Jo and Cas found a small store outside of town that seemed to have Christmas things. They parked the car and went inside, and boy were they right about the... available supplies.

Aisles and aisles full of Christmas decor. From trees to tinsel and plastic stuff too, this store had it all. The Yuletide was actually a bit overwhelming.

"Wow." Jo murmured.

"Uh huh." Cas murmured in reply.

"Okay... where do we even start?"

"Um... let's start small. Like... garland. And... stuff. Should we split up?"

"I dunno, Cas. We could get lost. Could we get lost?"

"It'll be fine. We'll cover more ground this way. Take it one aisle at a time, okay?"

"Oh yeah. This'll be a... piece of cake."

"I'll take this first aisle and you take the next one."

"Sounds like a plan."

Cas went down the aisle, gleaning over the assortment of Christmas decorations. He got a bunch of lights off the shelves, ranging in colors like red, blue, white, purple, etcetera. He then got tons of garland and tinsel, along with a few wreaths. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but this was his first time... Christmas shopping.

"This is ridiculous." He muttered to himself.

He shoved all the stuff back onto a shelf as best he could and decided to call Dean. He'd probably have some idea what to do.

He called. The line was busy. Great.

Dean was in his room on the phone with someone he hadn't really talked to in a while. But this was the only way to deal with his feelings.

"Hey.... I know it's been a while. I was just thinking... maybe... we could go out sometime?" He finally asked. "Calm down. Just... okay calm down. Are you - will you calm down?"

He knew this was a mistake, and he knew he was being an idiot, but he couldn't deal with... gay thoughts right now. He had to focus, and a straight relationship would help him concentrate. Maybe. He was such an idiot. A stupid, lovesick idiot.

"Are... are you done now? Okay... just, calm the hell down. Yes, I wanna go out sometime, but not if you're gonna scream like a banshee, alright?"

He had a feeling this would be an unbearable relationship, but... anything for a little clarity.

"Okay, I gotta go; call waiting. Yeah - okay... okay." And he hung up, answering the other call. "Go for Winchester."

"Seriously? 'Go for Winchester'?"

"Eh, just thought I'd give it a shot."

"Well, don't."

"Surely this isn't why you called."

"Oh. No, it's not. I, uh... I'm a bit helpless."

"Um, could you... elaborate?"

"Er - right. I just - I - I need... help. Me and Jo, we're in... I actually don't really know where we are, and we - well, basically, well-"

"Basically...?"

"Basically... we don't know what we're doing here; Christmas decorations. Uh, so, basically, help."

Dean chuckled. "Charlie and I can drive down and give you guys a hand."

"Well, do - do you know anything about this sorta thing? And please don't say 'no'."

"We can... figure it all out as we go along."

"So, basically, you're gonna wing it?"

He chuckled again. "Yep. We're gonna wing it."

"Great, I can work with that. Let me just... figure out where we are, 'kay?"

"Alright, I'll just-"

"Oh! I remember now! It's not that big of a place. It's even smaller than Devil's Kettle; not even on a freaking map, I bet."

"Cas?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever not ramble?"

"Oh. Um... I - I don't know. I'm not exactly a good conversation... person. I - I can try to shut up, i-if you want me to."

"Just... let me know where you are, alright?"

"O-okay."

Honestly, Dean thought Cas's endless rambling was the sweetest thing ever. His voice was like a flowing brook; babbling without end, in the most beautiful way. He knew thinking like this wouldn't help him in his effort to get over him, but he couldn't help it. Cas was like free candy; impossible to resist.

Oh. Bad analogy. Whatever.

Cas gave him his location and they both hung up. Dean couldn't help himself, but he was eager to see Cas. He could see him all the time if he could. But he couldn't, and he had to remind himself of that.

He walked out of his room, running into Charlie, who was in Sam's room for some reason.

"Okay, Dean. I think I've sufficiently explained to little Sammy what we meant by 'lobster'."

"You... you didn't-"

"Chillax, Dean-O. I didn't say anything about... your beau." She grinned.

"No. Don't ever call him that. That's not what he is."

"Whatever. I think I'm gonna take off."

"Think again. I need you to drive me somewhere."

She sighed softly. "What, am I your chauffeur now?"

"Well, my car's in the shop, and I don't know how long it'll take for Bobby to fix up my new set of wheels, so... get your keys."

She got her keys out of her pocket. "Where to?"

They began driving to the tiny little town that was Rosendale. Not many people came to visit, nor did they know it existed. Tiniest damn town in Minnesota.

"Now what store did you say they were at?" Charlie asked, holding a map in front of her so it covered the steering wheel.

"I think he called it the Christmas Cavalry or something. Apparently Christmas is a big deal here or something. Wish it was like that in Devil's Kettle."

"Don't worry. It'll happen before long. After we commence Mission Figgy Pudding."

Dean grinned. "Yep. With any luck, it should."

"Holy crap." Charlie was looking to the right side of the road.

"What? What's wrong?"

She used a tour guide voice and said, "And if you look to your right, you will see the building on which Christmas decided to vomit." She slowed down and pulled into a parking space.

Dean saw what she saw. And it was way too Christmassy. There was a giant inflatable Santa on top of the wreath-covered building, Christmas lights all over the place. He was sure that once it got dark, those lights would be seen for about a hundred miles. And the giant Santa? It was actually moving. Like it was battery operated. It was slowly waving its arm and saying, "Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!"

"You think they're into Hanukkah this much?" Dean asked.

"I wouldn't be shocked if Jews were burned at the stake." Charlie replied sarcastically.

They walked inside and were met with a huge selection of Christmas decor. This had to be the place.

"Cas?" Dean called, looking around.

He saw Cas approach him with tons of wreaths. "Which wreath, Dean?"

Dean chuckled, taking some of the wreaths from the top so he could see Cas's face. "Let's move our direction away from wreaths for now."

"Oh. Then... what should we start with?"

"I'm just gonna find Jo," Charlie grinned, walking away.

"I think... lights. How bout lights?"

Cas nodded quickly. "Lights. Lights are good. Let's look for some lights. I saw some... somewhere." He lead Dean to the aisle filled with Christmas lights, where they put the wreaths back on the opposite shelf. Cas had a cart to put all this stuff in so he wouldn't have to carry it around all the time.

"So... what exactly will we be decorating?" Dean asked.

"Uh... everything I think."

"Well, that's gonna take a lot of tinsel."

"Maybe we could start with the high school." Cas suggested.

"Sounds like a good start. How many lights do you think that'll take?"

"I dunno. It's a big school."

"Let's just grab a bunch of lights and hope for the best." Dean grinned.

"Oh! Maybe they can be red and white since our school colors are red, white, and black! I mean, obviously we would get black too, but they probably don't have black lights for Christmas, y'know?" Cas rambled.

"Yeah, probably not. Okay, you get the red ones and I'll get the white ones."

"Okay then. Operation Fruitcake, commence!" Cas began grabbing Christmas lights.

"Operation Fruitcake?" Dean smiled, rather amused.

"Yeah. That's what I wanna call this whole Christmas thing we're doing. But Jo said that Charlie wants to call it Mission: Figgy Pudding. I mean, what kind of name is that compared to Operation Fruitcake? Please. Ridiculous."

"Actually, I came up with that."

Cas looked away from the shelf filled with lights to look at him. "And have I mentioned how awesome it sounds?"

Dean chuckled. "Hey, I like Operation Fruitcake."

"Don't just say that to ease the tension, 'cause the tension is strong with this one." Cas laughed uneasily.

Dean chuckled. "Maybe we can create a middle ground. Combine the two of them."

Cas nodded slightly. "Mission: Fruitcake?"

Dean shook his head. "No, not quite. How bout Operation Figgy Pudding?"

Cas smiled. "Yeah, I like it. Operation Figgy Pudding. It's fun and Christmassy, which is all you can ask for in a mission name."

"Alright, keep gathering lights. We've got work to do."

They collected seven boxes each, just to make sure they had enough. They then got a couple boxes of multicolor lights to decorate stuff around the school.

"How about tinsel?" Dean suggested.

"Oh! And garland! We should use some garland!"

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan. How much?"

Cas found the tinsel across the aisle on the middle shelf and grabbed a huge pile of it. "I think this will suffice. God, I love Christmas, don't you? Well, of course you do, that's why you're helping me with Operation Figgy Pudding." He smiled, putting the tinsel in the cart.

Dean smiled back, taking a long piece of icy blue tinsel from the cart. "Yeah, gotta love Christmas." And he wrapped the tinsel around Cas's neck like a scarf.

Cas chuckled, deciding to go along with it. "Great time of the year, huh?" He took a green piece and put it on top of Dean's head like a little tinsel crown.

They both laughed. "Y'know, we oughta have a Christmas party or something." Dean suggested.

"That's a great idea! We'll invite everyone and tell them it's a... oh! A house party! They'll never suspect a thing."

"And when they show up, surrounded by... Christmassy things, they'll love Christmas for sure. Well... maybe. I dunno, it sounds like a good idea on paper." He shrugged.

"Christmas party. That'll be phase two of Operation Figgy Pudding." Cas smiled.

Dean returned the smile. "Yep. Phase two of our flawless plan we've got going. What'll phase three be?"

Cas screwed his mouth to the side. "Not sure. We'll figure it out eventually."

"Yeah. So lights, tinsel, what else?"

"Oh! The garland! It's right over here next to the tinsel!" He grabbed handfuls of garland and put them in the cart.

"How much do you think this is all gonna cost?" Dean wondered.

"Oh. Well, hopefully not too much. We're probably on a low budget."

"You think we should have a Christmas tree?"

"A... a Christmas tree? Dean, that's probably gonna cost a lot."

"I know, but still. For the sake of Christmas."

Cas nodded. "Yeah, maybe. We could use it for the party, y'know? Have a bunch of boxes wrapped up neatly with a nice little bow. Or... maybe not just boxes for decoration! We could have a gift exchange!"

"Cas, I think that ruins the idea of a secret Christmas party. Not hating on your creativity, but I'm just pointing out the flaws."

Cas sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

"But, hey, we can hand out gifts as a sign of our appreciation. We'll just need a guest list or something."

He smiled. "Yeah, that sounds good. Now, what else should we decorate the school with?"

"I dunno. You think they have any of those plastic reindeer?"

"Do you think anyone actually works here?" Cas joked.

Dean looked around. "It is pretty, uh... uninhabited."

"Where are Jo and Charlie?"

"Looking for stuff in another aisle, I think."

"How much tinsel do you think they have?" He chuckled.

Dean chuckled as well. "C'mon, we should look for plastic reindeer and stuff."

They looked all over the store in search of plastic outdoor decorations. They found many tree ornaments, decorative icicles, but they didn't find any lawn ornaments until they reached the aisle in the very back. They also found Jo and Charlie, who were in the middle of a make out session.

Jo had Charlie pinned to the wall next to the emergency exit. Dean loudly cleared his throat, and they quickly separated.

"Really?" He deadpanned.

"What?" Charlie asked. "Turns out that Christmas is a turn on.

"Whatever. We're here for the plastic reindeer." He grabbed one of the reindeer from the shelf.

"Hey, nice crown, Dean-O." Charlie smirked, referring to the tinsel that was still on Dean's head.

Dean grinned. "I'm channeling my inner Moriarty."

Charlie groaned. "Oh, Jesus Christ! Here we go!" She couldn't help but smile.

"What? C'mon, honey. You should see me in a crown."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, Moriarty is your favorite, Moriarty is god, yadda, yadda, yadda."

Cas smiled, understanding the reference. "I hope we can all agree that Anderson should go to hell, right?"

This resulted in a chorus of agreement from the three, even Jo, who hadn't seen much of the show despite Cas's attempts at persuasion.

"Good, then you're all still my friends."

"Alright," Dean smiled. "Let's get our Christmas on."