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"Dean." A voice whispered. "Dean."
He groaned and turned over in his bed, burying his face in his pillow. He wasn't in the mood for his dream to end. And what a dream it was. Everyone they had lost over the years had been there, they were all alive. He was certain that the voice calling him, one that sounded so much like his father, was not real. It was a memory or a dream. And he didn't want to let it go.
"Dean." The voice said again, this time closer. A hand pressed against his back and his survival instincts were driven into high gear. He grabbed the gun under his pillow, shifting in his bed. He couldn't even see correctly as he aimed at the blurry shape right in front of him. "Woah, boy." The voice said again. "Just me."
Dean blinked and then blinked again. He was still dreaming, right? That was absolutely not-
"Dad?"
His hands slowly lowered as his father's face became clearer and clearer. His mouth opened and then closed and then opened and closed once more. He turned slightly, seeing another shape at the end of his bed. Sam raised his hands in his obvious confusion and then dropped them with a slap at his sides. He turned slightly, and a third figure appeared in the doorway.
"Mom?"
He sat up slightly, setting the gun down next to him as he looked back and forth between the three of them.
"I already did every test," Sam said. "It's them." Dean opened his mouth to say something in response, but Sam continued, cutting him off. "There's more."
Dean shuffled out of his bed, still in his pajamas. The floor of the bunker was cold against his bare feet as the moved into the map room and he was suddenly greeted by faces of people who had been dead for weeks, months, or even years. He blinked, rubbed at his eyes, and then blinked again. But they stayed there in front of him. Each face held a mix of emotions as Dean jumped from one person to the next.
"They can't leave the bunker," Sam muttered at his side.
"You look like you've seen a ghost." Dean's head shot toward the source of the voice, finding cropped red hair and a brilliant smile meeting his gaze.
"Charlie," He breathed, only to launch himself forward. Charlie moved at the same time, tucking herself under his chin. He folded Charlie in his arms, feeling her squeeze him in return. He looked around at the other faces, seeing people he thought were long gone.
Jo and Ellen were sitting in the corner, Jo staring at the sword sitting on the bookshelf. Rowena sat at the table in the main room with a glass in front of her and Crowley to her left. Gabriel was standing off to the side, rolling his eyes at the sudden show of emotion. Ash had positioned himself on the map, stretching across it like a cat, complete with his mullet. Jack was standing next to his mother, who Dead had only met a handful of times, but she had her son folded into her arm, her face as soft as Dean remembered it. Next to Ellen was Bobby, who's eyes shot to John, still somewhere behind Dead, and then back to Sam or Dean with a soft, but gruff smile. The furthest from Dean was Cas, who was standing in the corner, as though he was afraid Dean might snap at him.
He finally pulled back from Charlie looking at her grinning face before shaking his head.
"I need a drink."
The day was surprisingly festive. He and Sam had already bought pumpkins to show Jack pumpkin carving, but Sam ended up leaving to buy a couple more. The day should have been tense, giving the history between all of them, but he guessed, as Sam had muttered to him, that this was the only day they could all be together. This was their only chance to see each other again. So perhaps, it was worth it to keep the peace. Sam also had the foresight to call Jody, who brought Claire, Patience, Donna, and Alex with her. Only when Claire and Patience arrived, did Kaia and Missouri appear. Missouri and John embraced like old friends, with her scolding him about something that Dean didn't quite hear.
He didn't know how long she had been there, but Pamela appeared as well, sashaying through the bunker as though she owned it and rewarding Dean with a flirty wink.
Crowley and Rowena spent most of the day arguing, while Rowena entertained Jack by changing one of the pumpkins into a carriage and then back once more.
A lot of alcohol was passed between them.
"I hope you know, that what I said the last time I talked to you was true," Jo said quietly when she finally had the chance to approach him. "I don't blame you for my death."
He watched as Claire and Kaia embraced and Claire — who reminded Dean so much of himself — brushed away tears rather roughly. Sam and Gabriel were practically attached at the hip when Sam returned. John practically fell to his knees when Mary finally neared him — as Dean learned they hadn't yet fully talked — and the two of them spent the rest of the day with hands folded together. Jody and Donna traded barb after barb with each other, only to be joined by Ellen who was embraced rather quickly by the duo. Bobby and John seemed to behave amicably around each other, even shaking hands at one point.
Dean made the rounds, finally having a chance to hug most of them, with the exceptions of Crowley and Gabriel who wouldn't tolerate it.
Kelly spent most of the time at Jack's side, teaching him about pumpkin carving the hard way, without magic. Naturally, Gabriel turned his pumpkin into a stripper in a pumpkin outfit, but Dean wasn't protesting.
It was only when he had plenty of alcohol in his system and day was nearing night that he finally moved toward Cas. The two of them had been avoiding each other all day, some fight that Dean couldn't even remember what caused it. But he knew it was stupid and he knew that keeping the angel at arm's length was doing neither of them any good.
When he approached Cas, they were the only ones in the kitchen. People had been coming and going from various rooms all day, the kitchen included. Dean saw his chance to finally talk to Cas alone and he decided he couldn't let it pass by.
"Hello Dean," Cas greeted, staring down at the pumpkin he had tried to carve. "I don't understand the need to mutilate a pumpkin."
Dean chuckled and waved his hand as though he could wave off the thought. "It's just a silly tradition."
"What do you do with the insides?"
"You can make something with them. The seeds are edible too."
Cas nodded and cocked his head slightly at the pumpkin. "It must be nice, to see all of them." His gruff voice seemed to sink right into Dean's heart. "I imagine this is something you must have thought about for a while."
"It is," Dean answered. "But it's not quite perfect."
Cas didn't look up at him. "Don't worry. I won't do anything stupid."
He laughed awkwardly in response, setting down the beer he was holding. Who put pumpkin spice in a beer anyway?
"That not what I meant."
"What did you mean?" Cas looked up at him now, and he was caught in the other's bright blue eyes.
He had thought for years what it would be like to kiss him, to love him. He didn't, in his own way, but part of him was terrified that he would ruin their relationship, whatever that was, by making an unwanted move. If Cas had made any indication that he wanted something from Dean, he never said it and Dean had probably chalked it up to angelic weirdness.
"Seeing everyone out there today," He began, trying to articulate his thoughts into words. He was terrible at this. He was excellent at flirting. Excellent at dragging people to him. But keeping them there was another issue. Emotions were another issue. For so long, he had shut them down because everyone he cared about died. And over and over he had lost Cas and yet here he was once again. He could lose him again, next time for real. And then where would he be? He had tried once, to express his emotions with someone, with Lisa, and yet that had ended rather dramatically and terribly. But Cas knew all the worst parts of him, saw what he did daily, and never once tried to make him into something he wasn't. He should have said something sooner. "It made me realize something."
"What, Dean?" Cas's voice was uncharacteristically gruff and he was looking at him in the same soft way he always did when it was Dean alone.
He couldn't do this. He couldn't say this.
But he could show him.
Dean lunged then, grasping the angel's face between his hands and pressing their lips together. Cas was frozen for only a second in his grasp before he was pressing back with equal fervor, his arms wrapping around Dean's waist. One of his hands fisted in the collar of Cas's damned trench coat, keeping him close until the need for air demanded he separate.
"That," He said breathlessly. "I realized that."
"I didn't think you-" Cas cut himself off.
"Me either."
Their lips met again, needier this time as Cas tightened his grip on Dean. He was struck by how strong the angel was before another noise drew their attention, Dean turned slightly only to turn back and attempt to bury himself in Cas's shoulder.
Sam and Gabriel were at the door, both of them grinning from ear to ear and half draped over one another.
"Get a room." Gabriel teased before Dean threw something, he wasn't certain what, at the general proximity of their voices.
The two laughed and skittered off, but he was certain he heard Sam say 'it's about time.'
He finally extracted himself from the angel's shoulder and cupped his face between his hands.
"Will you still be here tomorrow?"
He didn't know what compelled him to ask, though maybe it was because nearly everyone else he loved would vanish before the morning.
"I'll be here as long as you want me."
"Good."
They kissed again.