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Epilogue.
There are two stocky, no-nonsense women drinking antique Coronas in the booth by the door when the kid walks in, making this officially their busiest night since opening.
"Dude," Dean says. "We're cool. We're like a happening spot. We're legitimate business owners."
Sam rolls his eyes and sips from a can of Tab they found in the back closet next to a bag of pork rinds with a pull-date from 1982. "Pillars of the community. Sure they'll give us the key to the city as soon as they're through with the paperwork." Dean punches Sam in the arm. Sam grins till his cheeks hurt.
The young man is standing in front of the bar, staring at Sam. Dean doesn't like it when people stare at Sam. Sam watches Dean's hand casually drifting to rest under the bar where the shotgun is. "I'd ask you for ID," Dean says mildly, "but I'm pretty sure you were a glimmer in the long-haul trucker's eye the last time anyone was issuing government ID. I can hook you up with a grape Fanta. It's a 1995, good vintage."
Sam wishes Dean wouldn't insult people's parentage, particularly since most people's parents are dead these days.
The kid visibly shakes his head as he snaps out of it. "Sorry. I came because I heard a rumor. Wow."
Dean stiffens. He doesn't like it when people hear whispers and come to try to shoot Sam in the back when he turns around to pour their drinks, either. Sam watches Dean's hand curling tighter around the shotgun and jostles him warningly with a knee. The kid's young, swimming in a coat three sizes too big for him, oughta be at some college party, or dragging all his laundry home over break to use his parents' washer. Sam leans over the bar, tries to look non-terrifying. "What can we help you with?"
"Actually, I've got something for you." When the kid reaches into his coat pocket, Sam's afraid Dean'll shoot him, but the kid produces a harmless scrap of paper. A photo. He hands it to Sam. "I thought you'd want this back."
By the time Sam breaks out of his trance, the kid's gone.
"What is it?" Dean asks suspiciously.
"I don't know," Sam says, handing the snapshot over. "I don't remember it."
Sam watches Dean take in the photo, bites his lip at the softening of Dean's facial expression. Dean looks up suddenly. "Where'd that guy get this?"
Sam shrugs. "Don't know. Glad he gave it back. I like it." Sam takes the picture back, lovingly straightening its dogeared edges. "We look happy."
Dean wraps his arms around Sam's waist from behind as Sam turns to face the back of the bar. "We're happy now."
Sam smiles broadly as he tucks the snapshot into the frame of the mirror that spans the wall behind dusty whiskey bottles. "There."
In the photograph, a garish monument looms with styrofoam solemnity in a grassy field. A man, young and momentarily untroubled, smiles bashfully. There's a sun in the sky, and a bird perched on the Welcome to Foamhenge sign. And there are two brothers, together.
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Date: 2013-01-08 03:08 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2013-03-06 07:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-06 08:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-13 02:58 pm (UTC)Dean swells with joy and pride and anticipation (I'm gonna get my Sammy back, he's not lost, one day he'll remember everything I did for him, he'll remember, really remember that I'm his Dean)
which definitely had the ring of something that was never going to happen!
It's all so vivid, with so many memorable incidents like Dean breaking his leg and Sam discovering dental floss!
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Date: 2013-03-14 11:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-03 06:39 pm (UTC)omg my heart is in pieces
but in a good way
wonderful
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Date: 2013-05-14 02:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-31 04:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-13 11:31 pm (UTC)When Sam first starting talking I thought it was just Dean imagining it because it came out of nowhere but then he just kept on going. I was disappointed to see that he didn't personally regain his memories but the base of him was still Sam. I wasn't surprised that Sam and Dean eventually got caught, but the way it happened made me laugh. I didn't want this to end!
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Date: 2013-10-01 03:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-16 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-04-02 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-23 07:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-30 11:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-08 07:04 am (UTC)I've read a lot of fanfiction since joining the Supernatural fandom -- over 200 fics, last time I counted -- and this one easily makes that very small handful of fics I call my all-time favorites. Titles and authors blur and fade from my memory, but Dictionary for a Dead Language stands tall and bright in my mind like a neon sign. Just looking at the title is enough to make my stomach twist with the remembered pangs of bittersweet pain.
I just finished reading it the fourth time. I love it so much. This fanfic, like so few others can, gets under my skin and won't let me forget it. I find myself remembering it on random days, thinking about the dread I felt as I read it, and then the bittersweet hope at the end.
Like, I just -- this fanfic messed me up for days after I finished it the first time. I remember being engrossed in the prologue, already feeling a little bit trepidation, when that -- that scene happened with Sam and the birthday cake and. You shattered me with that scene. It's so powerful, such an incredible image of what had happened to Sam, such a fantastic way to begin the fanfic. I remember how my stomach dropped when you revealed that what Dean had gotten was a birthday cake, and how I pretty much hollowed out and died when I realized Dean was celebrating his catatonic brother's birthday. I just.
And it didn't stop. There's not a moment in this story where the spell breaks. It's 3 hours of constant remorse, pain, and bittersweet joy at every victory. When I get to the last letter, it's like coming out of a trance, wondering where the time has gone.
I feel faintly dorky doting on your fanfic so eloquently like this, but you need to know. I can't even articulate it. There's so much more I want to say, but I don't know how to say it. I love this fanfic. I would choose this fanfic over famous published stories. I love this freaking fanfic.
Just. Thank you for this experience. Thank you so much. You are such a talented writer, and I hope you continue to write until you take your last breath.
Also, as one last note, I'd like to say that I totally fell for it when Sam "ran" to Dean when he broke his leg. I actually thought Sam had woken up. Not one of my finer moments.
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Date: 2016-03-03 01:01 pm (UTC)Thank you so much for sharing this! :)
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Date: 2016-06-26 12:18 am (UTC)*hugs*
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Date: 2018-02-06 10:06 am (UTC)I'm so late to the game, and not sure if you're even still around to read my comment, but this was breathtaking. I don't have the words to adequately express my feelings, so I'm just sticking with breathtaking.
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Date: 2018-08-18 05:29 pm (UTC)♡
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Date: 2019-03-20 02:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-19 09:40 am (UTC)