Small Cuts (Supernatural Dark!fic)

f o r t y - s e v e n

"I'm tired of living in the fear
One day you'll come back and after all these years
I won't be able to look you in the face
And say I've let you go" 
Teeth - Casey 

The bunker was quiet this morning. Too quiet. Amara sat in her room, legs curled beneath her as she stared out the small window, her thoughts a whirlwind of confusion and tension. Five days. Five days until her 21st birthday, and the pressure was mounting with every passing second.

She should've been focused on Paimon. On the danger that loomed over her like a dark cloud. But instead, her mind kept wandering back to the brothers—Sam and Dean. The tension between them had been growing for weeks now, and she could feel it pushing closer and closer to a breaking point. It was there in every glance, every touch, every teasing word that slipped past their lips.

She couldn't deny how it affected her. How much she wanted them. Both of them.

But that wasn't all that weighed on her. Paimon was still out there, plotting, waiting for the moment he could reclaim her. The severed connection gave her some distance, but she couldn't shake the feeling that he was still lurking, just beyond the wards of the bunker, watching. He had made it clear during the last vision—she was his. At least, in his twisted mind, she always would be.

A shiver ran down her spine at the memory of his voice, the way it had echoed in her mind, dark and possessive. No matter how hard she tried to block it out, his presence was always there, lingering at the edges of her thoughts.

Amara ran a hand through her hair, her fingers brushing against the white streak in her bangs. The memory of her childhood flared in her mind—the way her parents had called her cursed, how they'd tried to "cleanse" her of the supposed evil that had tainted their perfect family. She'd never been able to shake that feeling of being wrong, of being different in a way that made her unworthy of love. That's why she had changed her name. That's why she had become Amara and buried Evangeline deep inside.

But even that hadn't been enough to escape her past.

Paimon had always been there, lurking, even when she hadn't known his name. And now, despite the brothers' protection, despite her growing powers, she couldn't help but feel like that scared, broken girl again—the one her family had turned away from.

Her thoughts drifted to Castiel, the angel who had slowly begun to earn her trust, though she was still hesitant around him. It was strange, having him around. The divine had always been something she resented. And yet, there was something about Cas—his stoic presence, his unwavering loyalty—that made her feel... safe. He wasn't like the angels she had been taught to fear. He was different. She knew that now.

But trusting him didn't come easy. Trusting anyone didn't come easy.

A soft knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, and Amara blinked, her gaze snapping toward the sound. Her heart quickened, the tension from the previous day still thick in the air. She knew who it would be before the door even creaked open.

Dean stepped into the room, his usual confident smirk replaced by something softer. "Morning."

Amara nodded, offering him a small smile. "Morning."

Dean lingered in the doorway for a moment, his eyes scanning the room as though trying to gauge her mood. He didn't step any closer, but his presence filled the space nonetheless, a comforting weight against the ever-present anxiety gnawing at her.

"You okay?" He asked, his voice low, almost tentative.

Amara sighed, her hands resting in her lap. "I'm fine. Just... thinking."