Everyday For Us Something New by LadyYashka

Chapter #1 - One Shot

“Oh, hell no,” Dean ground out. He hadn’t been gone long, only about a week, and it had been a simple hunt. A vengeful spirit that Bobby needed help with, and since Sam had a broken wrist, Dean had been more than happy to help. Even though, he had been looking forward to coming home, and the novelty still hadn’t worn off on that thought, and now it looked like he’d come back to a deranged alternate version of Santa’s Workshop. Taking up most of the lobby, the monstrosity before him was a good ten feet tall, a dark lush green in color, and was leaning precariously to the left. The strong hint of spruce lacing the air made his nose twitch. His eyes skimmed the rest of the Hyperion’s lobby. Gaudy Christmas decorations were scattered all over the place. Garland seemed to be doing its damnedest to devour stair railings, door and window frames, and the edge of the lobby‘s desk. A mistletoe hung menacingly from the doorway leading to the hotel’s kitchen. “Isn’t it great?” A cheerful voice had Dean turning. The creature before him wore a Santa hat on its head. A fuzzy sweater adorned with a decorated tree had been deemed an appropriate accessory to the hat. Dean shook his head, taking a step back. These people were possessed, that was the only explanation Dean could think of. Or, Dean thought, shuddering, he’d inadvertently run into the Trickster again, and this was his idea of a prank. “Oh stop it, you big baby.” Sam’s hand accompanied his words, landing a quick smack to the back of his head. “Willow, where’s the rest of the lights?” “Spike’s getting them from the car,” the creature who ate Willow replied. “Buffy decided that the lights we had weren’t good enough, so she went and bought more.” “That’s not all she bought.” Spike’s gruff voice was a welcome sound, and Dean turned pleading eyes his friend’s way. Only he couldn’t find him. All he saw was a mountain of colorful packages, each more gaudy than the last, and a pair of denim-clad legs. “You let her get near the mall didn’t you?” Dawn said as she came dancing down the stairs, a smirk gracing her face. “Didn’t let her do a bloody thing,” Spike grumbled as he carefully sat the packages down. “Your sister decided we needed to go there, so we went.” When he straightened up, Dean could have sworn he heard Spike’s back pop. Could vampires even get bad backs? “Dude,” Dean said, eyes focused on Spike, hand gripping his duffel bag like his life depended on having it by his side. “What the hell?” “Buffy found out you guys haven’t had a real Christmas in, well, ages,” Dawn said, rolling her eyes. Dean felt marginally better. At least there were two other people who hadn’t been swapped with evil Christmas loving doppelgangers. “She’s planning a huge feast and everything,” Spike groaned. “And making us do all the bloody work.” “It’s not that bad,” Willow said, ever cheerful. Spike and Dawn simply shared a pointed look before turning back to Willow. “Thanksgiving,” was all they said, and Willow blanched a little. “Okay,” Willow conceded. “So she can go a little overboard. But it’s not all bad.” “What’s not all bad?” Buffy’s voice carried through the room as she walked in, carrying only a few boxes and some small bags. “Dean’s back!” Willow said, pointing quickly to Dean, a bright plastic smile on her face. He could swear he heard Spike and Dawn mutter, “traitor” under their breaths. Buffy’s face lit up, and Dean felt terror fill his heart. It was similar to what he’d felt when he’d faced down hellhounds, and lost. “Oh good!” Buffy was practically bouncing as she thrust her packages into Spike’s arms. She quickly grabbed Dean’s arm and began dragging him towards the giant thing in the middle of the lobby. “Isn’t it great?” Dean could only stare, not that Buffy seemed to mind. “We got it yesterday. I had Sam and Spike put it up. Now we’re just letting the branches settle before we start decorating. Dawn and I even made popcorn garland for it.” Dean would, to his dying day, deny the whimper that escaped. “Slayer, luv,” Spike said as he came up to Dean’s left. He laid a gentle hand on Dean’s shoulder, taking his duffel bag from his now lax hand. “Let the man get some rest. He’s been traveling all day.” “Oh!” Buffy said with a laugh, letting go of his arm. Dean refused to rub it. If he did, she’d be all over him, wondering if he was hurt, and he just wanted to get away from all the happy decorations. “Now go, sleep. You’ll start helping tomorrow.” “Great.” Dean was clenching his jaw so tight, he could have sworn he felt a few of his teeth crack. Spike practically dragged him from the room. When they were safely in his room, door closed and locked, Spike melted into a puddle of pale skin and black clothes on his floor. “She’s lost her bloody mind.” “No, shit,” Dean grumbled as he flopped back onto his bed. “How the hell did this happen?” “Little Brother and Niblet were talking about the holidays,” Spike answered. “Buffy over heard him say that you lot had never had a ‘real Christmas’, what with being on the road all the time. Girl’s taken it into her head to give you two one.” “And bulldozed the rest of you into helping,” Dean guessed. “Well, most of us,” Spike said, eyes on the floor. “Excuse me?” “Seems Willow is just as bad as Buffy.” “Ah crap.” Dean grabbed his pillow and buried his face underneath. “Come get me when the She-Devil of Christmas has stopped possessing your girlfriend.” The pillow was quickly plucked from his grip, and Dean found himself face to face with a scarily determined Spike. “Mate, if I have to suffer, so do you.” This time, Dean couldn’t deny the whimper. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “It’s listing.” Dawn eyed the tree critically, head titled to one side. “No, it’s not,” Buffy pouted, arms crossed over her chest. “Just move it a little to the right,” Willow said from her perch next to Dawn. “No, left.” “You sure?” Willow asked, casting a quick glance Dawn’s way. “Yep.” “Ow, bloody hell!” “Dude! Watch it!” “Damn it, Sammy! That’s my hand you’re standing on!” “I’ll do more than that if you don’t get out of my way.” “Ow! Dean! Stop it!” “Spike, stop growling at me. That was Sasquatch here.” “Dude, fuck off.” “Oh, I’d love to. Believe me.” “Would you two wankers shut up and hold the bloody tree steady!” “Yes, sir.” The tree swayed dangerously for a few seconds before seemingly to right itself. Spike crawled out from under the tree, glaring at the two figures squeezing out from behind it. “Think we should stop them?” Willow asked, watching the three men getting into a rather heated argument. “Nope.” “Nu, huh.” Dawn watched avidly as Dean charged Sam, tackling him to the floor. Spike‘s cry of, “Watch the bloody tree!” had a grin spreading out over her face. “So, popcorn anyone?” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dean was huddled under the desk. He’d heard the distinct click-clack of Buffy’s shoes and had quickly slid out of his chair. Sam was sitting in the chair next to his, and hadn’t heard her approach yet. He was currently looking at him as if he’d grown a pair of horns. “Dude, what-” “Sam!” Dean watched his brother’s eyes widened comically, before shooting him a scathing look. “Have you seen Dean?” The look Sam gave him had Dean reaching for the knife in his boot. If his brother gave him away… “He’s under the desk.” Dean was going to kill Sam. “Why’s he under there?” Buffy asked leaning across the desk so that she could see him. Dean flashed her a sickly grin and held up a pen he‘d quickly pulled from his shirt pocket. “I dropped this…” “Oh, okay,” Buffy said, a puzzled look on her face. It quickly disappeared. “I need you to go to the mall with me. I haven’t bought Spike a gift yet.” “Um…” “Dean hasn’t bought any gifts either,” Sam said in his bitchiest tone. As far as Dean was concerned, he didn’t have a brother anymore. “Great!” Buffy’s smile was huge, and terrifying. “Come on. The mall’s only open till midnight.” Dean groaned as he slunk out from under the desk, making sure to kick Sam on his way out. It was three o’clock in the afternoon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Three hours later, a disgruntled Buffy and an ecstatic Dean made their way back into the Hyperion. There were no gaily-wrapped gifts in sight. “Dude, what happened?” Sam asked, eyeing the pair. A sinking feeling hit. Dean’s eyes were darker than normal and he seemed to be wincing at the bright lights in the lobby. “I had a vision.” Dean’s grin turned wicked despite the pain Sam knew he was still in. “In the middle of the Gap.” Sam swallowed his fear. His brother wouldn’t… “I told Buffy you’d make it up to her, and take her back to the mall once we took care of the demon.” Sam was going to kill his brother. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dean held the package out before him with the same care he reserved for cursed objects. His name was scrawled across the tag in a looping girly handwriting, but the package itself was wrapped with old newspaper and duck tape. There was even a shiny red bow on the package, making it look like someone had tried, and failed, to make the package look festive. “Dude, just open it.” Sam rolled his eyes at his brother’s antics. Kicking Sam in the shin, Dean purposefully took his time. He was happy to note that it took him five minutes to open the small package. Inside was two cans of oil and a couple of chocolate bars. “That’s not a Christmas gift,” Buffy said eyeing the contents as if they were covered in demon goo. “You’re supposed to buy people nice, pretty things.” Dean just grinned, wide and happy. “Fuel for me and my baby. Thanks.” “Don’t mention it,” Sam said, his own grin wide. A couple of skin magazines and a can of shaving cream were resting in his lap. “You two are so weird,” Dawn said as she got up to get more presents. She picked up two packages and handed one to Dean, and the other to Spike. “Those are from me, so you better like them.” She then turned and tossed another present at Sam before sitting back down. Dean opened this gift a little faster than the last, and was surprised to find the limited edition Metallica: Vinyl Box Set. He ignored Sam’s groan as he raised wide eyes to Dawn. “How did you find this?” “Found it in the same place I found Spike’s.” Dawn’s grin was wide and very smug. Dean looked at Spike, who was reverently holding a re-released vinyl recording of the Sex Pistol’s Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols. Dean could have sworn he saw tears in Spike’s eyes. “How come my gift didn’t get this reaction?” Buffy’s eyes were narrowed and focused on Spike. “Opened your gift last night, luv,” Spike said, raising his eyes to Buffy’s. “You were wearing that lovely red lacy-” “Who wants some eggnog?” Willow interrupted quickly, while a deep blush rose up Buffy’s cheeks. “Spike!” Everyone scattered as Buffy grabbed the pillow she had been sitting on and began hitting Spike with it. Out of camaraderie, Dean liberated Spike’s LP and placed it with his box set. He was just being a good friend, really. A hand on his shoulder had him turning to see his brother standing next to him. “Merry Christmas, Dean.” “Merry Christmas, Sammy.” No, this isn't the sequel I was talking about. It's just a bit of fluff I wrote for the boys before all hell breaks loose. I figured they needed the break. Hope you guys enjoyed it. :)