Dean smiled as he slipped his headphones on and found the song he was looking for.
'Paradise City' by Guns N' Roses began playing loudly and the hunter sighed, preparing for the song's opening lines.
In a high-pitched voice, the young man sang along as Axl Rose began to belt out his desire to be taken to the paradise city, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty. Lying on his back on his bed, head propped up on a pillow; Dean played air guitar and bobbing his feet.
Just as the song reached its crescendo, and the hunter was really getting into it, everything suddenly went dark.
The music continued to play from Dean's headphones but the clock radio on his nightstand was dead, its red glowing numbers snuffed out.
"SAM!"
SPN
Sam knew he should be sleeping. It was late and he'd barely had any rest the past few days.
Instead, here he was, slouched in his chair in the main room of the Bunker, tired eyes staring at the blue glow of his laptop.
Sitting back against the chair, the hunter stretched his arms out above his head, his legs out in front of him, groaning as he did so.
Slumping forward again, the young man peered into his empty coffee cup and decided that a few more hours awake wouldn't kill him. Grabbing the coffee mug, with its dried brown rings congealing inside it, Sam pushed out of his chair and began making his way towards the kitchen.
Before he'd even left the main room, darkness descended inside the Bunker, the soft humming of its guts that were just comforting background noise ground down to silence. Sam paused where he was, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the lack of light.
"SAM!"
The hunter heard his brother call and sighed.
Turning, Sam slowly made his way back to the table where his laptop sat, its screen glowing in the darkness.
Before the hunter could go any further, the sound of pounding footsteps moving closer and closer to where he was, announced his brother heading in his direction.
"Power's out," Dean's voice called to him from the doorway.
"Thanks Dean," Sam muttered sarcastically.
"Hey, I didn't do it," his brother replied, clearly offended.
"I didn't say you did," the younger sibling replied.
"Does this place have a breaker?" Dean asked.
Sam nodded, "Probably in the basement."
"Good," Dean said, "You've got this."
The younger man looked up, "Me? Why me?"
"Because I'm older and I said so," came Dean's smug response.
"What?" he continued, "You're not afraid of the dark are you?"
Sam closed his laptop after grabbing his cell phone, plunging them both into darkness.
"No," he answered simply, unlocking his cell and picking out its flashlight app.
Lifting his phone, Sam shone the small, white light at his sibling's face.
"Are you?" he asked Dean, smiling slightly.
Dean scoffed, "Of course not."
"Good," Sam replied, "Why don't you go to the kitchen and see if you can find some flashlights or candles in case I can't get the power back on?"
"Okay," Dean said, "Be careful going down the stairs."
Sam nodded and slipped past his brother and into the hallway. Not even the red glow of the Bunker's emergency lights illuminated the corridor. Walking slowly, with one hand shining the light from his phone ahead and the other flat against the wall, Sam headed in the direction of the basement.
SPN
"Scared of the dark?" Dean muttered to himself, "No me, not since I was four."
He moved forward cautiously, one hand held out in front of him. After taking a few steps, Dean smiled, his confidence in the dark growing.
Suddenly, his outstretched palm connected with the back of a chair and he swore, jumping away from the perceived danger.
Realizing what he'd touched, Dean chuckled sheepishly to himself and continued forward, kicking himself for not bringing his phone with him.
SPN
Sam startled when his phone vibrated in his hand and, turning the screen to face him, frowned when he saw that he had only twelve percent battery power left.
Heaving a long-suffering sigh, the hunter continued on his way, this time picking up his pace.
SPN
"Okay," Dean muttered, reaching the doorway and stepping through, almost certain he was in the kitchen.
"Flashlights and candles," he recited and stepped forward.
SPN
I should be getting close by now, Sam thought, brow furrowing in confusion; unless I took a wrong turn in the dark.
Sliding his feet across the floor, the hunter concentrated on the way ahead, narrowing his eyes to see ahead in the weak amount of light his cell phone provided.
SPN
"Bingo!" Dean exclaimed happily as he opened a drawer and his hand wrapped around a flashlight. Turning it on, the hunter smiled and peered into the drawer to see two more flashlights, an enormous box of matches and packages of candles from tea lights to the tapered ones fancy restaurants used to create a more romantic mood or something.
"HEY SAMMY!" Dean shouted, "I FOUND CANDLES!"
SPN
Sam looked up at the sound of his brother's voice yelling at him from the other side of the Bunker- the sound carrying surprisingly well in the quiet building- and smiled.
At least now they wouldn't have to sit in complete darkness until the power came back on.
The hunter walked forward a few more feet before he stopped, pausing as a thought came to him.
Grinning, tears prickling at his eyes, Sam turned around and began walking back the way he came.
SPN
Dean dumped an armful of candles on the tables out in the main room of the Bunker and began sticking them to the surface of the wood, pressing down to make sure they remained upright, before taking a match and lighting them, gradually illuminating the room.
Hope Sammy finds the breaker, he thought, or else we'll end up eating out of the freezer before long.
Dean cringed slightly. He recalled the Northeast blackout of '03 and didn't feel like reliving that experience.
SPN
An orange glow guided Sam back to the Bunker's main room and he smiled when he stepped through the doorway and spied his brother setting up dozens of candles.
"Did you try the breaker?" Dean pasued and asked, turning to him.
Sam nodded and lied, "It didn't work."
Dean frowned slightly but shrugged.
"What do you want to do now?" as Dean spoke his gaze was drawn to his brother's laptop.
"Want to watch cartoons until my computer dies?"
The look of relief on Dean's face made Sam sure he had done the right thing.
Heading to the table, Sam opened his laptop and pulled up a video streaming site.
"Why don't I get some chips and dip or something?" Dean asked and Sam nodded, "Sure."
As the younger sibling found a series of childhood cartoons to watch, the elder sibling prepared the food.
Ten minutes later, the Winchesters were sitting side by side, staring at the laptop, laughing and eating ketchup-flavoured potato chips and onion dip.
W
Three hours later, when the power did return to the Bunker, Sam and Dean didn't move. Instead they remained where they were, watching kids' cartoons and indulging in junk food.
Author's Note:
Just a little one-shot I found a prompt for and had to write about two characters experiencing a power outage.
Show me some love! Please review!