Hi! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this story. I may even have an idea of where I'm going with it. ;) I hope I haven't lost you. Things are starting to click! I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

Susanne

CHAPTER SIX

By the time the brothers got back to Angel Island it was midnight. They were hot, dirty, hungry and more than a little disappointed. They'd thought about staying at a motel near the last location they'd searched but for some unidentified reason, they felt the need to be close to family. That meant being close to Bobby and maybe the Legacy members. Suddenly leaving the older hunter behind had seemed like a really bad idea.

The ferry ride across the sound was eerie. Dean couldn't stand sitting in his car while the ferry chugged along. He scrambled out of the Impala's driver's side door and paced over to the side, placed his left foot against the low wall and watched the water pass by in the moonlight. The hum of the ferry engine drowned out the sounds of the waves it created and even the occasional bird that flew by. Somehow, he still heard the passenger door open and close and his little brother come around to stand beside him.

"We'll find him," Sam said once he got close enough. It had been a long, fruitless day. Both of them were ready to crash into a bed.

"Like hell we will. It's like looking for a needle in a hay stack. We need Nick's help on this one but he's not here. We don't know this area well enough to do a proper search," Dean replied, not looking away from the water.

"We know what to look for, the elements that the vampires need for a proper lair. That ought to be enough, shouldn't it?" Sam asked. He leaned against the driver's side of the Impala. He'd managed to keep up with his brother but now the exhaustion was getting the better of him. Despite how he acted, there was still a weakness inside him. Sam wasn't sure if it was from the werewolf blood or from Andrew's attempts to cure him.

"That only helps if we know where to look. I hate to admit it but we need Derek's help on this one," Dean growled. Frustrated, he ran his hands over his face, rubbing hard. When that didn't really help he turned away from the water to face his brother. For the first time that day he took in Sam's appearance. Damn but he looked old and washed out. The frustration increased as he realized he'd been pushing his brother farther than he should have. "Get back in the car. We'll be there in a few minutes."

Sam considered arguing, for all of two seconds. Giving in, he pushed his weary body away from the side of the car, opened the door and slumped in the passenger seat. Wearily, Sam reached over to pull the door closed only to find that Dean had beat him to it. Looking up through the passenger window at his big brother's troubled face Sam realized he must look worse than he felt. Damn it.

Ashamed of his weakness, Sam's eyes dropped from Dean's intent gaze. He looked down at his hands, sitting limp in his lap, anything than to see the concern in his brother's blue-grey eyes. All ready, Sam's eyes were struggling to slam shut on him. Damn but he hated being this useless. Then he heard the driver's side door open and Dean plop into the seat beside him.

"I'm sorry," Dean grated. "I shouldn't have dragged you all over town without a better plan in mind."

"It's okay," Sam responded automatically. It freaked him out that Dean was saying he was sorry, for anything. It just wasn't something his older brother generally did. A quick side-long glance at Dean's face as he reached forward to turn the car on, showed a much older face than Sam was used to seeing. Dean was ever-present in his life. From Sam's earliest memories Dean had always been there, taking care of him, giving him the last of the cereal while he went without. It had never really seemed possible that Dean would ever age. Looking at him now, in the harsh light of the dashboard, a chill passed through Sam's soul.

"No, Sam, it's not okay. I'm worried about Nick. I care about whether we find him or not. But, I'm scared to death for you. I can't do anything about what's been done to you. I don't know how. But I can find Nick. I guess I've been overcompensating again," Dean said as he turned the engine over and put the heat on full blast. The last thing he needed was for Sam to get sick or something.

Wow. Sam turned in his seat to look at his brother full on. Dean was staring out the windshield of the Impala. There was nothing there but it seemed to hold the secrets of the world for the older Winchester. Dean was looking intently out the window. Sam had the feeling he was just trying to keep from looking at him. Dean was embarrassed by his outburst. A slow smile made its way across Sam's weary face.

"It's okay, Dean, we'll figure this out," Sam said. He half hoped Dean would look at him, to complete the chick flick moment. That didn't happen. Dean had bared as much of his soul as he was going to. Silence filled the interior of the car. The only sound was from the heater pumping out air.

Slowly the heat soaked into Sam's exhausted body. That, combined with the silence, did him in. Slowly his head tilted to the side and rested against the headrest. Then he was sound asleep. Grumbling under his breath, Dean pulled a blanket out of the back seat and wrapped it around his too tall brother. While he was at it, he casually brushed a tear off of his left cheek.

OOOOO

Pulling up in front of the Legacy house, Dean had expected the place to be dark. It was nearly one o'clock in the morning. Surely the older people in the house would be asleep. He was wrong. As soon as he threw the car into park and turned the lights off, the front door flew open and Bobby came clomping down the stairs. From the look on his face he wasn't too damned happy.

"About time," Bobby growled as Dean climbed out of the car. Sam was still asleep in the passenger side. Walking around the vehicle, Dean glanced up at the older man standing half way up the stairs. Bobby looked pissed.

"Did we have a curfew?" Dean grated back as he carefully opened the door to keep Sam from falling. He caught hold of Sam's shoulder and gently shook it.

"What did you find?" Derek asked as he stepped out of the front door. He'd been watching Bobby stew most of the day and wanted to avoid the inevitable clash.

"A whole lot of nothing," Dean admitted as he gently pulled Sam out of the car and guided him up the stairs. Sam was still partially asleep and was definitely lacking his usual coordination. Usually Dean had to drink a lot to be this bad. Under other circumstances his brother's predicament would have been funny.

"What do you expect, ya idiot?" Bobby growled as he caught Sam's other arm and helped to get the stumbling young man up the stairs. "This ain't our town."

"Leave him alone, Bobby," Sam said. He tried to put as much strength as he could into his voice but it came out low, barely above a whisper. Damn but he needed to get some sleep.

Bobby grumbled under his breath for a few moments until they got Sam up the steps into the front door. Dean was only slightly surprised at this point to find that everyone else was standing in the foyer, waiting for them. He could see the questions and concerns on each face but all he wanted to do at the moment was to get Sam up to bed. And maybe himself, Dean was suddenly very tired too.

"We'll talk in the morning," Derek said, forestalling any further questions. "I think we all could use some sleep."

Gratefully, Dean allowed Bobby to help him get Sam up the stairs to their bedroom. In a matter of moments both Winchesters were sound sleep. Shaking his head, Bobby quietly left the room and headed for his own. He had a few calls to make before morning.

OOOOO

If felt like someone had thrown Nick onto a glacier and left him there for the night. Forcing his consciousness to the surface of his mind, Nick heard his teeth chattering. Damn but it was cold. Slowly, he opened his eyes to blink rapidly in the darkness.

"What the hell?" Nick croaked as he took in the same room. He had expected to find that he hadn't been rescued but what he hadn't expected was to discover that he was lying on the table naked. Fear spiked through his mind and body. That fear got worse as a dark shadow beside the fireplace disengaged itself from the wall and moved toward him. The embers in the fireplace didn't put out much light, just a red haze.

Frantically, Nick struggled against his restraints, trying to get loose as the shadow continued to move toward him. As it got closer, he recognized Marcus's sister. The red light reflected slightly off her pale features as she opened her mouth and bared her fangs. The fear turned to terror. The terror was quickly replaced by reason. Terror wasn't going to help him. Taking three quick, calming breaths, Nick tried to think his way out of this. Nick stopped struggling. It was only making him weaker. He knew to get out of here he was going to need all the strength he could muster.

"What do you want?" Nick grated through clenched teeth. He hated lying here naked, completely defenceless against the female vampire. He hated even more what he knew was probably about to happen. Nick wasn't afraid of many things, but since being fed on twice by Alex, the slow smothering that accompanied the process was almost debilitating with fear.

"I haven't decided yet," the vampire purred. Gracefully, she sat on the table beside him. Her long nailed finger ran from his chest down below his waist. Shivers of revulsion followed her passage but otherwise Nick held himself still. She wanted a reaction of fear or lust. He wasn't going to give her either.

Idly, the vampire played with Nick's genitals, still trying to illicit a response. She was somewhat disappointed that she didn't get one. Glancing up at the human's face, she found that he wasn't even looking at her. He was staring into space directly above his head. Well, she'd dealt with difficult customers before. Grinning widely, she moved down, leaned over and bared her fangs again. This time she sank her teeth into the large vein just above his penis.

The shock of the pain and the location sent shockwaves of pain through Nick's body. He gasped and automatically tried to fight back. The vampire grabbed hold of his hips, sinking her claws into the skin covering them to hold him in place. She revelled in the flavour of his blood as it flowed into her mouth and the pained gasping sounds he was making.

Nick's world contacted to the embers of pain flashing through his groin. The eight points of her fingers digging into his skin were distant memories as the agony from the bite travelled through his groin, down his legs and up into his stomach. Struggling was no longer a possibility as he struggled to drawn breath around the unbelievable pain. Grunts and moans were the only sounds he was able to make and even those weren't made consciously.

The darkness of the cave was invading his mind. The red from the fire was filling his vision as the pain rolled through the rest of his body. Nick's eyes clamped shut, his teeth ground together as the agony intensified. Then the darkness was complete and he passed out.

It took every ounce of will Lily possessed to keep from completely draining the man. Damn but he tasted good! Reluctantly, she released her hold on his frail, pale body and sat up, wiping blood from her mouth and sucking on her fingers. Mmmmm, so good. Absently, she reached down and pressed on the puncture wounds on the human's lower abdomen, forcing new blood up through the ragged holes. Bending over, she lapped the blood up, ecstasy passing through her body.

"You didn't kill him, did you?" Marcus asked from the chamber entrance. He held a tray with food, water and a few other necessities contained on top of it. He'd paused when he'd entered, disbelief spreading through his body. In all the centuries they'd spent together, his sister had never disobeyed him. She was too afraid of him. Apparently he'd found her weakness.

"No," Lily purred as she sat back up, her hands running over Nick's cold body. The human was still alive but just barely. He'd progressed past the point where he shivered. His core temperature had dropped too far for that. While it was a real concern if they wanted to keep him alive, Lily didn't think that was what her brother had planned for the man anyway. "But I will if you let me."

"No, not yet. I want him to suffer before I transform him," Marcus grated. With a hiss, he sent his sister scurrying across to the furthest wall. Still grumbling under his breath, Marcus moved over to the dying human. With disgust he took in the man's present state of undress and the wounds that Lily had inflicted on him. An angry glance at his sister and Lily quickly left the room. Pausing long enough to stoke the fire, Marcus returned to his human charge. Thanks to his sister he might have to transform Nick sooner than he'd planned.

Growling, Marcus set the tray down beside Nick's still form. Casually he ripped through the bindings and did a cursory examination. The wound in the man's groin was messy. Lily had been enjoying herself a little too much. With a little displeasure, he brought his own wrist up to his mouth and broke the skin. Picking Nick's head up, he forced his bleeding wrist between the human's slightly parted lips. He didn't want to turn him yet but he had to keep him alive. The fastest, easiest way to do that was to give him some of his own blood to help him heal.

At first Nick didn't respond to the fluid dripping into his mouth. Unconscious, he didn't know enough to pull away or drink. Just as his mouth filled to the point where he was going to inhale the blood into his lungs, Nick convulsively swallowed. The hot, metallic liquid flowed through his body, spreading warmth as it went. Instinctively, Nick caught hold of Marcus's arm, pulling the wound further into his mouth as he hungrily sucked.

Feeling his life force being sucked out of his arm, Marcus groaned in pleasure. It didn't matter if it was a man or woman that was drawing his blood, the sensation of ecstasy was the same. It was almost as good as it felt when he drained a bleeder. Almost. Shaking himself out of his revere, Marcus none too gently pulled his arm away from Nick. All ready the human's color was better although Marcus imagined the pain hadn't decreased much. Lily had made sure that she'd inflicted the greatest amount of pain when she'd chosen her site to bite him. Trust his sister to know that. Grinning, Marcus pulled out a bottle of alcohol off the tray.

"This might hurt just a little bit," the head vampire said, his fangs showing as he smiled a little larger. Casually, he tilted the bottle over the bite mark, allowing the amber liquid to pour down over the twin puncture wounds. The reaction was almost instantaneous. Nick's body stiffened as the new pain registered. A low, keening wail escaped Nick's tightly drawn lips. The man began to wake up, his breathing hitching and the muscles in his abdomen starting to spasm in response to the frantic impulses passing down his nerve endings. Almost regrettably, Marcus stopped the liquor, placed the bottle on the ground beside the bed and placed a clean cloth on the wound.

"You'll appreciate this later on," Marcus purred as he pressed on the bite mark, his fingers finding the twin punctures, almost exploring them in his intensity. The wail turned to a scream and then Nick's body went completely lax as his mind shut down again in an attempt to protect his sanity.

"Well now, it wasn't nearly that bad," Marcus said as he turned his attention to the cuts left by his sister's finger nails. "You're going to have to buck up there, Nick. Otherwise you'll never survive everything I have planned for you."