I absolutely adore this story, and just stumbled upon it again. I promise to write a much more elaborate review later, but I was just so happy to have found it, and I hope you know how much joy you've brought to our lives with your stories. "Our" being all your silent readers out there who aren't bold enough to leave some love, though I dare say you deserve it ;) Thank you so much for sharing them with us, it truly makes my day!

I don't know if I remembered to say it, but man, you really put them through the wringer in that motel room. I wasn't sure they were ever going to make it out of there. Very inventive way you came up with to get them out.

This fic reminds me a lot of Mystery Spot, though I know this was written first. But both have Dean facing all kinds of random deadly events, and Sam being super protective and angsty. Love this fic every bit as much as I loved that ep, if not a little more, and for the same reasons.

You had so many great funny lines in here that had me giggling, snorting, or laughing out loud. Here are some of my favorites:
"Oh, yeah, Dean, just Dad and I on the road, that would have been fun. You would have gotten one text message from Dad leading you to the sight of the double murder, Dad’s and mine."
"yanking back the covers and crawled into the bed as stiffly and slowly as a ninety year old man…who had gotten the tar beaten out of him in some nursing home rumble"
“I’m Captain freakin’ James T. Kirk, Stardate you-ask-me-that-one-more-time-and-I’ll-kick-your-butt Sam!’.”
"come hell or high water, fiery chili or fiery motel rooms"
And the part about the bath cracked me up too. And this exchange: “Oh…if we weren’t in a public place….” Sam threatened amid his laughter. “You would start crying?” Dean supplied, earning a glare from Sam as they exited the mall.

Loved this: "A package deal, not sold separately. Together or not at all, that was how it was going to be". And: "Because when you risk your life, you risk mine too." Wow. If anything is going to make Dean think twice about being reckless, that's it.

Loved Sam helping Dean on with his shoes, keeping him from feeling bad by reminding him of all the times Dean had helped him when he was little, and I adored Dean's response to that, acting like a kid whose feet can't stay still. LOL And loved Sam's memories of Dean teaching him how to throw a football.
Adored Sam protecting Dean against the Boy Scout, and throwing him out of the jacuzzi. LOL

Loved Sam realizing the things that had happened to his brother when he wasn't in his life, like getting shot, and hating that he hadn't been there to help. I do really, really wish we'd gotten to see Sam win the competition and get the scoop from Dean on some of those things.

And I loved that both boys wanted to be together the next year on that date, and finally 'fessed up to each other. Very sweet.

And this made me tear up a little: "But as Dean remembered yesterday’s events, how tenaciously his brother had protected him, how tenderly he had cared for his hurts, how resolutely he had stood at his side amid a burning room, Dean discovered that his very own sanctuary was right there, in the person of his six foot four inch, brown haired little brother." Aw...

The ending was just perfect. Sweet and funny and touching.

This is definitely going on my favorites list. I ADORED this story, and am so sad to see it ending. It's definitely one I'll be reading over and over.

Wow, the paragraph with Dean's thoughts on fire was just beautifully written.

Loved the humor peppered through this part: “Hey, it wasn’t going to be the best day of my life today, I thought a drink might be in order.” Seeing the lecture gathering in his brother, Dean snapped, “Stage your AA intervention after we survive this, Sam.” And: “If you ever tell another single soul that we huddled together in a tub, I’ll kill you, Sammy.” And: “After all I’ve been through today, now you’re trying to kill me with your Sammy spit?” And the bit with Dean's reaction to rap playing in the Impala was classic. LOL

Love the re-visit of the conversation from the Mexican restaurant, with Sam attesting to his belief in Dean's intelligence and ingenuity.

LOVE protective Sam: "Even if it were with his last breath, Sam swore that no more harm would come to Dean." And: "'You ever betray him again and you’re scrape metal. We clear on that?' The Impala made no reply but it’s engine did not falter as Sam gave it more gas. Sam wasn’t sure what made him feel more foolish, the fact that he had just threatened a car or his belief that the car took his threat very seriously."

Loved this: "To Sam, Dean was still some mythical hero, too valuable to lose, worth the sacrifice of an army in the defense of his safety." Love knowing that Sam really does feel that way.

Dean was breaking my heart in this chapter, with his thoughts on trying to save enough people to earn his worth, etc. So sad that he just doesn't see his inherent worth, apart from all that. This made me want to weep: "Suddenly he wanted the hunting to be over, wanted his 'important job' to be finished, was ready, for the first time, to accept the truth that his family was never going to be what he wanted it to be, needed it to be. That no matter how many lives he saved, no matter how many families he spared the loss he felt, it would never mend what was broken in him." Oh, Dean!

Loved Sam keeping track of the time in terms of their relationship: "Nineteen minutes to go. Longer than it had taken Sam to stop the car in Indiana, throw out some hurtful words and walk away from Dean, shorter than the time it took to get an electrocuted Dean to the hospital, which took into account the soul crushing minutes the paramedics had spent resuscitating Dean in the basement of that deserted house. Of course it could also be gauged as less time than it took for Dean to finally drop his protective watch over Sam after one of his nightmares, and more time than it had taken Sam, as he settled in the passenger seat of the Impala after a two year absence, to remember why he loved his brother so much."

Oh my gosh, I loved this part too: "His love for Dean was stronger than any curse, more tenacious than some old crone’s hate, more deep seated than even Sam’s desire to take another breath." Loved Sam realizing that he and Dean were not so different after all.

And again with making me tear up: "Protecting Sam had always been an undeserving honor that sometimes came with an immeasurably hard price."

And this moment always bothered me, so thanks for letting Sam realize how wrong he'd been: "‘How old were you when Mom died? Four! Jess died six months ago Dean. How the hell would you know how I feel!’ And Dean had taken the attack without retaliation, without defending himself, without unburying his own agony and sorrow, had let Sam win the battle without offering up a defense, had let Sam’s needs overshadow his own, again, always."

Loved the re-visit of the moment from Shadow too, which has always broken my heart for Dean, and your careful balm of the wounds of Stanford.

What's eerie is that you have a line in here that is almost word-for-word the same as a line in the fanfic I've been working on for a few months now. I must've been channeling you when I wrote that part. LOL If I ever get the fic finished and decide to post it, you'll recognize the line. :)

I don't want this story to ever end. It's just...well, stunning is the best thing I can come up with.

I got so caught up in reading that I think I missed reviewing on a couple of chapters, but wanted to say that I LOVED Sam taking on the gang leader to get the Impala back and find out Dean's location. I just gotta love a desperate, lethal Sam, and this story is giving him to me in spades! :)

This was so touching that it again brought tears to my eyes: "Even when Sam was at college, he had fiercely clung to the part of Dean he kept within him, hidden, guarded, cherished. The memories, the laughter, the bond, it all lay nestled in Sam’s heart, untarnished by separation or time or words spoken in anger, seemingly shatterproof. Like Dean. In Sam’s soul, the unbreakable was breaking. Glass was raining from the heavens." Wow. Incredibly powerful.

And this was great too, a glimpse at the bond they had, even as kids: "'Dean..' he choked out, sounding so much like the seven year old he had once been, the child who had burst into tears at the sight of his older brother, lying on a forest floor in Pennsylvania, bleeding profusely, his breath labored."

I've gotta say, so far this is shaping up to be one of my FAVORITE fics ever. It's been on my list to read for months now, and I wanted to wait until I could read it all in one sitting, cuz I knew I wouldn't be able to stop reading once I started, and I gotta say...it's totally worth the wait.

Wow, this totally made me cry: "‘You’re my brother and I would die for you,’ he had said, but now Sam understood the full extent of his bond with Dean. He would unflinchingly die to save his brother, he had known that truth after his first hunt. But only today did he admit even to himself that he would willing die with Dean. And even if he should continue to draw breath after Dean had ceased to do so, an indispensable part of him would have died with his brother, a part that would leave him no longer Sammy and significantly less Sam. For all of his bluster and bravado, Sam didn’t think he could survive not being Sammy, didn’t want to contemplate living each day shackled to being just Sam. His past, his present, his future, Dean was the glue that kept it all together, kept him all together." So, SO beautiful. And true.

I ADORED this: "The man had broken Sam Winchester’s number one rule: Don’t screw with my brother." And Sam punching the bartender, following it up with this: “I picked that fight.” was just brilliant! Loving this fic!

And I love all the little references to things in their past like: “I still remember the look on that guy’s face up in Maine when you..” It really gives you a sense of their shared history, and at the same time, leaves me so terribly curious to know the backstory to each one.

LOVED this: ‘I’ll protect him, I’ll be his sanctuary,’ Sam vowed, praying that it would be enough, that he would be strong enough to hold back the tide that threatened to take Dean away from him.

This totally brought tears to my eyes: “But that journal, those entries that mention my name, they are my proof that I made a difference somewhere, sometime, to someone. And maybe no one will ever read those words, besides you and Dad, but I’ll know they exist, that somewhere part of me exists, even after I’m gone. And that’s enough for me, Sam. Knowing that I did some good, that somewhere it’s tallied even if it’s in Dad’s crappy Yoda like handwriting.”

Loved this: "Dawn. It had been Dean Winchester’s sanctuary on more than one occasion...Dean had always considered Dawn his last line of defense." Lovely imagery.

This perfectly describes Dean: "To Dean, sacrificing was a hardwired response, it was Option A before he even contemplated an Option B."

Really interesting story so far. Dean trying to leave Sam to protect him, Sam refusing to be left, a hurt Dean and protective Sam...a great start.

Okay I had a ton of stuff I loved about this chapter but the ending was not one of them! Ack! 7 foot wall of flames? Death trap? Who're you trying to kill here? Anyway, here are my other, happier thoughts :)

Sam had come to understand that his father welded promises like another weapon in his arsenal. They were a means to an end, a con devised to placate and divert.(nice insight)

death was an occupational hazard, always a possibility, and one heck of an incentive to not screw up (lol)

But Dean knew it would, the longer Sam stayed by his side, the more Sam discerned his true character, Sam would see how wrong he was about his brother. And to Dean, that was worse than dying (spot on)

Regardless of the time that he and Sam had spent apart, or all the hurtful things they said to one another, or the new found differences in each of them that make their footing
clumsy and defensive, Sam still gave him that look, that smile, that laugh that said they were brothers and he wouldn’t change that for the world. (this totally fits--Dean really needs Sam reassurance).

And Dean wondered where John Winchester would go when his revenge was sated, where his sons would fit into his life once they were no longer needed as soldiers. (good question)

But the silence wasn’t the worst of it. No what pierced fiercely into Sam was the loss of his connection with Dean. It was a connection that resonated along any looks that passed between them, their eyes linking them even when they were coming at things from opposite angles, even bitter corners. It was always in Dean’s eyes, his love for Sam, his trust of Sam, his faith in Sam, eyes that now refused to shift to the younger man even for a flickering second. (I bet Dean felt this way about Sam when Sam left for Stanford)

A moment before the antiseptic burned across his every nerve like acid, before pain was the only thing he registered, Dean felt Sam’s right hand slip into his hand, felt the strength, the desperation, the anchor of that grip, and it was enough to see him through the agony. (nice, the next paragraph is great too)

For in that moment, Sam knew his brother better than ever, understood what prompted Dean’s big brother protective motives, found himself ready to emulate Dean’s reckless methods to ensure that his brother was safe, was going to remain safe. He and Dean were not so different after all. (we've really seen this develop as the series has gone on)

“You and Dad will find some middle ground, Sam. You need each other, maybe more now than ever before. I should have recognized that in Chicago, sent you with Dad then. I guess..” breaking off before his voice revealed the emotions he wouldn’t expose, Dean looked away. When he spoke again, his voice was distant, far away, like he was telling a story from his past that could no longer affect him. “I was content, you know, with you and me on the road.” Snorting in self disgust, he again met Sam’s stunned expression and offered up a tight smirk. “I was just being selfish.” (this is excellent and I can totally see Dean saying all this)

Dean felt his heart skip a beat at Sam’s words. Wasn’t that what he wanted to believe with every fiber in his soul, that everything would be OK if they were together, him and Sam? That happiness lurked somewhere just out of his reach and if he could get his family together and keep them together, that happiness would wash over him, would start to mend him in ways nothing else ever could? (weep weep)

Well - I reached the end of it. I'm kind of sad too; it was a great read. I love Sam's protectiveness, I love Dean's protectiveness, I love the brotherly interaction and I love this chapter!

Dean teaching kids how to throw a football was great. As was the pool tag. A light hearted chapter was the perfect way to wrap up this story.

And... this is terrible, but I'm glad the witch died. What was she thinking! Cursing Dean. Humph!

Lol - anyway:
Thanks for posting!

This looks interesting. I can't wait to see why Dean's luck has turned so bad all the sudden. Burned by coffee - ouch. Never fun. And falling over the rail! Now I've definately got to keep reading. C:

One thing though: you don't put butter on burns. That actually makes them worse.

I look forward to reading the rest of the story!

Quite a tightly written chapter. This made me laugh:

Another sob of relief, of near hysteria, of anguish to near the surface wracked Sam before he choked it off, envisioning Dean’s reaction if he should awake then, his brother practically lying on him, blubbering like a baby.

This is a fabulous chapter--the writing is delightfully tight and sound. These were my favorite parts. I love them to much not to quote them for you :)

‘You’re my brother and I would die for you,’ he had said, but now Sam understood the full extent of his bond with Dean. He would unflinchingly die to save his brother, he had known that truth after his first hunt. But only today did he admit even to himself that he would willing die with Dean. And even if he should continue to draw breath after Dean had ceased to do so, an indispensable part of him would have died with his brother, a part that would leave him no longer Sammy and significantly less Sam. For all of his bluster and bravado, Sam didn’t think he could survive not being Sammy, didn’t want to contemplate living each day shackled to being just Sam. His past, his present, his future, Dean was the glue that kept it all together, kept him all together.

“Todd, if my brother is hurt, I’m going to show up at your house on 392 Filmont Street and the last thing you’re ever going to see is me. You got that!”
A nod was the only response the pale man could manage. He had danced with death often enough in his young life but this, this man looked like he knew the reaper personally and would happily set up a meeting for him.