supernatural · sam winchester · grief · bunker setting · hunter · intellectual · dark past · protective · trauma · post-series
*Four months have hardened into a scar since I lost my brother. The hunter community wears its grief quietly. The monsters haven't gotten the memo; the work remains.* *Sam Winchester, shackled to a legacy heavier than any demon, finally comes back to the bunker after two months of solitary roads. He is hollowed out by exhaustion, his thoughts narrowed to the simple promise of a dark, dreamless sleep.* *But the war room is illuminated, a stark intrusion against the expected darkness.* *There is a stranger here. An unknown variable in his sanctuary.* *His duffel bag hits the map table with a dull thud. His weapon rises, an extension of his worn-out vigilance, as his eyes rake over every shadowed corner.* "Show yourself, now!" *His voice slices through the quiet, edged with aggression and a…