Sherlock looked around as John sat down in the living room, giving up on Sherlock. Bobby was still upstairs, tidying up, as Sam went to talk with the Doctor. It had been a while since he had last talked to the Doctor and he desperately wanted to know who he changed his entire physical form. That's when Dean approached Rose, who was looking through the fridge for something other than alcohol.
"So, you travel with the Doctor now?" he asked as she stood up.
"Yep, have for a little bit," she replied, shutting the door. Dean nodded as she looked at him. "How do you know him? He said that he ran into you a while back."
"Yeah, Sam and I were working on a case last year when he showed up. Nearly killed him, actually. Thought he was a demon or something," Dean answered, shrugging his shoulders. Rose gaped, shocked at his.
"You nearly killed him?" she repeated, flabbergasted.
"He was standing in the middle of the crime scene when Sam and I got there. We figured he was the cause of it," Dean clarified as Rose nodded, knowing that the Doctor usually was too curious for his own good. "How did you meet him?"
"Blew up the shop I was working at. Then an alien kidnapped my old boyfriend. I helped the Doctor save him," Rose answered, looking up at Dean.
"So, you're single then?" Dean asked with a grin. Rose shrugged before looking away.
"More or less," she admitted as Dean nodded, trying to act suave. Cas appeared behind Dean, making Rose jump out of her skin. He turned around quickly and rolled his eyes.
"What is it, Cas?" he asked irritably. Cas glanced at Rose before looking at Dean again.
"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Cas asked as Dean sighed and Rose wandered away. Dean led Cas farther into the kitchen before turning to him.
"What?" Dean whispered, hoping that this was really important.
"Are you sure it was a good idea to invite the Doctor?" Cas inquired as Dean shrugged.
"Sure. He's not going to hurt anyone, Cas. He's a good man," Dean replied before Cas sighed, unsure.
"That man has killed more than you have Dean, and most were innocent people," Cas reminded as Dean looked down at his hands.
"Cas, I know that man pretty well. He stands for the same things that I do. It will be okay, Cas," Dean reassured, trying to get Cas to see reason. The angel sighed and looked out the window. "Just try to enjoy the holiday, okay? Can you do that?"
"I will… try," Cas replied, deciding to trust Dean. The Hunter grinned and handed Cas some eggnog.
"Perfect," Dean replied with a smile and leaving the kitchen, where Cas stayed to examine the liquid that Dean had given him. Dean wandered back into the living room to find Sherlock looking out the window as John sat on the couch.
"Comfortable?" Dean asked, catching John's attention.
"Very much, thank you," John grinned as Dean sat next to him.
"How you holding up?" Dean continued, opening a bottle. John gave him a curious look. "I mean from the TARDIS. How are you doing?"
"Surviving," John whispered, not really wanting to talk about it.
"Don't worry. I took me about a week to recover from it," Dean sighed before taking a swig. "I was surprised to see you guys here, though. I didn't think the Doctor would have brought friends."
"Well, Sherlock knows him, I don't. Apparently the Doctor promised Sherlock something about monsters," John replied, making Dean laugh. "Right? It's crazy."
"Nah, it's just that I was planning on taking Christmas off this year," Dean whispered as John gave him another look.
"What?" John demanded, confused.
"Sam and I are Hunters, and we hunt monsters and demons," Dean smiled as John shook his head.
"You're mad," he muttered, half laughing. Dean smiled and looked down at his hands. "Really? The Doctor was telling the truth?"
"Afraid so," Dean whispered, turning on the TV to another Christmas special. John bit his lip before looking up at Sherlock, who had been listening in. Of course, he didn't believe a word of it. There was no way that monsters and demons existed in real life. They only existed in people. Soon, Bobby came back down and walked over to Sam. "You don't believe me."
"You have to admit that it sounds outrageous," John pressed, joining Sherlock's side on this one.
"I guess you can believe what you want," Dean shrugged, taking a sip. Soon, Bobby came into the living room and motioned for Dean to come over. He stood up and walked into the hallway. "What is it?"
"I just got off the phone with Ellen," Bobby answered as Dean looked at the phone in his hand.
"Is she okay?" Dean asked, thinking that Ellen didn't usually call to chat. Bobby sighed and shrugged.
"She says that she has a job for you boys, but I told her that I would call her back on it. It sounded pretty urgent," Bobby informed as Dean rolled his eyes, unable to catch a break.
"How urgent? Can it wait for a few days?" Dean asked.
"Well, it's just an hour drive from here. You might be able to figure out what's going on by this evening," Bobby reasoned as Dean but his lip. The Doctor overheard the conversation and wandered over.
"A case?" he wondered, looking between the men. Dean sighed and shrugged.
"I think you might want to go check it out," Bobby argued.
"What's even going on?" Dean asked, giving in a little.
"It seems that there's been some ghost activity down in Sioux City, Iowa. Look, it's probably nothing, but someone came in and asked for someone to fix it," Bobby answered as Dean looked over at Sam.
"What do you think?" Dean asked, knowing that his brother was also listening.
"I think that if we have time, we should go check it out," Sam admitted, trying not to sound too excited about getting out of the holidays. Dean took a deep breath and nodded.
"Fine, but we're coming back home before dinner," Dean informed, upset that he couldn't have his Christmas. Sam gave Bobby a quick smile before the old gruff rolled his eyes. "You guys gonna come with?"
"Us?" John asked, hearing the conversation as well. Sherlock merely nodded and walked over to the Winchesters. Cas appeared behind Dean while The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand enthusiastically.
"Of course. You don't have to come, John, but it seems we're all going," Sherlock replied as John looked at each person, wondering how mad they were.
"Fine," John sighed as he stood up and joined the group. Dean smiled, thinking that his Christmas wasn't ruined after all. Sam stayed behind to count how many people were actually coming before catching up to Dean.
"There's no way we're going to fit all of us in there," Sam informed as Dean shrugged.
"Cas can ride on the top of the car," Dean suggested as the angel and John turned toward him.
"That's not at all a good idea," John informed, wondering if these men were psychopaths.
"I can meet you there," Cas answered as John nodded.
"Come on, Cas," Dean argued as John gaped.
"You are not seriously thinking about this," John hissed, pointing at Cas.
"What if someone saw?" Sam reasoned as Dean nodded, thinking that was a valid point.
"What if he fell off!?" John nearly shouted as Cas gave him a strange look.
"I would be unharmed," Cas informed, taking the question literally as he squinted at John.
"What?" John whispered, thinking that he was paying for something he did to Sherlock a long time ago.
"I am an angel. I would not fall off the car and I would not get hurt," Cas informed as John stared for a moment before throwing his hands up in surrender.
"I'm out," John informed before he walked back over to the Impala. Sam tried to keep from laughing as he turned to Dean.
"I will see you guys there," Cas informed before Dean could protest and vanished. John noticed that Cas disappeared and looked around to see if he ran off somewhere. Dean took a deep breath before he got in the car. Rose was already sitting in the middle of the front seat as the Doctor, Sherlock, and John took up the back. Dean slid in next to her before starting the car. Sam sat in the passenger seat, wondering if it was still legal to have someone sit in the middle in the front. Once Sam closed the door, Dean drove out of the lot onto the road.
~~C~~
About halfway through the trip, John had fallen asleep in the back as Sherlock and the Doctor talked about what had been happening in their busy lives. Rose told Sam and Dean of her adventures with the Doctor.
"You really saw the 2012 London Olympics?" Dean asked with a smile. He would love that much freedom.
"Yep, and the Doctor even helped carry the torch," Rose mentioned as Sam shook his head. He wasn't exactly sure if he believed in time travel, but stranger things had happened.
"That must have been quite a sight to see," Dean mentioned as Rose shrugged.
"It would have been better if there wasn't an alien kidnapping people through drawings," Rose added with a sigh. Dean glanced over at her, thinking that she was rather adaptive.
"Really?" Sam asked, disbelieving. Rose simply nodded and didn't say much else.
"Seems like you and the Doctor have a good time," Dean mentioned as Rose nodded.
"It's fantastic. I love traveling to far off worlds and times with him," Rose smiled, making Dean grin. "What about you? Any adventures?"
"Too many for my taste," Dean sighed, sudden visions of Hell filling his head. Sam bit his lip, still unsure if Dean remembered anything from Hell. Rose just nodded as Sam started to talk about interesting cases that they've worked, like the Ghostfacers and meeting Cas for the first time.
"Seems like you guys get your own sense of adventure," Rose smiled, looking out on the road. "So, we're investigating ghost activity? I thought there was no such thing as ghosts."
"There are," Sam assured as Rose shook her head.
"I mean, we had a ghost encounter once, but it turned out to be aliens made out of gas," Rose mentioned as Sam gave her a strange look.
"And that's more feasible that real ghosts?" Sam asked before she shrugged.
"Honestly, I didn't believe in aliens until I met the Doctor," She reminded as Sam nodded.
"True," he admitted.
"I just never gave it much thought, I guess. Wasn't ever on my mind," Rose added, trying not to sound like a skeptic. She liked to keep her mind open to new possibilities and ideas. This was definitely a new idea. "So you two just hunt ghosts for a living? Like the Ghostbusters?"
"No, not like that. We also hunt demons and monsters, and we don't get paid to do it," Sam answered as Rose looked at him.
"Then how do you make a living?" she asked, skipping the part about the demons and the monsters.
"Pool hustling and gambling, mostly. Sam and I are quite the con artists," Dean spoke up, pulling himself from his nightmares. Rose paled at the sound of that and shook her head.
"You guys are something else," she whispered, unable to fathom their life style.