Right On For The Darkness
"Hey Sammy! Where are you?"
Dean called, munching away at the last slice of apple pie as he wandered down the hallway in the Bunker that led to his and his brother's bedrooms.
"Down here!" Sam shouts in response, his voice quiet and muffled.
Shoving the final bite of pie onto his mouth, Dean frowned and turned around, heading towards the hallway that led to the staircase that led to the Bunker's dungeon.
What was Sam doing down there?
The door at the top of the staircase that led into the basement was open but there was no light coming from the room below.
"Sam?" Dean called again and waited for a response.
"Here!" his brother yelled up from deeper in the room the bottom of the stairs, slightly irritated.
The elder sibling's frown deepened. He hadn't been mistaken; Sam was in the Bunker's dungeon for some reason.
There was a naked light bulb with a chain to pull hanging just inside the doorway. Dean grabbed the end of the chain, turning the light on before starting down the steps.
As Dean headed down the staircase, he could hear the distinct sound of boots against concrete and the crunch and shriek of breaking wood, and he picked up his pace.
"Sam, what are you doing down here?" Dean asked, peering into the dungeon.
"I'm over here," Sam replied, his volume now quiet.
Dean turned around and only then noticed his sibling crouched and peering intently into the space beneath the stairs.
"What are you doing?" the older brother asked and peered down at the shadowy space under the staircase.
"There's a door here," Sam explained without looking at his sibling, "It was boarded up. I never noticed it before."
Dean now noticed that there were pieces of broken boards on the concrete at Sam's feet, a claw hammer dangled from his brother's hand.
"Yeah," Dean murmured and straightened up, "Whatever. Let's go back upstairs."
Sam peered up at him, his hazel eyes glinting in the dim light coming down from the bulb at the top of the stairs.
"Don't you want to know what's inside?"
Dean shrugged, "Not really. Probably dusty old books or something just as boring. These guys were Men of Letters, remember? Not Indiana Jones. You're not going to find any hidden treasure."
Sam smiled slightly but glanced again at the door beneath the stairs.
"Okay," he replied and stood, brushing dust from the knees of his jeans, hammer still in one hand.
Casually, Dean took the tool from his brother and led the way back upstairs.
"Has Mom texted you lately?" Sam asked once they were back on the main floor of the Bunker.
Dean shook his head and closed the door to the dungeon.
His brother's mouth turned down slightly. Despite Sam's idea to work with the British Men of Letters, he didn't like his mother's long silences.
As though he knew what his sibling was thinking, Dean grinned, "Mom's a big girl, Sammy, she can take care of herself."
"I know," Sam muttered, "I just…"
"Don't trust them," Dean finished.
Sam nodded somewhat sheepishly.
"You know we can duck out anytime you want," Dean commented, swinging the hammer in his hand lazily.
Sam shook his head, "No, they may not be completely trustworthy but they are trying to do something good."
Dean grunted noncommittally and changed the subject.
"Want a beer?"
"Sure," his brother replied and followed him into the kitchen, Dean leaving the claw hammer on a table in the main room as they passed through.
SPN
Sam didn't know what woke him up.
It was late at night; his alarm clock read one thirty-seven in the morning.
Everything was quiet. Sitting up in bed, he brushed his hair back from his brow and peered around his room.
The red glow of the digital numbers on his clock showed that he was alone in his room and nothing was out of place.
Sighing, the hunter got up from his bed, deciding he wanted a drink of water before going back to sleep.
Bare feet padding silently down the hallway, the younger Winchester walked towards the kitchen.
Passing his brother's room, Sam noticed a line of light illuminating the bottom of the closed door. Without pause, the hunter continued on his way, making his way into the main room of the Bunker. Despite the darkness Sam navigated between the tables expertly.
Entering the kitchen and turning on the light from the switch beside the doorway, the hunter took a glass cup down from the cupboard and ran the tap above the sink until the water was icy cold. Once the water was the correct temperature, Sam turned off the tap, leaned against the sink and drank the liquid in three quick swallows.
From his position, he could look into the main room of the Bunker. In the light spilling from the kitchen, Sam could see the claw hammer Dean had left sitting on one of the tables.
Finishing his water, Sam set the empty glass in the sink and stood in the doorway to the kitchen, pausing for a moment and thinking.
He had forgotten all about the hidden door beneath the stairs but the sight of the hammer piqued his interest again.
Dean was probably right and there was nothing down there but moldering books but he wouldn't know for sure unless he opened the door.
Not ready to go back to bed just yet and curious about what was in the tiny room beneath the stairs, Sam entered the main room of the Bunker, leaving the kitchen light on. Picking up the hammer as he passed, the younger Winchester headed down the hallway towards the staircase that led into the dungeon.
SPN
Dean woke suddenly, startled awake.
Sitting up in bed, the hunter gazed wide-eyed around his bedroom but saw he was alone. Relaxing somewhat, he was about to close his eyes again and go back to sleep when something stopped him.
He wasn't sure why, but his 'big brother' sense was telling him to go check on his sibling.
Though he would like nothing more than to ignore the feeling of unease and go back to sleep, Dean couldn't deny that his sense was usually right when it came to his brother.
Grunting in irritation, the elder Winchester left the warmth and comfort of his bed and made his way down the hallway to his sibling's room.
Noticing Sam's door was ajar, Dean pushed it open the rest of the way and peered into the bedroom. Even in the dim light cast by the alarm clock numbers, Dean should have been able to see the outline of his slumbering sibling. Instead, he caught sight of rumpled blankets and no brother.
Knowing that Sam sometimes woke up in the middle of the night for a drink of water, Dean decided to wait for a moment or two and catch his sibling on his way back to his room.
Dean waited one minute, two minutes, three minutes. He waited a total of seven minutes, checking the time using his brother's alarm clock, but Sam did not return.
Frowning, the elder Winchester pulled his brother's bedroom door closed and headed down the hallway towards the kitchen.
SPN
The old stairs didn't even creak beneath Sam's feet as he walked down them, despite his weight, and he smiled slightly, hammer gripped tightly in one hand.
Stepping off the stairs and onto the concrete floor of the basement- a chill quickly seeping into his bare feet- Sam turned to the side of the staircase and felt relief to see that the door he'd revealed the day before was still there.
Crouching before the door, Sam reached out and grasped the cold, brass knob. It slid through his hand as he tried to turn it; the door was locked and he didn't have the key.
Unperturbed, the hunter raised the blunt end of the hammer and brought it down on the doorknob. A dull bong sounded out as the hammer struck the knob, but Sam didn't think it was loud enough to wake his brother.
Hitting the doorknob for a second time, Sam heard the wood around the handle splintering and raised the hammer for a third time.
By the fourth strike, the doorknob was damaged enough for the hunter to rip it out of the wood and push the door open. The wood shrieked with age and disuse as Sam pushed the door inwards. Peering intently into the dark room, the young man saw nothing. Frowning, slightly disappointed, he made to stand so he could get a flashlight.
"Hey," a voice by his ear and a hand on his shoulder startled the hunter and he jumped.
"Relax," Dean chuckled, "It's just me. I thought you might be down here."
"I couldn't sleep," Sam told him.
"What'd you find," Dean asked.
"Dunno, can't see anything. I was just about to go upstairs and get a-"
Dean turned on a penlight and smiled, "Got it from the kitchen. Thought you might need it."
Sam nodded and took the light, "Thanks."
Turning his attention back to the room, the younger Winchester shone the penlight into the space, frowning.
It was empty.
Well, not completely empty. Carved into the cement floor were strange symbols the hunter didn't recognize and a old-fashioned lantern sitting upright in the center of the room.
"Hm," Dean muttered, "Well, that's underwhelming. Too bad. Let's go back to bed, I'm exhausted."
Sam remained as he was for a moment, shining the light into the small space, frowning.
"Okay," he muttered and stood, turning off the penlight and shoving it into the pocket of his pants.
Disappointed that there hadn't been anything interesting in the room beneath the stairs, Sam followed his brother to the main floor of the Bunker, suddenly remembering that it was still the middle of the night and that he should be sleeping.
Yawning, Sam bid goodnight to his sibling, heading down the hallway to his bedroom to sleep for a few more hours.
Author's Note:
Happy Birthday, mandancie! Many hugs, friend!
Chapter title comes from a song by Curtis Mayfield.
Apologies if I don't have the layout of the Bunker quite right. I'm sure its different but I don't have a map to it!
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