Monday fic recs

[hils]

Dean/Castiel
Across The Universe
After Sam is gone, Dean drives around without a purpose or destination. Castiel follows and finds out firsthand what both human grief and human desire feel like.
I really loved seeing Cas struggling to understand grief and the slow build of his relationship with Dean. This was the perfect balance of angst and schmoop for me

In This Life
Dean would do anything to help Castiel live a happy and fulfilling human life, but Cas' ideas about how to do that are eating away at their friendship. When Dean finally comes to terms with why this is, will it be too late to save what they had?
Oh, I loved this so much! Poor Dean! Poor Cas! And awesome!Sam *g*

Blood is Freedom's Stain by littlehollyleaf
Set after 5.20 'The Devil You Know.' It turns out Gabriel has more and better friends than he realised. Friends willing to do what ever it takes to bring him back - including manipulating a well-meaning, if somewhat naïve, Castiel. But perhaps the consequences, painful as they are and all the worse for playing out as the apocalypse nears its climax, are just the catalyst Dean and Cas need to admit their growing feelings for each other (and maybe even teach Gabriel a thing or two as well).
This is an epic fic in the absolute literal sense of the word. It's well written, dramatic and chock full of awesome. I sat up until 4am reading it because I couldn't stop.

Face to Face with the Skies by quiddative
Castiel was not killed by Raphael on the night of Lucifer’s release. Instead, he’s sent to the year 1996 and encounters the Winchesters. Unable to return to the present, Castiel resigns himself to traveling with them on their hunts across the states.
Meanwhile in the year 2008, Dean has barely gotten used to being back in the land of the living when he gets the biggest shock of his life; the man he fell in love with when he was eighteen has seemingly come back from the grave as well, claiming to be an angel of the Lord. The thing is, he doesn’t have a clue who Dean is.
Another absolutely amazing and gripping read. Really neat concept wonderfully executed. I was sad when it was over.

Paved with Good Intentions by crystamartin
When Castiel finally locates Dean in Hell after forty years, he finds the righteous man changed into something much darker than the angel had expected. Such a creature cannot be resurrected, so Castiel must return him to the man he used to be before he can be sent back to Earth.
I really love the idea behind this and it's a lovely engaging fic. I enjoyed being on the journey with the characters.

Gen
The Bird that Feels the Light by ratherastory
AU from 5.18 (or thereabouts). Castiel awakens in the middle of a smoking crater, stranded and very much human. According to the people who have discovered him, it’s six months to the day after Michael and Lucifer faced off on the field of battle outside of Detroit, and Castiel isn’t the only one to have returned. When, at his insistence, they take him to this other person, he finds a child –a little boy– and realizes that, contrary to all his expectations, he has been reunited with Dean Winchester.
The world has changed in their absence, and not for the better. Sam is gone, whether dead or simply missing is uncertain. Castiel is given the name of a man in Idaho who may have answers for him. He is faced with the task of travelling cross-country with Dean, who is dependent on him now in ways he never was before, in order to discover the truth. But along the way, as he and Dean learn to know and trust each other once more, Castiel begins to realize that the answers he thought he wanted might not be the ones he needs.
This was amazing. I got absolutely sucked into this and everyone was written perfectly. The OCs were natural and realistic and I loved that some old characters came back in a way that didn't feel forced at all. Absolutely wonderful story.

Jensen/Misha
Reflections of Heaven and Home by morganoconner
Brought back to life and tossed into a world not his own, Gabriel finds himself unwittingly in the company of three humans...three humans who are both painfully familiar to him and vastly different from the people he left behind. In Jensen and Misha, he sees the same hidden longing he'd long since grown to recognize in Dean and Castiel, and with nothing else to occupy his attention, he sets out to do something about it the way he never could in his own world. Meanwhile, in Jared, he finds a partner-in-crime, a friend...and maybe something else he isn't entirely ready for.
I'm sure you all know I love FPS/RPS crossovers and this one did not disappoint. It was an absolute joy to read. Everyone was very much in character despite of the unusual scenario and I was just smiling from start to end.