"Conversations over a Gun Box and a Roadmap"

[blueiris08]

Rating: PG
Category: Gen
Characters: John, Dean, guest appearance by Sam.
Word Count: 6000
Spoilers: “Dead Man’s Blood”
Summary: “Maybe if John had confronted it right then, things would have gone differently. But he couldn’t ask without tipping his hand.”
Further author’s notes: For the record, I sketched out the plot and some of the dialogue for this

Comments

[acidquill]

“Maybe that kind of love is different, or maybe I didn’t love her enough, or maybe you’re both just selfish bastards. I don’t know.”
Ouch. That's just it isn't it? I mean John and Sam have this whole 'lost the love of my life' thing and in their own ways treat it, and therefore Dean like his loss is somehow different...smaller. Even though it's not.

Unwillingly, John looked up at the man opposite him, the man who wasn’t just Mary’s son or Sammy’s caretaker or his own right hand. Absurdly, he thought he didn’t recognize him. Oh yeah.

Amazing, amazing job with this. Fantastic writing.

[blueiris08]

Thank you! For the record, I think Sam's line in Scarecrow is about the immediacy of his loss, rather than the magnitude of it, but that doesn't mean it's how Dean took it.

Glad you enjoyed it.

[popmusicjunkie]

I LOVE THIS STORY!!!!
Seriously, I love every single freakin thing about it.
The twists, the turns, the characterizations, the character growth, THE ENDING.
*applauds wildly*
Awesome story.

[innie_darling]

This was simply amazing. It took me as long as John to figure out where this was going - d'oh!

If Dean could feel it too, he’d understand that this would work. I wonder if John realizes how much he expects from Dean?

“He’s holding his own, has been since the beginning.” A note of pride colored Dean’s voice. “Kid might have fought you every step of the way, but he learned what you taught him.” I love Dean for not taking any of the credit he surely deserves.

A shadow passed across Dean’s eyes. “Sam and I had the same conversation in Chicago,” he said What I love most about this fic is that it's not just Dean playing John - it's Dean being honest, staking his life on everything he feels.

“Sights on a revolver weren’t worth shit until…when was it, Dad? The Civil War?” Dean asked, squinting as he lifted the gun back to firing position. Ooh. Took me two readings to get this.

Dean wiped the faint marks of his touch away from the gunmetal. I love the way this works to show Dean's disapproval.

“No, sir.” Dean spread his hands. “

Thanks to all...

[blueiris08]

Hi, all. Chiming in with responses: I don’t ignore feedback, just let it accumulate a bit so that half the comments in a thread aren’t from me.

Nice to see Dean make a break, even though I doubt he ever will until, say, Season 6 or so!

Yeah. I can see him making a break earlier, but nothing so dramatic as this. And hey, that’s why we’ve got fic.

I don't hate John, but it's so damn typical of him only to hear half of what Dean says.

Yes, exactly! At least, that’s my take on John, when he’s in full obsess mode.

What I love most about this fic is that it's not just Dean playing John - it's Dean being honest,

Yes, that’s totally what I was shooting for, both with that particular section and him still hoping for John’s approval, even now.

I wonder if John realizes how much he expects from Dean? That’s a lot of what I was going for. Indicators are that after Mary’s death, when hunting became paramount, basically what John wanted his kids to be was, well, a couple more Johns, only beta males instead of alpha males. So I also wanted

[lovetheboys]

Wow. Deeply creepy. And you made it in-character by your logic, down to John thinking that Sam would do the same thing because he lost Jess and knows what it feels like.

And yay! for well-researched fics. I appreciate that.

Thanks for the story.