A/N: I had to repost this chapter...long story. Anyway demons, gore, killing, just the usual. I don't own Leverage

Into Darkness

Eliot was the first to get up, walking out with a curt nod. Hardison was second, closing his laptop and leaving slowly. Parker walked over and gave an awkward yet comforting pat on the shoulder before walking out. Nate stayed in his seat his head lying on the table for hours. He was in world full of black fog nothing coming to light. His feet felt like they were made out of lead never letting him move. The pounding in his head only got worse as he lay on the table sobbing out his heart. Dead, he thought bitterly. It wasn't right, none of it was but you can't save someone that's already dead. A bitter laugh escaped from his lips and he looked up to see Sam sitting across from him. Sam had bags under his eyes and he was clutching his knees to his chest.

"Daddy is everything gonna be alright?" He asked innocently

"Daddy's going through a hard time right now but it will be okay soon" Nate assured even though he knew the words were lies.

"You're lying daddy. I know it's because you love me but I want to know the truth" Sam said staring at him

"Sammy I just lost the women I loved and now I'm just really sad. You're not even real I'm just hallucinating now!" Nate said with a hysterical laugh

"That's right but remember I'm trying to help you" Sam hissed before disappearing. Nate slammed his head on the table again in frustration. With a sigh he sat up and saw light streaming through the windows. He squinted at the brightness and got up. His legs buckled and he fell over bringing the chair down with him. Oh well, he thought sighing in defeat. He closed his eyes again and opened them within seconds. He sat up and got up slower this time. He grabbed a bottle a whiskey and started drinking from the bottle. He didn't taste its sweet relief instead a burning rush of liquid. He coughed choking on the heat of the liquid. He went for the faucet and sprayed water in his mouth in desperation. It was colder then he could've thought possible making his whole body stiffen. He gasped for breath and his body went back to normal. Confused and angry he headed for the door. Instead of the hallway when he opened the door it was a some random road. In the distance he could see a plane that had crashed and had black smoke billowing from inside. Nate doesn't get it, it seems like reality and dreams are morphing together in one painful string of events. He shakes his head and runs over to the plane. People are trying to crawl out coughing and screaming as they do so. Nate is breathing heavily, frightened by all the screaming and dying, it was just too much. He heard someone scream his name.

"NATE! HELP ME!" the voice sobbed out. He recognized it immediately, the British accent slurring with her sobs. He searched for her and found her on the ground on the other side. She had gashes everywhere and was coughing out smoke. Her eyes were red and watery her hands covered in blood. The ambulance came just in time. As if it couldn't get worse something that looked like it was from the pits of hell came from the ambulance. They had beady red eyes and thin mouths with razor sharp teeth. Their skin was burned black making them look like bubbling wax. They walked over to Nate and Sophie howling and screaming as they went. It held out a long thin hand with pointy fingers.

"Give her to me" It hissed

"You'll kill her!" Nate yelled

"Who cares she's dead already" The demon said with a laugh

"What are you?" Nate asked

"Skinners" It said with a sadistic smile

"She's not dead their is still hope" Nate cried back holding her body in his arms

"Hope! You fool hope was gone the minute you insulted her. Don't you know the damage you've done! Don't you know the pain you've caused!" The skinner howled,

"What do you mean?" Nate asked in desperation

"Time has run out this time my friend. But no worries we'll be back and we'll have some friends with us too" It said laughing evilly before ripping Sophie's body from his arms and crawling away. Nate stared hopelessly as the ambulance drove off leaving him in the dust. With a swirl of colors he jolted up back to what he thought was reality.

(At Hardisons house...)

"Hey Hardison" Parker said softly when Hardison opened the door

"Hey Parker" Hardison replied wiping the tears from his face

"You know Sophie wouldn't want you to spend so much time mourning about her death." Parker said thoughtfully

"Yeah you're right I guess" Hardison agreed

"But we should at least get her a tombstone" Parker said awkwardly

"Yeah maybe tomorrow we can go" Hardison suggested

(Back at Nates...)

He wouldn't let himself fall asleep this time, at least now that he thought he was awake. He didn't drink anything even though his body was dehydrated. Someone started walking down the steps their body glowing a faint white. It was Sam only he looked much older maybe 14 or 15 instead of 9.

"Sam you're back" Nate said coldly

"That's right but my time wears thin. More people will haunt you, I warn, and they'll be worse then me. When I finally disappear you will be truly and utterly alone." Sam said his voice heavy in the air

"But my team they'll still be here" Nate corrected

"No they'll leave you for fear of you hurting them. You're very sick now, depression, hallucinating, nightmares you won't believe a word anyone says except your owns" Sam stated his voice dark

"I know I'm sick," Nate huffed

"I'm just a figment of your imagination that's why you believe me. But I beg of you try to get help before it's to late" Sam pleaded

"What if I can't tell dream from reality?" Nate asked,

"You're a smart man Nathan, you'll figure It out" Sam said with a smile before disappearing. Nate let out a cry of frustration and the world exploded. The fragments came back into place to form a dark room with a single bulb in the middle. Sophie sat there alive but still with gashes, bruises and dirt on her. She was asleep or unconscious her head slumped on her right shoulder. Imaginary Sophie opened her eyes in fright looking around the room. Nate took a double take around the room searching for what she was afraid of. A thump thump came from behind. It was a skinner the same one he had seen at the plane crash.

"Hello again," Nate said calmly, "I see you haven't hurt my friend."

"No not yet I had to call a few friends of mine," The skinner said smiling. Nate felt a shiver down his spine as he thought of the other demons that would show. The walls closed in with a groan leaving them in a very small room.

"Your friends, are they like you?" Nate asked

"No we call them disposal, you'll meet them soon." The skinner said standing behind Sophie. She was staring at Nate trying to get him to help her.

"Ghystfwjsnsuanaholll" came the hideous cry from an unknown place. The skinner laughed its skin bubbling in menace. It had a gas mask on and a tube leading to an oxygen tank on the back. The mask was covered in crusty blood and dirt. The skin was a sickly pale white and looked like deformed playdoh. It wore a pair of ripped overalls and a grungy black shirt.

"Nathan meet The Disposal" The skinner said gesturing one long arm towards the demon. It chuckled making a deep rough whirling noise.

"Um nice to meet you to" Nate said staring at the disposal.

"Now let the games begin" The skinner said and Nate felt himself thrown up against the wall. Straps flew from the wall and strapped him to it. Nate let out a grunt at the sudden impact watching the skinner and disposal howl in menace.

"What-what are you doing?" Sophie cried out as the skinner came close to her. Nate felt a rush of emotions happiness to hear her voice and fear of what would happen. A long sharp nail protruded from its pointing finger. It smiled the teeth flashing wickedly as he looked at Sophie as his next meal.

"NO! GET AWAY FROM HER YOU DEMON!" Nate screamed at the skinner but the time for talking was over. The disposal laughed with the skinner as they closed in on Sophie. She screamed as the cut her skin off. Her screams were slurred with his as the horrific scene continued. He couldn't bear to watch as her skin fell to the ground along with a rain of blood.

"LEAVE HER ALONE YOU DEMONS!" Nate yelled louder then ever making his face clench in anger.

"Silence fool" The skinner screamed his face covered with blood. Her blood. Nate was on the verge of exploding and he felt his veins pop. His skin rippled and he tore the straps from the wall.

"Don't you dare touch her you MOTHER FUCKING DEMON!" Nate roared at the skinner

"Our time here is up maybe you've learned your lesson now. We leave you to your own business now." The skinner spat before disappearing with the disposal. He looked at Sophie's arm and puked in disgust and then fainted from the smell of blood. His head hit the ground and he woke up again in his apartment. He rubbed his eyes and got up. He looked at the time on his watch, 10:34. Something came to mind and even though it sounded silly it may be the only way he would know. He bounded up the stairs and tore his closet open. He saw a few of his shirts that Sophie would always wear scattered on his floor and his lip trembled. Cursing at himself he snapped back to attention and got a black shoebox from deep in his closet. Inside was a little spinner he had gotten Sam for his birthday when he turned 6. Smiling, he walked over to his dresser and spun it like they did in the movie Inception. He stared at it and soon it fell over giving him a huge sigh of relief. He put it in his pocket and prayed it would be there next time he was in crazy dreamland. Sadly his mental condition at the moment didn't make him exactly fit to go driving so he called Hardison.

"Hello"

"Hey Hardison"

"Nate, how you feelin?"

"My brain is a bit messed up sorta can't tell if I'm dreaming or not"

"Yeah did you do that thing with the top in like Inception?"

"Yeah the top fell over so hopefully this is real life"

"Yeah I'm pretty sure it is"

"So do you think you could take me somewhere?"

"Yeah man we were going to get a gravestone for Sophie today too"

"Oh um ok"

"Yeah Parker said that she wouldn't want us to mourn over her death so we're just trying to get along our normal lives"

"Yeah sounds like something she would say. By the way where is Parker?"

"Right next to me eating some cereal"

"Oh I see. So can you get here like ASAP I'm not really in the mood for another nightmare"

"Sure man be there in like 20 minutes" the line clicked off and Nate was alone again. He decided it would be best to go take a shower. That was when he realized his clothes were all sweaty and dirty. Great. He walked upstairs and turned the water on letting it heat up. He took his clothes off and got in, the water burning him. It felt good to be clean after all those nightmares about dirt and blood covered demons. Somehow the soap and the shampoo just made the whole seem a bit brighter; crazy but still. After his shower he would need to go eat and drink something considering he was famished after screaming in his sleep. It also seemed that sometimes he would hallucinate when he was really awake. As if on cue some other hallucination walked in. It was Sophie only a figment of his imagination.

"I'm so sorry Nate" Sophie whispered. Nate didn't respond considering it was rather awkward to talk to a hallucination while he was in the shower. He turned the water off and dried his hair quickly. Still entirely creeped out Nate slid past imaginary Sophie and put on his shorts and shirt.

"What are you sorry for?" Nate asked confused

"Dying" She replied simply

"It wasn't your choice to die" Nate said reassuringly

"You're right but I didn't try to escape" Sophie said her eyes red

"You mean escape from the plane after it crashed?" Nate asked confused

"Yeah I just blacked out" Sophie said

"But you couldn't help it" Nate said becoming more confused

"Someone on the plane knew me they wanted to help me" Sophie said her voice distant

"Sophie wait don't go!" Nate called out but she was already gone. Nate sighed and walked downstairs and grabbed some bread from the fridge. Without thinking he put it in the toaster and grabbed some water. He waited patiently for the toast to finish cooking. Soon it popped up and it was a nice dark black. Nate munched on the toast boredly waiting for Hardison to show up. Not a few minutes later Hardison was knocking at the door.

"Kay Nate you ready to go?" Hardison asked when Nate opened the door

"Yep let's go" Nate huffed pushing past Hardison. Parker gave Hardison a what's-up-with-him sorta look. Hardison just stared back giving her a shut-up-he's-having-problems look. They shook their heads in frustration and followed Nate down to their car. The drove off quickly in the direction of downtown where all the strange hospitals and such were. Nate felt the colors blend and the sounds magnify and into darkness he went.