Some Nights

But First, Christmas

caution: contains two immature hunters not dealing with their emotions very well. (relatable, huh?)

****

 Upon entering the bunker, the sight was something to behold. Garland strands were splayed over the back of chairs, ornaments were broken on the floor. And to top it all off, a pine tree was laying in the floor, pine needles spread out beneath. Castiel could only stare at the disaster from the staircase. Human emotions were still something that came and went. As an angel, he wasn't completely in touch. But now he was feeling prickles of fear as he rushed down the steps.

"Dean! Sam!" He called out. The shattered glass crunched underneath his feet. The bunker was entirely too quiet for his liking. He pulled out his angel blade, summoning his power for anything that might pop out at him. "Hello?"

"Dean?"

Cas straightened up as he heard footsteps approaching. Sam Winchester appeared, looking more than frazzled. Cas titled his head in confusion as the younger brother appeared as if he had been crying, and was sporting a black eye, the bruising spreading down his cheek bone. His plaid shirt was ruffled. In short, he looked as if he had been through a war zone.

"Sam! What happened?" Castiel looked behind Sam. "Where's Dean?"

Sam looked around at the mess surrounding them, and reached back to rub his neck. "Um...there was a fight, and it got pretty bad."

"A fight? Why didn't you call me?" Cas asked bewildered. "Sam, where is Dean?"

"He left." Sam kicked at a half broken ornament by his foot. "Couple of hours ago, actually."

Cas couldn't understand why Sam was acting so sheepish as if an attack would be his fault. He couldn't think about that now. Was Dean injured? "Is he okay?"

"Um...I don't actually know." Sam mumbled, crouching down to start cleaning up some of the ornaments. 

Cas watched him for a moment, and then knelt down beside Sam. "What aren't you telling me? Was it demons? Angels? What happened here?"

Sam closed his eyes. "I think...I think it's my fault, Cas."

Cas placed his hand over top of Sam's, stopping him from scraping up the tiny pieces. "Will you tell me what happened?"

******

Three hours earlier

"What the hell are you doing?"

Dean ignored his brother as he dragged the tree down the staircase. It was no easy feat, and not for the first time, he wished he had Cas's transporting powers. He could've called him, but then it would ruin the surprise. Dean reached the bottom of the steps, and stopped to catch his breath.

Sam stared at his brother, several emotions running through his body at once as Dean began to move the tree over to the table. "Dean?"

"What?"

"What are you doing?" Sam asked bewildered.

"What does it look like, Sammy?" Dean leaned the tree against the table, wiping the pine needles off his coat. "I got a Christmas tree!"

"You are telling me that you went out and bought a Christmas tree."

"No, I stole it." Dean shrugged. "Of course I bought it." He finished quickly as Sam gave him a accessing look. "Who steals Christmas trees?" He coughed slightly, turning away from his brother. It hadn't really been stealing. The tree technically hadn't been claimed yet. So that didn't count as stealing, right?