Good work!! Is it that easy in the show? I know S5 is out but not here.

Sad one this - Chapter 1 killer lines
"And the impala was just a car."...
"The moment of grace passed, offered and not taken."
I really liked the description of Castiel's appearances as coming with a heavy sense of responsibility. I love the way the angels appear and disappear in the series - so subtle and your description sums it up really well.
One minor critisism - I thought it was just a tad too long; there is a bit of repetition about how Dean is feeling which could be edited down to make this have more impact. (Just a suggestion)

The demon bunnies from hell was a nice touch. Now if only the show could handle Sam'n'Dean's issues. I liked how Cas was able to acknowledge his part in the Apocalips, because it wasn't all Sam's fault.

Aparently Anya has every reason to fear bunnies. Can I just say how messed up that is. Demon bunnies *Laughs*

I'm really enjoying this so far, even the bunnies. Actually, I think I read something a while back that had evil bunnies... they are pretty menacing, of course. ;)

Your story has made me think, actually. Dean's view of Sam has changed drastically, and there's one way in particular that I notice it. Where Dean has always had strict morals (These are the rules, this is right and this is wrong, and things have to be done this way no matter who it is - except Sam), to which Sam was an exception, now to Dean, Sam is on the same level as him: expendable, if necessary. We saw that in the season 5 opener, I believe. Sad, really, because I loved that dynamic between them - now it seems Sam is the only one willing to do ANYTHING for his brother. I'm a Sam fan at heart, but I'm still sad to see that change in Dean.

Anyway, there's my tangential two cents. You've got me actually THINKING - shame on you.

Anyway, it's a fun read so far!

It's been a long time since I left a review, but so far, this story is just too good to pass up reviewing! I was out of the country on my honeymoon when the premiere aired, and only had a chance to watch it yesterday. Both my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the ep - especially the teasing of fan-girls in particular - and look forward to seeing where Kripke takes us. And then I made the mistake of hopping over to the Limp Sam forum to see what everyone else thought and was so turned off by the rampant negativity that I've renewed my vow to never make the trip back.

I love Supernatural, and I love the boys. That doesn't mean that I love all of the decisions that they've been making, or the turns that the storyline has been taking... but to me, that makes it all the more realistic. I still have faith in a strongly united brotherly team - in a happy-go-lucky, confident Dean, and a strong, earnest and puppy-dog eyes Sam. And Faye, it's in stories like these that the true heart of SPN continues to live on. While Kripke may not be giving us everything that we want right now, the wonders of fanfiction is that we can find the redemption, the action and adventure, the humor, and the reconciliations that we'll have to just wait to see on tv.

So kudos to you, my dear, for displaying your talent on capturing the heart of the brothers, creating a wonderfully fresh story that's not all doom and depressing gloom despite the looming apocalypse, and for your fantastic look into a world that might lead to the reconciliation I keep hoping for. I look forward to seeing what the rest of your chapters show - especially when I know that in the past you seem to have lost faith in the direction of the show. Thank you for not giving up on it. Remember: rose-colored glasses are the best! :)

Faye
I love this, Dean owes Sam for the way he's treated him for all of season 4. What did Sam do that was so wrong, really? Trust Ruby when he had no one else to trust? A demon, but one hunted by all the others, who had saved his life and Deans a dozen times, who had never once lied to them? From the start, all she said was that she wanted Lilith dead, that Sam was the only one who had the power to do it, and that she could show him how. Even saving Dean would have been possible if she'd been allowed to get Sam trained before facing Lilith. And when she told Sam killing Lilith would save the world, in her own mind she meant it. Sam believed her, and he was right! He was right that Dean couldn't do it and he could. That what he was doing was necessary, that the angels couldn't stop her, that he had no choice if by sacrificing himself, sacrificing his soul, would save the world. And instead of talking to his brother as a man, an equal; instead of acknowledging the strength and courage Sam was showing, he treated him like a child. He ordered and demanded, he threatened and mistrusted, he told Sam he didn't know what he was doing. Not once did he sit down and just talk to him, tell him that he was afraid, not of what Sam would do, but of Sam losing his soul and going to Hell. He was a damned hypocrite, because he had asked Sam to let him go, but couldn't do the same for Sam. All those years of watching John's authoritarian style drive Sam away, all those years knowing that Sam responded not to orders but to logic and love, and he still drove Sam away in the end. And for what? For a promise from the angels that he was destined to kill Lilith? A promise he didn't trust anymore than he trusted Ruby? A task he knew, deep in his heart, he didn't have the strength to do? Angels who, I might add, lied from day one, about everything?
Sam begged his brother to help him, to come with him, to trust him, not Ruby. And Dean broke his heart, treated him like dirt, like a junkie. Well, guess what? Sam didn't turn, he did what he had to do, what Dean would have done in his place, if he could. He offered his life and soul. He did what they all believed, until the last 5 minutes, needed to be done. He killed Lilith to save the world. Yes, Dean was right not to trust Ruby. But it seems to me that the betrayal of the angelic "senior management" was much worse. They could have simply told Sam why he needed to stop, or allowed Castiel to tell either brother when he finally knew what was going to happen. Sam could have held her while they exorcized her back to Hell and ended everything. Both boys were manipulated, and because Dean wouln't trust Sam, because in the end they were apart and weakened by it, neither one of them had a chance.
To return to my original question, the one thing Sam did wrong in all of this was lie. He lied to his brother and went behind his back. He shouldn't have done that, and he'll have to live with it for the rest of his life. But I can understand why he did it. He didn't want to lose Dean. Even with their broken bond, even with all the shit Dean gave him, he wanted to be with his brother, to help him, to save him. How many times did his power save Dean's life? He stopped Samhain, he saved Castiel, he even saved Death. The powers weren't evil in and of themselves, no power is. It's what you do with them that matters. What your intent is. And,of course, Sam did enjoy the feeling of being stronger, more powerful than his enemies. His desire for vengeance and his obsession with Lilith were his version of John's shadow side. But I don't think Dean has the right, to place all the guilt on Sam. He is just as guilty. And you are right, Faye. Sam is awesome. How many men would have the strength to face what he has done, face the condemnation of the world, and live to try to save it still. My god. I hope the show will bring out some of this in future episodes. And I hope Dean comes to see himself and his brother with the clarity he finds in this fic. Wonderful job.

"...he was watching his brother die." Ouch, again. With the exception of Sam's death by magic lightning, they have always seen each other die, haven't they? Geez, that's sad.

"Dean wondered what deals he would make to fix this mess." That was a scary line. Loved it!

I just realized that we've never seen Sam in a hospital bed on the show. Putting aside the question as to if he would even fit, I wonder why that is.

"Dean could survive Hell. He couldn’t survive losing his brother." Exactly what I thought when we found out about Hell. Dean lasted 30 years in hell without breaking - he lasted like what, 24 hours when Sam was dead?

“Your protectiveness of Sam...it is surprising.”
 Oh yeah, Castiel hasn't actually seen that side of Dean.

"Prior to Hell, his protective nature had defined him." And that's what I miss. But I also like this: "Needing Sam wasn’t weak--needing to protect Sam wasn’t wrong--as long as it was his choice, part of who he was, not all of it."

"He hadn’t wanted to know what Sam’s life had been like for those four months alone, and he didn’t want to know how his brother was recovering from his addiction to demon blood. He just didn’t because it hurt too much." Painful. I love how you phrased this - I can definitely see the why behind Dean's actions, but it doesn't make them better. Kinda goes for both brothers.

I'm so glad you tackled the whole thing with Cas letting Sam out of the panic room. I wish the show would address it, but I'm thinking there's a better chance of me getting a pet dolphin, which is admittedly pretty much zero.

"And more than loud enough to hit Dean like a sucker punch." He's not the only one. Man alive, that was painful. I saw it coming and that made it worse! Well done.

“Humans, maybe,” Sam said with a rueful grin." You don't pull any punches, do you? That's good, especially with this kind of thing.

I wish it was that simple, too. Kripke and co. are way too evil for that, though.

I loved the story! So glad you wrote it - this is exactly what I needed to read after watching the season 5 opener. It was awesome, but so painful.

Anyway, great story!

"More than life itself, more than his soul: he needed his brother." Aw, geez. You had to go for the heart, huh? THAT's what I loved most about Dean. I haven't seen another character so devoted to his family, especially a character who's supposed to be badass, etc.

"For a year, the only times he’d almost lost Sam, he’d been ready to let the kid go." And it's been driving me crazy, but admittedly in a vaguely interesting way.

Interesting that you pointed out how even through all the horrible, shoulda-been-fatal (and sometimes WAS fatal) stuff Sam went through, he always came out alive. He probably hated that during the summer Dean was dead. He lived, but it looks like it sure wasn't from trying to stay that way.

I love that you put them taking care of one another into the realm of being a privilege and not a job. It's so true, though.

Oh my gosh, the cloud of dust with the herd of evil bunnies nearly did me in. Fantastic, I tell you.

I like Castiel well enough, but I feel kind of threatened by him. He's all lined up to break the already fractured bond between the guys. It's not his fault, though - it's Kripke's. But it's his baby, so I guess we deal.

Your story is certainly food for thought. I wonder if in order to get the brother thing back on again, Dean's going to need a healthy dose of remembrance and reality to understand what losing Sam would mean. That would be an interesting episode.

"It took two to do this, and it was about time they both got on the same page." I hadn't thought of that, but you're completely right. And I completely agree with this.

"He’d followed Sam over a cliff, down a river, over a waterfall, and under a rock slide..." Yikes; to Grandmother's house we go, eh?

Great chapter. Thanks for writing.

Dean may have been right about Ruby and stuff, but his "plans" don't generally work. That's one of the funny things about him. :)
...usually.

Possessed woodland creatures... It's like a demented version of Snow White (although that movie scared me when I was a kid - that HIGH voice of hers did not put me at ease). I love the chanting critters - so funny!

I remember the days when Dean would have wanted to pretty much kill anyone who would do that to Sam. I think your reaction for him was much more accurate for now, though. Sad, but true.

Your story is making me wonder what Castiel thinks of Sam. They don't have a lot of interaction, though, so I can't tell.

Great chapter!

Finally! Someone writes something other than, "Whoa, can you believe how much Sam screwed up? I'm so glad Dean's finally giving it to him! He should just leave!" When people say stuff like that, I have to wonder if we're actually watching the same show...

Anyway, love the story so far, especially because I'm pretty much a Sam fan. I love Dean too, but the thing that I really liked about him (that he put Sam before everything - it was unique and so awesome) is kinda gone now, so... yeah.

Ha! Dean recognizes Cas's presence by the air, light, and sense of responsibility! That's so funny. :D I'm not a huge fan of Castiel, but he's pretty cool, I guess. His flat one-liners can be a kick.

“I do this to save lives, Smokey. Not nature. Go find Greenpeace to help you on this one.” Classic Dean. Awesome.

...Sam makes MOTEL beds? Oy.

In another situation, I might get the feeling that you made Dean into a straw man, but definitely not in THIS situation. I think you have his thoughts down really well, and that's what makes me sad. He's got hurt feelings, he's mad, and he's feeling pretty strong now that Sam's the "weak one." Ugh. And "quasi-human" hurt because I think that's what he thinks. And yet I'm still on both their sides. They would be too, if they'd just think about it. Yeesh.

"...it had still been quintessential Sam." EXACTLY!

Bunnies...that freaks me out for some reason. And those things have teeth like nails.

Did Sam kill the nurse? For some reason I thought he didn't, but now I don't know why.

Wow, just wow...man did that hurt. That was beautifully written, in character, but so hard to read. I was aching already, but then when Dean and Castiel go into Sam's room once he is awake and he thinks he needs to leave...I sobbed from there until the end of the story.

I find this to be absolutley realistic and it could fit into cannon but I fear it won't. My one wish for S5 is that Dean and Casttiel verbalize their roles in what happened, and that all the blame doesn't just get lumped on Sam. Yes he deserves the lion's share but not all of it. I'm glad you had Castiel own up to the voice mail. I never thought it was Ruby, not necessarily Catiel either, my suspect is Zachiriah. Demons have never deomonstrated they can do that, but Castiel talked to Sam imitating Bobby in one of the S4 episodes so they can mimic voices.

hey!
I must say I really love your story. the way you describe the shattered relationship between the brothers. How Dean feel about Sam and how he realize that sam really suffer from what he had done. I love it really. Please write a lot of new stories. And I have to say, I like your stories better than the tv show at the moment (where I miss the bond between the brothers and all is about how dean suffer and not about that also sam had/has a hard time, while dean were gone;).
And i have to told you, I have to cry while I read the 4. chapter because it was really heartbreaking, when dean realized that sam suffers and wasting away for many months, years.

yours cain

ps: sorry for my bad english, it is only my second language. :-(

Oh, good! Forgiveness and understanding and love. Just what I needed. Great ending to a fabulous story.

Amazing fic. And yeah, if it could only be that simple... I look forward to seeing what Kripke gives us...if it's as good as this.

I think you fulfilled the prompt perfectly.

Nicely done.