Elixir

Chapter Three

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. Anything you recognise from another fandom, I don't own

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

Author's Note: Once again, a general thank you to those of you who have reviewed this fic, put it on Favourites/Alerts, or just read it. If people have left a signed review, I will have responded to it personally


"So what do you think might have happened to Amber?" Jody asked quietly, looking between Dean and Sam. "I thought she'd be dead – even though there's no been no body found. But if you saw her… shoot… Dean, I guess it's not possible she's dead. Unless… do shapeshifters exist?"

"Yes, they do," Dean answered.

"But not in the way you'd think," Sam cut in. "The one we ran into only seemed to be able to take on the 'skin' of a human. And he had to keep his victims alive – some sort of psychic link, we believe. So even if it was a shapeshifter in the vision, it doesn't mean that Amber's been killed."

"What about demon possession?" Jody demanded, a slight hint of desperation to her tone.

"Well… we can't rule anything out," Dean said. "In something like this, anything's possible. But when we come into contact with Amber, we need to assume that she's a threat – so we'll have to neutralise her."

"Neutralise…?" Jody repeated, frowning. Then, her eyes widened. "You don't mean you'll hurt her… Do you?"

Sam looked at Dean, and then at Jody again. "Don't worry about that," he replied. "Do you think you could give us a minute? I need to ask Dean something."

Jody still looked disturbed by their words, and glanced at Dean before giving a slight nod. "I guess…" She stood up, and collected up the empty cans as well as her empty mug before leaving the room.

Sam waited until Jody was gone, and then turned to Dean. "I'm thinking we should avoid talking about using force to restrain Amber while she's around," he told his brother. "She's probably unlikely to understand just why it might be necessary, and it'll be difficult to get her cooperation if she's upset."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "I'm surprised at you, Sammy," he commented. "You don't tend to condone harming someone." I'm the one with no problem doing that, he thought.

"I know that using force sometimes is necessary," Sam replied. "We're not going to kill Amber. Unless she makes the choice herself to do the shooting, hurting her fatally – or anything that might leave a permanent mark – is out of the question. Jody hasn't come that far yet," he continued. "It'll only upset her."

"Ooh, Sammy doesn't want to bother the pretty woman." Dean smirked.

Sam frowned. "I really hope you're not insinuating anything. We came here to prevent you getting killed, and that's all I care about."

"Yeah, I know." Dean shrugged slightly. "Doesn't stop you from having fun. If you weren't such an old man, that is." He shook his head. "Seriously, though… Talking about attractive women, I just remembered something kind of important about the administrator that we probably need to look into."

Sam frowned. "Is this something that needs to be private, or can I go tell Jody it's all right to come back in?" he asked.

"Might as well tell her to come back," Dean answered. "Since we'll probably need her help anyway, we should keep her in the loop."

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"Ok, I'll go get her." Sam stood up, and headed out of the living room. He paused just outside the door, and glanced around, frowning a little. I guess she went to the kitchen… wherever that is. Trouble was, all of the doors he could see were shut.

You'd think these psychic abilities wouldn't just be limited to visions…

Finally, Sam – at random – chose the door directly opposite the living room. He opened it, and looked inside.

The room wasn't the kitchen. It actually seemed to be a study. Sam took in the general disarray of papers on the desk a moment, and raised his eyebrows. And I thought we were bad with organisation… Sam closed the door again, and then decided to try the door on the other side. It was with some relief that he saw he'd found the kitchen. He didn't really fancy having to look in every room.

Jody was standing in front of the sink, drying up a few plates and glasses that she had apparently just washed up. Her back was to Sam, but he could see an almost tense set to her shoulders. That and the way Sam saw her dry the same part of a plate twice seemed to suggest that what was happening bothered her more than she'd admitted.

"Hey…" Sam said softly, stepping up to Jody's side.

Jody hurriedly wiped the back of her hand across her eyes, and slipped the plate into one of the cupboards before turning to Sam. "So… you finished talking privately to your brother, I take it?"

Sam paused, wondering at the sheen of tears he thought he'd seen. Maybe I should see if she wants to talk about it… But Jody seemed to be making an effort to not think about whatever was bothering her, and Sam figured he should respect that. If she needs to talk, she will, he thought. "Yeah, we're finished," he replied. "Dean remembered something else, but you probably need to hear that as well."

"Oh, what?" Jody left the rest of the items on the draining board, and hung the tea towel up. "I'll put the rest of this away later."

"He hasn't told me what it is yet," Sam replied. "I assume he doesn't want to have to explain it twice. We'll also need to ask you some more questions. Do you think you'll be up for that?" He was giving her every opportunity to say no. Sure, we could use her help – but she already seems in bad shape… Which was a little strange, given that Amber had been missing for a week.

On the other hand, Sam guessed he wasn't too surprised by it…

"No, I'm happy to answer questions." Jody took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I just… I'd pretty much resigned myself to Amber being dead, you know? I mean, before you two showed up." She sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just… Well, I didn't actually expect to see you again," she added, changing the subject slightly.

"Yeah." Sam shrugged. "I haven't had too many chances to check my e-mails. There's been a lot going on."

"I'm sure, with what you do," Jody replied. "I'm sorry – it's not like I'm complaining or anything. I was just a little surprised."

"Yeah, I understand," Sam said. "A lot's happened since we last saw each other." He sighed lightly. "It would have been good to see you again under better circumstances." Sam shook his head slightly, and then headed towards the door of the kitchen. "We should try to get this sorted as soon as possible. Are you coming?"

Jody nodded. "Of course…" She followed Sam out of the kitchen, closing the door softly behind her.

As Jody and Sam entered the living room again, Dean glanced up. "Well, you took your time coming back," he commented. "Then again, if you wanted to spend more time together, I wouldn't mind waiting."

"Catching up on things isn't as important as preventing you from getting shot," Sam replied, taking his seat on the couch beside his brother.

"What have you thought of?" Jody asked Dean, sitting in the armchair directly opposite the couch and the coffee table.

"It's about the administrator for the university," Dean explained. "Before we came here, I went to see her. We had to find out the address of this place. Anyway, it just occurred to me that Amber had been missing for a week – yet the administrator didn't say anything about it. Would she have known?"

Jody frowned slightly. "I…" She shook her head. "Why would she say that? She should know about Amber's disappearance."

"Maybe she didn't trust you," Sam suggested. It would be a first, probably…

"Or she knows something," Dean replied. "I suggest we put talking to the administrator as top priority. Jody, has anyone else gone missing recently that you know about?"

Jody frowned, looking thoughtful for a moment. Then, finally, she answered, "I don't think so. But it's not like I've actively gone looking for similar cases. Why? Do you think that Amber's disappearance might be connected to others'?"

"It's possible," Sam answered. He glanced at his brother. "We're gonna have to look into any other cases as well. Especially anything that's connected in some way to the specific area Amber went swimming in. Jody and I will look into similar cases," he continued. "Dean, you try and get hold of the administrator."

Dean smirked. "Is that you giving me your blessing to do whatever I like?" he asked.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Sam replied. "You just work on the woman and see what you can get out of her, all right? You got her number, if I remember right."

Dean nodded, and turned to Jody. "Is it all right to use your phone?"

"Sure," Jody said. "It's in the study – the room directly opposite this one." She looked at Sam. "What can I do?"

"We'll go to the library," Sam answered. "Find out if there are any similar cases – and whether or not the people were actually found or came back. I'm sure you don't mind if Dean has to use the apartment to entertain, do you?"

"Hey, I hardly ever bring women back to the place we're staying in," Dean protested. He looked at Jody. "I mean… you were going to let us stay here, right?"

"Dean…" Sam frowned. "I'm sure that Jody doesn't want us imposing on her."

"No, it's fine," Jody answered. "It's been kind of lonely here with Amber missing. I don't mind having company. In fact, I'd prefer it to being alone…"

"All right," Sam said. He then looked at his brother. "Just do what you can to get the information out of the administrator. And be careful," he added.

"Dude, I'm always careful," Dean replied, and headed into the study.

Sam glanced at Jody. "Let's go."


Amber blinked, trying to get rid of the blurriness in her vision. The person who appeared to be Dean was leaning over her, watching her, and she felt a hand stroking her hair away from her face.

"Dean…?" she whispered again, unsure of just what was going on. Was she dead? She remembered the woman with the knife, and the cold pain of the blade slicing over her throat. But she also remembered her sister's ghost, and getting freaked out because she was feeling some sort of pain that seemed to have no cause.

What's happening to me?

"Don't panic," Dean said to her. "I'm working on a way of getting you out of here. For now, just play along."

Amber tried to speak, but all that came out was a choked groan. She closed her eyes for a moment and swallowed, before trying again. "What… about… you?" she whispered. "Wouldn't… he… take… you…?"

A moment later, Amber felt something cool and hard being placed against her lips. She tried to force her head away, but her chin was grasped, and the container was tipped up. She almost gasped as she felt liquid poured down her throat, but then gulped greedily at the water, only then realising just how thirsty she was.

"Take it slow," Dean cautioned. "If you drink too much at once, you'll make yourself sick."

Amber nodded, and drank the rest of the water as Dean held it for her. She would have liked more, but was very grateful for what she'd had. When it was all gone, she closed her eyes for a moment, savouring the feeling of having her thirst quenched.

"Where is… he?" Amber whispered finally. "He'll find you when he comes back…"

"Don't worry," Dean answered as he took away the glass. "He's not here right now. I can't stay for long. Sam got me here. You know Sam, right? My geeky, freakishly tall brother. He had a vision that brought us here."

Amber struggled a moment to sit up, but her hands and feet seemed to be tied down in some way. "I'm tied up…?"

"Chained up, actually," Dean replied. "I've yet to get hold of the keys – but it's not like he's hurting you yet. Besides, the view's kind of good from this angle. I'd be almost disappointed once you're out of those chains and put some clothes on instead of that bikini."

"If I wasn't tied up, I'd smack you one," Amber stated, trying to sound dignified. But that was kind of difficult, since she was so relieved to have someone she knew there. But then, she frowned. "You can't get me out…?"

"Be patient," Dean told her. "I'm working on it. But, for now, you have to co-operate with the demon. He'll hurt you if he can."

Amber's eyes widened. "But I don't even know what he wants from me. And… a demon? They don't exist… Do they?"

"The same way ghosts and vampires don't exist?" Dean raised his eyebrows.

"Just get me out of here… please," Amber said. "I want to go home… and I'm so confused. What's going on? Where am I?" Brownie… Where's my dog? It seemed like she had two sets of memories, and was wavering between them. And she had only met the man looking down on her in one…

Dean gave a slight frown. "Disorientation is natural at first," he said. "You're merging with a twin. Of course, the twin died, so it's bound to cause some… difficulty. Still, it's fascinating to watch."

Amber stared up at Dean, trembling a little. "You're not him…" she whispered, suddenly certain of that fact.

Smiling, the man wearing Dean's face leaned forward to whisper in Amber's ear. "I'm him in every way that counts." He touched Amber's cheek lightly. "And soon… soon, you will know it too."

Amber still felt very weak. However, mustering up all of her strength, she spat in the man's face.

The man barely blinked. He man simply raised a hand to wipe the moisture from his face. "You won't be able to hold out for long."

"What do you want from me?" Amber demanded, struggling futilely against her bonds. Her heart was pounding so violently in her chest that it almost hurt, and she felt terrified.

"You'll see soon," the man promised, bringing up a needle. Despite Amber's squirming, he was able to inject her with very little difficulty.

Amber continued squirming for a while longer, but then her vision went hazy before finally going black.