Transmission from the Trickster

Chapter 55

It's not easy to get a body as badly burned as Lucifer's ready for a hunter's funeral. Sam hadn't wanted to make Gabriel do any of the work, seeing as he's the one grieving, but it occurs to him that it's not going to be a one-man job when Lucifer literally crumples in his grasp.

Without speaking, Gabriel makes some sort of sheet, spontaneously appearing under the dead archangel's body to catch any crispy pieces that may fall. Sam wraps Lucifer's body in it, then carefully carries it out of the abandoned garage they'd been residing in. He gently lays it on the ground before looking to Gabriel.

"You don't happen to have an axe on you, do you?"

Gabriel stares at him uncomprehendingly. "I thought hunter's funerals were with fires, not chopping shit up."

It takes a bit of effort to get the image of chopping a dead hunter's body with an axe out of his mind.

"It's for the pyre," he says. "Gotta get the wood from somewhere, and there are a lot of trees nearby."

Gabriel raises an eyebrow. Without speaking a word, he created a funeral pyre right behind Lucifer's body, using the magic of archangel Grace instead of the long process of chopping down trees.

"That works, I guess," Sam says uncertainly. He's never used a premade funeral pyre before. It's definitely strange, to say the least. "I mean, sometimes chopping down trees makes you feel a little better, but..."

"Not when you can chop them in one swing," Gabriel says, which hasn't even occurred to Sam.

"Point taken."

Sam heaves Lucifer's corpse onto the pyre, fixing his cloth covering so he looks a little more presentable. Just because it's not an open casket funeral doesn't mean he should look like a wreck.

Sam pulls a lighter from his pocket and holds it out for Gabriel. "Do you want to do the honors?"

"Is that it?" Gabriel asks.

Sam debates mentioning that they usually salt bodies before they burn them, but, given that Lucifer can't come back as a vengeful spirit, it doesn't seem relevant. He could also mention that they often cover the bodies in gasoline, but he doesn't have any on him, and he doesn't want to have Gabriel whip anything else up if he doesn't have to. He's wrapped up a flammable cloth on a giant wooden pyre. He should burn just fine.

So he just says, "That's it."

Gabriel takes the lighter and flicks it on, but he doesn't move at first, his gaze still on the body in front of them. Sam begins to wonder if he should have burned the body himself. He's always found it sort of therapeutic, but that's because he's a hunter. It's supposed to be therapeutic to a hunter. It probably isn't the same for an archangel.

But, finally, Gabriel takes a few steps towards the funeral pyre, the lighter still on. He puts the edge of the flames against the pyre, but nothing happens.

"You can throw the whole thing in, you know," Sam says.

"You don't reuse them?" Gabriel asks.

"Not really."

Gabriel nods slowly. After a pause, he says, "That's kind of a waste of lighters. You should just get a match book."

Sam scoffs. "Really? That's what you choose to focus on right now?"

Gabriel tosses the lighter on Lucifer's body, then stands back by Sam's side as it slowly catches fire. They're silent for a minute or so, just watching the flames grow.

Finally, Sam asks, "Do you want to say anything?"

Gabriel furrows his brows in confusion. "Say what?"

Ah, so when he said he didn't know anything about funerals, he really meant he didn't know anything about funerals.

"People usually use funerals to say goodbye," Sam explains. "But it can really be anything. Your last words to him."

Gabriel presses his lips into a firm line, thinking. Finally, he just says, "See you on the flip side, bro. Don't wait up."

Sam fights the urge to smile at that. That's not quite what he had in mind for final words, but if that's what makes him feel better, so be it. He probably shouldn't mention that saying something like that could probably get him booted out of a real funeral, though. It's best that he thinks he did it right.

And then they just stand there, watching. It's silent, which seems to be how Gabriel wants it, and Sam is in no position to argue with him. He can't tell if this is making Gabriel feel better, but it doesn't look like it's making things worse, and it got Gabriel to his feet for the first time in a week. What more could he ask for?