An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Summary: When Sam stumbles across an object of dark magic in the bunker, he is sealed inside a room and forced to suffer through his greatest fears. Dean and the others desperately try to find out how to rescue him from behind wards that can stop an archangel, but even if they get him out of the room, will they be able to save him from his own mind?
Inspired by the By the Grace of God series, by TheRiverScribe.
- written after chapter six of Teach Your Children.
Chapter 1: Ohrwurm
There is a humming noise in the back of his mind that draws him to a room. To a drawer. To a stone.
Chapter 2: Vastbijten In
There is a volume somewhere of the Oxford English Dictionary where Dean Winchester's picture is included under the word Stubborn.
Chapter 3: Ya’arburnee
There is someone else in the room with Sam. Someone who wants to make a deal.
Chapter 4: Mutterseelinallein
Grief can stretch across fathoms, to the deepest hells and the highest heavens, and no angel is immune to the cry of a fledgling. Michael comes to investigate the trouble at the bunker and suffers his own loss and grief as a result.
Chapter 5: Leitmotif
Many things in their lives change but this will stay the same: Dean will always protect his little brother.
Chapter 6: Saudade
Sam doesn't remember when Dean first started singing, but his life can be measured in music and silence.
Chapter 7: Enthousiasmos
Castiel has always been curious.
Chapter 8: Ikigai
All angels have a purpose, a reason for being, that has shaped their perceptions across millennia. The Angel Guard are no different.
Chapter 9: Cafuné
Is Dean real or is he dead? Does Castiel want to kill him or protect him? Is everything Mammon says true or is it all lies? Sam is so confused, so tired, and so, so scared.