Title: Sound of Madness
Author: Laura
Disclaimer: Eric Kripke owns Supernatural, and Joss Whedon owns Buffy the Vampire slayer. I'm just making sandcastles in their sandboxes.
Word Count: 16,588
Warnings: None
Spoilers: Up through 6.17 for BtVS, and mid-season 2 for SPN
Summary: While investigating the mysterious deaths of orderlies at an insane asylum, Dean and Sam overhear a young woman tell of a world of demons and monsters with surprising accuracy. After digging deeper, they discover that she's not insane like her family claims, but her mind is trapped between two dimensions.
They reluctantly agree to help her find her way back to her own reality, but when Buffy Summers realizes she can help the Winchester brothers fight the Yellow Eyed demon that has been terrorizing their family, she's torn between her old, restricted life in Sunnydale and this new life of fighting evil on her own terms.
Author's Notes: Written for the LJ sncross_bigbang in 2010. The title and overall theme comes from Shinedown's song Sound of Madness, available for download in my soundtrack post on LJ which can be found here. Notes and other acknowledgments are at the end of chapter two.
...
The day started out like any other, except for a moment Buffy's mind panicked at the thought of being in the insane asylum. Some days, it was hard to rationalize which world she was in, which place her body was in, but today was easier. Her mind knew where she was now. The sterile, white walls were a shock to her senses and she made her muscles relax with a sigh.
The doctors had put her back in her room, thankfully not strapped down, because she had what they liked to call an "episode". Her mind flipped to Sunnydale like a switch went off in her mind. There were no floating lights or a warning tingling in her fingers. One minute she was playing checkers with another patient and the next she was in the middle of a phone call to Willow.
In the few days that she'd been aware in the asylum, she gleaned that these episodes hadn't happened very often, but the doctors were worried about them becoming stronger and more frequent. A specialist had been in and out of the facility for days, questioning her, going over her charts, and even dragging her parents into her room so often that their visits were beginning to blur.
Instead of being happy that she had her mother alive and father interested, Buffy was growing tired of the ache in her chest when their smiling faces appeared. She wouldn't deny what she knew, but there was no way she could just pretend Sunnydale never happened, and that's what her parents in this reality wanted. There was no forgetting the past six years of her life there.
Voices whispered outside her room and Buffy brought her knees up to her chest, looking outside the barred, frosted windowed glass. The specialist was due back today and she really wasn't looking forward to the analyzing stares and overwhelming pity that rolled off of him.
The door was pushed open further and she heard two different sets of footfalls enter the room. One stopped at the doorway while the other walked towards her and around the edge of the bed.
She had no interest in him and kept staring outside. She could barely make out the dulled green of the tree through the distorted glass. Her right hand clenched every once in a while. The tree reminded her of solid wood, the comforting memory of a rough-grained stake.
In her peripheral vision, she saw a man in a black suit, which was different than the white lab coat the doctors wore. Buffy was in no mood for new faces and new tests. She remained stoic.
"Is this some kind of joke? Does this chick know how to do anything but drool?"
Buffy cracked a small Mona Lisa smile. These weren't doctors because even through the most vulgar or amusing or downright strange patient tirades, they were always nothing but professional. If she had to guess, these two men weren't a professional of any kind.
"Sunlight, wooden stake to the heart, beheading, fire, holy water."
She saw the man closest to her physically jump. Unlike back in Sunnydale, she had perfected the calm and statue-like state that never ceased to make orderlies and doctors alike become startled when she spoke or moved. Buffy thought it had something to do with the drugs and her Slayer self-control combined.
"Um, I'm sorry?"
"Ways to kill a vampire. I know how to do that."
Buffy finally looked over at the man and then at the other man by the door. The one closest to her was shorter, but looked older. He was scruffy and had a rough aura about him. His head was tossed back and his chin raised, but his brow gave away his confusion. The younger man by the door was more interested in the other's reaction instead of her.
"Right," the man said dubiously before holding out his hand. "I'm—"
"Lying," she said, looking from his face to his hand and then back up to his face. "I've done that enough to know when it's being done to me."
He had plenty of confidence to him, but it was the wrong kind. Judging by the suit, he was trying to pass off as law enforcement or an investigator from some agency, maybe even a federal organization. She'd been around plenty of cops, good and bad, and soldiers. He held himself like a soldier, and one that had seen his fair share of fights.
But, there was something off about him and especially the other man. Her slayer senses were still active in this reality, and while he didn't feel like a vampire, he didn't feel completely human either.
The man turned to his partner. "She doesn't seem that—"
Suddenly, they were gone from her vision. The white walls disappeared as did the hard bed beneath her. Instead, she was sitting in her room, the green hue reflecting off of the comforter of her own bed. In front of her, Dawn was trying to sneak a sweater back into her closet, but that wasn't what made her angry. The tell-tale purple stain on the front was the result of Codger demon blood, something they'd defeated a few days ago while walking home from the Bronze. She hadn't noticed that Dawn was wearing one of her sweaters, but with the offending blood on it, she was caught red handed.
"Dawn!" Buffy snapped, standing up and glaring at her. "How many times have I told you not to borrow my sweaters?"
There was a whisper in her mind, but she shook it away. The word insane, hung in the air.
"Do you know how hard it is to get Codger blood out of clothing?"
Just as Dawn opened her mouth to explain, Buffy felt a pull and she was staring at a wall back in the asylum
The man snorted and Buffy snapped her head to face him. She could see both him and his partner now, and the tall one was staring at her like she was a curious puzzle he needed to figure out.
"It's impossible to get Codger blood out of clothing. It took me a week of scrubbing to declare my favorite t-shirt a lost cause." Dean stopped before looking over at her in surprise. "Son of a bitch, how did she know that?"
The other man finally spoke as he fully entered the room. "I told you, even if she may be classified insane, she knows the paranormal better than some of the hunters around here. She was admitted almost seven years ago but has still been talking about the supernatural like she's living in another world. Her doctors say she built a fantasy world to cope with her illness."
His words, while logical, made her angry. Buffy started shaking, both in resentment and fear. "It's not another world! This is another world!" she shouted, backing herself into a corner. "That demon skewered me and injected me with something and now my mom's alive and my sister's gone and I don't know what's real!"
This would be what the doctors called a "breakdown". They always came after her Sunnydale flashes. She got so overwhelmed that her body tended to shut down; at one point, she even threw an orderly who was trying to subdue her halfway across the room.
Buffy took deep breaths and tried not to cry. Through her noisy inhalations, she heard one of the men talking. "Dean, what if she's telling the truth? What if she was infected or poisoned by a demon and now she sees the supernatural?"
"That's a bit much, even for you, Mr. 'I can't believe the Easter Bunny isn't real.'"
Buffy looked up, still gulping in air after her mild panic attack. The shorter man, Dean, was joking with his partner, who she was beginning to suspect was related to him. That just confirmed the thought that they weren't officials of any sort in her mind.
"Dude, I was seven."
A breeze drifted on the back of her neck and she shivered. A silvery wisp passed to her left and she let out her breath. It turned to a foggy mist in front of her. Buffy snapped her attention back to the two men.
"Liar." They both turned to her, expressions of confusion on their faces. She snorted. "You were eight."
Dean's eyebrows went up. "Okay, now that's just creepy."
Buffy was about to retort when her doctor stepped into the room and her mouth shut with an audible click. As she clenched her jaw, the doctor looked at the two men suspiciously.
"Excuse me?" They turned around. "Do you have authorization to be in this room?"
"FBI, doctor," Dean said smoothly, giving the man an easy grin. She was right, in both ways. No FBI personnel would believe her when she talked about the demons and vampires of Sunnydale. "We were just seeing if anyone knew any more details about the orderlies that were murdered."
The doctor came into the room fully, his expression showing he didn't really believe them. "Miss Summers is a patient in this institution and not fully aware of her surroundings. She is not a credible witness."
Buffy's breath caught in her throat. They were here about the deaths of Orderly Mills and Orderly Vagner. Every patient knew who killed them, but dared not speak it because that would just give them more attention that wasn't the good kind around here.
The taller man stepped forward towards the doctor and nodded. "Understood, sir. Can we perhaps go to your office and ask you a few questions?"
The cold chill came back over her. She'd stopped talking about the orderly deaths after the third time she was forcefully subdued via an injection in her arm to calm her down. But she knew that if she didn't tell the men who claimed to be from the FBI about her, then she wouldn't get a chance and they would get hurt trying to do something about the situation.
Buffy took a deep, steadying breath. "It's Annie."
The doctor sighed and went back into the room. "Buffy, we've been over this. There is no Annie."
"Buffy?" she heard Dean ask the other man a low voice, who just shrugged.
"No, she's here!" Buffy said loudly, trying to get their attention. They couldn't leave without knowing. They would understand and they could help her expose the truth. "She's the one doing this! They did it to her now she's making sure they don't do it to me or to any one else!"
The doctor walked over to the hallway and leaned out, shouting for an orderly. When he came back in the room, he looked at Buffy calmly. "Buffy you need to focus. You're in Brook Hills, not Sunnydale. There are no vampires here."
"She's not a vampire!" Buffy said urgently, cringing when two male orderlies came in, one carrying a syringe. She was terrified that one of the times she received an injection it would be like when the Watcher's Council tested her. She felt helpless enough without knowing she had her strength backing her up.
"She's a ghost. I can't save her! She slips through my fingers like a mist but she doesn't make them shoot their teachers or turn on the sad music. She's invisible like the trip in the basement. I need a fever!"
Her words became screams as the orderlies grabbed her, and she was injected with the sedative. She fought to stay awake and kept mumbling Annie over and over. The doctor grabbed her chart and started writing down the details of what happened.
"Does she really think the cause of this is a ghost named Annie?" Dean asked the doctor. His voice was becoming distorted. Her head was fuzzy and it felt like she was swimming underwater.
"Legally, I can't tell you this, but for the sake of your investigation, I will tell you there is no one named Annie in this facility, and she has not had contact with anyone named Annie in the years she has been here. Two years after she came here, her hallucinations were decreasing."
Buffy tried to roll over to hear the conversation better. A cold shock over her bare skin made her adrenaline kick and she let out a small gasp.
"According to her, she killed her vampire lover, Angel, sending him to hell. She ran away to Los Angeles where she adopted her middle name, Anne. When she says she can't save Annie, she means she can't save herself. She's feeling guilty for not being able to break away from her hallucinations."
She wanted to scream to them that it wasn't like that at all. These flashes weren't hallucinations; they were real, but it was becoming harder and harder to differentiate between Sunnydale and here. If she was honest with herself, her will to go back to Sunnydale was also becoming less and less.
As she finally drifted off to sleep, she heard the two men talking to the doctor as they left, dismissing the idea of the ghost named Annie.
…
It was free rec time right after dinner, and Buffy was sitting in a corner looking out of one of the barred windows. She let her fingers drift along the bars, and she would periodically let her skin graze the cold glass. The doctors were happy with her progress because she hadn't had a single episode since the two fake FBI agents visited. Buffy wasn't sure how she felt about that. It was weird being in a mental institution with a ghost who was murdering orderlies in her spare time.
At first, Annie's spirit had scared Buffy. She didn't do very well with floating translucent bodies, especially murderous ones, but after witnessing the death of an orderly herself, she heard what Annie had to say.
Annie had been a patient who was molested and murdered by an orderly decades ago, and returned when the same thing was happening to patients again. Buffy had heard the rumors between muttered gibberish and locker-room talk between orderlies who thought she was catatonic. It sickened her, and she was torn between wanting to slam their heads into the walls or call for help.
So far, none of the men had tried to come after her, but she wasn't sure if that was because Annie had taken a liking to her and they somehow sensed it, or because she could still do some damage to them if she wanted.
Buffy was torn from her thoughts when she saw headlights on a car driving by suddenly flip off. She peered out curiously, but when her face got close to the glass, it frosted over, much more than it normally would if she breathed over it.
Just because Annie liked to help didn't mean that Buffy was used to the shocking cold that came from being around the spirit. "Annie?"
If there was any sort of reply, she didn't notice because she saw two shadows sneaking across the grounds. The two fake FBI agents. "What are they doing here?" she whispered to herself.
In the frost over the glass, words were being written out. Buffy couldn't help her reaction; she took a sudden, deep breath and leaned away, trying not to call attention to herself or the ghostly writing on the window.
HERE TO KILL ME
The words disappeared as soon as Buffy read them, but she was more confused. "You're already dead. Why would they want to kill you again?"
TO STOP ME
That scared her more than she would like to admit. Even though she still had some of her strength, with one well-placed needle, she was weak and helpless, and those orderlies knew that.
"They don't know the story though. Maybe if we can reason with them…"
She trailed off when another message appeared.
WE DO NOT REASON WITH HUNTERS
Buffy sat back and tried to figure out what Annie was telling her. "Hunters? Ghost hunters? And all they know is that you're killing people." She shook her head. "Please Annie, if they destroy you, those guys won't stop."
Even though no other messages were written, Buffy knew she was still there. A chill had settled into the corner. "Please, Annie," she pleaded.
The message on the window disappeared completely and frosted over.
FINE
She let a small smile come over her face. "What do I do?"
RUN
Buffy was confused for a few moments before a group of patients in the opposite corner all started screaming and turning over furniture as they tried to move away from each other. All the orderlies immediately rushed over, and the doctor on the floor grabbed some syringes. She took a deep breath and quickly walked past, trying not to draw attention to herself.
Once out of the room, she was able to maneuver through the halls, thanks to Annie's help and the cold leading her away from the commotion. Buffy knew where they were headed; she knew the two men had gone in by the isolation ward. It made sense. The iso ward was big and there were hardly ever any patients locked in there on the weekends due to short staff.
Buffy slowed her brisk walk, her unused muscles starting to protest, but she heard voices up ahead. Slowly, she crept towards the corner where the halls intersected.
"I can't believe you want to reason with the ghost, Sam."
She recognized that voice belonging to Dean, and finally had a name to go with the face of the other, taller man.
"Well, it's either that or let it kill off the staff, so I'm pretty sure we're stuck doing this."
"If they really are going after the girls, why not let 'em get hacked to pieces?" There was a sound of someone hitting someone. "Dude! I was joking."
"It doesn't matter. We need to focus. How are we going to confront this spirit with orderlies and guards patrolling?"
"That's the easy part." Dean walked over to a fire alarm, pushed the cover up, and started to pull the red bar down.
"No! Dean, no, no!" Sam hissed. "They don't do a full evacuation when the fire alarm is pulled!"
Buffy looked around the corner and saw Dean about to pull one of the fire alarms and Sam holding two duffel bags with a panicked look on his face.
"Well, that's stupid," Dean said, taking his hand off the red bar. "Who the hell doesn't do a full evac when a fire alarm goes off?"
"A place full of mentally insane people. They know the difference between when the alarm is pulled and when it's triggered by a smoke detector. Too many patients could lift the box and pull the bar down."
Dean shuffled his feet a bit. "I'll give you that, but my plan would have worked beautifully."
"We'd be wet and spiritless, trying to talk our way out of a horde full of crazy people. Your plan would have screwed us over," Sam said patiently. Buffy got the impression that Dean's plans would have screwed them over plenty of times. "The only way the institute does a full evacuation would be if smoke detectors or fire alarms go off in multiple locations. Otherwise they only close off sections."
Buffy turned back around the corner, the cold air around her alerting her to Annie's presence. "Think you can accommodate?" she whispered, and the chill was instantly gone.
"We need to confront this bitch and in order to do that, we need to be alone with her. How do we set off the alarms at multiple locations then, genius?" Dean asked sarcastically.
No sooner had Dean asked the question before the overhead sprinklers went off and she could hear blaring alarms going off in at least three different places. Buffy grinned and peeked around the corner again.
"I think someone feels like a Chatty Cathy."
For his remark, Dean was thrown into a wall, dropping the duffle and shotgun he'd been carrying. Sam raised his own gun only to have it ripped from his hands. "Dean?" he shouted.
Buffy felt herself pulled backwards, but it wasn't because of Annie. One of the patrolling guards had seen her and was pulling her back. His hand covered her mouth and panic started to set in. He wasn't going to take her back to the group; he was using the alarm as a distraction.
She could still hear Sam and Dean around the corner, but couldn't yell for them. "Son of a bitch. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the padded cell. We need to trap her, lay down some salt lines."
Buffy felt the guard freeze at the sound of the voices. He kept a tight hold on her as they went to the edge of the corner so he could look at the two men. Normally, Buffy would have been able to fight him off, but the running had tired out muscles that she hadn't used so hard in a long, long time.
"The water will wash them away and we won't be able to get a decent line down before she comes at us."
"And why exactly is she coming at us again? We didn't do anything."
The guard was ripped back from the corner and his hold was so tight around her, she went flying with him. This time, it was Annie who had yanked him back, and Buffy quickly crawled away, the wet floor making it hard to use her hands to backpedal.
Water suddenly started rushing over the guard, more water than was possible from the sprinklers. He grabbed at his face, but the water slipped right through his fingers.
Buffy struggled when she felt more hands grabbing for her.
"Hey, hey, it's just me!"
She tried to take a few deeps breaths to calm the panic as Dean helped her up and he put himself in front of her. Sam did the same. She'd never noticed how tall he was, and she was having a hard time seeing around him to see what was happening. When she did, Buffy's eyes widened. The guard was lying motionless at her feet, and she slowly walked towards them.
This Annie was different than the ghost that usually appeared for her. Her black hair was slightly tousled and her white gown was ripped and dirty. The ghost's skin was the usual pale gray and her eyes were black.
The spirit stopped before the two men. For a few moments, she just stared at them, not blinking or moving. Buffy saw Dean tighten his grip on the shotgun in his hand, and Sam had an iron bar in his grasp.
"Um," Dean began, "hi?"
A slow, monstrous smile spread across her face, revealing rotten teeth.
Dean started to make a face at the sight but was quickly shoved by the ghost and went flying through the air to skid on the wet floor. He groaned as he sat up. Buffy fell to the ground again and tried to get over to the wall. Annie said she was going to reason, but this looked like the type of reasoning Buffy did with Willy to get answers.
"Sam? I think it's safe to say she's a pretty pissed off spirit that doesn't want to reason!" Buffy looked over to see Annie holding Sam up off of the floor with a hand around his neck. "Yeah, I think you got that memo."
As he got up, Dean started grumbling, "Since when do we ever tangle with the nasty ghosts? Let's reason with it, he says." He picked up his shot gun, cocked it, and aimed it right at Annie's head. "C'mon, sweetheart. Put him down nice and easy."
Buffy was about to shout out not to shoot Annie when a cold calm settled over her. A soft voice brushed on the air next to her cheek, and she turned towards it. This was how Annie talked to her, and hearing a voice in her head was still strange.
This is what you wanted, so we'll do it your way. We'll reason, but I need you to do the talking for me.
Buffy froze. She wasn't exactly sure how that was supposed to work and possession wasn't her cup of tea. "Are you sure? Why can't you just make their voice appear in their heads?
Because you are living a half-life, I can communicate through you. They wouldn't be able to hear me. Do you want this to happen or not?
With a shaky breath, Buffy nodded. She stood with a shiver and everything snapped into sharp focus. At times things gained a double edge and it almost made her dizzy, but she squashed the nausea and continued on.
She walked over to Dean and stood on the other side of Annie so she could see Sam and Dean both. Dean was looking at her curiously, cautiously; Sam was still trying to breathe.
Annie slowly turned to look at him. Buffy opened her mouth as she was spurred to talk, the ghost's words coming out in a dull tone. "I'm already dead, you moron. You really think shooting me is going to help?"
Dean looked at Buffy before narrowing his eyes. "Really? You're using her to puppet? What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?
The ghost didn't grin, but her grip on Sam didn't loosen either. Buffy was getting more and more nervous. Annie still had Sam pinned against the wall and as much as she wanted to help him, if Annie wanted him there, nothing Buffy could do would get him down. She was spurred to start speaking again. "Buffy wanted to help. For some reason, she likes you boys."
Dean smirked lightly. "My brother is turning blue and I'd really like it if you set him down now."
"I'm not going to stop. You can't make me."
Even though she said the words, Buffy didn't know if Annie was talking about putting Sam down or killing the men who used the women of the asylum. She hoped it was the latter.
"I just want you to put my brother down," Dean said firmly. "Then we can talk about the other problems we seem to be having."
Annie narrowed her eyes at him. Moments passed and Sam's struggles were getting weaker and weaker. Buffy could see that the more Annie tried to delay this, the less they'd be willing to talk. Not knowing if this voice thing was a two way street, Buffy thought hard, You promised,. Dean was about to squeeze the trigger when Annie vanished and Sam fell to the floor, coughing and rubbing his neck. Buffy let out a sigh of relief.
Dean crouched down to make sure Sam was coming back to consciousness, and Buffy felt relief flood over her. "How's that 'reason with the ghost' theory coming, Sammy?"
Amidst his coughs, Buffy could make out Sam muttering, "Screw you." Dean chuckled and went to pick up his gun, but it was gone. She hadn't noticed it go missing.
"Uh, Sam? We might have a problem."
Sam seemed to realize that right as Dean did. "Where's all our stuff?"
Both brothers jumped when the water suddenly shut off and Annie appeared standing before them, looking cleaner and more put together than she had earlier. This was the Annie that Buffy knew, less intent on scaring them, and more focused on speaking with them.
Buffy was much more willing to speak the ghosts' words now and willingly turned to them. "You don't need guns and salt to have a talk, boys. Say your piece and be gone."
"Someone cleans up well," Dean remarked.
"People respond better to grotesque and unkempt images." The ghost smiled icily, but Buffy's expression never changed, staying neutral. "People must be terrified of you. Now speak."
When Sam looked at him, Dean held up his hands and surrender. "Oh, hell no. This is your little tea party. You can do the talking."
Sam sighed, rolling his eyes, and looked up at Annie. "We know why you're doing what you're doing, but you can't go around killing the orderlies."
Annie cocked her head with a small grin.
"They did it to me."
Dean snorted. "She's got you there, dude."
Sam glared at him before turning back to Annie. He started to stand, the slippery wall not helping his balance much, but he finally got back on his feet with Dean following. "Annie, if you're killing them, it doesn't make you any better than them. You're just stooping to their level."
Annie crossed her arms in irritation. This time, Buffy's mouth twitched into a small grin. With the ghost in her mind, she understood Annie's reasoning. It wasn't about being better than the orderlies or stooping to their level. It was about the safety of the female patients. When Buffy glanced at the ghost out of the corner of her eye, she noted Annie looked remarkably like Willow did when Xander was being inappropriate. "And I thought the short one was the ignoramus."
Dean's brow furrowed. "Why do I get the feeling I was just insulted?"
"Because you were," Buffy replied, her expression back to normal. "I'm not doing this for revenge. I'm doing it to protect the people here. No one protected me, so someone has to do it."
Buffy's hands start to shake at the end, but she couldn't tell if it was from fatigue or fear. Her eyes flicked over to the still motionless guard. She couldn't see if he was breathing, and couldn't bring herself to honestly care.
"Then call the police or something. These orderlies haven't killed anyone."
"Yet," Buffy hissed, and Sam and Dean looked at each other in surprise. The ghost flashed out of their sight only to appear suddenly right before them and they both leaned back against the wall. Her expression was fierce and held more grief than hatred. "The orderlies didn't start out by murdering people when I was alive. The only reason they did it was because I fought back. I was two weeks away from being released and they knew I'd go straight to the lawmen."
Sam sighed. "There are cameras now. With the security systems, you have your proof."
"You think I haven't thought of that?" Buffy replied, and Annie stepped back from them. "Two of the guards are in on the fun." She pointed to the body to their right. "Well, he was."
"There were no reports of a guard being murdered," Dean said, looking to Sam for confirmation. "Did you ice them both tonight?" They both looked back to Annie, who grinned wickedly at them in confirmation.
"This one's drowned before he could destroy all of the tapes that proved the cameras were deliberately turned off the nights the orderlies would attack the patients. Your idea of the fire alarm was brilliant, Dean. All of that nice water to flood their lungs."
Dean looked over at Buffy carefully. "Did they ever…" he trailed off, and the ghost turned to look at Buffy as well. It was strange to hear the ghost's thoughts in her mind but have that gaze focused on her so intently.
"No. She's retained her strength from the other reality. If she wanted, she could hurt them. They know that and leave her alone."
Sam turned to Annie shock. "Wait, what do you mean she's retained her strength? Are you saying she's actually split between this reality and another one?"
Annie slowly turned back to them, rolling her eyes. "That's the only reason I can speak through her."
Both Annie and Buffy suddenly turned their heads to the left just as the alarms turned off. "They'll notice she's missing. She'll be in trouble, but she broke away when she realized you were here. You need to leave, or they will question your involvement."
Dean swore when their equipment and guns suddenly appeared before them, and the heavier bag dropped on his foot. Sam stepped over the bags and toward Annie. "Wait, you have to tell us more about the realities. Buffy can't stay aware long enough to help us."
"How about we forget about the nutcase and do our job to make sure you don't start killing any more people?" Dean snapped, picking up the shotgun and aiming it at Annie.
It didn't matter that she was just the puppet as Dean put it, Buffy knew that Annie was crucial here. She quickly stepped in front of Annie. The spirit had held up her part of the deal, and Buffy wasn't going to forget that.
"Using a human shield? Classy."
"It's me," she said, trying to focus her vision again and calm her stomach. Getting possessed like that wasn't a fun trip. "She can't control my body, but I can speak for her. I hear the words and say them. She won't kill any more guards."
Dean leaned around Buffy to the ghost, who grinned and nodded. "You won't kill any more guards. Just like that?"
"Kill? No," Buffy replied, slipping back to speak for Annie. The double vision was giving her a headache. "If they try this again, I don't guarantee they won't run away from this place screaming."
Dean still had the gun aimed and ready, but dropped his shoulders and pointed the barrel at the floor. "Good enough."
"She's going to be weak. Her vision isn't steady and her body is fatigued. Make sure you catch her and make her comfortable."
With that, the ghost vanished, and true to her word, Buffy started to sway on her feet. The sudden loss of the spirit in her mind was like the shock of cold water being poured on her. Dean still had his shotgun, so Sam was the one who reached out for her. "That was a trip." She felt her eyelids drop and it was almost like being drugged all over again. Her muscles were weak and it was so hard to stay awake.
Sam looked up at Dean. "What should we do? Should we take her with us?"
"It's going to be hard enough to get out of here without being spotted. Put her on the floor and let's get out of here. With that dead guard and her knocked out, we'll be in more trouble than it's worth." Sam looked torn, but Dean put his foot down. "Now, Sammy. We gotta go."
The last thing she remembered was Sam trying to make sure she was comfortable on the wet floor, but when voices started coming from the end of the hall, he grabbed his bag and raced out after Dean.
She let the darkness take her, knowing Annie was still around, a dirty guard was put down, and Sam and Dean got out safely.
…
Buffy sat up in bed, shivering as a sudden cold overtook the room. She pulled her legs up so her knees were tucked under her chin, and a fog formed when she let out a shaky breath. Buffy undid the clasp on her cross necklace and held it tightly in her hand. A cold wind swept through the room and after taking a few deep breaths, Buffy closed her eyes tightly.
When she opened them, Annie was sitting at the end of her bed, and Buffy let out a sigh, her tense muscles loosening. "Annie, what are you doing here? You promised Sam and Dean you would leave."
And I also said that if someone needed my help, I'd come back. The only thing I promised those boys was no more bloodshed and killing when it came to the bastards that take advantage of us.
Buffy sighed, trying to keep focused on the transparent spirit who floated cross-legged a few inches off of the sheets. The voice echoed in her head much like Willow's did sometimes when she was magically powered up. "So what's wrong, Annie? Who's in trouble?"
You are, baby doll. Annie gave her a small smile. You're not supposed to be in here. You're like those boys. You need to be out helping people, and God knows those boys could use a woman's help.
They really could. Annie told her all about the infamous Winchesters and what they hunted. It sounded so much like her slaying, and she hated how they got started in the business. But with their knowledge and hers pooled together, they'd make a great team. They were all kindred spirits.
Together, the three of them could do a lot of good, because they each had their strengths that complimented each other. "I'm not going to get released overnight, especially since I escaped to help them. They know I ran and they think I'm the one who pulled the alarms. I'm not going to be of help in here."
Annie's grin widened. That's where I come in.
She really didn't like the sound of this. "Annie," Buffy said in warning.
Oh, you just hush. I'm not going to hurt anybody. I can get the doors opened for you and make sure no one follows. You can swipe some clothes from laundry and let's just see if we can empty some pockets of the more dirty orderlies.
Annie's grin took on a wicked curve and Buffy sighed. She promised she wouldn't hurt anyone, but Annie was not trusting of any orderly in the asylum now. Buffy didn't want this turning into another massacre. She accepted that Annie would haunt the asylum now, there was no way she would ever leave, but she needed to be here for the patients' protection. Annie didn't need to let herself descend to angry spooking.
You need this, Buffy. You're not doing anyone good in here—not to the outside world or to yourself. If you stay here, you really will lose your mind. You're not the first person who was trapped between two realities, but you are the first person I've seen who is strong enough to beat it.
Buffy looked down. Since helping Sam and Dean, her relapses into the Sunnydale reality were fewer, but they still happened. If she stayed here, she would probably relapse more. Escaping felt like it would be nice. Maybe if she left here, she could stay in one reality.
"I don't know which one to choose."
She shivered when the ghost put her hand through Buffy's own. If you stay, you won't be able to make a choice at all.
Buffy nodded, knowing the words to be true. "Then let's do it."
…
Dean and Sam stared at Buffy as she stood at the doorway to their motel room. She was wearing clothes that were too big for her and didn't match at all. Her hair was tousled and dirty, and her face had a scratch on it. Escaping, even with Annie's help, hadn't been an easy task. She was tired, her muscles were overworked, and she would kill for a bite of real food.
"Buffy?" Sam asked in shock. "What are you…" he trailed off, looking her up and down. "Were you released?"
She didn't explain. "Can I come in?"
"How did you know where our motel room was?" Dean asked, leaning outside slightly to check for anyone that looked like they were tailing the brothers.
"I caught a cab. No one followed." Buffy walked in past Sam and Dean, looking around the room as if she'd never seen a hotel room before. "I followed the whispers. They told me where you are."
As Sam closed the door, Buffy heard Dean lean over to Sam to whisper, "Dude, I think we need to take her back. She's still whacked out in the head."
"I'm not," Buffy interrupted, turning on her heel to face them. "I know that I'm split between two realities. I guess because I'm not in one completely, I can hear and see ghosts that normal people can't besides Annie."
"All right," Dean said, putting down the shotgun he'd picked up when Buffy knocked on their door. "I'm one of the last people who would knock ghost theories out of the water, especially after the hell of a trip we were just on, but you need to go back."
Buffy sat on the bed, and hoped they knew that even though she was petite and still wasn't up to normal strength, she would go kicking and screaming back to the asylum.
Sam came to her rescue. "Dean, we can't make her go back. You saw what they did last time."
"She said you'd understand," Buffy whispered, looking at Sam with tears in her eyes. "She said you'd be the one to help me."
Sam was visibly shocked by her statement. "Who? Who told you? Who led you here?"
One second she was about to answer their question, and the next she was leaning forward, rocking with her palms smashed against her temple, whimpering. Sam caught her and helped her up onto the bed. After taking a few deep breaths, she stopped shaking. "Sorry. Just had a flash to… to the other place."
"Sunnydale, right?" Sam asked gently as he sat down next to her on the bed. Dean glared at him for delving into it, and probably for not sending her on her merry way, but he just shrugged.
"Yeah. The flashes didn't happen for me here until the demon in Sunnydale poisoned me. Since then, I've been floating in and out of places." Buffy shook her head with a wince. "Do you have any aspirin? My head's killing me."
Sam looked up at Dean expectantly, who just stared back. "What?" Sam rolled his eyes and got up to start digging through the medical bags. When he brought back two Advil and some water, Buffy stared at pills in her hand for a moment.
"If you guys really want, I'll leave," she said slowly, not looking at either of them. "I just… I need some good sleep without guards checking on me every half hour and without screaming crazy people."
Dean looked torn between telling her to leave and letting her stay a night. "You can stay, but what's to stop you from offing us in the middle of the night?"
Buffy looked up at him strangely. "I don't kill people."
"That's right. Only vampires," he replied sarcastically as he began to pace.
"Dean," Sam reprimanded softly.
"I'll go in the morning, but Annie thought I could help you—"
Dean stopped pacing and turned around, his expression reflecting his disbelief. "Annie? I thought we got rid of that damn ghost when we left!"
Buffy shrunk back when Dean started yelling. "We didn't get rid of it. She just said she wouldn't kill the guards."
"She helped me escape."
This time, Sam and Dean both stared at her disbelievingly. "Escape?" Dean echoed. "You mean you didn't get released? So now we have the mental patient tagging along for kicks. That's just great. Fan-frickin'-tastic!"
Buffy flinched again and quickly took the pain medication Sam gave her.
"She has nowhere to go," Sam pleaded.
"She's an extra mouth to feed."
"She is right here," Buffy said, looking between them. "Just get me out of the state, and I'll find my way, all right?" It was going to be hard. She didn't know anyone in this reality besides her parents, and as much as she would love to run home to her mom and dad, she didn't know if she'd survive seeing Joyce alive and holding hands with Hank like they'd never fought, like he'd never run off with his secretary to Spain. Dawn wasn't there, and neither were any of her friends.
Buffy just wanted a reality to be real and to stay that way. Her face crumbled as she leaned forward again, only to be shocked when a small, feminine hand was laid on her shoulder. Her head shot up to look at Willow's worried face.
"Buffy? Are you all right?"
She straightened and looked around. She wasn't in a hotel room with Sam and Dean. She was in her own room. "Headache," she replied weakly.
Willow bit her lip, and Buffy knew she didn't believe her, but her friend just hefted the book she was holding. Buffy hadn't noticed it before. "There was a report of a Brachian demon sighting in one of the cemeteries. Spike said it was a low level demon. Just chop off the head, no big. Not apocalypse worthy stuff, unless you get covered in goo. He said it was really hard to get out of clothing."
She hadn't realized she missed Willow's babbling and grinned a bit.
"He's on the phone and wanted to know if he should go ahead and deal with it. Do you want me to tell Spike he can grab this one?"
Buffy stared at the picture in the worn book Willow held. It looked a lot like the Fyarl demon Giles had once been turned into, but without the large horns. She really didn't feel up to fighting any baddie, whether big or little, and nodded. "Thanks, Will. I'm just going to lie down for a while."
Her friend nodded. "Okay. Let me know if you need anything."
True to her word, Buffy lay down and sighed, closing her eyes.
A gun cocking made her snap to awareness. She was back in the motel room. Dean and Sam were in different clothes and were stuffing something foul smelling into a duffel bag. Dean looked particularly angry.
"I'm going to blow that son of a bitch into a million tiny bits. If my jacket is ruined, I'm going to make it hurt so much its mother will feel it."
Sam looked equally irritated, but not as homicidal as Dean.
"What's going on?" she asked, still sleepy. Both brothers looked over at her in surprise. Apparently, they forgot she'd stowed away in their room.
"While you were pulling a Snow White, Sam and I just did our job and went after a monster."
Buffy sat up, trying to get Willow's voice out of her head. "Did it sneeze on you or something?"
Dean slammed around the room a bit more, pulling out guns and various other weapons. "Don't worry your pretty little head over it."
She looked at the clock on the bedside table to see the time, but the blinking lights alerted her to the fact that it wasn't set. Buffy got out of bed slowly, taking time to stretch her limbs. "And you're about to go after it again?"
"We have to," Sam replied. "There's no telling what will happen if it's still out there."
"I want to come with you," Buffy replied softly.
"Hell no," Dean responded immediately. "We can't watch you and it at the same time."
It was the answer she expected, but it still hurt to hear. She knew she could take care of herself. She still had some of the speed and agility of her powers from the other reality. She could help, but there was no way to convince them of that.
"I'll stay in the car. I won't touch anything."
Sam came over and put his hand on Buffy's shoulder. It was hard not to flinch away, but she remained rigid. "We weren't going to leave you."
She turned her face up to him in shock. "I didn't even think that."
"Neither did I," Dean chimed in, "But I like that plan. Let's go with that plan."
They both ignored him, and Sam continued to look at Buffy in concern. "You make the relapses… smoother, when they happen at all."
"And we can't have you relapse while we're trying to battle something and then you think you're a fairy princess in a faraway land," Dean snapped.
Sam stared down at Buffy, and she bit her lip. "Please. I'll stay in the car," she repeated.
After a few moments of silence, Sam nodded. Buffy quietly slipped out of the room and to the Impala, trying to push the argument she just caused between Sam and Dean out of her mind. If she was not able to help them with this monster, she would leave them alone at the next stop they made. A part of her needed reassurance that she was still good for something in this world, but she doubted they would let her even try.
…
