That's funny--I wrote the story thinking of the question of family and the boys' relationship, leaving the question of their destinies out of the equation, but I knew people would think of it in those terms, too, so last night my friend and I discussed whether they would really have been better off with more training, only to realize--Sam died anyway at the end of S2, so his training didn't save him there! And it was their love for each other that allowed him to overpower Lucifer, which would only have been stronger in this story's scenario! So, much as I love John for doing everything he thought he had to to protect and train his children to face any eventuality, maybe it didn't do them that much good in the end .... Fun to talk about it and consider, in any case. :-)

Glad you liked the fic!