"Yeah, Cas?" Bobby said.

"I just wanted to tell you..." Cas faltered. He tried again. "Sometimes I don't give you enough credit," Cas told Bobby. "I know that you and I have had our differences, but I want you to know that I think you were a very good God, Bobby."

Bobby regarded him curiously, wondering where that had come from, all of a sudden. "Thanks, Cas," he said. Then he looked around. "I thought I saw Gail wink out a second ago. Where did she go?" he asked Cas.

Cas told Bobby about her idea, and Bobby nodded appreciatively. Gail was one smart cookie. "I know you haven't been around to enjoy it much, but how are you liking the house, Cas?" he asked.

"We love it," Cas told him. "Much better than the last one."

"Yeah. That was too bad," Bobby agreed. "Thank God no one got hurt in the explosion."

Cas looked at him, startled. He suddenly realized he was missing a golden opportunity here. If he was looking for corroboration of Metatron's claim that the entire Demon period was nothing but a false memory, Cas need only ask Bobby some questions.

"Explosion?" he echoed.

Bobby looked at him strangely. "Ya know, Dean was joking about you getting Angel Alzheimer's the other day, and I'm starting to wonder if he wasn't onto something. The explosion, Cas! When those kids broke into your house and tried to cook up some meth. They blew the place sky-high."

Cas looked at him, astonished. Kids? Meth? This was the strongest support yet for Metatron's story. So, Bobby hadn't rained down holy fire on their house, it had been destroyed by juvenile criminals?

He opened his mouth to ask Bobby some more questions, but then, he thought better of it. Too many questions phrased too bluntly might arouse Bobby's suspicions. The last thing Cas wanted to do right now was to take the focus away from the mission at hand. Still, he really wanted to be certain. Maybe he would be able to get in a few more questions here and there, along the way.

Gail popped back in and set the candlestick on the library table, beside its mate. Frank and Jody were just coming out of the hallway with their bags. They had gone down to Robbie's room to say goodbye, and to tell him that they would see him as soon as they possibly could. Robbie was sad to see them leave again, but he was growing used to it by now, and he knew that Barry and Tommy would take good care of him in the meantime. And Robbie's mom told him that Uncle Cas was going to ask Riley to stay here with them, too. Robbie was happy about that. Besides Kevin, Riley was the closest to him in age. They'd already bonded over video games, and Tommy had promised Robbie that if he did well in his assignments and kept his room clean like Barry asked him, he'd be allowed to play some video games with Riley when he was done.

"Hey! How's that house you never see?" Frank asked Gail.

"I might ask you the same thing," she responded. "That's okay; you're all coming over to our place for a big Christmas this year. The house will get nice and broken in, then."

"Christmas? Did I hear you say you're hosting Christmas this year?" Dean said, putting his bag down beside Frank's and Jody's.

"Yep," Gail confirmed happily.

"So we're gonna have a real home-cooked turkey dinner this year?" Dean said excitedly.

"Only if you behave," she shot back.

"Then, no," Sam grinned, putting his bag down next to Dean's and nudging his brother.

Everyone laughed. "Ready?" Cas asked. He took Sam and Dean by their hands, Gail grabbed Frank and Jody, and Chuck took Bobby. "I'll be back for the bags in a minute," Cas told Barry. Then the group winked out of the bunker.