A chapter almost on time, wow! This one continues the 'holiday happiness' section, so hopefully everyone enjoys. If the characters are a bit off, I apologize, I'm not used to writing stories with so many people in one scene, but we'll be getting more or less back to normal in the next few segments.
Special thanks to bagelcat1, VegasGranny, Bjester74, BaldiDaughterChevy, Celtic Knot, and gr8read. Because of you guys, this story passed 100 reviews last chapter, and I can't explain how much that means to me, honestly, so thank you all for making my day and keeping me motivated with your continued comments :)
I still don't own Supernatural, any episodes mentioned in this chapter, or any films that are referenced, just to be safe.
December 25
Around midday, Sam, Dean, and Cas headed back over to Jody's house for Christmas. Even though Jody had insisted that they not bring over any food, a few pies made their way into the grocery bag when they stopped in the morning to pick up a few things. A few more pies at Christmas couldn't hurt, right? Dean, of course, was fine with that, and picked out a few of the 'best' flavors. Cas was one to pick out honey for some reason in case Jody didn't have any, which both brothers found to be amusing, and left the store with a small bag.
When they got there, a young woman with black hair, Alex, Dean guessed, opened the door and greeted them all with another round of hugs. She apologized for having not been there the day before, but as Jody mentioned, had been working the night shift at the hospital. She'd been lucky to get the holiday off at all, and they were all sure to tell her to not worry about it.
It was good, having the whole family in one area, even if Dean was still getting used to it all again. Jody, Claire, and Donna had set up some sparkly garland around the house, along with a few lights here and there. Everyone had tried to a degree to dress in festive colors, and Donna had found a green pointed hat with a bell on top from a previous year that she had brought with her and was wearing with pride.
"I would've gotten a tree, but I didn't want to be that festive," Jody joked lightly. The reality was that they normally weren't all home at the same time enough to really enjoy a tree, but she ventured that maybe they'd get one (or at least a fake one) the following year.
Dean smiled a bit to himself, thinking of the few lone 'trees' they had over the years, one of the more recent for him being the tiny one with air fresheners Sam had set up. Of course, it had only been because Dean had been on his way to hell, but for the day Dean was deciding to overlook that fact and err on the side of happiness. Besides, it had smelled good and was colorful and festive, which basically ticked all of the boxes where they counted.
He vaguely wondered if they did many holidays in the bunker. He'd have to ask later. Because with those high ceilings, man, they could fit a giant tree in there. How they'd get it in or out he had no idea, but it would definitely look nice.
"Well, whatever you get, make sure it has an angel on top," Dean said with a smirk and pointed to Cas, who looked back at him, puzzled.
"I doubt a tree would be able to withstand the weight of an angel in a vessel, Dean, and a crushed tree is not very festive," he replied matter-of-factly.
"What about an angel minus the vessel?" Claire asked, apparently curious, but again Cas shook his head.
"Given the size of our true form and the temperature, it…wouldn't be advisable." His answers that everyone apparently should have been able to figure out beforehand were particularly amusing to Donna, who was smiling the whole time.
"Where did the angels sitting on trees staring at us come from then?" she proposed. "You don't typically do that, do you? Sit in a forest, trench coat billowing in the breeze?" Donna waved her arms a bit and laughed, which garnered a smile out of Cas. If he hadn't been able to before, he could now clearly see that they were joking around.
"Apparently the tradition came from the same place that the elves on shelves did. Humans like to be watched during the holidays," Cas explained in a monotone voice, though his facial expressions showed that he too was joining in on the fun.
"Oh, gee, I never liked those things, but when you put it like that…" Donna trailed off, her voice going up ever so slightly in pitch before she laughed.
From across the room, Sam shook his head, amused at the exchange between the group. "Something about staring elves make you uneasy, Donna?"
"They're always watching," Claire reminded sarcastically, and widened her eyes ever so slightly.
"Oh yeah, you betcha," Donna nodded, making the bell on her hat ring, "jingle hats and striped socks and all."
"Blank happy faces of pure evil," Alex agreed, smiling along with them.
"Hey, dolls of any kind are a no, especially the super happy festive ones," Dean added with a motion of his hand, Sam nodding along in agreement. That case years ago in the old hotel with all the dolls…it was still a big no.
The whole group found it a bit amusing that they could all face monsters of pretty much any kind, but fake dolls were still creepy. From there, they launched into a few stories, with Dean and Cas sitting back to mainly listen as Sam and the women talked and recalled tales. It didn't escape Dean's notice that they tended to stick to lighter hunts, if there were such a thing, but ones that didn't have a high body count or level of danger to the hunters involved.
One story Sam told, from years ago, that Dean didn't remember, involved them on a 'hunt' in an alternate universe where they were supposed to be 'actors'. The whole thing made Dean's head hurt, but Sam told it fondly, and Cas seemed to enjoy hearing the other side of the story. Whether he'd heard it or not, Dean didn't know, but the angel was more involved than with some of the other stories.
Donna mentioned a set of cursed stage outfits and a bloodied bunny mask that they just could not get off of the guy. Next to dolls, scary masks were her least favorite.
Alex filled the boys in on a few things that had been going on at the hospital, since she had taken a step back from hunting and only helped when it was necessary. But that definitely didn't mean that she didn't have any stories. Some were just stupid things people had gotten themselves into, others were heroic deeds people had done for others and unfortunately gotten hurt in the process.
By the time many of their stories were exhausted, the oven was beeping in the other room, and everyone spread out to help with dinner. Dean took to setting up the table settings while Sam went into the kitchen. While Dean was putting the plates into place, he noticed that Claire had pulled Cas off to the side. Dean didn't mean to pry or anything, they seemed to have been getting along well, but he was still curious.
"Just…if you ever want to change it up, you can have options," he heard Claire say. She smiled slightly as she passed over a little box, which Cas opened. Dean couldn't see what was in the box from his place by the table, but Cas nodded at it and seemed to be appreciative.
"Thank you, Claire." Dean couldn't see the angel's face either, but he imagined he was smiling too. He then reached into his own pocket and pulled out something small, a knife of some sort maybe? "You probably have a few, but just in case you want to 'change it up'," he repeated, which made Claire chuckle. She took the offered gift with a quiet 'thanks'.
Dean hadn't known angels to exchange gifts, but then again, how many of them were ever around the children of their human vessels? How many even cared that the vessels had children? And here Cas was, trying to make a relationship with Claire, and she had extended an olive branch back. It made Dean happy to see, especially considering how their relationship had left off from where Dean last remembered.
"Coming in hot, everyone watch yourselves!" Donna warned comically, and Dean got out of the way as she came to the table, putting down the ham on one of the hot pads that Dean had set up, everything else already in place. Sam, Jody, and Alex were close behind with the rest, and pretty soon they were all seated and helping themselves.
"Hopefully everything's alright, we don't normally do this much," Jody mentioned as they all started eating, but everyone pretty much in unison shook their heads.
"As long as you didn't Lampoon us, we're good," Dean assured with a grin.
Sam happily rolled his eyes at his brother's references. "Seriously, Jody, thank you." It was echoed with a chorus of thank you's and 'Merry Christmas's.
A few minutes after the conversation had died down, Cas brought up, "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with Lampoon, I assume it's a reference of some sort?" he asked, and looked quizzically at the rest of the table.
Dean shot him a quick finger gun with his free hand and smirked in affirmation. "Bingo."
"It's a movie. Basically the Lampoons, this whole family, as in everyone, gets together at the main character's house for the holidays and things get a bit nuts. They overcook the turkey just a little," Claire did her best to clarify with an amused smile on her face.
Cas nodded at that, seemingly pleased that he had at least gotten that it was a reference.
"It's a little more than just a little," Alex brought up. "As in the whole thing disintegrates it's so dry. So no, Jody did the opposite of Lampooning us," she smiled at the older woman, who happily took the compliment.
"Oh, my favorite part was when he gets on the sled, ya know, and it launches down the hill at supersonic speeds," Donna interjected, wine glass in her hand.
"Anything having to do with the cat was pretty hilarious," Sam said, to which Dean agreed.
"So this…comedic family film about dried turkey, a fast sled, and a feline is a classic I am assuming?" Cas asked, just to make sure he was following.
Jody nodded, as did everyone else. "It's probably on sometime today, we'll see if we can catch it." There was a chorus of agreement from the room, and lo and behold, two and a half hours later, they were all seated on and around the couch and chairs in the main room, watching the aforementioned film. It was one of the best holidays the Winchesters had ever had.
Around six, Donna announced that she should probably be getting back to Stillwater. It took a few hours to make the drive back, and she didn't want to be out too late before dealing with 'crazies' the next day. "Criminals don't take the day after Christmas off, don't ya know?" she joked as she got her jacket on. "Gotta make sure the station hasn't burned down."
"I'm sure Doug has everything covered," Sam shot her a smirk and returned her offered hug.
"If not, I know who to call."
"Ghostbusters," Dean joked back, and hugged her as well, finding the embrace to be just as tight as it had been the day before.
Donna continued around the room in a similar fashion, stopping by Claire for a moment to remind her, face to face, to call if she ever needed help on a hunt. Right, Claire was off by herself hunting, and Dean was still on the sidelines.
He pushed that thought aside, not about to let it ruin the mood of the last few days. He shoved it into a back corner of his mind, hoping to forget about it, but he knew that in that back corner, that was where ideas grew and festered into things he had to act on. This would be different, it had to be.
Donna beeped the horn of her 'D-Train' truck as she left, Jody waving at her from the porch of the house before she closed the door again.
They spent the next few hours together, Jody having pulled out the pies they had brought. Dean was more than happy to partake in eating than talking, and after they had all finished, Jody pulled out a few decks of cards. Together, they taught Cas how to play Solitare, one on one at first, but around nine, they decided to play with all six of them. Needless to say, a few hands were thrown in the way of each other, Claire and Alex looked smug when they beat each other out to get a card on a pile, and Jody reminded the boys to keep their hands to their own decks of cards. Claire won the first round, and of course Alex demanded a rematch, which Jody won "just because she was lucky" as Dean put it.
Both brothers were just a bit glad that they wouldn't have to listen to the other gloat for the whole car ride back, though.
Around ten, they too headed out. More hugs were given, and Sam and Dean found themselves making similar promises to Jody that Claire had made to Donna. Yes, they'd call to check in and if they needed anything, of course they would. Cas promised to look out for them, as always, and with that, they headed out, Dean stealing one more glance at the house as he pulled away from the curb.
They rode the wave of happiness all the way to the motel, where they then fell asleep watching more holiday movie reruns.
In the morning, Cas asked them about the significance of a reindeer having a red nose and if it was truly important to the holiday itself, and after some explaining, he headed out to get coffee and donuts for the ride back, giving the brothers some time to pack up their things. They'd slept in, which wasn't a problem, but Dean was hoping they wouldn't get caught in any post holiday traffic, since they had at least a six hour trip back to the bunker.
Not that Dean was eager to leave, he just wanted to get back to what was familiar to sort through everything. As he was packing up his duffel, Sam seemed to catch on, as he always did, and the rustling in his bag slowed.
"Everything alright?" he asked, trying to be casual. Even though his back was turned to Sam, Dean could tell that he was looking at him, honestly trying to make sure he was okay. They hadn't done any real 'check-ins' while at Jody's, and now that they had some space, Dean had known it was coming sooner rather than later.
"Good," Dean eventually nodded, and turned around after he had zipped up his bag. Sam raised an eyebrow at that and Dean sighed, figuring he should probably elaborate. "I mean, it's a lot to go through, but it was good to see them, get some wheels on the bus and get things moving. Just…a lot to sort through," he left it at that.
"To be expected," Sam replied, seeming to accept the answer, which Dean was grateful for. "But you'll tell me if anything changes?"
"Yes, I will be telling you and calling Jody and Donna as promised if anything changes," Dean said, slightly joking, and smiled a bit at his brother, who rolled his eyes and smiled back. "Seriously, Sam, all good." With that and a hand motion, he was out the door and putting his bag into the Impala.
Cas got back a few minutes later with the promised coffees and donuts, the latter of which Dean was extremely pleased about, and they hit the road.
It crossed Dean's mind for a split second right before they left Sioux Falls to go check out Bobby's place. But he squashed that thought as quickly as he had any others that had threatened to tamper with his good memory of the past few days.
As Sam had told him, there was nothing left but burnt remnants of what used to be a home of sorts for them, and some abandoned, rusting cars. There wasn't much to go back to, and Sam and Cas hadn't said anything, so Dean tried to not think about it further. Maybe it was best he didn't see what had happened to Bobby's place without the context surrounding the event. Probably best to leave that one untouched.
Twenty miles outside the city, the donut was gone and AC/DC was blaring from the speakers, though not at a volume that Sam wouldn't appreciate. It helped fill the silence in the car as they watched the miles pass by.
All things considered, it had been a good few days, and Dean was keen on keeping it that way, at least until the new year rolled around.
Of course, even with his missing memories, he should have known that good things never lasted.