Disclaimer: Same as previous chapters

Chapter 21

Andrew was getting weirded out by how everyone's fears were becoming manifest in the real world and he was wondering when his would strike, he was nervous as he had some pretty deep fears that even Buffy didn't know about; the man with X's instead of eyes was one of them and those nightmares were becoming more of a reality now.

Xander sighed with relief as he came back with clothes and saw Andrew looking thoughtful about something, he was getting more like that with each passing day; thoughtful, he barely spoke to anyone, other than Dean or Buffy. Jesse was trying to make friends but Dean kept thinking that Jesse was trying to hit on him.

"Hey Andrew, how's it going?" Xander said in his best cheerful voice.

Andrew smiled and said, "Its fine, just a bit weirded out by things."

Xander smiled and sat next to him and began to talk to him about things and said, "Don't worry about these fears becoming real, I mean we've dealt with worse, right?"

"It's different this time," Andrew said, "These are personal fears, I mean everyone has fears, right? I mean why did your clothes disappear?"

Xander blushed and shrugged, "I've always had nightmares about being in school without my clothes."

"Yeah and if it's true that our nightmares are coming to life, what if someone had nightmares about Jason Voorhees, he comes to life and kills us all?" Andrew said.

Giles came out and muttered, "Let's try to get to the bottom of this before we start hearing the damnable music and young people start disappearing."

Willow rushed in and said, "Umm, I just passed Cordelia and apparently all of her money was seized by the government."

"I'm not sure it's real," Giles said, "Fear is becoming real and Ms Chase's fear would be losing her money and prestige."

"I haven't seen anything like that," Willow said softly, "But then again I've been in the computer lab all morning."

Andrew sighed, things were getting awkward and he really didn't want his fears to be public knowledge but he and his family and friends would have to face their fears, he wondered vaguely what Dean's fear would be?

Dean meanwhile was walking through the hallways, wondering what the hell was going on. He was looking for Andrew as he was worried about him but as he kept looking he couldn't find him, it was like he disappeared. Dean's searches began more frantic, he was looking for Andrew but people that he talked too kept telling him different things about where he was and no one knew where he was.

Sam saw his brother looking panicked and grabbed him and said, "Dean, what's wrong?"

"Dude, where's Andrew," Dean almost pleaded, "He's gone somewhere and I don't know where he is."

Sam shook his head and said, "Dean, he's in the library. He's with Mr Giles, Xander and Willow and they've been trying to figure out what's going on."

Dean sighed with relief as he ran into the library and saw Andrew reading a book, he grabbed Andrew into a hug, nearly crushing him to death, Andrew started to cough and tried to wriggle out of Dean's grasp.

"Sorry," Dean mumbled, "I couldn't find you and I got really worried and then people gave me all sorts of false information and you were nowhere."

Andrew sighed and said, "Everyone's fears are coming to life and right now, it's getting worse. I mean you not knowing where I am isn't the worst thing in the world, right?"

"Not to me," Dean whispered, "I mean you are next to Sammy and Bobby as the most important people in my life."

"Oh," Willow said softly, "That's so sweet, he likes you so much."

"Have any of your fears come true Andrew?" Dean asked as he grabbed Andrew's hand.

"No," Andrew murmured, "Nothing has happened yet," and let go of Dean's hand and walked out to look for his sister, praying.

As Andrew walked out alone he saw Buffy running from outside with tears in her eyes, he grabbed her and said, "Buffy, what's wrong?"

Buffy looked at her and said, "Dad, he's here and he told me that he couldn't bothered with visiting us, he told me it was our fault that they broke up."

Andrew hugged her and said, "It's not like that, you know dad wouldn't say that, especially to you as you're his favourite."

She stopped crying and nodded, "There is something strange going on, I mean I've been seeing this little kid everywhere, he whispered: I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Andrew asked confused, "I mean it's not this kid's fault, is it?"

"I don't know but he tried to warn me and then this ugly man with a large club suddenly attacked me viciously, it was like a horror movie," Buffy whispered.

Andrew smiled putting her at ease and said, "We'll figure it out don't worry, we always do, right?"

"Yep," Buffy smiled and they walked back to the library, she looked at Andrew and said, "You have any fears come true yet?"

"No, not yet," Andrew said, "But I'm sure it'll happen soon, right?"

"Yeah but don't worry, we'll help you deal with your fears, whatever it is," Buffy said with confidence, she knew that if they stuck together they'd be able to do anything together.

As they got into the library everyone was talking about their fears and Buffy joined the conversation while Andrew got thoughtful again, he began to think about his own fears. Dean pulled him towards everyone else saying that he couldn't isolate himself from their friends.

Jesse came in, his face red and he looked at Dean and Andrew and blushed even harder, as he sat next to Xander while everyone just stared at him and wondered why he wasn't looking Andrew and Dean in the faces?

"Uhh Jesse," Xander said quietly, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine," Jesse mumbled fine and simply cast his head down.

Xander shrugged as everyone looked at him puzzled and said, "He's a weird guy sometimes."

"It's alright Jesse," Andrew said as he patted Jesse's shoulder, "A lot of people's nightmares are becoming real."

"Really!" Jesse said, kind of relieved that no one saw his nightmare and he doubted that he'd be able to look Dean or Andrew in the face for a couple of days.

Giles said, "Whatever is happening we have to put a stop to it as soon as possible before it becomes permanent."

Buffy sighed, "You mean there's a chance this could become forever? Lovely, just lovely."

"Yes, it is a possibility," Giles said, "Which is why we have to find out what's going on before it's too late."

They nodded and decided to stick together just so they could help each other with their fears just in case they were forced to confront them, that way no would be alone.

"Alright," Dean said, "We'll have to find out why our nightmares are becoming real. Hey, is Freddy Kruger real?"

"No, I doubt Mr Kruger is real," Giles said as he shook his head.

"That boy," Buffy said, "He was there each time the nightmares began to crossover."

As Buffy talked about the boy Andrew was lost in thought, he didn't really want people to see his fears coming to pass as his nightmares were pretty frightening and some of Buffy's nightmares were bad too, he was about to say something when someone ran in crying as she had been beaten horribly.

Giles exclaimed in shock and quickly called for an ambulance, Buffy ran over to her and winced, her face was beaten something awful, it was bloody and bruised.

She whispered, "It was an ugly man, he beat me repeatedly. I tried to scream but he kept telling me it was my fault, all my fault."

Andrew shook his head and said, "No one deserves to get beaten like that."

As one of the paramedics put her on the stretcher he winced, "Poor girl, but at least she's not like that kid in the coma."

Buffy looked at him and said, "Kid, what kid?"

"Yeah," the paramedic said, "Happened last week; a poor boy got beaten up and badly. He's in a coma."

"That's it," Dean said, "Buffy; you take Andrew, Sam and Xander. You guys go to the hospital; I'm going to look for that kid one more time."

They drove as fast as they could to the hospital; they walked in and saw a Doctor rushing out with blood on his hands, screaming about how it was all his fault that they died.

Buffy frowned, "I think we're in the right place."

They separated into groups to go look for the boy, as they walked in they somehow became separated from each other.

Xander walked around alone and muttered, "I know it's going to be me to die, someone's going to dream up Jason and he's going to come gunning for me," as he walked up he saw a chocolate bar lying on the floor.

'Hey,' he smiled, 'A chocolate bar? Someone's loss is my chocolaty goodness.' As he kept wolfing down the chocolate bars when he saw a chocolate bar that he hadn't seen since his... sixth birthday and that damned clown!

He heard a high pitched giggle and looked up and saw the clown and it began to chase him.

Sam was walking down another hallway and saw his father walking towards him and he gulped, he wasn't afraid of his father but as his father got close to him Sam noticed that his eyes were yellow; dad had been possessed. As he walked close to him John smiled and said, "Hey Sammy, haven't seen you since you were a little guy and I burned your momma of course."

Sam backed away, he had heard about the YED his whole life and now it was in front of him using his father's body like a damned meat puppet. John reached out towards Sam and whispered, "You and I are gonna have fun."

"NO!" Sam screamed as he suddenly unloaded a full clip into John's body causing him to fall down.

John looked at him betrayed and whispered, "Sammy," before he fell down and exploded into dust like the vampires they had faced.

Sam looked around desperately and then saw Andrew come up to him, his eyes were yellow and he said, "Are you going to kill us all Sammy? Are you going to kill me? Dean? Buffy or the others?"

"No!" Sam whispered, "It was a mistake! I didn't mean it, I love you guys, you're my family!"

Andrew smirked and laughed, "No, you just want a normal life and we're just in the way, aren't we?"

Sam shook his head, he wanted a normal life but not like this; he wanted Andrew and Dean in his life, he wanted normal lives for all of them when everything stopped, Andrew wasn't there anymore and his father's body wasn't there.

Meanwhile in another place, Dean was muttering about how they had all managed to get separated. As he walked down the hallway he heard Andrew's voice and rushed towards it, he kept moved through and saw Andrew making out with that Jesse kid and he heard Jesse whisper, "What about Dean?"

Andrew made a face, "He hovers over me all the time and smothers me. You however don't; you give me my space," as Andrew kissed Jesse again and cuddled close to him, allowing Jesse to cuddle him.

Dean whispered, "No Andy, I'll give you your space, just don't leave me."

As Dean pleaded with the imaginary Andrew he heard Bobby's voice say, "Of course he's leaving you Dean; Jesse ain't possessive and he doesn't keep Andy to himself."

As Andrew walked by himself he was wondering how he got separated from the others when, as he walked, he heard Dean plead with someone. He ran towards the sound and saw Dean pleading with what appeared to be him and his other self was kissing Jesse?

He ran over and pulled Dean to him, whispering, "It's alright, I'm here, I'm here."

Dean turned around and saw Andrew holding him, Dean crushed Andrew in a hug saying, "Don't leave me, please don't leave me."

Andrew smiled and nodded as Dean held him close to him, Dean said, "No chick flick moments, we gotta find Sammy."

"Alright," Andrew said, "Plus, I want to find Xander too."

Dean nodded, as they walked around looking for Sam and Xander when they saw Xander run and suddenly stopped. Xander thought to himself that he wasn't going to look weak in front of his friends. So he suddenly punched the clown in the face, kicking him hard and said, "You were a horrible clown, you couldn't even make balloon animals!"

"Wow," Dean said, "That's a scary looking clown," and suddenly winced as Xander jumped up and down on the clown's face.

Xander smiled, that felt good, like really good, like a weight was off his chest.

Andrew looked at Xander and decided that Xander should really be in therapy from now on, he'd make a note of it to tell grandpa.

"Did you see Sammy?" Dean asked desperately, "We lost track of him when we got separated."

Xander shook his head and said, "No, I was too busy running away from that clown."

"Well," Dean said, "Let's stick together, we can't let ourselves get separated again," as they walked down another hallway.

Andrew sighed, when was he going to face his fears? Everyone else was facing their fears and not one of his fears were coming true; Dean hadn't suddenly turned around and slapped him, telling him things were going to be different from now on and he'd have to learn to accept Dean's control of his life or mom coming to tell him that he had to leave her real daughters alone.

As they walked, Dean was calling for Sam when they finally saw him looking desperate, he screamed, "Dean, get down!" And shot at Andrew, the bullet barely missed him and Andrew nearly fainted as Dean and Xander held Sam down and calmed him down.

Sam looked at Andrew and apologized profusely, Andrew said, "At least you missed," and they quickly moved on. When they found the boy, Buffy ran in and Andrew looked at her and said, "How did you become a vampire?"

"I've had nightmares about being a vampire," Buffy muttered, "But anyways, I think we have to get Billy to wake up, he's doing this."

"So," Xander said, "How're we going to wake him up?"

They saw Billy's astral body appear next to his physical body and look at them fearfully.

"He has to face his fears," Buffy said and as they heard a loud growl and she looked out, "That's him." She ran out and looked at the ugly man who hit her again and her yellow eyes narrowed on him and she said, "Guess what? There's real monsters out there and I'm one," she snarled and began to beat up the man.

Dean winced as Buffy dragged the man in and said, "Billy come here," as Billy shook his head Buffy smiled at him and said, "I'll protect you."

Billy walked towards them slowly, Andrew grabbed his hand and said, "It's going to be alright," as Billy took the hood off the man and suddenly a flash of white light enveloped them and everything disappeared.

They looked around and saw everything was back to normal, as they sat up looking around when a man walked in and said, "Oh, I didn't know Billy had so many visitors today?"

"Who are you?" Buffy asked, with a bit of iron in her voice as she stepped in front of him.

"Oh, sorry, I'm his coach and I've been coming here every day, hoping against hope that Billy would wake up."

Buffy stared at him coldly and said, "He's up now."

Billy looked at his coach and said, "You said it was my fault that we lost the game, there were twelve other players on the team."

The coach tried to run when Dean and Sam tackled him, Giles said, "I shall inform the authorities about him and you guys head back to school."

As they headed back Buffy looked at Andrew, "Are you ready to see dad again?"

"I guess so," Andrew said softly, "Not sure if he's going to want to see me."

"Don't worry," Buffy said happily, "Dad knows that if anything happens to you Grandpa's going to beat him up, especially if he hurts you or upsets you."

Dean looked up, "Did he hurt Andrew before?"

"No, but after Lothos, Dad was really hard on Andrew," Buffy said, "I'm not sure if he told you."

"He was just angry about what had happened," Buffy said, sadly remembering what Dad said to Andrew.

Andrew whispered, "It doesn't matter, I want to try to bond with him again and, hopefully, he's calmed down."

"You want me to stay by you?" Dean said, "Cause I will and, if he hurts you, I'll protect you."

As they waited by the curb of the street by the school they saw Hank's car drive up and Hank came out and waved at them and Andrew said, "No Dean, we'll be fine."

Hank saw Andrew and nearly broke into tears as he grabbed Andrew in a huge hug and said, "I'm sorry Andrew, for what happened."

Andrew's eyes widened and he hugged Hank back hard, glad that he had his father back, "It's alright dad, I'm alright, you were just mad dad."

Hank smiled and said, "Andrew, I have some stuff to talk to you about, personally."

"Alright Dad," Andrew said, "Later."

"No Andrew, now and I've been talking to your mother about this too; I want full custody of you."

"What?" Andrew nearly screamed out.

TBC

Poll questions: Why do you think Hank wants Andrew back?

Please rate and review.