Absolutely amazing!!

That was amazing... Definitely a fav! :)

This is a wonderful story. It makes the wait for Sam and Dean to be SAM AND DEAN again even harder. Great job!

A wonderful bit of storytelling with very striking emotion. Thanks for the read.

This second chapter almost rivaled your first though it was laden with less heart-break and tears, and yet provided excellent and extensive insights into Sam, Dean and Castiel. The conversation between Dean and his angel was a real treat, particularly the part when Castiel tried to inform the elder Winchester that he was possessing Sam while Dean accused his little brother of the strange antics.

As I mentioned, I was extremely fond of the insights and I think that you got the characters very accurately, not giving too much to contradict canon but enough to offer a round and satisfiying solution to the story. And Dean "confronting" Sam with more compassion (as advised by Castiel) and less aggression and accusation is something I'm very much hoping for on the show. They are no doubt both at fault for the rift that has manifested itself between them but despite his secrets and lies, I would argue that Sam is at least trying to reach his brother while Dean seems to be too immersed in his own grief to take the offered hand when it comes to salvaging their brotherly relationship.

Still, there is one thing I can't get my head around, which is the single disagreement I have with your characterization of Dean. To my mind his reaction to learning Uriel had essentially tortured his baby brother to death wasn't strong enough. With all their quarrelling and being at odds with one another, I can't imagine Dean would overlook that little detail so easily, even if he was well aware that it was Castiel in front of him, not Uriel.

Nevertheless, this story will go straight into the Olymp of fanfiction with its perfect writing and fantastic characterizations, plus the magnificent and imaginary story!

Very well done!

Hugs, happy Easter and a whole armada of colourful eggs!

You totally put me to shame with this masterpiece of yours! I honestly bawled like a baby right through the end of this magnificent chapter. And what a brilliant story idea to begin with! A.W.E.S.O.M.E.

I can't tell you how much I adore your reflections on all parts, the love you put into each character and the splendid writing style. And no matter how "nice" the different characters come across, you did them all justice without outright condemning them.

You really broke my heart with Dean's treatment of Sam right at the beginning but still his motives weren't to hurt his little brother per sé but showing him in his flawed way how much he still cared for the kid. It was kind of cruel in the execution but with good intentions no less.

But I have to admit that I was utterly shocked at the methods the angels presented here! No wonder Sammy is reluctant to trust them any further than he could throw Uriel. I'm fully aware that there is the greater picture to look at again, something Uriel preferred anyway, but exhibiting such cruel torture to gain information was positively devastating to read. Just like the pleasure this obviously gave Uriel. In my opinion this marvellously described the "specialist" and showed the very essence of his character. He was never an angel for mercy.

Castiel on the other hand, definitely felt sorry for the pain they inflicted on Sam. I still blame him for doing nothing to protect Sam, when their orders were clearly NOT to kill the youngest Winchester. Still, I'm glad to see his compassion for the human race in general and Sammy in particular come to full force. Sam may be flawed, and his intentions might be a mystery to the heavenly army but Castiel at least realizes that the kid is inherently good, and fiercely layal.

Therefore I really loved how Castiel defended having possessed Sam to save his life against Uriels protests. Especially the sentence where he claims Castiel was polluting himself by possessing this unworthy host struck a nerve inside of me.

I'm beyond glad to learn that not everything is lost in Sam's case and that Castiel feels Sam is worthy of God's grace and being spared even if he indeed deserves to be dusted all his accumulated sins considered.

Apropos "spare", I guess it's time for me to spare you further mindless ramblings and just congratulate you again on this terrific fic! *applauds*

A simply stupendous read as I play catch up here. I think the alert for this story was sent to my Yahoo Spam folder (as happened to hundreds of other alerts unintentially deleted and never got picked up...major bummer)and was so missed until now.

As always my way too talented Faye you really wormed your thoughts and heart into the mindset of our Sammy here - that his world was, had always been his brother's welfare. That not even under the torture of Uriel could that need to protect, to be definately Sam, be broken.

boy
Beautifully written as always so I offer up my thanks for tweeking up that curtain of darkness that has kept the whole brother focus so down this season and so shedding some promise of light here.

Loved this story.

I always enjoy a well written story of the Winchester boys, and this one was especially enjoyed as I completely agree with your take on Sam's character this season. I adore Sam and my adoration for him has not faltered one bit this season and your story spells out why. LOVED IT! Thank-you. :)

This was an amazing end! Are you going to write another story based off of this? Like a sequel? Where Cas can do more and help? This story was really good!

Being a Sammy girl myself, I really liked this story. I refuse to believe that Sam is or could ever be purely evil or that he is doing the things that he is doing for purely selfish reasons.

I really like how you’ve written Castiel here. You’ve got his voice and his compassion and his quizzical nature spot on. I think it would probably do him good to walk a couple of days in Sam’s skin.

“But Sam Winchester did not believe he could be saved.
Castiel knew that was the greatest lie, the most damaging seduction of all... Sam had stood against that. He had rallied, fought, and won.”

Castiel obviously has the same opinion of Sam as I do! This is exactly what I meant when I said in my review of chapter 1 that I didn’t think Sam was so self-pitying, that he doesn’t just give up and sit rocking in a corner. This is the thing I admire most about Sam – the thing Jake admired most about Sam in AHBL1 – while the other PKs were all “Why me? It’s not fair!” Sam was “We need salt, iron, silver and a defensible position…” Yes, I think you’re right that he has an endgame in mind because that’s what Sam does. He plans and he acts. He doesn’t sit staring out the rainy windows bemoaning his fate.

“Yet, God had sent Castiel to save Dean Winchester. God had sent him to stop Lilith. This soul was not his charge.” I’ve not seen this week’s ep yet so I could have been proved wrong already, but I’m still hoping God sent Castiel to save Dean in the same way John sacrificed himself for him – not to save Dean but to save Dean AND Sam. John knew Dean was the only one who could save Sam. I’m hoping God is of the same opinion… “Perhaps saving one always meant saving the other.” Exactly!

I’m not entirely sure about the implications of Sam’s thinking “Dean loved him once.” Whatever Sam does, I don’t think Dean will ever stop loving him, and I think Sam would know that.

I liked the way you left the ending open here, although I would like to think Dean wouldn’t take off on Sam so easily after what Castiel revealed to him. We shall see I suppose…
Poor Sammy. He lost his shoes again. At least Castiel fixed his feet.

LOVED this reminder: "But it was blood. Even if it could touch the soul, there was a more powerful blood still that could wash it clean." Awesome!

And this was very true: "The belief in one’s own damnation left the soul devoid of hope prematurely. Grace was made for sinners." So sad that Sam can't seem to see his worth, or that he can still be saved. I don't think the blood Azazel put in him as an infant condems him. Though the choices he's making may.

Loved this insight: "He was the essence of Dean. Perhaps saving one always meant saving the other." I think that's true.

LOVED this: "By all rights, Sam Winchester deserved Hell. For his blood. For his choices. It was a fair punishment. But that was the beauty of grace, Castiel supposed. It made life not fair, in the best possible ways. What sinner deserved redemption? Through grace--all of them." Excellent depiction of grace.

And this was both sweet and sad: "Where there were two brothers fighting, there was truly two brothers more afraid than ever of losing the one thing left that mattered to them."

I could totally see this being something Dean would say: "if I have to tie you up and keep you in the trunk I will, because I haven’t saved your ass for the last twenty-five years to have you go throw it away like this.”

Great description: "It came gently, though, this awareness. Like fluttering leaves on an autumn day, a hazy and wayward descent, wafted where the wind may take it, but still leading to the inevitable conclusion of down."

Nice rebuttal from Cas here: “This war is about these humans,” Castiel said. “And mankind has been tainted since the First Fall and yet God still lines the streets of Heaven with the sinners you might be so quick to smite.”

Loved this too: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength,” Castiel said. “And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Very interesting, thought-provoking fic. Not entirely sure I agree with everything you depicted, but it was definitely original and very well-written. And I liked Cas acting as a go-between, trying to help the boys work things out some. Too bad it didn't work.

I have to say, I HATE where this season is taking the boys, and especially what's been done to Sam's character. I keep hoping they'll fix it soon, but I don't think they're going to.

Hm...interesting. I don't quite buy that Sam's motivations are quite as altruistic as you're portraying, though I really, really want to believe they're more so than they appear to be on the show. You did give me some hope in that regard, which was nice.

This really struck me as being so sad, but true: "So, I just have been trying to figure out when I started coming in second to a demon, especially when you know what they’ve done to us. Done to you. Done to me.”

And this broke my heart for Dean: "Sam had left, found some way to sneak off and leave Dean behind just like Dean suspected Sam had wanted." It's hard to think of him living like that, waiting for that shoe to drop and Sam to take off on him again.

I don't believe angels would torture a human either, for any reason, but I'm really glad you had Castiel put a stop to it, and the way he did so was really interesting and unexpected.

I loved this bit: “Only allowed into His presence by a grace they do not deserve.” “Which shows you just how well loved they are.” Totally true.

Glad that when Castiel looks into Sam, he sees some of that goodness and innocence that I so want to believe is still a part of him. I miss that Sam, a lot. And I loved how you contrasted the angelic possession with what it had been like to be demon possessed, and that Cas was able to enter Sam because he does want to do good, and because of all of his prayers for redemption.

Also, this fic caught my eye because of the title. I love that song, and it's really fitting here.

Wow! That was great!
Being a Dean girl, I was a little worried after your intro but this was an awesome fic. You showed Sam's love and loyalty and good intentions perfectly. I am also a big Castiel fan, and I would really like to see a good Cas-Sam interaction/story this season. I loved what you did with this one.
Lastly, amazing writing! -Corrie

Wow, this was such a powerful piece- I loved it Faye!