Disclaimer: I do not own any right to Supernatural, or any of the characters appearing in this story. The original concept is due to Eric Kripke and the rights to it are owned by The CW Network. This is written just for fun and I do not make any profit out of it.
A.N.: This is just the teaser. It is going to be a multichapter story, a dark and sad one, but with hope in the ending. It is set around the middle of Season 4 and it is going to get dark and sad.
Spoilers warning: It contains a big spoiler for the ending of season 3, but nothing more than that.
Possible triggers: There is going to be some violence at the upper edge of what they show in the canon, but not extremely graphic. Some swearing (it's SPN after all).
Sam heard something crashing on the floor near him. Years of training made him immediately alert. He switched on the light with one hand, while he grabbed the knife from under the pillow with the other.
Dean woke up groggily next to him at the light invading the room. His breath was coming in short gasps. He was in a tangle of bedsheets and his outstretched arm had a bright red mark.
"Nightmare?" Sam asked. Dean looked down at the mess, realizing that he must have dropped the lamp on top of the alarm and made them both tumble to the ground. He massaged the sore spot on his arm, and with some shame, he admitted to the clues.
"Yeah, sorry to wake you up."
"Hell again?" When Dean was just back he had nightmares every single night, now it was getting slightly better, but still more often than either of them liked.
"Yeah." Dean answered sounding more sleepy than annoyed at the questions.
"Which side of the rack?"
"The worst." He said as he turned around and went back to sleep. Sam kept staring at him a bit longer, wishing he knew how to help. The three questions had become part of a routine. A way for Sam to be in the loop of how Dean was doing, without Dean having to open up too much. It took a week of arguing before they got to that compromise. Sam had learned that 'the worse' meant after Dean stepped down from the rack and started torturing people. He still hadn't made peace with himself about it, knowing his brother he wasn't sure if he ever was going to.
He switched off the light and went back to sleep himself.