Chapter 38

It was Claire's birthday that Friday. The big two-oh. After the success that was Mary's birthday, Dean was almost certain he could make the young hunter's exodus from teenhood pretty damn awesome. What he didn't expect, was to find Claire packing her bags when he went to her room to wish her a happy birthday.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Where're you going?" he asked as she shoved her entire closet into her duffel.

"Alex got her own place. Transferred from USF to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. She's set up in an apartment off campus. Lease started at the beginning of this month so she can get settled before break ends. Can you believe they get a whole month off?" Claire explained as if it weren't news to Dean.

"So you moving in or something? You don't need that much clothes for just a weekend trip," he pointed out, sitting on the edge of the bed while she packed.

"Well she did transfer to be closer to me. Figured it'd just be easier if we lived together…" she said with a shrug. "It's not like I'll never see you. Lincoln's kind of the halfway point."

Dean sucked in a deep breath. He was not gonna get mad at her for wanting her own life. Not on her birthday. He wasn't his dad. "Ok… That's cool, but why am I just now hearing about it?"

"'Cause I didn't want you to try to talk me out of it," Claire said, finally meeting his eyes. "I just… I want what you and Cas have, you know? I think… I think she's the one."

Dean's eyebrow quirked. "Oh yeah?" he asked thinking that she was way too young to be considering spending her life with someone. He sure as hell didn't know what he wanted at her age.

Claire sighed. "I know what you're thinking. Before you say it, just know that I'm not planning on popping the question this weekend. It's just… It's something I've been thinking about. Moving in with her's a big enough step as it is though. Besides, she's got school and stuff so it's not like we're in any rush for marriage or kids or anything like that just yet…"

"But…?"

Claire sighed again and sat on the bed. "But, don't be surprised if she's got a rock on her finger sometime in the near future. I mean, you and Cas were engaged a long time before you finally tied the knot so it's not like this shit has to happen right away… right?" she asked and Dean detected nervousness in her tone. She was coming to him for advice on this shit. He wanted to help but it wasn't like he and Cas went about things the 'right' way or anything.

"Well, that was mostly because Lucifer was possessing him for, like, half a year… But, yeah. You gotta take this stuff at your own pace. Do what's best for you guys," he offered.

Claire grinned. "Thanks, Dean."

They spent most of Claire's birthday helping her move into the one bedroom apartment she was sharing with Alex. As soon as they got her gaming pc setup in the living room (thanks to Charlie), all of them (Dean, Cas, Mary, Sam, Eileen, Charlie, Claire, and Alex) headed out to the Cheesecake Factory for Claire's big day. Dean ended the night on cheesecake, claiming that it was more like pie than cake, and they said goodbye to Claire, telling her that if she needed anything they were just a phone call away.

Before the Winchesters knew it, Christmas was upon them. Dean never really celebrated before, they were always in too much of a crisis or just not feeling festive enough, but this year he was determined to make it the best Christmas ever goddammit. Although he'd given Cas his 'early Christmas present' at the beginning of the month, he was sent on getting his husband a gift he wouldn't forget (and no, he wasn't talking about his penis).

At the mall, the four Winchesters, Charlie, and Eileen split up and agreed to meet back up in the food court in three hours. Sam had grumbled, saying that he could avoid the hecticness and just get all their presents online, but Dean wasn't having any of that. Besides, he didn't trust Amazon. Damn computer were gonna take over someday.

Dean found gifts for Charlie and Claire at Hot Topic, Alex at VS Pink, Eileen and Mom's gifts came from Bath and Body Works, Sam's was a gag gift from an 'As Seen on TV' store, and for Cas, he got him a couple of things from Barnes and Noble. He also stopped by a pet store for Olive and got a little something for Jody and Donna from the Godiva store. At exactly one o'clock, he headed to the food court and got himself a chili cheese dog, and joined the rest of his family.

On December 25th, after a rousing morning of Christmas sex, Dean and Cas made their way to the library where they'd set up a real, not plastic, Christmas tree earlier that month. There, they found Jody and Donna shaking their presents like small children. When Dean entered the room, he watched them for a moment before clearing his throat, making both women jump a little, guilty looks on their faces.

"Nothing to see here boys," Donna said sheepishly as she rose to her feet and sat down in one of the chairs they had arranged in a circle around the tree.

"Uh huh," Dean said, crossing his arms in faux anger. "Sure…"

"Get everyone's asses out of bed already! I'm pretty stoked for our first Christmas with the Winchesters, you guys!" Jody said with glee. "And it'll be my first with my lady…" She leaned over to give Donna a small kiss on the cheek. It was grossly cute.

When everyone was finally awake (Sam and Eileen sure took their sweet ass time and Dean did not want to know what they were doing all morning), they all gathered around the tree. Mary played Santa, helping pass out gifts to each person in a fair and orderly manner. Alex went first, and unwrapped Dean's gift. It was an ironic jersey style tee shirt from VS Pink that said 'fries before guys' in big bold letters. As soon as she read it, she bust out laughing and held it up for everyone to see. Of course, Jody insisted on taking pictures.

After a couple more gifts were passed around, Mary opened her's from Dean, a spiced vanilla three wick candle from Bath and Body Works. He'd also gotten Eileen a bottle of their French lavender and honey lotion. Sam gave her a very sparkly pair of rose shaped earrings, which earned him a kiss (again, grossly cute). Charlie unwrapped the Gryffindor cardigan Dean found for her at Hot Topic and all but tackled him as a thank you. Claire also liked his gift, a skeleton dress that she said would be perfect with ripped tights and boots. The lil punk.

He gave Olive a race track sort of toy that had a ball inside of it she could push around, which Cas opened for her. As expected, she was way more interested in the box than the toy. His gift to Sam made Donna spit her coco all over herself. Because he was a little shit, he'd gotten his brother a hair braiding tool from the As Seen on TV store. He didn't expect him to use it, but Charlie insisted they try it out immediately, giving Sam rows and rows of tight braids. He looked ridiculous but, to everyone's amusement, left them in for the rest of the gift exchange.

From Cas he got a cozy looking forest green sweater. He wasn't much of a sweater guy but he was a Cas guy, so he put it on right away, earning a large satisfied grin from his husband. He also gave him a really nice Fossil watch, which he knew he'd get good use out of. To Cas, he gave him the Settlers of Catan board game, a bee hat that he knew Cas would only wear the once (but come on, he had to get it) and a Star Wars version of the game Sorry.

Finally, one last gift remained. Under the tree, Mary pulled out a small box. "Now, I was told to save this one for last," she said, handing the gift and accompanying card to Alex.

Alex opened the card and her eyes went wide. "Read it!" Donna shouted and she did.

"Dear Alex… I'm not exactly good with words, but here it goes. I know we haven't been dating for very long but being with you has been the best part of my life. It hasn't even been a month since we moved in together, and still I know that waking up next to you is something I never want to stop doing. You are my best friend and the love of my life. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I want to spend the rest of it with you…" she read, tears welling in her eyes. "Claire…?"

"Open it," Claire said from beside her.

Alex carefully tore open the pretty silver wrapping paper and undid the velvet purple bow. Inside was a black box. She slowly lifted the lid, revealing a beautiful rose gold ring set with a teal gemstone and framed by small diamonds.

"Oh my god…" she whispered as Claire got down on one knee in front of her. "Oh my god."

"Annie Marie Jones… Alex… I know this may be a little soon, but-"

"Yes."

"Are you sure? I won't be upset if you say-"

"Claire, I'm saying yes!" Alex cried as she grabbed her now-fiancée by the face and pulled her into a kiss. Everyone cheered as Claire slipped the ring onto her finger.

2016 turned into 2017 and there was still no sign of Lucifer. After the first of the year, the only people left in the bunker were Dean, Cas, Sam, and Charlie. Mom was out hunting again and didn't know when she'd be back. Dean, however, was in no rush to machete any vamps. He was perfectly content spending the winter months curled up with Cas watching movies and playing Settlers with his brother and 'sister.'

His birthday consisted of a ski resort in Colorado minus the skiing. It was mostly a hot tub, room service, and legalized marijuana. Pretty much the best birthday ever.

Valentine's Day wasn't something Dean normally made a big deal over. In the past he'd dubbed it 'Unattached Drifter Christmas' but for the holiday, Cas got him tickets to a cruise at Navy Pier in Chicago. Couldn't really say no to that.

A couple of days after they got back from the Windy City, however, Cas received a phone call from none other than the King of Hell.

Mary was still out hunting on her own, and Charlie promised to hold down the fort. So the three remaining Winchesters traveled to New York and met Crowley at a morgue, looming over the dead body of a powerful CEO who, surprise, had been a vessel for the Devil himself.

"Lucifer's not content with slutting it from one random vessel to the next. He's moving on to blue chips: celebrities, captains of industry. He just got a lot more dangerous," the demon explained.

"I agree with agent Zappa," Cas said and Dean rolled his eyes. He would.

"Ok. Why don't we split up," Dean suggested. "Cas, you and Crowley continue to investigate here, and Sam and me will figure out what we can dig up back at the bunker." He didn't like leaving Cas alone, but he knew his husband could take care of himself.

After some research, they discovered that Lucifer was probably possessing a St. Louis archbishop and promptly traveled to his archdiocese to investigate. The place was a slaughterhouse. Exorcism gone wrong. Unfortunately, they found the archbishop. He didn't make it. Lucifer burned him out. They definitely needed Cas on this one.

They returned to the bunker again and showed Cas the pictures of the bloodbath at the archdiocese. They all agreed that they had to call Crowley, although, Sam was not happy about his ability to just show up in their library.

After some dramatics, the King of Hell told them, "Did a little digging, acting on a tip. And I think I know the identity of Lucifer's newest vessel. Gentlemen… Lady," he said, giving Charlie a small nod. "I give you one Jefferson Rooney, President of these United States."

Fucking great.

The plan had holes. Glaring holes. And Cas was none too happy about it as he paced back in forth in the library. "Even if Crowley does bring in Rowena, the problem remains. Lucifer can't be returned to the cage inside his vessel. His essence has to be extracted," he said as Sam walked back into the room.

"Yeah. And Lucifer has found the perfect safe house," Sam said, pulling up the White House webpage on his laptop. "I mean, how do we even start getting close to the President?"

"Well, it helps that he's not in D.C.," Dean said from his own laptop. "He's actually on a fundraising swing through the Midwest."

"Yeah, right now, it looks like his whole party - aides, Secret Service, the whole circus - is staying at an estate owned by Ron Forester... the, uh, hedge fund zillionaire... It's right outside Indianapolis. But it is completely surrounded by walls, security, Secret Service, military. Plan B?" Sam asked, pushing his laptop away.

"He's got a hell of a speaking schedule. Averaging three events a day, and he's got a gala dinner on Friday night," sighed Dean, rubbing his hand down his face.

"Well, at least he'll be outside of the mansion," Castiel stated, leaning against Dean's table.

"Yeah, but that shit'll be guarded. Like Heimdall guarding the rainbow bridge guarded," Charlie pointed out. "We need a plan C."

Cas nodded. "I'll grab you guys some coffee," he offered, for which Dean was grateful. He really did have the world's greatest husband.

When Cas returned to the library balancing four cups of dark liquid, he suddenly buckled over, smashing the Men of Letter's white and red mugs onto the hardwood floor. He was clutching his head and grunting in pain, clinging to one of the library tables.

"Cas? Cas? Hey, baby, are you ok?" Dean asked as he fussed over his husband.

"Something's happened. Something…" Cas gasped. "Angel radio... There's so many voices."

"What are they saying?" Sam asked, concerned.

"There's been a massive surge in celestial energy," he breathed. "A Nephilim is come into being."

Charlie looked confused. "A what now?"

"It's the offspring of an angel and a human," Cas explained. "But the power to produce this is immense. It's much, much greater than a typical angel."

"Lucifer," Sam gulped.

"Lucifer?" the older Winchester brother bleated. "I didn't know he was dating."

"Maybe we need help from our witchy friend after all," Charlie exclaimed, a stunned look on her face.

All of them, minus Charlie, drove out to Indy to meet Crowley and Rowena. On the way there, they got pulled over by Secret Service. The situation turned confrontational fast and just as things were getting hairy, the Brits intervened, thanks to Sam. Smug sons of bitches wanted them to join their little club. Yeah fucking right. No way that was gonna happen, even with their fancy toys. But, against his better judgement, Dean offered a deal. They'd hear them out, if, and only if, they let them borrow their fancy exorcism egg thing.

After retrieving Rosemary, and introducing themselves as 'a witch, an angel and his husband, and the King of Hell' and dropping the bomb that God was MIA, they explained the situation, even demonstrating with the motel Bible, which burned as soon as Kelly touched it.

They came up with a cleverly devised plan to get LOTUS to the motel and use the BMoL egg against him. Hopefully it'd work.

It did. Cas, upon Dean's orders, took Kelly and ran. Leaving Dean and Sam to the mercy of the Secret Service agents who promptly cuffed and arrested them both.

Fucking great.

End of chapter 38