Chapter Text
Sam grabbed another one of his shirts and put it inside the rather large backpack, then looked around his and Eileen’s room once more. Granted, having been constantly on the road for years, packing at short notice had become practically second nature to him. However, things were slightly different this time around, which meant he had to constantly remind himself that he didn’t need to pack an entire arsenal or his weight in cans of salt. This wasn’t a hunting trip, after all.
“Hey. Packed everything?”
Sam looked to the direction of the doorway. Dean was there and leaning against the frame, which was surprising. After all, it was half past seven in the morning, quite early by Dean’s standards – on slow days like these, at least. He probably wanted to say goodbye. Sam couldn’t help but smile inwardly at that.
“I like to think so,” he replied. “But, it’s not like we will be gone for long. Or be among strangers, for that matter.”
Dean nodded his understanding. “So you’ve told Jody you’re on your way?”
“Yeah, she’s even expecting us for dinner. Donna’s gonna be there, too.”
“Her transfer went through then?” Dean asked.
“Yup. Just a few weeks ago,” Sam said.
“Doesn’t that mean that she’s a deputy sheriff now?” That was how lateral transfers usually worked, after all.
“She still sounded happy when I talked to her about it on the phone,” Sam replied, shrugging a bit.
“Okay, cool. Say ‘Hi’ to both of them for me.”
“Will do.” Sam closed the backpack. “I should put this in the car.”
Dean nodded and followed Sam to the garage, where a compact SUV was already parked next to the Impala.
“You could take Baby, you know,” Dean said. “Things have been quiet these past couple of weeks.”
“Yeah, and almost sixteen years of experience has taught me that it never rains, it pours,” Sam pointed out wryly. “Besides, she’s yours. Always has been.”
Dean waved his hand in a dismissive manner. “You know she likes you too.”
“Dean, it’s fine. Really,” Sam said. “I mean, I can’t keep asking for her whenever Eileen and I want to do our own thing. So I’ve been thinking of getting our own car at first chance.”
“Need I remind you what happened to your last car?” Dean said with a slight smirk.
“I doubt Cas intends to make a habit of falling on people’s cars,” Sam said. Although, somewhere in the back of his mind, he sort of hoped that he wouldn’t be proved wrong at some point.
If Dean meant to comment on that, he never had the chance. It was at that moment that Eileen came over, with Castiel and Israel following close behind.
‘Got everything?’ Sam said, using sign language at the same time.
‘Yes,’ Eileen replied in the same way.
“Okay then,” Sam said softly, then turned around and hugged Dean tightly. “You guys behave while we’re gone, okay?”
“No promises,” Dean replied teasingly. With that, the older Winchester pulled back. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, got it?”
“No promises,” Sam echoed with a smirk, and he proceeded to hug Castiel.
“Take care on the road,” the seraph said softly.
“Will do,” Sam promised. “Take care of Dean for me.”
“Of course.”
Finally, one by one, they said their goodbyes, and Sam and Eileen hit the road. Once they were out in the US-81, the younger Winchester even took her hand in his, squeezing it gently. They were on their way to an adventure of their own.
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Another good thing about having to be constantly on the road for years meant that drives that lasted 5 and half hours were hardly considered long and/or tiring. In fact, Sam and Eileen only took one break while on their way, preferring to spend most of their time simply talking about pretty much everything, from anecdotes from their childhood to hunting adventures they had throughout the years. They even played a game of ‘I spy’. Which Sam lost. In all fairness, he hadn’t expected there could be so many things around them starting with the letter ‘G’.
Long story short, by early afternoon, they reached Sioux Falls and, five minutes later, Sam parked his car outside Jody’s place. As for Jody herself, she was already at the porch, waiting for them with a big smile tugged on her lips.
“Well, well, look at you in those fancy wheels,” she said. “Dean couldn’t part with his Impala?”
“I wouldn’t let him part with her, more like,” Sam replied and he walked up to her to give her a hug. “Long time, no see, Jody.”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” she said. She hugged him back and then turned to the direction of Eileen. “Hello, Eileen. It’s so nice to see you.”
“Likewise, Ma’am,” Eileen said, hugging her.
“Ma’am?” Jody chuckled softly. “We’ve been through this, only the people I arrest call me that. You stick to Jody, okay?”
“Okay. Jody it is,” Eileen replied with a big smile.
Jody replied with a smile of her own, considering the matter settled, and then turned to Sam’s direction. “Have you got a lot of stuff with you?”
Sam was quite surprised at the particular question but decided to indulge her. “No, just a couple of backpacks.”
“Well, don’t just stand there. Grab them and let’s go inside,” she replied. “I’ve already set up the guest room for you.”
Sam blinked. “Um… we were thinking of finding a hotel room, actually…”
He barely finished the sentence when she waved her hand in a dismissive manner.
“Don’t be silly. The girls have found their own place and they’re sharing to keep the rent cheap, so it’s pretty much just me and Donna most of the time around here,” she replied. “Now come on, march.”
Sam knew better than to argue with a no-nonsense sheriff, so the couple took their backpacks and followed Jody to the house and up to the guest room. Jody opened the door and walked inside the room.
“Ta-da,” she said, extending her arm to present the room. “Well, what do you think?”
“It’s very beautiful,” Eileen said.
Sam had to agree on that. Everything was decorated in warm colours, and the bed was covered in a colourful kilt that added to the coziness of the room.
“Thank you so much,” Jody said and then leaned towards Sam and said in a mock confidential tone. “She’s a keeper, Sam. She’s got taste.”
“Of course she does. Her choice of boyfriend is proof enough,” Sam replied.
Eileen responded to that with a playful slap on his arm, clearly stating that he should behave.
“So,” Jody said, taking her hostess tone once more, “I should let you guys settled. There’s enough hot water so you can have a shower. Dinner is at seven. Donna should arrive by then, so we can play catch up.”
“Thanks, Jody.”
“Sure thing. Make yourselves at home.” And with that, she headed outside and closed the door behind her, giving them some privacy.
“You doing okay?” Sam said.
Eileen nodded. “She’s always really nice.”
“Yeah,” he replied quietly. Jody and Eileen hadn’t met in the most orthodox of circumstances and there were times that Sam still remembered Jody calling him, informing him of Eileen’s death. And he remembered all too well the moment he stepped inside the morgue and saw Eileen’s cold body on that operating table.
She took his hand in his, squeezing it gently. “I’m here now. And I’m not going anywhere.”
“You’d better,” Sam said, half-teasing, half-serious, and he cupped her face gently to kiss the top of her head. “Now come on, we should really hit the shower. When Jody says dinner is at seven, you don’t keep her waiting.”
“Got it,” she replied. She wanted to make a good impression on their - hopefully – future maid of honour, after all.
Once shower was done, they both went downstairs in order to help Jody to set the table, but she had turned out to be a lot faster in that department; even the roast was already in the oven, getting slowly cooked. So, at seven o’clock sharp, just as Sam had predicted, they were gathered around the table and enjoying their dinner.
“Wow…” Eileen said with a smile as she had her first bite. “This is really good.”
“It is. You really outdid yourself this time, Jody,” Sam said, wholeheartedly agreeing. However, he also couldn’t help but notice the empty spot across from him and he couldn’t help but feel curious. “Any idea why Donna is running late?”
“None. But I’ve got to tell you, she’d better have a good excuse,” Jody said. “She knew perfectly well that we were having dinner at seven.”
Right on cue, Sam and Jody heard the sound of the door and they sat up curiously. Eileen frowned and followed suit, understanding that something was going on.
“You’re not gonna believe the day I had!” A few moments later, Donna herself appeared in the living room, only to stop on her tracks, caught of guard. “No way!”
“Hi, Donna,” Sam said, even as Eileen waved in a shy manner.
“Hey! What are you guys…? Oh.” Donna winced when realisation caught up with her. “Jody said you were coming.”
“And I also said that they were coming today,” Jody said.
“Sorry, completely slipped my mind,” Donna admitted with a sigh.
“It’s okay,” Sam replied. “It sounds like you had a rough day.”
“That’s an understatement,” Donna said. “So… shall I go wash my hands and join you?”
“Yeah, okay, wouldn’t want to add to your misery,” Jody replied in a deadpan manner. “On the double; the roast is getting cold.”
“Be right back,” Donna promised, and she headed to the bathroom.
“I’m feeling better already,” Donna declared once she had several mouthfuls of the roast.
“I bet,” Jody said. “So what happened? Did Ben Eddison’s sheep cause another traffic jam?”
“I wish. They’d cause less headache,” Donna replied. “It was actually Bertha Nelson at it again.”
“Again?” Sam said before he could help it.
“Let’s just say that she’s kinda notorious,” Jody said.
“Let’s just say that I kinda wish she had stayed vanished after Chuck went all Thanos on everyone,” Donna added.
“So what was it this time? Another ‘suspicious coin’?… It was a quarter,” Jody explained, seeing Eileen looking at her with a frown.
“I wish,” Donna said again. “This time, she’s pretty sure that her neighbour went to her garden shed and stole her shovel.”
Jody raised an eyebrow. “That’s it? Just the shovel?”
“Pretty much.”
“...She couldn’t have misplaced it?” Eileen suggested.
“That’s what I said! Except she swore up and down that she did no such thing," Donna said. "So I had to go to Peter White and tell him that I needed to search his place. Of course he said that no, he wasn’t going to let me do anything of the sort before I came back with a warrant. You know how difficult it is to get a warrant for looking around a place for a missing shovel? Very!”
“And breathe…” Sam said, seeing that the usually very friendly woman was getting all fired-up.
“Right, right, sorry,” Donna said, exhaling softly. “Anyway, to cut a long story short: I finally got the warrant, except I didn’t find anything. And Nelson started screeching that ‘of course’ I didn’t find anything because, while I was taking my ‘sweet time’, White found the chance to hide her shovel. And of course White took offence, started calling her all sorts of names - which I’m not going to repeat, I assure you - which led to one thing to another and… well, you can guess the rest.” She looked to Jody’s direction meaningfully.
Jody let out a long suffering sigh. “...Did they file complaints against one another again?”
“Yup, already added them to the pile exclusively reserved for them.”
“So I’m guessing this happens often?” Sam said.
“Pretty much all the time. And don’t feel sorry for White either. He actually came to my office the other day and asked for tips on how to ‘legally kill’ Nelson,” Jody said wryly. “But, anyway, you guys didn’t come to hear us complaining about Nelson and White. You said you had some big news to share?”
“Well, yeah…” the younger Winchester said.
“And does it have to do with the lovely ring I see on Eileen’s finger?” Jody asked, giving him a lopsided smile. “I have eyes, kiddo.”
Sam reached over and took Eileen’s hand in his, squeezing it. “We’re engaged.”
“For real?!” Donna said, brightening up. “Thank you! Best news I heard all day.”
“Glad we made your day,” Eileen said, smiling.
“You did! Right. Where’s the wine? We’re so drinking to this,” Donna declared.
“Right here,” Jody replied, already pouring some wine into everyone’s glasses. She was about to reach for her glass and make a toast when Sam stopped her.
“There’s something else,” he said, smiling gently. “We also wanted to ask if you would like to be our maid of honour. With Donna and the girls as bridesmaids.”
Jody blinked several times, clearly taken by surprise. Donna instantly poked her on the arm.
“This is the part where you say ‘Yes, I’d love to.’”
Jody couldn’t help it. She smiled and nodded. “I’d love to.” She stood up and opened her arms, her invite perfectly clear.
“Wait, wait, group hug!” Donna said, getting up as well.
Sam and Eileen grinned and all four of them completed the group hug, feelings of joy permeating the atmosphere.
“So. Have you guys decided on a date yet?” Jody asked once all of them settled back onto their seats.
“Not yet,” Sam admitted. “Dean’s going to be the best man, and we do want Cas there too. Heck, ideally, we want all our friends at our wedding, but I don’t see that happening without timing it right.”
“Yeah, hate to break it to you, kiddo, but there’s no such thing as ‘perfect time’,” Jody said gently. “But, if you want my advice? Pick a date and a place that feels right for you two and worry about the rest later.”
“We’ll keep it in mind,” the younger Winchester said, smiling gently. “Thanks.”
“Good,” Jody said. “So… Here’s to you two. Wishing you all the best!” she added, holding up the glass.
“I’ll drink to that,” Donna declared.
All four held up the glass and drank, and their talk drifted to other matters as they caught up with each other’s news.
The couple never realised the passing of time and it was well over midnight by the time they retired for the night. Sam watched Eileen as she stepped further inside, stretching a bit and leaning against the window to look outside at the starry sky. He gently squeezed her shoulder to get her attention.
‘You doing all right?’ he signed.
She nodded. ‘Wine has gone a little bit to my head,’ she signed back. ‘But I had a great time. Jody and Donna are really nice.’
Sam grinned. ‘You’ve already said that.’
Eileen frowned in a clear ‘I have?’ expression, then giggled. ‘Well, it’s worth repeating.’
Sam couldn’t argue with that, and he wrapped his arms around her. “So… do you think you’d like to do some exploring tomorrow? There’s a place I want to show you.”
“Oh? Does this place have a name?” she asked playfully. “Is it your secret stash of porn?”
“Yes, I intend to take you to my man-cave and show you my collection. It’s quite an impressive one, too; I’ve been stockpiling each magazine for the last sixteen years,” Sam teased, then sobered once more. “No, just… a small place not far from here. But we will still have to take the car.”
“Colour me intrigued, Winchester. And I’m in,” she added, cupping his face gently.
He leaned to the touch. “Great. Now, come on. We should try and get some sleep.”
She nodded, fingers gently brushing against his shirt and unbuttoning it. “You know… I doubt all this driving was good for you,” she said. “I think I can take care of that.”
“...Um… I… don’t think I feel comfortable doing anything R-rated around here.” This was Jody’s place after all.
“Now I know you collected too much porn,” she said with goodnatured roll of her eyes. “Just lie down on your stomach.”
“Oh.” Picking up on the implication, Sam complied and lay down. At the next moment, Eileen started working her magic, her fingertips touching every tension on his back and relieving it.
“Give a thumbs up if you’re okay.”
Sam did just that, even though he had to admit that he was more than okay. Her gentle giggle reached his ears, and her lips brushed against his shoulderblade. Finally, just before sleep overwhelmed Sam, he reached out to get her attention. She stopped, unsure what to make of that, but he just rolled onto his back and pulled her into his arms, cocooning her with his warmth.
“Goodnight,” he said, his voice reverberating. “Love you.”
“Love you too, sleepyhead…” she replied, and they both closed their eyes, calling it a night.
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She knew better than to go out in the open. By all rights, she could have just settled with the little things, just like she did before. She wasn’t expected to do much else. Stealing a tool or letting a flock of sheep out, thus teaching neglectful households a lesson about keeping a house in proper order? It was more than enough. More than that, it was a job well done.
However, things were a lot different now. Her nostrils twitched at the smell of wrongness and she followed it, reaching the cosy-looking house.
Locked. They always locked. but that was never a problem for a small thing like her. All she had to do was squeeze through the keyhole and she’d be in.
So that was what she did.