Elixir

Chapter One

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural, and I'm not making any money from this fic. Any character you don't recognise from the show, I probably own. The plot of this fic probably belongs to me as well. Anything you recognise from another fandom, I probably don't own

Summary: Sam has a vision that includes Dean dying. While investigating and trying to stop the vision from coming true, Sam and Dean hear rumours about an elixir which is able to bring the dead back to life. But something else is after the elixir as well… and Dean is beginning to remember some very strange things…

Warning(s): Strong violence; mentions/implications of torture; some swearing; spoilers up to at least season one and episode eight of season two of Supernatural

Author's Note: This is the sequel to Coma – although there is quite a lot of time between that and this. This actually takes place after episode eight of Supernatural (so it's an automatic AU for any episode following that). You don't have to read Coma to understand what's going on here – but it would probably help.

And I will do work on my other series soon – promise.

Enjoy!

"Hey… Think you can take care of Brownie for me?"

A black-haired young woman lifted her head from the sandwiches she was making, and pushed some strands out of her face. "Sure… But, uh, where are you going?"

Amber shrugged, setting the Springer spaniel down on the floor. "I'm thinking I might go swimming in the sea. It's supposed to be really good weather today. Besides, with the amount of coursework we've been getting – who knows when I'll be able to go to the beach again?" She grabbed a set of keys off one of the hooks.

"What about that guy who drowned?" Jody asked, frowning slightly even as she gently petted the dog.

Amber shrugged again. "They never found his body, did they? Besides… I know how to be safe when swimming in the sea. Nothing will happen." She tossed the keys up into the air, and caught them before they could hit the floor. "Spoken to your friend lately? You seem to be quite into him."

Jody narrowed her eyes slightly. "If you mean Sam – well, there hasn't been any need to speak to him. I sent him an e-mail asking how he's been about a week ago – I guess he hasn't looked at his e-mails yet. Or he just doesn't want to talk to me at all."

"Pity." Amber turned and walked out of the kitchen. "Take care of my dog," she tossed back over her shoulder. "He needs a walk soon." She then headed out into the hallway, and out the front door, humming under her breath. She unlocked the door of a silver car, and got in the driver's seat. For a brief moment, she placed a finger against her throat, where she'd felt the pain which had caused her to panic.

Shaking her head slightly, Amber turned the ignition on, and put the car into gear. Her bag, containing a towel among other items, had already been flung onto the seat next to her, and Amber wore her bikini under her clothes.

Amber edged the car out of the driveway. Unbeknownst to her, malevolent red eyes watched her every movement from afar…

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"Well, the good thing is, a shapeshifter can't be killed by regular bullets," Dean was saying as he leaned lightly against the wall of the passageway. "You know, kind of like that water test to see if people were witches? Only this time, someone's innocent if the bullet does damage… If they're not affected, they're a shapeshifter."

Sam shook his head in disbelief. "What are you suggesting, Dean?" he demanded. "That we kill an innocent person?!"

"I'm not suggesting that we shoot to kill," Dean protested. "Just in their arm or something. You know, someplace we're less likely to hit anything vital. They'll thank us for it once they're safe from the shapeshifter."

"We don't even know that there really is a shapeshifter… Dean, I think you're beginning to go mad."

Dean shrugged. "It was bound to happen sooner or later." He smirked, then continued, "We should get going…"

A bang echoed loudly in the passageway. Sam jumped and turned in the direction of the sound. He glimpsed long red hair, and a delicate figure that had a gun aimed in front of her, the barrel pointed at Dean.

Sam turned round in time to see his older brother slowly collapse, blood soaking through the material of his shirt.

Sam jerked awake with a gasp, looking around wildly. It took him a few moments to realise that he was in the car – and that Dean was driving along next to him, not lying on a stone floor with a bullet in his chest.

Dean glanced towards his brother and raised his eyebrows. "Another nightmare, Sammy? I thought those were getting better."

Sam shook his head. "It wasn't a nightmare." He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to force away the image in his mind of Dean being shot and dying. "I think it was a vision… I know it was a vision," he corrected himself. "Pull the car over." He couldn't take the chance of the vision coming true.

"What, you mean without the blinding headaches? You must be getting better." As Sam stared at him, Dean sighed and pulled the car over to the side of the road. "You look pale… You really need more sleep than this."

Sam just stared out of the window, seeing Dean's point of view. However, he could hardly sleep with this whole psychic thing going on. I suppose dreams are better than the blinding headaches, though… Sam's visions had never dealt with members of his family, though – and a disturbing proportion of the visions had come through. Statistically…

I don't give a damn about statistics, Sam thought. Dean isn't going to die. Not if I can help it.

Dean parked the car and looked at Sam. "So… Who's being threatened this time?" he asked. "Where are you dragging us off to now?"

Sam opened his mouth, but then closed it again, hesitating. My psychic abilities freak Dean out… How's he gonna react when I tell him that I saw him getting killed? By someone who has no reason to hate him, no less. The obvious answer to that was not to mention the victim in the second part of the vision at all.

Yeah, like he's really gonna buy that. "We have to go to Stanford," Sam said. Amber was doing a teaching course at the university… That would probably be the likeliest place to look for her. Hopefully, it won't be that difficult to find where she's likely to be staying…

Dean raised his eyebrows and waited, saying nothing.

Sam blinked. "What?"

"You're not going to give me any more details? You know, like who gets killed – or hurt – and where? You're not giving me much to go on, Sam."

"Well… Jody and Amber were in it." Sam knew that he was going to have to tell Dean what the vision entailed sooner or later – but Dean was already so damaged by their father's death and the conversation with the demon… Sam needed his brother, but he felt that Dean was slipping further and further away from him.

Dean studied Sam's face for a moment and then turned away, hitting the steering wheel with some force. "It's about me, isn't it?"

Sam glanced at Dean and then away again, unable to find the words to deny his brother's question. He hunched into himself a little. If I tell Dean, it might just be the thing to push him over the edge. He's falling deeper and deeper into this despairing pit, and I have no idea how to help him. Besides, this would bring up the time when I was possessed by Doctor Ellicott and shot him… Sam nearly jumped when he felt a hand gently rest on his shoulder.

"Hey, Sam," Dean said softly. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm strong enough to handle it. Honestly."

For just one moment, Sam could see a glimpse of the old Dean – the protective older brother – come through. His breath caught in his throat as he realised just how much he had missed that Dean. He still wasn't sure about it – but it would be kind of a relief to talk about it to Dean. Maybe he'd be able to handle the information…

"You got shot," Sam admitted finally, glancing away. "One moment, you were talking about a shapeshifter; the next… a gun was fired, and you were… shot." He couldn't help trembling a little. We already lost dad… I can't lose Dean as well! He wouldn't be able to handle another loss.

"Hey, nothing's gonna happen to me." Dean squeezed his brother's shoulder lightly before letting go. "You've been forewarned, anyway. We'll be able to stop this from happening. Now… who shot me?"

"Amber." Seeing the blank look on Dean's face, Sam continued, "When we were at Roosevelt Asylum. You didn't actually meet her – she left right before you woke up. Her sister was also a ghost." Of course, she also seemed to be sharing experiences with her 'twin' in the parallel world, he thought.

"Why would someone I've never even met want to shoot me?" Dean frowned. "That it's a woman is even stranger. She isn't a demon, is she?"

"Not as far as I know," Sam replied. There was nothing demon-like about her that I could see at all…

"All right." Dean sighed and turned the ignition on. Then, he put the car into gear and pulled out into the road. "To Stanford it is, then. Think you'll get to see that cute friend of yours? Jody, right?"

Sam shrugged, staring out of the window again. "Well, she was staying in the same place as Amber…" He couldn't help feeling relieved that Dean was aware of what had happened in the vision.

I want my big brother back… Maybe this will make him see how he needs to be… Wishful thinking, perhaps.

But that was the only kind of thinking left to Sam right now.

"So you're saying that Jody Rider and Amber Williams are in some kind of trouble?" the administrator asked, looking up from the desk she was sitting at. "Who did you say you were again?"

"Detective Polo," Dean answered, flashing the identification badge. "And I wouldn't say they are in trouble, exactly. My partner and I need them to help us with our enquiries." After talking about it, Dean and Sam had agreed that only Dean could speak to the woman, as there was always the possibility that she could recognise Sam.

The woman considered that for a moment, and then smiled, her teeth flashing white against her dark skin. "You will of course let me know if you find out anything, right?" she asked. "If these two women are dangerous, then I'm going to have to let the students on campus know. For their own protection, of course."

Of course, Dean thought. He'd met people like this woman before, who were eager to get any gossip they could. He gave the woman a smile, and said out loud, "If there's any information you might need, then we'll let you know. Now… about this address," he continued, leaning forward slightly with his hands on the desk.

"Of course." The woman stood up and walked over to the filing cabinet. As she pulled open one of the drawers and started rifling through it as she said, "You know, if you're going to be staying in town for a while, why don't we hook up sometime?"

Dean smiled. "Sure… Why don't you give me your number, and I'll call you?"

Sam leaned against the car door, waiting a little impatiently for his brother to come out of the building.

I knew I should have gone inside with him, he thought. He's probably getting into all sorts of trouble. Sam was fully aware that Dean wasn't recovered from their father's death. He was worried that Dean would push himself too far into the hunt again. I simply wouldn't be able to handle that again…

"Hey, Sammy. You gonna stand there daydreaming all day? Anything could sneak up on you."

Sam blinked a few times, and stared at Dean, who was looking rather pleased with himself. "Were you able to find out the address?" he asked, choosing to ignore what Dean had just said. He's starting to look a little better, at least…

Dean nodded, and held a slip of paper out to Sam. He grabbed it, and squinted at the writing. "This is a phone number…"

"Oh, right." Dean took the paper back. "That's mine… This is the address." He gave Sam a different piece of paper. "When we get to Jody's house, you'll have to find out why Jody doesn't seem to be answering her phone when she told you to look her up."

"It has been a while…" Sam looked at the address. "That's not too far from the university. We could walk if we wanted to get some exercise."

Dean grimaced slightly at the idea. "No thanks. Walking is my least favourite form of exercise." He shrugged. "If you want to walk, you can. I'll meet you at the house."

"Nah, I'll come with you." Sam got in the passenger side and slammed the door shut.

Dean parked the Impala just outside the small house, and glanced across Sam at the driveway. "Well… Let's go talk to your girlfriend, all right?" He smirked.

Sam grimaced at his brother, but secretly, he was pleased by the teasing. "She's not my girlfriend." Not giving Dean a chance to reply, Sam opened the door, and got out. He waited for Dean to get out of the Impala as well before he started up the path.

When he got to the front door, Sam banged the knocker, and was unable to help a slight feeling of dread.

What if something's different about her now

Sam heard the distant sound of barking coming from inside the house. The dog Brownie, I assume. He took a slight step back, and waited.

After a few moments, the door was opened by Jody, the Springer spaniel barking madly at her heels. The woman stared at Sam and Dean for a moment, and then blinked. "Oh… hey," she said. "What are you guys doing here? I haven't heard from you in a while?"

"We've been sort of busy," Sam replied, his tone apologetic.

"Yeah, you know… It's a hard life, being a hunter." Dean raised his eyebrows, and then squinted at the spaniel. "Why is that dog staring at me?"

Sam realised that Brownie had stopped barking, and had turned an almost disconcerting gaze on Dean. After a moment, the Springer spaniel bounded forward and started leaping at Dean, seemingly trying to lick him or something similar.

Jody watched the dog for a moment, and then looked at Sam. "Do you want to come inside?" she asked. "I assume you're here about some kind of hunt?" Her voice went quiet on the last word.

Sam nodded, and then glanced at Dean. "I thought you didn't like dogs."

"I don't." Dean looked at Jody, who had turned to head back into the house. "This your dog?" He pushed the animal down off him.

"No, it's Amber's."

Brownie stopped trying to jump up at Dean, and ran into the house in front of Jody, barking again. Sam glanced at his brother, and then followed the woman into the house, Dean coming behind him and closing the door.

"Can we talk to Amber?" Sam asked. "Is she around?"

"You haven't heard?" Jody shook her head slightly. "No… Of course you haven't." She sighed. "Amber went missing a week ago."

"A week?"

Dean looked at Sam. "Talk about really bad timing for your visions," he commented. "It didn't take us a week to get here, so your psychic abilities must have messed up somewhere."

"Psychic abilities?" Jody repeated, staring at Sam and Dean. "What…?"

"Never mind," Sam said, looking at Dean and then at Jody. "We should probably go and sit down. I need you to tell us exactly what happened."

The first sense to return to her was taste. There was iron in her mouth – or that was what it seemed like. She opened her eyes, but all she could see was darkness. She tried to lift a hand to rub at her eyes, but something was stopping her from being able to move. She struggled for a moment, but soon realised how ineffective it was.

What's happening to me? Am I dead?

Her whole body ached, but her stomach was the worst. It felt like there was a rusty knife scraping inside her, and she couldn't help whimpering softly.

As something touched her bare leg, Amber screamed. She felt a hand resting there – although she still couldn't see anything. Her skin crawled, and she shivered, feeling cold. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest, and a couple of tears tracked their way down her cheeks.

Please…

"I'm sorry about this," a voice said softly in Amber's ear. "There's something about you, though… She talked about you in the other world. Now be a good girl and drink this up…"

Something cold and hard was pressed against Amber's lips, and, as it was tipped up, some liquid poured into her mouth.

Amber started coughing as the liquid seemed to burn the inside of her mouth and down her throat. The pain in her stomach felt worse, and she gasped for breath.

Abruptly, the cup was withdrawn, and Amber felt a hand lightly stroke some hair out of her face. "One more should do it," the voice said softly. "You just stay here, and rest. Well, as much as you can, that is."

Amber felt the lightest of touches against her bare skin again, and then there was the sound of someone walking away.

And then she was left alone in the darkness again.