dragojustine: (Christmas)
dragojustine ([personal profile] dragojustine) wrote2007-12-28 12:00 pm
Entry tags:

Just a Hole in Arizona: 26 and 30

Just a Hole in Arizona

Header post | 8 and 12 | 15 and 19 | 18 and 22 | 20 and 24 | 26 and 30


They finally got to the Grand Canyon.

Sam laid down on his belly to look over the edge, his head and one arm dangling down. There was a twisted, stubby pine growing out over the edge next to him, knotted and warped and hardly recognizable as a tree. It had none of that austere beauty Dean had recognized sometimes, in pictures of bonsai; instead, it just looked defeated by the constant stresses of wind and rock. Dean wondered vaguely whether it could ever grow straight again, if you replanted it now.

Geek-boy was talking excitedly about strata and erosion patterns and fossil evidence and Hualapai creation myths. All Dean could see was the curve of his ass under his jeans and the way the pervasive red dust stuck to the small of his back.

Sam rolled over, sitting up awkwardly and looking up at him. "What is it? I thought this was what you wanted. I mean, Dean, we finally got here-"

The only thing to do, obviously, was to drop to the dirt and cover Sam's mouth with his own. Dean kissed him like they hadn't kissed in months, and the worry lines on Sam's face smoothed like magic. Dean finally broke the kiss, pressing his forehead to Sam's and cupping the back of his neck roughly.

"Yeah. Yeah, we finally got here."
---------------------------------------------------------------

They spread out their sleeping bags that evening, while the vast emptiness beside them glowed gold and rose and dusky purple under the slanting sunlight. Sam shoved a rolled-up blanket under Dean's hips and covered Dean's body with his own, rocking gently and lacing their fingers together on the dirt above Dean's head.

Sam gasped quietly as he entered Dean, mouthing at the back of his neck. His muscles quivered with the strain of maintaining that same slow, steady rocking, implacable even as Dean bucked back against him with needy noises. When Sam finally reached down to wrap his palm around Dean's cock and thumb the tip roughly, Dean felt his fingers scrabbling desperately at the scrubby grass and weeds. There were no sheets to fist his hands in, nothing to hang on to as he felt himself come apart and Sam's voice shook in his ear, "I've got you. It's okay, I've got you."

Afterwards, Dean rolled onto his side and inspected the dry, pale dirt under his fingernails. Sam made a questioning noise, and Dean looked back at him.

"It really exists."

"What, Dean, the Grand Canyon? Yeah, it does. Dork."

Not the Grand Canyon. The end of the war. The rest of their lives. What now?

The sun had set and the color show was gone. The canyon loomed next to him, an unimaginable, unfathomable blankness. They had spread out on perfectly flat ground 50 yards from any kind of drop, but still Dean felt a sudden, terrifying attack of vertigo and pressed his face into the sleeping bag. There was nothing to grab onto, nothing to hold him against the dust, and Dean was just about to start berating himself for the stupidest, wussiest panic attack of all time when Sam rolled over with a grunt, threw one Sasquatch arm heavily across his back and buried his face against Dean's neck.
------------------------------------------------------------

They were taking one last long look the next morning when a dusty Winnebago rolled up. A couple got out, all dolled up in bright Hawaiian shirts and sunhats, the husband clutching a camera and guidebook.

Dean got them arranged properly, flashed a bright, brittle smile and said, "Say cheese!"

They hung around, ooh-ing and aah-ing as the brothers rolled up their sleeping bags. The guy, name of Richard, even offered them breakfast- scrambled eggs brought out from the tiny camper kitchen on bright blue plastic plates. They ate facing the edge, Richard and Barbara on little folding picnic chairs and Sam and Dean on their bedrolls. Barbara waved off their help with the dishes, so Dean sat there with Richard trying to orchestrate a friendly goodbye before the subject of grandkids came up.

"It's just so far down," Richard exclaimed suddenly.

Dean bit back a "Duh."

"I mean, it's so deep. How can anything go that far down? It's like looking down into the mouth of hell or something."

Out of the corner of his eye Dean saw Sam go suddenly, frighteningly still. He didn't move again from his spot by the twisted pine until Dean and Richard did their goodbyes, handshakes, jokes about the romance of the open road. As the RV grumbled to life and pulled away, he finally spoke.

"Actually, it's not like that at all."

[identity profile] third-requiem.livejournal.com 2007-12-29 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
This was so wonderful on so many levels. There really isn't one part I liked best because they all just worked together so perfectly and the whole Grand Canyon thing running through the entire series; their little promise to each other no matter where they were or how old. The whole thing reads so smoothly. The fourth bit hurt the most with Dean knowing and not doing anything but then letting Sam know he did know. ^_^ Gorgeous fic.

The only thing I'd point out is that I think you mean lair instead of liar for the harpy and troll pieces.

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2007-12-29 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you! Also for fixing my doofy spelling *sheepish*

[identity profile] runedgirl.livejournal.com 2007-12-29 05:19 am (UTC)(link)
Beautiful story, I love your portrayal of Dean and the depth of his feelings for Sam, from the very beginning. The Stanford chapter was heartbreaking, as I always find any fics that take place during that time, love the parallel use of the postcards. Oh, and hot too, really hot. :)
Thanks for sharing,
Lynsey

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2007-12-30 04:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, thank you. Stanford is this heartbreaking episode no matter how you write it, isn't it? Also, glad it was hot!

[identity profile] envinyatar15.livejournal.com 2007-12-29 05:37 am (UTC)(link)
Beautiful. I love how the Grand Canyon theme is the red cord, tying all those pieces together. Your Dean is great, his love for Sammy just showing through all of the parts so visibly. Of course the Stanford part just about ripped my heart out, but the last part totally made up for that. Your Weechesters are awesome, too - the conflict with John that shines through there is well done. Angry!Sam really got to me, as did little Sammy giving Dean that Grand Canyon poster.

Great job!

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2007-12-30 04:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks- I'm so glad it worked for you!

[identity profile] eviltish.livejournal.com 2007-12-29 03:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Emotional and beautiful. You get a real sense of who the Winchesters are in this, of why the show is so powerful and addictive. Their relationship is everything.

Thank you for sharing.

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2007-12-30 04:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Their relationship is indeed everything. *g*

[identity profile] wendy.livejournal.com 2007-12-29 08:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh that Stanford bit broke my heart wide open. I love how the Grand Canyon was sort of a repeating theme throughout their lives and that neither was about to actually see it without the other. I also love how Dean is so solely focused on Sam's emotions and moods. Very powerful.

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2007-12-30 04:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you.

[identity profile] dodificus.livejournal.com 2007-12-29 11:39 pm (UTC)(link)
This was so painful to read (in a good way!) how they kept missing each others point, they couldn't quite get it right with/for each other. The postcards and messages they sent each other, the culture within the whole family of 'not talking about it', whatever 'it' happened to be at the time.

I very, *very* much enjoyed this.

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2007-12-30 04:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Yaay! Yes, it sure does take a long time for them to end up on the same page.

[identity profile] lilieblues.livejournal.com 2007-12-29 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
This was so brilliant and gorgeous. I really loved how the Grand Canyon is like a link between these slices of life. I think the first part with Sam showing the catalogue to Dean broke me a little bit! Really beautiful. Thank you for sharing

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2007-12-30 04:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, thank you so much!

[identity profile] parlemer.livejournal.com 2007-12-30 07:08 am (UTC)(link)
This was wonderful. I love how the five parts can almost stand on their own, but they're still linked together. Very cool, well done <33

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2007-12-30 04:21 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm glad they stand on their own! I wasn't sure. Thank you.

[identity profile] mickeym.livejournal.com 2007-12-31 04:06 am (UTC)(link)
Absolutely gorgeous. Raw and sad, and happy and good, and just *wonderful*. Thank you for sharing:)

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2008-01-02 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
Aw, thank you so much!

[identity profile] greenapple.insanejournal.com (from livejournal.com) 2007-12-31 09:07 am (UTC)(link)
I enjoyed reading.

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2008-01-02 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
That's good. *g*
thanks

[identity profile] lazy-daze.livejournal.com 2007-12-31 01:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, this was utterly fabulous! So beautiful and painful, and such a fabulous, tense pre-Stanford Sam. <3

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2008-01-02 01:00 am (UTC)(link)
I'm so glad you think so!

[identity profile] flawedamythyst.livejournal.com 2007-12-31 06:12 pm (UTC)(link)
I loved this - awesome use of the Grand Canyon, and I love the way it followed their whole lives.

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2008-01-02 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks.

[identity profile] subtly-modded.livejournal.com 2008-01-01 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
That was awesome. I'm late reading/replying, so everyone's covered what I was thinking of saying..*little smile* You showed sho well our boys together through time and what did change and what *siiiiigh* didn't change.

Thank you.

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2008-01-02 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah... cause some things just won't ever change. *happy*
Thank you!

[identity profile] bitter-crimson.livejournal.com 2008-01-03 01:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I quite enjoyed reading this. :)

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2008-01-05 04:03 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks!

[identity profile] travesty-.livejournal.com 2008-01-04 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
so i have finally (at long last) found time to read this, and i just...wow. words literally escape me. (ok, maybe not, lol) i guess because i write in such short bursts myself i was expecting my gift to be a short piece as well, but this is so much more. and it's not just the length. the way you wrote sam and dean. how dean always gives up things, and the "you should have gone to the grand canyon" and god, the last line.

haha, i must sound like a total dork, but thank you, thank you, thank you! this was amazing :D

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2008-01-05 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
Aw, yaay.

Also, somebody who liked that last line! *dances*

[identity profile] oriundus.livejournal.com 2008-01-04 12:35 pm (UTC)(link)
I’ve been saving this for when I had time to read it all at once, and it was SO worth the wait. Dean’s panic attack at the end said so much about what’s happened. The whole Stanford episode was brilliantly done, with both Dean and John checking up on Sam, and I love the last line.

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2008-01-05 04:06 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I find the idea of Dean's character after the END- end of the demon war, end of the FBI chasing them, end of any kind of threat to his life or Sam's- to be really interesting. How would Dean handle that, at all?

Ohmygod, TWO people liked the last line! *dances more* Thank you so much!

[identity profile] leighm.livejournal.com 2008-01-05 06:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Awesome story. Exactly how I love to read about the boys. The scene in the tent when Sam spread the book across Dean's lap-yeah, I just about lost it there. It's experiences like that that remind me how much of the 'normal' they missed out on even though they do have such a sense of family and togetherness which is really what it's all about. But I wish that they had been given the opportunity to grow up knowing what normal felt like. Of course, they wouldn't be exactly how we know them to be:)

Ok, I'm rambling but reading all of this was amazing and thank you so much for sharing.

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2008-01-13 06:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Aw, thank you so much!

[identity profile] nerowill.livejournal.com 2008-01-10 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
This was a wonderful series! The part where Sam was 18 and clearly about to leave for college and the part where Dean never sent him the postcard were awesome moments. I also resally liked the way Dean is clearly torn between protecting his Dad and Sam. :)

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2008-01-13 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, it sure is hard to be Dean. Thank you!

[identity profile] elmo-loves-me.livejournal.com 2008-01-13 05:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, this was gorgeous. I love how you chose to write it out in vignettes like this - I think the style worked very well for what you were trying to convey, and it gave the story exactly the right feel, IMO.

I love that you didn't write Sam leaving, but we still got to feel it, and I love that Sam refuses to go to the Grand Canyon with anyone but Dean, and that it takes 18 years, but they still make it.

Lovely. Wonderful. ♥.

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2008-01-13 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, thank you!

[identity profile] merely-anger.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 11:05 am (UTC)(link)
Whenever I read a story and I get to the end, if the last sentence isn't powerful and makes you feel like you just got done reading something truly amazing, then the whole thing wasn't worth it. And I have to say, honey, you did a phenomenal job. The last lines to each segment are all quite simply perfect. Ties everything together and makes it flow so wonderfully. This story hurt so good. I loved every word of it.

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 03:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, thank you so much!

[identity profile] affectingly.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
Oh wow, this whole series is beautiful and vivid and just... some of the best characterization I've ever seen of the boys. I loved it.

[identity profile] dragojustine.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
Wow, that's an incredible compliment. *blush* thank you!
ext_8208: (Default)

[identity profile] merihn.livejournal.com 2008-11-12 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
eeEMKLSENIKDSMJBFECNKJXDE!!!!

*EPIC FLAIL*

Omg, that was amazing and beautiful and awesome. God. It was utterly perfect.

BOYS. I loved the progression, the little snapshot... the intensely hot sex, even though there wasn't much. *grins*

[identity profile] free-pirate.livejournal.com 2008-12-20 07:44 am (UTC)(link)
Oh god. Ohgodohgodohgod.

I know I'm a little late to the party (nearly a whole year, now. o.O), but I just found this. I love the Grand Canyon running theme through all of it. All of the parts pretty much killed me, especially the fourth (20 and 24, I think it was), to the point where I was actually rocking in my chair. I love the depth you have here, how the feeling comes through so vividly, even when you don't use a lot of words. The impact is the same, maybe more so, because of how much you say with so little words.

Also? You're *awesome*. ^_^
aryas_zehral: (Default)

[personal profile] aryas_zehral 2009-02-01 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
I really enjoyed this series.