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The music blaring from the bar told Sam that Dean had managed to beat him there. He wandered in, snagged a beer for himself and made a point of turning down the tape deck so they could talk without yelling to be heard. Sam flopped into a chair across from his brother and gave him a lazy grin.

"So who else is supposed to be coming?"

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If he hadn't already known where they were meeting, he could have followed the music from halfway across the castle. It was probably a good thing (well, depending on your perspective) that memories given substance weren't prone to wearing out with use.

Castiel fretted quietly to himself as he made his way to the bar. He was pretty sure he knew what Dean was up to and wasn't at all sure what he should do about it. If anything. Trust the eldest Winchester brother to take aa few passing observations and turn them into a production virtually guaranteed to humiliate the angel in some fashion.

Well, maybe it would turn out to be nothing more than Dean claimed, an opportunity for their odd little group to gather together peaceably and perhaps make a new friend. No sense prophecying disaster in the absence of an actual prophet.

Of course, with the way things were going, Chuck would probably be turning up any minute now.

Despite his misgivings, Cas smiled slightly when he got to the bar and spotted his friends, waving and going to join them.

He sincerely hoped the prank war was on hold for the time being, or failing that, that nobody would take it into their heads to target Claire...

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((placeholder, I'll be back to the thread tonight after work))

Claire walked in and spotted the motley grouping at the bar - scruffy Dean, trim and tailored Castiel, and a tall young man she didn't recognize.

"Not late for the party, am I?" she asked them with a shy grin.

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((I am slow and late, my apologies, but either Dean or John will go next, after Dean posting order can just rotate again and edited for icon mishap.))

Adam had told the elf no when it came in to his room and for a few moments he had just stood there, looking up at the ceiling, he hadn't left his room much since his sorting. Moving stairs, different races, to be honest this whole place just kind of gave him the creeps.

As he lay there looking at the ceiling he thought about the offer, but what if John had been let out of that room, he would be there too. Adam didn't know if he was ready to face a 'Family Reunion', but he was tired of sitting in his room alone too. And rather he wanted to be nice about it or not yet would remain to be seen, but he knew the only people he could trust were the ones he seemed to be trying to avoid the most.

He swung his feet over the bed and made his way to the hall, now just to find the right set of 'stairs' and he was on his way to Ravenclaw. When he found the bar, he took a deep breath and walked in, no chickening out or turning back. For better or worse he was stuck here and he couldn't live his life in a room.

He looked at the group, a blank expression at first as he saw Sam, Dean and Cas, then he saw Claire and Adam offered a tight smile "I think I'm later, so it should be excused."

He gave a quick nod to the three men "Hey..."

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Dean snorted when Sam walked in and of course, as always turned the music down "Welcome back, Cotter." He grumbled, truth be told, he might complain about it, but that repetition, the things that didn't change, Dean appreciated those things.

Cas should have known Dean by now, he took most things and ran with it, especially when he had a large amount of idle time on his hands.

Dean winked at Sam the minute Cas walked in, his first thought was the prank war definitely wasn't over. But, him and Sam hadn't planned it to happen while they were in the bar, didn't mean he couldn't make Cas sweat it a little as he slid a shot glass and bottle over to the angel "Drink up."

As he leaned back in to his chair Claire walked in and Dean flashed her a wide grin. Cas didn't need to worry, Dean was on good behavior "Nah party's just gettin' started." He jerked a finger at Sam "You met this abnormally tall, jerk yet?" He tossed his brother a grin, Dean had a lot of snark built up after that detention and it had to come out.

He did sober for a few moments when he saw Adam walk in but then he just raised his beer and nodded "Hey, pull up a seat, have a beer, whiskey? I'm pretty sure this place has it all." He side glanced towards Sam, then Cas and back to Adam with a grin.

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Sam gave Dean an insolent grin and got to his feet, extending a hand to Claire. "Hi, I'm Sam, Dean's brother. And please allow me to apologize in advance for anything stupid my brother says," he said with a grin. "He suffers from Short Man's Disease. It's tragic really."

"Hey Adam, come on in, sit down," he said. Their half brother seemed more than a little hesitant being there, so he'd let him take the lead as far as how involved he wanted to get in their little gathering.

His eye barely caught movement just outside the door. Sam nudged his brother and nodded in that direction, "Hey Dean, check it out."

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((with a brief guest appearance by Bobby))

Like the others, John followed the music. He knew Dean’s preference for classic rock at ridiculous volumes and slipped down the hall to investigate. He stood silently in the shadows and watched. There were certain things a father never missed; the weariness around Dean’s eyes, or the haunted look Sam seemed to get when he thought no one was watching him. This afternoon though, things seemed different. They seemed happy. Even Adam seemed to be warming up to Dean and Sam.

“They’ve made their own family,” he said quietly.

“Ain’t had much choice. They had to so we could get through all of this,” came Bobby’s reply from behind. “I think it’s about damn time you get in there and make yourself part of it too.”

“Bobby,” he turned, “Look at them. They don’t need me, they have each other.”

He planted himself in the doorway, blocking any possible path for the Marine except further into the bar. “And I ain’t askin, John. Get in there and be their damned Dad.”

It was with no small amount of hesitation that John lingered in the
doorway, still watching his boys quietly.

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Claire - no shortie herself - looked up as she shook Sam's hand. "Pleasure. Claire Saunders. Sorting Room aquaintance of Castiel and Adam, Solstice Party acquaintance of Dean." She nodded to the others in turn, then sat and glanced toward the doorway where two older men lingered, eyes on their group. "They with us, or are we just that curious looking?"

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Castiel got to his feet when Claire entered, and was quietly but fervently grateful when the others took the initiative to greet her first, as he seemed to have momentarily forgotten how to put together a complete sentence.

"Hello, Claire," he said unobtrusively at last, returning to his own seat after she'd made herself comfortable. "How have you been?" She looked less fatigued than when they had last met, which he hoped meant his attempt to help her with her phobias had worked as planned.

Following her gaze, he added, "The man with the baseball cap is Bobby Singer. The other is John Winchester, Sam and Dean's father. They're--with us." He glanced up at Dean for confirmation as he spoke. It was a given that Bobby was welcome, and he assumed the same was true of John...?

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"Soda is fine for me." Adam honestly thought a drink sounded good, but he had not been legal age before dying and it was not a habit he had ever acquired, so despite rattled nerves he decided to skip the booze at least for now.

He did walk over and take a seat at the table next to Claire as he looked around, nodding to Cas, Adam nearly chuckled cause the angel seemed flustered and he found that amusing.

He looked much better than he had at his sorting, that was until his gaze followed Sam and Dean's to the door. The color drained from his face and for a moment the young man didn't know what to do, part of him wanted to invite John in, the other wanted to throw him out. He did however flash Cas a smile of thanks, even if it wasn't on purpose the part of Adam that still ached for his mother appreciated his name not being a part of that.

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"Lightweight" Dean teased Adam as he reached a hand out to Claire, if any one was paying attention they would note the way he watched the angel from the moment she walked in. Dean knew people and he knew Cas, the smirk that curved his lips made it clear that small fumble was not missed, even if it was an internal one.

But his attention was dragged away at Sam's comment and Dean whacked his brother in the back of the head "Don't listen to him, Sam's just upset cause with Adam here he's not the baby any more." Dean grinned at Claire. When Sam mentioned the door way his eyes followed slowly and he watched Bobby and John for a moment.

Then he heard what Cas said and he looked at the angel with a nod, John would always be welcomed, even if Dean did glance to the side and furrow his brow at the way Adam paled.

"Watch the kid." He uttered quietly to Sam and then stood up "One second, let me go tell the old men the party's in here." Dean strode over to the door with that wide grin of his.

"Y'know, you're missin' all the fun, might as well come on in."

Edited Date: 2011-01-09 09:49 pm (UTC)

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It started to occur to Sam just what his brother was up to and he shook his head with a resigned smirk. This should be interesting to say the least. "Right, soda. Claire, Cas, can I grab you anything while I'm up?" he offered.

Sam gave a fractional nod to his brother. Even when they weren't on a case, they still worked well together. He'd keep one eye on their younger half-brother incase he tried to bolt, and Dean would wrangle the rest of them in. No one could deny Dean once he got something in his head. He'd just out-stubborn them.

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He wanted to walk in, he wanted to be a part of their lives and get to know the people (and angel) that had become part of their family. There was so much he had missed out on. And he would have, if he hadn't seen Adam's reaction to his arrival.

"You sure everyone's gonna feel the same way about me joining, Dean?" he asked, a nod in Adam's direction.

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"Coffee for me, Sam, thanks." Claire smiled up at him, then turned to Castiel.

"Not bad at all, actually. I went to the Solstice party and only had the normal butterflies of the under-socialized, not a full blown panic attack. Don't know if it's the sort of thing I'd care to make a habit of, but it was a nice change. And I'm sleeping better, too."

She glanced over toward Dean and the older men. Some tensions among them, but she thought efforts were being made there. Something to watch, and in the meantime, small talk to smooth it over.

"Adam? Where did you wind up, once the Hat had its say?"

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"I'm fine, thanks," the angel said to Sam, not interested in anything that might impair his judgement at the moment.

He smiled slightly at Claire's assessment. "That's good. You look good." He paused fractionally, then added a touch too quickly, "Well, I mean. Better rested. I'm glad that I could help."

When she turned her attention elsewhere, he looked away, rethinking that drink and privately adding 'Talking to women' to the ever-growing list of things he just wasn't very good at.

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Adam was thankful for the distraction, but he caught the way Cas was acting and he might only be twenty years old, but Adam was no idiot.

"Gryffindor, haven't gotten out much till today, though." He watched the exchange between Sam and Dean and when the younger of the two went to get drinks, Adam glanced over his shoulder to where Dean stood talking to John.

"Hold on Sam, I'll help, might as well get every one's while we are over there." It was his way of admitting he wouldn't leave, even if John came to join them.

After all Sam had two hands, two drinks would have been easy so his offer meant there would be more.

"Just a second, Castiel, how about some water?" Adam offered, he owed the angel one for healing him that first day as it was and Adam knew that when you were nervous some thing to occupy your hands could help.

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Dean kept an eye on the room from the side of his eye as his head cocked to the side and he fixed his father with a look "He's a Winchester, he'll be fine."

Dean's mouth quirked part of the way in to a grin as he jerked his head towards Adam who had gotten up to follow Sam and help "See, he's not runnin', kid's tougher than he looks." Dean knew that he had watched Adam in those last moments at home, before Michael had taken over his body and in his eyes, Dean had seen that same will that he and Sam had, the Winchester stubbornness, it wasn't going to be easy by any means but Dean figured they would all get the hang of this family thing eventually.

"C'mon, some one has to stop Cas before he chases off the only pretty woman for miles." Dean went with crass humor to try and lighten the mood and coax his father to follow behind him as he turned to walk back in to the bar.

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"Coffee it is," he said, getting to his feet and moving behind the bar, Adam close behind. Sam pulled a fresh beer for himself, Dean and their Dad before hunting around for the soda Adam had requested. "I gotta hand it to the house elves," he murmured. "They keep this place well stocked."

A fresh cup of coffee in hand, the other bearing a small plate with all the necessary fixings for coffee, Sam returned to the table and set it down. With his back somewhat to Claire, he tried to shoot Castiel a supportive glance before wandering back to the bar.

Sam twisted the top off his beer and turned his attention back to the door where Dean and their Dad were still talking. "You good with this?" he said quietly to Adam.

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John gave his own small smile before falling into step beside his eldest. When it came right down to it, he could never deny Dean. He paused at the bar and accepted the beer Sam slid in his direction. "Thanks Sammy."

John could only give Adam a nod. He was still desperately unsure where he stood with his son, but he was fairly certain that the ground was rocky.

"So why are we all over here, leaving them.." he trailed off, the pieces clicking into place. John looked at Dean, his eyes wide. "Wait. You're setting up an angel?"

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Claire took a sip of coffee and glanced in Castiel's direction. A flash of color caught her attention.

"Ahhh, you've got a little...something..." She reached out and extracted a small, downy hot-pink feather from under his lapel, and handed it to him.

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Cas nodded at Adam, not quite sure what the point was, but he was at least observant enough to discern that the young man was trying to be helpful.

He froze for a second when Claire reached toward him, and flushed as he saw what she'd just found. "Um. Thank you." He took the feather carefully from her fingers and stuck it into a pocket, hoping she wouldn't ask where it had come from. But at least it had given him an idea, and he promptly seized onto and ran with it. "I must have...picked it up...at the Yule party. You were there, I believe? Did you have a good time?"

Only then did he glance around and realize that all his friends had left him to sink or swim. He shot Dean a betrayed look over Claire's shoulder before fixing his attention on the conversation again.

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Adam was getting Cas a bottle water, with one eye on the door and John at all times, when Sam actually asked him if he was okay with it, Adam turned and looked at him a little surprised.

Some how he figured they just assumed he would be and he gave a nod with the first hints of an actual smile "Thanks, but I'll be fine." He squared his shoulders, eyes wandering over to the table where Claire and Cas sat trying to act as if he didn't see John and Dean there.

Instinct is all that Adam would blame when he got a chagrined look and pointed at Sam and Dean "Hey, that's these two, I'm just the water boy" He held the bottle up as if to say see look Dad, I am being good. There was even a partial smile on his face, now if only he could rid his eyes of the uncertainty and pain he might actually pull this off.

"Uh.." When he realized how he had just naturally behaved the way a younger brother would when caught by their father doing some thing they shouldn't Adam looked away "I better get this water to Cas, keep his hands busy."

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Dean had his hands full, between watching the interaction between his brothers and their father, which if any one noticed Dean seemed to naturally place himself in the midst of them all, ready to soothe any Winchester mouths that got out of line, funny when Dean was usually the one running his mouth the most.

He did catch Cas and Claire as she removed that feather and the hunter grinned at Cas' response,casting his eyes to the side he pursed his lips and grinned at John "Junkless or not, that guys got somethin' goin' on there." He snorted out as he reached over and took the beer Sam had gotten for him and took a long sip.

"Although, y'know Sammy, maybe we should have talked to him first, after all he isn't a ladies man." Dean chuckled and nodded his head towards the table as Adam walked off

"Kids got the right idea, let's sit down and get drunk, maybe I can get Sammy to let me whip him in some pool."

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Sam watched his brother with a half-smile. Always on guard and always trying to keep things together, even when the world wasn't coming apart at the seams.

"Us? Seriously Dean, considering our track record with women? Hell no." Sam shook his head and nudged their Dad with his elbow. "Dad's the only one who ever managed any success in that respect."

He followed him over to the table. "Pfft. I can still kick your ass at pool."

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