Secret Santa for MaiMai!

[Zwee]

Happy Holidays, MaiMai! I really hope you like this! Just some brother-Cas bonding and cold weather and snuggling and coziness. <3

~*~

Sam was beginning to regret his decision to teach Castiel about Santa Claus.

“I don’t understand. He does not ask for any sort of reimbursement?” The angel was standing stiffly in Bobby’s kitchen, his head cocked to the side.

“Well, most families leave out cookies…”

“But the slaves are not paid?”

“I don’t know, Cas.” Sam sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was developing a terrible headache, and Castiel’s incessant questioning was doing nothing to help. “The elves work for fun, not for money.”

“The slaves actually enjoy the monotonous—“

“Hey! Will you two shut up a minute and come look at this?” Dean interrupted them mercifully, calling to them from the living room. He was pointing to the storm warning that had flashed up on the television. “It says the temp should drop by tonight and we should expect a snowstorm.”

Sam looked worried. “We need to go grocery shopping to stock the house, just in case.”

The three of them had been holed up at Bobby’s house since they had finished a hunt in the area a few days ago. The older hunter was off pursuing a case in Florida, where the weather was still balmy, and would not be back for a week.

“Yeah, good plan,” Dean agreed, standing up and stretching.

The wind had picked up, howling and whistling against the sides of the house. The temperature had dropped, too. One step outside and Sam wished he had grabbed a warmer coat. The cold air filled his lungs, aggravating them, and he began coughing hard into his shoulder. He climbed in the passenger seat as quickly as he could, and Dean cranked the heat, shivering.

“Shit, we need to hurry.” He said, pointing out the windshield at the flurry of tiny snowflakes that had begun to fall.

Dean went at least five miles over the speed limit (but more like ten) the entire ride to the store, despite Castiel’s persistent warnings that his “reckless driving behavior could result in a fatal collision due to the amount ice and the increasingly poor visibility”.

They got to the store safely, however, and Sam began to assign them all items to make their trip go more quickly.

The frozen food aisle was making Sam shiver. His nose was running from all the cold air, and when he reached in to grab a few frozen pizzas, the frigid gust from the freezer made him sneeze.

“Hh-tsshhhew! Huh-TSHUHhh!”

“God bless you, Sam.” Castiel was right behind him. Sam jumped a mile, nearly dropping the pizzas.

“Jesus, Cas!” He sniffled, shivering. “Did you get the cheese?”

“I was not sure which variety you and your brother preferred. There are so many options, with such subtle differences in taste,” Cas pondered, looking a little confused.

“Just get a block of—hhh—hh-hold on—Huh’TSHHH’ew! Heh-EHtshhooo! God, sorry. Cheddar. Just grab some cheddar. And some eggs.”

Castiel followed Sam’s orders and then searched the store for Dean.

“Dean.” Cas stood in front of the older Winchester, brow furrowed.

“Sam’s health seems to be somewhat deteriorating. His upper respiratory system is infected. His nasal passages are inflamed, he is suffering from a headache, and his body temperature is slightly elevated.”

“Yeah, I know he’s getting sick.” Dean answered. “He’s been sneezing for two days now. Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.” He pointed to his basket, which was full of tissues, medicine, and boxes of tea.

The angel gave a small smile. “You are a good brother to Sam.”

Dean shrugged. “It’s my job.” He walked over to the next aisle for pasta, and Cas continued looking for the items on his list.

At the checkout, Sam was a shivering, sniffling mess. It always seemed to astound Dean how his brother could go from perfectly fine to incredibly sick in a matter of hours. Sam could feel Dean’s worried gaze as he stifled three sneezes into his elbow. “Hhh-tssshh!! Hup-TSSXXT! Hehh-ehhh-hehttsssgxxt!!”

“Gesundheit.” Dean grunted so Sam would know he had heard him sneezing.

Sam looked up guiltily and thanked his brother quietly, placing items on the conveyer belt to be rung up.

It was snowing heavily by the time they were finished. Sam was shivering violently, and Dean was not happy. They ran to the car, wasting no time putting the bags in the backseat (no space in the trunk), and Dean started up the engine as quickly as he could.

“Shit.” Dean was driving much slower than he had been before. “I can’t see a damn thing.”

Sam could only sniffle miserably. “Sh-should’ve left earlier—Hht-ksshhooo!”

“God bless you.” Castiel’s voice came from the backseat.

“Th-thanks CaaahhhTSSHHuhh! Ugghh.” He gave a little moan and began to search through the glove compartment for napkins.

“Check the bag at your feet, Sammy.” Dean grunted.

Sam was so relieved to see the tissues that he didn’t even notice the cold medicine. “Thanks, Dean. Don’t know why I’m so suhhh-snee—HPTSSHHeww!”

“Gesundheit.” Dean sent his brother a knowing look, but Sam didn’t catch it, he was too preoccupied with more hitching breaths.

By the time Sam’s sneezing fit was finished, they had arrived at Bobby’s, so Dean didn’t get a chance to tell his brother the jig was up, he was busy unloading bags.

Dean and Castiel hurried inside the warmth of Bobby’s house while Sam grabbed the remaining bags, so they didn’t hear the loud smack of Sam’s nasty fall on the ice, nor were they there to help the youngest brother pick up the spilled groceries. Sam hobbled inside, pink-faced and sniffling, setting the wet bags on the counter and sinking into a chair to inspect his injured ankle.

What, did you drop them in the—shit, Sammy, what’s wrong?” Dean’s eyes fell first on the soaked paper, then on his brother’s pained expression.

Sam looked sheepish. “I just, uh, sneezed, and then slipped… I think I sprained my ankle.”

Sam’s embarrassed face was enough to make Dean burst out laughing, as was his ridiculous story, but the ankle—already swelling—made him attempt a straight face.

“Ktshhew! Kktssshhhoo! Hih-kiitshhuhh!”

“Fuck, Sam…” Dean got out a bag of ice from the freezer and wrapped it in towels. “This is just going to make you shiver more.”

“M’fine.” Sam’s teeth were chattering.

Castiel hovered, his face concerned. He placed his icy fingers gently on the foot in question, frowning. “It does not appear to be too serious, but you should still elevate it immediately and—“

“And take it easy, you moron. You’re sick. You shouldn’t be up and about in the freezing cold anyway. That’s how you got yourself into this situation.” He chuckled a little, and Sam flushed.

“Dean…”

“Shut up, Sammy. Take some medicine.”

“Thanks, Dean.” Sam mumbled, grabbing a tissue out of the box and grudgingly accepting the syrup Dean handed him.

Dean put on a pot of tea for his little brother, then checked to make sure Cas had gotten him safely to the couch where he could prop up his ankle. He could hear that Sam had begun a more in-depth explanation of Santa and smirked.

“The slaves cannot possibly be happy working for such a cruel being.” Castiel was protesting.

“Here, Cas, why don’t we just watch a Christmas movie so you can see for yourself.” Sam fiddled with the television, relieved to find that the old set still worked, despite the snow. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer had just started, and Sam settled on that, satisfied beneath his warm blanket.

Dean came back into the living room just in time to see Sam launch into a breathless sneezing fit, nose buried in a pile of tissues.

Once he had finished, Dean snuggled in by his side. “Aw, Sammy, I don’t think we even need to watch Rudolph if you’re giving us a show like that.” He gestured to Sam’s pink nose, and Sam produced a half-hearted bitchface before coughing hard into his elbow.

Within the first twenty minutes of the movie, Sam fell fast asleep on Dean’s shoulder, snoring softly, his mouth hanging just slightly open. Dean tucked the blankets around his little brother protectively.

The rest of the evening passed blissfully cozily, and Dean soon fell asleep too; Sam’s warmth made it hard not to.

Once the movie had finished, Castiel still had a lot of questions. He looked at the Winchesters, opening his mouth to begin, but realized that he should wait. He readjusted the blanket over the brothers so that they were each more warmly covered. Then, he found another Christmas movie and settled in to watch it, content.

~*~

THE END

Edited December 26, 2013 by Zwee

[SpookyScarySkeleton]

Awwwe cute, Maimai is going to love this <3 . It's like the best writing in the world

[SexualOddity]

Ohhhh this is wonderful! I love the cold coming on so slowly at first and then so suddenly, and Cas being so descriptive and Dean just being like, "Yeah, he's been sneezing his ass off, I had picked up on it." And he is... he IS a good brother to Sam! And oh Cas trying to understand Santa's workshop. Just PERFECT. I love Sam being so embarrassed about the whole thing, and not admitting anything even though he was sneezing so much. So, SO much love for this!

[MaiMai]

OHMIGOSH, ZWEE!!!!!! This is just the sweetest, most adorable and utterly amazing story ever!!! I can't even begin to describe how much I love it!!!!!

It's written brilliantly and OH GOSH THE PLOT IS JUST ADORABLE! <3

The angel gave a small smile. “You are a good brother to Sam.”

This line, just AAAWWWW! It was the sweetest thing EVER!!

Once he had finished, Dean snuggled in by his side. “Aw, Sammy, I don’t think we even need to watch Rudolph if you’re giving us a show like that.” He gestured to Sam’s pink nose, and Sam produced a half-hearted bitchface before coughing hard into his elbow.

This bit made me laugh out loud!! Awww, Dean and his teasing! <3

I adored Sam trying to explain the whole Santa thing to Cas!!!! It was so adorable and funny and aaawwwwww! The characterisation and dialogue is perfect too, you're such an amazing writer, Zwee!!!!

AAAAWWWWW! Seriously, THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!! This fic is everything I ever could have wished for and more! I literally can't stop smiling now ahahaha! I can't even express how deeply I adore this!!

Once again, THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOO MUCH ZWEE! I LOVE it!!!

[Sophie<3]

This is great! MaiMai wrote such an awesome story for Scatter and now she's getting one in return! Secret Santa at it's best! You guys are all amazing! <3

[sadie22233]

love dean's big brotherly-ness! <3 so so good!

[AngelEyes]

I love Cas trying to figure out Christmas. His use of the full God Bless You made me grin like an idiot because he would say that, wouldn't he!

“I was not sure which variety you and your brother preferred. There are so many options, with such subtle differences in taste,” Cas pondered, looking a little confused.

Love Cas being so overwhelmed by ordinary stuff. I can relate too, I often feel like that in the grocery store! I was going to buy jam the other day but gave up. LOL

“Dean…”

“Shut up, Sammy. Take some medicine.”

“Thanks, Dean.” Sam mumbled, grabbing a tissue out of the box and grudgingly accepting the syrup Dean handed him.

Love Sam starting to protest then Dean just being all badass don't you argue with me and Sam just giving in. Adorable!