Fandom Supernatural
Character(s)/Pairing(s) Sam, Gabriel; take it as you will
Genre General
Rating PG
Word Count 1284
Disclaimer Supernatural c. Kripke, WB, CW
Summary For a long time Sam encountered a pure white rabbit on Easter Monday. This Easter Monday goes a little differently than those from his childhood.
Warning(s) possible spoilers for the entire series
Notes I don't really know. I started thinking about young!Sam petting a rabbit and this fic kind of happened.
Just Think of Me
The Easter Bunny came every Easter Monday even though Sam was not Catholic. The first time was when he was three stuck in a tent next to Dean in Michigan. It was too cold to sleep and Dean had rationed up their food and then put it up where Sam could not easily get at it. Coughing, Sam crawled out of the tent flap. He did not know how to make a fire, but if he was going to be cold, he wanted to be cold where he could not hear Dean snore.
Sam pulled his blanket around his shoulders and sat on a rain soaked log next to the fire pit. The sun was starting to lighten the darkness, bringing a gray cast to the drizzle. Sam put the blanket up over his head as though that would hide from Dean he was breaking their father's word and sitting out here by himself.
He felt eyes on him, but that was normal. Everywhere they went someone was paying attention to him. Sometimes strangers would be bold and ask him questions, but there was always someone watching. However, when Sam looked up all he could see in the clearing just beyond the fire pit was a pure white rabbit. Sam looked around for something to offer the creature to entice it towards him, but there was nothing.
The rabbit approached cautiously. It stopped periodically to sniff the air, testing to see if Sam was a threat. Sam remained very still and watched the rabbit advance. "You're not rabid, right?" His dad did say some animals were really sick and not to touch them, but this rabbit looked so not scary. He reached out a hand for the rabbit to sniff. The rabbit sniffed his hand almost discerningly and then pressed his head into Sam's palm.
"Nice, guy," Sam whispered and ran his fingers carefully along the curve of the rabbit's skull. He wriggled his fingers along the rabbit's ears as well. Sam reached down and grabbed up some grass, offering it to the rabbit. "No carrots," he explained apologetically.
The rabbit sniffed the grass and then bolted. Sam frowned and then heard the tent behind him open. He was so busted.
Sam almost forgot about the rabbit that morning but the same white rabbit with the same odd-looking brown eyes appeared to him every Easter as long as he was by himself. When he was six Sam started sneaking the rabbit carrots. It became an Easter Monday tradition until one year Sam forgot to look for the rabbit. He could not remember when or how but like a child who forgets Santa and the tooth fairy, Sam forgot his Easter rabbit.
At least until this morning. The sun roused Sam from sleep early. Dean had dragged the motel comforter over his face and would probably stubbornly stay asleep for the next three or four hours. Sam dressed and slipped out of the room, the warmth and sun compelling him. They were in a small town in Indiana trying to fight some ghost in the local high school or something.
Some school busses rumbled past as Sam walked towards a small café he spotted on their way into town last night. The community was affluent and a long path trailed through the town. Sam looked up at the trees lining the path and the power towers stuck here and there along the way. At each mile, he passed white wooden benches. Hardly anyone else was on the path except some young mothers with their strollers or joggers that did not have to come into work that Monday morning.
There was a woman with two young children in a double stroller. The girl looked old enough for kindergarten and the boy was still a baby. They had to be four or so years apart and somehow that took his brain from him and Dean to that first Easter he encountered the rabbit. Sam smiled to himself and put his hands in his pockets. How long had it been since he last saw that rabbit? Maybe twelve or thirteen years? He could barely remember the last time he had even thought of the creature.
Sam looked up ahead the path and slowed. There standing waiting for him near the next bench was a pure white rabbit. The rabbit watched him with striking, familiar brown eyes. Sam looked around but hardly anyone was in this section of the path. Slowly he walked forward and knelt down. Logically he knew this could not be the same rabbit who visited him back in the eighties and nineties, but somehow he knew that this was the very same rabbit. Sam ran his hand over the rabbit's head like a beloved pet. "Hey, guy," Sam whispered, "been a while." The rabbit leaned into the petting. "I don't have any carrots today, sorry."
Sam observed the creature, trying to figure out what it was exactly. "Busy last night?"
The rabbit looked up at Sam, holding his gaze a long moment. Sam's hand slipped away and his tilted his head. He knew those eyes. He knew that sparkle. "Gabriel…?"
In the time it took Sam to blink, the rabbit turned into a pair of white shoes. Following the shoes upward, Sam found himself kneeling in front of Gabriel. The trickster archangel's face morphed into a bemused smile. "Surprise," he crowed.
Sam narrowed his eyes and rose to his full height. "It's not funny."
"I don't know. You wouldn't have figured me out before." Gabriel put his hand into the pockets of his white slacks. A white muscle shirt that was a size too large finished off the look.
Sam wanted to turn around and walk away. Meeting with Gabriel never entailed a good experience. However, that statement piqued the twenty-seven-year-old's curiosity. "What?"
Gabriel's smirk only seemed to widen. "I think you know. You're smart enough." He leaned back slightly. "Why do you think it's always Easter Monday?"
Sam eyed Gabriel, debating the validity of the conclusion occurring to him. "You're the Easter Bunny?"
Gabriel rolled his eyes. "I have other things to do on Easter Sunday than shit colored eggs and chocolates." He looked at Sam. "However, one of my forms is a little white rabbit. Kind of cute, don't you think?"
Sam kept a distance from Gabriel, but did not look away. "So all this time…?"
"Every time you thought of the Easter Bunny," Gabriel confirmed. "I'm kind of put out you haven't thought of the rabbit in thirteen years, Sam." His face morphed into a mock pout. "Although I don't miss those carrots. One year it was really…chewy." Gabe made a face, his nose wrinkling.
"Sorry," Sam found himself saying despite whom he was saying it to. After a moment, he ventured, "So why are you here?"
"Don't sound so apprehensive, Sam," Gabriel snorted. "I'm always around, whether you know it or not." Sam's eyebrows furrowed greatly and Gabriel chuckled. "Who do you think really starts those prank wars?" His eyes sparkled.
Sam shook his head. He moved around Gabriel. He wanted to get some breakfast. He hesitated and then said, "I guess I'll see you next year."
Gabriel turned towards Sam at an angle. "You know, all you have to do is think you want to see me and you will, whether it's Easter Monday or just a normal Thursday."
Sam nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." Then he turned away and took a few steps. Pausing, he looked back. "Gabriel – " his question died when he saw not even a white rabbit standing behind him on the path. "Never mind."
Sam continued on his way to the café visually alone.
The End