This is what happens when I watch schmoopy Christmas movies like It's a Wonderful Life.

*Edited and reuploaded, 2/21/2013

"What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word, and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey, that's a pretty good idea. I'll give ya the moon, Mary."

"I'll take it."

"Sam, this movie grows more absurd by the minute." The Winchester in question attempted to cover an exasperated sigh with a cough as Castiel began what had to be his eighth interruption so far. Sam was starting to wish Dean hadn't invited him to their semi-annual (meaning whatever year they happened to not be in some dark place somewhere kicking something that goes bump in the night's ass- or vice versa) Christmas Eve movie. "Why would this man wish to harness the moon? The atmospheric consequences would eventually devastate life on Earth's surface. Not to mention the fact that he has no feasible means with which to actually acquire the moon, be it for himself or for some female he's hardly interacted with."

Dean grinned and threw his feet up on he motel room's rickety coffee table. "He just wants to get in her pants."

"She isn't wearing pants, Dean."

"Dean doesn't know what he's talking about, Cas. He wouldn't know romance if it bit him on the ass," Sam replied, dodging the popcorn Dean launched at him from the other end of the threadbare couch, over Castiel's head. "The guy says he'll give her the moon to let her know he's willing to go that far for her. That she's that important to him. He'd do anything, even the impossible, if it would make her happy."

"So... he wants to give her the moon because he cares for her and wants her to be happy, no matter what?"

"Yeah, you got it."

Dean deserted the bowl of popcorn on the table in favor of a bag of licorice. "Stop trying to corrupt him with your girlyness, Samantha. You're gonna make him all soft. And next year, I'm picking the Christmas Eve movie. If we leave it up to you, we'll have to sit through some 'Sir, I wanna buy these shoes' crap."

Now it was Dean's turn to get pelted with popcorn.

"Just shut up and watch, ass."

They were quiet for about five minutes, Sam absorbed in the tv screen, Dean absorbed in his candy, and Castiel absorbed in his thoughts, before Cas stood up, setting the mug of eggnog Dean had thrust into his hands upon his arrival down on the table.

"I'm afraid I must go."

This caught Dean's attention. "What? Dude, you haven't even been here an hour."

"I have important matters to attend to."

Dean scoffed. "Can't it wait? I was gonna make you read us The Night Before Christmas in that deadpan voice of yours."

"I apologize, Dean. Perhaps next year?"

The hunter sighed. "Yeah. Whatever. I guess I'll give you a raincheck. Just this once. You'll be here for presents though, right?"

"I will see you tomorrow," he nodded.

"Be careful, Cas. See you tomorrow," Sam bid him good night.

"Yeah, watch out for reindeer," Dean muttered, staring into his own mug. He didn't look up to see the angel tilt his head in confusion before disappearing. For some reason, the dingy room felt a bit more dim.

"Dude. You won't believe the friggin weather out there. You know half the city's power's out? And why the hell is it already getting dark?"

Dean tossed the box of hot chocolate mix on top of the microwave, stuck the carton of eggnog in the mini fridge, and was in the middle of shrugging out of his coat when Sam burst out of the bathroom, grabbed his arm, hauled him over to the couch, and plopped him down.

"You're back! You gotta see this!"

"The hell has gotten into y-"

"Shhhh! Just watch."

Sam unmuted the tv and stared at Dean with anxious eyes. Dean gave him the weirdest look he could muster, but was distracted as Sam cranked up the volume and the news anchor's voice invaded the room.

"-ficials at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, were shocked to say the least when the subject of their lunar impact monitoring program - the moon - disappeared late last night, mid-observation. For those of you just tuning in, do not adjust your televisions, you heard correctly. The moon is nowhere to be seen.

Already, the Earth's weather patterns are being affected. The planet has begun to spin much faster than normal on its axis, causing night to fall sooner and freak windstorms to spring up in every corner of the map. Scientists are completely baffled by this -"

The screen blacked out and Dean tossed the remote down on the table and turned to Sam, lips pursed and eyes narrowed. "Okay. Let me get this straight. Somebody or something stole... the moon?"

Sam huffed. "Yeah. That's what I'm going with. So, Bobby called. He says our best bet is Selene," he pulled up a window on his laptop, "The Titan goddess of the the moon. Apparently, she's always been a little miffed that Artemis gets all the credit when it comes to Greek moon goddesses. We should prob-"

"No. Absolutely not." Dean shut the laptop and slid it down the table. "I don't give a damn. It's Christmas, Sam. It's probably just some kind of..." He waved his hands vaguely. "I don't know, fluke. Prank? I do not wanna deal with this insane shit today. No way."

Sam looked at him incredulously. "Dean. It's the moon."

"Sam. It's Christmas. The one friggin day off a year I ask for. The little tree's lit, Cas' coming- I bought eggnog, damnit! And we are gonna sip it, exchange gifts, and watch some damn football because that is what normal people do on Christmas. That's all I'm askin for. Somethin close to normal. And that's the last I wanna hear of it. We can save the friggin moon tomorrow, if need be."

Sam looked as if he wanted to protest for a moment, but knew his brother was serious. He just wanted a halfway decent Christmas for once. Sam couldn't blame him for that.

"Okay. Well... did uh, did you get marshmallows?"

"No, I did not get marshmallows. It's a 7-eleven, Sam, not Walmart. You're lucky they had that."

"Thanks, Dean. So kind of you. What crawled up your ass?"

"Hey, next time you can venture out into the lunar storm of death and get your own damn cocoa."

"First off, that's not an answer, and secon- oh, hey, Cas. Merry Christmas."

Dean's head whipped around and sure enough, there the angel was, standing stiffly next to the makeshift Christmas tree on the nightstand between their beds. There were two packages in his hands wrapped in shiny gold paper.

"Merry Christmas, Sam. Dean."

Dean straightened. "Hey, look who made it."

Cas looked a bit anxious. "I'm not late, am I?"

"Well, it's only one o'clock."

"Don't listen to him. Dean didn't roll out of bed 'till noon," Sam called over his shoulder as he stirred in the hot cocoa mix and popped the mug in the microwave.

"My Christmas present to myself, thank me very much."

"Speaking of presents," Sam said, making his way over to Castiel, "Here, let me just-" He took the gifts from his hands and set them next to the four others underneath the tree.

"Thank you."

"No problem. You, uh, want some cocoa before we open 'em?"

"No, I'm fine, thank you."

Dean sighed as he stood up from the couch and made his way over to the tree with them. "All right, let's just dig in then."

He and Sam moved the presents over to the coffee table and the three of them sat on the couch, Dean in the middle.

"Here," Dean said and picked up a tiny envelope decorated with crudely drawn little princesses and flowers and unicorns. "This one's for you, Sammy."

Sam accepted the gift with a long-suffering grimace. "You shouldn't have."

He tore open the end of the envelope and pulled out a small slip of paper.

"A scratch ticket? You're the best brother a guy could ask for."

"Hey, don't knock it 'till you've scratched it. And there's more. Keep diggin."

Sam held the envelope open and out fell another piece of paper.

"Ohhh, now we're talking. A Madam Butterfly's Massage Parlor gift certificate. Thanks, man."

"Don't thank me. Thank Madam Butterfly," he said with a knowing lift of his eyebrows. "Here, this one's yours, Cas."

Castiel took the small square green and red tin Dean offered him gingerly, as if it were woven from spider's web. He glanced from the metal box to Dean and back again.

"Don't get into a staring contest with it, dude. Just open it."

The angel obeyed and lifted the lid off the tin to reveal a rectangular piece of plastic on a velvet bed.

"It's a gift card for White Castle. I know it's lame. Don't blame me. You're the one who's hard to shop for. I was tryin to think of what to get you, I know it's your first Christmas and all, but I kept coming up blank, so I figured, hey, go with what you know. And what I know is that you don't do a lot of eating, but you also don't mind scarfing down a burger or two, so... yeah, there you go."

Dean mentally thumped himself for babbling like an idiot. It couldn't be too bad, though, from the way Cas was looking at him.

"Thank you very much, Dean. This was thoughtful of you."

"No problem," he mumbled, though he was having a problem: breaking eye contact. But that's what little brothers are for.

"Ahem. So, Cas. Here, this one's from me." Sam reached over and handed the angel a gift bag filled with green tissue paper.

Castiel's hand slid into the bag and he carefully pulled out a navy blue scarf and toboggan.

"Thank you, Sam. These are beautiful."

"They're cashmere. Really soft stuff. I thought they might come in handy if you're helping us on any cases where it's freezing out. Help you blend in. Plus, they go pretty well with your get up."

"Aw, aren't you the budding stylist."

"Shut up." He shoved Dean and got up to get his cocoa out of the microwave and add sugar to his liking.

Dean watched Castiel fiddle with the scarf for a moment before he grabbed it and wrapped it around the angel's neck. "Here, like this."

He tucked the ends into the trench coat and smoothed them down. The material was unbelievably silky and soft as he smoothed it out right over Cas' heart. The angel's face was a lot closer than he remembered when he looked up again, and those eyes of his did that capturing-Dean's thing they seemed so fond of.

Sam to the rescue, saviour of a little brother that he is. "Hey, Dean, open yours from me," he called out as he sank back into his seat on the couch, sipping from his mug.

Dean grabbed up Sam's present to him and tore the paper off.

"Casa Erotica's Frosty the Snow Ho and Polar Sexpress. Man, you know how to spoil a guy.

Sam grinned. "Yeah, well. Open 'em up."

Dean looked at Sam curiously and popped open each dvd case. "No way. Metallica tickets? Dude, you rock!"

"Aaannnnnd don't forget it," Sam replied, a smug look on his face.

The three then sat there awkwardly - for Dean and Sam at least - until Castiel realized it was his turn.

"Oh, right. Sam, this is for you." He hands a small square box to Sam. "I don't wish to upset you, but from what I've gathered, Christmas presents are meant to be thoughful and have meaning. I thought you might like to have this."

Sam looked cautious as he unwrapped and opened the box. Inside was a simple silver ring. Sam picked it up, confused. When he saw the inscription on the inside of the band, he stiffened. "How- where did you get this? I thought it was lost in the fire."

Castiel was looking intently at Sam, conscious of the tedious nature of his gift. "It was. I was able to locate it in the Palo Alto City Landfill. I hope it isn't too invasive of me."

"No, no." Sam didn't lift his eyes from the simple silver ring in his hand. "I gave her this for our one year anniversary. It was a promise ring. Jess always used to say that she didn't believe in promises, so I got her one to wear on her finger." He swallowed, and looked at the angel, biting his lower lip and taking a big breath. "Thanks, Cas. I don't know what to say. Just... thanks."

"You're very welcome, Sam."

Sam wondered at the weight of Cas' gift. He'd made his peace with what happened to Jess a long time ago, but it was nice to have something tangible to remember her by.

If Cas gave something so meaningful to him, what was Dean in store for? He didn't have to wonder long, as the angel was thrusting a box similar in size to the one he'd given Sam into his brother's hands.

"Dean." Castiel nodded encouragingly, his gaze unwavering as Dean began to pull at the wrapping. "I had trouble deciding what to give you as well, Dean. I pondered the situation at hand for some time and came to the conclusion that what I wanted to give you most was happiness."

Dean looked up and met Castiel's gaze as he held the now uncovered box.

"But, seeing as happiness is not corporeal, I decided on this."

As he opened the box, a soft glow filled the room. Dean sat stock-still. After a moment, he lifted the object in the box by the chain it was hanging from. It was a round pendant, about the size of a marble, glowing brightly on one half and dark on the other.

Sam thought Dean's eyes might come out of his head. Sam couldn't decide whether to marvel in awe or burst with laughter. Dean finally found his voice.

"Cas. Is this what I think it is?"

The angel nodded. "Yes. Sam said-"

"I know what he said. I was there." He stood swiftly, sat the necklace and its box on the table, and was out the door before Sam could even sputter the 'Dean, wait' that was coming.

Castiel looked to Sam and his heart ached at the crestfallen expression on the angel's face.

"Sam... did I do something wrong?"

"No, not at all." He grabbed a coat and slipped on his boots. "Just... give me a minute with him, okay?"

Castiel didn't look at all reassured. "All right."

"Dean."

The sound of his brother's voice came from above and behind him, where he sat on the sidewalk outside the motel door, exhaling warm air into his clenched hands.

"If you're gonna run away in a windstorm, you should probably take a jacket."

The feel of a coat hitting his back somehow made him feel worse. Know-it-all little brothers.

He heard the crunch of Sam's boots as he slid down to sit beside him.

"You know what I think would make you happy?"

Dean remained stubbornly silent.

"Admitting to yourself how much you care about him. Don't think I don't see it. Man, you've gotta take advantage of the opportunity you have here. For once, the world isn't ending - not this second, at least - and you got a chance to get something really good going for yourself, Dean. And I want that for you."

Dean huffed. "Even if I knew what the hell you were talking about, which I don't, Cas doesn't feel that way."

He could feel Sam's eyes roll. "For god's sake, Dean. The two of you've been to Hell and back. He gave you the moon. What more do you want?"

Dean turned on Sam and hissed, "Exactly. He gave me the friggin moon. And all I got the guy was a lousy gift card to a burger joint. What the hell am I supposed to do with that? Huh? How'm I supposed to be goo-?" he broke off with a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Sam leveled his eyes at him. "Good enough? He's held your friggin soul in his hands, Dean," Sam said, pointedly shoving his brother's left shoulder. "I'm pretty sure if there was something that made you not good enough, he saw it. And he still looks at you like you put the sun in the sky and told it to shine. And right now he's in there wondering what he did to make you storm out like that."

Sam shook his head and sighed. It was definitely an I-can't-believe-how-thick-my-brother's-skull-is sigh. Dean glanced over at him warily.

"It's easy, Dean. You give him what he wants more than anything. You go in there, and you do whatever'll make you the happiest man alive. That's what you do."

Dean was starting to hate Sam's eyes and how they injected meaning into his words.

"Fine, ya damn Lifetime Movie Network pansy."

He got up, took a deep breath, turned, and strode into the room.

The moment Castiel saw him, he stood and began to apologize.

"Dean, I'm sorry if I've overstepped some boundary. I only inten-"

Dean framed his face with his hands and cut him off with his lips. When he pulled away, the confusion on Castiel's face was almost comical.

Dean smiled a thousand watts, pressed his forehead to Cas', and whispered, "You make me very happy."

Cas smiled tentatively. His hands found Dean's waist, and he sank into Dean like he didn't mind drowning. And damnit, if Sam wasn't right. There was no way any other man alive could be this goddamn happy.

Sam stood in the doorway of their room, equal amounts of amused and uncomfortable.

"Um. Guys? Not to ruin your Christmas miracle or anything, but... you do know you have to put the moon back. Right?"

Dean didn't even bother to untangle himself from Cas as he answered.

"The world can have the moon back tomorrow. We're busy."

Sam chuckled and grabbed the duffle off his bed.

"Okay. I'm just gonna... go see if I can get another room. Enjoy yourselves."

"Oh, you know it."

"Ew."

"Hey," Dean called over Castiel's shoulder to his brother, who turned from his perch in the doorway.

"Thanks, Sammy."

Sam grinned.

"Merry Christmas, Dean."

A/N: I, being the nerd that I am, actually researched both what might happen were the moon to disappear and Christmas-themed porn titles. I hope you enjoyed.