I love this story.  The amulet, the boys getting back together. Dean getting a glimpse of what Sam went through in the cage.  Made me laugh and cry at the same time.   Sure hope you do a sequel!

Author's Response: Thanks so much!  I'm still thinking about the sequel and I have a lot of ideas but I honestly thought nobody would be interested anymore.  Might have to give it some more thought since it won't get out of my head anyway!  Thanks again!

Forgot to mention..would really love to see a sequel to this story. Do not be afraid..lol You can do it. I will definately be there when your ready for support and whatever else you need.
Take care friend,
Jane

Author's Response:

LOL  Thanks Jane.  I really might do it.  Probably be awhile though as I have ideas but not sure of an ending yet.

You made me so happy with this ending - that it was God who pulled Sam out of the cage, the amulet burning a mark into his hip ("It's there, Dean. Burned into my hip.") and it was a choice Sam came back cause he needed to see Dean, "I had to see you, Dean. I had to make sure you were okay." That's love. And now the amulet is back where it belongs and also are Sam and Dean, they found their way back to each other! To have read this makes the new season even more exciting for me, only a few hours now til our boys are back :)) Loved this story so much and I really hope you will write this sequel!!! A huge thank you, Sabine

Author's Response:

Thanks Sabine.  I really wanted it to be God that pulled Sam from the pit, to help restore some of the faith that he has lost along the way and to give some of that faith to Dean.

I really want to write the sequel and yesterday I was thinking, I can do this!  But now my head has went off in other directions after that premiere.  I am still going to give it a shot, I think, but it may be awhile as I only have ideas and no clear direction on where it would end yet.

Thanks for all your lovely reviews Sabine and I hope this season is all we've hoped for!

I'm not mad - I think you have left yourself a lot of scope to do a sequel if you wish to tread down the scary path of an AU story. But it doesn't have to be that scary, if you keep true to the characters and just have the situation AU. I think you'll do just fine. I'd like to see you have a go at it, actually. And remember, I'm always around if you want to bounce some ideas and thoughts off someone.

Have to admit to a few suspicious beads of moisture in my eyes when I read their apologies...damned dust in the air - where's that water truck today???? I'm really glad Dean put the amulet back on where it belongs, and I hope to see its reappearance in the show. Although from that last spoiler or three that you girls sent around......

And - you owe me a cookie! I was right - Sam had the amulet in his pocket when God pulled him out, and it burned hot just as it was supposed to do! *does happy bounce*. For Sam's sake, I'm thrilled it was God who pulled him out, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we find the same thing out in the show. He deserved to be pulled out by God - and let's face it, Cas wouldn't have had the juice to do it. The cage was built to hold an archangel, the most powerful of Heaven's weapons, according to Cas. God was the only one who could get Sam out.

So.....when are you going to get started on that sequel, hmmmm?

Great job, Sonya. Thank you for some wonderful lunchtime reading. Looking forward to your next serving of Winchester goodness. Hopefully your muse will go wild after meeting the boys...*wink, wink*...

Jules

Author's Response:

Thanks so much Jules.  I've had some really positive feedback on this one from this site and FF.net.  I know this is the hardest I've ever worked on anything and I'm pretty happy with the result.  I told the story I set out to tell and didn't let anything change my path, not opinions or even spoilers when they started popping up.  I think if I can do that I might can tackle AU.  I've always stayed away from it because I thought it would be hard but I think I need to expand my horizons a bit so maybe I'm ready.

I'm still holding out hope for that amulet to make it's comeback.  I just can't imagine Sam didn't retrieve it.  Even if it never makes it back around Dean's neck, I'm gonna believe it's in Sam's pocket. :)  So, what kind of cookie is it you like??  And I'm with you....I think God is the only thing powerful enough to pull Sam out.  I just wonder if the PTB will agree.

Thanks for your support Jules and you know, I'm not sure it's my muse that's going to go wild when I meet the boys.  If I get in trouble will SH come and bail me out?  I'll try to behave, I promise.

Favorite line: "Sammy, you never had to do anything to matter to me." At last, Sam has Dean's trust..and so glad Sam let Dean read his journal. Now Dean understands all Sam's went through and why he chose to let Dean have his "apple pie life", but I'm glad he told Sam that he was all the family he needed...awww.
Loved seeing Cas..little worried about him for a minute, but of course he had to make his big entrance..lol
Hopefully there will be more about the amulet next chapter, and maybe who actually got Sam out..maybe?
I am loving this story...look forward to next week and the next chapter which will bring us right to the season premiere. Great timing.
Talk to you soon.
Take care,
Jane

Author's Response:

That was one of my favorite lines as well, Jane. :)  Would love for Dean to say that and Sam actually believe it. 

I think that those loose ends you're wondering about will all be tied up in the epilogue next week.  I don't like leaving lose ends and I think I've covered them all.  *fingers crossed*

We're almost there!  Season six!  I can't wait.  Oh and I hope you have a good vacation this week!  Breath some mountain air for me!

Wow, this was more than scary, this was insane. Sam really lost it and I can't blame him, when he gave Dean his journal later, even Dean was shocked. And there was the trust in Dean again, the only thing that let him hold on to reality at least somewhat. When Dean thought he was dying, he was right that Sam would completely loose it and they came so close. Cas really knows how to make an entrance. Good to see him back and come to the rescue. It was awesome that Sam finally got to sleep and I really loved that Dean was willing to have Sam forget everything in order to help him. 

So now they know how to destroy the rings and it certainly sounds very epic Lord of the Rings. Great little banter. And then Sam geeked out again and Dean did one of the things he does best at that time, go to sleep. 

Really loved the chapter and can't wait how you're going to finish this. Great job. Too bad now I have to wait another week, but at least then it's only one more day till our boys will be back. Hugs, Vonnie

Author's Response:

I just couldn't imagine Sam spending time in the pit with Lucifer and not having some kind of really bad post traumatic experience and if he hadn't of gotten back with Dean, I'm sure it would have been much worse.

I was afraid the LOTR references might be considered too over the top or cheesy....and they probably are cheesy but I couldn't resist.  Like I told Jules....too many jokes that I just couldn't pass up. :)

Thanks for the review Vonnie.  One more week and our boys are back!!

I just have to start with a quote - "When Dean awoke, he was immediately aware of Sam's absence from the room." So Dean still is sensible of Sam's presence, the bond still intact, so very simple and so wonderful and what a loving gesture as he found Sam in the bathroom to watch him sleep and then when a dream plagued him, Dean "pressed his hand against his brother's chest. Sam quieted but Dean kept his hand there, rising and falling with Sam's every breath, relishing the feel of his brother's strongly beating heart." Dean also knows now Sam is afraid of the darkness and he has to know as he is the only one who can help Sam; heartbreaking to see Sam so terriefied when he was waking up and a grand scene, painfully intense, "Like a starving man, Sam's eyes had hungrily searched out the light hanging from the ceiling. Even now, with Dean only inches from his face, Sam's eyes were drinking in the glow of the single bulb illuminating the small bathroom."

Abaddon's call and using Lisa as bait was another bad turn and forced them to tell him where the rings are. You had another moment I won't forget at the lock-up: first the detail Dean took the extra light for Sam and then the amulet - loved Dean locked eyes with his brother and took the amulet back (for good this time I have the feeling) and even as Abbadon stepped on his hand wouldn't let go.

When Abbadon left and the lights went out I tried to imagine Sam's horror, must feel like to be back in the cage with Lucifer. But Dean is there with him this time and I believe this here holds true in the end - "How I refuse to let you go even when you're gone". Brilliant chapter!!!

Author's Response:

Thanks Sabine.  You always leave such great reviews.  I think I may have said that before but it's true.  I knew you would comment on the image of Dean with his hand on Sam's chest, just loving the beat of his brother's heart.  That just summed up for me how much Dean has missed his brother.

I'm not done with the amulet yet.  We'll still see some more about that as it's been bugging me ever since Dean threw it in the trashcan.  It needs to be back around his neck!!  I hope the writers do that for us this season.

Aw, Sam is so sad without Dean.

Great start.

 I loved the part where (I feel it was God) Helps Sam out of hell.

I hope that is how he does get out.

Onward,

Karen

Author's Response: Thanks!  I can't tell you if it was God.....yet.  LOL

I hate Abaddon. He's just as bad as Alastair, Michael and Uriel.

I'm glad, though, that Dean woke up and began to put the pieces together about Sam's state of mind. But now he's going to see it at first hand since the dick angel turned out the lights.

Sam's going to freak, isn't he? I hope Dean can get that lantern lit in double-quick time.....

And ah! This is why you were asking about lights in storage units! It's all coming back to me now.

Hmm, Sam had the amulet in his pocket.....and since the amulet burns hot in God's presence and he had it in his pocket......and he's got a burn on his hip......am I on the right track? Do I get a cookie?

Jules

Author's Response:

I've had a few people bad-mouthing Abaddon....which makes me happy because I want you to hate him. :)

Yes, this is why I was asking about the lights.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do at first, I just knew the lights needed to go out.  It ended up being simplier than I thought.  I tend to overthink things sometimes.

Hmmm...I think I might have to find out what your favorite kind of cookie is Jules....maybe..... ;)

So this chapter completely left me in tears, it's deeply moving to watch Sam suffer from his time in the cage with Lucifer. There's a shadow on his soul now and his only chance to survive it and live with it is Dean. I hope so much Dean will wake up and find Sam in the bathroom where he lives trough his hell over and over again. Think I never before saw Sam this lost and alone. He so desperately needs his big brother and there were a start when Sam saw the toy soldier in the Impala and so overwhelmed with his emotions reached out to his brother ("I'm fine, Dean.' His stomach heaved one last time...realizing his other hand had unconsciously reached for his brother, the only anchor he had for his quickly shredding sanity." So very true!) and before when Dean gave Sam the knife, "offered as the proverbial olive-branch" and Sam accepted this sign and offer of confidence. Loved Dean hid the rings in places meaningful to him and Sam; Sam's reaction just broke my heart, "Thanks for not taking me there," he whispered, his voice raw with emotion."/"You're welcome," said Dean./"I'm still the big brother you know. It's still my job to look out for you." But you deserve so much more than that, Dean." God, Sam! This story is hauntingly sad and so amazing, can't tell how much I love to read it!

Author's Response:

Thanks so much for your amazing review, Sabine.  I'm really glad you're enjoying the story so much.

Sam really does need his big brother right now even though he thinks Dean deserves so much more.  All Dean has yearned for in the past year is him.

I am just amazed of the depth of emotions you bring up in me. I'm close to tears again, as I imagine the torture Sam went through, the fear of the dark that brings only bad memories to him and his desperate attempts to hide it from Dean. It is obvious that Dean knows and yet he needs Sam to open up to him, while Sam tries to do what Dean told him, to bury it. They know each other so well and yet the awkwardness of being separated and one of them in hell, while the other one tried to live, with little success, is so obvious here. Dean still wants to be the big brother and while Sam used to think he doesn't deserve it, he now things also that Dean deserves much better. I can't wait for next Thursday, time goes so fast and yet too slow. Hugs, Vonnie

Author's Response: Thanks Vonnie.  Yes, Sam went through a horrible time while in the pit and the darkness only brings it all back to him in the worst way.  And Dean is starting to figure out that something is really wrong with his brother.  He's just not sure what.

Bobby's voice was gruff as always but somehow stillmanaged to sound soft.  You pegged that just right!  I've never read a description that clear and accurate. 

Sam and Dean's reunion was very touching and exactly what I think Kirpke would do. 

Bobby's eyes grew misty as he saw the ferocity in Dean's grasp as he took it.  Another statement that shows the desperation Dean feels toward his brother.

And once again he was whole.  Beautiful! 

Author's Response: Aw, thanks so much Shannon but I don't even think Kripke would do it like that.  We hardly ever get moments like that onscreen.  How I wish we would.  Thanks for all the reviews!  Hope you continue to like the story.