[fic] kayliemalinza: Leave it for Some Other Bleeding Heart
[ Random: Gen ]
Title: Leave it for Some Other Bleeding Heart
Writer: kayliemalinza
Status of work: Complete
Characters and/or pairings: Sam, Dean, Castiel
Rating: Mature
Warnings, kinks & contents: [Click to read]Mild Gore, Implied Torture, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Kittens, Bodily Fluids, Time spent in hell, Bastard John Winchester
Length: 3614
Summary: Sam finds a box of kittens in bad shape, but Dean's not on board with this rescue business. Set during Season 4.
Teaser: "You can't keep a box of kittens," says Dean. He is busting out the Daddy-eyebrows for this. They didn't work when Sam was eight, but Dean's had practice. He's even sliced and diced a few kid-shaped monsters since then. (He's sliced and diced a lot of things.)
Reccer's notes: This starts with a cute concept (Sam rescues kittens!) and very quickly turns it raw and painful without ever going over the top. Dean's bleakness, how the remnants of his hell-time colour everything he interacts with come across instantly, and the final line is a complete kicker. There are all sorts of parallels between the diseased kittens and the Winchesters themselves, and it's very distinctly early s4. It feels realistic and sore, though there's a glimpse of hope.