HOME (part 2) chapter 50 - first part of chapter 51
50.
Christmas wasn't going to have the grandeur of Thanksgiving this year; everyone in the bunker was getting ready for their trip south. But Christmas wasn't going to go completely unrecognized. Not if Dean had anything to say about it.
Money was a bit tight with the upcoming trip and the fact that everyone had been concentrating on learning what they needed to know and getting Ben up to speed...they hadn't exactly had time to hustle pool or search out a high-stakes poker game, though Charlie had boosted their collective bank account with some of her online winnings. Well, "winnings" was a generous way to put it; really Charlie had figured out years ago how to beat the system by hacking into the software that ran those online poker sites. She made sure never to win too much from any one site, so no one got suspicious.
Sam tried to keep some kind of track of the finances (Dean sure as hell wasn't going to). About a week before Christmas, around the dinner table one night, when, by some miracle, everyone was there, eating at the same time, Sam cut through the chatter around him and asked for everyone's attention.
"Uh, I don't know how to say this," Sam started, "we're doing okay, but I wondered if we could keep it low-key for Christmas this year."
"I don't know if I can return the Ferrari," Dean said sarcastically between bites of Sam's chili.
"Very funny, asshole," Sam responded.
Dean smiled.
"No, really," Sam said, "we've got everything we need here...I think if anyone's going to give gifts it ought to be something we make ourselves."
"Like Little House on the fucking Prairie?" Dean asked.
"Yeah Dean, just like that," Sam gave him an exasperated look.
"I think it's a great idea, Sam," said Lisa from her spot next to Dean.
"Well thank you," Sam replied. "I think it'll mean more this way anyway."
"Great," complained Dean. "I'll go make room in my drawer for all of the itchy sweaters and homemade I.O.U. coupon books."
"What makes you think you'll be getting anything?" Sam asked.
Dean gave Sam his best 'fuck you' look. "C'mon Sam, we spent our entire childhood with crappy Christmas presents. What's a little more on the credit card gonna hurt?"
"You wanna get a regular job?" Sam asked Dean pointedly.
Dean ignored him.
"That's what I thought," Sam responded to Dean's wordless admission.
"So I'm supposed to figure out how to pull eight gifts out of my ass by next week?" Dean asked.
"I'd really prefer it if my present didn't come from there," Sam replied, deadpan.
"What makes you think you're getting anything?" Dean said sarcastically.
Sam ignored him. "I think we should draw names. We should each draw two and those will be the people we make presents for."
"I'm game," said Walker.
"Me too," chimed in Ben.
"Okay, so we'll have everyone here, plus Garth." Sam wrote the names down and tore the paper in to small pieces. "Obviously if you draw yourself, throw it back."
"I wish I could throw you back," Dean groused to Sam.
"You in or out?" Sam asked Dean.
"I'm in," Dean said begrudgingly.
"Oh, and I think all of us should give Scarlett a gift....I mean, she's the only kid here and that's really who Christmas is for. If anyone's going to spend any money, maybe it should be on Scarlett," Sam finished.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later, Dean caught up with Charlie in the hallway. "Hey, you know how to knit, right?"
Charlie didn't know how to respond. Why in the hell was Dean asking her about knitting? "Uh, yes, I know how to knit," she said cautiously.
"Can you help me with something for Sam?" Dean asked.
"Come on, Dean," Charlie used her "mom" tone of voice that she usually only used on Scarlett, "I think Sam wants us to actually MAKE gifts for each other; not bribe someone else into doing it for us."
"I don't want you to do it for me," Dean said, "I want you to show me how to do it."
"Wait, hold the phone, YOU want to learn how to knit?" Charlie asked, not really believing Dean.
"Hey, I'm good with my hands!" Dean protested.
"Yeah, I bet you are," Charlie teased him. "Sure, okay, I'll show you. How about out in the garage tonight?"
"I'll be there," replied Dean.
Charlie didn't know quite what to make of the huge, up-to-no-good smile that spread across Dean's face.
(I feel I should apologize for the length of chapter 51...but it was a blast to write and I have a good SPN friend who loves Christmas....this one's for you, bitch!)
51.
Scarlett's squeals of delight woke everyone up around 7:00 am on Christmas morning. Charlie told her she couldn't open anything until everyone was awake and she was just about to jump out of her skin with excitement.
When everyone, still a bit sleepy, had gathered around the tree that Sam had plugged in earlier, Scarlett finally looked up at Dora with a pleading expression and asked, "Now momma?"
"Yes sweetheart," replied Dora, "everyone's here so you can open your presents...only the ones with your name on though, and save that big one for last," she said pointing to the largest box under the tree.
"THAT one is for me???!!!!" Scarlett squeaked.
"Yes, but save it for last," Dora already had to remind her.
Scarlett opened the first box. "That one's from me to Scarface," Dean said. Scarlett looked at the contents, confused. She held the open box up for Dora to see and said, "Momma, what is it?"
"Jesus Christ, Dean, you gave her a slingshot?!" Dora said in exasperation. "Why didn't you just give her an eye patch to go along with it and it would have saved us all a lot of time!"
Charlie put her hand on Dora's arm and looked over at Dean. Quietly, she said to Dora, "I'm sure there's more to it."
"Now, hold on," said Dean, smiling, "Come over here kiddo," he said to Scarlett, patting the floor next to him, "and bring your present."
She did and Dean deftly pulled back one of the ping pong balls he'd included and shot a small, lightweight box off the stack of other boxes with ease. Seeing this, Scarlett's eyes got big and a huge smile crossed her face. "I wanna try," she said.
"Whoa, hold it," said Dean. Holding the slingshot out of Scarlett's reach. "Now this isn't a toy. You know how when me and Sam and your mom go to the shooting range we wear those funny glasses?" Scarlett nodded. "Well, that's what you have to do too."
"Just like you?" Scarlett asked, hopefully.
"Exactly like me," responded Dean. "You can only use this at the shooting range, okay?"
"M'kay," agreed Scarlett solemnly. "I love you, Uncle Dean," she said as she hugged him.
"I love you too, kiddo," he said quietly. "Now hurry up and get to those other boxes before I open them myself."
With that threat on her mind, Scarlett scrambled to her feet and back over to the pile of presents.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scarlett opened the next box and pulled out a soft thin red blanket. "That one's from me," offered Lisa.
"But I already have my blanket," Scarlett said. She still carried around the ratty blanket that Sam brought her home in as an infant. It was the only thing that he and Dean took from the cabin where her family had been massacred before they set it on fire.
"And I would never EVER ask you to leave your blanket for a new one," Lisa told her. "This isn't really a blanket...it's like a coat for your blanket. Do you ever wonder if your blanket gets cold?" Lisa asked.
"No," said Scarlett, appalled at the idea. "I don't ever want my blanket to get cold!"
"Well, you put it inside this and zip it up and it will keep your blanket warm," Lisa told her. "And when it needs it, you can take the coat off and give the coat a bath."
"That is the best idea EVER," said Charlie who was always bothered by the ratty blanket that she could never really get away from Scarlett long enough to clean properly.
"Ben was little once," Lisa said slyly, and winked at Charlie.
"Thank you, Aunt Lisa!" exclaimed Scarlett.
"You're welcome, sweetheart," she replied, smiling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mine next," said Garth.
Scarlett tore into it and pulled out a stuffed sock with sewn-on button eyes.
"Mr. Fizzles!" Scarlett exclaimed, giving the stuffed sock a hug. Then she looked at Garth with questioning eyes, "But he doesn't talk," she said, holding the gift out to Garth. "Make him talk, Uncle Garth." Like all children, Scarlett loved her Uncle Garth's talking sock puppet.
"Well, now," said Garth, "this is Mr. Fizzles' brother Mr. Sizzles. Mr. Sizzles doesn't talk."
"Sounds like he's Mr. Fizzles' paralyzed brother," said Dean under his breath as Sam elbowed him in the ribs.
"Mr. Sizzles is good for hugging when you fall asleep," explained Garth. "And if he talked, he'd keep you up all night."
"I love Mr. Sizzles!" exclaimed Scarlett. "Will Mr. Fizzles come and visit his brother?" she asked.
"Definitely," responded Garth. "Maybe even tonight."
He was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek from Scarlett.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Get the one in the green paper," said Sam to Scarlett. "That's from me."
She dug through the pile, her enthusiasm making everyone in the room smile. "Found it!" she proclaimed proudly. She tore into it and found a softball, a glove, and a football. "Will you play catch with me uncle Sammy?" she asked.
"Absolutely," responded Sam. "I'll show you how to catch...and not like a girl either," he winked at her.
"And this is just like what they have on TV," she said, holding up the football.
"You know," Sam told her, "they have women kickers on pro football teams now...just wanted to cover all bases so to speak," he said looking over at Charlie and Dora. "You never know what she'll like."
"Thanks, Sam," said Charlie as Dora smiled next to her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scarlett went back to the pile of presents and came up with a flat package with a small wrapped box attached to it. "From me," said Walker.
"Oooo, pretty!" exclaimed Scarlett as she opened the book inside the package to find page after page of designs for her to color.
"Wow, smart," said Dora when she got a look at one of the pages. Each design was a protective symbol or sigil of some kind.
"Rufus did this for me when I was little," explained Walker. I was coloring away on stuff that looked like maybe it came from a stained glass window or something; all of these designs, but I was memorizing them without even realizing it."
Before Walker could even finish the explanation, Scarlett had the box of colored pencils open and was going to town. "She loves coloring books," said Charlie, "She's always trying to draw in regular books, thanks."
"There are some blank pages at the back where she can make her own designs," Walker winked at Scarlett.
"What do we say?" Charlie prompted Scarlett.
"Thank you, Aunt Walker," Scarlett said, still deep in concentration with her coloring.
Sam pulled Walker a bit closer, " 'Aunt Walker', huh?" he whisper to her, "I like the sound of that," he said as he kissed her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, kiddo," said Ben, "you're going to have to go search for your present from me. Here," he said handing her several notecards with simple directions. Scarlett quickly set aside her coloring book and jumped up to follow the clues; written simply so that she could read them herself. Her search led to the little room with the fireplace where she called for Ben to help her take down a single stocking hanging there. "It's not Christmas without a stocking," Ben explained as he and Scarlett returned to the group around the tree. Scarlett delighted in tearing into the stocking to find candy, a little camera that Ben had fashioned from an older cell phone ("I disabled everything on it but the camera," he explained to Charlie and Dora. Scarlett immediately insisted that the first picture be of her and Ben and then she happily ran around showing everyone), a hand-written coupon for a day of hide-and-seek and movies at the bunker with Ben, and a pair of Scarlett-sized cowboy boots.
"Those are adorable," Charlie exclaimed.
Ben shrugged, "Mom helped me find them and figure out her size," he offered, smiling over at Lisa. "I figured she'd need some boots for riding," he said to Dora.
"Riding what, momma?" Scarlett asked.
"Maybe you should go check out that last present," Dora told her, "That big one over there. Hey, Sam would you help her lift the box off?"
"Sure thing," said Sam as he went over to the box and he and Scarlett counted down dramatically, "Three...two...one," and Sam lifted the box off to reveal a bicycle with training wheels.
Dean let out a low whistle, "Wow, your moms got you your first ride, you're not a kid anymore, kiddo," he said, smiling.
Scarlett squealed with delight and let Sam help her onto the bike. The training wheels kept her upright and she pedaled a few loops around the packages in the room as if she'd been doing it for years.
"We'll take to over to the garage later," Dora said. "There's room to ride in there."
Scarlett climbed off and ran over to hug Charlie and Dora, "Momma, this is the best Christmas EVER," she said to them.
"We love you sweetie," Charlie said, squeezing her tightly. "Now how about you do a little more coloring in your book from Aunt Walker while the rest of us open presents,"
"M-kay," said Scarlett happily as she went back to the coloring book on the floor, the rest of her gifts spread out around her. She paused every few minutes to look up at her new bike and smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay, let's get this show on the road," proclaimed Dean, clapping his hands together.
"Me first!" exclaimed Charlie.
"Alright," said Sam, handing her an envelope.
Charlie ripped into it and pulled out a piece of paper with something that was indecipherable to most people written on it. But Charlie broke into a grin. "Oh my God, Sam, you cracked it!" she exclaimed with a squeal, jumping up to go hug him and almost knocking him over.
"What is it?" asked Dean.
"It's a code," replied Charlie giving Sam a kiss on the cheek, "for hacking iTunes. I've broken into so many systems and I never could get this one. Okay everyone, if you ever want some free music, it's on me!" she announced gleefully. "Thanks, Sam, this is awesome," she beamed.
"You're welcome," said Sam, winking at her.
"I've got something with your name on it, Charlie," Garth said. He slid a box to Charlie across the floor. Charlie opened it and looked down at the roughly 10-year-old cell phone she was holding. She looked up to Garth for an explanation.
Garth had an exceedingly smug expression on his face, "I know it doesn't look like much, but that phone is 100% secure, off-the-grid, untraceable and runs on its own kinetic power source that is constantly recharging itself. It's also un-hackable...you could use this in the center of the CDC building and not a soul would know," Garth smiled proudly. "Not the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, FEMA, no one. I've been working on the technology for awhile now...maybe you could beta test it for me?" he asked hopefully.
"Garth, you're an absolute genius," gushed Charlie. "You used old technology to circumvent the most advanced stuff out there. It’s amazing! Thank you SO much!" she exclaimed, and Garth received a very athletic hug of his own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dora was up next. "Okay, follow me," said Dean.
Dora looked at Dean with a raised eyebrow. "YOU drew my name?" she asked, skeptically, "Great," she pronounced sarcastically.
"Quit rolling your eyes; you're going to hurt yourself," Dean shot back, "Shut up and follow me,"
Everyone got up and followed Dean out to the garage.
"And I'm supposed to be looking at..." Dora questioned.
"Over there, dumb ass," Dean said, gesturing to the corner.
"So...you're giving me my own motorcycle?" Dora asked skeptically.
"Would it kill you to get closer and take a good look at it?" Dean asked.
Dora strolled over. Her eyes went wide. "Oh my God, how did you...." she trailed off. It was her favorite Indian motorcycle, but it had been showing its age a bit. Well, it HAD been. But now it looked like it had just rolled out of a museum.
"All authentic parts," Dean smirked proudly.
The headlight had had a crack in it for as long as she could remember, but not anymore and the chrome was devoid of the pitting she was used to seeing. The leather seat was soft and supple again and a few tiny scratches on the gas tank that she had started to overlook over the years were just gone.
"How did you have time?" she asked in a hushed voice.
"Well, I'd been trying to track down the parts for about a year; one at a time....I can't have some broken down piece of crap junking up my garage," Dean teased her. She shot him a look. "It makes it convenient that you're not around here during the week, so I had some time...then I just happened to draw your name and figured I oughtta get it done," Dean smiled but he looked intensely at Dora, soaking in her amazed reaction.
Dora walked back over to Dean just like she walked everywhere (as if she were on a mission) and she grabbed him and hugged him tight. Dean was happily surprised. Dora lived to antagonize him, but this was completely genuine. Charlie was practically in tears at the sight. "I love it, you asshole," Dora said into Dean's ear. "Thank you."
"Happy to do it," Dean said truthfully. "You keep taking good care of my girl, okay?" Dean said looking over at Charlie, "Don't let her ride on the back of that thing without a helmet."
"Always," Dora responded softly as she broke the hug. Dora spontaneously reached up and messed up Dean's hair.
"Hey!" he protested, "I'm not your kid brother!"
"Yeah, you kinda are," she responded. "I'm a hell of a lot older," she reminded him.
"Well, you don't look a day over 90," Dean smirked.
"Shut up," Dora responded before breaking out laughing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Me next!" Ben piped up from behind everyone else.
"Hang, on," Dean said, "Dora's got one more present coming from someone."
"That's what I said," replied Ben, "I've got one for her but it's back in there under the tree."
It turned out to be a shoulder holster for her pistol. Ben had found it rummaging around in the box of stuff at the back of the shooting range. The leather was dried out and the buckle was rusted, but he worked on it and had it looking almost-new in time for Christmas. After all the physical sparring that Ben and Dora had done over the past few weeks in the name of "training", she thought he might be holding a bit of a grudge. Apparently not. He'd put a lot of time into bringing the old holster back to life.
"Thanks for, you know, teaching me all that stuff," Ben said sheepishly.
"I heard you took your, er, Dean down the other night," Dora responded and Ben nodded slightly just as Dean at the same time said, "Did not."
"That's all the thanks I need," Dora smiled. "And thanks so much for this," she said as she tried the holster on for size. "This is going to be perfect," she declared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ben was just about as excited over the presents as Scarlett had been. He dug through the pile until he found two with his name on them. He lifted them both and decided to go for the heavier one first. "That's from me," said Walker.
"Awesome," said Ben, tearing into it.
He opened up the box and found a book. Hawking. "Wow, is this a first edition?" he asked.
"I wish, but no," replied Walker, "Go on, open it," she smiled slyly.
"It's really heavy," Ben observed, perplexed. He opened the cover to find a cut-out space inside and a shiny black handgun tucked into it." He looked at Walker, stunned, then immediately over to Dean and Lisa.
"We talked about it," Dean responded to Ben's raised eyebrow. Lisa nodded next to him. Dean continued, "Look, it's not like I want you running around with it tucked into your pants, but Sam says you're doing really well with learning how to handle one and, well, I'd rather you know how to use it than not."
"You told me once that I was never going to have a gun," Ben reminded Dean.
Dean sighed, "Yeah, I know what I said, and that's what I wanted, but you were a kid then. You're not anymore and, well, being a Winchester, it kinda comes with the territory."
"But I thought we were supposed to make presents," Ben said, looking over at Walker.
"Well, Dora drew your name, but we all had the idea for a gun of your own...Dora was going to give you a tattoo that you actually wanted - "
"I'd still be glad to," comment Dora from her place next to Charlie, "but I know how you feel about needles."
"I did the book cut-out" Walker continued, "...I wanted you to have somewhere you could stash it...maybe while you're in Texas," she suggested. "I found the book in the free pile at a library sale and fixed up the outside, but I got Dean's help with the gun. He showed me how to take it apart and clean it...it's Sam's back-up Beretta and he's been looking for an excuse to get a new one anyway..." Walker smiled over at Sam.
"She's right," said Sam, winking at Ben.
"So this one's really from a bunch of us," Walker finished.
Finally, Ben broke into a smile. "Thanks everyone," he said. "Mom," he said, looking at Lisa, "I swear I'll be smart about this," he promised.
"You damn well better be," she responded. "Dean's right; you're not a kid anymore. I'm proud of you, Ben, and I trust you, I do. Now open mine."
Ben picked up the second box. Inside he found a batch of his favorite caramel brownies which brought an instant smile to his face. He popped one into his mouth immediately. "Oh my God, Mom, these are awesome," he said enthusiastically.
"Hey!" admonished Dean, "I'm gonna make pancakes!"
"Can't wait," mumbled Ben with a mouthful of brownie.
"Bottomless pit," teased Dean.
"Wonder where he gets that from," Sam chimed in sarcastically.
There was an envelope that had been taped on top of the container of brownies. He opened it and pulled out a piece of paper with a website address on it. "What's this for?" asked Ben.
"If you're going to have a gun, you're going to do it legally," Lisa said with conviction. "You're going to get online and register for a FOID card. Today."
"Yeah, sure, definitely," said Ben earnestly. "Thanks, mom." Ben got up and went over to give Lisa a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Wow, someone in this family who's a legal gun owner," said Dean, looking over at Sam, "that's a first."
"Can we go shoot later?" Ben asked Sam hopefully.
"Sure thing," replied Sam. "The good thing about getting a used gun is that I can show you all of her quirks."
"Cool," said Ben. "I like knowing it was, you know, yours," Ben said sheepishly, looking back down at the gun cradled in the open book.
Lisa met Sam's eyes and they were both feeling a little warm over Ben's small admitted concession. It had been a long road, but Ben was finally starting to be okay with Sam.
next - HOME (part 2) second part of chapter 51
back to Masterpost