Wow, the emotion you put into this story...my heart hurts for the boys. For Dean.

This was just the most beautiful piece of writing.

You made it so easy to feel the anguish and loss and pain. I always thought that episode said a lot about the brothers emotional state, without actually showing too much but this filled in all the blanks for me.

Great ploy to personify the bottles, and to have Dean forget about the final bullet.

Awesome one shot!!

WOW

Author's Response: hahahaha- gotta love the single-word reviews- sometimes they say the most. Thank Whinchester!

Well done. That was heartbreaking.  The last line says it all, Dean's greatest fear. Thanks, B.J.

Quite why it took me so long to see this is anyone's guess...

This was absolutely heartbreaking.  And very telling of Dean's character in that, despite hating to be alone, the only way he can deal with his grief is by leaving Sam and falling apart where his brother can't see him do it.  Gotta keep his gameface on, after all...

Loved the way you used the quotes from various episodes as Dean was shooting down the bottles.  And it says a lot about his tolerance for alcohol that his aim was still so good after so many beers!

Fabulous!

Damn, TREE, you sure don't need a beta................This was fantastic! Right up there with your other writings.............Thanks

Author's Response: ThanksSNJ - Sorry I didn't respond sooner- I was out of action for a while. Thanks so much for the kind words!

I'm very happy to say that GS talks constantly about what a great writer you are, but I have been slow in reading you....Not anymore.  I wait with baited breath (ya know, I've always wondered why that was such a good thing.  It makes me want to take a tic tac or something)Anyway, I can't wait to read more of your work.  I read some reviews BEFORE I actually read your one shot, and I was not at all disappointed.  GS describes your work as tight and controlled at the beginning which was sooooo perfect, because I found myself actually holding my breath and feeling the pressure that Dean must have been feeling in his chest.  He holds so much inside, and knowing that he is only human, I knew that at some point, he had to break (or at least bend a little).  As you wrote, I could see the movie play out before my eyes (through the building tears).  All the way up to the very last line, I was biting my lip or fighting back the football in my throat.  IT FELT GREAT!!!!  I love it when a writer can elicit that kind of response in me.

I particularly LOVED your methaphors with the beer bottles, "soldier" "unscathed, solid defiant"  those are great images, and from an inanimate object no less.  They just seemed to play right in to what Dean was/is.  They actually became characters for me, with personalities and representations of their own.

I will be sure to read more, and not wait so long this time.

Thank you for a very poignant and necessary "closure" scene for me, that just couldn't be over looked.

I look forward to more!!!!

 

Author's Response:

First - I absolutely LOVE your penname - would be my motto in life if I wasnt already using "you dare me to do what?"

Second - Gaelic flatters me. She is a much better and more well-rounded writer than I could ever dream to be - so thanks for even mentioning my writing in the same sentence as hers.

I'm truly glad you enjoyed this - and I don't know where it really came from other than maybe I tapped into my "inner-Dean" that night. I'm pleased that so many people that I respect took so much away from something that I wrote.

 Thanks so much again!

Poignant and very powerful. Tree, you did an outstanding work to show Dean's feelings and emotions after the end of Heart. Sam is hurting but Dean too as well.

Author's Response: Thanks Oceane! Glad you liked it! "Poignant and powerful" is a wonderful compliment - thanks much!

Wow, Tree!

I loved this TAG. In fact, it's my favorite one so far from "Heart."

The way you captured Dean's emotions was so beautiful and poignant. Yes, Sam was hurting when he had to kill Maddie, but Dean was hurting just as much having to see Sam go through that pain.

Great job!

Author's Response: Thanks Stephanie - I might not ever write something like this again - but it certainly felt so right coming out. Thanks a bunch and I'm glad you liked it.

Wonderful.

Author's Response: Sorry I couldnt have him through knives at the bottles- T - just isnt the same effect - hahahaha!

Wow! That was absolutely beautiful! A perfect description of how Dean would deal with his pain and grief. The mention of Sam's loss of what innocence he had left really resonated with me, because it was that thought that pretty much disolved me into tears while watching the episode. So glad you took the time out of your busy VS writing to grace us with this gem!

Author's Response:

Shhh- Phoenix - dont tell anyone that I wrote this- should be writing episode 8 for the VS right now- hahahahaha - Kittsbud might kill me. - just kidding!

Glad you enjoyed it - we've gotten to see Dean sorta deal with grief and pain this year on the show- but never really see him let go fully - cause Sam is always around. Figured he's just the type that would have to get away from his bro and sort out the whole thing in a way that only he could.

Wow! No more sleeping for you if it means you produce stories like this! I love your take on the end of Heart. There have been a lot of tags for the episode, but like you, I really feel that Dean's tear is about Sam's loss of innocence as much as about his fear that someday Dean will play Sam to Sam's Madison. I think you perfectly capture how Dean would deal with his pain and then return to Sammy as the lone soldier. Thanks for this.

Author's Response:

Iam

hahaha- I wish I could say that I had been thinking about writing this- truth is- I'm not big on Tags or missing scenes. Prefer to let someone better than me write em. But this one- just popped into my head around 3:30 Am - go figure!

And yeah- there were sooo doggone many parallels in that episode between Sam/Madison and Sam/Dean - you would have had to have been in a coma the entire season not to pick up on it.

Dean's tear? yeah - I definately thought that there was more than just one reason for that tear!