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The feeling of “peace” was a rarity in the bunker. Not completely unknown, but by no means the norm. Tonight was one of those rare nights. Perhaps it was fitting that this feeling came on Christmas Eve, though some part of Sam was waiting for the peace and quiet to come crashing down. But, even as he had gone to bed, there was nothing but a strange sense of everything being all right.
It was the sound of something creaking that awoke him. Though being a light sleeper came with the hunter territory, strange sounds coming from inside the bunker always put him on edge. He got out of bed, taking care to grab his gun before quietly exiting his room. He looked down the halls. No sign of Cass or Dean, though Sam figured it was more or less due to the overindulgence of spiked eggnog Dean had consumed a few hours previously. Seeing a soft glow coming from the War Room, Sam moved closer, hoping that this wouldn’t end in some sort of Christmas nightmare. However, his fear evaporated when he saw Jack sitting at the table, a blanket wrapped around him as he sat at the base of the Christmas tree, eyes watching the tiny ornaments shimmer in the light. He turned his head at the sound of Sam’s footsteps, the excitement in his face fading slightly at the sight of him.
“Oh,” he said. “Sorry, I wasn’t sure…”
“It’s okay,” Sam nodded. “Couldn’t sleep?”
Jack shook his head as Sam walked over, sitting beside him on the floor. He stared up at the giant tree, decorated from top to bottom. He didn’t want to know how much money Dean had spent on ornaments. Making up for lost time, he supposed.
“Excited?” Sam asked. Jack nodded, taking out a small piece of paper. Sam couldn’t help but smile. “Your Christmas list?”
“Yes,” Jack nodded. “I’m hoping to ask them all, but I’m not sure he’ll have enough time.”
Sam blinked, staring at Jack. “What?”
“Santa Claus has to travel around the whole world in a single night, right?” Jack looked at Sam. “So he won’t have a lot of time to spare.”
He handed his list to Sam. “The most important ones are at the top.”
Sam regarded the list, taking in every line with a strange mixture of confusion and… well, wonder wouldn’t be the right word, but it brought a smile to his lips. Most kids wait up for Santa to see him come down the chimney or hope to catch sight of his reindeer… this list… wasn’t exactly that.
“How do you enter a home without any detection or worrying about protective sigils?”
“What spells are there to create a bag that holds an infinite supply of items? Is it similar to that blue box in the show “Doctor Who?”
Sam couldn’t help but laugh a little at that one, glad that Jack’s taste in television leaned more towards his own as opposed to Dean’s.
“How can you survey every human in the world to know the quality of their actions. I thought only God could do that. Are you in contact with God? How do we find him and his sister?”
Sam reviewed the list of questions until he came to the end, his eyes hovering over the last question.
“Can I ask for my family’s safety for Christmas? And a new TV for Dean since he had to smash that last one? And I guess my own car since I don’t know how often I’ll get to drive Baby again? Thank you.”
Sam folded the list carefully before handing it back to Jack.
“I’m hoping he’ll let me ask them all, but I’ve put little stars next to the most important ones,” Jack said, looking over his work.
Sam had noticed the two little stars next to the final question. He put his arms around the Nephilim and hugged him tightly. He wished Jack didn’t have to ask those questions. Hell, he wished Jack never had to deal with this. He wished none of them had to… he wished he could have finished law school… that Castiel could be happy…. That Dean could have everything he ever wanted… still, this was their life… and at the very least, he was glad for the people he had in it.
“Do you want to wait for him with me?” Jack asked.
Sam smiled, nodding as he looked back up at the tree. Occasionally, Jack would shift around to get more comfortable before resting his head on his arms.
“I’m gonna close my eyes for a bit. Can you wake me up when he arrives?”
“Sure thing,” Sam said, watching as Jack drifted off to sleep, seemingly free of nightmares, at least for tonight. Sam continued to watch the tree until his eyes grew heavy. He’d just tell Jack…
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“Sam! Sam!” A hand shook him awake. “Wake up!”
Sam’s eyes opened, flashes of bright colors dancing in front of him. He scrambled to get up as he looked at a smiling Jack. Rubbing his eyes, he looked at the base of the tree which seemed to be spilling with brightly colored packages.
“Woah, Sammy, what the hell?”
Turning around, he saw Cass and Dean standing in the library with amazed, if not slightly confused expressions on their faces. He noted the tray of pancakes in Castiel’s hands. How long had they been asleep if Dean had had the time to set out all these gifts without making them up and make breakfast!?
Sipping from a cup of coffee, Dean stepped down towards the tree. “I knew I went overboard with the ornaments, but how the hell did you charge all this?”
Sam blinked. “What?”
“I know I said I wanted to make up for holidays we missed, but this is-“
Sam shook his head, stopping his brother with a look that said: “Not me, dude… did you?”
Dean pulled back. “What? No, I…” He looked up at Castiel, who was still holding the tray.
“This was not my doing.”
“Sam, look!” Jack picked up a piece of paper, carefully laying next to a set of keys and a very large box that Sam could only guess contained a TV. Castiel set the tray down and walked over to look at the paper.
“It’s a protection spell,” he said softly. Jack’s eyes went wide as Sam’s jaw almost hit the floor.
“I thought you were going to wake me up when Santa Claus came.”