Title: A Visit From The Sheriff, No Warrant Required
Genre: Gen
W/C: ~1290
Characters: Sam, Dean, Jodie Mills
Rating: PG-13 for curse words
Summary: written for
tattooeddevil’s prompt for Jodie Mills stopping by the Batcave. Hope you like it :)
Dean gave the kitchen another once-over as he checked his watch for the eighteenth time in the past half an hour, while Sam busied himself with making absolutely certain that there were no wrinkles in the sheets or pillowcases on the bed in the room they’d set up as tonight’s ‘guest room’.
It’s not like they had guests all that often. And this one…well, let’s just say they had many reasons for wanting to make a good impression.
Finally, the call came in. Sam grabbed his phone, then let it go through to the second ring before pressing ‘Accept’ on the screen and using up all his cool points right then and there with his opening line of “Jodie? Jodie, are you here? Do I need to come get you?” He managed to roll his eyes at himself as she responded that yes, she had arrived outside the bunker and was ready for one of them to come up and show her how to get inside.
Ending the call and heading toward the steps, Dean called after him, “You could have just opened with ’Hello?’”, laughing at his brother’s obvious excitement.
“Oh, because you’re not happy to see her too? You haven’t wiped down that same counter six times today?”
“Shut up, bitch, and go let her in, it’s cold out there.”
“Fine, jerk, just don’t be such an ass.”
As soon as they had their friend inside, though, all animosity was forgotten.
“Jodie! Let me take your coat!” Dean offered with his chick-slaying grin (not that it would ever have any effect on the Sheriff), accepting her warm hug in return.
“So good to see you boys! And look at this place! It’s amazing, honestly, who’d have ever guessed all this was out here in the middle of nowhere?”
“Well, most people didn’t know what Bobby had hidden away out there in the salvage yard all those years”, replied Sam with a grin. It was nice, being able to talk about Bobby now in a nostalgic way, like sharing a nice memory instead of picking at a raw wound.
“All right, show me around, then.”
The next forty-five minutes were taken up by showing off the library, the lounge, what Dean liked to call the “War Room”, and the allegedly miraculous showers. Sam took Jodie’s bag and coat and deposited them in the guest room when they got there, showing her where she’d be sleeping. She had to stop them so many times to take a look at vintage records, framed photographs, antique furniture. “Sorry guys, I just can’t help it, this place is fascinating, like a step backward in time!”
“Take your time, we felt the same way when we got here, believe me”, Sam said, just as the timer in the kitchen started to buzz.
“That’s me”, Dean said, heading toward the kitchen. “Sam, get the lady a whiskey, will you?”
“Yeah, Sam, how about it?” asked Jodie. Of course, Sam brought her directly into the lounge and they sat in big comfy armchairs chatting over tumblers of who-knew-how-old scotch. If it made Jodie Mills blink, it had to pack quite a punch; she was no lightweight.
“All right, now I’m not trying to get into lecture mode here, but you’re still a little on the thin side, Sam. You know you look good, you always look good, but I don’t like to see you so skinny, kid.”
Sam repressed the urge to roll his eyes. It had been a tough couple of months but things were getting better. He couldn’t blame Jodie for being worried, though, it was only because she cared so much for him and his brother. “I know, Sheriff, but Dean’s doing everything he can to fix that, I promise you.”
As if to prove him right, Dean popped his head out of the kitchen and said, in his best impression of a snooty accent, “Dinner is served.”
Sam and Jodie laughed, left behind their whiskey and sat down at the table, which had already been set. Dean brought out a beautiful serving dish with a pot roast surrounded by potatoes, onions and carrots, all in a rich gravy.
For a moment, Jodie just stared. “Where did this come from?”
Dean just laughed and replied, “The kitchen, Jodie. I figured since we have one now, I might as well learn how to use it. If you can follow instructions, you can cook. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“He’s totally downplaying it. Seriously, he watches videos on YouTube for ideas and cooking shows and all that…even goes to the farmer’s market with me now and then for particular ingredients. It’s not a surprise, really. A man who loves food as much as Dean…it would only make sense that he’d love cooking if given the chance.”
“And it’s not like I don’t make bacon cheeseburgers and fries, you know. But this is a special occasion, having you here. So, you know, I wanted to do something special.” Dean’s ears were red, and his cheeks probably were too, but he was looking down at the table so there was no way to know for sure.
“Well, I’m awfully proud of you boys. It seems like you’ve found a perfect place for you both here. You’ve got history, lore, comfort, (she almost said safety but didn’t want to jinx anything) and each other. Dean, this is wonderful, the best damn dinner I’ve had in as long as I can remember. Single girl like me, you know I have a bowl of cereal for dinner most nights.”
“Hey now, that’s no good! You know you’d be reading us the riot act if you came here and found out we were living off of junk food!” Dean responded indignantly.
“Yeah, yeah. I get to be bossy about that kind of stuff. One of the perks of being older.”
They laughed and chatted, told stories, got caught up on what had been going on in their lives lately. Jodie insisted on helping with the dishes and once everything was done, all three of them were exhausted.
Before heading to their respective rooms for the night, Jodie took both of their hands in hers. “Boys, I gotta be honest. I expected to come in here today to a trash can full of takeout containers, a bunch of overflowing laundry baskets, hell, at least an unmade bed somewhere! I know this is your first time really having a place of your own as adults, but you’ve done one hell of a job settling in here. You’ve made it into a home, and not just a pit stop. I think just that took a whole lot of courage on both your parts. I’m just so damn proud of you both. Now give me a hug and let me go to bed before I start getting all weepy, all right?”
Of course, Dean and Sam both complied right away, hugging Jodie and promising her a delicious breakfast in the morning.
“Sam, you know-”
“Yeah, we oughta have people come visit more often, I know.”
“Really glad she was the first, though. And I’m telling you, man, I think she’s got a thing for you…”
“God, Dean, would you shut up about that already?”
From a few feet down the hallway, they were interrupted by an annoyed, “You know I can hear everything you’re both saying, right?”
The brothers silently nodded their good-nights to each other and disappeared into their own rooms.