Summary: AU ending to 7.17: The Born Again Identity. [Contains possible spoilers for the episode. Click to view.] Dean and Castiel do their best to try and keep Sam alive while they desperately search for ways to cure him. Nothing's ever simple, but this isn't the first time they've battled against great odds.
Warnings: SPOILERS for 7.17: The Born Again Identity, aaaaangst, some swearing, ambiguous ending, present-tense, metaphor-abuse. Also, a fair bit of self-indulgence.
I'm not 100% happy with this, but I had to get it down so that I'd finally stop thinking of the episode. :p Also, this story at least partially owes its existence to kettle_o_fish, so y'all know who to blame. :)