Falling

[scullspeare]

AUTHOR:Scullspeare
SUMMARY: Missing scenes from 7.17, The Born-Again Identity. Sam's in danger of falling apart, but Dean's strength helps him keep it together

Comments

[borgmama1of5]

Great blend of the two threads, and I think you nailed the Sam/Lucifer interaction!

[scullspeare]

Thank you! Part of me felt guilty for putting Sam through the ringer - but the devil in me loves playing with Lucifer. *g* Cheers!

[harrigan]

I loved so much of this! Like you, I prefer Dean's presence in fic, along with Sam. Loved your concept that when Sam was on morphine, he could hallucinate Dean to appear alongside the hallucination of Lucifer that he can't control.

You hit on so many things that are in the show, but underplayed: that Sam knows that Dean is smart but doesn't use dollar words when nickel words would do. All the ways that he knows that Dean has his back. Hell notwithstanding, the brothers had been together a lifetime - and it took a lifetime to see beyond the mask Dean wore, to be allowed to see those layers...

I really liked seeing Sam peel back the layers of evidence to assure himself that he could tell the difference between Luci!Dean and the real deal. Very satisfying - two thumbs up!

[scullspeare]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for that lovely feedback.

I remember watching this episode and thinking it could be three hours long and still not touch on all the possibilities - especially all those 'unspoken' elements between the brothers, so it was a lot of fun to put at least some of them into play here. Glad you enjoyed.

*Big hug*

[rokhal]

We really needed a fic like this. This is makes so much sense.

I love how Lucifer bounces between blatant and sneaky, leaving Sam -- smart, adaptable Sam -- a helpless paranoid mess. You've connected all the why's and how's, both why Sam was running down the street in a sleep-deprived haze in the episode and how Hallucifer was for-real breaking him down.

In that moment where Dean and Sam were heading to the bar and Sam called Dean on being Lucifer, I seriously didn't know who to believe. It made me both impressed with Sam's observational skills and scared for him because of Lucifer's stated goal of escaping notice altogether.

I liked the "You're a hero, Sam" side note running through the vampire sequences, that tiny chink of hope they provide by proving that there's at least one thing in Sam's brain that doesn't want to rip him apart.

This is how you do a missing scene. Wow.

[scullspeare]

Wow, thank you!

Sam IS smart and adaptable so, to me, Lucifer had to have come up with some way of worming inside his defences. I figured using 'Dean' as a Trojan horse was the one thing, besides relentless pestering, that might work.

I'd also been reading the debates over whether the Marin sub-plot was necessary in 7.17. I liked it because when life is falling apart, we tend to glom on to what we know, what we can control. For Sam, that's 'Saving people, hunting things.' I hoped the memories of saving Lenore would provide another 'tiny chink of hope' for him.

Thank you again. This kind of feedback is to die for!

[heartlessbytchh]

Hi scull, I'm in the process of reading this on FF.Net. I may not get to finish it tonight but I always enjoy you're stories. I'm way behind on reading them, though.
*facepalm*

I'm really enjoying this story. I think Luci's got a stick of his own up his ass.
lol
Ok, finished it. Great job. Really liked how Sam saw through Luci's little tricks of trying to imitate Dean.

Thank you for a nice tight little story that was enjoyable to read.

" ...and it took a lifetime to see beyond the mask Dean wore, to be allowed to see those layers."
This sentence says it all. Sam is the only person Dean would let his defenses down to and allow to see what's really inside.

[scullspeare]

I know all about not having enough time in the day for reading... A friend and I once discussed starting a campaign for a 36-hour day, with caveat the extra time could only be spent on fun stuff. Didn't really get it going, though...we ran out of time. :-/

Thank you so much for the great feedback on this story. Sam and Dean's relationship has always been the cornerstone of SPN for me. They do know each other better than anyone, so it was fun to try to shed a bit of light on a few of Dean's many hidden layers through Sam's poor, battered psyche.

Thrilled you enjoyed it. Thanks again!

[mentholpixie]

This is awesome. I love the way you weaved Lenore and the vampires into a season 7 story, and Lucifer directing. Brilliant!

[scullspeare]

Thanks so much.

Happenstance is a wonderful thing. I was mulling over all the potential missing scenes in 7.17 when Janice requested the missing scene from 2.03. They collided in my head and this fic is the result. I'm more than thrilled you enjoyed it.

Cheers, and thanks again.