DISCLAIMER

Belongs to Dark Castle Entertainment, Eric Kripke, and the CW. I only own the plot.

The man and little girl lunged at the intruders and the Winchesters, Bobby, and Ruby intercepted. Hearing the commotion, a few doors opened and some neighbors flanked the entrance.

"What's going on here?" a man demanded.

"Nothing. It's just a---" Dean's explanation died when the man's eyes turned black, as did everyone else's. "Oh, crap," he said before they all came in. Hearing the commotion, Lilith turned away from Nick who used the momentary distraction to hobble towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lilith asked, turning back to him. He froze and glanced towards the door. "Trying to escape…Pet?" she mocked.

"I'm not your pet," he spat out. Then, he continued for the door.

"Stop," she ordered. Almost instantly, Nick found that he couldn't move. Lilith chuckled as she walked up to him.

"I can make you do anything I want," she whispered in his ear. Her arms snaked around his neck and she leaned in close. Nick panted shakily. He had been so close to freedom. With a grunt, he tried to escape, but to no avail. "Turn around," she instructed. Unwillingly, he did so. As Carly fought against the man that had originally broken in with the little girl, she looked to her brother's room. She had heard the sound of him running, but now there was nothing. Fear for her twin gave Carly the extra adrenaline she needed to push her antagonist aside and she made a beeline for his room. She forced open the door and Lilith turned around, her arms still around Nick. Before she knew what was happening, she was knocked to the ground, breaking her hold on the boy.

"Stay away from my brother, bitch," she snarled. Lilith rose to her feet.

"Carly, run!" Nick shouted, pushing his sister towards the door. With a yell, the woman lunged at the twins who quickly ran out the door. The demons surrounded the two. Dean slugged one of his attackers, only knocking them back slightly.

"Do you really think that would work on me?" the woman sneered. For an answer, the hunter took out a vial of holy water and splashed it on her. She screamed. Bobby, Sam, and Ruby did the same. The woman Sam was fighting was knocked to the ground. He turned to give Dean a hand when he felt something pierce his right shin above his Achilles. With a howl of pain, he tumbled to the ground. Presently, the small group was quickly overwhelmed.

"Sammy! If you have any psychic tricks up your sleeve, now's the time to use 'em!" Dean shouted, struggling with a couple of possessed men.

"But you said---" his objection was cut off as a demon leaned down and punched him in the mouth. "Okay, that's it," he decided, painfully standing up. Then, he put his hand out and concentrated. Seeing this, Ruby quickly ran to another room so she wouldn't get caught in the cross-fire. As one, the group made motions as if they were throwing up. Sensing what was happening, Lilith disappeared. Sure she wanted to destroy the Boy King, but she wasn't going to risk killing herself to do it. In the other room, Ruby could hear the sound of the other demons choking as they were exorcised from their hosts. She opened the door and peeked through the crack. Sam stared at the group with deep concentration. Then, he made a barely noticeable grimace. I---I gotta make sure Sam's okay. He's---he's never exorcised this many at a time before, she thought to herself. She opened the door and hurried to the living room just as multiple black smoke clouds disappeared into the floor. Ruby made a quick assessment of the people there and was surprised but pleased to find that they were relatively uninjured. Sam moaned and began to drop to his knees.

"Sam!" she exclaimed, running towards him, Dean and Bobby on her heels.

"Whoa. Easy, brother. I gotcha," Nick said as he and Carly steadied him. Dean glanced at the grateful smile tossed Nick and felt a stab of jealousy course through his veins. What does this guy think he's doing calling Sam 'brother'? I'm Sam's brother, not him, he fiercely thought to himself.

"Are you okay?" Carly asked

"My head," Sam moaned.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you overexert yourself," Ruby said reproachfully, as they carefully sat him down. Then, Dean's gaze went to Carly's right hand.

"She chopped off your finger?" he gasped.

"What? You got another finger chopped off?" Sam questioned, instantly checking the girl's hands.

"No, no, no, no. Same finger, same finger," Carly quickly assured.

"Dude, don't scare me like that," Sam scolded his brother, giving a sigh of relief.

"What's going on here?" a man questioned. "Jones, what the hell are we doing here?" he demanded.

"Oh, uh…my music was too loud. You guys didn't approve," Nick lied. The group seemed to buy it.

"I want my mommy," the little girl complained.

"I'll take her," Carly offered. "Come on, Sweetie. Let's get you home," she continued, walking out the door as their neighbors did the same.

"Carly." Carly turned her head to see Nick's look of concern.

"I'm fine." He looked at her worriedly. Was she really okay or just saying that for his benefit?

"I'll go with her," Sam offered, starting to get up.

"Uh, no you won't," Ruby disagreed, stopping him. "You've overexerted yourself and you need to rest," she told him.

"No, we can't leave her alone. I gotta---"

"Sam," Nick said firmly. The hunter looked at him. "Rest," he stated. Sam glared, but sat back down.

"Dude," Dean in surprise. Why had Sammy listened to this guy rather than him?

"Fine. Then Dean will go with her," Sam decided.

"But---" Dean started to object.

"Boy, just do it," Bobby interrupted. With a grumble, Dean did as he was told. The rush of adrenaline suddenly gone, Nick collapsed to the floor with a groan.

"Your leg," Sam noted.

"Yeah, that bitch Lilith telekinetically broke it," Nick told them.

"Ruby, can you---"

"Of course." Ruby turned to Nick. "You might want to find something to clamp down on because I can guarantee you that this is gonna hurt," she warned him.

"Nah, I'll be fine," Nick disagreed.

"Hey, uh, Nick. You remember the big football game we were gonna go to about four years ago? You know, before we got stranded?" Sam questioned.

"Thought we agreed not to bring that place up again, but yeah, I remember. What about it?" Nick questioned.

"I, uh---I, uh---I had sex with Carly the night before we left," Sam stated sheepishly.

"You had sex with my sister? You son of a---" Ruby quickly twisted Nick's leg back into place and he fell back with a whimper. "You only said that to distract me, didn't you?" he realized. Sam nodded.

"Dude, we may have been dating at the time, but we never had sex," he told him.

"Oh, I hate you," was the response. Then, as he stood up, "Hey, you're bleeding." Bobby and Ruby turned their attention to Sam's leg.

"Yeah, I got jabbed with something," Sam recalled as Bobby sat him down. "Do you have a cloth I can use? That is, if you guys don't mind me tearing something up?"

"Kitchen. Third drawer on the left." Bobby went into the kitchen and checked the mentioned drawer, got out a cloth, and came back in. He gave the items to Sam who started tending to himself.

"Looks like you got stabbed right above your Achilles," the older man noted.

"Yeah. That's all I need: another scar," the hunter said bitterly.

"Aw, come on, Sammy. Chicks dig scars," a voice told him. Hearing his brother's voice, Sam quickly finished his bandaging job and limped over to them.

"Hey, you're standing," Carly noted.

"Yeah. She fixed my leg," Nick told her, gesturing to Ruby. She nodded.

"Cool," Carly said. Then, "Sorry we took so long. Her parents wanted to talk."

"And they had pie." Sam laughed and shook his head.

"You and your pie," he said fondly. Dean's gaze fell to the gauze on Sam's leg.

"What? Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?" he asked frantically, hurrying over.

"Dude, I'm fine. It was an easy fix," Sam assured him.

"You sure? You hurt anywhere else?" Dean queried, his eyes doing a quick and silent perusal of his brother's body. Annoyed, Sam pushed Dean away.

"I don't know about anybody else, but I'm beat," Nick stated, standing up.

"Yeah, we should get back to the hotel," Dean agreed. Ruby didn't say anything but nodded. Her host needed a shower.

"Sounds good," Sam agreed. He started towards the door, but Carly grabbed his arm.

"Sam…stay…please?" she asked.

"Oh, I don't know, Carly. I don't think---" Sam started to object.

"Sam. Sam, please. I---I can't---" Carly stammered. Sam's throat muscles constricted. He couldn't say no to Carly when she was obviously terrified.

"Okay. I'll stay…if it's okay with Nick," Sam agreed.

"Yeah, man. You know it is," Nick told him, approaching them.

"Sam…thanks," Carly whispered.

"No problem," Sam responded. Dean looked at Sam and Carly, and saw how she kept her hand on his arm. He reached over and squeezed her hand reassuringly. The elder Winchester grinned.

"All right, Sammy. Gonna get laid tonight," he approved. Nick, Carly, and Sam smacked him.

"Ow! Hey! Come on!" he exclaimed.

"I'll be on the couch," the younger Winchester corrected his brother.

"And I'll be able to hear if she leaves her room," Nick added.

"Come on, you idjit," Bobby said with a roll of his eyes. He, Dean, and Ruby left the house. Soon, they heard two engines start and the cars drive off.

"I'll get you a blanket and pillow," Carly told him.

"Thanks," Sam smiled. She walked into the small hallway to look for the items. The hunter turned to Nick. "Look man, I'm sorry about everything. I have no idea how Lilith found out about you," he apologized.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's all good," his friend said. Then, "Hey, uh---me and Carly---we didn't---"

"Dime me out. I know," the hunter interrupted. "Thought never even crossed my mind," he assured. Carly came out with the blanket and pillow.

"Here you go," she said, handing them to Sam.

"Thanks," he stated.

"Night," she told him.

"Night," he replied. She went into her room.

"All right. Sleep well, man," Nick said.

"Yeah. You too," Sam responded. Nick went to his own room, leaving Sam on the couch. In his room, Nick changed into a pair of sweats and then crawled under the covers. However, he couldn't sleep. A soft snore told him that Sam had fallen asleep. He chuckled, recalling how they had all been able to hear him in the tent on their campout. Next came Carly's soft, rhythmic breathing. Good. She deserves a good night's rest, he thought to himself, remembering her nightmares of the past few days. He sighed and tossed and turned in his bed. After half an hour of this, he punched his pillow. Man! He couldn't get his mind to turn off. How could Lilith do what she did? And what had been going on with her eyes? Sam and his friends were obviously fighting her, which kind of explained why they had been held as bait. But how had Sam made those black clouds of smoke disappear? What was going on? With these disturbing thoughts, Nick finally fell into a fitful sleep.