Title:As The Family Gathers

Characters: Dean, Sam, Ben, Adam, Castiel, Bobby, Lisa

Summary: The family gathers at Bobby's for Thanksgiving. Considering who the family is, it's bound to be interesting. And then there's the gatecrashers, looking to find out if angels are really walking the earth. Another story in the Heaven, Hell, and a Mechanic story.

Spoilers/Warning: Spoilers for the first five seasons, none for anything else.

AN: This is another story in the Heaven, Hell, and a Mechanic verse. In this universe, Sam is Lord of Hell, Castiel is an archangel and is keeping order in heaven, and Dean is a mechanic. Yeah. It's a bit of a crack series, but it's fun (and has a lot less angst than the show)

Many thanks go to jonjokeat for betaing this story for me.

Bobby didn't move as he felt a soft breeze and heard the familiar sound of several birds landing. "If I turn around, and you're right in my face, we're going to have deep fried Archangel for dinner, not turkey."

"My apologies," Castiel said. "But you know I cannot always judge distances exactly."

Bobby heard a rustle of cloth and a few quiet footsteps, and then turned around. Castiel was holding a small paper bag. The angel caught Bobby's glance and gave his small smile. "Dean told me that everyone was either going to make something or bring something. Adam suggested I bring wine."

"They're right," Bobby said. "Not that we've had much wine around here." He got up and headed for the kitchen.

"Dean mentioned something about that," Castiel said as he followed the other man. "But Adam said something about a tradition and Dean…"

"I can imagine. He made a face like he'd swallowed a bug, and didn't say anything."

Castiel paused and tilted his head. "I… believe so," he said tentatively. He set the wine bottles in the refrigerator.

Bobby chuckled. Archangel or not, Castiel was still the same.

Castiel caught his expression and sighed. "I see," he said. "I will never understand humans, will I?"

"You're getting better, Feathers," Bobby replied. "A year ago, you would have asked me about the bug."

Castiel nodded. "True," he admitted. "When is everyone else arriving?"

"Dean, Lisa, and Ben are about twenty minutes out. Sam and Adam… well, no idea. As soon as Sam makes sure everything is under control downstairs, I guess."

"Last I heard, Crowley was still complaining about the new rules for Crossroads deals," Castiel said. "But I doubt there will be many problems. Sam has the demons well under control now."

"Yeah, now that we've dealt with that group that wanted to kill Crowley and me."

"Exactly. Sam told me that the next group that tries to go against him will be handed to you."

"Oh, good. I've got some ideas for new ammo to use against demons."

"The demons are aware of that," Castiel said with his small, sneaky smile.

Bobby glanced around, but the turkey was at the "wait" stage and everything else wouldn't be started for another couple of hours, when he had more help.

Sam and Dean were each making something, and so was Adam. Lisa had half the menu planned, while Castiel had just been confused by the whole thing, if willing to go along with it.

Even now, Castiel was standing there, looking like he'd be perfectly happy not moving until someone else made him move.

Bobby rolled his eyes. He didn't want an angel statue in his kitchen. "Come on, Feathers, I got a book in here that I want you to look at."

"Dean and Sam said that we weren't allowed to do any work today unless the Apocalypse restarted," Castiel said, even as he started to follow Bobby to the study.

"Who said anything about work?" Bobby asked. "I'm planning on giving it to Sam for Christmas; I just wanted to get a second opinion on if it was the real deal."

"Of course," Castiel said.

They spent a happy twenty minutes going over Bobby's books, after Castiel determined that the book was real.

Castiel looked up from the books a second before Bobby heard the Impala driving up.

Bobby smiled and went to get the door.

A couple of hours later, the house was filled with laughter and jokes. Even Castiel was smiling, as he helped Ben wash and dry the cooking dishes, and listened to the boy's stories.

Dean and Sam were working around each other, as they'd been doing their entire lives. Sam was doing something with bacon, and had salad ingredients prepped, while Dean was finishing up the gravy.

Lisa was setting the table, and Bobby was setting out all the food that was done. Lisa's recipes took up nearly half of the food they had made. She had ordered the men around like a general as they prepared the food. Even now, she was directing Bobby in how to set up the dishes.

Adam was grabbing another chair from the shed, since Bobby had miscounted and only had six set up.

As Dean finished the gravy, Sam began to toss the salad- using bacon grease and vinegar.

Bobby glanced at him, uncertain. He thought Sam preferred healthier foods.

"It's Thanksgiving," Sam said as he caught the look. "Besides, Jess taught me this salad."

Bobby nodded in understanding.

Dean brought over the gravy, just as Sam finished the salad.

They sat down. "Should we say grace?" Ben asked.

Sam and Adam both snorted. "Considering we have an Archangel and the Lord of Hell at the table, I don't really see the point," Adam said. "And it's not like anyone who needs to hear it will be listening."

Castiel sighed.

Lisa smiled. "He's right," she said.

"I'll carve the turkey," Dean offered.

"I'm better with knives," Sam said.

"So? I'm older."

"Not really, not anymore."

"I still raised your ass, Sammy. I'm older."

Bobby sighed and then picked up the knife. "If I let you idjits decide, we'll be here 'til tomorrow. I'll carve the turkey. And neither of you will argue."

They didn't.

After a couple minutes of "pass the potatoes" and the like, they settled down to enjoy the food. Talk was light. Any shop talk was mainly about past hunts or battles. Sam told about a pixie he dealt with while he was at Stanford- the story had all of them in stitches. Bobby told about the time he had gone after what he thought was a ghost but had turned out to be a teen girl getting back at her brother.

Castiel told them about the time Uriel tried to steal Raphael's sword. Sam and Dean, the only two humans who had met Uriel, lost it completely as Castiel described how the much younger Uriel had run screaming away from Raphael.

In short, it was a wonderful family dinner.

They finished with the pecan and pumpkin pies that Adam had made. Dean demanded the recipes, but Adam wasn't talking. As they cleaned up, Adam and Dean were still bantering back and forth.

"Come on, Adam!" Dean said. "I'm your brother!"

Adam chuckled. "Yeah, but I didn't get these recipes from your side of the family. They're Mom's recipes," Adam said. "She got them from her grandmother. I might teach Ben, though. Gonna have to pass it on to someone."

"Really?" Ben asked. "Awesome! Especially the pecan!"

They cleaned up, still joking and laughing. As Sam handed the last dish to Castiel to dry, someone knocked.

"You expecting anyone else?" Dean asked.

Bobby shook his head. "Not that I can think of," he said.

Adam glanced at Bobby before heading for the door. "I'll get it," he said. He wasn't sure what was going on, but thanks to the fact that he was a prince of Hell, he was a lot more durable than Bobby.

Adam ignored Bobby's grumbles behind him as he opened the door. "Um… is this some sort of joke?" he asked after staring at the people there for a few moments.

The man dressed like an Orthodox Jew smiled and shook his head. He glanced at his companions: a man in a Catholic priest's attire, and a man dressed like a Middle Eastern Arab. "No, it isn't, even if we look like a joke. We're looking for Robert Singer."

Adam frowned. "Why?"

The priest sighed. "It's related to his… vocation."

Adam stared at him blankly. "Bobby doesn't have a vocation."

Adam heard a snort of laughter behind him and Bobby set his hand on his shoulder. "I'm Bobby Singer," he said.

Adam glanced at Bobby. The other man looked slightly confused, and slightly sheepish, like he wasn't sure why these men were here, but he had an idea- and it was his fault.

"Bobby?" Adam asked.

"I don't know why a priest, a rabbi, and an imam are standing on my doorstop at 3pm on Thanksgiving," Bobby said, scowling. He tugged at his hat.

"May we come in? I know it's a holiday, but we had to come right away."

"Bobby, just say the word and we'll kick them out," Adam promised.

"We need to talk about a certain database," the imam said.

Bobby looked up. "Balls!" he exclaimed.

Adam snorted.

Lisa came to the door. "What is it? Sam and Dean are on the verge of dragging Ben to the panic room."

"No, don't," Bobby said. "I… might have made a bit of a mistake. Come in," he added to the three at the door.

Sam and Dean were both hovering near the entrance, with Castiel beside them. The angel looked slightly confused as he observed the three visitors.

"I am sorry to interrupt your holiday," the rabbi said. "I am Kenan Sandburg, this is Father Roberto De Luca, and Harith al-Khayyami."

The group gathered in the dining room. There weren't enough chairs, but they'd make do.

"Why are you here?" Sam asked warily. Adam could understand. If it had gotten out to the world that Sam was ruling Hell, he could have a lot of misguided hunters or religious leaders after him.

Bobby sighed. "You remember that database I was telling you about?"

"The new one, for hunters, right? To classify everything out there, human and non human?" Sam asked.

"I… wasn't thinking. I added a supernatural being that shouldn't be in the database."

Castiel's eyes went wide. "Which being?" He asked.

"Angels," Bobby said. "I mean… for the past couple of years, we've had angels everywhere. We're all used to them popping in and out…"

"And taking us with them, sometimes," Dean interjected. "Bobby, you didn't."

Castiel turned his head away, but Adam was fairly certain he was just amused.

"He did. We're just here…"

"You want to make sure," Castiel interrupted Harith. "You want to know if angels really do exist."

The man nodded.

"We do," Castiel replied.

All three of the visitors stared at him. He smiled slightly and shrugged his shoulders.

There was a brief, sudden flash of light, and the huge shadow of his wings appeared against the wall.

The priest crossed himself. He looked like he was about to faint and the other two looked little better.

Dean snickered slightly.

Lisa reached over and hit his arm.

"Why… why are you here?"

Castiel glanced at Dean, then Sam. "I am spending the day with my friends," he said. "My… chosen family, as Sam puts it."

"But… but… how?"

Sam sighed and took pity on the priest. "Castiel wanted to work with us. He helped us stop Lucifer from bringing the apocalypse prematurely. And we… well, Castiel has become like a brother to us."

"And you have become my brothers," Castiel replied.

Dean and Sam both smiled at the angel. "Yeah, well, Cas is family," Dean finally said. "And Bobby probably shouldn't have added angels to the database."

Bobby sighed and rubbed his nose. "I was an idjit," he said.

Adam smirked. "I never thought I'd hear that statement."

"No kidding," Dean agreed.

Sandburg closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Do any of you realize how important this is to theology?"

Castiel sighed. "You must take things on faith. Even I- even my brothers and sisters- must take things on faith."

"But… we can learn so much!" Father De Luca said.

Castiel shook his head. "I'm sorry. But I don't explain matters of faith to Sam and Dean. And humanity… one of the great gifts of humanity is free will. I won't take that away. Have faith. Simply do what you believe is right, and have faith."

"But can't you tell us which religion is right?"

"No," Castiel answered. "Bobby, I believe I am done speaking with these gentlemen. If I do not stop now, they will not give up."

Sam stood up. "You heard him," he said.

"But we have so much we need to know!"

Castiel sighed. "Humans must take much on faith, Father De Luca. I have fought too hard, too long, and sacrificed too much, to interfere with human free will by telling you what to think. My Father would not…" he shook his head, hard. "No. I will not tell you. Stop asking me."

Dean gently placed his hand on Castiel's shoulder. "Calm down, Cas," he said. "They'll stop."

Rabbi Sandburg bowed his head. "Very well, Castiel. We will abide by your wishes. But if you ever wish to tell us more, I am sure you can find us."

"I can," Castiel said. "And if my Father orders me to give you revelation, I will. Until that time, I will not, nor will any other angel. Do not try to get the information from my friends, either."

"We won't."

Sam stood up. "I'll show you to the door, gentlemen," he glanced at Castiel, who nodded.

Once the four of them were out of earshot, Castiel sighed. "Sam will make sure they don't go after you, Bobby, or anyone else because of this."

"Jedi mind trick?" Dean asked.

"If by that, you mean a compulsion not to come back, then yes," Castiel replied.

Dean grinned then turned to Bobby. "Bobby," he said laughingly.

"Don't even think about it, Dean," Bobby said. "I can think of plenty more idiotic things you've done."

"But Bobby…"

"Do you want me to talk about the time you tried to create a bomb to use against a Wendigo? Or the time you decided that a succubus…"

"Ok, I get the point. We'll drop it."

Sam smirked.

Bobby glared at him for a moment, and Sam subsided. Bobby nodded once, satisfied.

"Now then," Bobby said. He glanced at Castiel. "I think it's time to introduce the angel to football."

Lisa rolled her eyes. "I'd be surprised if Sam and Dean haven't already," she muttered.

"They did, last Christmas," Castiel replied. "I found it… perplexing and entirely human. Why do people like watching others get concussions?"

Lisa laughed. "If I knew, I'd tell you."

"That's not what we're doing," Adam protested.

"Nearly every one of the players has had at least one concussion," Castiel said. "Most many more."

Bobby just smiled as the boys- including Ben- kept squabbling as he turned on the TV. It was turning out to be a good Thanksgiving after all.

Notes: The salad Sam is making is called "Wilted Lettuce Salad" and is soooooo good. My Dad only makes it at Thanksgiving and Christmas. The "dressing" is literally just bacon grease and balsamic vinegar. It has lettuce, bacon, and onions in it. There are some decent recipes out there, if you want to make it. Our family recipe calls for iceberg lettuce.

This story was inspired by Digital-world by Antra here on ff.n. A wonderful idea, and I couldn't resist expanding on it, with permission.

I will admit, Castiel's opinion on football is my own.

And no, I did not intend on posting this now, I've been working on the story for months. I just lucked out that I got it finished now.