crack_van | Driving Down the Darkness by nutkin (NC-17)

Fandom: SUPERNATURAL
Pairing: Sam/Dean
Author on LJ:

nutkin
Author Website: fic index
Why this must be read:

oh good lord. I don't know if anything I say can fully explain the brilliance of this story. A coda to the entire first season, this story explores all the in-between spaces, the things left unsaid and unseen, weaving through and around each episode. It's a beautifully written story, with both Sam and Dean ringing so true. If somehow Sam/Dean were canon, this is exactly how it would happen.

Sam can trace his history through the highways and back roads they drive on, but there are notable differences now. America looks tired, worn out. This is a world less interested in waving people through, more interested in seeing credentials. People don't open their doors quite as wide, satisfied with nodding from a distance rather than shaking hands.

He had taken it for granted that the road would stay the same, but it's changed as much as he has.

They get to Blackwater Ridge fast, like making up for that lost time in Palo Alto. Dean guns the engine when they head past the Colorado state line sign, and even though they don't say much, he knows they're thinking the same thing. Their dad will know what to do. He'll have some answers for them, and even though it might be tense – even after this kind of tragedy, the old man's not going to be as quick to forgive as Dean – it'll all come out in the wash.

Growing up with John Winchester hadn't ever been easy. There were too many fights, too many times common sense was turned down in favor of whatever he had up his sleeve. One of the promises Sam made to himself when he left was that he wasn't going to play those games anymore. He wouldn't be pushed around by someone else's desires, someone else's life. He wasn't going to be his father's son.

When there's nothing waiting for them in Blackwater Ridge except another job, just like Jericho, it's like the final turn of the knife.

Driving Down the Darkness