25 Days of SPN X-Mas #4 - Mistletoe

Disclaimer: Supernatural and its characters are the property of Eric Kripke. Sadly, I do not own any of these guys.
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"Are you sure this is a good idea, Sam?" Kevin asked as he tacked a piece of mistletoe above one of the doorways in the bunker. "What if Dean gets mad?"

Sam snorted, handing Kevin another branch from the bushel he held in his arms. "If he does, it's only because he knows we're right."

A few days ago, Sam and Kevin had hatched a plan to place mistletoe all around the bunker, keeping it especially concentrated in areas they knew Dean and Cas frequented. The two of them knew the hunter and the ex-angel were more than friends, and had been for a long time, but Dean still seemed dead-set on keeping that fact a secret from them somehow. Whatever the reason, they were sick of watching Cas stare at Dean with unadulterated adoration in his eyes only to be discouraged every time Dean ignored him in front of them – or, even worse, got embarrassed and then downright pissy toward the angel whenever he showed affection for the hunter.

Well today there would be none of that. Sam and Kevin had gotten up at three in the morning, just after Dean finally turned off the T.V. and they heard him snoring loudly from his room – which, incidentally, happened to be directly across from Castiel's room, so that they could actually see through each other's doorways if both doors were open. Once they were sure that Castiel was still asleep too, Sam had brought out the box of fresh mistletoe branches he had bought and stashed in his closet beneath a pile of dirty laundry. Now, at five o'clock, every door, entryway, and hallway was adorned with the tiny green branches with the snow-white berries, strategically placed in a way that even Dean shouldn't be able to avoid. Hopefully he'd take the hint and just loosen up already.

Their decorating finished, Sam and Kevin headed back to their rooms, hoping to get a few hours of sleep before Dean and Cas woke up and the show began.

Dean hadn't gotten as much sleep last night as he would have liked. Every time he drifted off, he kept thinking he heard his brother's voice right on the edge of his consciousness. But every time he woke up and listened for it, there wasn't a sound to be heard. It was unnerving, but when Dean finally got out of bed at around five-thirty a.m. and looked around for Sam, he found him asleep in his bed where he was supposed to be. Kevin and Cas were the same, and Dean shrugged and chalked up his strange dreams to all the excitement he'd dealt with in the kitchen the day before.

"Dean?"

Dean startled at the sound of Castiel's growling voice, whirling around in the dim hallway to face the angel who had managed to sneak up on him. Cas yawned widely, tugging a wrinkled section of one of Dean's old AC/DC shirts down where it had ridden up over his plaid pajama pants, and blinked owlishly at the hunter.

"God, Cas, don't do that!"

"Don't blaspheme, Dean," Cas scolded.

"Right. Sorry. Anyway, why are you up? It's not even light out yet."

"I could ask you the same question."

"Weird dreams. Couldn't sleep."

Castiel's expression immediately became concerned. "Why did you not come to me? You always let me come to you when I have unpleasant dreams."

Dean blushed a little, glad Sam wasn't around to hear Cas right now. "Th-that's different."

"How?"

"I… Um… It just is, okay?"

Cas tilted his head, obviously not completely believing Dean's explanation, but finally nodded and slipped his arms around Dean in a loose hug. "Just remember that I will always help you when I can, whether I have my grace or I don't."

Dean nodded and returned the hug, smiling into Cas's hair. "I know. Thanks, Cas."

"…knew it…"

Dean and Castiel pulled apart and whirled around at the pair of whispered voices they heard just behind them in the hall. To Dean's dismay, it was Sam and Kevin, grinning like a pair of fools at what they had just witnessed.

"What the hell?" Dean growled in what he hoped was a fierce tone and not the slightly squeaky rasp it felt like to him. "What are you two doing up?"

"We heard you come into our rooms and then sneak out as quietly as possible," Kevin answered smugly. "Kinda figured you might be up to something naughty with your angel."

"What in the hell makes you think I –" Dean began, but Castiel cut him off mid-sentence.

"Firstly, I am a human now, not an angel. And secondly, we would not do that in the hallway, Kevin."

Dean choked on his own spit and turned the color of a tomato.

"Oh-ho-ho, this is way easier than I expected," Sam said with a shit-eating grin that made Dean want to punch him.

"What is?" the older Winchester snarled, still a deep crimson around his neck and ears.

"Look up."

Dean and Cas both looked up at the ceiling, and Cas tilted his head sideways when he saw the sprig of mistletoe hanging up above their heads. Dean blanched, his eyes wide, and shook his head, backing up a little farther away from the ex-angel.

"No. No way. Nuh-uh," he said, still trying to back up although he had already touched the wall.

"I don't understand," Castiel said softly. "Why are there poisonous plants hanging from the ceiling?"

"It's something people do for fun around Christmastime, Cas," Sam explained patiently, giving a heated glare to his brother. "When two people stand together under the mistletoe, they're supposed –"

"Enough!" Dean shouted, grabbing Castiel's arm and practically dragging him down the hall. "Let's just forget the mistletoe, okay? I'll just make breakfast, since we're all up already, and… Oh, come on!"

Kevin and Sam followed the pair of them into the kitchen, and then even they froze and stared in awe at what they saw. The entire kitchen, from the ceilings to the walls and even the appliances, was covered in mistletoe from top to bottom. The white berries dotted everything like strings of pearls, and there was even a vase full of mistletoe branches sitting in the center of the cabinet. Topping it all off, on the wall that faced the hall leading into the kitchen there were more white berries than in any other place, and they had somehow been arranged in a way that quite obviously spelled out "JUST KISS HIM ALREADY."

Castiel walked forward slowly, running his fingers over the mistletoe-covered walls as if doubting the plants were real. Sam and Kevin stood stock-still, completely dumbfounded by the way their little prank seemed to have blown up of its own accord. Dean, once he overcame the shock, turned around and stalked over to his brother and the prophet; they were pretty sure that if it was physically possible there would be steam coming out of his ears right now.

"Really?" he asked quietly, his tone somewhere between complete amazement and murderous anger. "My love life is so amusing to you that you gotta do this while I'm asleep?" He was so furious he didn't even realize he'd essentially just outed himself to them both.

"I swear, we only put up a few in all the doorways!" Sam said immediately. "I have no idea how this happened, but we had nothing to do with it."

"Yeah, sure. Well, whatever." He sighed heavily, realizing he was in way over his head and there was no way to win. "Cas, c'mere."

Castiel looked up from his examination of the mistletoe's pearly berries and strode over to Dean, his eyes glinting with amusement. "Yes, De – mmph!"

The ex-angel's words were caught off when Dean smashed their lips together, wrapping one arm around Castiel's waist and letting his other hand roam through his dark hair. Cas relaxed into it immediately, returning the kiss with just as much energy if not more as he grabbed a fistful of Dean's shirt and pressed himself against the hunter, a small noise of pleasure escaping the back of his throat. After a few seconds they broke apart, and Dean glared defiantly at his brother and Kevin, who were staring wide-eyed at the two of them.

"There. I kissed Cas in front'a you two. You happy now, perverts?"

"Yes! It's about freakin' time, sheesh!"

Everyone turned toward the source of the strange voice, and for the second time in less than five minutes they were all struck speechless. Standing in the hallway between the kitchen and the main room of the bunker was Gabriel, the Archangel they had believed to be dead for years. For having supposedly been killed by Lucifer, he looked surprisingly healthy, and he leaned lazily against the wall while he smirked and bit into a piece of the peppermint bark Dean and Cas had made the day before.

"I thought you'd never man up and admit to it, Dean-o," Gabriel said with a tired sigh. "Dunno why, since everyone but you has always seen it coming. And you'd think a hunter like you would've realized something was up yesterday when that chocolate Cas should've burnt mysteriously managed to turn out alright. But, well, I guess you've lost a little of your touch."

"How… How are you alive?" Sam asked, his eyes even wider than they had been a moment ago.

"Helloooo? Trickster? Awesome at faking my own death? Any of that ring a bell, Samsquatch?"

"You… but… I…"

"Oh, for Heaven's sake!" Gabriel stepped forward and grabbed onto Sam's shoulder, pulling him down so he could try to plant a kiss right on his lips. Sam gasped and pulled away, trying to escape but failing when Gabriel grabbed his arm and held on with angelic strength. "Aww, don't be that way, Sammy. Come on, I just got back. Didn't you miss me at all?"

"No!" Sam said, breaking away and storming off down the hall while Gabriel shook his head and grinned.

The angel turned to Dean, Cas, and Kevin, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, guys, we can catch up in a minute. Right now there's something else I gotta deal with." In the blink of an eye he had disappeared, leaving them alone in the kitchen.

"Uh, not that it's any of my business," Kevin said after Sam and Gabriel had disappeared from view. "But did something happen between Sam and that angel before?"

"Hell if I know. Sure looks like it, though, huh?" Dean said with a frown. "Do you know anything, Cas?"

Castiel shrugged, taking a bite of peppermint bark and looking away from Dean as nonchalantly as he could. "I'm not supposed to talk about it."