After the witchball-shifter incident the Winchester brothers buckled down on their training, using what John had taught them to improve their skills. The farm was the perfect place for weapons practice. The time spent together had made Sam and Dean's relationship even stronger.

That summer they took Bobby up on his offer for a visit and one week stretched into two as the Winchesters, especially Sam, poured through Bobby's vast library and collection of weapons and objects the grizzled Hunter used in his battles against the supernatural.

One night Bobby took the boys on a sojourn to a clearing in the woods where a small group of seasoned Hunters had gathered. Bobby stopped short of calling the men his friends; he said they were more like associates thrown into the same battles as Bobby. Some were suspicious of John Winchesters spawn but the ones who had known Mary, decided to give the boys a chance.

For the Hunters, Sam was an easy read, the tall, lanky boy had an slightly unpleasant (to other Alphas) puberty laden Alpha smell that clung to every pore.

Dean had been sure to bath with heavily scented soap beforehand and dress in dirty clothes of Castiels that he had packed for the trip. When the question of Dean's sex came up, Bobby told them all Dean was an Omega and the look he gave the others was a dare for just one to say something disparaging about the young man. A few of them muttered under their breath but most couldn't have cared less, each having Omegas in their family, also involved in the "family business".

As one man put it, "I've got other things to worry about than what is between a person's legs."

Several gave Dean an earful on the dangers of being an Omega and a Hunter both from the supernatural and from some Hunters themselves. He found out that Omegas, while in the middle of a heat, had been used as a lure for the likes of vampires, werewolves etc. and unscrupulous Hunters weren't above snatching an unsuspecting Omega right off the streets. He was also warned that some of the old school Hunters refused to hunt with an Omega, feeling they were weak, unskilled and too emotional to bring anything helpful to the table.

It was all an eye opener for Dean, but in the end he felt a sense of pride in himself for standing with these men and women right there around the bonfire, discussing hunting and listening to their war stories. No one batted an eye when Dean had a couple of beers. He felt somewhat accepted and about as normal as the rest of them, which wasn't very normal at all but that ok with him.

When it was time to leave Sioux Falls, Sam and Dean were more than ready. Bobby sent them back with a few books, a selection of knives and charms plus an 18th century grimoire Sam had his eye on. There were of course caveats to go with the items.

The brothers took a few detours along the way. It was their first real road trip together in Baby and the teens felt a freedom they'd never had before. Dean even allowed Sam to drive for all of a half hour on a lonely stretch of highway though he didn't have a license.

They stopped at diners along the way to sample the food, Dean's idea, but Sam couldn't have cared less about the meals except he got to share them with his brother. There were a lot of laughs, petty fights over music, even a slightly deep conversation or two, once after a meal of gas station burritos, they had a farting contest until the cabin of the Impala became filled with barf-worthy, noxious gas.

Dean prodded Sam for information about his love life or lack of one since Sam was a good boy and an above board sort of Alpha with patience to spare while some of his young classmates ventured into dangerous territory beyond humping. Dean told his brother that Alfie was damn lucky.

Sam revealed he had taken to staring at female classmates boobs and wondered what that meant. Dean advised that maybe Sam was sexually flexible and was attracted to females and Omegas.

"Just think, Sam, it doubles the playing field. This whole thing with Alfie is great and all but if you decide to expand your horizons there's nothing wrong with that."

Sam admitted he wondered what it was like to kiss a girl.

"Lips, spit, maybe a little tongue…same as an Omega. The real differences are we have a heat and females have a menstrual cycle, females have tits all the time and we get them when we're pregnant and nursing, oh, and let's not forget that Omegas have a dick and balls," he enjoyed his little brothers discomfort, "basically Omegas got it all goin' on, Sammy boy. Remember, Omegas get knocked up when the pollen count is high soooo," he elbowed his blushing brother, "wear a condom!"

Sam gave him major bitch face, "You are such a jerk."

"You must be on the rag today since you're so bitchy and all." Dean let out a victory cackle when Sam slid down in his seat and avoided eye contact.

"Gross, Dean! Someday just you wait, I'm going to gross you out."

"I've seen you and Alfie kiss so mission accomplished."

Dean got a punch in the shoulder.

All in all, the trip was an eye opener, a learning experience and most important, brother bonding time.

…

Two weeks without his wife was two weeks too long. When Dean called Cas to let him know he'd be there shortly, the lonely Alpha dressed Grace in her cutest summer frock and then they sat together on the loveseat that faced the driveway so father and daughter could keep watch for the missing piece of their family.

The Impala roared up the driveway and came to an abrupt stop. Before Castiel could get to the door, Dean had already thrown it open and entered. He dropped his duffle bag and went for his family, enveloping his husband and daughter in his arms.

"Gracie honey, I missed you," Dean took her from Cas and cuddled the tot until she squirmed. She gave her mommy a kiss then pressed Mister Jolly to Dean's mouth and he in turn kissed the slightly creepy clown doll.

He was delighted when Grace said, "Oh Mama," her vocabulary was expanding and improving.

Over the next few days, Castiel noticed a change in Dean. The Omega seemed more confident and he walked with a bit of a swagger. Not that Dean didn't already have a little swagger going on but this was a "big dick" swagger and honestly, Cas found it a real turn on.

The trip to Bobby's place had helped his self-esteem and Dean seemed more mature and focused. After years of being told he didn't matter through John's actions, Dean had met the closest thing to a father-figure in Bobby Singer.

Bobby was blunt as a hammer and rough around the edges but the difference between him and John Winchester was the size of his heart, even through his own rough life and losses, Bobby Singer still had love to offer.

Dean opened up to Castiel about the bonfire meeting with the handful of Hunters and how some of them were open to an Omega as a Hunter.

Then Dean gave Castiel a test, "They even let me have a couple beers." He stared at Cas, waiting for a response.

Castiel's first instinct was to warn Dean about the dangers of drinking around strangers while not in his Alphas sight, but he bit his tongue. "I'm glad you had a very positive experience and got to spend some time with Sam."

The Omega visibly relaxed his body, "Yeah, it was great! I didn't realize how much I missed hanging out with Sammy," Dean plopped on Castiel's lap, causing the Alpha to let out a sharp breath, "thanks for letting me go."

Cas cuddled the 145 pounds of wonderfulness tight to his chest, "I don't own you, Dean."

"Yeah…yeah you do and I'm good with that. I love you, babe." Dean wiggled a little on Cas' lap to get a rise out of him, "Oh, something is poking me!"

A low, filthy laugh emitted from the Alpha, "Shimmy out of those jeans and I'll give you nice, long poking."

It was great to be home.

….

School Registration, Senior Year

Dean stood in line, arms folded and a petulant look on his pretty face. He purposely dressed down for the occasion, donned in his most worn, torn up pair of jeans and a chambray shirt of Castiel's covered in splotches of butter yellow paint from a kitchen project. In other words, Dean was acting like an asshole.

Castiel was glad Scotty was watching Grace for them. The Omega had registered Sam earlier in the day.

Dean grumped, "this is total bullshit. Why do I have to actually go the school my last year? I'm fine with home schooling."

The weary Alpha closed his eyes and massaged his temples. "Because, you need to get out of the house and mingle with other people, plus Grace is old enough for preschool. She's going to have a blast with the Mercado twins, Isabelle, Alex and Adam all attending; our daughter will never want to come home. She's a social butterfly, Dean, let her spread her wings."

"Humph, how long did it take you to think that one up? This is bullshit…"

"So you said before."

He wasn't thrilled to see Principle Pendergrass patrolling the crowd, greeting parents and students alike. "What's she doing here?"

"Give me strength…" Dean, she's the principle, of course she'd be here. Besides, she's changed. The shifter, remember? It opened her eyes. Millie has been very open and accommodating to Omega students."

Dean finally dropped his arms and relaxed his stance, "Did three ghosts visit her, because unless she got Scrooged, I don't know how someone changes that much."

As if on cue, Millie spotted Dean and hustled right over. "Dean, I'm glad you're joining us for your senior year. It's not good for a young man to be cooped up in the house all day." She gave the Omega a wary smile, Dean looked as if he were ready to break her neck. "I promise you, things will be better." The principle held out a bony hand, "Truce?"

Dean hesitated then grabbed her hand and shook it, "Truce."

…

Castiel had loaded up on caffeine before his first class of the year; it was an elective, Beginning Latin. Once role call was over, Castiel jumped right in. He took a seat on the edge of his desk and looked out at the sea of eager young faces, "Welcome to Beginning Latin."

"Through this course you will find that there are actually many benefits to learning Latin. For one, some of the greatest literary masterpieces are written in Latin, so people who understand Latin will grasp the brilliant, original works of classical Latin authors. Students, writers, researchers, lawyers and other professionals can…"

The classroom door opened and in sauntered Dean, he headed straight for Castiel then once standing in front of the teacher, his back to the class, Dean held out a shiny, red apple. He grinned at the flustered young man, "Sorry I'm late Mr. Novak, I had to make a stop first."

It was a replay of their first meeting only this time there was no virgin Omega-to-be standing in front of the teacher. Instead Castiel saw a young man, one who forgot to shave his peach fuzz that morning before school. An independent, strong and capable Omega, who fell in love with a high school teacher despite Castiel being just a little bit backwards and a whole lotta broke.

He blessed the day Dean walked through that same door and into his life, changing it forever. Castiel took the apple from Dean, then leaned in and whispered, "I'm humbled everyday by your love."

The teacher straightened back up, cleared his throat and pointed to an empty desk, "Take a seat, Dean. I won't accept tardiness in the future, do you understand?"

Dean winked, "Yes sir, Mr. Novak."

Castiel gave a dismissive wave and waited for Dean to be seated before continuing his little speech.

"As I was saying, students, writers, researchers, lawyers and other professionals can benefit from a study of the Latin language, since most words were culled from Latin meanings. Learning Latin can also help improve a person's English composition, particularly prose; meanings of new words are easily known because the individual studying Latin gets to know the Latin origins of the words. That, in a nutshell, sums up a few major reasons why Latin emerges as a good language to learn."

Before class time ended, Castiel had the students write down five ways Latin could enhance their lives, just to be sure they had been listening.

Dean sent a text to the teacher's phone during this quiet time.

"Maybe you should give me a spanking after class as a punishment for being late."

Castiel, seated behind his desk, stared straight at Dean, giving him a hard look as if to say, knock it off. Another text came through from his boundary pushing wife.

"Are you wearing underwear?"

The teacher furiously texted back, "Stop sending messages, this is a place of learning."

"That wasn't what you said when you bent me over your desk the first time."

The teacher let out an involuntary whimper that several students noticed. He cleared his throat and took a sip of coffee to cover. He locked eyes with Dean, giving the teen a look that said, "Please stop." Dean countered with a flick of the tongue across his plump, rosy lips.

Castiel was a goner, now all the teacher could think about was Dean on his knees, gorgeous lips wrapped about the Cas' organ, big, bottle green eyes rolled upward, the Omega in complete supplication.

Boundaries would need to be set.

…..

Benny stabbed a fish stick off his buddy's tray and popped the whole thing in his mouth. Castiel frowned at the Cajun, "I'm getting to them, stop swiping my food. Is this going to be a thing?"

Benny waved his fork menacingly over the untouched piece of pie, "Let me know if you decide not to eat that. So no bag lunches this year?"

"No, Dean doesn't have time to make them since he has to actually get ready for school in the mornings."

"You could always make own lunches."

Cas looked at Benny as if he suddenly grew a second head, "What? No way, I don't have time in the mornings." He pointed to Benny's delicious spread of meatloaf sandwiches, container of homemade rice pudding and a baggie of baby carrots, "Javi makes that for you?"

"Yes, he's gotten quite domestic," Benny added, "by his own choice. I don't know how long it will last but I'm enjoying the ride."

Dean appeared, dropping his tray next to Castiel's and planting his ass on a chair, "What's up guys?"

Mr. Bronson, the science teacher, almost lost his mind. He pointed an accusatory finger at Dean as if the teen just took a dump right on the table and announced loudly, "Student at the teachers table!"

Benny growled, "Shut up Milo."

Castiel glared at his wife, "Dean, you cannot sit with me or any teacher at lunchtime."

Dean glared right back at his husband, "Seriously? I'm your friggin' mate."

"Yes, seriously, we need to set some boundaries to get through this year."

Dean stood, grabbed his tray and stormed off. Castiel watched as the Omega looked for a good place to sit down. A group of student athletes waved him over, Dean knew a few of the guys from before and they had been ok back then. He took a seat where he had a view of Castiel.

Castiel reminded himself that he was the teacher, adult and the Alpha and that he needed to put his foot down or Dean would walk all over him.

There was plenty of laughter at the table Dean was sharing with the athletes. He was heavily scent blocked so as not to attract the wrong kind of attention. All Dean wanted was to skate through his days and not have to deal with the whole Omega thing all the time.

A lanky school track star named Jason, not that Dean cared, took a shine to the athletic looking, angel faced Omega. He struck up a conversation just with Dean. "So what's your story, I haven't seen you around here before."

Dean held up his left hand, showing off the Kashmir sapphire wedding set, "Sorry sport, I'm married. I home schooled for awhile after I had my kid but I'm doing senior year here…against my will I might add." Dean stuck his tongue out at the English teacher who was laser locked onto his Omega's every movement. Cas averted his gaze, embarrassed at getting caught staring.

Jason reached across the table and placed his hand over Dean's, "So if I ask you out…"

Dean looked from Jason to his hand and back again, "The answer would be a big fat no. Also, don't touch me, just because I'm an Omega doesn't mean you can put your paws on me."

The few guys at the table that actually had witnessed Dean attack someone, wisely pushed their chairs away from the table.

Jason took that at as a challenge.

Castiel watched the exchange between Dean and the other student, when he saw the intruding hand placed over Deans, it took all his restraint not to run over and break the kid's hand. "He can handle it, nothing to worry about…if it happens again I'll intervene…everything will be…"

Both Dean and Jason's voices got louder as the seventeen year old Alpha with an itch to scratch took offense at getting turned down by an Omega, married or not. When both of them stood, Jason stabbed his finger right on Dean's tit.

"Oh now you did it, fuck-face!" Dean grabbed the guy by his highlighted Bieber hair and slammed his face into the tabletop. Chaos ensued.

…..

Principle Pendergrass slowly rubbed the spot right between her eyes, trying to ward off the massive headache that was nibbling on the edges of her brain, threatening to ruin the rest of her first day back at school. She shook her head slightly at the angry teenager slumped down in a chair, arms folded.

"Dean, we had a truce."

"Yeah, between you and me, not between me and some prick that poked my tit. He provoked me!"

"I've enacted a zero tolerance with sexual harassment or intimidation so accordingly, Jason has been suspended…"

"Good!"

"…but, you broke his nose, I mean you almost rammed it into the kid's brain."

Dean was quick on his feet, "I felt threatened, I have a right to a safe space and not get harassed because I'm an Omega. I told the guy I was married and had a kid; I even flashed my wedding ring." He clutched his breast, I think I gotta bruise."

Pendergrass murmured, "It's only the first day of school."

"What?"

"I was just thinking out loud. I'm sure Jason's parents will have something to say but since he touched you first and made advances I'll side with you." She waved toward the door, "Try not to break anymore noses or anything else for that matter."

"I can't promise anything but I'll do my best."

A very worried Castiel poked his head in the door, "Is everything ok, do you need me as a witness?"

"No Mr. Novak, there were plenty of witnesses that said Jason was the aggressor."

Dean ran to not his teacher, but his husband, and embraced him, "Sorry Cas."

Castiel pressed his nose against his wife's hair which was damp with adrenaline sweat, "No need to apologize. How about tomorrow we eat lunch together in the student lounge area. We can pack our lunches tonight, together."

"I'd like that. Can we stop on the way home and buy some of those little fruit pies?"

"I'll do you one better, we can stop at Bello's Bistro and pick up one of their fig, apple and walnut pies."

Dean melted his body against his Alpha's, "I friggin' love you, teacher man."

TBC

A/N-Thanks for the reviews, follows/favs and kudos on the last chapter. Happy New Year, everyone!

A/N-Bits of Castiel's little speech about the benefits of learning Latin came from the Tech-nology website teacher's resource.