Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging
Dean and Sam Winchester hardly ever celebrated Christmas, or any other holiday for that matter, but when Sam found a dusty old box filled with Christmas decorations in the dungeon one gloomy day, he couldn't just pass up the opportunity. Dean had been feeling so low since he had been cured. He still felt the guilt as strongly as he did when his eyes made the shift back to a human. It had been so hard for him to know he'd done all those awful things. Sam had tried everything to cheer his brother up, but nothing seemed to work. But Christmas was a time to celebrate, not that they ever had much luck with it in the past.
It couldn't hurt, right?
Sam placed the lid back on the box and proceeded back to the main room with a plan brewing.
"Hey Dean, do you think you could go get us some grub? Maybe from that diner a town over?"
"You mean the one that has a freaking hour wait time?" Dean huffed out, pausing from whatever dirty video he had currently pulled up on his laptop.
"They have the best onion rings though," Sam sighed, "But I guess you could just get something from May's." May's was the only diner for miles that was cheap. It may be affordable, but the food was terrible.
"Uh. I'll take anything over May's!" Dean got up and headed out the door. Shortly after Sam heard the impala start and and the sound drifted away he headed for the dungeon.
He dug through every box and found the tree, ornaments, lights, and garland.
"This is going to be the best Christmas ever."
Sam pulled out the box with the ornaments first. Reds and golds filled the boxes, with numerous homemade ornaments as well. Quite a few of them had initiation dates on them. The dates the old owners of the bunker had joined the society, but there's not much you can do with a bunch of ornaments without a tree. Sam sneaked into the garage and dug through the tools there and found an axe and headed outside. It's not that hard to find an evergreen when you live in the woods. He inspected each one were too short, or too bare. The rest were just darn right pitiful.
Eventually he found one that was perfect. It was bigger than any other tree he'd gotten as a kid, but that's mostly because the trees Dean and he'd had as children had been stolen from Christmas Tree farms. He chuckled under his breath and dragged the tree inside.
Thirty minutes later he had the tree up. The ornaments and lights sparkled as he finished putting the garland around the main room. He'd done a pretty good job. There was only one problem though.
There was no angel for the top of the tree. Not even a star. When he was younger Dean use to tell him about Christmas with their mom. She was always a stickler for having an angel on the tree. That's why Dean always made sure when they were younger, that there was an angel for the tree. Christmas was a tradition to be kept. It wouldn't be perfect without an angel.
He'd gone through all the boxes. But there was none to be seen. He checked every box downstairs as well. Sam sighed and collapsed into a chair and put his head in his hands.
He always let down Dean. No matter what it was. He was a failure, it seemed.
Creak
"Sammy!" The door opened and a gruff looking Dean stood there with fries in mouth and bags in his hands.
"I got the grub." He dumped it on the table and looked up. His eyes widened. '
"Did Santa puke Christmas in here or what?" He looked over at Sam and nudged him.
"Um. Yeah. I just thought, you know, it's been a while since we had a real Christmas, and I know you use to enjoy it when mom was still alive. I wanted to give you something to enjoy." Sam muttered under his breath and looked down at his feet.
"It's awesome, Sammy. You didn't have to do all this though."
"There's no angel though." Sam whispered and looked up at Dean. He gestured to the empty boxes beside the tree. "I looked through every single one of them. No Angel. I tried so hard to make it perfect for you. Like Mom did, but I can't even manage that!"
"Sammy. It's okay. Honestly who needs an angel anyway? They're all dicks." Dean patted his shoulder.
"No it's not Dean! It's not okay! Nothing is ever okay for us. Nothing works out like it's suppose to. I try so hard to do the right thing, and it always ends up a mess. With Ruby. and Kevin."
"That's in the past dude. I don't see how a stupid angel on top of a tree sparked this guilt you're feeling, but it's okay man. We've got each other and that's all that matters." Dean went over to the tree and adjusted an ornament.
"We'll just have to get our own angel." Dean grabbed the keys off the table and headed for the door and stopped.
"Are you coming or what?"
"Do you remember that one Christmas when we were in Oklahoma and dad was off on some hunt? I think it was the spirit of that obsessive nurse that killed a bunch of her patients or whatever?"
Sam looked over at him and shook his head. "Not really." He glanced out the window at the passing trees in the distance.
"Well anyway, you were begging for me to take you to get a tree, so we ended up stealing the one that the Miller's down the street had decorated in their yard. Man, they were idiots." They both chuckled. "But they had a star on the tree instead of an angel, and you threw a fit. You claimed that Christmas was about the birth of Jesus and anything but an angel was a disgrace to baby Jesus. Just like mom." Dean smiled and pictured Mary in his mind. She'd of tanned both their hides for stealing that tree.
"When we got back to the house and put up the tree, you made an angel out of paper and put it on the top of the tree. That's all you cared about. I can't believe you don't remember it."
"I thought you were the one who was always so strict about the angel on the tree rule?" Sam asked.
"Nope! That was all you kiddo." Dean laughed.
"Don't worry. We'll get you a real angel. I promise. I know just the one." Dean smirked as they pulled up to the dollar star.
"Stay in the car. I want it to be surprise." Dean rushed in before Sam could say anything.
When he got inside he pulled out his phone and scrolled until he found it.
Cas.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
"Hey Cas! I need you to do me a favor." He said smoothly.
When he got back to the car he had a sack full of stuff.
"I thought we were just getting an Angel, Dean! What else did you get?" Sam started to open the sack.
"Nuh uh!" Dean slapped his hands and grabbed the sack. "No peeking until we get back to the bunker. Sam pouted as Dean started the car and headed back home.
When they finally arrived Dean grabbed the sack and sprinted inside. Sam followed in pursuit.
"Dean come on just sh- What the hell?"
Dean had indeed gotten an angel for their tree.
A real angel.
Castiel sat upon the Christmas tree looking less than happy with Dean as he looked down at Sam.
"Um. Why did you need me to sit on your tree, Dean? This is not appropriate behavior for an angel I hope you know."
Dean roared with laughter and looked over at Sam.
"Merry Christmas, Sammy."