Fic: Caught Up In Circles 5/5 (Supernatural; Dean/Cas/Lisa, PG-13)

[misachan]

Title: Caught Up In Circles
Author: misachan
Artist: chosenfire28
Fandom: Supernatural
Relationship(s)/Characters: Dean/Castiel/Lisa
Word Count: 1610
Rating: PG-13
Content Notes/Warnings: S6 AU; some sexual situations, a little voyeurism, rampant abuse of time travel

Summary: Five times Lisa Braeden met an angel of the Lord.

Comments

[kinkthatwinked]

Well, I like polyamory, I like MFM triads, and I like SPN, so it shouldn't surprise me that I liked this story. But it did, because I was never that attached to Lisa. Maybe because we never saw very much of her.

You fleshed the character out, made her feel like someone I knew. And I like how the "fleshing out" was figurative instead of literal -- the story was PG-13, and Lisa never even got undressed, yet it still read as hot. Probably because I got some D/C action. :)

I really like how Sam was rescued, and saved PROPERLY (why/how the hell would Cas unknowingly piece together a soulless Sam? Really?!) You also sealed off his Hell memories completely, a change I liked for this story.

But more than anything, I loved how this felt like a story about polyamory, not just threesome sex. You pretty much showed Lisa falling in love with Castiel, or at least the beginning of their love story, while rounding out both the D/C romance from the show's subtext and the D/L dynamic from the show's canon. Three love stories in one, just as a poly triad fic should go! Very nice job. :)

And extra kudos on writing a time-hopping story that never felt confusing.

*applauds*

[misachan]

I really really loved Lisa, so I'm all for any excuse to get them all together and happy.:)

why/how the hell would Cas unknowingly piece together a soulless Sam? Really?!

I go back and forth on what canon Cas knew and when, honestly. (It's telling that his first response to the accusation that he did it on purpose is along the lines of, "Do you really think I'm capable of that?" rather than "No." Oh, Cas, you and your questionable decisions.) And I don't think he did it on purpose, but I do think he suspected it long before he confirmed it. The ugly truth is Sam hunting with the Campbells served the conspiracy pretty well and let him go as long as possible without having to face Dean. He probably told himself he could fix everything once they opened Purgatory - he justified plenty of horrible things all season, what's one more?

[kinkthatwinked]

I can't argue with your point here. Castiel was buried up to his neck in a moral 'gray area' that season. Making his own decisions for the first time ever, after a few eons of blindly following orders, how could he not make some huge missteps?

It's just the idea that if the angel hierarchy needs to assign someone to the task of invading Hades to rescue Dean's soul, for a mission as huge as restoring the vessel of the archangel Michael for the coming Apocalypse, wouldn't they send someone who knows how to do it? That's what I thought Cas was, someone who knows above all how to identify, find and rescue a soul at all costs, regardless of the obstacles. If he's that good, how could he screw up getting Sam?

But that's another reason why I loved how Cas did it in your fic. :)

[misachan]

Dean was just in the Pit though, not the Cage between with the two most powerful archangels in existence - that HAS to be little bit easier. And it still took a siege and forty years of hell time (although there was probably some angelic foot dragging going on, since Dean had to break the Seal before he could be rescued.) It took full season of the Seals breaking to spring Lucifer - Cas thinking he could steal Sam from the Cage BY HIMSELF strikes me as super overconfident in retrospect.

(Especially since Dean needed to be out of hell for the Lucifer v Michael fight to happen, who's to say the demons didn't make that quite as hard as it had to be?)

[kinkthatwinked]

I still don't get how an angel that's held Dean's soul in his hands could fail to realize the body he's carrying out of Hell doesn't have one. But like you said earlier, he did suspect something was wrong immediately, and he did have his reasons for postponing that issue till later.

"Cas thinking he could steal Sam from the Cage BY HIMSELF strikes me as super overconfident in retrospect." Again, good point. And just the kind of recklessly loyal move Cas would pull for the Winchesters, too. :)

"Who's to say the demons didn't make that quite as hard as it had to be?" Of course, that's such an obvious point that I completely overlooked it! You're right.

[misachan]

And this is of course us being charitable, assuming he made a mistake (or was tricked by Crowley!) and not that he's a lying liar who lies. That look ofat surprise could just as easily been because it never ocurred to him that even a souless Sam wouldn't go right to Dean. Maybe when he told Dean a soul in the Cage would be too damaged to survive out of it he really thought it was true. Considering all the other lies it's not hard to imagine him convincing himself Dean would be better off sort term with a souless Sam over one broken into complete insanity (and anyway, once he was God he could just fix all that-that was the rationalization he used when he broke Sam all the way, after all.)

[kinkthatwinked]

Yeah, I could see all of that. Cas definitely took a "win the war first, clean up the mess later" approach, no arguing that.

As a fan, I want to think the best of Castiel, and wanted to believe Dean knew Cas well enough to be right when Dean called him "the Balki Bartakamos" of angels. But what Dean was saying is Cas is as inept and gullible as he is honest. Jeez, what an assessment!

While I don't want to think of Castiel as a bald-faced liar either, putting Sam's soul on his To Do list sounds more plausible to me, if only because it allows Cas enough awareness to know exactly what was wrong with Sam. It would also show the kind of ruthless decision making I would expect from someone seriously trying to win a war. Even with Cas, the Winchesters' problems can't always come first.

[misachan]

But what Dean was saying is Cas is as inept and gullible as he is honest. Jeez, what an assessment!

Yeaaaah. Dean's read on Cas is not always the best. And part of that is willful - Sam and Bobby certainly thought he was capable of shady dealings. And in fairness to Dean, he actually doesn't know a lot of the truly horrendous things Cas has done - he still doesn't know Cas sold Anna out, iirc, or that he murdered Balthazar.

While I don't want to think of Castiel as a bald-faced liar either, putting Sam's soul on his To Do list sounds more plausible to me, if only because it allows Cas enough awareness to know exactly what was wrong with Sam.

Man, I don't know. He told so many lies all season. Burning Crowley's bones? Lies. He let Sam and Dean hunt monsters for Crowley and pretended he didn't know what that was all about. Lieeees.

Cas is my very very favorite. He is capable of incredible bravery and sacrifice and nobility but he is prideful and can talk himself into doing terrible things because they're "necessary" and will straight up betray people who love him. That's what makes him a character, not a plot device, you know? The bad just makes the good he does shine brighter, imo.:)