Chapter 2:

As Sam was dragged out for drinks a few nights later, Sunday night since it was a three-day weekend, he was still rolling his first night with Gaia over and over around in his mind. They'd talked. Both carefully steering the conversation away from family. Sam had played chess against her and lost. That wasn't what bothered him. What bothered him was during the progression of the game, she tended to anticipate better than anyone he'd ever played.

So when he got a call from Gaia that she was two bars down, and needed help, he took off.

When Gaia slipped clumsily out of her seat of the bar, ready to call it an early night putting on her jacket with mild dizziness, she knew something was very wrong. It couldn't have been her drink. She'd watched as the barkeeper picked up the glass, filled it with soda, and handed it to her, and it hadn't been out of her sight since.

So why was her head spinning?

Okay. Walking, or rather, slowly shuffling, down the sidewalk on a Sunday night was not the brightest idea. But she was careful damnit! She never let anyone near her drink, and never drank it if it had been out of her sight. But this….

Okay, she needed to concentrate on her well-being now. She'd backtrack later.

Gaia turned the corner of the bar, going into the small alley that usually housed garbage containers and bags. She'd call her RA, explain the situation as best she could before she passed out. She took out her phone. Pressed and held the # key.

"Please speak the name."

"Pam," Gaia murmured.

"Calling…Sam."

Gaia's eyes narrowed. "No…stupid phone…Pam," she breathed. "I said Pam not Sam. I said Pam!"

"…Gaia, is that you?"

"Wrong…number," she breathed. "Sorry."

"Gaia, where are you?"

Gaia opened her eyes to shift up, down, left, right. "Alley beside Crazy Lizarrrrrrrd," she slurred. "Need help…. Call Pam."

"Gaia, stay on the line, I'm on my way."

Gaia tried to object to that, but her mouth wasn't working well. This wasn't his job. To come pick up some girl who'd stupidly gotten herself slipped one somehow…. Hm….The cup. The pill must have already been in the cup when he made the drink. She gets the drink. It dissolves within a few seconds. Which means that someone targeted her, paid off the barkeep, knew what she liked, and had to have done their research.

And with those smart, well strung together words, the world started spinning faster, and Gaia's sitting position abruptly turned into a lying down position.

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"Gaia!" Sam yelled. He ran down the street, bumping into drunks and sobers alike, as he searched for her. Getting no response, he hung up, waited a few seconds, and then pressed DIAL again twice. He had reached the area she had vaguely specified, so he listened carefully to hear the Marilyn Manson ringtone.

Hey, it had come up in conversation.

Sam strained his ears, but heard nothing. He walked further down the street, and then caught sight of an alley. Going toward it, he pressed END and then DIAL again twice. He held it to his ear, carefully listening to the tiniest beep from a ring tone.

"BBBB-BBBB-BBBB-BBBBBBBBBBBB," echoed the guitar softly.

Sam followed the ringtone over to where Gaia was unconscious. "Gaia!" he cried. He shoved his cell back in his pocket, forcing himself to calm down. He put two fingers to her pulse. It was beating…perfectly. He put a hand on her head. No fever. Her chest rose and fell; no reaction to anything she'd been drinking.

"Okay. Let's go get you checked out," Sam said, hoisting Gaia up in his arms.

"Hmm?" she murmured.

"I'll get you to a hospital," he told her.

She took a few deep breaths, to clear her mind, enough to tell him, "Sam…you bring me to a hospital…you're a dead man." Sam raised his eyebrow. "My dorm," she whispered. And she fell unconscious in his arms.

"A death threat and now I have to carry dead weight up two staircases," Sam muttered, shifting her so her chin was nestled in his collarbone and shoulder. "That makes my night."

Sam walked to Branner, up to the front door, and, as discretely as he could, got the keys from Gaia's pocket. He opened the door, hoisting Gaia inside, and letting it close and lock automatically behind him. He picked her up once again, going up two flights of stairs and down a hall until he arrived at her room. He put in another key, which fit, and turned. He pushed the door wide open with his foot, carrying her in and laying her carefully on her bed.

"Who are you?"

Sam turned around to the voice in the doorway. He gave her the patented 'Don't you want to pinch my cheeks and make me cookies' smile. "Hi. I'm Sam. Gaia called me by accident. I think she meant to call Pam. Is that your RA?"

"Yea."

"Can you go get her?"

The girl nodded and darted down the hallway. Sam once again checked her pulse, the rising and falling of her stomach, and retinal reaction to light. By the way she'd acted two nights ago, she had seemed like a girl who was fully aware of knowing how to take care of herself. Apparently, she'd messed up. Sam couldn't hold it against her though. He'd messed up plenty of times for worse things.

"What's going on?" asked a worried junior from his left.

"I'm Sam. I got a fuzzy call from her saying that she was in an alley outside the Lazy Lizard," Sam told her. "I went and found her barely lucid. She said she'd meant to call you and wanted me to, but I came and got her and she told me she didn't want to go to the hospital, she wanted to come back here."

The RA's face grew firm. "Do you know what she was on?"

Sam's eyes widened angrily. "What? No! Gaia is not doing drugs! She barely drinks alcohol at all! Something must have been slipped into her drink."

"Okay, just calm down Sam, okay?" the RA asked firmly. "Did she say anything else?"

Sam looked to Gaia, then to them. "She said…I mean she looks fine physically—."

"Are you a doctor?"

"No, but I was raised by a Marine so I do know a few things. Breathing is regular. Pulse is normal. Retinal reaction to light is appropriate. For all intents and purposes, her body is sleeping. Does anyone here know if she's diabetic?"

The girls looked at each other blankly. "I'll go find out," the RA said before bolting from the room.

"You do that," he murmured.

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Twenty minutes later, once they'd determined that Gaia was not diabetic, and she temporarily regained somewhat groggy consciousness, she said that she did not want to go to the hospital for personal reasons. Sam said he'd be the judge of what severe symptoms were. She said if she were to experience any severe symptoms, then and only then could they call 911.

Otherwise, it was one AM and Gaia wanted to go to sleep. Which was convenient, because she was already in bed with her shoes and jacket off. Sam helped her under the covers and turned off her bedside table lamp before going outside to talk to the RA.

"Hey. Pamela Anderson. Call me Pam," she said, holding out her hand.

"Sam. Winchester. Listen, I haven't known her long, but from what I do know, Gaia's a pretty cautious, smart girl. For her to get drugged like that is a big deal. I'll talk to her about how it could have happened when she wakes up. But it's late, you should get some sleep. I'll watch out for her."

The RA eyed him anxiously. "Guys really aren't allowed in the dorms after midnight."

Sam closed his eyes in exasperation before opening them and releasing his puppy eyes. "Please? She's…. We really connected. I consider her a good friend. I just want to be there when she wakes up so she knows she's safe."

Pam hesitated, then nodded, taking out her cell. "Put your number into my cell and I'll put mine into yours. Call me if anything happens."