[fic] ramblin_rosie: A Case of Do or Die
[ themed ]
Title: A Case of Do or Die
Writer: rambling_rosie
Status of work: complete
Characters and/or pairings: John/Mary, Dean, Sam
Rating: PG
Warnings, kinks & contents: spoilers through season 8, [Click to read]major character death
Length: 33,568
Summary: A man falls out of John’s closet in April of 1987 and sends him on a quest to close the gates of Hell. Yet somehow, in the process of losing his life to save his sons, he finds a life he never thought he’d have. And there may be more than one closet full of secrets waiting for him further down the road-in fact, there may be a whole bunker full of them.
Reccer's notes: I love how this writer took the Winchester saga and upended it. Only 4 years after Mary’s death, John Winchester is given information and a purpose from 2013. All but the epilogue takes place in 1987, but the reader knows what future John is trying to prevent. Will John succeed, and what will happen to Sam and Dean if he does?
John isn’t a completely hard-nosed drill sergeant to his boys yet, which makes his interactions with his sons very poignant, and we are also given a believable insight into Mary Campbell Winchester. Her devotion to her family ups the emotional roller-coaster for the reader. No matter which way things go, it’s going to hurt.
Events and characters of season 8 are woven in elegantly to create a satisfying AU that kept me reading non-stop. And check out the Art Masterpost as well!
[Short excerpt]He hadn’t lied to Mary-he wanted the boys safe, and Sammy as sheltered as possible, but he’d become terrified of what would happen if at least Dean wasn’t prepared, couldn’t back him up or defend Sammy if something went wrong, or what would happen if something put them in a situation where their closeness became their undoing. Looking at it now, in the clear light of day, he suspected that was bleed-through from ‘Nam. He never had been good at the touchy-feely stuff, but in ‘Nam, he had had to keep at least some distance between himself and his men so he could give the tough orders and not be utterly crushed when the inevitable casualties and fatalities came. Since the fire, without Mary to help him balance… hell, he didn’t know how to be a dad instead of a platoon commander. Not really. Not enough to keep from falling into those old relational habits.