What I’ve Been Reading

[briarwood]

Two weeks worth of recs this week, and, wow more than I thought I’d read. I’ve really been too busy to read just lately, so these are mostly very short fics that I could read quickly. So here goes. SPN fanfic I’ve read recently:

Half Turn to Go Yet Turning Stay by embroiderama (Gen)

This is how Ellen learned what’s out there in the dark. Ellen is strongly drawn and I love her imperfect relationship with Bill and the way she reacts to discovering his secrets, and there’s a nice full-circle to the Winchesters at the end.

The roadhouse started to get busier, a lot more traveling men than locals, but that was fine. She didn’t take guff and didn’t tolerate anybody cussing in front of her little girl, and most everyone respected that enough to keep the peace.

She broke that rule herself the day she learned the truth, cussed him up one side and down the other for keeping so much from her.

P.O.W. by ficwriter1966 (Gen)

Dean comes back from Hell with a major case of PTSD. Yeah, yeah, there are loads of fics like that. I like this one because it’s about Bobby dealing with it, not Sam. Dean’s fear is very well drawn in this story and Bobby is  good fit for Dean: he has the same way of saying a lot in very few words.

“Wake up now. Wake up. It’s all right.”

No. Not all right. He’s here foreveralways because he sold himself for Sam.

Sam couldn’t save him.

Nobody could save him.

Training Day by jdsgirlbev (Gen)

John wasn’t a bad father. Sometimes, he was a great dad. Short (under 500 words) but very sweet.

Sam crossed his arms and pulled his head down between his shoulders and put on his best “Dad is an asshole” face. “It’s too hot to do training.”

Dean’s elbow found his ribs, and after his eyes met mine in the rearview, Sam at least had the grace to look as if he wished he hadn’t spoken.

Always and Always by brin_bailey (Het, Dean/Jo, Sam/Jo)

Another post-Hell fic, with a very creepy twist. Dark and disturbing.

He comes back from hell broken and bleeding. Not quite dead and not quite breathing, he’s torn skin and white bone. But when you turn out the lights, he’s still Dean. He says your name and fucks you in two; and behind a ladder of ribs, you can feel his heart beating. He’s still Dean.

It’s his brother who comes back all wrong.

Heavier Things Remain by toneskis (Gen)

Post-No Rest For The Wicked, Lisa learns that Dean is gone. There is so much to love in this story: that Dean and Ben stayed in touch, the reference to Jus in Bello, that Sam didn’t call…most of all just how much Dean is loved. And the last line is a real gut-wrencher.

Ben stepped around the wall, shucking his backpack onto a spot she’d just cleared on the couch. After he gave her a hug, he made his daily sprint to the kitchen.

She didn’t have the heart to tell him there’d be no message, so she only watched as he climbed up one of the stools that lined the counter and bent over the answering machine. When he didn’t see the blinking light he was hoping for, he looked over his shoulder at her. She tried smiling, but the motion felt fake, so she pursed her lips in a way she hoped came off as some middle ground emotion. She’d give anything to ease the look of hurt that shaded his face.

“He didn’t call.”

Personal Effects by ficwriter1966 (Gen)

A week after John’s death, Bobby clears out his truck. It’s gen, but what really shines through in this story is love: Bobby’s love for the Winchesters (all of them, dammit), and John’s love for his sons.

“How’s she run?” he’d asked John that first day he showed up with the truck.

“Dependable,” was John’s answer.

It hadn’t been new, even then.  John couldn’t afford new – hell, he didn’t even have the money for anything used that was halfway decent, so obviously he’d made a deal with somebody.

Made another deal, six days ago.

Accidents Will Happen by holli (Gen)

The author’s summary reads: Some Goth teenagers accidentally resurrect John Winchester. No, seriously. And that’s really all you need to know. It manages to be spooky, funny and deadly serious all at once. I love the voice of the main character, too: she feels very real.

A draft fluttered through the room, making the candles gutter. I was watching them, nervous– the flames were really leaping around a lot, and linoleum might not burn but people do– so it took me a minute to notice how much else was going weird. Noreen’s voice took on this really unsettling echo, like other people were following along somewhere we couldn’t see. But I couldn’t let go of Leslie or Steph’s hands, and Noreen kept chanting, even though I couldn’t even hear her voice over the others anymore, and she was looking more and more panicked. The salt on the floor was– my hand to god– glowing, brighter and brighter, until I couldn’t see anything but white light, or hear anything but echoing voices.

All of a sudden, it just stopped– the wind, the lights, all of it, snap, gone, and I snatched my hands free. It took a couple of blinks to clear my vision; I felt dazed, and everyone else looked it.

The first thing I realized was this: there had been five people in the room when we started, and now there were six.

Person number six? Unconscious, curled up on his side in the middle of our pentagram, and, did I mention? Naked.

Without even looking, I whipped one hand out and covered Leslie’s eyes. “Hey!”

Fragile by nomelon (Slash, Meg/Ruby)

A scorching hot PWP. Hey, it’s demonic sex! How can you lose?

She remembers dozens of faces, dozens of bodies. Once or twice they’ve even been men, and that was a trip, but there’s nothing that comes close to this. Nothing like watching Ruby give up on fighting back, going under again and again, finally surrendering as she falls apart under Meg’s hands, her whole body shaking and trembling, biting on her own lip hard enough to draw blood.

That’s what Meg is waiting for. That’s why she keeps coming back to this weak little demon child. This girl who plays pretend at being human so convincingly it’s intoxicating.

Crossposted from my blog at Devil's Trap. You can comment here or on the blog.