Thanks for witing this! I loved the idea that Dean isn't just a sex junkie, that he really is looking for something more. The part about not wanting the women he's with to fear him is so insightful.

Author's Response: Well, those discerning individuals who understand, you and me for example, KNOW there is so much more to Dean than meets the eye.

This was really well done, I could actually picture Dean thinking all these things...especially the "or, you know, at least attempt it" line. (Personally, I think Dean would have a decent chance of accomplishing that goal, if only out of pure stubbornness!) I haven't seen HOH, so I might be way off here, but...is it possible Sam prays for Dean to be safe, and not as a way of undermining Dean's abilities? I think Dean would miss that detail, though, so this fic is still realistic. Thanks for writing it!

Author's Response:

I so agree with you about Dean accomplishing that goal out of stubbornness! 

 I think you're right, that is the one of the things Sam does pray for, but Dean refuses to see it that way.

Thanks for reading!  :o)

Love this beginning! What 'forces' besides good and evil are you referring to? Can't wait to see how this plays out! Thanks for posting.

Author's Response: Heya! Thanks for reading :) I'm always happy to find another reader. There's many forces in the supernatural world (or so I like to think, he he) and good and evil are only two of them... to name a couple more, destiny and free will, kind of opposites, just like good and evil... yeah... I'm gonna have to include that somewhere in a future chapter - thanks!!!! :)

'Several times, with several different guns'--great line. Thanks for the read.

Author's Response: Thanks! Glad you liked that line! I love it when people pick out certain lines, he he. :D

Yay, Dean is still just Dean (despite black-red eyes and freaky powers)! Only Dean would immediately consider himself guilty of every evil (including Jess and his parents' deaths) upon hearing that he was the fallen angel. Loved this chapter.

Author's Response:

Couldn't turn Dean into a raging demon before he truly found out who he was... >:D And as for the guilt, can't have Dean with the guilt... makes you want to shake him and tell him it's not his fault. :D

Glad you're still reading!

Amazing! Thanks for updating.

I have a hard time believing that Dean's experiences don't matter anymore, but then...this is Lucifer we're talking about. Almost three decades of constantly selfless behavior are probably little more than a brief lapse in judgment for him.

Keep writing, I can't wait to see how Dean gets out of this one.

-Armaita

Very dark, and I'm having a really difficult time seeing any way out of this with Dean intact.

Author's Response: Thank you! If I hadn't had the ending in my head when I wrote this, I would have been very worried about where I was taking him.

K, 2 things.

First of all, is the hellhound not evil per-se? B/c it mentioned liking "noble and strong" types of dogs, like german sheperds. Was that just a turn of phrase, or was the hellhound actually thinking in terms of noble vs. ignoble?

Second, I agree w/Sam. The fact that Lucifer seems fixated with getting the Impala out of the impound sounds more like Dean than Lucifer. (I mean, its a nice car, bute Lucifer ought to want something newer, faster, more expensive, and/or more difficult for Sam, Ellen and Bobby to track, if he really wanted to complete the transformation.)

I just realized...there's not much difference between Lucifer killing demons to protect Sam and Dean killing other monsters for the same cause. Is that part of their shared soul, or is it Dean's better qualities rubbing off on Lucifer?

Author's Response: He he, I like to put it down to Dean's better qualities rubbing off on Lucifer... even if the old devil won't admit it. :D Thanks again!

No hate, just amazement. (I still think that if Lucifer can feel emptiness and sorrow because he believes Sam to be dead, then he isn't as evil as he ought to be.) Great chapter, but I can't see how you can possibly wrap all this up with only two more chapters.

Author's Response: Thank you absolute loads! Nah, Lucy ain't all that bad... he he :D Lol, I have my ways of wrapping it up, I just hope it doesn't feel rushed.

Brutal honesty--this was an awesome ending to a very complex and thought-provoking story. I liked the message that Sam voiced without realizing its import to the weeks-that-never-happened...Dean/Lucifer is Sam's brother. Everything else just falls into place. Good work, and I'm sad that it's over too.

Author's Response:

Thank you so much! I'm really glad you liked it. It's one of the stories I'm most proud of, so thanks again.

And I love the idea that no matter what, they're brothers and that's all that counts. So thank you. Thank you absolute loads! Means a lot that you took the time to read and review! 

All right, the whole piece was great, but three things stuck out as particularly amazing.

1. That John hurt himself and stained the watch by doing something as mundane as threading popcorn onto a string using a need.

(It's too easy to forget that, between the demons, vampires, and monsters, the Winchesters would also still have some normalcy in their lives. Thanks for the reminder!)

2. The line "Cos old man's or not, that knife is just plain cool." Pure Dean-ism, and definitely in his voice.

3. The fact that Dean has thought all this out in one day, and that Sam misses how much throwing out any of their father's belongings is tearing him up. (Of course, Dean is the consummate Hunter, always travelling light, so the fact that he keeps anything at all should alert Sam to how important this ritual is for Dean.

Thanks for this intense list...I could definitely see Dean thinking all of this through. Keep up the great work!