Return of Winchester

Chapter 6 Old Haunts

Sam had been mulling it over in his head all night. He had left the party and gotten a room at the motel down the street to give Dani and Jason space for their movie night, a tradition according to Molly. He had spent the night thinking. Thinking about Dean. Thinking about everything that had happened as a result of losing him. Once the flood gates had finally been opened there was no closing them again. Sleep had eluded him for hours until he finally gave up and got up around three AM. A list now sat on the table in front of him full of names of the people he had been neglecting for too long. At the top of the list sat Eileen's name. The message sat unopened in the chat, sent in the early hours.

Sam: Hey. It's been a while. Can we talk when you're free?

Sam had decided that he had been avoiding the thought of Dean for long enough and depriving Dani of information about her father for too long. The dial tone rang three times before she picked up.

"Hey, Sam what's up?" Her voice rang with laughter like she had picked up the phone at the tail end of a joke. It was nice to hear after last night. 

"Hey, Kiddo. I was wondering if you'd go somewhere with me. I just haven't been in a long time and I'd love for you to see it."

"Sure."

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Sam's eyes were pinned to the door as he pulled the Impala to a stop. If he was being honest he was dreading the emptiness that would greet them as they entered. Sam could feel Dani's eyes on him. Slipping his hand into his jacket pocket he produced a key.

"Dean and I used to live here." He said simply.

"Here?"

He understood her confusion, from the outside it really didn't look like much.

"Just give it a chance." He scoffed humorously.

The Impala doors creaked as the two climbed out with Miricle close on their heels. Sam drew in a deep breath before slotting the key into the lock. The heavy door creaked loudly. To Dani, it felt as though she was stepping into a void. All she could see was a railing that was illuminated by the light streaming in through the open door, everything else dropped away into blackness.

"Wait here a second," Sam said. Moving to the right he ran his hand along the reeling and disappeared into the shadows. Dani gathered from the repetitive thunking that he was descending a set of stairs, to what she didn't know. She could hear his footsteps become more distant then suddenly light filled the large space. She spotted Sam to the left of the entry hall his hand still perched on an old-fashioned breaker switch. The building hummed as the power turned on throughout.

"Wow." Was all Dani could muster out of sheer amazement.

"Yeah." Came Sam's reply. He had a proud smile on his face.

Sam spent almost an hour showing Dani around the Men of Letters Bunker. It surprised him how good it felt to be back. After all, this had been his home, the only real home he had ever known besides his brother's car. Every corner of the place held a memory. Sam hesitated at the end of the dorm hallway. He looked down the end that he knew led to his brother's room. He could see it in his mind clear as day. Nothing moved from where Dean had left it on that last day. It was odd thinking about it now. It had been so normal. If he had known it would be the last day he would have with Dean he would have spent it better. All that time he spent doing chores he could have spent with his brother. Hindsight was a wonderful thing.

"Hey, Uncle Sam, you okay?" Dani asked softly. He felt her hand on his arm but still couldn't pull his eyes from the hall.

"No," He sighed. "Not really."

Her hand slipped into his, giving it a firm squeeze.

"It's his, isn't it? Dad's?"

"Yeah, yeah it is." He gripped her hand gently. "Come on." Sam lead her down the hallway until they reached the door with the number "11" fastened to it. Sam turned the handle slowly before letting it swing open. Exactly as it had been when they left. The bed was half made. All of his papers were still scattered over the desk on the left side of the room. The gun collection was still on the wall gathering dust. Miracle's dog bowls were at the foot of the bed.

Dani stayed in the doorway as Sam entered. She hungrily took in anything that she could. The room was like a snapshot in time of a little piece of her father's world. It felt disrespectful to be standing there. Watching the way Sam poured over his brother's things, it felt like she was invading a privet moment. To distract herself she did what she did best, she observed. She noted that the bed wasn't made, not completely like the blanket had just been tossed back onto the mattress. The books and salesman on the shelf behind the bed were placed there in a cluttered sort of order in the same way Dani often kept things that were ordered to her but looked like chaos to anyone else. Not a clean freak like Sam then. A large stack of records sat on one of the dressers. Music lover okay. She spotted a stack of about three magazines titled "Busty Asian Beautys" Okay gross. Moving on. A couple of empty beer bottles sat on the bedside table. That may allude to a not-so-healthy habit. Then again most of the hunters she had ever met tended to like a drink or two on a fairly regular basis it was just the way most folks dealt with the job. It was an odd feeling to be so close but also so far away from a person. Her father had been the last person to touch most of the things in this room. It was like imagining someone from a dream where you can only see the outline of them, never the whole image.

"You would have loved him," Sam said turning back to her. "I mean he was a pain in the ass at times and really stubborn but he had so much love in him." He smiled at her wooden body language. "You can come in Dans. You're allowed to be here. In fact, I'm glad you are."

This did little to relax his niece. Dani stepped forward just through the threshold then stopped again. Sam glanced around the room for a moment before spotting his target.

"See this?" He asked pointing to the large stone knife at the centre of Dean's weapon collection. "This is the knife that your Dad got when he was stuck in purgatory."

Dani's eyes widened. She made her way over to Sam to get a better look.

"Is the handle made out of bone?"

"Yeah."

"How long was he stuck there?" Dani asked.

"A year."

"Shit. I always thought purgatory was a myth."

"We did too." Sam's hand slipped to his lower back running his fingers over the gun that was nestled in the waistband. "Hey, I've been meaning to give you something for a while I just haven't been able to find the right time." Dani gave him a puzzled look. Sam pulled the gun from his waistband. She had seen the gun a few times when Sam had been rooting around in the Impala. His eyes would always catch on it. She knew it had meaning to him, she just didn't know exactly what. Sam held it out to her. She took it carefully, turning it over in her hands. A Colt MK IV. It was a beautiful gun with a pearly white handle and intricate detailing on the barrel. "It's your Dad's or was, now it's yours."

Dani looked up at him, her eyes wide.

"No, no Sam I couldn't. It's to-"

"Dean would want it to be used not sitting in the trunk gathering dust." He pressed it into her palm. "Seriously. I want you to have it."

A buzz from Sam's pocket interrupted the moment. He retrieved it a smile crossing his face when he looked at the screen.

"Looks like you're gonna be going on a date with Jason."

"What?" Dani asked.

Sam held out the phone for Dani to see the texts.

Eileen: Sam it's been forever. Sure we can talk. You'll have to explain to me why you've ignored me for a year.

Dani looked up to her uncle then back to the phone then back to her uncle again. "You did say you'd ask him out if I talked to her." 

AN: Hey all, finally felt like writing again so here it is. I hope you enjoy it!

Write again soon

Meg❤️