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Claire had found a hunt not far from the bunker, down at the lake in Missouri, but she realized soon after she got there that the vampire nest was much bigger than it seemed so she called the people she could always count on - her dads.
They had made it by dinner, the three of them sitting in a diner booth as Claire filled them in on everything she had found out so far.
“Standard nest, just way more than I thought,” she finished, dragging a fry through the ketchup on her plate. “You guys were closest, otherwise I would’ve called someone else.”
“No, Claire, we’re glad you called,” Dean shook his head. “We’ll always be here when you need us. Jack too. Have you already gotten a motel?”
“Yeah, just down the road,” Claire said, and after Dean dropped some cash on the table to pay for their meal and tip, they were following her in the Impala. They didn’t bother to rent their own room as the one Claire got had two beds and they would be out most of the night observing the vampires anyway. They got everything they would need and then piled back into the Impala to drive to stake out the old abandoned boat dock where the vampires had built their nest.
On the way, Dean pulled into a local coffee shop and handed Claire a twenty-dollar bill. “Go in and get me something with a lot of caffeine. I’m not as young and I can’t pull these all-nighters anymore without something.” Claire rolled her eyes but got out of the car, leaning over to look through Dean’s open window.
“Cas, you want anything?” she asked, ignoring Dean’s protests that it was his money.
“Just a coffee with some cream and sugar,” Cas said gratefully. Claire nodded and headed inside. After a brief wait in line, she was at the counter and ordering Cas’ coffee, her own iced coffee, and then rather than just choosing a regular black coffee for Dean, she picked one of the sweeter choices she saw on the menu. She paid with Dean’s twenty, pocketing the change, and a few minutes later she was walking out with a drink tray and packets of creamer and sugar for Cas.
“Thank you, Claire,” Cas said as she passed his coffee over to him and then handed Dean his.
“What the fuck is this?” Dean asked, glaring at the sugar monstrosity that was in his hand.
“It’s a maple pecan pie latte,” Claire said with a smirk. “With extra whipped cream and cinnamon on top.”
“Cas, trade me,” Dean insisted, handing his over. Cas shook his head with a glare and took a drink of his coffee.
“Just try it, old man,” Claire said as she climbed into the backseat. “I picked the pie flavor, you might even like it.” Dean grumbled as he took a drink, Claire grinning smugly when he went back for another. The rest of the drive to the dock was mostly silent, bar the music playing quietly from the speakers.
“That it?” Dean asked, gesturing to the boathouse that was in their line of sight.
“Yeah, that’s it. They fed last night so they shouldn’t go out hunting tonight.” Claire said. “Which means we just have to wait for them to fall asleep.” Luckily it was already late evening so they didn’t have to wait long for the vamps to wake. The three of them took turns watching, Claire and Cas sleeping first while Dean kept watch.
Claire wasn’t woken up until almost six in the morning by Cas, Dean asleep with his head against the window. “They do anything?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.
“Just hung around the boathouse,” Cas said quietly, glancing at Dean to make sure he was still sleeping soundly. “No one even left.”
“Good, it means we’ll get them all,” Claire said. “Get some more sleep, I’ll wake you two up when they’re down for the day.” Cas nodded and tilted his head back against the seat, and was soon slumped over in slumber. Claire quietly got out of the car to sit on the hood so she could see better, and when she turned to check on her dads, Cas had fallen over with his head on Dean’s arm. She took a picture, sending it to Jack - who had gotten a phone at her request - with a few puking emojis. It was another few hours before all the lights in the boathouse shut off and the curtains were drawn tight.
“Come on!” Claire said as she knocked on the windshield, startling both men awake. “Rise and shine! Time to kill some vamps!” She giggled as they both cursed and jumped awake, Dean sending her a sharp glare. She slid off the hood as they both climbed out of the car. “You look grumpy,” she said to Dean, patting his cheek. “Come on! We get to kill some vamps, you love doing this!”
“I’m getting old, kid, ain’t as easy as it used to be,” Dean said, though he walked to the trunk of the Impala and lifted up the false bottom. “Might have to hang up the holster soon.”
“I’ve never seen you wear a holster,” Claire deadpanned, grabbing one of the machetes from the trunk. Dean handed her a few syringes as well.
“Dead man’s blood. Just in case,” he said. She nodded and tucked them in the pocket of her leather jacket. Once Dean and Cas had their own machetes ready, they began the trek down to the boathouse. Dean grumbled the entire way about how his knees were going to be aching for a week.
“We get it, you’re old,” Claire snarked, turning back to smirk at Dean. “Got nothing on Cas though. If anyone has the right to complain, it’s him.”
“I have no reason to complain,” Cas said thoughtfully. “Due to my years as an angel, this body is in peak physical condition.”
“Trust me, I know just how peak your condition is,” Dean grinned and winked at Cas, causing Claire to retch.
“Could you keep it in your pants while your daughter is around?” she asked, looking between the two of them.
“Nah, it’s our job to embarrass you,” Dean said and nudged Cas as he passed him. “Ain’t that right, sunshine?”
“That is correct,” Cas agreed. “As your fathers, we must seek to cause comedic embarrassment.” Claire rolled her eyes and turned around to continue down the steep path, letting out a sigh when they finally reached the bottom.
“Ready?” Claire asked, looking between the two men. They nodded and advanced on the boathouse, Dean leading with Claire behind him and Cas bringing up the rear. Inside, they were able to get a count of nine vamps in total. They were getting into position when Claire stumbled on a stray piece of broken wood and suddenly every single vamp was awake and their eyes on her.
The next few minutes were a blur that Claire couldn’t quite make out. She felt her machete tearing through several necks and she could hear Dean and Cas doing the same.
Everything froze when Dean was slammed to the floor and Cas was pinned to the wall. Two vamps stood between Claire and her dads and she knew she would never be able to reach them before they were killed.
So she closed her eyes and prayed.
A moment later, there was a warmth almost burning her skin, and bright, shining light that would have blinded her if her eyes were open. After the light faded, she opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Jack standing in the middle of the room, then all of the vampires lying dead on the floor, and finally, Cas going to help pull Dean off the floor.
“Thanks, Jackie,” Claire said breathlessly with a smile, stepping over the bodies of the vamps in front of her. “We would’ve been blood donors if you hadn’t shown up.”
“Glad I could help!” Jack said with a bright smile. “I must be off now-“
“Oh come on,” Claire rolled her eyes. “You can’t have brunch with your family?” Jack furrowed his brows.
“I suppose the angels will be alright without me for a few hours,” he said and nodded once. “What is brunch?”
***
They ended up at a lakeside cafe that Cas had liked the look of, sitting on the outside deck. Jack and Claire sat on one side of the table while Dean and Cas sat on the other, Cas looking through the menu thoughtfully. Dean rolled his eyes and tugged it from his hands.
“You still don’t know what you like, just let me pick,” Dean said with a fond roll of his eyes.
“I am perfectly capable of choosing my own meal,” Cas huffed, though he made no move to take the menu back. Dean had been more than adequate at choosing food that he enjoyed and did not protest at Dean’s choice when ordering.
“How’ve you been, Jack?” Dean asked once the waitress walked away. “Do anything that made the news?”
“I don’t believe so,” Jack said with a shake of his head. “I’ve had to put some focus on Purgatory at the moment, actually. Things there got...chaotic.”
“So what did you do to fix it?” Claire asked, sipping her lemonade. Jack grinned and began explaining how he had split it up into different regions based on the type of monster - that way there would be no more bloodshed.
“That sounds very nice, Jack,” Cas said proudly, smiling at his son.
“Much better than when we were there,” Dean commented before taking a gulp of his beer. “Wasn’t all bad though. That’s when I realized I was in love with you.”
“What?” Claire cut in, looking between her two dads. “That’s when you realized you loved Cas?”
“Yeah,” Dean shrugged. “Being away from you for a year...it gave me time to think,” Dean looked over at Cas and froze at the soft look in his eyes. “What?”
“I never knew,” Cas whispered, leaning over to press a soft kiss to Dean’s lips. Claire gagged loudly and obnoxiously, her and Jack giggling when Dean shot them both a glare.
“After we eat, could we go to the lake?” Jack asked once he and Claire had calmed from their laughing fit.
“I think that sounds like a wonderful idea,” Cas agreed. “It’s a very nice day. Spending some time by the water would be a nice way to use our afternoon.”
“Could be nice,” Dean nodded. “The lake it is.”
“I don’t have anything I can wear in the water,” Claire said, smiling at the waitress as she dropped off their food. “We’ll have to stop somewhere.”
“I don’t think any of us do,” Dean said. “We’ll stop at a store on the way.” They all agreed and dug into their food, Cas humming appreciatively as he tried the fried dish that Dean had ordered for him.
By the time they finished eating, Claire and Jack were stuffed, Claire whining dramatically about how full she was. “I’m never going to be able to swim, I’ll just sink right to the bottom of the lake.”
“Then you can lay with me on the beach,” Cas offered. “I will not be going in the water.”
“Cas!” Dean protested. “Come on, you have to get in the water!”
“I have no desire to bathe in a dirty lake,” Cas shook his head. “I will not be participating.”
“Oh come on, it’s the lake, of course it’s dirty! We can shower after, I’ll find us a motel with a big one,” Dean smirked, winking at Cas, Claire and Jack both loudly objected.
“We’re right here, do you have to be gross?” Claire huffed as the waitress dropped off their check. Dean checked the price and then shoved the appropriate amount of bills in with the receipt.
“Yes, always. Now let’s go,” he said, standing from his chair. Cas did the same, Claire and Jack lagging behind. “Are you gonna come out and swim with me, Jack?” Dean asked as they walked out to the car.
“Yes!” Jack said with a wide smile. “I have never swam before and I am looking forward to the new experience!”
“Do you even know how to swim?” Claire asked. “Do we need to teach you?”
“I don’t believe you do. I think that, after becoming God, I can teach myself skills. I can simply teach myself how to swim,” Jack explained.
“Well that’s useful,” Claire said thoughtfully. “Can you do that for other people? Because I’ve really been wanting to learn how to juggle my knives-”
“Absolutely not,” Dean interrupted, looking back at them as he unlocked the doors of the Impala. “There will be no juggling of knives,” Claire whined as she and Jack slid into the backseat of the car, but Cas shot her a look, one eyebrow raised, that silenced her.
Dean drove them down the road a bit to a small store and handed Claire and Jack a handful of cash. “Get your dad and me a pair each, plain, nothing flashy,” he instructed them with a hard look. “Now go.” Claire beamed and took the money, pulling Jack into the store with her. She made a beeline for the men’s swimsuit section first, choosing a muted green and blue pair of trunks for Dean and Cas respectively.
“You need a pair, Jackie,” Claire said, gesturing to the racks of trunks. “You gotta pick one.” Jack nodded and slipped through the fixtures, finally settling on a bright red pair with a smile.
“Perfect! You’ll look like you’re on Baywatch!” Claire said brightly and pulled him to the women’s section, handing him Dean and Cas’ trunks to hold while she looked. Finally, she found a one-piece with a low back that was the same shade as Jack’s and grabbed her size.
“What’s Baywatch?” Jack asked curiously as they checked out, looking at her with furrowed brows.
“It’s an old TV show where people ran around on a beach in revealing red swimsuits,” Claire explained.
“Why would they do that?” Jack tilted his head with a frown.
“They were lifeguards. But it was really just a continuous thirst trap,” she said and handed over the cash, taking the change and the plastic bag. “Come on, let’s go. I wanna swim!” The pair returned to the Impala and threw themselves in the backseat. “To the lake!”
“Yeah, yeah, we’re on the way,” Dean waved dismissively. Claire narrowed her eyes when she saw how flustered the two of them were.
“Were you out here making out?” she groaned. “Why are you two so disgusting and in love?”
“It took me almost 40 years to find him and realize how I feel, I’m not wasting any time now,” Dean said gruffly. “Now shut your trap, or I’ll start bringing up all the atrocious ways I’ve seen you try to flirt.” Claire huffed but didn’t say anything else - she didn’t want a recap of all her failures with girls.
Driving to the lake only took about ten minutes, and as soon as the car was parked, Claire grabbed her new suit from the bag and ran to the nearby bathrooms. She changed quickly, balling up her day clothes. By the time she was back at the Impala to drop off her clothes, the boys were already there. “Come on, Jackie, last one in is a rotten ghoul!” and with that, Claire took off running down the beach toward the water as fast as she could, laughing as she splashed into the water, Jack right on her heels. The two of them ran through the shallows for a long while, splashing each other when they were in range before finally Claire led Jack out into the deeper water. They swam laps around each other before switching to just floating on the surface, arms linked so they stayed together.
“How’s being God going?” Claire asked, eyes shut from the strength of the sun.
“It’s good. It’s really rewarding, I’m doing a lot of good, I think. Setting a lot of things right that Chuck did wrong,” Jack said thoughtfully. “I actually…when I’m trying to decide if I should do something, I think of you and Dad and Dean. And if you would be proud of me. If I think you would, I know it’s the right thing to do.”
“You’re doing a great job, Jackie. We are all really proud of you. Of everything you’re doing and accomplishing.”
“Thanks, Claire,” Jack smiled. “How’s Abigail?”
“Don’t know. Haven’t heard from her in a few weeks,” Claire sighed. “I really thought we had something, but it’s whatever. Plenty of fish in the sea and all that.”
“What does that expression mean?” Jack asked, frowning a little.
“It means that there are plenty of other people out there,” she explained. “What about you? Have you ever thought about finding someone?”
“Oh, not really. At least not recently. I’ve been so busy with everything, and I’m technically only a couple of years old…”
“I get it, Jackie. If you ever change your mind, you just let me know and we can find you the person of your dreams.” Jack smiled at that.
“Thanks, Claire.”
“Anything for my baby brother,” Claire was silent for a moment. “You sure you can’t give me really awesome knife juggling skills?”
“I do not think I can,” Jack considered. “Perhaps we try something easier first, and if that works, then I can give you knife juggling skills.”
“I love the way you think, Jackie,” Claire beamed. “You ever made sandcastles before?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been to the beach before, actually.”
“We’ll have to fix that soon. Take a family trip to the beach so we can drink far too much saltwater, build sandcastles, dig a hole, and bury Dean in the sand,” Claire hummed happily at the image she saw in her mind. “Maybe for Cas’ birthday? That’s coming up soon.”
“I think that would be a great birthday present. And I cannot wait to experience all the typical beach activities.” Claire grinned and unhooked their arms.
“Race you to land!” And with that, they both took off toward the grass where Dean and Cas lay on a few beach chairs, watching their kids with fond smiles.