♛ twenty-second hunt - video;

[ofletters]

[ There's a long stretch of silence, of a fizzling screen and no picture. Then, there is one, and it's Sam, who's been missing for exactly a week. He's less than a year older than he'd been before his disappearance, but there are a lot of noticeable differences: his hair is a little shorter, his arm in a sling. And, most importantly, his expression is a little... different. ]

Great. Should've known... well. Guess not, since we can't, but...

[ There's a dark, mirthless chuckle. Someone is having a bad, bad day. ]

Screw you, Wonderland. I'm sick of this friggin' bungee cord that keeps snapping me back to this place.


[ private text to Crowley ]

My room. Now.

[ Then, after a lot of deliberation: ]

[ private text to Dean ]

Are you still here?

Comments

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[whele]

Does it send you back often?

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[ofletters]

[ After a bit of a lapse: ]

Yeah. Unfortunately.

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[dissemble]

You had us worried for a moment there, Sam.

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[ofletters]

Right. [ dry and sarcastic as anything

Still. It's bizarre to see Lucifer again, to go back to a world where he's been locked away for years and years, and yet... in Wonderland, the guy's still lurking around, like all their work had been for nothing.

Sam's quiet for a while. ]

I need to talk to you. Offline.

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[oversight]

Welcome back... [ Which Blake says at his own risk, he realizes. ] You okay, Sam? What— what happened to your arm?

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[ofletters]

It's a long story. [ A long, unfun story. Sam is trying not to look too... uh, homicidal, but as memories start flooding in about Blake and Crowley's involvement... ]

How long's it been?

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[nascensibility]

[Evelyn can relate to Sam's upset on a deep and spiritual level, if she were, in fact, a spiritual person. As a self-professed atheist, however, she can only empathise with the sentiment, having left and returned to Wonderland one too many times.

Something is different about the way he carries himself outside the fact that he also appears to be injured; Evelyn has to wonder how long it's been for him this time.]

Sam.

[Her tone is gentle, understanding, but by no means patronising.]

Do you want to talk?

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[ofletters]

[ Evelyn. Sam looks back at her, old (are they, though?) memories of talking to her after she'd seen another murder flooding back. She's smart, great to talk to. Even so... ]

Hey. I-- Maybe later, alright? [ He looks exhausted, but more than that is the underlyign currents of... well, anger. She could have easily seen the murder in his expression when he'd first come online. ] Right now, I've... got some things to take care of.

[video]

[freewill]

[This is something Castiel had expected. Sam has disappeared from Wonderland before, but he always seems to come back exactly a week later, like clockwork. This time is no different, but it appears that Sam has also grown tired of it, and who could blame him?

At this point, Castiel's gotten good at picking out various differences in human expressions, especially with someone like Sam who he knows well. The cold anger that Sam's only barely containing is clear as day.

Whatever's happened back home, it isn't good. But when is it ever?

Instead of jumping right to questions (they can get to that later), Castiel chooses to offer some aid first.] Sam. It's been a week -- here, that is. I can heal your arm if you wish.

[video]

[ofletters]

[ Sam appreciates that Cas doesn't grill him immediately, grateful for all of the tact that the angel has gathered over the years spent with the less-than-pleasant Winchesters. He also appreciates the irony of Castiel asking after his arm-- does this Cas remember that he'd been the reason for it in the first place? He thinks of the angel he knows, the one who'd been removed from the situation with Dean because of his ailing health or, more accurately, ailing grace. Sam doesn't know much about that situation at all, but it's defintiely had an enormous impact on Cas as time's staggered on, back home. ]

Blake told me. [ So, no time at all. He shouldn't be surprised, and he isn't, but it's still frustrating as Hell. ]

... Yeah, thanks, Cas. I'm-- I'll be in my room. Gotta remove some of the... proofing.

[ The first thing he'd done was throw up new warding for both angels and demons. ]

[anomaliiiiies]

Wonderland likes, you, I think. Or it's some sort of way point.

[ofletters]

It definitely doesn't like me. [ He eyes her warily, fatigue in his expression. ] And if this is how it shows affection, or whatever, then I don't want it.

[Video]

[lightgunhustler]

Sam...

[The change in him doesn't go unnoticed, but a part of her is too relieved to see him to comment on it. He'd been gone long enough that she'd convinced herself he wouldn't be making it back; a week tended to be the limit, and there had been no sign of him for at least that long -- it was hard to tell if it had been longer, their morning runs and other routines seemed to have dropped off since that one night in the bar. Not that she can blame him.

Every time someone leaves, it's terrifying, no matter how hard she tries to keep it under wraps. She doesn't get to go home -- so every disappearance has the potential to be a permanent goodbye, except for the part where they never actually get to say it.]

I'm sick of Wonderland jerking people around, too, and I'm sure this isn't where you want to be, but-- it's good to see you. Really good. [Pause.] Are you okay?

[He doesn't look okay.]

[Video]

[ofletters]

Hey. [ In hindsight, he should never have broadcast his face. Everyone who knows him knows that something's wrong and, more pressingly, want to talk to him about it. The day only gets more complicated as it goes on. ]

S'good to see you, too. [ A week hasn't changed Jo, from what he can tell, but it's changed Sam. Especially since it's been more like months than just a week. ]

... I will be. Just gotta work through... a lot of things.

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[ganking]

Sammy-- [ sorry sam, were you trying to send your brother a fucking text when you've been gone for a week only to come back looking like the world's ended? and with your arm all busted up?

p l e a s e. ]

Dude, 'course I am. What happened to you, man? You alright? You've been gone a week, and-- [ shit, you have no idea how worried he's been. ] How long has it been for you?

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[ofletters]

[ Yes, he was trying to send a text. Because he doesn't want Dean to see him and ask what happened and, really, he should have just not sent out any kind of broadcast at all.

Too little, too late.

His stomach flips uncomfortably when Dean shows his face; it's been a few weeks since his brother's vanished, though not yet a month. Sammy let me go. Crowley hadn't written it, and Sam has too many theories that are each as bad and painful as the next. He has no answers, no brother, and not even a functional arm. ]

Few months. [ Enough time for Gadreel to die, for Cas to get messed up, for you to die and then vanish. ] I--

[ His good hand shakes a little, the feed rocking a bit. ]

I'm not sure if I can... talk about this. Right now.

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[samlicker81]

[ sam's disappearance hadn't gone unnoticed, no, of course it wouldn't have. this is becky and she makes sam's business her business even when it ... really isn't her business at all. maybe it had taken almost the full week for her to realize he was actually not in wonderland anymore, because, you know. she's been trying to be good and give him space while still keeping her eye on him because she's still concerned about him and dean and everything between them. it's upsetting to see them in such a wildly different place with each other than they are in the books — obviously life happened and there's a lot she doesn't know and it's not like they can just go back to that, but she wishes she could do more. not just for sam, for both of them.

she might have also stolen one of his shirts from his room... if sam wasn't in wonderland anymore, she at least wanted to keep a little part of him — or, at least, something that smelled like him. it doesn't even occur to her that that might be considered weird now that he's back and she's wearing his shirt, which is way too big on her. she likes it like that — just, you know, he probably won't. not that she's even remotely thinking about how he's going to feel about the fact that she broke into his room to steal his shirt because he looks terrible, and not in the rugged, sexy way. but it's sam, so of course she still thinks he looks sexy, just more in that murderous kind of way that probably shouldn't actually turn her on at all. ]

Sammy— [ she stops short, cutting herself off. she's so used to referring to him as sammy in her head, she tends to forget that, you know, that's pretty much a dean-exclusive nickname. she swallows, toning down her relief (excitement?) that he's back. ] I mean, you're back. I didn't think — well, I didn't know — you'd be back so soon. [ her brows knit in concern, noting the sling his arm is in. ] Are you okay? Your arm... [ and, you know, the rest of you. that expression can only mean really bad things. ]

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[ofletters]

[ Sam visibly winces at the "Sammy" ("Sammy let me go"), but takes a very deep breath and tries not to overreact. All he'd been doing so far was to overreact, but things had been crappy enough so far that he felt like it barely mattered anymore what people thought of him. After all, as the demons themselves had deined to say, he'd become a monster in his own right.

The lines were gray, once, to him. Now they'd turned much, much darker. ]

I'm fine. [ A week, it seems like it's always a week. At least, in Wonderland time. ] Yeah, well, I shouldn't be surprised that this craphole dragged me back again. It's done it already two... three times.

[ Maybe more. He's lost count. ]

[ video. ]

[shittyglasses]

What did Wonderland do this time?

[Sorry Sam, she doesn't know you but she will!]

[ video. ]

[ofletters]

Brought me back. [ He sighs. ] Sent me home first, then decided to snap me back again.

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[voiceinthedark]

It can do that?

[He doesn't know this guy well but... he doesn't look good.]

I'm sorry. I know it's not the best place to be stuck.

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[ofletters]

Unfortunately. Whenever it wants.

[ Hey, other-Sam-who-looks-like-Kevin. ]

Could be worse. [ Really, it could. ]

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[humanities_strongest]

How did you escape?

[Tell him the secret.]

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[ofletters]

I didn't. Seems like the Core just throws you home for a while and then pulls you back whenever it feels like it. Some people never come back, some do without ever remembering being here.

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[onsilksheets]

Dare I ask what happened to you?

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[ofletters]

You can ask, but it's not like I'm going to tell you.

[ Damn. Bela's really a blast from the past. ]

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[goesdown]

If this is a booty call, I'm not interested.

[ But he knows it isn't and even as he fires that off, he's heading to Sam's room, curious as to what he's found this time. ]

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[ofletters]

Just get here. [ Patience for Crowley's banter is at about 0% right now. Though... it is good to actually get a response, unlike at home. ]

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[glumshoe]

[ That's the third person in Will's immediate considers a friend circle that has been bounced home and back, and Sam's isn't the first to have a palpable sense of exhaustion emanating through the screen. But it is the angriest. ]

Sam? Hey. [ My what a broken arm you have. ]

You don't... look like you want to answer questions. How about a drink instead? My treat.

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[ofletters]

Nice to hear that instead of the usual interview stuff. [ "How was it, what happened, do you want to talk?" Which is usually his game, honestly, but right now... ]

You're about the fourth person who's offered. [ But Will is... almost like looking in a mirror, sometimes. Very similar in a few important ways. Sam hesitates. ]

Alright. Where?

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[vates]

Sam! It's good to see you again. Sort of. I mean, it sucks you keep getting brought back here.

[ But it's not like Kevin could ever really go home for any length of time. He keeps hoping his mom would turn up here, actually. ]

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[ofletters]

Hey, Kevin. [ Glad to see you alive and not as a ghost...... ] And, uh. Thanks, I guess.

[ No one should be here, he thinks viciously, which the Sam from a few months ago would disagree with. Things change faster than he can keep up, even just within his own head. ]