And we're back, happy weekend! Just as a heads up, I'll try to get a chapter up on time the next few weeks, but with AP tests and finals I can't make any promises, so we'll see. Thanks to bagelcat1, DearHart, TXKimsonFan, and VegasGranny for your reviews on the last chapter, they never cease to make my day :) And thanks to everyone for reading!

Still don't own Supernatural (but this past episode wow oh boy. I've got some thoughts on that, and a fic coming up in the next day or so, so keep an eye out if you're interested)

The bunker was relatively quiet when Dean got back, with Cas not in the library and Sam not at the map table. In fact, they weren't in their rooms either when Dean checked. A bit confused, he called out. "Sam? Cas?" the sound echoed through the stone and concrete halls.

"In the kitchen," Sam's voice came from a few doors down. They were probably making lunch, figured. Dean followed Sam's voice towards the kitchen, where he was met with both Sam and Cas standing behind the counter, smiling just a bit, neither of them moving from their spots.

"There a reason why you guys are statues in the kitchen?" Dean asked when they continued to remain absolutely still.

"Today is December 19," Cas supplied, as if that would be of any help, in any capacity.

"And…" Dean trailed off and made a hand motion for him to continue.

"So…you've officially been awake for a month," Sam cleared up, smile stretching on his face. "Happy one month back, Dean." The hunter and the angel slid aside to reveal nothing other than what appeared to be a pie on the counter behind them, which Sam brought forward. "Figured you'd appreciate this more than a celebratory cake."

Dean hadn't even realized the date. It had seemed like much more time had passed by, which so much happening both inside his head and out. Getting out of the hospital had taken days, then there was getting used to routines, all the new troublesome memories, heading out, coming back…it was a lot.

And it was clear that it was a lot to Sam and Cas too, but they were also obviously very pleased and happy that Dean was still there to celebrate his month of being back.

"Didn't forget the pie, I should thank you guys just for that," Dean replied with a genuine smile of his own that conveyed just how much the simple gesture meant.

Sam rolled his eyes at that and even Cas seemed to get the joke. Pretty soon, plates and forks were passed around, with Cas trying just a bit of the dessert.

"How'd the session go?" Sam eventually asked, after said pie had been consumed (rather quickly, one might add) and the empty tin thrown in the trash. Dean finished wiping his fingers on a napkin before he shrugged.

"Fine, I guess. She won't be seeing me until after the holidays unless it's an emergency, but…same old stuff."

"As in?" Sam asked, not trying to press, but trying to stay informed. Dean knew it was for the best.

"Making sure I clue you guys in on things, how important it is and all that."

Cas nodded in agreement from his place at the table. "It is extremely important, Dean. It is the only true way that we can be of any assistance, I'm sure she made that point."

Dean opened his mouth to protest that they helped him in many, many other ways, but then he promptly shut it because she had been right.

"Anything else?" Sam continued, breaking the few moment long silence that had followed.

Dean took a second before he continued. "She said keeping busy is usually a good thing. Pets are out, obviously, and I can work on the car until my hands fall off, you guys know that, but there's no…purpose, like she brought up, and it got me thinking."

He tried to find a way to phrase it so that it wouldn't come out like something rash and not thought through. Dean didn't get a chance to say anything though, because Sam immediately turned to him, his face set and his mouth in a line. He knew where this was going, he knew how Dean's mind operated. And just judging by the look on Sam's face, he wasn't on board.

"I wouldn't be in the field, obviously," he started.

"Dean, we literally just celebrated your one month being back, and now you want to head out again? What if you get hurt? You know how these hunts usually turn out!"

Dean shook his head. "Strictly research only. I could stay in the motel, or the car as a getaway driver, not get physically involved. But I could help with interviews or tracking things down," he tried. He knew better than to put himself into the line of fire, but Sam wasn't having it, and neither was Cas.

"When have you ever stuck to just research, Dean? What if we get into trouble and you know? You'll come in, guns blazing."

"I'd stay outside-"

"Sam is right, Dean," the angel cut him off, looking up from the table to the older hunter. "If there were any threat to Sam or I that you felt we wouldn't be able to handle, you'd be in the field with us immediately. And while that's an admirable trait, it's not advisable for situations like this."

Dean stood silent. In his oh-so-well thought out plan, he hadn't covered that. He could say he wouldn't go after them, but it wasn't true, and they knew it.

"We could start off with easier cases that you guys can handle until I'm back. I could stay sidelined…"

But Sam was still shaking his head. "The last 'easy case' we went on took a complete one-eighty in the middle of the woods and two bullets in my chest. We can't take the risk, not with you still recovering. It's not worth it."

Dean understood where they were coming from, of course he did, he'd be arguing the same if it were Sam or Cas in his shoes.

"The potential for further injury far outweighs what could be deemed a 'necessary risk' to take, Dean," Cas added on with a nod of his own.

Dean grew silent, jaw clenched, before Sam came around the front of the counter and leaned against it to look at his brother. "I get it, I do," he said in understanding, "hunting is a purpose, a reason to…get up in the morning, something to do with your time, a way to do good in the world. But even this, just researching, has a potential to go bad fast, and you know it as well as we do. And it's not like we've been doing nothing."

Dean's head turned up a bit at that, looking confused before Sam continued.

"If something simple pops up, I send it over to Jody or someone else to look into. There's plenty of other hunters covering this, Dean, and with everything we've done the past few years, if we take a few months off, the world will keep spinning."

Dean still didn't like the idea of taking any time off, period, but something else Sam had said peaked his interest. "Jody?" he asked. "As in Sheriff Mills Jody?" At least the name was ringing some sort of bell, the cop whose kid had come back as a zombie right before the apocalypse.

Even amid the argument, Sam seemed to drop it and smiled. "Yeah!" he nodded, obviously happy that Dean had remembered something that was still relevant.

"What, so…she's a hunter now?" Dean continued and Sam nodded again.

"To a degree, she still runs the station, but yeah. She keeps an eye on things, us included. She's got-" Sam paused as he looked to Cas for a moment, who looked back up and nodded at Sam to continue. "Two somewhat adopted daughters. Alex, who was being held by vampires. And Claire…Novak." There was space between the first and last name, and rightly so.

Jimmy Novak's daughter…staying with Jody, a hunter that they were apparently pretty close with, that couldn't just be coincidence.

"There is a lot regarding the situation to fill you in on," Cas brought up with a little nod of understanding. "She hunts occasionally, but Jody has helped with…many things."

Dean couldn't even begin to imagine the many things, or how many conversations Cas had or hadn't had with his vessel's daughter. That had to be hard. And because apparently that wasn't the end, Sam kept talking.

"And there's Donna," he added. "Not an adopted daughter, but a cop from Minnesota, she's good friends with Jody now. A bit opposite in personality, in a good way, but she can handle herself."

Dean nodded slowly, his eyes widening just a bit at the influx of information that was coming in. But as he looked from Sam to Cas, it was obvious that there was something else there. "And you're telling me about the four of them because…?" It couldn't just be to assure him that there were other hunters out there.

"Jody's been checking in throughout all of this," Sam gestured to the air around him. "She called while you were out, wondered if we had any holiday plans, I said no, she offered to have us over. Wasn't quite sure how to bring it up, didn't want to overwhelm you." Maybe it was a bit of a distraction from Dean's plan, and it worked, it gave him something else to start thinking over.

That was definitely grounds for overwhelming. With Sam and Cas, it was easier, the two people he knew best from back when he could remember, and that had known him through everything he couldn't recall. But being reintroduced and newly introduced to four people he apparently met and had relationships but couldn't remember, and spending the holidays with them, that was something else all together.

But on the other hand, maybe it could be good. Get out of the bunker, rebuild some things…

"What did you tell her?" he asked.

Sam shrugged. "That we'd ask you and get back to her later. There's no pressure, Dean, it's just an option. If you'd rather stay here with pie and Christmas music, that's good too." Cas nodded in agreement out of the corner of Dean's eye. It was completely up to Dean, and while he appreciated it, he also knew that they hadn't been out much in the world recently either.

"She's up in Sioux Falls, right?" he checked, and when he was met with another few nods, he rapped his knuckled on the table. "Change of scenery may be good for a few days."

The smile that spread across Sam's face was genuine, but also just a touch unsure.

"Are you sure, Dean, it's just an option," Cas brought up, to which Dean nodded.

"Yeah, I think it'd be good. Get out of the bunker, have a bit of fun. It would be good for everyone," Dean said, something in his tone conveying that it was final.

It wasn't hunting, but it was something else to do, something that was more his speed for now, and it would make everyone else happy too.

"Can't argue with you there," Sam eventually finalized and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I'll let her know." He cast Dean and Cas another smirk before he left the kitchen to head down one of the halls.

Cas was quiet across the table, almost too quiet. "Everything alright between you and Claire?" he asked.

Cas took a moment before he nodded. "It has been getting better, yes. But both Sam and I, we don't want you to take on too much for our sakes as well," he reminded.

Dean shrugged and stood up from his seat. "It'll be fine, Cas. Besides, we probably haven't celebrated a holiday in a while. It'll be good." He didn't give Cas any time to form a rebuttal or another question before he put a hand on his shoulder and walked out of the kitchen.

He could hear Sam's voice ever so slightly, drifting through the halls, and with it, an air of lightness, of normalcy. If Dean could keep it together for the next few days, he hoped and prayed that it would end up being a good thing for all of them. They could use a few more good things, after all.

Over the next few days, Sam and Jody figured out a day for the three of them to come down and a general plan for the holidays. She refused to let them bring any food, since the drive was a bit long and they had enough on their plate, and gifts were off the table given the busy month they had all been through. Jody with work and hunting where she could, and the Winchesters with everything else.

Aside from a few headaches and strange, but not awful, dreams, Dean considered himself to be doing fairly well. There weren't any new memories as of yet, but a quiet, confused mind was better than a scattered, exploding one in his opinion. They waited in trepidation for Christmas Eve to roll around, and when it did, they packed up enough things for a few days and set out in the morning. The drive from Lebanon to Sioux Falls took about six hours, considering Dean went the speed limit most of the time, usually only to get the slight look of worry off Sam's face as he sat in the passenger's seat. It was their first time far from home, out of the state even, in over a month. And while all three of them half expected something to go wrong, it was fairly smooth sailing.

Along the trip, Sam and Cas filled Dean in on a few things he was still missing. Hunts they had been on with Jody and Donna, how Alex and then Claire got involved, and a general overview. It was a lot to take in, but when met with them face to face, Dean knew that it would help him be less overwhelmed.

Sam directed Dean to the correct house once they reached the city, and Dean deftly pulled the black beast along the curb when they arrived. There was a sense of deja vu as he looked at the house, but nothing specific. They'd have to stay in a nearby motel for a few nights, since Jody's house wasn't made to fit three people plus three (over)grown men, but it wasn't a problem.

"You good?" Sam asked once Dean turned the car off but continued looking at the house.

Dean took a breath and nodded. Inside were people that knew him, but that he didn't really know. It was bound to get a bit weird, but he just hoped that it would go smoothly. Hell, they deserved that much at least. "Yep, what are we waiting around for?" he shot Sam a smirk and got out of the car, his brother and Cas following close behind.

Sam was the one to knock on the door when they arrived, and after a moment, it opened, revealing a blonde woman with a smile already on her face.

"Sam, Dean, Castiel, good to see ya!" she said excitedly. "Jody-o, the boys are here!" she called back into the house. Right, so from Sam's explanation, this was Donna. Jody said something back, but it was fairly muffled and clearly came from a different room.

"Good to see you too, Donna," Sam smiled back genuinely. Donna reached up and gave him a tight hug, which he returned.

"Jody's fixin' things in the kitchen. You can head on in," Donna said, allowing Sam and Cas to pass inside after she had greeted them. They hung in the entryway for a moment as Dean looked over Donna and she did the same.

"Hi, Donna," Dean greeted, just a bit awkwardly, but it faded when she crushed him in a hug just the same as she had done Sam.

"Happy you're back, Dean," she said quietly as Dean hugged her back. When they released, she was still smiling, ear to ear, and Dean decided that a few days of reconnecting with the people he knew may not be so anxiety-inducing after all.

Told you we'd be getting wayward! I'm a bit excited about this, to be honest, and I hope that you guys enjoy it as well. But don't fear, we'll get back to Dean's plan eventually, but we've got a few happier, lighter chapters lined up before we get back to our regularly scheduled programming.