Disclaimer: I do not claim any ownership of these wonderful characters
Hey everybody! This is the first chapter in a series about the three boys living at the headquarters. I guess it's a little bit au since it doesn't deal with the main plot points of season 8 and Cas is a part of these stories; I've been missing him terribly. It'll also be a little bit Destiel shippy here and there, but not a whole lot since it isn't the main point of my stories.
Please feel free to leave me reviews! This is my first crack at fanfiction and I'm dying to know what people think. Also, if you have any suggestions for further adventures in the domestic life of the Winchesters, please feel free to suggest!
Dean swung the ancient refrigerator's door open, leaning on it and examining the almost bare shelves; nothing but a few beers, old pizza, and some condiments. He leaned in a little farther to see if anything a little more appetizing was hiding behind the beer and pizza.
"What are you looking for?" The familiar deep tones of Cas' voice almost made Dean jump out of his skin, and he hit his head on the inner ceiling of the fridge. After the few stars he was seeing dissipated he looked to his side to find Cas standing directly to his left. As was his habit Cas was standing within inches of Dean, once again forgetting the whole personal space concept.
"Dammit, Cas," Dean stood up slowly, rubbing the back of his head, "You know you don't have to pop around in this place. You could just walk from room to room like a normal person and not give me a heart attack.
"My apologies."
Dean sighed, "Don't worry about it." He shut the refrigerator door and walked past the counters and cupboards on one side of the large Men of Letters kitchen, examining a cupboard here and there hoping to find something appetizing. They had not been able to make it to a grocery store in quite some time, running from city to city, following cases wherever they took them and eating crappy road food along the way.
Cas did not move from where he first popped into the kitchen, watching Dean meander around, still wondering what his human was looking for. Dean slammed shut another cupboard, full of expired food, and turned back to Cas, "What are you doing in here anyway?"
"Sam asked if he should order some food since it appears this place is severely lacking in rations. I offered to check with you on the matter since he is in the middle of reading a very lengthy, and slightly inaccurate account of-"
"Yeah, yeah, Sammy's geekin' out again, I got it. I don't think I could eat any more take out this week if you paid me. No," Dean walked past Cas, patting him on the shoulder on his way toward to the hallway that lead to the exit of the Batcave, "I'm heading to the store. There's gonna be some real food in this house tonight."
...
Dean whipped the Impala onto the empty highway, hoping his lead foot will get him to the store all that much quicker. Although, the quiet drive with a little Led Zepplin in the background was a welcome reprieve from all the crazy. A moment later, the atmosphere in the car shifted. Dean looked at the thermostat to see if Sam had been messing with the settings again. Suddenly a shape appeared in his peripheral- "CAS!"
"I hope you don't mind some company on this trip to the grocery store." Dean spied a small smirk on the angel's face.
Dean turned the music up just a few more notches, filling the silence that Cas seemed so comfortable to maintain. Although he had been looking forward to getting out and being by himself for a little while, he had to admit that the company of his favorite angel was welcome in contrast to not knowing Cas' whereabouts.
In what seemed like no time at all, they reached the outskirts of the closest town and Dean pulled the Impala into the parking lot of the small grocery store. He turned the key, opened his door, and stepped out in one fluid motion. He turned as he closed his door and saw that Cas was already walking toward the collection of shopping carts just outside the establishment's doors. He ran to catch up with Cas as he stopped and stared at the shopping carts inquisitively.
"Should I take one of these?" Cas asked, perturbed by the herd of metal baskets. Dean pushed past him and pulled out a cart. Without a word, he turned the cart and walked into the store, shaking his head at the angel. Cas hurried after him through the automatic doors, hair ruffled by the gust of air being pumped into the doorway.
Dean immediately headed for the produce, Cas close in tow. "You ever had gumbo, Cas?"
"I have only experienced a few of your dishes, mostly because of Jimmy's affinity for certain kinds. What is gumbo?"
"Just one of the best meals ever. I've gotten pretty good at making it, it uses a lot of different things and you can pretty much make it with left overs; if we had any back at the Batcave." Dean wandered through the produce aisles, picking up everything he would need for the meal he was already salivating over. While he grabbed the vegetables and herbs he wanted, Cas wandered through the aisles, picking up and putting down every specimen that went into their cart.
The two men walked in comfortable silence as Dean continued to add what he needed into the shopping cart. He tried to hide a smile as Cas became more and more engrossed with the contents he was picking off shelves and ordering from the deli.
As Dean and Cas passed the bakery, neither could resist the aroma of freshly baked bread and pie. Dean grabbed a freshly baked loaf of french bread while Cas stared at the stacks of pies neatly organized by flavor.
"Hey Cas, grab an apple pie for me?"
"Of course," Cas grabbed the freshest apple pie he saw and placed it gently in the shopping cart as they left the bakery section.
As Dean finished unloading the contents of their cart he turned to find that Cas was not standing as close to him as he usually did. "Cas?" Dean turned around to look back down the checkout line to find Cas standing by the rack of tabloid magazines. Dean shook his head and finished paying for the groceries and placed them in the cart, smiling at the checkout clerk as she handed him the receipt.
Cas stared awkwardly at the tabloids, his brow furrowed. He turned slightly when he sensed Dean standing next to him with the cart. "Looking for the latest updates on Hollywood gossip?" Dean smirked as Cas still had a confused looked in his eyes.
"I don't understand."
"Well, when humans get bored they like to talk shit about people they think have it all."
"All what?"
"Just, you know, money, fame, all that." Cas still looked somewhat concerned about the wall of colorful magazines all screaming about who cheated on whom, and the latest pregnancies of several different women. He tilted his head wondering to himself, Why do humans find this so important? Dean grabbed Cas' shoulder and turned him away from the tabloids. "Come on man, let's get back home."
...
Dean dumped the sacks of groceries on the counter in the kitchen, Cas standing just a few feet behind him.
"May I help you with dinner?"
"Sure, why not?" Dean handed Cas several ingredients, including most of the vegetables. "Do me a favor and rinse those off in the sink."
Cas carefully washed everything Dean threw his way, more than happy to contribute to what was probably the first normal night for the Winchesters in a very long time. He watched Dean as he began making some kind of soup in a large saucepan on the stove. "What is that?" Cas nodded at the curious substance in one the stove.
"It's called roux; first step in making the best gumbo you'll ever have."
After Dean had started the roux he went to the sink to help Cas finish preparing the vegetables. He pulled out a knife from the drawer next to Cas and chopped the celery, onion and and bell pepper at a surprising speed. Cas watched with concern as Dean chopped away at the vegetables, the knife moving quickly at an alarming proximity to Dean's fingers. He never saw the smile on Dean's face as he noticed that the angel's focus had shifted to his hands.
After the roux had finished, Dean had Cas stir another pot on the stove as he added the roux along with many other things Cas could not identify. Cas kept stirring after Dean had finished adding everything, unsure what he should do next. Dean placed another pan on the stove, throwing in shrimp and crab to simmer in a sauce that Dean told the confused angel was called Worcestershire.
Dean turned to the fridge and pulled out to beers. He jumped on the counter next to Cas and the stove, popping off the bottle caps on the counter. "You don't have to keep stirring that, you know," Dean smirked at Cas. He held out the second beer to Cas. Leaving the beginnings of the gumbo to simmer on their own, Cas leaned against the counter next to Dean's legs and took the beer from him.
Dean knew they would have about an hour before he would have to get back to cooking dinner so he convinced Cas to play a quick game of cards with him. Cas sat at the table, cards in hand. "Why don't we play a board game? Those are much simpler."
"Nah. Come on, poker really isn't that hard." Dean leaned back in his seat at the table, completely relaxed as he watched the angel squirm in his chair. They both slowly collected a small group of empty beer bottles as they played, although the game quickly turned into Dean beating Cas and Cas' face becoming more and more confused as Dean explained more and more rules that seemed to contradict each other.
The timer of Dean's phone started beeping, quickly ending their game as Dean jumped up and went to the kitchen. He grabbed the last few needed items to finish off the gumbo, adding in everything that had been simmering in the other pan. Cas went back the giant pot to stir as Dean had showed him earlier. A smile crept across his face as he helped Dean finish preparing the meal that he was so obviously proud of. The fact Dean Winchester, the most stubborn and private creature he had ever encountered preferred to share an afternoon with him and patiently teach him the ways of cooking food warmed his vessel's heart.
...
"SAMMY!" Dean called for his little brother from the dining room, placing a giant bowl of gumbo and two slices of the oven toasted french bread. Sam stumbled into the room, sleeves rolled up, hair unkempt, and stubble beginning to fill in his face. Dean turned around to face Sam and halted. "Woah there, Sam. You're looking a little ragged." Dean walked past Sam, heading back toward the kitchen to get the other two bowls, "Sure you ain't hitting the books a little too hard?"
Sam chuckled, "This is nothing. I went to college, remember?" He slumped into his seat and hung his head over the bowl of steaming gumbo, thanking the heavens that Dean had decided to make dinner rather than order another disgusting pizza. Sam caught movement in the corner of his eye and jumped when he saw that Cas was now sitting across the table from him, carefully placing the playing cards in their box.
"Jeez, Cas, you gave me a heart attack!"
"You two seem awfully jumpy. I would have thought you'd grown accustomed to me 'popping from room to room.'" Cas adjusted his voice at the end of sentence, imitating Dean with startling accuracy. Sam smiled into his bowl.
"Alright, Cas," Dean exclaimed as he walked through the kitchen doorway, "Prepare to have the best meal of your life." He placed the bowl and bread in front of Cas along with another beer.
The three boys sat together, each making faces of equal surprise and appreciation as they tried the meal Dean had created. His face lit up with pride as he heard several "Thank you"s and "Wow"s. The night slowly slipped by, and as the three of them finished their meal, the empty bottles slowly increased and the Batcave was filled with laughter as the playing cards were pulled back out and Cas was convinced to attempt another round.
So there's chapter one! Hope you enjoyed it! I'll try to make this a weekly thing. A huge thank you to livin-la-vida-loki-d for her help with this story, it wouldn't have happened without her. She has some wonderful work, y'all should check it out.
See you next week!