What Profits the Angels

[blueiris08]

Title: “What Profits the Angels”
Rating: G
Characters: Sam, Castiel
Word Count: 1600
Episode/Spoilers: “On the Head of a Pin”
Summary: A confrontation between Sam and Castiel. Precedes the final scene of the episode.
Author’s notes: Please see the additional note below the cut.

Comments

[olympia_m]

this is a lovely story - thank you for sharing!

[blueiris08]

My pleasure. I'm glad you liked it.

[cordeliadelayne]

That's really good. I love the way you incorporated Castiel's past into it.

[blueiris08]

The past scenes were interesting to write, and it's good to hear that they worked. Thanks for commenting!

[dangomango]

You know, it's incredibly hard to find a Sam, Dean, and Castiel story that doesn't come down to SAM IS A VERY VERY VERY BAD HORRIBLE PERSON.

This story didn't do that, and for that alone I thank you.

I also loved the touches of Castiel's past.

This part was my favorite (because I know that Sam is doing this for Dean, sigh, and that makes it both better and worse):

“I can’t heal Dean, but I can pray for him,” he told Sam. Steeling himself for contact, he stretched out his hand across the bed. “Will you join me?” he invited.

Sam’s eyes widened, and he stepped back. “I’m, uh…I’m going to find Dean some ice,” he mumbled, turning away.

That strange feeling flooded through Castiel again as he recalled how Sam had once stuttered at the honor of shaking an angel’s hand. He had a vague idea that it might be remorse.

“Samuel,” he called as Sam reached the door. “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

Sam’s face twisted as he glanced down at his brother’s battered form. “I guess that depends on what it profits

[blueiris08]

You know, it's incredibly hard to find a Sam, Dean, and Castiel story that doesn't come down to SAM IS A VERY VERY VERY BAD HORRIBLE PERSON.

It's interesting. I did a very sympathetic look at Sam wrestling with the darker part of his nature in a Sam/Dean/Castiel fic set during "Heaven and Hell," and when I started this one right after "On the Head of a Pin" aired, it was really frustrating because it felt like the writers were making Sam seem unsympathetic. And then, voila! The writers confirmed that they were. So I know Sam wasn't everyone's cup of tea before Season Four and he probably still won't be everyone's cup of tea no matter how the show develops, but here's to hoping that fewer people will think he's horrible once the writers play out their plan.

Because, yeah...I like to see the Sam love too. And so thank you for taking the time to let me know you enjoyed the fic.

[dangomango]

It's interesting. I did a very sympathetic look at Sam wrestling with the darker part of his nature in a Sam/Dean/Castiel fic set during "Heaven and Hell," and when I started this one right after "On the Head of a Pin" aired, it was really frustrating because it felt like the writers were making Sam seem unsympathetic. And then, voila! The writers confirmed that they were.

Hee! Well, first off, I had read your other story, but I didn't review it because I didn't want to bore you with my God-issues. For lo, they are numerous and TL;DR. But I did quite enjoy that story, although I'm not 100% sold that pride is as big a flaw of Sam's as fanon has convinced itself/canon has implied/said/(proved?)

And I don't find Sam unsympathetic, and I'm sure I've got biases hidden somewhere where I can't see them. They're probably glaringly obvious to everybody else though. Oh humans. Sigh.

So I know Sam wasn't everyone's cup of tea before Season Four and he probably still won't be everyone's cup of tea no matter how the show develops, but here's to

[star_watcher81]

This is great! LOVED all the references to Ancient Greece/Rome and Cas and Uriel's previous vessels. It really enriched the story and gave them more backstory. I also loved how Cas kept thinking about what Uriel would say and do at any given moment; you really show how he's grieving here, in his own way, without explicitly telling us about it. Poor Cas. :-(
Thank you for sharing!

[blueiris08]

Thank you for commenting! I could have gone off on the history all day, but it's hard to judge how much would be entertaining to readers. I'm inordinately fond of the scene with Castiel holding the baby, though.

I'm glad you enjoyed the story.

[nu_breed]

Oh, this is fabulous. All your character voices are fantastic, but I *love* your Castiel voice. BRILLIANT.

[blueiris08]

Voice is really important to me, so thank you very much for taking the time to comment!