November 21st, 2012

Just as their unexpected protector had said, the dawn brought with it Apollo, eager to get them off the island of Maui and home to Sioux Falls, to the safest place on Earth for anyone who happened to be a Winchester or attached to one in any way. It had taken a little effort to stop reaffirming their affection and get some sleep before he arrived, but somehow Dean and Jo had managed it, dressed and ready to go as soon as the Olympian arrived. Barely a heartbeat later, they appeared in Bobby's study, and without a word, Jo abandoned Dean, running into the kitchen as fast as she could. As Ellen yelped in surprise, no doubt enveloped in a hug that Jo was going to have to explain, Ayden launched herself off the couch by the window and hugged her brother tightly, more relieved to see him than she could put into words.

Talk about awkward. Dean had just killed a goddess Apollo had once wooed, but the Olympian didn't seem to hold it against him. Apparently, the line had been drawn in the sand, and the Olympians were starting to pick sides, though Apollo had apparently already picked sides ages ago. The trip back to Sioux Falls was so fast, it almost made Dean's head spin. In fact, his head was still spinning when he found himself being suddenly and unexpectedly squeezed into a tight hug by his sister, while Jo hurried off to greet her mother. "Whoa, sis," he winced through a chuckle, the vice-like grip she had on him making his side ache again. "I missed you, too!"

"I was so worried," she admitted, a little bit tearful as she confessed this. Despite two glorious days in Greece with Ares, nothing had quite been able to take her mind off her brother and his wife. "Why the hell didn't you call?" Ayden drew back, glaring up at her brother accusingly as, behind her, his grown daughter snickered into her hand.

"Maybe he couldn't get through," Hope suggested with a wicked grin. "You know, seeing as you weren't on the continent."

Dean tried to hide the wince and the fact that he was favoring one side. It wasn't anything that was going to kill him, and it would mend itself soon enough. He'd had far worse and pulled through. He wasn't going to let a few bruised ribs slow him down. "Uh," he stammered in response to Ayden's question. It was a good question. "Jo..." He broke off with an awkward frown. "Nim and I were too busy celebrating." Which was to say they were too busy enjoying each other and patching each other up. Dean tossed a puzzled look at his future daughter. "What do you mean' I thought you were going after the Fates." He winced again as he eased himself onto the couch.

"Oh, we did," Hope nodded enthusiastically, adjusting herself on the arm of the couch, that grin so like her father's not even hinting at fading any time soon. "We got two of them, not just the one. And we got the Dagger, too. But, you know, it's a two day journey back from Stanford, and Ares -"

Ayden jumped in before Hope could go any further, crouching down in front of her brother. "You look like you got totaled by a bus," she informed Dean. "What happened to you guys?"

"And?" he prompted, just before Hope replied. "Two?" Dean grinned, looking up at his daughter with pride, as Ayden jumped in with an explanation. "That's my girl!" he exclaimed, before eying her a little more closely and reaching over to touch her jacket. "Isn't that my coat?" He turned his head back to his sister as she crouched down in front of him, brows furrowed in confusion. He was proud of both of them, but something his daughter said gave him pause.

"Ares?" he asked, curiously, but then Ayden was asking him what had happened to them. He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, knowing a diversion when he was faced with one. "Ares the Greek God of War?" he asked. "Aren't you two an item or something in the future?" he gestured to his sister, uncertainly.

To Hope's everlasting glee, Ayden blushed deeply, confirming the suspicion the youngest Winchester had been having since Ares had delivered her aunt home that morning. Dean's sister fidgeted awkwardly, brushing her hair back out of her eyes. "We needed an advantage," Ayden told Dean, flashing a warning look in Hope's direction. "And, well, the kids figured that since he's going to be, uh ....a friend in the future, why not bump up the schedule a little?"

Dean glanced between the two young woman, both of whom he loved dearly, noting the obvious glee in the youngest Winchester, as well as the obvious nervousness from his sister. "Okay, let me get this straight..." he started, ticking off a list on his fingers. "We have Zeus, Apollo, possibly Aphrodite and Artemis on our side. We have the Hind's Blood Dagger, and lest we forget, Jo - Nim - and I just risked our necks to get Death's Scythe." He paused to grin mischievously. "By the way, we got it!"

"Awesome!" Hope crowed in approval of her father's announcement, matching his grin with her own even as Ayden bit her lip and rose to perch on the edge of Bobby's desk. "Hey, don't forget Ares in your list," the youngest Winchester pointed out. "Nobody's a closer ally than him, I'll betcha."

Ayden rolled her eyes. "Hope, if you don't shut up right now, I'm going to suture your mouth shut," she threatened her niece with a sigh.

Dean sobered, still looking between the two women, following his sister's retreat to Bobby's desk with his eyes. "Hope, would you give me and your aunt a few minutes alone?" he asked, his gaze never leaving Ayden's. He wasn't stupid, by any means, and was getting the gist of what Hope was hinting at, but he wanted to hear it from his sister, not his daughter.

Hope's grin faded, though the mischief never left her eyes. "Cool," she agreed. "I'll go and, uh ....find Sam." Rising, she smirked at Ayden and slipped out of the study, leaving brother and sister looking at each other in silence.

That silence held for a very long time, before Ayden drew together the courage to say something. "He loves me," she told Dean very softly.

Dean's gaze never left Ayden's, waiting patiently for her to gather enough courage to fess up to whatever it was she needed to tell him. When she finally spoke, his only initial reaction for a moment was the slight arch of a single eyebrow. "You've known him how long?" he asked, the protective big brother in him coming out, whether he realized it or not.

She quailed under that look, turning pale under her blush as her fingers picked at themselves in her lap. "I don't think it's the kind of feeling that needs time to be there," she said quietly, staring down at her hands. "But about six days. He's been watching me for a few years, though, if that helps."

"Let me put it another way," he started. "Can you imagine your life without him?" he asked, realizing maybe he should be asking himself the same question. He'd never been able to imagine his own life without Sam, and yet, here he was, and now, he couldn't really imagine his life any other way. It was probably more accurate to say he'd traded Sam for Jo, but there was no going back now, and he had to believe that somewhere Sam was going on with his own life with or without Dean

It was a good question. In many ways, Ayden could imagine her life without Ares; a life that she had already had planned out, where she would become a doctor and look after hunters, a life where she might have a family of her own someday. But that wasn't the life she wanted now. Something very fundamental had changed in the last few days. "I don't want to imagine my life without him," she admitted softly. "I already know my answer is yes, I just ....Is really wrong of me to make him wait a whole year for that answer" It's a lot to get my head around. If I do this, I'm gonna be immortal. I'll have powers. I'll be able to be there, when you need me to be, not miles and days away."

While Dean appreciated his sister's desire to wait and understood her reasons for it, there was one thing she seemed to be forgetting. "We just drew first blood, Ayden," he told his sister grimly. "Persephone is dead. They're gonna want revenge. Whatever happened in the future - mine or yours, or Hope and Sam's - everything's changed. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that life is too short. A lot can change in a year. You gotta grab life by the balls and give it all you've got. Don't waste a minute and don't build a life full of regrets."

"So ....I guess this means I'm cutting his waiting room stay by a little bit, then," she said thoughtfully, twisting suddenly to face her brother. "Are you okay with this" Because it's not worth it, if I do this and I lose my brother because of it. I only just got you back, I'm not going to take that risk, and ....and it would mean so much if I had your approval."

Dean softened, unable to resist the puppy dog eyes she gave him that were so like their dead brother's. As much as he disliked the idea of his sister cavorting with anyone or anything that wasn't human, it could have been worse. She could be dead, for example. "It's gonna take a lot more than that to lose me, Ay," he assured her, reaching for her hand. "You're my sister, remember?" Okay, maybe he wasn't the brother she remembered, but he was technically still her flesh and blood, and that had to count for something.

She smiled finally, easing her arms around her big brother to hug him, though decidedly more gently this time. She'd noticed the wincing, even if she hadn't drawn attention to it. "Thank you, Big Bird," she whispered, kissing his cheek affectionately before she drew back. "I suppose you wanna meet him pretty soon, then, huh?"

He smiled, a little amused by the nickname that he'd inherited from the other Dean. He shrugged at her question, in no real hurry to meet her lover, though he suspected it was going to happen sooner rather than later. He wished he could ask her if he was anywhere near as good a big brother as the one she'd known before him, but he didn't know how and he wasn't sure he really wanted to know the answer. "Invite him to Thanksgiving dinner," he suggested, unsure if they were even having a Thanksgiving dinner or if she wanted to wait that long. It was only a matter of days. If anyone bothered to ask Dean, he'd have to admit that he, at least, had a lot to be thankful for.

Ayden grinned, unable to keep from laughing at the thought of Ares sat around a table with the rest of her family. "Only if you promise to take pictures," she told her brother fondly. Unlike Dean, she knew they were having a Thanksgiving dinner - she'd been shown the turkey that morning, shortly after Hope had had a temper tantrum about not being allowed to stay and have Thanksgiving in this time.

He laughed at the thought of him doing something so normal as taking pictures at a family gathering as ordinary as Thanksgiving. When was the last time he'd actually celebrated a holiday' When was the last time he'd actually had a reason to celebrate or give thanks for anything other than simply being alive" "I can try," he admitted with a smile reminiscent of the Dean that had come before him. "I just want you to be happy," he told her, sliding an arm around her shoulders to hug her close. "And I have to admit it might come in handy to have a sister who's a goddess," he added with a teasing smirk, though that really had nothing to do with it.

She tucked close into his side, snickering at the thought of herself as a goddess. What would she be goddess of, she wondered briefly, before returning her thoughts to the present moment. "I think, with you back and all this family around, and ....and Ares ....I think I really am happy, for the first time in years," she confessed softly. "Are you happy, Dean?"

Dean smiled warmly back at her, glad she was happy, even if she wasn't going to have the normal life she'd always dreamed of. She was a Winchester, after all. It was bound to catch up to her sooner or later, and if Ares really did love her the way he claimed to, then who better to keep his sister safe than a being who was so powerful he was considered a God" He had to consider her question a moment, a faint frown momentarily taking the place of that smile. There was only one thing that would make him happier, and they both knew what it was. Maybe two, but he didn't want to think about Cas right now. He had to admit that despite everything, for the first time in years, he really was happy. "Yeah, I think I am. It's a strange feeling, isn't it?"

"I bet you ten dollars it's nothing to how you feel when you hold baby Sam for the first time," Ayden predicted impishly, glancing up as a loud laugh echoed from the kitchen - not one voice, but several. Apparently Nimue - or Jo, as Dean seemed to be calling her now - was filling in the rest of the family.

Dean smiled at both Ayden's remark and at the laughter coming from the kitchen. It was good to hear her laugh; it was good to hear them all laughing. Maybe Thanksgiving dinner was just what they needed to make them all feel like a family again. But there was that old familiar tug at his heart as his thoughts turned to those who were missing. "I wish he could be here," Dean told his sister quietly, realizing she might be the only one of the bunch who'd really understand that feeling.

If he'd said it to anyone else, they might have asked who he was. Ayden didn't need it to be explained. Her other big brother's absence was a sore point, made worse by the fact that she had been there when he died. As Dean sobered, so did she, the sheen of tears very real in her eyes. "So do I," she agreed quietly. "But he'd be really pissed if he thought we were being sad about it."

"I think normal's what you make of it," his sister said, displaying a certain amount of wisdom for a girl her age. "What's normal for most people just isn't for us. This is normal for us, and we're happy, so why should we wish for anything else?"

"I don't. I've got more family here than I ever had back home. I've got Bobby and Ellen and Hope and Sam and you....and Jo," he added quietly, the love he felt for her evident in the way he said her name. "I'm happy, Ay. I've got a lot to be thankful for," he said, proving that point by leaning over to touch a brotherly kiss to her forehead.

She smiled, touched by the brotherly affection. "It's gonna be a real Thanksgiving for once," she murmured, looking forward to the holiday for the first time in years. "Say, Dean ....why are you calling Nimue Jo?"

He smiled at the question. That was gonna be a long story in the telling. "Because that's her real name. That's who she really is," he told her simply, knowing that wasn't much of an explanation.

Ayden eyed him with a suspicious smile, well aware that the smile on his face was a lot more content when he said his wife's name now than it had been before they'd parted ways a week before. "Okay," she said slowly, pushing herself to stand up. "On your feet, Big Bird. You've got a story, and there's a lot of people want to hear it. Including me."

Dean smiled, glancing in the direction of the kitchen where the laughter had died down, but he knew the discussion had not. He had a feeling Jo had already beaten him to telling of that story, but there was only one way to find out. "You're gonna have to help me up. Persephone was a real bitch before I ganked her," he said, scooting gingerly forward a little.

Ayden frowned down at him thoughtfully. "And Apollo didn't patch you up?" she asked, though it was patently obvious that the Sun God hadn't done anything of the kind. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Sit. Stay." A little embarrassed, she glanced toward the ceiling out of habit, and bit her lip before murmuring softly. "Ares, I need you."

He chuckled at her admonishment. "What am I a dog" Are you going to teach me to fetch, too?" He frowned as he realized what she was up to, and he opened his mouth to protest a little too late. Before he could say another word, a being - for lack of a better word - shimmered into view - tall, blond, and with as handsomely chiseled features as, well, a Greek God. He wasn't quite what Dean was expecting. "You're Ares?" Dean inquired dubiously. "You're just a kid!"

"I am neither a child nor a baby goat," the blond young man pointed out upon hearing the elder Winchester's remark. It wasn't much of a greeting in his estimation. He didn't have to be introduced to know who he was looking at. Dean Winchester. A hero in his own right, worthy of the Gods' favor, but seriously lacking good manners. "I am, in fact..." he continued, unable to properly define his age in simple human terms. "Immortal."

Ayden, standing mid-way between them, glanced back and forth and smirked to herself. "Well, I can see that you two are gonna get on like a house on fire," she commented mildly, stepping toward Ares with a soft, shy smile on her face. Her fingers gently brushed his hand. "Ares ....I'd like you to meet my brother," she told her lover gently, turning her eyes to Dean with a look in her eyes that pleaded for civility, if nothing else. "Dean, this is Ares."

"Oh, for God's sake," Dean muttered, rolling his eyes and trying to move to his feet, though his side was really starting to bother him now, as evidenced by the scowl on his face and the way he was tucking his arm against his side.

It seemed Ares was in good spirits today, for some reason. Maybe it was because that bitch Persephone had finally been dealt with. "Yes, I know who he is," Ares replied, turning to face the elder Winchester sibling. "It's an honor to meet you," he said, arching a brow when he noticed the pained expression on the man's face. "You're wounded."

Ayden couldn't help smiling at the matter-of-fact response to her polite introduction of the pair, gently squeezing Ares' hand between her own as she looked up at him. Whatever reservations Dean might have had, he couldn't deny the fact that his little sister was in love with the blond, bronzed Olympian, even if she hadn't admitted it aloud yet. No one looked at someone like that without holding their heart out for the taking. "I was hoping you could do something about that, maybe," she asked Ares hopefully. "He did something amazing yesterday. He shouldn't have to suffer for it, should he?"

"I'm fine really," Dean insisted, though he clearly was not, even as he struggled to get to his feet.

"No, he should not," Ares replied to Ayden. If Dean was paying any attention to the two of them, he'd notice the shared loving and longing looks the other pair gave each other, even in his presence that made their feelings obvious to anyone with eyes to see.

"Oh, for God's sake!" Dean exclaimed again upon noticing. "Why don't you two just get a room and..."

Ares cocked his head in curiosity at the figure of speech from the other man, wondering if he was referring to him. He was a God, after all. "Get a room?" Ares inquired. "What kind of room should we get?" He turned a curious look to Ayden in hopes she could explain, turning back to Dean when the man finally managed to find his feet. He reached out to touch the other man, much like angels had a habit of doing when someone was in need of healing, but Dean backed away.

"Oh, no, you don't! Last time Cas did that I couldn't take a poop for a week!"

"Are you having problems with your bowels?" the Greek God countered curiously.

"Oh, so this is Ares, huh?" Jo grinned at him from where she stood under Dean's arm, meeting Ayden's eye with a wink that made the younger woman blush and duck her head. "Nice to meet'cha, I'm Jo - that's Ellen, and exhibit A is Bobby. Ignore Dean, he's trying to be funny." She smirked up at her husband impishly.

"Do or do not, there is no try!" Dean quipped, quoting Yoda, though he was much more like Han Solo. The Star Wars reference was lost on Ares, but he did look to each of the trio as they were introduced to him.

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you," Ares told them politely, nothing like the hot-headed, egotistical, warmonger he was believed to be. He turned his attention back to Jo, in particular. "You are not of this world," he remarked, more observation than anything else. "Nor are you," he added, with a nod of his head to Dean.

"Blunt sort of fella, aren't you?" Ellen said with a wry smile, passing wet dishes to Sam, who was ostensibly drying them as the family talked.

Jo rolled her eyes fondly. "C'mon, Mom, give him a break," she chuckled, looking away before she could register the genuine surprise on everyone's face at hearing her refer to Ellen in such a relaxed, familiar manner. "You're right, we're not entirely of this world," she told Ares. "But didn't you know that already?"

"I could return you to your own world, if you wish," he continued. Though he was pretty sure they would decline, he felt obliged to offer. It was within his scope of abilities, though if they left, he wasn't sure what would become of this world.

Dean arched a brow, exchanging glances with Jo, before his gaze drifted to the others in the room. If they left, there was no telling what would happen to those he had come to think of as family, and though it was a tempting offer, he didn't have to ask Jo to know the answer. "No," Dean replied, matter-of-factly and without hesitation. "Our lives are here now. This is our family and our world. We've come too far and have too much at stake to leave now."

Bobby had kept quiet up until now, but he exchanged glances with Ellen before piping up. "There's no way we're losing you again. Either of you. And that's the end of it."

"Even if it was possible, I can't go back," Jo added quietly, but everyone could see the way she curled her arms tighter about Dean's waist. "I'm dead there."

Beside Ares, Ayden winced, gently squeezing his hand, trying to warn him against suggesting anything like that again without talking to her first without actually saying the words.

"Uncle Bobby's right," Hope piped up, leaning down to wrap her arms around the grumpy man and kiss his cheek teasingly. "Take them out of this world, and me and Sam, and our little brother, we all disappear. There's too much at stake to change things now."

Sam had said very little up til now, as well, quietly observing from the corner where he was drying dishes and putting them up into the cupboard where they belonged. He had some news of his own to share with the family that was weighing heavily on his heart, but now was not the time. "Not necessarily," he broke in. "I mean, if Mom is already pregnant with me when she goes back, it stands to reason she'd still be pregnant when she arrives," he reasoned, trying to think it all through, just like the uncle he'd been named after might have.

"Doesn't matter, boy," Bobby replied, hearing none of it. "It's too risky, and they've got family here."

Jo's expression softened as she looked over at her grown son. "Sam, it doesn't matter if I'm pregnant or not," she said gently. "I'm dead in that reality. All I've got to inhabit back there is a corpse. This is my home, it's where I belong. With all of you." She knew what his news was - they had discussed it just a couple of weeks before, and though she might not agree with his choice, she would stand by it.

"And Dad was dead here," Sam pointed out, but he didn't really want to argue the point. He didn't want them to leave anymore than anyone else did.

"We can argue this until hell freezes over. No one is leaving, and that's that," Dean affirmed, leaving no room for argument. No one except Hope and Sam, that was, at least, as far as Dean knew. Sam looked over at his mother, but said nothing further.

"I apologize," Ares interrupted. "I did not mean to start an argument. I felt obligated to offer."

Jo met Sam's gaze shamelessly. No, she hadn't told Dean about their son's plans. Not yet, anyway.

"Oh, don't you mind them, sweetie," Ellen said from the sink, turning to wipe her hands dry on a cloth as she addressed Ares. "Life ain't worth it if they're not fussing. So ....you all stayin' to dinner, or what?"

"Would you excuse me please?" Sam said, folding the towel and setting it on the counter before attempting to make his way through the small crowd that was his family.

Dean followed his eldest son's exit from the room with his eyes, wondering what crawled up his *ss. "What's the matter with him?" he asked no one in particular.

"Boy's been moody for days," Bobby offered. "Why don't you go talk to him, Dean?"

Dean wasn't the only one who watched Sam leave. Hope's eyes were troubled as her big brother slipped from the kitchen. She had a horrible feeling he was avoiding her, knowing that something had changed over the past week or so, something he either couldn't or wouldn't talk to her about. Rather than jump up and follow as she might have done not so long ago, she stayed put, seated beside Bobby, picking at the label on her beer.

"Someone needs to pull that burr out of his *ss, that's for sure," Ellen commented, hot on the heels of Bobby's suggestion.

"Me?" Dean asked. "Why me?" Okay, so maybe he was the boy's father, but what made them think Sam was going to open up to him' He looked over at the one person who always seemed to know what was going on in Sam's head - Hope. "What's up with your brother?" he asked her pointedly.

She looked up at her father, shaking her head as one shoulder rose and fell in a shrug. "I don't know," she admitted, and it was obvious just from those three words that Hope had never not known what was bothering her big brother. They had been close for as long as she could remember, and suddenly he had a secret from her.

Her answer surprised Dean, and without knowing that Jo already knew what was bugging Sam, he decided then and there that the boy's moodiness had gone on long enough. "Well, then, I guess it's time someone find out," he said, ungluing himself from Jo's side and starting toward the door after their son.

"Come on, Ell," Bobby urged his own wife, getting the feeling something was about to go down between the small family, and he didn't want them to get in the middle of it. "There's something I need help with in the garage."

As Ellen followed her husband without offering even the slightest objection, Jo stood back, letting Dean follow after their grown son with a pensive look on her face. Her eyes flickered toward Hope, looking so dejected where she sat. "Maybe you should go with your dad," she suggested to the girl, trying not to give away that she already knew what was up.

Ares watched the scene quietly, unsure what to say or do to help and feeling a little out of place amidst the family members. "Perhaps I should go," he whispered quietly to Ayden, feeling at least partially to blame for all this, though it was something that had been brewing for a while. Dean didn't wait for Hope, marching his way past the rest of the family to search for his son.

Sensing that the core of their little family needed some time together, Ayden looked up at Ares. "Can I come with you?" she asked him quietly, a little heartbroken by the way Hope waited until Dean was out of the room before rising to bury her face in Nim - Jo's shoulder and hold on tight.

Ares wasn't sure if he was welcome back for dinner or not, as Ellen had suggested, but he did know that the little family needed some privacy. "Yes, of course," he replied and without hesitation, the two of them simply disappeared from the kitchen.

((Well, that scene could have been a small nightmare, but it worked! Woohoo! Hugiflorious thankidoodly pies to my writing partner!))