Merry Christmas

"You look like shit, Sam."

"I felt like shit, thanks for the painkillers."

Jane nodded, finishing with his finger. "The nail is going to take some time to grow back." She felt pretty bad herself. Dean and Sam had gone off to kill what they were assuming to be pagan gods and she had stayed behind, by choice. Dean had actually given her the option of coming with them, but she had decided to bow out of this one.

She was still harboring issues from New York. Helping out with demons, ghosts… that had been one thing. She was used to it, God help her. An actual vampire… even though Bobby had 'educated' her, there was nothing like the actual experience. One she would love to be rid of.

She had stayed with the brothers, and she had no problem helping out with the research, and doing what she could –from the safety of their room. That was where she had been ending her line of involvement.

"Merry Christmas, Sam."

He smiled slightly. "Jane? Could I get one more favor from you?"

"Sure."


"I didn't want to do this."

Jane looked up from the Christmas tree that they had "borrowed" from a different motel. Jane had called to give Dean a list of things she "needed" and given that it was Christmas Eve, he was going to be a bit busy for a while. That had given Sam time to get cleaned up and then gave them both time to run some errands of their own. "What? Steal a tree?" She smiled a crooked smile, attempting to fix the tinsel. "Me either, but… where are you going to find a decorated tree this time of night?"

"It's not about stealing the tree, Jane." He tried keeping the amusement out of his tone, reaching over her in order to adjust the tree topper. It was an angel, something she had taken from a display. She was turning into quite the little scavenger, but she always called it borrowing. "Christmas. I didn't want to do Christmas."

"I kinda figured." She stepped back with him, both of them taking a moment to admire their tree. Well, not their tree, but it was still nice. "Christmas not a big thing for you?"

He shrugged, turning to examine the rest of the room. While she had been doing some salvaging in the fairly empty and destroyed grocery displays of a supermarket that was actually open, he had picked up a few things. Some of the few remaining decorations, some gifts… crappy gifts, but gifts. "Not really, it never was." He inhaled, a slight smile crossing his face. It wasn't Boston Market, but it wasn't fast food either. She had managed to throw together a stew. It wasn't the ham or turkey dinner she had fed Bobby last Christmas, but it was still… nice. "Our dad was usually… busy, with work, hunting."

She was quiet, walking over to give the stew a stir. The pan was one she had begged off the front desk clerk, and they were using one of those weird counter stove things that you plugged in. It wasn't her first choice of cookware but it would suffice. "So, it was just you and Dean then?"

"Usually. Not always, but…" He fell silent again, lapsing into a memory. "One Christmas was… bad, but good, you know? Dean was always trying to make sure I had a real one, even when dad forgot, or was gone hunting. He tried real hard that year."

"But?"

"The presents he stole, they were for girls."

"He stole a little girl's presents? Why am I not surprised?"

"You stole someone's angel."

"I borrowed it, I'll return it tomorrow." She corrected, shooting him a mock glare over her shoulder. "Why don't you doctor up the eggnog?"

He moved to stand by her at the tiny counter, pulling the bottle of whiskey they had picked up towards him. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Christmas. You had a normal family, right?"

"Sam," She put the lid back on the stew. "Did Dean ever tell you about how he met me? I know we gave you the 'bar' spiel, but did he say anything else?"

"No, not really. Why?"

"My folks ran the bar we met in, I was their… I was like an indentured servant. I worked for free basically, they considered room and board my payment. It was always about the alcohol and the money, Christmas was usually spent behind the bar counter playing with empty ashtrays or, when I got older, it was on the floor serving liquor to the holiday drunks."

"That would suck."

She shrugged. "It worked out in the end. I'm here now, with Dean," She smiled again, nudging his side with her body. "And you. I got a family now, a real one. Granted, it's a messed up, dangerous family, but a family."

Sam, who had gotten out the eggnog and added a very generous measure of whiskey, was now giving it a stir. "You know Jane, I like you."

"Uh, thank you?"

"Dean does too, you know."

She hesitated, wondering what brought that one on. "I would hope so…"

"More than he would ever admit."

"Oh."

"Are you… okay with all this? With what's coming? I mean, I know I'm not and-"

"Sam, it's Christmas, please don't." She interrupted, knowing where he was going and not about to visit this topic. Not tonight of all nights. "I know… it must be killing you, I get it, I really do. But not tonight, please? We will talk about it, soon, okay?"

"Okay."


"Sam didn't want to have Christmas."

"He changed his mind, Dean."

"Did you change his mind for him?"

Jane raised her head off his bare chest, twisting a bit so she could look up at him. "Nobody changes Sam's mind about anything," She dragged her nails lightly down when he scoffed, smirking when a nipple instantly hardened. "You should know this, you're the same way. I could yell at you about something until I'm blue in the face and you wouldn't blink an eyelash until you were damn good and ready too."

"I guess you're right, there's no way you'd go out and buy Busty Asian Beauties yourself…"

"Not for you, I might keep them for me." She informed him, laying her head flat again, listening to his heartbeat. "I still can't believe you bought me a box of tampons…"

"It was all I could find." He growled, unwrapping his arms from around her in order to haul her upwards, feeling her body settling on top of his. It was a familiar feeling, one he thoroughly enjoyed. "I want you to have something, Jane."

She cocked her head quizzically, black hair falling down into her eyes. "Maxi pads?"

"No, smartass." Behind her back, literally, he removed the silver ring he always wore. It felt weird, having it gone, but he didn't put it back on. Instead, he moved it around so it was in her face, the flickering holiday lights she had strung up around their bed for the night providing the only light for her to see it by. "It was my mom's." He explained at her puzzled look. "Her wedding ring. I want you to have it."

"Dean, I can't, it was-"

"Janey, please, wear it."

She held her breath as he maneuvered it onto her finger, the one a wedding band belonged on. She just stared down at it, enjoying the feel of the weight on her finger more than she liked. It was a little big, but nothing that some thread around the bottom wouldn't take care of in the morning. "Thank you." She whispered, mentally cursing when she realized she sounded teary.

He kissed her before any tears could fall.