[Fic] britomart_is : Dictionary for a Dead Language
[ Challenges ]
Title: Dictionary for a Dead Language
Writer: britomart_is
Status of work: complete
Characters and/or pairings: Sam/Dean
Rating: NC-17
Warnings, kinks & contents: [Warnings]angst out the wazoo
Length: 22,000
Summary: Under mysterious circumstances bitterly disputed by the historians, Sam Winchester said yes to Lucifer. Three years later, Lucifer is gone and the familiar landscape that the Winchesters once traversed is a burnt-out ruin of its former self - not to mention the damage done to Lucifer's vessel. Trapped in a grotesque parody of domestic bliss with a brother he no longer recognizes, a shell-shocked Dean has no reason to believe that happy endings exist for men like the Winchesters.
Reccer's notes: This fic is a classic and has been rec'ed many times, but I would be bereft if I didn't include it. It's my absolute favorite entry of the particular round of spn-j2-bigbang it was apart of, and should be read by everyone who loves the pairing. The writing is both visceral and beautiful, and you will cry buckets of well-earned tears. The love in it is at times overwhelming, but the ending is hopeful and fitting.
[Short excerpt]Eventually, Dean just kinda gets in the habit of talking at Sam, response or no, and it's-kind of better than it was before. He gets used to it. The thick woolen layer of silence isn't quite so heavy, and Dean has something to entertain himself as he thumps around the house on crutches, all the time in the world now that he's not exactly taking on any new home improvement projects. He tells Sam about his sexual conquests, real and embellished. Recites the first part of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Charts a theoretical roadtrip across a United States that no longer exists, describing the snapshots they'll take at tourist traps that are now only craters. Sometimes when he's had too much bathtub gin at Randy's he talks about other things, about Dad and Stanford and watching Sam sleep and losing pieces of himself and the blood on his hands and Sammy I always loved you best, Sammy I don't think I can do this, Sammy I don't know how to take care of someone I'm not that person anymore. Sammy we are so screwed.