5

Sam picked Amelia up from a hospital, and she told him with a smile that she had dropped this surgery tonight: "It's this poor golden retriever, but my colleagues can look after him while I should be taking care of my own puppy. I certainly don't want to miss my ring again."

Amelia got into the car with a bouquet of red roses Sam took out a from the backseat, the Impala was filled with the fresh and pleasant scent of roses. She kissed Sam on the cheek, "Thank you." She got careless as she leaned towards Sam and one of the roses pricked her hand. She held her bleeding finger in her palm.

Christmas started from the day Thanksgiving ended, it had been going on for a whole month in New York and everyone seemed to have a bit more smile on their faces as they hurried past each other on the streets. While he was driving Sam hesitated whether to buy a bit of eggnog, or to make some on his own, but he knew he wouldn't be able to make one as good as Dean used to so he could never pluck up the courage to humiliate himself. Amelia was humming a song, she never listened to AC/DC before she met him, but now it was the only cassette in the car. Sam didn't think the Impala would prefer anything else, he inherited Dean's horrible taste and now when Amelia sat in the car she couldn't help but sing those songs too.

They stopped in front of a jewelry store with big transparent windows. Jess had said she liked this brand the last time he was a poor student, he admitted that there had been many different women in his marriage fantasy. He longed for stability and the warmth of home, for a wife he could hand in his devotion and protection, together they would tell jokes that everyone could understand, and frown over promotion and stock movements.

"Sam?"

Amelia turned her head to call him and waited for him to come out of the car.

He unfastened his seatbelt and saw that bunch of roses on the passenger seat. That was where he used to sit.

"Just a moment." He said.

He took Amelia's hand and went inside, Amelia winced a bit because of her pricked finger. The two snuggled next to each other so the clerk knew why they were here at a glance and welcomed them most warmly.

The clerk took out all their rings for Amelia to try on one after another. Sam couldn't tell any difference between them, he looked away and noticed that man in a beanie across a row of counters. He had kept his head down as if he was somewhat agitated and stuck his clumsy finger out asking to see a diamond necklace.

The clerk was well-trained and took it out for him with a professional smile on her face as she asked softly: "Christmas present for the wife, is it?"

That man still kept his head down as he stroked that glittering necklace in a state of abstraction. He had a withered, weather-beaten face and it looked like he was about to crumble under the weight of his heavy coat. He had a name in his mouth.

The clerk said: "Is that the name of your wife? How very lovely."

Sam couldn't help but let out a laugh, he could see the clerk had absolutely no idea what that guy was muttering.

The next second his face changed, he pushed Amelia behind him and strode across the store.

The man suddenly became incredibly agile, he pulled out a pistol from his open coat and loaded it in an instant.

"This is a robbery!" He shouted.

He pulled down his mask and his voice rang through the whole store. "Open up all the counters." He ordered, "Or I can smash them myself."

Sam had already made his way behind him, his pace so light and fast the gunman didn't even notice.

He was a hunter after all.

The clerk had muzzle pressing right up against her forehead that she was pale and shaken all over. Sam mouthed her: "Do as he says."

The stupid woman nodded and gave away Sam's position.

The gunman glared wildly and poked the clerk at the muzzle with even more strength on hand. While the poor woman struggled to lower herself and unlock the counter he turned to look at Sam, surprised that this tall guy should ever overextend himself to think that he can take him down. He's strong, sure, but he'll be fighting with his bare hands whilst he has a loaded gun and a dagger.

The gunman drew out a knife from his coat with his left hand.

Sam almost felt nostalgic, he squinted his eyes at that flash of cold light and said with a sigh: "I really am good at this."

Sam stretched out his long arm and grabbed the necklace on the counter, it was sturdy. The knife went for his ribs but it missed by inches. Sam ducked to the side and put the necklace around the gunman's neck and strangled his tightly.

The man let out a loud cry and his fingers around the gun moved, so Sam had to let go and slashed hard at the gunman's right arm. The gun dropped with a bam behind the counter as the clerk screamed and ducked down.

The guy turned around and decided to give Sam all his attention, a couple of times his eyes drifted towards the door and this gave Sam the greatest convenience. Sam took a few punches but he didn't care, compared with ghost possession or face-to-face with the Devil himself this was really nothing to him. Almost effortlessly he managed to restrain the hand holding the knife and with a hard press the knife fell out, whose hilt he managed to grab as it went through his thigh. And now Sam had the knife pressed against the man's fragile neck, his legs fiercely suppressed the man's restless legs as he stomped on the man's floundering feet. Blood seeped out as the blade went slightly into the man's flesh.

"Today's not your lucky day, dude." Sam said coldly.

His now messy hair cast shadow in front of his eyes, so he shook his head and asked the trembling clerks: "Did anyone call 911? Good, thank you. Now please find me a rope."

He ended up tying the gunman to a chair all by himself since everyone else was freaked out and partly lost the control over their bodies.

Now he felt a whole lot better, or rather, he had just realized he was in a bad mood before.

Sam had done his work and didn't bother to listen to the man crying about his dying wife, he picked up the blood-stained necklace and put in on the counter, "Sorry I got this dirty." He said.

"It's , it's fine." The manager drew in a deep breath and asked if they had their eyes on any of the rings, still trembling he insisted on asking the staff getting it wrapped up for them: "It's a gift on behalf of our store. Thank you for saving all of our lives."

Under any circumstances, getting thanked for what he did was generally a delightful thing for him. He had saved a lot people from things a lot worse than a robber yet he rarely got any gratitude out of them. Sam smiled and shook his head: "It's really nothing. Just human."

He and Amelia spent three hours giving statements after the police arrived. On their way home Amelia kept blaming him for his reckless act, "It's too dangerous!", she insisted angrily, despite Sam's effort to lighten things up by saying "Hey, we got a free ring, you like this didn't you?"

Amelia went wild for the fact that he couldn't seem to care less: "You know fully well how I lost Don." She finally said, "How could you just risk your life like that."

Sam went silent, he apologized. Then he suddenly remembered the man's constant glance at the door. He had missed something.

I really suck at translating action scenes so I'm sorry if this section reads a bit weird...