Shh, it's still the fourth in Hawaii. Probably.
Sam sighed as he clicked his lighter again, watching the flame flicker lazily. It was entirely too quiet. It seemed as if the crickets and cicadas took the day off, postponing their concert for tomorrow night. Sam looked up at the sky, at least that was beautiful. Clouds were no where to be seen, and the empty field in the middle-of-nowhere, Kansas was far enough away from any cities that the stars could be seen for miles.
The sight of endless twinkling lights in the sky should've taken Sam's breath away. On any normal day it would.
But not today.
Sam glanced at the empty spot next to him with a sigh that he just couldn't hold back.
Dean should be here.
The thought was dragging him down all day, even as Sam was buying the fireworks.
Dean should be here.
It won't be the same without Dean.
You should be looking for him, not wasting your time with this stupid holiday.
America isn't that great anyway.
He didn't really read the labels of the fireworks he bought. Sam just put them in his cart, next to the apples, on a whim. He knew the day was coming up, it was kind hard to miss all the flags, but he didn't think he would take part in it. The hunter was planning on doing today what he does everyday: hunt demons.
Sam only needed a break from this demon hunt because the demon he was chasing was his brother. And that tends to take a toll on a guy.
So, fireworks it is.
Sam didn't go all-out. He bought a lot of fireworks; mostly small ones, but he got two or three big ones. But he wasn't going to host a barbeque or sing the national anthem. He was going to light the fireworks, drink a beer, then get back to finding Dean and Crowley.
Maybe that was why he's been staring at the lighter in his hand for so long.
The sooner this is over, the sooner he has to hunt his brother.
The sooner this starts, the sooner he has to admit that Dean isn't here.
He's wasting time. He should be back, trapping demons and demanding answers. It's not like those black-eyed freaks would celebrate the fourth of July anyway. He's sure he saw a crossroad back down the road a half a mile back.
The echo of an encouraged explosion, just feet above him; when he was shorter than Dean, vibrated in his mind. Hopefully, if he could rehear that echo, that blast of light and color, he could feel that joy he felt long ago; when Dean snuck him away to celebrate the country they relentlessly zig-zag across.
Right. Joy. That's what he was hunting now, in this moment. By watching the fireworks light up the sky, he could – should, hopefully will – feel joy.
Sam let out a deep sigh, kneeling down to bring the lighter close to the first firework.
Here goes nothing.
Nothing's what he got.
As the wick caught fire, Sam took a step back and waited. He watched as the firework shot into the air with a loud whistle and exploded above his head. The colors faded away in seconds. The sound even faster. Sam watched the smoke cloud float off downwind.
While watching the cloud, Sam dug inside himself, searching for any sort of postitive emotion that small explosion could have brought him.
Joy. Awe. Excitement. Delight. Patriotism…
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Sam sighed. He wasn't going to feel anything by doing this. Fireworks wouldn't make him feel better. Finding and saving Dean would make him feel better. His dead-not-dead brother should be his top priority. Shame burned in Sam's gut as he realized it wasn't.
The hunter made the decision quickly. He was going to light these stupid fireworks and leave. Skip the beer. He was just going to find Dean and fix everything.
Sam knelt down in front of the next firework, already frowning. He light it, watching the flame burn up the wick, making it smaller and smaller.
"If you stand that close when it goes off, you're going to get hurt." A familiar voice called from behind him.
Sam's body stiffened, his eyes widened.
No. It couldn't be.
He's dead.
Come on, Sam. When's death permanent anymore?
Sam stood up slowly, his eyes focused on the ground. Everything he did was in slow motion. When he turned around, it felt like it took centuries for his body to stop moving. He watched as the man behind him came into full view.
Sam's voice was barely audible, practically silent, as he let out an astonished, "Gabriel?"
The archangel smirked, "The one and only."
Fireworks went off then.
Literally, explosions in the sky of color and light, above their heads. Sam jumped; he forgot he even lit the firework.
Gabriel giggled, more to himself than Sam, "That was like the Gatsby scene!" He skipped to Sam, still laughing, "You ever seen that?"
Sam glanced around, almost expecting more fireworks. His ears were ringing and his shoulders were tense. "What?"
"I'm afraid I haven't been a very good host, old sport. You see," Gabriel stood on his tippy toes, so he could look Sam in the eyes, and said in his best DiCaprio impression, "I'm Gatsby."
Sam blinked at him, leaning back slightly, "You're dead."
"Spoilers!" Gabriel shouted; eyes wide. "I'm still at the tea scene!"
The hunter frowned, about to ask more, but Gabriel seemed to have lost interest in their book banter. The archangel was inspecting the unlit fireworks that Sam scattered on the ground.
"Whatcha doin' here, Sambo?" Gabriel nudged one of the explosives with his foot. "Tryina shoot down angels?"
"Yes." Sam deadpanned. A look of horror crossed Gabriel's face for a moment. His eyes widened and something that resembled hurt flashed in them. Sam couldn't help but laugh. "It's the fourth of July. Americans always shoot off fireworks today."
"Why?" Gabe asked, kneeling so he can inspect some closer.
Sam rolled his eyes. He highly doubted that a millennia old – wait no, many many millennias old archangel, who experienced and watched history happen, not know about the country he causes havoc in's holidays. Sam crossed his arms. "To celebrate leaving Britain."
Gabe thought for a moment, then he jumped up, excited. "I remember that!" Dean could call Sam's expression right now 'about a level 3 bitchface.' Gabe continued regardless, "Yeah. This one guy was screaming down the road, 'the British are coming! The British are coming!' So I ran after him and scream, 'False alarm! It's just the French!'"
Sam couldn't hold back a small snort of laughter at that. Gabe's face lit up at the sound of it. A small part of Sam's mind whispered that an excited Gabe was a cute Gabe. Sam told that part of his mind to shut up.
The hunter squared his shoulders and tilted his chin up. He was going to light the fireworks and leave. That's it. Gabe's arrival didn't change that.
Gabe sighed, deflated at the sight of it. Sam was closing up again; blocking Gabe out. The archangel snapped his fingers and suddenly he and Sam were sitting on a rather nice couch a couple feet away from where Gabe had arrived.
"What the-?"
"Celebrate with style, Sam-I-Am." Gabe interrupted, snapping his fingers again. A round of beers appeared in the boys' hands as the fireworks started to go off automatically.
Sam hesitantly relaxed into the cushions of the sofa. It was a little small for two people. More like a love seat.
Reluctantly, Sam watched the fireworks go off one by one. They started to gather in numbers, going off multiple at a time, lighting up all parts of the sky.
Sam couldn't see the stars under the clouds of smoke that the fireworks let off. But that was alright, the best part was the artificial tiny fires in the air.
After a while, the two shifted a bit. Sam didn't realize it until he turned his head to mention that the last one was really intricate. When he went to glance at Gabe, he found thin air. Before he could think about being disappointed, he felt his fingers thread through soft hair. The hunger looked down at his lap to find a pile of archangel on him.
Gabe had his feet over one of the arms and his body was lying comfortably in Sam's lap, facing the fireworks. Sam's hand had been running through Gabe's hair for who knows how long.
Sam frowned at the archangel, forcing himself to pull his hand away and sound offended, "Excuse you-"
"I like the green ones." Gabe said over him, pointing as more went off.
Sam was sure he did not buy this many fireworks.
But his beer refilled itself magically when he drank it all and Gabe was keeping him warm. The crickets and fireflies slowly started to chirp and blink in the night. And for a moment, Sam swore he head 'America, the Beautiful' playing behind them.
Hesitantly, Sam lowered his hand back onto Gabe's head. He thought he felt Gabe lean into the touch a bit. The hunter couldn't stop the smile as he looked back up at the fireworks.
"I like the gold ones." Sam murmured.
Gabe gave a small nod, and Sam watched as multiple gold fireworks shot into the sky.
The better part of Sam told him he needed to get back to finding Dean.
Sam told that part of him to shut up.
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