SPN Reclist: Undercover Couple
This marks the first time I've split fics in a trope reclist! Used to be one big "casefics reclist" but now I've divided them to be "undercover couple" and "gen casefic" recs. 😊 One of these fics is more just 'pretend/fake couple' instead of going undercover for the case, but I figured I'd include it. The lighthearted playfulness comes in spades in these shippy casefics and I can never get enough!
Let's get started! 🤗 ❤️
Category: Sam/Dean
Salt Water Cure by smalltroven. Rated mature, 9k words, Sam/Dean. Summary: Set after episode 10.5 "Fan Fiction"- Sam and Dean have
to be pretend boyfriends for a case which leads to many changes neither of them ever expected
https://archiveofourown.org/works/3066830
My favorite part about this fic was how Sam (and Dean) slowly realized how much they enjoyed the casual closeness they kept up to look like a long-term couple. They were falling for their own moves, basically, just warming to basic soft touch and closeness and I couldn't get enough. I love when they're affectionate with each other!
ao3.org/series/16385
my thoughts: This is such a weirdly charming series. I loved it. It was just so pleasant! And I really like consenting-adults-during-cases-slow-burn-romance fics.
Summer Film Festival of Death by OldToadWoman. NC-17, Sam/Dean, 127k words. Summary: Sam's point of view as he and Dean go on a hunt at a Florida movie theater where a person has died at every Saturday matinee for a month. They are short on clues leaving them an excessive amount of time to watch movies and drink booze and there's nothing to distract Sam from his increasingly inappropriate thoughts about his brother.(Per the prompt, this fic contains spilled popcorn and Winchesters clinging together watching a scary movie. As a bonus, this fic also contains Winchesters in various stages of dress and undress in the Florida heat. "Your un-flannelled Kansas ass needs sunscreen.")
ao3.org/works/11965716
my thoughts: This fic is in my top favorite spn fics of all time . season 11 setting, Sam and Dean as mature consenting adults, sweet loving huggy cuddly slow burn romance during an interesting/quirky case of movie-based murders, brilliant atmospheric detail (muggy Florida, outrun movie theater aesthetics, hot motel rooms). I am SO HAPPY to have found this fic. One of the best I 've read in awhile. And so long! 127k WOO! Also yay fake/pretend relationship trope! This fic is also in my love letter to location fic reclist .
Windfall for the Nonbeliever by Glovered. Rated R, Sam/Dean, 34k. Summary: After Sam's first Hell flashback, he and Dean work a job that means posing as a couple in a planned community.
ao3.org/works/261661/
my thoughts: I love that they 're going into this super stable community after something so unsettling as Sam 's hell flashback. And also anything that reminds me of the X-Files episode Arcadia is an instant lovefest from me. That 's this fic and also dragonspell 's (below)
Welcome to Sunrise Acres by dragonspell, Rated NC-17, Sam/Dean, 36k words. Summary: Situated outside of Phoenix, Arizona, Sunrise Acres boasted of being a quiet, affluent gated community with all the latest amenities: a truly better way of living. With a zero percent crime rate, the only real problem according to residents were the coyotes that sometimes slipped the fence and prowled the neighborhood. Of course, that was before residents started disappearing and the dried out corpses starting piling up in the desert. To hunt the creature responsible, Sam and Dean become the newest couple at Sunrise Acres.
ao3.org/works/212563
my thoughts: I just love this premise, lol. Exciting casefic too!
Luna de Miel by theproblematique. Wincest, 54k, Explicit. Summary: Supernatural Agents Sam and Dean Winchester are sent to investigate a prominent law firm with suspected werewolf activity. It's supposed to be an easy case since Sam's new to the job, and Dean has been assured that they are just doing reconnaissance. The first complication is the senior partner's assumption that they are married, not related. The second is that they know jack squat about navigating office politics. The third is that werewolves may not be the only supernatural creatures here. And the fourth... is the same as the first; Dean just feels that it bears repeating.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/2127699
My thoughts: This story is just so thrilling! I loved the misunderstandings between Sam and Dean in the beginning and the undercover assignments they took (Sam's an executive assistant, Dean's signed up for facilities). Nobody really shifted in this story so I'm not putting it into my animal transformation reclist; it fits very snugly into this undercover couple reclist . I love this trope and this story was a gem of it!
Never Said a Word Beneath the Calm by orphan_account, Rated NC-17, Dean/Sam, 71k. Summary: Season 1. A wave of Missing Persons cases at an upscale couples resort catches the Winchesters' attention, prompting them to go undercover to investigate. Dean figures there's no harm in faking a romantic relationship with his little brother as long as it nets them the best service the hotel can offer, but it's a little unsettling how easily the pretending seems to come to him. Especially when Sam's acting has never been quite this good before.
ao3.org/works/13423260
my thoughts: This fic was charming as all get-out. I love how playful and relaxed these pretend-gay casefics tend to be. Just like a breath of fresh air sometimes after reading so much heavy taboo darkness in this ship sometimes, you know? Eugara very recently purged their fandom social media/orphaned their works and I miss them deeply 😭 😭 😭 I sincerely hope they 're okay wherever they are ❤️️
Category: Jared/Jensen
Operation: Mistletoe by dimpleforyourthoughts. Rated NC-17, Jensen/Jared, 40k words. Summary: FBI Agent Jensen Ackles is a damn good agent, but his devil-may-care attitude, gut instinct, and sheer dumb luck have finally run out. With his job and reputation on the line, Jensen is assigned to a new partner: the overzealous and overachieving Agent Jared Padalecki. Their mission: Infiltrate a ring of drug dealers hiding out in Suburbia in the midst of the Holiday season.The only catch? They have to pretend to be head-over-heels in love with each other.
ao3.org/works/5553827
my thoughts: Okay, I actually adore Law Enforcement AUs, whether it 's Sam+Dean or Jensen+Jared, just the mystery and thrill of solving crimes together with some actual authority & resources, having a network of coworkers to banter with, etc. is just kind of an amazing atmosphere to get lost in. Also dimpleforyourthoughts is a fantastic author that brings their stories to life so well. This fic is also recommended in my winter holidays fic reclist and my mundane fic reclist