as you lay to die beside me, baby (a mix of post AHBL fic recs; gen and Dean/Sam)
I'm feeling all nostalgic today. This is a mix of post AHBL fic recs - some old, some new, pretty much all blue. ;_;
As always, please feel free to share any similarly themed recs (or self-recs) in the comments for others to check out.
Title: So on we go
Author: elohvee
Tags: bottom!Dean, hell-post-hell issues, injury (misc.), psychological trauma, psychological damage/broken!Dean
Characters: Sam, Dean
Genre/pairing: Sam/Dean, a bit of Dean/OFC
Rating: R
Word-count: 1,701
Spoilers: AHBL I & II
Warnings: incest, some violence
Summary: He remembers Sam's name long after he forgets his own.
Reccer’s comments: Written well before season 4, this is a beautiful look at how Dean might have been after coming back from hell, and how he and Sam begin to move past the experience. Hurty and tender and ultimately hopeful, with awesome!protective!Sam.
Title: Proxy
Author: kalliel
Tags: Dean's deal, hallucinations, psychological trauma, psychosis
Characters: Dean, Sam
Genre/pairing: Gen, AU, horror
Rating: PG-13
Word-count: 850
Spoilers: AHBL I & II
Warnings: here
Summary: There's a woman in Los Angeles who spent three months driving with a corpse in her front seat. Dean's convinced they have to go. Sam doesn't see the resemblance.
Reccer’s comments: Here's some psychological horror to go with your h/c. Incredibly unsettling, which is a fantastic thing in my book.
Title: Japa Mala
Author: kimonkey7
Tags: hospitalization, coma, concussion/head trauma, Dean’s deal, psychological issues
Characters: Dean, Sam, Bobby
Genre/pairing: Gen
Rating: R
Word-count: N/A
Spoilers: AHBL I & II
Warnings: Language. A lot of it.
Summary: A single word can be a hundred and eight different prayers.
Reccer’s comments: The rhythm and pacing of the text is really cool, and the ending is a sucker-punch.
Title: These External Manners of Lament
Author: kroki_refur
Tags: grief, psychological trauma
Characters: Bobby, Dean
Genre/pairing: Gen
Rating: PG-13
Word-count: 1300 words or so
Spoilers: Missing scene for AHBL I
Warnings: N/A
Summary: Dean's not the only one who's lost Sam.
Reccer’s comments: Bobby watches Dean fall apart post AHBL I. Insightful and, as you'd expect, heartbreaking.
Title: Between the Essence and the Descent
Author: laurificus
Tags: crying!Dean, exhaustion, hugs/cuddling, shower/bath sharing, stress
Characters: Sam, Dean
Genre/pairing: Sam/Dean
Rating: Adult
Word-count: 2,383
Spoilers: AHBL I
Warnings: N/A
Summary: On any other night, Dean would've pushed Sam away by now.
Reccer’s comments: This was recced here before, but I wouldn't think of leaving it off this list.
Crying! Hugging in the shower! I remember this was one of the first Sam/Dean fics I read (I'd been in fandom for a bit, but read mostly gen) and it was so lovely and intimate I was sold on the pairing.
Title: Colts, Demons, and Cherry Robitussin
Author: nwspaprtaxis
Tags: abandonment issues, carried!Dean, common cold, cough, cuts/lacerations, Dean's deal, dizziness/vertigo, drug reaction/interaction, drugs (medical), exhaustion, fainting/collapse, fever, nausea/vomiting, respiratory illness, sneezing
Characters: Dean, Sam
Genre/pairing: Gen
Rating: PG-13
Word-count: 1,212
Spoilers: AHBL I & II
Warnings: N/A
Summary: Coda to AHBL II. After everything - Sam's death and resurrection, the YED being ganked - it's only understandable that Dean would crash. And crash hard. But Sam's there to catch him when he falls...
Reccer’s comments: This was great. I love this time period so much, and I love the whole scenario of someone crashing after too much stress for too long and getting sick and having someone take care of them. Best h/c scenario ever!
Title: Swing Low
Author: sevenfists
Tags: Dean's deal, nausea/vomiting, supernatural illness
Characters: Sam, Dean
Genre/pairing: Gen
Rating: PG-13
Word-count: 11,800
Spoilers: AHBL I & II
Warnings: N/A
Summary: What's dead should stay dead.
Reccer’s comments: This one’s also been recced here before, back when the comm first opened. It's still one of my absolute fave fics set post AHBL.
Dean starts dying ahead of schedule and Sam doesn't deal very well. There’s lots of sick!Dean and crazy!protective!Sam. The lengths the brothers will go to for each other is illustrated starkly here - it's one of the reasons why we love their relationship, but there's also something dangerous about it. An unsettling, chilling, AWESOME read.
Title: Gasoline
Author: whereupon
Tags: Dean’s deal, exhaustion, fever, suicidal ideation, supernatural illness, psychological issues
Characters: Dean, Sam
Genre/pairing: Gen
Rating: PG-13
Word-count: 4,234
Spoilers: AHBL I & II, season three
Warnings: N/A
Summary: They're down a quarter of the year, Dean's giving up, and Sam's not sleeping.
Reccer’s comments: This has the claustrophobic, desperate feeling of a good season three fic. It’s painful, as you might assume from the timeline/summary, but touching too - Dean’s giving up, but he’ll never give up on Sam. Also, I always love whereupon’s prose; there's something lyrical and fresh about it.
Please note that there’s much Sam-ish h/c as well as Dean-ish h/c to be found in this one. It's from his POV and he's trying so hard to save his brother, but there’s just not enough time.
As always, please feel free to share any similarly themed recs (or self-recs) in the comments for others to check out.
Title: So on we go
Author: elohvee
Tags: bottom!Dean, hell-post-hell issues, injury (misc.), psychological trauma, psychological damage/broken!Dean
Characters: Sam, Dean
Genre/pairing: Sam/Dean, a bit of Dean/OFC
Rating: R
Word-count: 1,701
Spoilers: AHBL I & II
Warnings: incest, some violence
Summary: He remembers Sam's name long after he forgets his own.
Reccer’s comments: Written well before season 4, this is a beautiful look at how Dean might have been after coming back from hell, and how he and Sam begin to move past the experience. Hurty and tender and ultimately hopeful, with awesome!protective!Sam.
Title: Proxy
Author: kalliel
Tags: Dean's deal, hallucinations, psychological trauma, psychosis
Characters: Dean, Sam
Genre/pairing: Gen, AU, horror
Rating: PG-13
Word-count: 850
Spoilers: AHBL I & II
Warnings: here
Summary: There's a woman in Los Angeles who spent three months driving with a corpse in her front seat. Dean's convinced they have to go. Sam doesn't see the resemblance.
Reccer’s comments: Here's some psychological horror to go with your h/c. Incredibly unsettling, which is a fantastic thing in my book.
Title: Japa Mala
Author: kimonkey7
Tags: hospitalization, coma, concussion/head trauma, Dean’s deal, psychological issues
Characters: Dean, Sam, Bobby
Genre/pairing: Gen
Rating: R
Word-count: N/A
Spoilers: AHBL I & II
Warnings: Language. A lot of it.
Summary: A single word can be a hundred and eight different prayers.
Reccer’s comments: The rhythm and pacing of the text is really cool, and the ending is a sucker-punch.
Title: These External Manners of Lament
Author: kroki_refur
Tags: grief, psychological trauma
Characters: Bobby, Dean
Genre/pairing: Gen
Rating: PG-13
Word-count: 1300 words or so
Spoilers: Missing scene for AHBL I
Warnings: N/A
Summary: Dean's not the only one who's lost Sam.
Reccer’s comments: Bobby watches Dean fall apart post AHBL I. Insightful and, as you'd expect, heartbreaking.
Title: Between the Essence and the Descent
Author: laurificus
Tags: crying!Dean, exhaustion, hugs/cuddling, shower/bath sharing, stress
Characters: Sam, Dean
Genre/pairing: Sam/Dean
Rating: Adult
Word-count: 2,383
Spoilers: AHBL I
Warnings: N/A
Summary: On any other night, Dean would've pushed Sam away by now.
Reccer’s comments: This was recced here before, but I wouldn't think of leaving it off this list.
Crying! Hugging in the shower! I remember this was one of the first Sam/Dean fics I read (I'd been in fandom for a bit, but read mostly gen) and it was so lovely and intimate I was sold on the pairing.
Title: Colts, Demons, and Cherry Robitussin
Author: nwspaprtaxis
Tags: abandonment issues, carried!Dean, common cold, cough, cuts/lacerations, Dean's deal, dizziness/vertigo, drug reaction/interaction, drugs (medical), exhaustion, fainting/collapse, fever, nausea/vomiting, respiratory illness, sneezing
Characters: Dean, Sam
Genre/pairing: Gen
Rating: PG-13
Word-count: 1,212
Spoilers: AHBL I & II
Warnings: N/A
Summary: Coda to AHBL II. After everything - Sam's death and resurrection, the YED being ganked - it's only understandable that Dean would crash. And crash hard. But Sam's there to catch him when he falls...
Reccer’s comments: This was great. I love this time period so much, and I love the whole scenario of someone crashing after too much stress for too long and getting sick and having someone take care of them. Best h/c scenario ever!
Title: Swing Low
Author: sevenfists
Tags: Dean's deal, nausea/vomiting, supernatural illness
Characters: Sam, Dean
Genre/pairing: Gen
Rating: PG-13
Word-count: 11,800
Spoilers: AHBL I & II
Warnings: N/A
Summary: What's dead should stay dead.
Reccer’s comments: This one’s also been recced here before, back when the comm first opened. It's still one of my absolute fave fics set post AHBL.
Dean starts dying ahead of schedule and Sam doesn't deal very well. There’s lots of sick!Dean and crazy!protective!Sam. The lengths the brothers will go to for each other is illustrated starkly here - it's one of the reasons why we love their relationship, but there's also something dangerous about it. An unsettling, chilling, AWESOME read.
Title: Gasoline
Author: whereupon
Tags: Dean’s deal, exhaustion, fever, suicidal ideation, supernatural illness, psychological issues
Characters: Dean, Sam
Genre/pairing: Gen
Rating: PG-13
Word-count: 4,234
Spoilers: AHBL I & II, season three
Warnings: N/A
Summary: They're down a quarter of the year, Dean's giving up, and Sam's not sleeping.
Reccer’s comments: This has the claustrophobic, desperate feeling of a good season three fic. It’s painful, as you might assume from the timeline/summary, but touching too - Dean’s giving up, but he’ll never give up on Sam. Also, I always love whereupon’s prose; there's something lyrical and fresh about it.
Please note that there’s much Sam-ish h/c as well as Dean-ish h/c to be found in this one. It's from his POV and he's trying so hard to save his brother, but there’s just not enough time.