So sad in places. I have come to the end of this great piece of writing. The Stanford scenes are heartbreaking. Dean is just adorable. John calling him desperate was cruel but it is the way that he realises this, that makes him so much more likeable. Father and son are bonding like never before. There is mutual respect and the realisation that both are damaged men. Dean in body at that time and John emotionally. I love the way you show John caring for Dean like a mother hen and Dean falling back to little boy mode. Very powerful flashback to Dean as a 5 year old needing his daddy to save him. I find the playing of the song "sweet child of mine" wonderful. It brings everything together. It reminds John of what the nurse said and how he had almost laughed. Now it is not so funny. John sees Dean differently. He is his sweet boy. His son. John is Dean's daddy at this moment...The commander in chief has been laid to rest for a short while...I love this story. It made me very emotional. You are an extremely gifted writer.

This is an outstanding work of fanfiction. I have always loved the characterisation of John in season 1. You write him like I have always thought him to be. Not only is John beautifully portrayed but Dean is the definitive Dean in my eyes. You have so cleverly captured his essence. A good son but first and foremost a brother. This unhealthy attachment to Sam is John's doing. He made looking after Sammy Dean's MO. His top priority or he would not have been able to leave them when they were young to hunt. Dean has been brainwashed. He needs to see Sam more than is good for him. Powerful stuff. John's capitulation in chapter 6 is totally believable. He is a father first. He does not want to let Dean down. He cannot hear to see his disappointment if he did. Three chapters to go and I cannot wait to see what will happen. This is amazing!

This is beautiful, but almost cruel in its happiness. Because we know what's in store for them, and it makes this fleeting and tragic. You're a fantastic author.

Great characterization! I've read too many stories where John is dipicted as this evil monster, but I think John is just like how you portrayed him. Fantastic job and keep up the good work!

great story! appreciated the characterization and your handling of a tough and often exaggerated topic. Seen many a fic with blind bashing off John, I much more appreciate an author that takes the time to consider and show where the character is coming from and their own struggles and thoughts. You did a great job of that here. Seeing Dean through his perspective was great too.

I appreciated how the two Winchesters spoke too, I almost forgot that John used "Dude" in canon, and it totally fit here. All your cultural references, specifically music, really helped flesh the story out, I liked it even when I really wasn't familiar with some of it (e.g. Captain Nolan)!

Thank you for sharing your hard work, I'm glad to have found it. :)

I know this fic is a bit old now but I just had to say how much I enjoyed it. I so rarely read fics from John's point of view, and even less often are they able to tell such a full story of the emotions of the other characters like this. It's nice to think John knew the affect his emotions and anger had on others, and especially on Dean.

This was a simply superb rendering of John Winchester! Harsh, yes, but very aware of his mistakes yet unable to alter his methods because of his single-minded focus...He clearly loves his boys but doesn't know how to show it. I loved how in tune he was with Dean and how he knew Sam as well. This is one of the best John and Dean stories I've come across!

Like your beginning!

This was just heartbreaking. I appreciate how you didn't take sides in this, didn't vilify anyone (not Sam for deciding to leave, not John for being hurt by that, not Dean for staying in the middle of the conflict), and how you showed that behind all that John Winchester gruffness and sternness, there is a real love and concern for both of his children and for their well-being. And how trying to reconcile that with the world of monsters and evil that John knows is out there is almost an impossible task.

I really enjoyed this fic. Thank you!

Beautifully written with great, on-the-nose characterizations. I loved the John POV throughout. Thank you for sharing, and thank you to the person who nominated it in the Supernatural Fan Fiction Monthly Awards. A well-deserved win.

I enjoyed reading you story. Thank you for sharing.

I think there are some stories that are so well drawn from canon and imagination that they have this unquestionable aura of truth about them. This is such a story. You have taken all the minute details that the show offered, have looked at them with care and thought and understanding, and have delivered a tale that simply rings true, in the characters, in the events and in the aftermath. I loved it and will come back to it time and time again.

Supernatural FanFiction Monthly Awards Review:

This story has so many layers, but you wrap them all around one central theme - the relationship between Dean and John and their trying to cope with the absence of Sam, their ongoing battle because of what happened. I like the imagery of this as a battle, and that by the end, they've reached an armistice, a truce, and have settled into a new reality that allows for Sam's absence yet still includes him in their family, even if it's only in the drive-by sightings they allow themselves.

The ending is satifying because John has changed; he's come to a new understanding of Dean as a "sweet child" - just as Sister Carol described - has reconnected with him and the blame and anger that lay between them has receded.

Supernatural Fanfiction Monthly Awards Review:

So what's interesting about your premise - and I kicked myself for not having seen that Dean never intended to have a face-to-face with Sam - is the idea that perhaps John (from the thought "Whatever it took, he'd make it happen") set things up in season 1 by disappearing just so that the brothers would get together again. He knew that Dean would go to Sam when he disappeared... That he was doing this for the sake of their reunion (not just to keep them safely out of the hunt for yellow-eyes) is something you set up here.

Supernatural FanFiction Monthly Awards Review:

You wove threads of the past - Dean being lulled to sleep in the Impala, Sam's growth spurt leading to him bequeathing the car to Dean - with the present situation, and with John's anxiety at transporting Dean in his condition coupled with his nervousness at the impending meeting with Sam. The images from the past lent the present, tension-fraught situation a greater richness and poignancy.