Breaking the Routine

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and Supernatural belongs to Eric Kripke

Summary: Now that Sam is dead, Dean has nothing left to live for except the hunt. What he doesn't know is that there's another Winchester out there that has a little surprise for him.

Spoilers: Post "Chosen" for Buffy and post "All Hell Breaks Loose" for Supernatural

A/N: Buffy is older than Dean in this fic.

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It's become routine now.

He wakes up in a motel room, that he might have not paid for in the first place, and he leaves. It's a different city everyday, but the newspapers are all the same. There's some mysterious death and it's his job to stop it. And that's what he does, after researching, asking questions by impersonating authoritative figures and breaking into places.

He doesn't care what he does, just as long as the mission is completed. And that's a step up because two months ago, he didn't care about the mission. Not after everything that went down, because of his failure. There were others out there that could do the mission that he use to love and he was happy to let it go, but he had a hard reminder that it needed to be done. If he hadn't started the mission again, then the world would have been sucked to Hell, but he still wouldn't have cared that much. His world was already gone.

After making sure that the world was fine, he kept at the mission, doing his routine. After finding out what it was, he took care of it. Banishing spirits, burning haunted houses and the whole lot. Whatever was needed to stop the deaths, he did it and without much feeling.

When the spirit was dead, he hit the closest bar and drowned himself in alcohol. It was the only thing that would make him remember what happened without becoming too violent. After spending money, he would either stumble to his paid or unpaid for room and sleep until morning, or he would find the chick that would have him in his drunken state and bang the hell out of her.

He'd wake up in the morning and leave. It didn't matter if there was someone in the bed with him or not because he didn't care. He needed release, not a girlfriend. Getting into his car, he'd drive off to the next town and the routine would start all over again.

There were moments when the routine would break. Like, when he was passing by an electronics store and in the window was a sign for notebooks. He'd make a comment about how Sam would love to have one and then he'd remembered that Sam was gone and he wouldn't get a notebook and it was all Dean's fault. If he hadn't left Sam alone, none of that shit would have happened, but it did. If he had drove faster to save him when Andy sent the vision then Sam would still be alive, but he wasn't and it was his fault.

He couldn't be around other people for too long because in the end, they'd get hurt. His lifestyle got too many people hurt or worse. His mom, his dad, Sam and everyone at the Roadhouse that day. It he had been a better hunter, maybe he could have done something.

The routine kept going, though, no matter how many times the thoughts came to his head. He pushed them back, forcing them to wait until he could drown his pain at a bar.

The mission had to keep going, because that was all he knew. Another routine.

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'Do you need anymore proof?'

'No, I got it and this done answer a lot of questions,' Buffy nodded as she took everything in. 'Thanks for doing this.'

'I knew how you felt about the Powers, so I knew their plan wouldn't work as well as they thought, but I had to do it.'

'Yea, making with cryptic didn't always work for them,' she smiled at her brother. She still had to wrap her head around that one. She had two brothers, but one of them died two months ago. The other was going down a dangerous path that he might not recover from without her help. Of course, when she first met Sam in her dream, she didn't believe him.

'That's why I gave you all the knowledge,' Sam nodded. The Powers weren't going to be happy with him for what he did, but his sister needed convincing that Hank Summers was not her father, but John Winchester was. Instead of dodging her questions like he usually did, he touched her hands and gave her the proof.

'By the way, next time you wanna show me all of that, tell me it's going to get X-rated, because I could have done without seeing my mom and dad making with the lovin',' she shuddered.

'Right, sorry about that,' he blushed.

'So, when I wake up, what happens?' she asked. Her friends knew about her dreams, but that wasn't what she was worried about. 'I don't know Dean much, but I know he's going to need convincing and since you can't just show up, then we have a problem.'

'I thought I would tell you some things about him that only I knew,' he shrugged.

'Cool, something to blackmail my little bro with,' she laughed.

'Not exactly, but I can do that, too,' Sam shook his head. He was amazed that his older sister was a slayer, but it was even more amazing how she could brush off dramatic events and yet, still be serious about them at the same time.'

'That won't be necessary,' a female voice spoke.

Buffy knew that voice and smiled as she turned around. 'Why not, Cordy?'

'Sam's job isn't done yet, but he didn't know it,' she shrugged. 'I just found out about it and I think it's the weirdest idea they've ever had.'

'What is it?' both brother and sister asked.

'Sam, you're hitching a ride on the Buffy express when she wakes up,' Cordy smiled. After a second, she frowned when she thought about what she said. 'Not like that, cause that'd be just wrong, but I hope you know what I meant.'

'Yea, we got it,' Buffy answered, a frown on her face. 'They can do that, and why?'

'You weren't supposed to die that night, Sam,' Cordy smiled. 'Well, you were, but you weren't supposed to stay dead. Dean was supposed to make a deal with a demon for his soul.'

'What stopped him?' Sam finally spoke. He knew Dean would do that, just to save him.

'It wasn't a coincidence that all demons stayed in the underworld that night. Someone kept them there.'

'The demon?'

'Yes, he may not have wanted you to die before opening the gates of Hell, but he certainly didn't want both you and Dean coming after him, so he made a choice. One the Powers weren't expecting.'

'And going back in Buffy's body?'

'They're working on a way to get you back in your body, but until that time comes, you're in Buffy's and that way, you can prove to Dean that she's related to both you.'

'No one said our lives were boring,' Buffy shrugged. It wouldn't be the first time something hitched a ride in her body, at least this time it was someone she knew.

'Oh, and try not to die until Sam gets out, Buffy,' Cordy said. 'If you do, you're both gone.'

'Right, don't die, I got it,' she nodded. Turning back to Sam, she smiled. 'So, little bro, ready to wake up?'

Grabbing her hand, Sam nodded. 'Back to the world of the living.'

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Opening her eyes, Buffy checked to make sure her body wasn't in Sam's coffin or something.

'I don't think they're that sadistic,' Sam's voice spoke in her head.

"Wonderful, you can hear everything I think," Buffy snorted. "Just what I needed."

'Sorry.'

"It's fine, just surprised me a little. When the others wake up, we'll tell them what happened and we'll set off to find Dean."

'We won't have to, he's in Cleveland.'

"What makes you say that?" she asked. She was a little weirded out about the fact she was actually talking aloud while Sam was speaking her head.

'It's not that weird,' he chuckled. 'And the Powers did this all for a reason, so he has to be close for their plans to work.'

"Right, that makes sense," she nodded. "Tomorrow, we'll find him and sort all this out. He's in a funk and we're getting him out of it."

'You could introduce him to Faith.'

"We're trying to break him out of his routine of endangering himself with demons and random women, not keep him there," she laughed.

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For the time being, this is just a one shot.