John walked past the living room, seeing his mom tidying up the house because the guests were about to arrive any minute now. She had gotten a call a couple of days ago from an old friend that had a similar demon problem like the one Greer had. His father on the other hand, hadn't been happy about this person coming over, but it was a demon thing and they'd do whatever they needed to figure out what was going on.
"Does he have to come here?" Dean groaned. John stood right outside the living room, listening to his parents' conversation.
"Do you want to get to the bottom of this? Sam's collected a couple of accounts from old hunters, but there's a chance in this case that we can track down the demon and get some information out of it," Meredith replied.
"Yeah, but why does it have to be Nate? Can't we just find some other old hunter? I'm sure we're not the only ones have this problem," Dean whined.
"Dean, be nice! He came to us for help," Meredith attempted to reason.
"I bet that's not all he's coming for," Dean grumbled
"Dean!" Meredith exclaimed, her eyes widening. "Do I have to remind you that he's coming with his wife?"
Dean tensed up, "Whatever, fine. Let him come around here…. But I won't like it."
John stayed to listen to the conversation. Who the hell was this guy and why did his dad hate him so much?
"You eavesdropping on your parents?" a voice asked. John practically jumped as he saw his Uncle Sam standing in the kitchen, an eyebrow raised at John.
"Oh, no," John said, shaking his head. "Who is this Nate guy anyways?"
Sam chuckled, "You're going to have to ask your parents about that one, kiddo. Sorry, but I'm not getting in the middle of this one."
"Why does Dad hate him so much?" John asked, crossing his arms.
"Because your dad's a worrier. That and… he has a partly valid reason… he doesn't really anymore, but he used to," Sam replied. John was about to ask another question when the doorbell rang.
"Come on, Dean. And be nice," Meredith reminded.
"Yeah, whatever," Dean scoffed as Meredith dragged him to the door. Meredith was honestly really excited about seeing her old friend. She had occasionally heard from Nate over the years, but they were never really friends. Dean had never been ready to be friends with Nate and she respected that. This, however, was different. It wasn't like two old friends connecting, this was a demon problem, possibly one that would cause John and Jude to fulfill their prophecy. In short, it worried Meredith and she was all too eager to get the bottom of this.
Meredith opened the door, a welcoming smile on her face until she saw who was at the door. Her eyes widened.
"Sadie?"
"Death!" Sadie exclaimed, practically jumping on Meredith and pulling her into a hug.
"Wh-what're you doing here?" Meredith stammered in surprise.
"What, Death? Nate didn't tell you?" Sadie asked.
"Tell-, tell me what?" Meredith asked, trying to force words out.
"Hey, you," Nate smiled, wrapping his arm around Sadie's waist. He looked up at Dean and Meredith. "Hi, Mer. Dean."
Dean tensed up at Nate's use of the word 'Mer'. He hated that Nate called Meredith, 'Mer'. That was for friends and family only. Then again, Nate was her friend and that's what Dean hated the most about this.
"Wait, what's going on?" Meredith asked.
"What do you mean?" Nate asked back.
"Sadie's your-," Meredith stammered.
"Wife," Nate filled in. "Wait, you're Death?
"Guilty," Meredith replied meekly.
"Oh," Nate said, awkwardly.
"Yeah," Meredith nodded slowly, attempting to process the tornado that had just hit.
Oh God.
"I'm going to get a beer. Anyone want one?" Dean asked, interrupting the awkward small talk that had been going on for the past ten minutes in the living room. Dean, Meredith, Nate, and Sadie had all sat down on in the living room to discuss matters at hand, but the whole Sadie-Nate marriage thing had really thrown off the whole thing.
"Dean, it's the afternoon," Meredith protested.
Dean shrugged, "It's five o' clock somewhere… and I could use one right now."
"I could too. I'll come with you. Leave these two kids to talk," Sadie said, getting up and following Dean out of the living room. Thanks, guys.
"So…" Nate started.
"So…" Meredith trailed off. After another awkward silence she looked up at Nate. "Why didn't you tell me you were married to Sadie?"
"I didn't know. I would've if I had known you two knew each other," Nate offered up, innocently.
"Oh come on! She never told you stories about me?" Meredith asked, curiously.
"She did, but I never knew you were 'Death'. She never told me who 'Death' was when she was telling me all about uh… those risqué party girl stories," Nate replied. Meredith blushed. She couldn't believe that Nate knew all about that. She knew Sadie too well and knew Sadie probably told him all of the details. Well, that's embarrassing. "Believe me, Meredith. I'm just as surprised as you are about… all of this."
"Oh God. I'm sorry. You're right. It's not just me who's… totally mortified right now," Meredith answered.
"That's Sadie for you. Then again, it's not like she knew we knew each other. I don't exactly tell all my exes about the marriage that I almost broke up," Nate said back.
"Nate, it wasn't like that. And uh… yeah… sorry about that," Meredith apologized, instantly knowing that he was talking about the last time they saw each other. The last time they saw each other, he was in Sioux Falls visiting a girlfriend's family and Dean had blurted out, in the middle of dinner, Nate's secret. Meredith had felt awful but things ended up working out in the end. After that, there were only a couple of e-mails exchanged, but really no contact at all.
"It's okay," Nate said, brushing the memory away.
In the kitchen, Dean leaned up against the counter, his open beer in his hand. Sadie leaned stood there, staring at the ground.
"So uh… you and Nate, huh?" Dean asked, gesturing towards the living room with his beer.
"Yeah," Sadie replied.
"Good… good…" Dean murmured to himself. He was so happy that Nate had a wife. Now he wouldn't have to worry, right? This "visit" was going to be so much easier. What he didn't like was how Meredith had reacted. He hated himself for being so jealous, but he couldn't help himself. Old habits die hard, right? "Might wannna stay in here. The wife's not pleased about me drinking in the middle of the afternoon."
Sadie chuckled, "You and I know totally different Merediths." Dean glanced out the window to see Sam and John sitting outside on the porch in the backyard. Sam had gotten John out of the way once the whole Sadie thing hit. Probably the best idea for now…
Back in the living room, Meredith and Nate attempted to catch up – only, it was still terribly awkward.
"I'm glad Sadie found you. I bet you're good for her. I don't know how you managed to tie down a wild child like that…" Meredith laughed.
Nate shrugged, "By the time we met, I think she was tired of her party girl days."
"Oh yeah?" Meredith asked, amused.
"Yeah. This may even shock you more than Sadie being my wife. Abby and I broke up a little while after the visit with you. Don't worry. It wasn't about that at all. We just… grew apart, I guess. I dated a couple of women before Sadie but uh, two years after Abby, I was in another happy relationship. I was surprised that it lasted so long and one day I just figured, I loved her and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. She was great with Tommy too. I think it's because she's still a kid at heart," Nate explained, chuckling when he thought about Sadie. He really did love her and Meredith could see that. She was so happy for her old friend.
"That's great. I'm happy for you, Nate," Meredith smiled. Just then, Meredith could hear the front door opening and rustle of sounds before the twins came into the living room. "Hey, you two! We have company."
"Hey, you're back!" Dean said, coming into the living room as well, with Sadie right behind him.
"I see that," Victoria replied dryly, crossing her arms over her chest. Meredith shot her a funny look. What was with the attitude?
"Hi," Flynn said.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Nate," Nate said, glancing at both of the twins with a friendly smile plastered on his face.
"Flynn," Flynn said, reaching out to shake Nate's hand.
"Victoria," Victoria replied, brushing him off. Meredith raised an eyebrow.
"Victoria, can I have a word with you in the kitchen?" Meredith asked.
"Yeah, whatever," Victoria answered. That attitude right there? Yep, she definitely got that from her father.
"Great," Meredith said, smiling fakely sweet. Her daughter followed her into the kitchen. When they got into the kitchen Meredith stopped. "Do you want to tell me what that was all about?"
"What're you talking about?" Victoria asked.
"We have company over and today's the day you choose to be rude?" Meredith asked, calling her daughter out on the bullshit.
Victoria scowled, "Dad told me about him."
Meredith sighed, raising an eyebrow, "What'd he tell you?"
"He told me that that guy in there tried to steal you from him," Victoria challenged.
Meredith laughed, "Have I mentioned that your father loves to summarize and leave out some of the… more important facts? Nate's got a wife, you know. Contrary to what you and your father think, Nate didn't come back for me. He is here with his wife looking for demon help."
Victoria shrugged, "So?"
"So, that means be nice, missy. Nate is… he was a great friend to me. He was a better friend to me than I was to him and he was there for me when your father and I were having trouble after Bobby's death. If you're going to blame anyone for that, blame me. I-, you don't even know the whole story and your father has made you biased. Would you just get back out there and be the sweet, friendly girl we raised you to be?" Meredith asked, with a small sigh. She was slightly amused that Dean wanted their kids to be on his side, but she also wanted to make this reunion the least awkward it could be.
"So it's not his fault?" Victoria asked. She hated being wrong.
"No, it's not his fault. Come on, you'll like him. And if you don't… how 'bout I make you a deal?" Meredith asked.
"What kind of deal?" Victoria asked back, now intrigued.
"If you genuinely try, and still don't like him, I'll take you out on a hunt someday. I know you've been itching to go on one ever since John got to," Meredith bargained.
A smile played on Victoria's lips, "Deal."
"Great. Let's go," Meredith encouraged, ushering her daughter out of the kitchen. Victoria smiled. Only her family would bribe each other to be nice to guests…
It was only Sam, Dean, Meredith, Sadie, Nate, and John because he was the witness in the living room now, talking over the demon issues. Victoria and Flynn were upstairs.
"I think we should just go the normal route of getting answers out of demons and if things get too hard, well uh, I guess we'll take more extreme measures," Meredith began, squeezing Dean's knee. She looked over at him and shot him apologetic smile. She knew he wasn't comfortable with it and neither was she, but this was worth it.
"Wait, what do you mean?" John asked, looking from his mother to his father.
Dean cleared his throat, "When I was in hell I uh… picked up a couple of things."
"Torture," Sam replied.
John's eyes widened, "Dad, you're a badass!"
"He really does take after his father," Sadie laughed, shaking her head.
"Thank you, Sammy," Dean said, sarcastically.
"So how do we know where to find this thing anyways?" Meredith asked.
"Well, we kinda lured the demons out," John chimed in.
"What?" Dean asked, shooting his son a look.
"Yeah. These things seem really uh… afraid. They're not as fearless as demons were when you guys talk about them. Greer's brother showed up when she was vulnerable and the night of the masquerade, we had to provoke them," John explained.
"By?" Meredith asked, shooting her son an equally odd look.
"Oh, it's no big deal. Hate to break this to you, Uncle Sam, unless Cole told you already, but Greer kissed Cole. You know, her brother hates us so it would make sense that he'd come after us if he was kissing her. And I mean, those two are totally into each other so it's not like anyone was complaining, you know what I'm saying?" John asked, nudging his dad.
"Yeah, I got it," Dean said. Sam raised his eyebrows, an amused look on his face. So his son really had kissed Greer. He knew there had been something there. He just didn't know that something had happened already.
"John, I don't think that's going to help in this instance seeing as we have no involvement in this one. I mean, we definitely stirred up some trouble but I highly doubt, Nate, that your demons are after us," Meredith started.
"Yeah, you are NOT kissing him," Dean said.
"Dean," Meredith warned, glaring at Dean. "Not funny."
"I wasn't joking," Dean said, seriously. Meredith sighed. After all these years, Dean was never going to get over that. Guess he never really was going to be ready to get along with Nate. Sam coughed, interrupting Dean and Meredith.
"I- uh, I think we should get back to the matter at hand," Sam said, attempting to steer the conversation in a different direction.
"Right," Nate mumbled in agreement.
"Hey, the first time we were attacked,
Upstairs, Victoria and Flynn were listening.
"Hey, move out of the way. You're blocking me," Victoria hissed.
"Shh! Someone's going to hear you. And why does it matter anyways? It's not like you're can see anything," Flynn argued.
"Whatever. It's no use," Victoria said, walking away.
"Where are you going?" Flynn asked, following Victoria into her room.
"You know Nate was one of the problems during that time when mom and dad were fighting, before we were born," Victoria said, matter-of-factly. She hated that she had to play nice with Nate. She knew her mom had said that Nate wasn't as bad as her father made him seem to be, but if he had come between her parents, she didn't like him. Besides, Mom was his friend so obviously she was biased.
"Who told you that?" Flynn asked, skeptically.
"Dad," Victoria answered.
"Well, what'd he tell you?" Flynn asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"He just said that Nate wasn't as great of a guy that Mom chalked him up to be," Victoria shrugged.
"And let me guess? You decidedly to just follow this blindly?" Flynn asked back, challengingly.
"What? No!" Victoria exclaimed. "I don't know. He seems nice… but if he got between Mom and Dad at some point, I can see why Dad is worried, you know? What if-."
"Victoria, that's not going to happen. Mom and Dad love each other a lot and I don't think they'd let him get in the way. Besides, this guy has a wife," Flynn offered.
Victoria sighed, "Yeah, but what if it's some kind of unrequited love thing from Nate's side and he gets all-?"
"Victoria, you read way too many chick flick books and you've got a wild imagination. I don't think you have anything to worry about. Geez, sis," Flynn chuckled, gently mocking his sister.
"Yeah, whatever. I guess I am overreacting a little. Dad's so tense and everything. I just worry…" Victoria trailed off.
"Yeah, I think we get that from Mom and Dad," Flynn said.
"Especially Dad," Victoria added.
"Yeah. Especially Dad," Flynn said, laughing a little. "Hey, any chance you want to go back out there and eavesdrop again? See, if they're talking about anything important?"
Victoria laughed, "Sounds great."
Meredith pulled back the covers and got into bed. She picked up her book and began reading, not saying a word. Her eyes scanned over the page but she knew that none of it was actually processing. She could feel a pair of eyes on her so she put her book down and looked over at her husband.
"Yes?" she asked.
"What?" Dean asked back, innocently.
"You tell me. You're the one that's been staring at me," she replied.
"What? I can't look at my beautiful wife without being called out on it?" Dean asked.
"Oh come on, Dean. I know you better than that. What's going on?" Meredith asked back. Dean sighed, choosing his words carefully before speaking again.
"It's just… you seem… like something's bothering you," Dean said.
Meredith shook her head, "Like what?"
"Oh I don't know… like Sadie and Nate, for instance," Dean pointed out.
Meredith sighed, "It's just weird! I mean, first, I never saw it coming and second, Sadie is just… I don't know. You wouldn't think she'd go for a kind of guy like him. I mean, I'm happy their happy but-."
"But what?" Dean asked, defensively.
"I don't know," Meredith shrugged. "Sadie likes bad boys."
"You know, if you weren't my wife, I'd think you were jealous," Dean said, tensing up.
"Dean, you know I love you and only you. It's just a shock okay? I'm still processing it," Meredith reassured.
Dean nodded slowly, "Yeah, I know."
"I am your wife, Dean Winchester," Meredith giggled.
"I definitely know that," he smirked.
"Hey, you okay with going on a hunt with them tomorrow?" Meredith asked, honestly.
"Yeah," Dean replied. "Are you okay with John coming on the hunt tomorrow?"
"Yeah. It's bound to happen sometime, right?" Meredith asked back.
"Yeah," Dean agreed.
"Yeah... alright," Meredith started. She leaned in and kissed Dean on the cheek. "Goodnight, baby. I love you."
"I love you too," Dean said, leaning in and giving her a real kiss this time. Meredith smiled into the kiss, kissing him back before realizing something.
"Oh shit," she murmured, pulling away.
"What?" Dean asked, concerned.
"There's something I should tell you," Meredith started. Dean raised an eyebrow. "Calm down, it's not about Nate! Well, it sort of is. Victoria's been kinda cold towards him. i don't know what you told her about him, but she's seemed to take it seriously. Anyways, I thought you should know that I made a deal with her. I told her if she was nice, I'd take her on a hunt."
"Mer!" Dean exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, i know. Don't get your panties in a bunch. I'll take her on a simple salt and burn case," Meredith reasoned.
"Yeah, okay," Dean said. "It's bound to happen some time, right?"
"Yeah," Meredith said, shooting him an apology smile. Dean just shook his head, smiling a little.
"I can't believe you bribed our daughter," Dean said, an amused smile on his face.
"I can't either," Meredith groaned.
"I knew I had a winner when I asked you to marry me," Dean teased.
"Shut up," Meredith sighed.
Author's Note: Not gonna lie. i had SOOO much fun writing the awkwardness. Thanks to Miss E charlotte who helped me shape my idea about Nate and Sadie coming back as a married couple. i wanted to bring them both back in this story and found a way to do that! Hope you enjoyed the awkwardness as much as I did!