Fic: O Holy Night

[sunrize83]

O Holy Night (2/4)
By Sunrize83

Rating: GEN, PG-13
Characters: Sam, Dean
Description: Sam knew the truth, and the burden of it was becoming more than he could bear. Dean wasn't the one who should have died.
Author's note: Many thanks to iamstealthyone for beta. This fic was written for spn_christmas combining two prompts: An "It's a Wonderful Life" takeoff where Sam sees

Comments

[anonymous]

Good chapter.Update soon.And AU 'verse just got so much more worse.I didn't think it could.Sammy really did save their lives.

[sunrize83]

It hasn't been easy thinking how things could actually be worse! Glad you're enjoying this. Thanks for the feedback.

[iamstealthyone]

Great chapter! You’re painting a very realistic portrayal of how this family is disintegrating without Sam there as a stabilizing force. John’s so suicidal in the first section, and so weary and frustrated and broken in the second, and Dean is becoming all hard edges and danger. I like that Sam is seeing his value now, how his constant questioning was a good thing for John, and how his life served as a compass for Dean. Very nice.

Favorite lines:

"I didn't ask you to think. Just do as you were told."

Ouch. Just … ouch. John’s words are like a blow here, because in these two sentences, you can clearly see how different his relationship with Dean is in this world than in the one where Sam’s alive.

"Sometimes I think you don't care if you get hurt. Maybe you don't. Maybe you want to die, like her

[sunrize83]

Thank you, my dear, for your wonderful feedback. It's like a present I get to unwrap. :) As for this:

I love this, how Sam has a little happy memory here. And we don’t need to know what it is, it’s enough to know he’s having it.

One of my favorite Sam moments is that little secret smile he gets in Provenance when Dean says surely Jessica would have wanted him to be happy. I pictured that kind of smile here.

Thanks again for all your help in making this the best it can be.

[iamstealthyone]

One of my favorite Sam moments is that little secret smile he gets in Provenance when Dean says surely Jessica would have wanted him to be happy. I pictured that kind of smile here.

That was a great smile, definitely. :)

You're welcome for the feedback, and the beta. :)

[ongiara]

Great update! That they became hunters nevertheless was an interesting twist I didn't see coming. It would be interesting to know how John found his way to Missouri exactly. Anyway, you do an amazing job at writing the characters so differently yet still so believable and real. The venom and bitterness both in John's and Dean's voice and behavior cuts so deep and I like how you wove in Sam's reaction to it all.
Awesome job, looking forward to part 3 :)

[sunrize83]

you do an amazing job at writing the characters so differently yet still so believable and real.

Thank you so much for this! That's really the trick to this fic, and I'm thrilled you think I'm pulling it off.

[idiot4dean]

A sad story which could so easily have happened without a grounding force. In the series it's Dean but it's nice to glimpse what could have happened without Sam.

Looking forward to the next.

[sunrize83]

Thank you. You're right--while we've seen a lot about the way Dean held John and Sam together, we haven't really gotten a glimpse of what Sam meant to the family. I'm so glad you're enjoying this.

[apieceofcake]

Heartbreaking look at what might have been :-(

Thanks for the update :-)

[sunrize83]

Thank you! In this case heartbreaking is a good thing. I'm glad you're enjoying the story.