In the Winchester household, Halloween was always a fun occasion. This year was no exception. Ben was going as Luke Skywalker; he'd recently gotten into Star Wars and now he was obsessed with it. Mary was going as Yoda, because she was small so about the right size for it. Dean was going as Darth Vader, and insisted upon carrying around a recording of The Imperial March and playing it whenever he walked, which made Mary laugh but made Ben complain loudly that he was being embarrassed, but whenever Dean spouted a Vader quote he would laugh right along with his sister.

It was their first Halloween without Lisa.

Last year, Dean and Lisa had gone as Molly and Arthur Weasley, Ben and Mary as Ron and Ginny. They'd had wands and everything, and the wands lid up at the ends. They'd talked in horrible fake British accents and called candy "sweets" and Dean and Lisa had asked if the houses they visited in their neighbor hood had any tea and crumpets, because that was British, right?

Despite the sadness of their loss this year, they didn't let it dampen their spirits and they set out onto the streets, leaving a cauldron full of candy on their own doorstep for children to take from as they went around. Dean could have easily stayed behind and given out the candy because Ben was twelve now and more than responsible enough to take care of his four year old sister as they roamed the neighborhood, but they had always done this as a family and this year was no different.

Ben held his candy bag on the end of his lightsaber as they wandered door to door, skipping their next door neighbor because there had been a moving van outside earlier and they didn't want to bother the new neighbors who were just settling in, and they came out the other side of the night pretty lucky.

They'd gone out and six and returned home at seven, and from on they watched a spooky children's movie, this year's choice being The Little Vampire. At nine, Mary went to bed whistling Tony and Anna's special whistle, tired and full of candy. Ben went off a half hour later, asking if next year they could go as a the vampire family from the movie and asking if he could have candy for breakfast.

At ten, there was a knock on the front door.

Dean had been in the living room, sipping some good wine by the fire with the TV on in the background, working on a piece for work when that knock sounded. He'd decided to move out of his studio for the night to be more comfortable and lounge on the couch in pajama bottoms and an old Star Wars shirt keeping in theme with the evening as he worked on a commission of The Tenth Doctor from Doctor Who swinging on a swing in a circle surrounded by roses.

Through the peep hole, Dean spotted some late trick-or-treaters, so he dashed off to grab the remainder of the candy he'd set out before opening the door to a teen dressed as Han Solo and a man who must be her father, dressed in a casual and well-fitting blue button down and jeans, with a jacked to shield him from the cold, holding a sign that said "I was too lazy to wear a costume so I'm a Stormtrooper out of uniform."

'Trick or – nice shirt, dude!'

Dean pressed a hand to his chest, as if touched.

'Han Solo just complimented my shirt,' he declared. 'I've never been more flattered. Here, take as much as you want. I doubt there'll be more around tonight and if you don't take it I'll end up eating all of it.'

'Thanks!' Han Solo grinned, shoving her hand into the cauldron.

'Anything for the Stormtrooper?' Dean asked, then he wanted to add a holy shit because he'd finally looked properly at her father.

That was one hot Stormtrooper out of uniform. Dark hair, blue eyes, pretty smile. A Stormtrooper's uniform hiding that would be a sin.

'Nah,' shrugged the hot Stormtrooper. 'I'll just eat all of hers tomorrow so I can tell her I ate all of her Halloween candy and send it in to Jimmy Kimmel and get myself on TV. The twist is that I won't be lying.'

'Shh,' Dean urged, 'she's right there. She can hear you.'

'Oh, don't worry about me hearing,' Han Solo replied, 'he steals my candy, I steal his pork rinds.'

'You go, Han Solo,' Dean grinned. 'If only you guys had come around earlier … me and my kids were dressed as Vader, Luke and Yoda.'

'We always go out late,' said Han, 'though that would have been cool. We almost didn't go out at all because this lame dad didn't have a costume.'

'I'm literally wearing a costume right now!' the hot Stormtrooper protested. His voice was deep, gravely and pleasant to listen to.

'You're just saying that because you were too lazy to put on your costume!'

'I've been unpacking boxes all day, Claire. That's not easy.'

'My name is Han.'

'Han Lee, I know. So go bust Max and Caroline's' balls and not mine.'

'Han Solo. Not Han from Two Broke Girls.'

'I'm so sorry. My mistake. And I'm so sorry for fighting with my daughter in front of you, man in the Star Wars shirt.'

'Not a problem,' Dean promised. 'Are you guys the new neighbors?'

'Right next door,' hot Stormtrooper grinned. 'You're our first stop, so congratulations on that, Star Wars shirt.'

'Dean.'

'Castiel. Call me Cas.'

Castiel the hot Stormtrooper extended a hand, which Dean shook. Firm, friendly grip.

'And I'm Han Solo,' Han Solo declared, although it had been let slip that her name was Claire.

'And I've never been more honored to serve anyone on any good Halloween night,' Dean smiled down at her proud beam. 'And listen, if you two need any help with boxes or setting up or whatever, let me know. I'd be happy to lend a hand, and I'm sure a lot of other people in the neighborhood would too. Real friendly group.'

'Any hot girls around?' Han Solo asked brightly.

'Your age or mine?' Dean asked, quirking an eyebrow at the unusual question.

'Either,' Han shrugged. 'I'm on the lookout for a Leia and I don't care if she's an older woman.'

'And that's enough out of you,' the hot Castiel – hot Stormtrooper – damn, just Castiel or Cas decided, placing his hand firmly over Claire's mouth. 'But I'd be very grateful for your help, or anyone's really at this point. You have no idea how much I'm dreading painting the entire house by myself.'

'Wht'm I, chpp'd l'vr?' came a muffled question from Han.

'By myself and with someone who will show up, paint two strokes and then go off to start running the internet bill up before it's even installed,' Castiel corrected himself, 'my mistake.'

'I can help you paint any time,' Dean offered. 'I sort of do it professionally.'

'You paint houses?'

'If someone pays be to paint a picture of their house, then sure.' Dean laughed when he saw Castiel frown in slight confusion. 'I'm an artist.'

'Oh my god,' Han said excitedly, pushing her father's hand away from her mouth, 'can you paint me? I've always wanted my own portrait like some super important historical figure.'

'Han, I'm sure he charges for that,' Castiel disapproved.

'Usually,' Dean reasoned, 'but hey, Han Solo just asked me to paint her, so I'll do that for free.'

'Come over tomorrow to help us paint,' Han Solo requested, 'and then we can talk about my …' she trailed off to get into a very regal position, 'portrait sitting. Father darling, I'd like you to buy me a swan to sit on the arm of my throne. I'd also like a throne.'

'You can have the pigeon and the couch.'

'He's a canary.'

'Yeah, whatever.'

'Okay, so, tomorrow?' Han asked Dean excitedly.

Castiel cut in before Dean could answer, with, 'come on Claire – sorry, Han – I'm sure he doesn't have time to come over to a complete stranger's house to paint the house and the stranger for free.'

'I'm not a stranger,' Han corrected, 'I'm Han Solo. And it doesn't have to be tomorrow. It can be any time, we'll be painting the house for like a week. And you can even bring Luke and Yoda because I'm assuming you were Vader because you're the dad.'

'Well, I …'

Dean looked up at Castiel questioningly, who looked down at Han "Claire" Solo's eager grin.

'Up to you,' Castiel shrugged. 'My job and her school doesn't start until next week so it's whenever you're free.'

'I work at home so my hours are pretty flexible,' Dean shrugged. 'And I'm pretty free tomorrow. The thing I'm working on is small and my deadline for it isn't for another three days anyway. My son's got school tomorrow but my daughter's pre-school isn't back on until next week, so …'

'Bring her,' Han urged. 'I like little kids. They're cute.'

'I agree,' Castiel nodded. 'Claire has a dog she can play with if she likes dogs and she could even help paint the low bits on the walls if she's up for it. And yes Claire, I know, you're not Claire, you're Han Solo.'

'She does love painting,' Dean grinned. 'Alright, tomorrow. I'll help you guys paint and we can talk about that portrait.'

'It doesn't even have to be giant,' Han reasoned, 'just like, a normal sheet like you find for printers.'

'A-four it is.'

'What time do you think would work best?' Castiel asked. 'We're free all day from dawn until dusk.'

'Same with me,' Dean grinned.

'How about like, twelve?' Han asked. 'We could all work for an hour and then get lunch and then work some more. Perfect, right? It's perfect. I'm a genius.'

Dean and Castiel exchanged a glance. Castiel gave an approving nod, so Dean looked down at the beaming Han Solo.

'Twelve it is,' Dean grinned. 'And Mary loves dogs.'

'She can talk to our canary too if she wants. He's one of those finger-tame ones that are super rare. We've had him since he was two months old so we were able to train him, he's almost two years old now.'

'We actually keep budgies,' said Dean, 'so I'm sure she'll like that.'

'Kay,' Han grinned. 'So we should finish trick or treating now. But we'll see you tomorrow. Twelve. Okay? Twelve. In the afternoon. Not midnight. Noon. Got it?'

'Got it,' Dean promosed.

'Okay, bye!' Han chirped, already beginning to skip off to the next house.

'Kids,' Castiel muttered, rolling his eyes. 'Though don't tell her I called her that. She'll be sixteen in May.'

'My lips are sealed.'

'And I'm sorry, by the way,' Castiel offered. 'If she forced you into anything.'

'Not at all, really,' Dean swore. 'I'm happy to help and if that means painting a portrait of Han "Not Claire" Solo too then I'm happy to do it.'

'I should catch up to her, then,' Castiel said with a small laugh. 'So tomorrow. I'm guessing you know the time.'

'Uh … four? Four in the morning, was that it?'

'No, six in the evening,' Castiel corrected. 'I'm certain of it.'

'Right, so see you at nine tomorrow night.'

'Yes. See you in twenty minutes.'

'Nice meeting you,' Castiel laughed again.

'Yeah, you too,' Dean nodded. 'See you.'

'See you,' Castiel replied as he began to walk away. Looking over his shoulder, he added, 'four tomorrow afternoon.'

'I'll be there at ten!'

'It's TWELVE!' Dean heard Han Solo scream.

'We're just kidding, Han,' Castiel assured her as he continued to walk away, giving a wave.

Dean waved back before he closed the door.