Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Jody, where’d you put the balloons?” Claire ran down the stairs.

Jody rolled her eyes. “Be quiet, they’ll hear you. Cas can only keep them busy for so long. The balloons are over on that table, right by the helium tank.”

Alex came in, carrying a large box filled with pie carriers. Donna was right behind her with the punch supplies. “Where do you want the food, Jodes?”

“I don’t know. Pick a table. Alex, you remember where the kitchen is? Why don’t you go see if you can find some pie servers?” Of the four of them, Alex was easily the best at being sneaky.

Claire ripped open the bag of balloons. “You really think Dean bothers with pie servers? Pretty sure he just dives face-first into the pie.”

“Probably, but Sam has some manners, and the Men of Letters might have had some. You know, silver pie servers to make sure that no shifters tried to steal dessert, sharp edges in case vampires snuck in to the soiree…” Jody smiled as Claire and Donna dissolved into giggles.

Alex came back – with two silver, sharp-edged pie servers. Now Jody was giggling, too. Alex looked around the room in confusion. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, get the pies out.” Jody picked up the banner and tied one end to a bookshelf. She unrolled it as she headed for another bookshelf. Castiel had provided good measurements, and the banner was exactly the right size.

It’s not that Sam wasn’t enjoying the Captain America marathon. He was. He liked Bucky. He could relate. But he couldn’t shake the feeling he needed to be researching something.

Cas reached over and took his hand. “The Darkness is gone. The world is safe. You can take a day off from saving people, Sam. This is how many times you and Dean have saved the world now?”

“And this time, we managed to do it without breaking anything else that we know about yet.” Sam looked over at where Mary sat on the floor. “Still not quite sure what to make of having Mom here.”

“You think you’re confused… I read these comics when I was a little girl!” Mary shook her head. “I’m pretty sure I’d have remembered if Captain America and Bucky were que… gay. Dad wouldn’t have let me read the comics.”

“It’s a modern interpretation, Mom. You don’t have a problem with it, do you?” Dean shot a quick glance at where Sam and Cas were still holding hands. “Because times have changed.”

“No, of course not,” Mary said. “Boys, you do know I kept an eye on you, right? It was about all there was to do out there in the void with Amara. I tried not to watch when things were going to be too awkward, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know about your arrangement.”

Sam relaxed, and Cas scooted a little closer to him. Just as they were getting settled, though, Led Zeppelin started blasting from outside. Dean got to his feet, gun already in hand by the time he was up, and Mary wasn’t far behind with a knife. Castiel, though, looked completely unperturbed, and he held Sam back. “Relax. This isn’t an invasion or a threat.”

“What is it, Cas?” Sam finally got his hand free, although he didn’t immediately go for a gun. If Cas said it was okay…

“Come see for yourselves.” Castiel paused the movie and shut off the TV.

Dean stopped suddenly, and Sam bumped into him. Fortunately, he was taller, so he could still see. The library was filled with balloons, there was punch and pie, and a giant banner hanging on the bookshelves. “THANKS FOR SAVING THE WORLD – AGAIN!”

“The punch is spiked, so come getcha some!” Donna waved the dipper from the punch bowl at them. “Don’t be shy!”

Dean put his gun away, finally relaxing. “You guys are ridiculous, you know that? How’d you find out about this?”

Claire raised her hand. “When that crazy chick banished him, Castiel turned up in our backyard. He told me what was going on, and when he got the call that you weren’t dead, we decided we should throw you a freakin’ party. Has anyone ever actually said thank you for all the times you’ve saved the world?”

“You guys are the first.” Sam pushed past Dean to hug Claire. “I can’t believe you did all this without us knowing!”

“That was Cas’s job.” Jody came to claim her hug. “Keep you all distracted while we set up. So thank you.”

“Mom, it’s okay, these are friends of ours.” Dean put an arm around Mary and led her into the room. “Jody and Donna got sucked into hunting while we were around, and we’ve kinda taught them how to survive. Alex was basically raised by vampires, so when we took out the nest, Jody agreed to take Alex in and reteach her human social skills. And Claire’s orphaned because of us, so Jody took her, too.”

“Because of me,” Castiel corrected. “Dean and Sam are not responsible for Claire’s parents’ deaths.”

Jody shook Mary’s hand. Then she turned to Dean. “I thought Bobby said your mom died when you were little. Like, really little.”

“Sam was six months old,” Mary said. “One thing you learn about hunters: death isn’t always the end. Especially for Winchesters.”

“I keep hoping we’ll see Bobby out at the salvage yard,” Jody said. “Welcome back. Mary, right? You raised a couple of boys who saved the world. I think that deserves some pie.”