Part 1 - Care package

"George and Marge are together again, dear. Your parents are happy and you can be, too."

"Thank you, so much! You've been such a comfort during all this."

"No problem. Bye now. Don't you be a stranger! "

The woman walked out to her car, seeming a little more light in her steps. She had watched her mother struggle through cancer and was having trouble dealing with the loss. Missouri had been seeing her weekly for over a month. It was good to see her spirits take a turn up, for once. The closure has been healing for her.

Missouri made her way through her home, to her kitchen. She had been baking for a local bake sale and had decided to make a bit extra for John's boys. It had been a little over a month since she had seen them, and before that, several years. They had stopped by on their way home from some ghost hunt or similar adventure. It was a nice visit but it troubled Missouri's heart. Dean's eyes had looked so haunted and Sam seemed more concerned for his older brother than usual. They wouldn't talk about it, when pressed. Although Missouri was psychic, she would rather people talk about things to her, than have to resort to using her abilities. She could plainly see that Dean had made some sort of deal to save his brother's life. She couldn't blame him. Sammy had been Dean's responsibility since before he could grow facial hair. She sometimes felt that Dean saw Sam more like a son than a brother. He would do anything for the boy and apparently he had fallen on an option of last resort this time. Sam was concerned that Dean wasn't being true to his feelings and treating the whole situation without enough seriousness and he was right. The fear in Dean's eyes was as plain as the nose on his face. But he laughed and joked with a bit too much bravado to sit comfortably with anyone. Apparently, at the time of their visit, Dean had only about 7 months until payment for his deal came due.

Needless to say, the boys had been weighing heavily on her heart. They had been through so much and, it seems, continued to wade into the thick of things. So she decided a good old fashioned care package was in order. She had found some old photos of the Winchesters from when the boys were just babes. She included them, a long letter full of encouragement as well as a healthy dose of firm mothering, and some tasty treats as well. It had taken quite a bit of back and forth on the phone with Sam to determine where and when to mail her package. Sam assured her that if she mailed it this week to the address he gave her, that they would get it.

Part II - Waiting

"So, how long do we have to hang around here?" Dean was on the verge of whining.

"I told Missouri she could send us some mail while we were here. I imagine it'll only be another day or two." Sam felt as if he'd explained this a dozen times already.

"What's she sending?"

"I don't know, but she seemed pretty determined to get it to us, so I told her we would stick in town until it got here."

"Okay, whatever, man. I'm going out. You coming?" Knowing Dean was probably headed out to a bar, Sam passed.

"Whatever. Suit yourself. Don't wait up!"

As Dean headed out the door, Sam leaned back in the cheap plastic motel chair. Dean was drinking more than ever before. Trying to drown his fear, no doubt, but it concerned Sam more than usual. He was afraid Dean had crossed a line he wouldn't be able to come back from. Even if Bobby, or anyone for that matter, could figure a way out of Dean's deal, Dean was liable to drink himself into an early grave anyway. Dean left whistling, pretending all was fine. Sam knew better. He hadn't been watching his brother all these years without getting to know his every facial expression. He could read his brother's eyes like an obit page. It was pretty straight forward if you knew what to look for. Dean was scared. Sam stayed behind not just because he was still trolling the internet looking for anything that could keep his brother from taking a one way trip to hell, but because he had gotten tired of his brother's act. Let him go, get drunk, bed some girl he won't even remember the name of, and pretend nothing was wrong. Sam couldn't be around it anymore.

Dean sat at the bar, not really caring about any women tonight. He knew that's what Sammy thought he was up to. Truth be told, he didn't have the heart for it lately. His mind was consumed with other thoughts and those, not too conducive to a good time with a woman. He didn't even go out to the bars at night for the drinking...not really. He just couldn't bear to watch Sammy searching fruitlessly for some sort of 'get out of jail free' card. It was going to happen and there was nothing any of them could do about it. Dean sure as hell didn't want to sit around a skanky motel room dwelling on it either.

He began to wonder what it was Missouri felt so compelled to send them. He thought back to the first time they met. Sam had led them home to Lawrence and their old family home. Mom...that was a tough one. Dean was glad they could help out the family that was there, but he had never wanted to go back there. Even though he was only four at the time they originally left, he swore he could still feel the heat of the fire when they walked into the house. He couldn't wait to get out of there. Missouri, though, she was a piece of work. At first, he wasn't sure what to make of her. It seemed like she could read his mind and it made him uncomfortable. His thoughts were his own and he didn't share them lightly. Even the last time they saw her a few months back, it was the same. The last thing he wanted to talk about were crossroad deals and hell hounds. She kept asking questions that he refused to answer, but they brought to mind too many things which, he was sure, she could read like a book. Oddly, she didn't say anything about what she may have seen in either his or Sammy's heads. She just gave them that motherly, knowing look. You know the one. The one that makes you blush and feel guilty for stealing the last cookie from the cookie jar. He thought the look was probably worse than anything she could've said, because it made him think and he didn't want to think, dammit!

"Barkeep...another one." He would just sit here, enjoy his drink and listen mindlessly to the music playing in the background.

Part III - The Arrival

The next morning, Dean slept late, as usual. Sam decided he'd slip out for coffee and a few of those breakfast burritos from the diner on the corner Dean seemed to love so much. He'd even get him extra onions. The weather was nice so they could always put the windows down in the car if they needed to. As Sam passed by the little motel office, the clerk called out to him.

"Hey, dude! I forgot to tell you yesterday, this package was dropped off for a Sam & Dean Winchester, but it has your room number on it. Do you know who they are? It's been sitting here all night." Sam was confused at first, til he remembered they weren't checked in under their real names. They rarely use them anymore.

"Umm, yeah, we're meeting some friends in a day or two and they said they were going to be mailing some stuff on ahead. That must be it. Thanks!"

"Sure, bro. As long as it doesn't sit here anymore, I'm cool."

Sam, smiled at the kid, took the box and headed back to the room, burritos forgotten. When he got back to the room, he could hear Dean singing in the bathroom. He's the only guy he knows that belts out Metallica in the shower. Sam went over to the little kitchenette and ran some hot water in the sink.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

Chuckling to himself, Sam called through the bathroom door, "Come on, man! Missouri's package came!" Sam headed over to the little table and, flicking out a knife, proceeded to open the box. Scattered in the top were about 2 dozen loose photos. There were shots of mom and dad when they were young. A few of mom in a hospital holding a baby. He couldn't tell if it was him or Dean. A photo of the house, Impala sitting by the curb out front and a moving truck in the driveway. And a smattering of photos of dad and whom he assumed was Dean playing out in a yard. Dean walked up behind him and snapped him in the butt with his towel.

"Not funny, man! What have you got there?"

"A bunch of photo's of mom and dad, the house, us..." Dean looked over his shoulder at the photo's and then his eyes moved beyond them to the box.

"Alright! Now we're talkin'! Homemade cookies!" Dean pulled out a paper plate filled with chocolate chip cookies and wrapped heavily in seran wrap. "Ooo! There's a note attached...Ahem...'Dean! Hands off! These are for Sammy!'...pft! How's she gonna know if I eat a cookie!" Dean proceeded to open the cookies up as Sam watched, rolling his eyes. Dean and his food. Dean picked off the top cookie and below it was another note. Sam grabbed it before Dean could and read "I mean it, Dean!"..."Ahhh Ha! She's got your number already! Gimme those!" Sam took the plate and then snatched the half eaten cookie which was dangling from Dean's stunned mouth.

"Yeah. Whatever. Let's see what else is in here." Under the cookie plate were a bunch of letters. "These look like letters mom and dad wrote to each other. Maybe while they were dating? That would be weird." Dean made a little smirk.

"Why? I think it would be a great way to get to know mom better." Sam reached over and took the letters.

Dean looked at him skeptically, "I don't know man. I'm not sure I wanna read all their mushy stuff. That's just awkward."

"Fine I'll read them first and only let you read the G-rated ones."

"Very funny, bitch."

"Jerk." Sam smiled to himself. It had been a while since they had done that. Maybe Dean was feeling nostalgic with the photos...or his impending date with a hell hound.

"Oh ho ho! And what is this?" At the bottom of the box was a white styrofoam box that fit quite snugly into the mailing box. "What do you think it is?"

Sam just made that little frowny-face thing he does and said "Don't know. Won't know til you look I suppose. Maybe it's a giant cookie just for you." Dean grinned like a child and tore into the mailing box in his attempts to get the styrofoam box out. The mailing box was having none of it.

"What is this thing made of, anyway?" Dean was starting to get frustrated. No matter how he tugged, pushed or twisted, he couldn't dislodge the stryofoam from the outer box. He took it and chucked it at the wall, where it bounced off and landed on his bed.

"Woah, Dean, relax!" Sam was grinning ear to ear. This was just too hilarious. The mighty Dean, foiled by a mailing box! "Have you thought of using a knife and cutting away the outer box?"

Dean growled. "Yes of course! I was just setting it on the bed so I could get my pocket knife out." He rolled his eyes at Sam and pulled out a sinister looking pocket knife. It wasn't your run of the mill Swiss Army Knife, that's for sure. He flicked it open and began to cut into the box. Many attempts and two more tossings of the box and he had the outer box off. Sam was trying so hard not to laugh, but it wasn't working. "Stow it!" grumbled Dean.

Dean sat at the edge of his bed and slowly opened the styrofoam lid. Just enough so he could peek in. After all that work, maybe he thought something was going to jump out at him. Sam waited impatiently "So? What is it? Have you completely destroyed it in your heroic efforts to extract it from the outer box?" Sam thought Dean was going to cry. The look on his face was pure devastation. Sam couldn't imagine what could be in there that would put a look on Dean's face like the one he was seeing now. Let alone something from Missouri. Sam, quite frankly, didn't think Missouri knew them well enough to have anything to send that would have that kind of meaning to Dean. "Come on, man! What is it? or was it?"

At that point, Dean set the box gingerly down on the bed next to him, got up, and headed for the door. "I gotta take a walk." And he was gone. Sam just stared after him in silence. Finally, he mustered the courage to go over and flip open the box. He stared for at least a full minute and then burst out laughing. He just couldn't help it. From the other side of their motel room door Sam heard "I can hear you! Son of a ..." Dean came back in, not having taken a walk but just sulking outside the room. "It's not funny!"

"Oh, but it is!" Laughing to himself the whole time, Sam packed up their gear and bags while Dean moped. When they got out to the car, Dean made Sam drive. All the way to Illinois, Dean stared at the open box in his lap. Finally, with a 'What the hell...', Dean dug in with his bare hands and ate every last bite of what Sam could only assume started out as a very beautiful pie.