Dean just seems to need a reason to do things for someone else rather than just for himself.

This one was really good, I liked how it started out very dark and brooding then the very end was lighter with Ben's comment. Good commentary in the middle of the breakdown. It made the angst sound more believable from Dean.

I am also impressed that you figured out/looked up how many years in hell pass as time here passes. That shows dedication/obsession, neither of which is meant negatively.

Nicely done :)

Holy moly, great fic! I want more!

And then I cried at work.

I really should know better than to read fic at work. Honestly.

But it's so well-written. Great work!

Haha I see what you mean about this being the other half! Definitely interesting to see it from the other side... now I'm kinda inspired to do my own version, but that might be a bit redundant. :) My favorite parts were definitely Lisa's little first speech, as well as (and especially) the end. It was so very well done, the reunion just bare moments away... sigh. If only, huh?

Okay, so Dean knows that hell for Sam (with Lucifer) will be so horrific that it will make his own agonizing hell seem like "Graceland" (his words)... but he cares more about a one-time promise pulled out of him under duress that the eternal torture and torment of the person he loves more than anyone else in the world?

Really?

Nope. Not buying it. Not for a second.

He would never stay with these virtual strangers and play games like this. I cannot fathom it.

This was well written and everything, but like someone else said, this is not a Dean we can love or admire. More to the point, this is not Dean. I don't like to see him diminished this way. I can't help it.

Anyway, this was well written. Sorry I could not like it more.

I loved this, I think you wrote Lisa and Dean perfectly and Dean so needs someone like her, this was really great!

To me, having Dean keep his promise to Sam was the hardest thing to do (Sam couldn't keep his promise to Dean). It shows that Dean is the stronger one, when you know that he wants to rescue Sam with every fiber of his being but he promised Sam that he would make a life with Lisa and Ben and keep that promise. That is who Dean is, he'll do what is asked of him even if it kills him. Wonder what hell was like for Sam because it could be completely different. He may not be tortured just kept caged or isolated like Lucifer probably was. Thanks for an interesting tag.

Loved it! The ending was perfect.

How about a sequel where Dean and Sam meet again? Some years later maybe, when Dean's soul healed a bit.

With your style of writing I'd die to read that!

I really enjoyed your Tag 5.22. I loved the way Lisa accepted Dean and was there for him, and the way Dean, while still thinking of his brother, kept the promise that he made. I think the dialogue is well-written, and even the way everything plays out makes sense. Love Dean's growing relationship with Ben, too. And I do agree that because of the promise Dean made with Sam, he would try to be as happy as he could be with Lisa.

Okay, to be honest, I don't find this the least bit cathartic. I love Dean to pieces, I adore him, and I didn't think it was possible for me to hate him, but in this fic you've made me loathe him.

Sam tried everything to get Dean out of hell. He made some bad choices eventually, but he tried absolutely everything. We know that. It makes sense.

Dean didn't even bother? He just did this ridiculous life-with-random-people-play-house schtick? Promise or no promise, that is unbelievable. And sickening.

Also, Sam's hell is different. Worse in every way. Dean knows that. So the comparison is way off.

It's depresssing that you made me hate Dean. :( I never thought it possible. Ah well. Must go read something else and get over it.

I like it!

Like it a lot :)

thank you for writing