If This Was A Movie, You'd Be Here By Now

Chapter 6

Dean had prayed to Cas in hopes that he'd get to see the angel; he hadn't anticipated it would have the exact opposite effect. Dean doesn't catch sight of him at all over the next week, even from a distance. He's just gone. To say it's frustrating would be an understatement, but unfortunately, he's not sure there's much he can do about it beyond keeping an eye out for any subtle stalkers in the area.

Despite all of this, Dean puts on a cheerful face when he's with his friends and family, and though Sam had definitely been concerned before, by now, he seems to have moved on -- or, more likely, seems to think Dean has moved on. That's not true in the slightest, but he won't admit it aloud. He's just glad to have some semblance of normalcy now.

The Winchesters have seen a lot of friends over the past few weeks, but there's one person they haven't gotten around to visiting yet, and that's one oversight they have to rectify. They can only stay away from Charlie for so long, after all, and she did tell them to come by when they got the chance.

Sam knocks on the front door of what Dean really hopes is her house. A minute or so passes, and both brothers wait silently on the doorsteps, growing a little less certain by the moment. Dean glances around awkwardly, partially because staring at a closed door for too long is weird and partially because he hopes he'll see Cas off in the distance somewhere. It doesn't work, but just as Sam starts to suggest they come back later, the door opens.

It's not Charlie in the doorway, though Dean has no doubt anymore that this is the right house. It takes Dean a second to figure out where he's seen the woman in the doorway before — he blames that on the fact that her hair is down — but she's unmistakably Dorothy from Oz.

"Hey, boys," Dorothy says with a smile. "I was wondering how long it would take for you to stop by."

Sam cocks his head to the side and furrows his brows. "Are you living here?"

"Well, I don't know about 'living,'" Dorothy says, "but this is my place." She pauses. "Well, mine and Charlie's, and I'm guessing that's who you're here to see."

"You guess correctly," Dean says. "Is she here?"

Dorothy steps back. "Yeah, come on in."

Dean steps inside and looks around. It's a small house, fairly mundane in appearance. When Dorothy leads them to the living room, Dean can definitely see that Charlie's made her mark on the place. There are shelves of Funko Pops against the wall, and though Dean admittedly can't name them all, the ones he does recognize are as nerdy as he'd expect from the redhead.

Charlie is passed out on the living room couch, her arm thrown carelessly over her head with a big chunk of hair in her mouth. Dean bites back a laugh. Even asleep, she's still adorable.

"We can come back later," Sam offers.

"If Charlie finds out you came by and I didn't wake her up, she'll kill me," Dorothy says. "Which would be a big feat considering I'm already dead, but she'd figure it out." She heads to Charlie's side and taps the girl on the head.

Charlie bolts upright, mumbling a barely-comprehensible "Merry Christmas!" as she does. She looks around, confused, and a smile grows on her face when she sees the Winchesters. "Oh, hi!"

"Bad time?" Dean asks teasingly.

"For you? There is no bad time." She hops off the couch with way too much energy for someone who just woke up and runs over to them, wrapping her arms around Dean without a moment of hesitation. Dean hugs her back, reveling in the moment. He'd almost forgotten how much he loved her and her hugs. The moment ends far too soon, and she moves on to hug Sam, too.

"So," Sam says, glancing between the two women, "you two are living together?"

"We are!" Charlie says, beaming. "I don't even know how it happened. One minute I was reliving an old family Christmas, and the next we were both here."

"We thought, hey, if the universe wants it to happen, it might as well," Dorothy adds.

"It's been, like, two months," Charlie says, "and she hasn't strangled me yet, so I think we're on the right track."

"Don't worry, Red," Dorothy says, amused. "I didn't strangle you in Oz; I'm not gonna strangle you here."

"You say that now," Charlie says, "but you still have the rest of eternity to change your mind.".

Dorothy just shakes her head, amused.

"Anyways." Charlie looks to Sam and Dean. "What have I missed? What's new in Winchesterland?"

Dean shrugs. "The devil had a kid."

"He's cool, though," Sam adds quickly, noticing the looks on the girls' faces, which was admittedly the reaction Dean was going for. "He's been with us since he was born — before he was born, even; Cas was taking care of his mom for a while."

Charlie gapes at him. "So you adopted the son of Satan."

"Pretty much," Sam says.

"You'd like him," Dean tells her. "Sam already got him into Star Wars, but you could definitely convince him to read Harry Potter."

"He likes reading and he likes Star Wars?" Charlie repeats, beaming. "I love him already!"

"Is he here?" Dorothy asks. "'Cause I'd like to meet him."

"Not now; he's actually pretty busy," Sam says. "Soon, though — next time we see him, we'll tell him to come by."

Charlie snorts. "Busy? Doing what? Shouldn't he either be dead from old age or what or have magical powers that can get him here at the drop of a hat? There's no way he's too busy to meet his future best friend."

Sam chuckles. "I'm sure he can come here 'at the drop of a hat,' but he's kind of the new God so he's got a lot to do."

"He's God?" Dorothy repeats.

"Just when I thought he couldn't get any cooler!" Charlie squeals. "Being God is no excuse, though. He can take a break from his Godliness for a few minutes to talk about Star Wars with me."

"That's what I said," Dean mutters under his breath. Jack and Cas absolutely could have taken a few minutes off their God trip to swing by and he's glad Charlie agrees with him, even if Sam doesn't.

Sam shoots his brother a disapproving look. "Don't even start that."

Dean just rolls his eyes. He's just being honest. Charlie knows it. Deep down, Sam has to know it, too. Cas and Jack could come by whenever they want, and they continue to choose not to.

Charlie looks between them, confused. "Okay, I have a feeling I'm missing something."

"It's nothing," Sam assures her.

"A whole lot of nothing," Dean mutters. That's all Cas and Jack are giving them: nothing.

Charlie cocks an eyebrow. "Okay... Well, on that note, wanna watch some Star Wars? I hear that Mandalorian series is really good."

"Yes!" Sam says immediately.

"I call the couch!" Dean adds, throwing himself down before his brother can take the end seat.

Sam groans, exasperated, and Dean just laughs. Charlie plops down next to him, remote in hand, and Dorothy sits on her other side. Sam sighs and takes a seat on the floor in front of them, and it's Star Wars time. This might be the most fun he's had since he died -- not neccesarily because he gets to relax and watch TV but because he gets to do it with Charlie for the first time in years -- but he can't help but think about how much more fun it would be with Cas.